A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1078 Going to the bookstore to check the situation

Gui'er sensed something was wrong. She said, "How can we not find anything at all? There are two perfectly healthy people here. No, I have to go find Brother Chen."

Wu Mingqiang grabbed her arm and said, “Don’t go. I feel the atmosphere in Hong Kong is strange right now. When I went out to gather information, I found out that the Kuomintang has an intelligence organization in Hong Kong, using the Office of the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs as a cover. The person in charge is Wang Xinheng. It seems that the big spy chief Dai Li once went to Hong Kong to deploy missions and carry out intelligence, subversion and assassination operations. I don’t know if it’s related to them. If so, your Brother Chen and Lin are in danger. They’ve probably been targeted for a long time. If you go, you’ll just be sending yourself to your death. Miss, we don’t need to make a pointless sacrifice.”

Gui'er collapsed onto the sofa, not knowing what to do.

The next day, she asked Ah Cheng to buy a lot of Hong Kong newspapers to check for any relevant news. However, they were all just gossip and didn't even mention the movements of the Japanese. The Hong Kong British authorities were just whitewashing the situation.

She suddenly thought of Xinmin Bookstore, so she quickly asked Acheng to drive her there, pretending to buy books, and they went to Xinmin Bookstore.

Originally, Wu Mingqiang didn't even want her to come to Xinmin Bookstore, but Gui'er said, "That place is also your house. If something happens, it will affect us. We might as well take a look now. We'll check it out from the outside first, and if we feel something is wrong, we'll pretend to be going to your house to pack our things. We'll just go upstairs."

Left with no other choice, Wu Mingqiang agreed and insisted on going with him.

The three of them set off together in a car, which stopped as soon as it turned into the street where the house was located.

"Acheng, park the car here first, then go out and drive around to see if anyone is watching us," Wu Mingqiang instructed.

Acheng nodded, got out of the car, and walked towards the bookstore as if nothing had happened.

Wu Mingqiang cautiously observed his surroundings.

A dozen minutes later, Acheng returned: "There were no people watching around the bookstore, but there weren't many customers inside either. The young shop assistant was watching the store earlier, and when I saw no one was around, I went in to ask how business was lately."

Is his reaction normal?

"He's alright. He seems to remember that I accompanied Miss here before, and he even asked why Miss didn't come this time?"

"Then everything should be alright, let's go over there." Gui'er couldn't wait to know how her comrades were doing.

Ah Cheng had no choice but to drive to the bookstore entrance. Gui'er got out of the car and went inside. There were one or two other customers buying books inside.

Gui'er deliberately looked around inside. Pretending to be choosing books, she waited until the customer left before casually picking up a book and pretending to pay. She then walked to the counter and looked at Liang Ping: "Brother Liang Ping, it's been a while. How's business at the store?"

Liang Ping was wiping the counter with a rag when he heard this. He looked up and smiled, a hint of restraint in the fine lines around his eyes. "Oh, it's you. Long time no see. I hope things are going well. It's just that the inspections have been strict lately. Many books are being labeled as 'progressive' and can't be displayed. Getting new stock is also difficult. A batch of progressive publications that arrived recently was confiscated by the police as soon as they were put on the shelves." He lowered his voice. "By the way, there's a new book called 'Red Star Over China,' which is a good book. Do you want it?"

Gui'er nodded, pretending to flip through a book, her gaze sweeping over the empty bookshelf: "I went to Macau a while ago, and I only learned from the newspapers that things aren't peaceful in Hong Kong. Professor Xu and Professor Meng got into trouble. Did you know about this?"

Liang Ping paused in his hand holding the rag, glanced at the door, and then said in a low voice, "The shop has heard about this, and everyone is very anxious, but no one has any clue." He picked up a copy of the Analects and pretended to organize it. "Mr. Chen and Miss Lin haven't come for a while. They usually come to pick up their books every week, but they haven't shown up for almost half a month."

"Have you tried contacting them?" Gui'er pressed, her heart pounding in her throat.

“I can’t get in touch with them,” Liang Ping sighed. “There are rules in the organization; subordinates can’t just contact their superiors. They always contact me with a code when they have news. A few days ago, I tried putting a pot of jasmine in the shop window as usual, which was a signal that we were supposed to meet, but there’s still no word.” He wrapped up the copy of “Red Star Over China” that Gui’er wanted and handed it to her. “If Miss Sha sees them, tell them that everything is fine in the shop and that they can rest assured.”

Gui'er was very worried, but there was nothing she could do. She didn't ask any more questions, took the book, paid for it, and left the bookstore.

Back in the car, Wu Mingqiang and Acheng looked out again before slowly starting the car.

"Miss, how did it go? Did you get the information you wanted?"

Gui'er shook her head in disappointment: "That guy said they haven't been in contact for a long time. Could it be that something happened to them too?"

Wu Mingqiang quickly comforted them, "I guess it's because things are too tense, and they cut off contact so as not to implicate others. Aren't you classmates with Miss Lin? You'll naturally see her when school starts, and you'll even have a chance to talk. Don't worry too much. I don't think Mr. Chen is an ordinary person; he won't be easily caught."

Gui'er then remembered that she really did need to register for school in a few days.

The day before school started, Gui'er went to the academic affairs office to complete her registration. As soon as she stepped out of the office building, she bumped into Chen Muli, who was carrying a stack of lecture notes. He was wearing a gray cloth long gown, and his glasses had slipped down to the tip of his nose. When he saw Gui'er, he smiled and asked, "Gui'er, how was your holiday?"

"It was alright. I worked as a clerk at a foreign firm for a month, which was kind of a social internship, and then I went to Macau for two days." Gui'er suddenly remembered that Chen Muli was also a professor at the university. Could he know anything about Xu Jing and Meng Haoliang? She quickly stepped forward, "By the way, Mr. Chen, do you know anything about Professor Xu and Professor Meng?"

Chen Muli pushed up his glasses, paused, his eyes flickered, and coughed lightly: "Student Sha, although I am from the same school as the two professors, we have very little contact." He looked around and lowered his voice, "I only heard that the school reported it to the police, and the Hong Kong authorities are still investigating. As for the specifics... I don't know."

"I heard they went missing because they attended a student rally. Could it be related? They've been missing for so long, and there's been no progress at all?" Gui'er pressed.

Chen Muli's fingers tightened around the lecture notes, the pages making a slight rustling sound. "Student Sha, this is a very sensitive matter. The school doesn't allow us to ask too many questions. As a girl, you should focus on your studies." With that, he nodded slightly, picked up the lecture notes, and hurriedly left.

Gui'er wanted to ask more, but he had already walked away.

She understood; she felt that Chen Muli was the kind of person who focused solely on teaching and didn't want to concern himself with other matters.