A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1029 Another Farewell

Soon, the car stopped. Gui'er quietly peeked out through the hole in the canvas cover. It was a residential area, relatively quiet, with only nearby residents. They didn't seem to care much about the car's appearance, obviously because Manager Liu often drove this car home.

Wu Mingqiang jumped out of the car, walked to a house by the roadside, knocked on the door and called out, "Ah Si, let's go."

Instead, he came out of the house and was both surprised and delighted to see Sha Yanxiao sitting in the car. He opened his mouth to say something, but an old woman followed him out. She glanced at the car and, noticing that it wasn't Manager Liu sitting inside, asked worriedly, "Ah Si, when is my Ah Cai coming back?"

Ah Si turned to him and said, "Auntie, I'm going to pick up your Ah Cai now, don't worry."

The old woman hesitated, but ultimately said nothing. A little boy handed Ah Si a package wrapped in newspaper, saying, "Uncle Ah Si, take these sweet potatoes and eat them on the way."

Ah Si took it, patted his head and said, "Good boy, go back now."

Wu Mingqiang pointed behind him, and A Si nodded and nimbly jumped into the car.

The car started up again.

"Ah Si."

"Ah Hu? Zhu Zi? What are you doing here?"

“We came here with Shao and Captain Sha. You're still alive? You even went to Hong Kong to find prostitutes. You've got some skills.”

"Sigh, I couldn't find you guys. Going it alone makes you vulnerable to being shot in the back. We've become well-known in Jiangcheng. All the gangs we've dealt with before recognize us. So I just came to Hong Kong. At least I'll have a chance to survive. What do you guys think?"

“We were fighting a guerrilla war in Jiangcheng. Last month, while we were patrolling the mountains, we ran into a group of Japanese scouts disguised as locals. We saw through their disguise and killed them without firing a single shot. We just smeared snake venom on our knives and took them out. Besides the gun, that guy was also carrying canned food. We confiscated it all and took it back to have a good meal with the brothers.”

"Are the brothers alright?"

“…Shunzi, who was from the same village as you, was hit in the head by a stray bullet during an ambush and died. Some of our brothers from the army also sacrificed their lives,” Ah Hu said in a low voice.

"However, we didn't let the Japanese gain much advantage. They dug pits and planted explosives along the railway line all day long, and ambushed people when they came down. We were able to seize quite a lot of equipment."

They discussed it enthusiastically. The car was shaking quite a bit, and everyone was a little carsick, but after hearing what they were saying, they weren't carsick anymore.

After driving for about half an hour, the car slowly came to a stop.

Everyone got off the car, and Gui'er looked around at the surroundings, which seemed very familiar.

Is this near the train station?

Sha Yanxiao walked over and patted her head, saying, "You guessed right, this is one of our locations near the train station. Some comrades should be coming to pick us up."

Deng Jun said, "This is much later than we originally agreed. They've probably already retreated. I'll go into the village to find them. You guys stay hidden in the surrounding area." With that, he strode into the village.

After a while, several people pulling carts followed Deng Jun out of the village.

The leader was a man in his forties wearing a homespun long gown who looked like an elder in the village with high seniority and influence.

"Come on, everyone, transfer the goods to the flatbed carts. We've already prepared everything and informed the people at the station. We'll mix the goods with the Japanese goods and the passengers will board in batches."

Everyone hurriedly loaded the goods onto the cart.

The leader said to the group, "Send two people with me to pretend to be escorting the goods. The rest of you will enter the station in two or three groups. We've already bought a few tickets. For the extra people, let them sneak onto the train first and then buy the tickets later. The ticket inspector is one of our own."

Sha Yanxiao walked up to Gui'er and said, "Gui'er, I'm leaving now. Take care of yourself." Then he glanced at Wu Mingqiang.

Wu Mingqiang nodded heavily and said, "Young Master, don't worry, I will risk my life to protect Miss."

Sha Yanxiao patted Wu Mingqiang on the shoulder: "Thank you."

Suddenly, Ah Si stepped forward and said to Sha Yanxiao, "Young Master, I want to go back and fight the Japanese devils with you. In Hong Kong, Brother Qiang and Ah Cheng are enough."

Sha Yanxiao hesitated for a moment before glancing at Gui'er.

Gui'er quickly said, "Since Fourth Brother wants to go back to his hometown and stay with his brothers, then you should take him back with you, brother."

Sha Yanxiao nodded and said, "Okay."

Ah Si, Ah Hu, and Zhu Zi were all in high spirits, their arms around each other's shoulders.

"Alright, let's not waste any more time, let's go." The leader urged.

The other comrades continued walking forward.

Ah Si approached Gui'er, bowed, and said, "Miss, thank you for your care these past few days. I'm leaving now. Please take care."

Gui'er quickly took out two silver dollars and handed them to him, saying, "Fourth Brother, you should take care of yourself. Here are two silver dollars for you to use for self-defense."

Ah Si quickly waved his hand, and Wu Mingqiang said, "Miss, please accept this kind gesture."

Ah Si then accepted the money and said to Wu Mingqiang, "Brother Qiang, take care of yourself too."

Wu Mingqiang nodded, turned around and pulled Gui'er to sit in the passenger seat, closed the door, then went around to the driver's seat, got in, started the car, and reversed to turn around.

Gui'er quickly stuck her head out of the window. She wanted to call out to Sha Yanxiao, but she was afraid of attracting attention, and tears streamed down her face.

Sha Yanxiao seemed to sense it, turned his head, waved in their direction, and then turned and left.

“Miss, this place is very close to the train station, and there are usually a lot of spies around. We need to leave quickly.” Wu Mingqiang said as he sped up, “You should pull your head back in.”

Gui'er took a deep breath and pulled her head back.

"Let's go to the dock now."

They arrived at the pier in the afternoon. Because they had been in a hurry that day and hadn't disembarked from the pier, they weren't very familiar with the situation there.

Looking out the car window, Gui'er saw that the Pearl River docks were no longer bustling as they used to be. The cranes, rusted like scrap metal, stood forlornly on the shore, their cables broken into several pieces and swaying in the wind. Most of the planks on the pier were rotten, revealing the blackened wooden stakes underneath, which creaked when stepped on.

Several Japanese soldiers patrolled the shore with their guns on their shoulders, their boots slamming against the broken glass. Floating in the water were broken wooden crates, tattered straw hats, and a half-submerged sampan, the words "Guangzhou" on the deck half-shattered by bullets.

The shop signs on the dock were all over the ground. The wooden signs of "Guangji" and "Shunchang" were trampled to pieces, leaving only a piece of iron sign that read "For the Use of the Imperial Japanese Army" gleaming coldly in the setting sun.