A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1019 Departure from Guangzhou

On the day of departure, just as dawn broke, Gui'er, Wu Mingqiang, and A Si arrived at the Hong Kong pier, where Chen Zhongyu was already waiting with the other comrades and the镖局 (security company) members.

Chen Zhongyu was quite surprised to see Gui'er's outfit, but he praised her highly: "It's fine, she looks like a little boy, as long as she doesn't speak."

He instructed Gui'er: "We specially ordered a ship to transport these supplies to Guangzhou, and then transport them by rail. However, these supplies are being sent to several bases. So once they arrive in Guangzhou, some of the supplies will be transported away, and some comrades will go with them. You just need to follow this Comrade Deng Jun. He is in charge of the supplies in Jiangcheng. Your brother will also come to pick them up, but we don't know where he will pick them up yet. Because we don't have enough manpower, that's why I hired the brothers from the escort agency to help."

Gui'er glanced at Deng Jun. He was in his thirties, about 1.65 meters tall, with a round head and dark skin. He was dressed like a servant, and his appearance was nothing particularly memorable.

"Hello, Brother Deng. I'm sorry to trouble you along the way."

"Comrade Gui'er, right? Your glorious deeds are well-known among our comrades. A woman who can eliminate the Black Detective is a true heroine."

"No, I was just lucky," Gui'er said shyly.

At this moment, Zheng Huaichang walked over and said to Chen Zhongyu, "Mr. Chen, I've checked, the goods are fine, and they're well hidden. Let's set off quickly while it's still early and no one's paying attention. The sooner we get to Guangzhou, the sooner we can have peace of mind. I've already calculated the timing. When we arrive in Guangzhou, it will be just evening, making it easier to take advantage of the chaos, get the goods ashore, and smuggle them away."

Chen Zhongyu nodded and said to everyone, "Let's set off." Wu Mingqiang pulled Gui'er onto the boat, and the others followed suit.

It was just beginning to lighten, and the cranes on the dock hadn't started operating yet. Only a few porters were squatting on the stone steps, smoking their pipes. The captain, a lean old man, was smoking, taking two deep drags before throwing the butt into the water and shouting for the anchor to be raised. The iron chain sank into the sea with a "clatter," and the ship slowly began to move, brushing past a British freighter. The foreigners on deck were peering through binoculars, but seeing how simple their ship was, they only glanced at it before looking away.

As they sailed out of Victoria Harbour, the morning fog was thick, and the Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower in the distance was just a blurry silhouette. Wu Mingqiang leaned against the ship's railing, toying with the wooden sign with the route tag in his hand, and whispered to Gui'er, "Miss, why don't you go into the cabin and rest for a while? I'll take care of you when we arrive."

Gui'er nodded and turned to enter the cabin when a man in a suit walked towards her. He had a mustache and round-framed glasses, and her first impression was that he was Japanese. She was startled and instinctively reached for her waist.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't misunderstand, don't misunderstand, I'm Chinese, I'm Chinese." The man was worldly-wise, and he panicked at first glance, waving his hands repeatedly.

"What's going on?" Wu Mingqiang and A Si heard the noise and rushed over.

Upon seeing this man, Wu Mingqiang smiled and said to Gui'er, "Young Master, this is Lin Zhengfu, an executive of the Japanese trading company. He is also sending some of their company's goods back to Guangzhou, so he is traveling on the same ship as us. Our goods are registered under their company's name. In short, he is our ship's protector."

Lin Zhengfu smiled and said, "Mr. Wu, you too, you didn't even tell your young master. Young master, I'm a good person. The Japanese are in charge in Guangzhou now, and they've closed the port. I've been using my position to help bring a lot of goods back and forth. It's been quite a lot of work, isn't it, Mr. Wu?"

Wu Mingqiang smiled and said, "Yes, yes, Mr. Lin, you've done a great job. Although you've received a lot of money, we are still grateful to you."

