A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1030 Stranded in Guangzhou

"Something's not right," Wu Mingqiang muttered to himself, then slowly drove off. Instead of turning into the dock, he circled around it as he approached and then drove back.

"Little Wu, what's wrong?" Gui'er asked curiously.

"I saw Japanese soldiers checking people at the dock. People like us who are obviously Chinese can't just sneak in. Let's take another look, just to be safe. The dock is currently a military stronghold. Our car might be aimed at by machine guns from above. Let's get going."

Wu Mingqiang drove the car back and stopped in a secluded corner.

"You stay in the car and keep an eye on your surroundings. If anything happens, knock on the back window. I'll go ask Manager Liu." Wu Mingqiang said before jumping out of the car.

Gui'er looked around and realized that this place seemed to be an old warehouse near the dock. Before Guangzhou fell, many merchants would store their customers here, but now there was no one left.

She nervously looked around while pressing her ear against the window to listen to what the two were doing in the back of the car.

Wu Mingqiang went to the back of the truck and untied Manager Liu. Manager Liu groaned for a while and complained, "Mr. Wu, I only took this job because of our past relationship. Now you've tied me up and even sent people to my house to threaten me with my family. Aren't you going a bit too far? How can you do things like this?"

Wu Mingqiang smiled and reassured him, "I'm sorry, the situation was really urgent. I don't know much about Guangzhou, and I just wanted to get out unscathed. How about this? I've already paid your reward. Your family can have someone bring you a copy when I get back to Hong Kong. Is that alright?"

Manager Liu seemed somewhat tempted after hearing this, and stammered, "If you're willing, that would be wonderful. Can I leave now?"

"Not yet. I don't think the situation at the dock is right. There are Japanese soldiers and sentries everywhere. I'm afraid we can't leave."

"A hidden sentry?" Manager Liu lifted the canvas slightly, glanced outside, and immediately screamed, "Oh my god, why did you drive here? Are you tired of living? Get out of here, get out of here, get out of here!"

Wu Mingqiang and Manager Liu rushed to the driver's seat. Manager Liu glanced at Gui'er and said with a smile, "Little sister, you should sit in the back. I have to get you two away from here. Although I don't really want to get involved, if we stay any longer, we might attract the attention of the Japanese, and I'll be dead too."

Seeing that the two men's expressions didn't seem to be lying, Gui'er quickly got off and went to the back of the carriage.

This time, Manager Liu drove himself, taking a detour via a narrow road that was just wide enough for other cars to pass.

After driving for about ten or twenty minutes, Gui'er secretly lifted the canvas to take a look. The surrounding area was all rural, with only a few scattered mud houses in the distance. Only then did the car stop.

Gui'er heard the front door open and the two of them got out of the car. He then quickly jumped out as well.

Manager Liu glanced around warily, then breathed a sigh of relief. He walked to a tree, slumped weakly against its roots, took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, took a drag, and exhaled a puff of smoke before letting out a sigh of relief.

“My boss, you two almost got me killed. You came to Guangzhou without doing any research. Actually, after Guangzhou fell, the original commercial shipping at the port almost stopped, and it could only transport military supplies. The Zhouzui Wharf you just went to has long been sealed off. The people who went there were all people who didn't know about this and wanted to go there to escape or smuggle. They were easy to catch. Luckily you didn't stop, or you would have been surrounded by Japanese soldiers long ago.”

Wu Mingqiang frowned and asked, "Are there any other docks we can use?"

Manager Liu thought for a moment, then counted on his fingers and said, “The Xidi Wharf and Tianzi Wharf were directly taken over by the Japanese, prohibiting civilian merchant ships from docking at will, and prioritizing the transport of Japanese military supplies and provisions. Other smaller wharves were controlled by the puppet regime, allowing only a small number of merchant firms that ‘cooperated’ with the Japanese to operate, for the transshipment of looted strategic materials such as cotton and grain. To prevent Allied attacks, the Japanese dismantled some of the original loading and unloading equipment at the wharves, leaving only basic berthing facilities, and laid mines on the river, causing the Pearl River’s inland waterway shipping to almost come to an end. Most of the Chinese merchant ships that were not evacuated before the fall were requisitioned or destroyed by the Japanese, and the wharf berths were occupied by Japanese warships for a long time, bringing commercial shipping to a complete standstill.”

Gui'er was shocked when she heard this. She remembered that when she left, the dock was a thriving place with hundreds of people working there. Now, what would happen to those people's livelihoods?

"What about the merchant ships and sailors who were originally at the dock?" she asked.

“Throughout Guangzhou, at least tens of thousands of porters and boatmen have lost their jobs. Some unlucky ones were forced to carry supplies for the Japanese, with extremely low wages and no guarantee of personal safety. One of my distant cousins ​​hurt his back and was hit twice with the butt of a rifle because he was a little slow in carrying things. He fell to the ground and couldn't get up. The Japanese thought he was being lazy, so they beat him unconscious. He was carried off the boat and died a few days later. Now that shipping has stopped, ordinary people can hardly obtain supplies from other places through the docks and can only rely on the black market. Life is difficult. On top of that, the Japanese are still issuing those Central Reserve Bank notes to exchange for the silver dollars we used to have, making it even more difficult to make a living. I am considered to be doing well. Some of my relatives and friends from ordinary families only eat one meal a day.” Manager Liu said with a worried look on his face.

Wu Mingqiang interrupted impatiently: "Since so many ship owners and crew members have nothing to do, there must be some who are willing to take the risk. Help me find out who can take us back to Hong Kong. I'll pay whatever it takes."

"My God, please don't make things difficult for me. Do you know how dangerous this is? When the Japanese first came, the Changdi Wharf became a place where the Japanese army massacred civilians. The Japanese army used machine guns to strafe people who tried to escape by boat from here. The wharf was instantly turned into a bloody mess. Not having food to eat and dying on the spot are two different things, okay?"

Gui'er was somewhat lost and didn't know what to do for a moment.

Wu Mingqiang frowned, looked at Manager Liu for a while, smiled, took out a pistol from his waist and played with it, saying, "That's right, since that's the case, then we're now stuck in Guangzhou. We don't know anyone in Guangzhou, and we're almost out of money. Sigh, but we know Manager Liu, so we can only bother you at your residence."

Upon hearing this, Manager Liu's face contorted with rage. He exclaimed, "Oh dear, what have I done to deserve this? No, how did you get here? Why don't you just go back the way you came?"