A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1009 Changes in the Pawnshop

Several people said some words of advice to Sha Yanwen not to be pessimistic, but when they saw that he was really tired and could barely keep his eyes open, they had no choice but to leave and call his old mother back in to take care of her.

After they came out, Mr. and Mrs. Zhao invited Gui'er and the others to stay for dinner, and Fourth Concubine and Sha Lili readily agreed.

Gui'er said, "I have an appointment with a classmate, so I won't be having dinner at your residence. Thank you for your hospitality, Master Zhao and Madam. I'll take my leave now."

Master Zhao wanted to persuade her to stay, but after glancing at Wu Mingqiang, he smiled awkwardly and said, "Alright then, I apologize for the poor hospitality this time. Miss Sha, if you miss your brother, you are welcome to visit anytime."

Gui'er breathed a sigh of relief only after getting into the carriage at the Zhao residence. This meeting changed her impression of Sha Yanwen, making her realize that he wasn't actually a spoiled brat.

She sighed, "Actually, this third brother seems to be quite a handsome man. It's a pity that he was ruined by opium."

Wu Mingqiang laughed and said, "That's right, Miss. You would never guess that it was actually the Third Young Master who asked someone to find me and asked me to bring a message out. He said he hadn't seen his family for a long time, and the people in the Zhao family wouldn't let his mother and sister in to see him. Later, he found out that I was with Long Xing, bribed the servants in the Zhao family, and found me to ask you to go see him so that his mother and sister could also go in."

Gui'er was quite surprised: "Third Brother is a terminally ill man, yet he knows what's happening outside. It seems he has some skills. It's a pity that he pretended to be stupid and got addicted to opium in order to avoid being framed by the First Madam."

Wu Mingqiang laughed and said, "If that's really the case, then isn't our young marshal even more amazing? After all, he became the young marshal under pressure from the first wife, and in the end, he even won over the old subordinates of the first marshal."

When Gui'er heard him mention Sha Yanxiao, she sighed, "I wonder how Second Brother is doing now?"

Ah Cheng suddenly interjected, "Miss, if you want to know about the young marshal, I think you can find out through our fellow villagers. I heard that Ren'an Hall seems to still maintain contact with their hometown."

Gui'er exclaimed in surprise, "Really?" However, she then recalled how Lin Zhidong, the young master of Ren'an Hall, and his wife He Xiuxiang had conspired to make her marry Lin Zhidong as a concubine in order to obtain his funds, and she felt uneasy.

"The war on the mainland is in full swing right now. How does he have such great ability to maintain contact?" Gui'er decided to test him first.

“I’ve heard that too. Apparently, their patriarch knew the Piao Bureau from his younger days and they had a long-standing relationship. So, the transportation of medicinal herbs has always been entrusted to the Piao Bureau. Although it’s more dangerous now, they still send people from the Piao Bureau back and forth between Hong Kong and Jiangcheng to relay information and transport medicinal herbs. It’s dangerous, but the people in the escort agency also need to make a living.” Wu Mingqiang added, “If Miss is interested, I can ask them to introduce us to people from the escort agency so they can help us find out about the young master.”

"But, Second Brother, he's leading a team in battle right now. If his whereabouts are exposed, won't it be dangerous?" Gui'er still had doubts.

“What Miss says makes sense.” Wu Mingqiang didn’t say anything more.

Two days later, Gui'er, who rarely got out of school early, decided on a whim to go to the pawnshop.

After a long absence from the pawnshop, the number of customers had indeed increased significantly. Zhao Ding was quite shrewd and adept at handling the items brought by customers and appraising them, while also greeting and seeing them off with sweet words.

Ah Guang and Ah Zong were also warmly welcoming the guests. When they saw Ah Cheng bringing Gui'er back, they quickly greeted them and led them to a private room, then served them tea.

Gui'er felt gratified watching the bustling crowds in the shop. However, she noticed something: the people coming and going were dressed much better than before, no longer all of them ordinary folks in coarse cloth. More people were now wearing silk, satin, suits, and dresses. Strangely, in the past, those who came to pawn their belongings mostly looked distressed, hesitant, or even sad and reluctant, after all, they were pawning important family property.

But after sitting in the private room and looking out for a long time, she noticed that the well-dressed people all came over with smiles on their faces. They didn't haggle over the price; Zhao Ding could write down whatever amount he wanted, then he would take the pawn ticket, casually stuff it into his pocket, and leave, as if it were no big deal.

"Brother Cheng, I feel like all the customers in our shop are very rich and don't care. They're quite different from the people who used to come here to pawn their things because they were in dire financial straits," she couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Of course, those people are actually paying protection money," Acheng said with a smile.

"What protection fee?" Gui'er asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Miss, you don’t know this. Now that Brother Qiang is under Long Xing’s command, those people who want to curry favor with him and build a relationship with him have to give him gifts, right? But Brother Qiang refuses to accept any of them. So those people take the gifts they want to give as collateral and often don’t intend to redeem them. Then those gifts end up in our possession. The value of those gifts is far more than what we give them as collateral, so it’s actually a disguised form of gift-giving,” A-Cheng said.

"Oh? How can that be? If Long Xing finds out, he'll come after Little Wu! Don't accept it!" Gui'er said worriedly.

"Miss, this is just my guess, but they won't say anything. We can't just stop doing business, can we? Otherwise, we'll drive away our regular customers too," Acheng said with a wry smile.

“But if this continues, Brother Wu will be in great danger,” Gui’er said. “What kind of person is Ouyang Bao? Long Xing was able to fight Ouyang Bao for so long without letting him gain the upper hand. He must be even more cunning and treacherous than Ouyang Bao. Sigh, no, I have to talk to Brother Wu.” She was extremely worried. Life had finally calmed down, and now something bad was about to happen again.

She sat there for a while longer but Wu Mingqiang didn't return. Ah Cheng said that Wu Mingqiang doesn't spend much time at the pawnshop these days because he's busy running around, helping Longxing handle various matters in his territory. He's very busy, having to inspect and entertain those gangs and various bosses.

"Miss, why don't you go home first? Brother Qiang will be home tonight anyway."

Gui'er had no choice but to agree.

As soon as she got home, before she even stepped into the hall, Dingxiang rushed out and said in a panic, "Miss, something terrible has happened! Fourth Madam sent someone over to tell you that Third Young Master is gone."

"What?" Gui'er was somewhat prepared when she saw Sha Yan's condition last time, but she was still shocked when she heard the news. After all, he was too young, and she always felt that there might be a turning point.