Lin Zhengfu was completely unfazed by Wu Mingqiang's joking sarcasm and said, "I am still patriotic. For example, if I hadn't helped bring that batch of penicillin from Hong Kong to Guangzhou last month, how many people would have died in Guangzhou? This time it was Detective Long's introduction, and I've already given you a big discount. I heard these are also medicines. Sigh, if I were found out, I would be executed."

Wu Mingqiang smiled and stepped forward, putting his arm around Lin Zhengtian's shoulder, saying, "That's why I say you've done so much hard work. Come on, let's have a couple of drinks."

Lin Zhengfu kept saying "No, no, no," but his feet followed Wu Mingqiang.

Gui'er entered the cabin, and A Si brought her tea. Then he said, "Miss, Mr. Chen's men and Zheng's men are scattered around the ship. There are also the men of that traitor Lin Zhengfu on the ship. They also have a small batch of goods mixed with ours. You should stay here and not wander around, so as not to arouse their suspicion. I'll be nearby. If you need anything, just call me loudly."

Gui'er knew his arrangement was reasonable, so she nodded and said, "Don't worry, I'll just wait here obediently for the ship to dock. You can let me know before I go out."

She sat in the cabin, looking out through the cracks. Most of the time it was peaceful, with occasional ships passing by, mostly cargo ships flying Japanese and British flags. Sometimes there would be one or two small fishing boats, but they would quickly turn around and run away as soon as they saw them from afar. Gui'er guessed that the fishermen must have seen that this ship was flying a Japanese flag and didn't want to cause trouble.

The boat wasn't moving very fast. After most of the day, they finally saw the shore in the distance. It was already afternoon. Gui'er could hear the sound of a motor in the distance. A Japanese patrol boat patrolling the Pearl River suddenly approached. Lin Zhengfu quickly told his men to hang a wooden sign that read "Mitsui & Co." on the side of the boat, while he stood at the bow with his travel permit in his hand. The Japanese soldiers on the patrol boat looked through their binoculars for a while, checked the Japanese on the wooden sign and the travel permit, cursed a few times, and then sailed away.

Gui'er was inside the cabin, peering out through the cracks in the cabin, her heart pounding. This was the first time she had ever seen Japanese soldiers.

As dusk deepened, the ship entered Guangzhou Bay. The lights on both banks were sparse, and occasionally the searchlights of the watchtowers swept across, casting a pale light on the water.

The ship did not dock. Lin Zhengfu had several small boats lowered, and Gui'er saw them loading goods onto the boats.

At this moment, Wu Mingqiang walked in: "Young Master, we should go."

Although Gui'er was puzzled, she still followed him to the deck.

Lin Zhengfu urged Deng Jun and Zheng Huaichang to hurry up and move the goods onto the small boat: "Hurry up, the docks are heavily inspected at night. Unload your goods here onto the small boat and take them directly ashore. If you go through the dock, the Japanese devils will find out and conduct random checks. Be careful when you are transporting them. If the Japanese military police patrol finds out, it will be fatal."

Gui'er couldn't help but say in a rough voice, "Why are you calling yourself a devil too?"

"Why can't I call them Japanese devils? I'm Chinese. I was working as a clerk in a Japanese trading company, and then suddenly they invaded China, and I became a traitor. Tell me, isn't that unfair? Now I'm going to make more money. Once I've made enough, I'll take my whole family to America. I've been looking for a long time, and right now, of all the countries in the world, only America is rich and has a good geographical location. It won't be invaded. I'm going to open a restaurant. Okay, you guys hurry up."

The bodyguards and several comrades led by Deng Jun carried the cargo bags onto the small boat, making trip after trip to gradually transport the cargo to a remote mudflat.

After most of the goods had been unloaded, Gui'er followed Wu Mingqiang onto the small boat. The icy river water splashed onto her trouser legs. The large boat silently turned around behind her and slowly sailed away.