A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1091 Liu Lanfang is eyeing Wu Mingqiang

Ah Cheng comforted her, saying, "Miss, Brother Qiang is right. His men are all eager to flee Hong Kong now, so his funeral certainly can't be a big affair. How about this, we'll have someone check where he's buried, and then we can secretly burn some paper money or something."

Gui'er felt a tightness in her chest. She didn't really feel the reality of Chen Zhongyu's death at all. She always felt that he had just had a small accident and would probably reappear in front of her in a few days, smiling and encouraging her to have faith in the revolution and that victory would eventually come.

It took her a while to calm herself down a bit.

“You’re right, let’s do it that way. By the way, the Xinmin Bookstore at Angkor Wat is closing down. The staff there are going back to the mainland. Could you help arrange to send him back?”

“Sure, no problem. There’s a grain transport ship coming these next couple of days. We can have him pretend to be a crew member, get off in Guangzhou, and then leave on his own.”

The next day, when Gui'er returned to school, she discovered that the car accident had even been reported in the newspapers. The headline read: "A wealthy young lady and a rising literary star are involved in a car accident; the man dies and the woman is seriously injured," but the report described it as an accident.

The students were still talking about Lin Peishan's car accident, and they all expressed their regret and sympathy.

Liu Lanfang said to Gui'er, "It's such a pity, Lin Peishan's fiancé is quite handsome."

Gui'er smiled but didn't say anything. She had no interest in discussing it. She was only thinking about how Chen Zhongyu was dead, most of his comrades had either gone into hiding or evacuated, and Liang Ping had returned to Guangxi. So what should they do next? She was now like a kite with its string cut off. How could she contact the organization?

Japan is likely to invade Hong Kong soon. At this critical juncture, our organization has suffered a major blow, thus losing our advantageous position in Hong Kong.

But after thinking it over and over, she couldn't come up with a good solution. Meanwhile, the teacher announced to the students that Lin Peishan's parents had helped her take a leave of absence from school. The students whispered among themselves that with her injuries, it would probably take her a year or two to recover. Gui'er became even more upset.

After school, Liu Lanfang wanted to walk with her again, but Gui'er was in a bad mood. So she said, "Oh, I have some things to do at a relative's house today, you go ahead."

Liu Lanfang persisted, saying, "You've seemed down all day. Is it because of Lin Peishan?"

Gui'er didn't know if she was genuinely concerned about her or testing her, so she cautiously said, "Alas, she was also unfortunate. They were such a happy couple, but now they are separated forever, and she herself suffered such a serious injury."

When I arrived at the school gate, Acheng was already waiting there.

"Lanfang, see you later. I have to go now." Gui'er breathed a sigh of relief and turned to walk towards the car.

"Hey, why didn't I see your housekeeper Wu come to pick you up today?" Liu Lanfang suddenly asked.

"Oh, he doesn't usually pick me up or drop me off; he's busy with pawnshop business."

"Oh, by the way, where is your pawnshop? I've never been there before."

"What's so fun about a pawnshop? It's always bustling with people." Gui'er's vigilance immediately increased. She was even a little impatient. She was already feeling sad about Chen Zhongyu and Lin Peishan's situation, and Liu Lanfang still wouldn't stop making a fuss.

"Well, actually, I have something I want to pawn, so could I come to your pawn shop to take a look?"

Gui'er frowned, completely unsure of Liu Lanfang's intentions: "What is it? Did you bring it?"

"Uh, this... no, it's my necklace. I'd like to go to the pawn shop first and then ask your butler, Mr. Wu, to take a look."

"Butler Wu, he's not in charge of checking the pawned items, he's only in charge of management. Checking the pawned items is done by the clerk in the pawnshop. Besides, you didn't bring anything with you, what are you going to check at the pawnshop? Don't you trust our pawnshop? Then just go to another one."

At this moment, Liu Lanfang finally noticed the displeasure in Gui'er's tone. She quickly took Gui'er's hand and said with a smile, "Oh dear, that's not what I meant. Okay, I'll bring her over tomorrow, and we can go to the pawnshop together after school. Oh, and remember to invite Butler Wu along."

After that, Liu Lanfang finally got into the car that came to pick her up and left.

Seeing Gui'er's furrowed brows, Acheng asked, "Miss, what happened? Did Miss Liu give you trouble again?"

"She suddenly said she had a necklace she wanted to pawn, and that she would take it to our pawn shop tomorrow to take a look. She also specifically requested that Brother Wu be there."

Acheng covered his mouth and chuckled: "Could this little girl have taken a liking to Brother Qiang?"

"Huh?" This was something Gui'er had never expected.

"Miss, don't be surprised. Brother Qiang looks like a refined scholar, and he's very charming and always has a smile on his face. Back in Jiangcheng, countless maids in the Marshal's Mansion tried every means to speak to Brother Qiang in private. However, the young master was strict and didn't allow the servants to exchange words in private. That's why the maids in our courtyard didn't dare to make any rash moves. But the maids in other courtyards tried every means to get close to Brother Qiang. Even the eldest daughter of the Fifth Concubine had her wet nurse send a handkerchief to Brother Qiang. Brother Qiang didn't want to cause trouble, so he told the young master. The young master sent the steward to the Fifth Concubine's room and gave her a good scolding. He also strictly ordered everyone not to let the news leak out, so as not to ruin the reputation of the young ladies of the Marshal's Mansion. In particular, he didn't want you to know, saying he was afraid you would be corrupted."

Gui'er was very surprised. She hadn't expected such a thing to happen. But thinking about it carefully, when she first met Wu Mingqiang, he was just a teenager. They had been too close all along, so she hadn't noticed anything. Now, Wu Mingqiang was 1 meters tall, with bright eyes and sword-like eyebrows. His facial features were so sculpted that he looked like a David statue. He usually liked to wear well-tailored suits and had a very stylish demeanor. He looked like a wealthy young master. It wouldn't be surprising if Liu Lanfang took a liking to him because of his appearance.

"What should we do? I was originally planning to keep my distance from her so she wouldn't keep coming to pry into our family's affairs. Her family is involved in traitorous business. If we get too close to her, people will think we're in cahoots with them when the truth comes out."

"It's alright, let's go back and discuss it with Brother Qiang. He's the best at handling these kinds of things, after all, he has a lot to deal with outside." Acheng joked as he started the car.

Back at the villa, Wu Mingqiang came out to greet Gui'er and said, "Miss, there was a last-minute ship to Guangzhou today, so I quickly arranged for Brother Liang Ping to leave. He left you a letter before he left." He then handed her a letter.