A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1067 Agreement Reached, Military Exercises Cease

“Lily, we are all alone in Hong Kong. If my second brother can survive, that would be a great thing. But if he really dies in battle one day, it would be very dangerous for me to leave so much money here.”

"Then you don't need to..."

Just as Shali was about to give him a cold shoulder, Acheng suddenly came out of the kitchen with a pot of tea. He went straight to Shali, filled her teacup, and said, "I heard that Fourth Miss has come, so I came to greet you. How are you doing at your husband's house? If your husband is bullying you, just tell us. I'm not very capable; I've only crawled out of a pile of corpses, so taking a life or two is quite easy for me."

Shalili's face turned pale upon hearing this, but she felt she couldn't disgrace her mistress, so she cleared her throat and said, "What era is this? You're still shouting and fighting here. Be careful to serve your young lady well. Gui'er, you should discipline your servants properly so they don't cause trouble and implicate themselves. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now. Come visit me more often in the future; we're all family."

When Gui'er heard that she was leaving, she breathed a sigh of relief and quickly got up to see her off.

Back inside, Acheng said, "Miss, this Fourth Miss and Fourth Concubine are not good people. You should be careful."

Gui'er sighed and said, "I've known who she is for a long time, but we're still family on the surface, so sometimes we can't say things too harshly. Sigh, I wonder when we'll hear from my brother again. If he were here, how would they dare to make such a move?"

The next day happened to be Sunday, and Gui'er thought sadly to herself: I usually like to sleep in, but in this tense situation where gunfire can be heard from time to time, I'm afraid that's not possible.

When she woke up the next day, she found that the sun was already high in the sky.

Gui'er felt something was different, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She got out of bed, walked to the window, and looked out. Suddenly, she realized that the faint, terrifying sounds of gunfire that had been drifting in from afar for almost a month were gone.

She quickly put on her clothes, washed up briefly, and ran downstairs.

"Why is there no sound today?" she asked as she went downstairs.

"Miss, good news! They say the Japanese devils have reached an agreement with the British, so the Japanese devils have stopped performing," Dingxiang said happily.

"Ah?" Gui'er quickly took the newspaper from Dingxiang. The headline on the front page read in large characters: Britain and Japan signed the "Agreement on the Closure of the Burma Road" in Tokyo on July 17. Japan will cease its military exercises in Shenzhen immediately.

"Miss, is that right? I heard them say that they stopped acting because the British agreed to close that highway. Wouldn't it have been better if they had agreed sooner?"

Gui'er shook her head with a wry smile and continued reading.

"Summary of the agreement: Core embargo: The Burma Road will be closed from July 18th, and strategic materials such as arms, ammunition, gasoline, trucks, and railway materials will be prohibited from being transported. Hong Kong will simultaneously implement the same embargo."

Additional tacit agreement: Britain would cooperate with Japan in controlling the British concession in Tianjin, jointly managing the silver held by the Bank of China there, and suppressing anti-Japanese activities; in return, Japan would temporarily suspend its military action against Hong Kong in exchange for British concessions in the Far East.

Gui'er frowned and said, "The highway that China closed was for transporting military supplies to us. The Japanese are still trying to deal with us."

Dingxiang patted her chest and said, "Sigh, I can't worry about these big things. As long as he doesn't break in, that's fine."

At this moment, Wu Mingqiang walked in from outside, and Gui'er hurriedly asked, "Brother Wu, did you go to the front line today? Did the troops participating in the military exercise really withdraw?"

"The exercise has been stopped, but the Japanese army has not withdrawn its main force. I think they are planning to station themselves in Phuket and Shawan for a long time. Moreover, in this military exercise, they simulated an attack and sent planes to scout over. They already know the terrain of Hong Kong like the back of their hand. Not to mention that they have already sent many spies to our side. It is only a matter of time before they attack Hong Kong. It is probably because the British have agreed to their conditions that the military exercise has been stopped."

Gui'er felt it was necessary to tell Chen Zhongyu about this, so she quickly asked Acheng to drive her there.

Upon arriving at the main road, she saw that notices from the Hong Kong British government were posted all over the streets and alleys. Mounted police patrolled the streets on tall horses, followed by several officers holding megaphones, repeatedly shouting: "Government Announcement: Britain and Japan have reached an agreement that the Japanese army will cease its military activities in Shenzhen. Citizens should not panic and should restore normal life as soon as possible."

The shrill hum of the loudspeaker was so loud it hurt people's ears, and the vendors who had just set up their stalls all stopped what they were doing and gathered around the notice board to look at it.

The young man selling newspapers next to me slammed his paper aside; the bold headline on the front page was shocking—"British Government and Japan Reach Consensus: Burma Road Temporarily Closed." The article was full of official rhetoric about "maintaining regional stability" and "avoiding escalation of conflict," with only a brief mention in the corner that "the British side calls this a temporary measure."

The murmurs on the street grew louder. The laborers at the docks threw down their carrying poles, cursing, "The British are just afraid of the Japanese! With this road closed, are all the supplies we donated going to be thrown into the sea to feed the fish?" The Chinese employees at the foreign firms gathered together, one with red eyes, saying, "My brother is fighting in western Yunnan, and he's waiting for this road to transport artillery shells..."

A few people breathed a sigh of relief. Gui'er saw two businessmen in suits chatting on the street: "It's good that it's closed. If the Japanese really come, Hong Kong can live a few more days." "That's right. We ordinary people can't worry about things that far ahead. Preserving our lives is the most important thing."

When Chen Zhongyu arrived at his apartment, Lin Peishan was already there. She crumpled the newspaper into a ball and slammed it on the ground: "The Burma Road is now the most important supply line to the mainland. If it stops, countless people will lose their lives!"

Chen Zhongyu sighed: "There's nothing we can do. The British have always been inclined to take the appeasement route."

Just then, a commotion came from the street outside the window. It turned out that some people were protesting, chanting slogans such as "Oppose closing the Burma Road!" and "Support the anti-Japanese resistance in the mainland!" They were quickly dispersed by patrolling police.

Gui'er then told Chen Zhongyu what Wu Mingqiang had seen.

Chen Zhongyu said, "It seems that Japan has wolfish ambitions, and it's only a matter of time before they attack Hong Kong. We should also be prepared."

Gui'er said worriedly, "The closure of the Burma Road will affect the National Army's supplies. What about us? My brother is still in Jiangcheng. I saw in the newspaper that they are going to strictly inspect supplies transported from Hong Kong back to the mainland. What are we going to do?"