A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 915: Meeting the Fourth Concubine Again

Wu Mingqiang quickly said, "Of course. With this money, we can open our pawnshop. I've calculated that only half is enough for start-up capital. Miss, please put the remaining half in the safe and lock it up. Don't tell anyone."

Gui'er knew nothing about pawnshops, but since Wu Mingqiang had risked his life to get the money back, she couldn't stop him. She nodded and said, "Okay, you take out half first, and I'll put the rest away. We're here to run a pawnshop, but we don't have any backing. How can we open one? We won't have to go around paying homage to people everywhere."

Wu Mingqiang patted his chest and said, "Miss, don't worry, they are just some hooligans and hooligans. I already knew some of them here before, and relying on their protection should be enough at the beginning. Once we become bigger, it won't be too late to make friends with some dignitaries."

Gui'er nodded and handed half of the property in the box to Wu Mingqiang, and put the remaining half into the safe in front of them. In fact, she was thinking about finding a good opportunity to transfer the money, the property, guns and ammunition in the secret room to the organization, or else, she could donate it to Song Xichen.

At this time, Dingxiang knocked on the door and said, "Dinner is ready."

They arrived at the restaurant. As expected, dinner was sumptuous. In addition to the Cantonese dishes made by Aying's wife, there were also Jiangcheng specialties made by Dingxiang. As Gui'er ate, she couldn't help but think of her days in Jiangcheng. She sighed and said, "I've been in Hong Kong for a while. I don't know what my hometown is like."

Wu Mingqiang poured her a bowl of soup while saying, "When I was in Shanghai, I heard that most of the Chinese troops had already withdrawn. The Japanese seemed to be heading towards Nanjing along the railway line. Many people fled south with their families. We had a hard time getting train tickets. By then, everything was in chaos. Even if we didn't have tickets, we would have squeezed onto the train to leave Shanghai. I once wanted to visit my other friends in Shanghai, but the people in the concession advised me not to go out, saying that if I went out, I wouldn't be able to come back."

In fact, Gui'er had written several letters back to Jiangcheng and sent telegrams during this period, but all of them fell into the sea. Sha Yanxiao had said before that she could not make phone calls in the future, but he did not say that she could not send letters or telegrams. She also knew that the situation was urgent and Sha Yanxiao might be busy with work, but there had been no news. She was always worried. She now understood the meaning of the saying that a letter from home is worth ten thousand pieces of gold in wartime.

"I don't know how my elder brother and second brother are doing now?" Gui'er said slowly.

Wu Mingqiang put down his bowl and said, "During my time in Shanghai, I once met a man on the street who looked very much like the young master. However, that place was on the edge of the concession, and it was very chaotic. Many people fled in every day, and there were also many spies. I knew what our young master did, so I didn't dare to recognize him and just passed by him in a hurry."

Gui'er remembered that Sha Yanyao had said he was being sent to Shanghai. Could he have gone there to hide? This was a good place to go, but there was still no news from Sha Yanxiao.

She suddenly thought of Song Xichen. After she contacted Chen Zhongyu, she rarely contacted Song Xichen in order to reduce the risk. In fact, she could ask Song Xilun. Guier decided to go to Tong Yujun's house on Sunday.

"Miss, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the day after tomorrow. How are we going to celebrate it?" Dingxiang suddenly asked.

"Mid-Autumn Festival?" Gui'er finally reacted. No wonder she occasionally saw children carrying lanterns on the streets these past two days. Some of these lanterns were in the shape of fish, some were in the shape of rabbits, and some were traditional foldable ones with flowers and birds painted on them. However, she was either worried about Ah Cheng or Wu Mingqiang, and at the same time she was worried about Sha Yanxiao, so she didn't think about it at all.

"That's true. Brother Xiao Wu and Brother Acheng are back safely. I will buy some mooncakes tomorrow after school. You and Sister Ying should prepare a sumptuous meal so that we can have a good festival." Although Gui'er still had something on her mind, she didn't want to spoil everyone's fun.

"Great," Ding Xiang said happily, "This is our first Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong. I heard there's a lantern festival here, and I really want to go see it."

"Then you can go with Brother Cheng." Guier said with a smile.

Dingxiang's face turned red all of a sudden, and Acheng was also a little embarrassed.

The next day after school, Gui'er went to the pastry shop where she had bought souvenirs for Sha Lili before to take a look. Sure enough, they had launched a lot of mooncakes with many flavors, including red bean paste, lotus seed paste, ham, coconut, and mixed fruits. In that era, mooncakes were all packaged in paper boxes. The more luxurious ones were the square boxes. The general ones were wrapped in a tube with a piece of oil paper and a piece of wrapping paper from the store with the name of the mooncake written on it, and then tied with a rope.

Of course, the ones with boxes are more expensive. Gui'er thought about it and bought two gift-boxed boxes of golden ham, and then bought a roll of oil-paper packaging for each flavor. Ah Cheng said, "Miss, why buy so much? There are not many people in your family, so it's enough for the festival."

Gui'er smiled and said, "I thought I'd take this opportunity to visit Sha Lili and Tong Yujun. Whether they welcome me or not is one thing, but they are relatives and friends after all, so we should at least visit them. We'll go buy some fruit later. Oh, and decorate the house too. Let's go buy some Mid-Autumn Festival lanterns on the street later."

"I was wondering why the voice sounded so familiar. Turns out it really is someone I know. Gui'er."

When Gui'er heard someone calling her, she quickly turned around and saw a familiar figure. It was the Fourth Concubine and Sha Lili. The mother and daughter were holding hands and choosing mooncakes in the store.

"Fourth Aunt, you're here too. What a coincidence! I was just about to buy some mooncakes for Lily's house. Last time, Lily said you were coming over. With the recent situation, I'm a little worried. By the way, how is our family doing now? Is everyone at home okay?"

Sha Lili coughed and looked unhappy. The fourth concubine smiled and said, "It's not convenient here with so many people. Let's go home and talk." Then she turned around and urged the shop owner, "Boss, please pack the mooncakes I want quickly."

After receiving the mooncakes, the fourth concubine invited Gui'er to come to her house and sit down. Gui'er secretly winked at Ah Cheng and asked him to buy some fruits. Then she carried the golden-thigh mooncakes and fruits she had just bought and went to Sha Lili's house.

This time, they went straight up to the second floor through the back door and into the living room. Sha Lili plopped down on the sofa and said to Gui'er with a stern face, "Guier, don't call my mother Fourth Auntie in public from now on. This will let others know that my mother is just an auntie."