A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1151 Zhu Zhiming's Memories

Upon seeing Gui'er arrive, he quickly stood up, a slightly awkward smile on his face: "Miss Gui'er, what brings you here? And with so many things..."

"Brother Zhu, don't be so polite." Gui'er handed him the things, then walked into the courtyard and looked around. "Are you comfortable here? Where are your wife and the children?"

“They’re used to it, they’re used to it.” Zhu Zhiming scratched his head. “They’re in the inner room, the child is doing his homework, and his mother is mending clothes. This place is quiet and secluded, it’s quite nice.”

Gui'er nodded and followed him into the house. The room was simply furnished with an old square table, a few benches, and a half-sack of rice piled in the corner, presumably from the last delivery that hadn't been finished. Zhu Zhiqiang's wife came out carrying a sewing basket, her eyes still a little red. Upon seeing Gui'er, she hurriedly thanked her, "Miss Sha, it's all thanks to you, otherwise my daughter and I..."

"Sister-in-law, don't say that," Gui'er quickly waved her hand. "It's all what I should do."

After sitting down and chatting for a while, Gui'er noticed Zhu Zhiming's still somewhat pale face and couldn't help but ask, "Brother Zhu, are you still dizzy? Has the doctor come to see you?"

“I’ve seen it,” Zhu Zhiming smiled. “They said I’m deficient in qi and blood and told me to rest more. But I can’t stay idle, so I’m always thinking about going out to find work, but when people see my physique, they don’t dare to hire me.”

Gui'er sighed, then changed the subject, bringing up the Xingmin Daily: "Brother Zhu, do you remember the Xingmin Daily? I went there a while ago and found out that there might be a mole there. Zhou Hong is the deputy editor-in-chief there. Before you lost your memory, you went there to look for her. You know her too. She... she used to be one of our comrades."

Zhu Zhiming paused, his hand holding the teacup still, his brows slowly furrowing. "Deputy Editor-in-Chief Zhou Hong? I vaguely remember her... Oh, right, I remember now. I did go to a newspaper office to look for Miss Zhou. Is she alright?"

“Zhou Hong is fine, but he was a private investigator who frequented the newspaper office. He was silenced. Before he was silenced, he was investigating information about a traitor named Liu Tiecheng.” Gui’er nodded. “I suspect that someone in the newspaper office tipped off the Liu family. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that he was killed right after leaving the newspaper office?”

Zhu Zhiming was silent for a moment, then suddenly looked up at Gui'er, his eyes full of doubt: "...Reporting a message...I remember now, I also told Miss Zhou from the newspaper that I wanted to thoroughly investigate Mr. Chen's matter."

"Miss Zhou?" Gui'er's heart skipped a beat. "You mean Zhou Hong?"

"Yes, that should be it. I think I only know someone from that newspaper." Zhu Zhiming thought for a moment. "These past few days, I've been slowly recalling some things. My mind was a bit muddled at the time, so I mentioned to her that we must thoroughly investigate Mr. Chen's matter. How come I seem to remember that I had already found out some things? Then I was chased and forgot about it... What exactly did I find out?"

Gui'er felt a chill run down her spine, and she almost dropped the teacup in her hand. Zhou Hong? Could it really be Zhou Hong?

She recalled Zhou Hong's usual boisterous manner and the various news reports hidden under her desk, and felt that this shouldn't be her.

Gui'er suddenly remembered seeing her on a date with Liu Shaolin that day. They seemed to have talked about money, and Zhou Hong had mentioned Mr. Liu. Could it be...?

She suddenly felt it necessary to investigate Zhou Hong. Gui'er was actually very reluctant to believe that Zhou Hong was the mole, after all, she had once been one of their comrades. Nowadays, most of their comrades had lost contact, and only she and Zhou Hong were still alive and well, which she cherished deeply.

Zhu Zhiming was still muttering, "She comforted me at the time, saying she would keep an eye out for me and not to worry... Could it be that she was the one who told me?"

Gui'er remained silent, her mind a jumbled mess. Was it really Zhou Hong? Why would she do this? Was she bribed? Or was she actually a member of the Liu family? Was Chen Zhongyu's death also related to her?

A barrage of questions overwhelmed her, making it hard to breathe. Looking at Zhu Zhiming's bewildered face, she suddenly realized that in this chaotic world, the human heart was more terrifying than swords and spears. What you perceive as kindness might be hiding a poisoned dagger; the person you trust can turn around and push you into the abyss.

"Miss Gui'er? What's wrong?" Zhu Zhiqiang's wife asked worriedly when she saw that her face was pale.

Gui'er took a deep breath and forced a smile: "It's nothing, I might have just caught a bit of a cold. Brother Zhu, please don't mention this to anyone else, especially not to the people at the newspaper. You can't even show up at the newspaper anymore, because you're a dead person, understand?"

Although Zhu Zhiming was puzzled, he nodded and said, "I understand."

When Gui'er returned to the villa, it was already dusk. Wu Mingqiang was checking a list he had brought back from Macau in the living room. When he saw her come in, he looked up and noticed that her expression was off: "What's wrong? Did something happen at Brother Zhu's place?"

Gui'er recounted Zhu Zhiming's words in detail, and concluded by saying, "I always felt that Zhou Hong was acting strangely. I even bumped into her with Liu Shaolin before, and they mentioned something about 'Mr. Liu.' I didn't pay attention at the time, but now that I think about it..."

Wu Mingqiang's face darkened, and his finger paused on the list: "Zhou Hong? The deputy editor-in-chief of Xingmin Daily?"

“Well, I don’t have any work-related interactions with her, but when I heard Brother Chen mention that he recruited Zhou Hong to gather intelligence, I couldn’t believe it…” Gui’er bit her lip. “But Brother Zhu said that he only mentioned to Zhou Hong that he wanted to investigate Mr. Chen’s matter, and Detective Feng also got into trouble after going to the newspaper office. This is too much of a coincidence.”

Wu Mingqiang remained silent for a moment, his fingertips tapping lightly on the table, making a rhythmic sound, as if he were calculating something. After a while, he finally spoke, his voice carrying an undeniable gravity: "I will investigate this matter. Don't get involved anymore, and don't go to the Xingmin Daily anymore. That place is a trap now; don't step into it."

Gui'er nodded: "I understand."

“And another thing,” Wu Mingqiang looked up at her, his eyes sharp, “you think only the newspaper is tainted? The waters of Hong Kong are much muddier than you think.” He put down his pen, walked to the window, and gazed at the lights of the distant harbor. “I recently heard from Macau that the high-ranking officials of the Hong Kong British government have been panicking for a while. On the one hand, they’re shouting for resistance, and on the other hand, they’re secretly contacting the Japanese, trying to reach a compromise to protect their own interests. Even the discipline of the garrison has collapsed. The soldiers are busy looting supplies and exchanging for pounds; how can they have the mind to defend the lines?”

Gui'er's heart sank: "They...they just watched the Japanese invade?"

"People die for money, birds die for food." Wu Mingqiang sneered. "Those foreign tycoons have made enough money in Hong Kong. When it comes to a real crisis, they'll run away faster than anyone else. After all, they can't even protect their own homeland anymore. We can't count on them. We can only rely on ourselves."