A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1048 Dragon Rising's Test

Gui'er sighed deeply upon hearing this, and quickly took out a silver coin and handed it to him, saying, "Brother Afa, please accept my condolences and take good care of yourself."

Ah Fa tried to refuse, but the shopkeeper next to him said, "It's a gift from the young lady, so just take it. Don't be stingy." Only then did Ah Fa accept it.

Gui'er memorized the story and thought about how to polish it when she got back. Not wanting to waste any more time, she turned around, got up, and prepared to leave.

"Hey, isn't this Gui'er?" A familiar voice came from behind.

Gui'er turned around and saw that it was Long Xing, who was swaggering up from the first floor with his henchmen. The restaurant owner hurriedly went up to greet them.

"Hello, Detective Long, what a coincidence! Are you here for tea too?" Gui'er noticed that Wu Mingqiang wasn't there and felt a little strange. This teahouse wasn't particularly famous, and Longxing had already handed over the management of this area to Wu Mingqiang. Why was he personally coming down to inspect it? Thinking of this, she couldn't help but become wary.

Long Xing laughed and took the opportunity to sit down at their table. The owner had originally intended to lead him to a larger table next to them. Seeing this, he immediately understood and hurriedly said to A Fa, "What are you waiting for? Go and brew a pot of fresh tea."

Long Xing said, "I don't usually walk around here. I was just passing by today and thought it had been a long time since I'd come here to patrol. This used to be Ouyang Bao's territory, but I haven't been here much since I took over, so I came to take a look."

Gui'er was about to say something nice when the boss interrupted her.

"Detective Long is truly an honest and upright official, taking care of small businesses like ours. If you could come and sit here more often, there would be far fewer people trying to freeload or extort money from us. Please come often in the future."

Long Xing rolled his eyes at him. The boss realized he had spoken out of turn and immediately shut his mouth, backing away while saying with an embarrassed smile, "Ah, I have something to do next. You guys chat, you guys chat."

After the boss left, Long Xing gave him a single glance, and his men took up their seats at the surrounding tables in twos and threes. There weren't many diners on the second floor to begin with, but seeing this, they all quickly left or called the waiters to move them to a table downstairs.

Gui'er sensed that the visitors were up to no good, but she pretended to be oblivious, picked up the teapot and poured Long Xing a cup of tea, saying with a smile, "Detective Long, try the tea here, it's really good."

Acheng, sitting upright to the side, had already looked over all the henchmen Longxing had brought and checked the surrounding environment, pondering which way he could leave the second floor more quickly.

“Oh my, your brother looks very nervous. He seems well-trained. No wonder I noticed that Wu Mingqiang was different from the other butlers.”

Gui'er smiled and lowered her head: "Detective Long has met my father, so he should know the details of my family."

Long Xing picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "I have met you and know about your family's situation, but I am very surprised that you still have so many skilled people with you in this situation. Usually, wealthy families would have collapsed and scattered long ago by now."

"That's probably because my brothers watched me grow up. They couldn't bear to see me wandering alone in the countryside. Detective Long also knows that if a woman from a wealthy family falls on hard times, her fate is often not good. I'm just lucky to have the help of these brothers."

Long Xing raised his finger and shook it, saying, "Not necessarily. Who would follow an orphan girl around for no reason? Either there's something to gain, or... she's a capable person."

"I don't have any special skills, I'm just an ordinary person," Gui'er said with a smile.

“Miss Sha, you’re too modest. Ordinary girls wouldn’t want to go back to the occupied zone they’ve escaped with such difficulty. Miss Sha, not only did you go back, but you came back safely. There aren’t many women in all of Hong Kong who could do that, are there? By the way, Xiao Wu hasn’t told me much about what you saw and heard in Guangzhou. We’ve recently started doing business with people in Guangzhou. Why don’t you tell me about it?”

Gui'er was certain that she had guessed correctly; he had come to test her.

“Detective Long, you are also a patriot. You have provided a lot of convenience for our trip to Guangzhou. I would like to thank you in advance.” Gui’er said, picking up the teapot and refilling his teacup.

"The current situation in Guangzhou is nothing short of hell on earth. The ruins and rubble from the Japanese bombing of Guangzhou haven't even been cleared yet. Businesses are in a state of depression, and some poor families can't even afford rice. Sweet potatoes are considered a good option to fill their stomachs. Some people are even eating coarse bran mixed with grains. During the few days I was there, I hardly saw any women walking on the streets. It was mostly men. I was afraid that the Japanese patrolling the streets and the puppet regime members might have bad intentions. It's embarrassing to admit, even though you say I can come and go as I please, I actually stayed in the hotel most of the time when I was in Guangzhou and hardly went out at all. I only heard this information from the locals in the hotel. I wanted to buy a newspaper to understand the situation, but I found that it was all praising the so-called 'Imperial Paradise' and the 'Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.' Sigh, after this trip to Guangzhou, I can really understand the feelings of some people who died for their country."

Her words deeply moved Long Xing and his men, and their faces darkened.

"By the way, it seems you didn't come back on that Mitsui & Co. cargo ship. Why didn't you take the original route?"

Gui'er's worry was finally asked: "I'm also quite puzzled by this. It was arranged by Brother Wu. He went to the black market a few times and came back to tell me that he knew a smuggler who could take us back to Hong Kong, so I didn't think much of it. What's wrong?"

“You two are truly blessed by God. A few days ago, a ship was found drifting in the middle of the sea not far from the coast of Hong Kong. It was completely deserted. After checking, it turned out to be a cargo ship owned by Mitsui & Co. The crew members were all missing. According to insiders, Lin Zhengfu was seen boarding this ship in Guangzhou.” After saying this, Long Xing’s gaze fell on Gui’er’s face, waiting for her reaction.

"Really? That's so strange! Could it be pirates? Water bandits? But those are Japanese ships! Those people are incredibly audacious!" Gui'er said, feigning surprise and covering her mouth.

"Moreover, according to our investigation, Lin Zhengfu made money by helping people smuggle themselves from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. We suspect that this incident may be related to this matter."

“That definitely needs to be investigated thoroughly. Detective Long, you don’t know, there are all sorts of people on the road these days. Take this boss’s nephew, for example, he just came from next door to our hometown. His family had an accident on the road, resulting in the death of both parents and the loss of all their money. It’s really tragic.”