A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1098 Damaged Heart Meridian

“But Tong Yujun said that the man who took him in was kidnapped, and the woman was raped and then killed…” Gui’er choked up and couldn’t continue. She remembered what Sha Yanxiao had said before he left: “After we drive out the Japanese devils, I will come back to be with you.” But now there wasn’t even a definite message.

At dinner, no one touched their chopsticks, and the dishes on the table gradually cooled down, just like the atmosphere in the room. Dingxiang brought over some hot soup, but Gui'er only took a sip before putting the rest down, feeling terribly bloated in her stomach.

Wu Mingqiang suddenly spoke up: "I'll have the brothers who went to Guangzhou on the ship tomorrow scout around and see if anyone has gone to Jiangcheng. I'll ask them to inquire about the young master's whereabouts. I think a generous reward will surely attract brave men. Miss, don't worry."

Acheng immediately chimed in, "Yes, yes, I'll also try to find out if any of our fellow villagers from Jiangcheng are still in contact with their hometowns, and ask them to help me inquire."

Gui'er looked up and saw the sincerity in their eyes, and her heart warmed a little.

That evening, Gui'er was sitting in her room staring blankly at her book. Usually, she would look at the lessons she would be teaching the next day at this time, but today she just couldn't concentrate.

There was a knock at the door. It was Dingxiang. She brought in a bowl of chicken porridge and said, "Miss, you haven't eaten much for dinner. Have some porridge to tide you over."

Gui'er also felt a little hungry at this moment, so she nodded.

She looked at Dingxiang gratefully and said, "I was all alone here, with no one to rely on. Thanks to you all, I am not lonely."

Dingxiang laughed and said, "What are you saying, Miss? Aren't I the same as you? My parents aren't close to me. They only think about using me to exchange for dowry money to help my brother get married. When they left Jiangcheng, they even took most of my savings, saying that if I went to Hong Kong with you, I would probably die there. They insisted that I must get back the money they spent raising me all these years and the dowry money they should receive in the future. I was assigned to the second young lady's room by the madam when I was just a few years old. When have they ever raised me? Alas, they are in Jiangcheng now. I wonder how they are doing. The Marshal's Mansion is gone now. I wonder if they can still survive."

Gui'er quickly said, "Brother Acheng knows a lot of people from our hometown. Why don't you ask him to inquire about your parents, brothers, and sisters?"

"Forget it, they already planned to treat me like I was dead back then. Let fate decide."

Gui'er could tell that she still harbored resentment, so she didn't interfere too much: "You've lost most of your savings, are you short of money now? I have..."

“Miss, no need. I know it’s not easy for you to earn money these days. Writing articles for the newspaper is sometimes and sometimes not, and the money you earn from the pawnshop is used to buy a house in Macau and open a branch. I’m at home all day with food and clothes, I don’t lack anything, and I even have a monthly allowance. I can save up slowly.”

"Okay then, as long as you have enough money, that's fine. If there's nothing else, I want to go to sleep first, I have school tomorrow."

Dingxiang nodded, turned and walked out, but turned back halfway and said, "Speaking of school, Miss, I just remembered that classmate of yours today, the one surnamed Liu, is really shameless. She actually went to see the circus with Brother Qiang, and I heard that after the circus she insisted on taking him to get drinks. I think that girl is definitely up to no good."

Gui'er felt a headache coming on whenever she heard Liu Lanfang's name, but she couldn't do anything about it, so she could only say, "Let her be for now. We'll just be careful and make sure nothing happens."

"You can rest assured about that. Qiang-ge doesn't like her; he's just shamelessly pursuing her."

The next day, as soon as Gui'er sat down at school, Liu Lanfang ran over excitedly and said, "Gui'er, it's such a pity you didn't go yesterday. Mr. Wu and I went to see the circus and then went for coffee. The circus was amazing! There were even people taking pictures of others. We took some photos, look."

Gui'er wasn't in the mood to pay attention to her, but she didn't want to offend her, so she just smiled and glanced at her. Liu Lanfang stood next to Wu Mingqiang, holding his arm, with two acrobatic performers behind her and a listless bear next to her.

"Great, the photos from yesterday were developed so quickly?"

"Hey, that's easy. I paid extra to the photo studio, and they gave it to me that day. By the way, Mr. Wu seems to be all alone in Hong Kong, right? Does he have a wife or fiancée back in your hometown?"

Gui'er was stunned for a moment, but she immediately understood Liu Lanfang's intention. She never expected that Wu Mingqiang's tall and handsome appearance could attract the attention of a materialistic rich girl. It seems that there are always people who care about appearances, no matter what era.

She hesitated for a moment. If she told Liu Lanfang that Wu Mingqiang had a girlfriend at this time, Liu Lanfang would probably give up, but that would affect Wu Mingqiang's future search for a partner.

"Neither our household nor his family has found him a partner, and I don't know if he has a private match of his own." Gui'er considered for a moment and gave a slightly more cautious answer.

"Tch, since there's no official status, those private exchanges can be ignored once they've been apart for a while. Besides, there's still a war going on in the mainland. Even if they're still thinking about each other, the other person might already be dead," Liu Lanfang said nonchalantly.

Gui'er was stunned when she heard this. She thought of Sha Yanxiao, and the last two sentences hurt her deeply, making her feel like she was taking a stress reaction and couldn't breathe.

Liu Lanfang was startled when she saw Gui'er's face turn deathly pale. She asked, "Gui'er, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Gui'er hurriedly waved her hand and forced a smile, saying, "I'm fine."

"You're fine, so why did your face suddenly turn pale? Should we take you to the school doctor? Oh, right, we're medical students ourselves, let me take your pulse." Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed Gui'er's hand and started taking her pulse.

"Your pulse is slow and intermittent, with no fixed frequency. Hmm, you look like your heart meridian is damaged. Could I have misjudged you? You're so young, what happened to you?"

Gui'er was stunned. She hadn't expected that Sha Yanxiao's news would have such a big impact on her. She hadn't paid any attention to this aspect at all. She only felt that she couldn't sleep all night and that her heart was aching.

"What happened?" Liu Lanfang asked with a questioning look.

"Oh, I've had this deficiency of qi and blood since I was a child. My family would often have the doctor in the manor prescribe some medicine for me. That's actually why I studied medicine."

"I see. Then we must be careful, as it can easily lead to serious illness in the long run."

"Perhaps I haven't been resting well lately. I'll ask my family to make me a calming soup later."