kvmb Chapter 1066 The Clash Between the Sisters
Chapter 1066 The Clash Between the Sisters
Just then, a deliveryman rushed in through the door, clutching a piece of paper in his hand: "Editor-in-chief, the news department has replied. 'New Territories Garrison Movements' can be published, but we need to add a sentence: 'The British garrison is heavily fortified, and the public need not worry.'"
Editor-in-Chief Zhao took the paper, glanced at it, and crumpled it into a ball: "Add it! Why not add it?" He said to the young reporter, "Change it according to their wishes, change 'British troops are increasing their troops to deal with the threat' to 'routine troop rotation'. Okay, hurry up and go to the layout, or we'll miss tomorrow morning's newsstand."
The reporter ran away at the sound of her voice. Zhou Hong looked at Gui'er, her eyes full of helplessness: "Gui'er, you see? Now we not only have a low circulation, but it's also hard to say whether we can even publish anything. Those articles you wrote about your experiences in the mainland, I'm afraid they can't be published now either. Our circulation is unstable right now, and we don't need to write any advertising copy. You go back and wait. I'll contact you if I need anything."
Gui'er could only nod with a smile, her heart heavy. This wasn't news censorship; it was clearly covering her eyes and plugging her ears. These British were truly worse than the guerrillas in the mainland. It seemed there was no hope of them if they really attacked.
As she got up to leave, Editor-in-Chief Zhao was revising an editorial, his pen gliding across the paper as he changed "vigilance" to "wait and see."
As I walked out of the newspaper office, the newsboys on the street were still shouting, "The area of the Japanese military exercise has been reduced." But few pedestrians paid any attention. One of them, seeing that he had been shouting for a long time, couldn't bear it and stopped to say to him, "Kid, stop shouting. Nobody believes this kind of newspaper. The exercise area is so close. Even if people don't go to see it, they can still hear it."
The newsboy, upon hearing this, thought it made sense and walked away dejectedly.
Days passed by, and the people in the unaffected areas gradually became numb. They began to speculate that it might just be a military exercise to negotiate with the British, and had nothing to do with ordinary people like them. It was just to scare the British, after all, the British warships and cannons were much more powerful than China's, and the Japanese probably wouldn't dare to mess with them.
However, a considerable number of foreigners and people with relatives abroad still left.
Sally also complained to Gui'er that even though her trading company was selling counterfeit goods under false pretenses and insisted on claiming to be selling domestic products, business was still much slow.
Ever since Gui'er delivered the air defense manual, Shalili has become quite close to Gui'er for some reason. She takes the initiative to visit Gui'er and is very polite, always bringing a souvenir with her.
Gui'er sensed that she had ulterior motives, but no matter what, she was still nominally a sister to the bureau chief, and she didn't hit a smiling face, so she still received her politely and considerately.
"Gui'er, although you are our family's adopted daughter, you are the most blessed among our sisters. Look how much your second brother loves you and has bought you so many things. Unlike me, I have to live under someone else's roof and have to watch that little vixen's face." She said enviously, looking around at the villa's furnishings.
"Lily is joking. You are the most fortunate one. When you got married, your eldest and second brothers both sent gifts, and the Marshal and his wife probably did too. As for the Fourth Concubine's family property, she probably already gave away a lot of it to you and your siblings." Gui'er didn't reveal everything. The Fourth Concubine's wealth was by no means small. She must have already moved out of the Marshal's mansion so readily back then.
However, Gui'er now sees that she eats, drinks, and lives at her husband's house, and her lifestyle is not as extravagant as when she was in the Marshal's Mansion. Where did all this money go? Given how shrewd these two women are, they certainly wouldn't be subsidizing their husband's family.
A look of surprise flashed across Shalili's face for a second, but she quickly recovered and said with a smile, "My mother has been suppressed by the eldest son's family for many years. How could she have saved up any money? Besides, my brother is like that. My mother had to subsidize him quite a bit to help him get married. And now my brother's daughter is with me, and my family has brought in an outsider. I'm really in a tight spot."
"Oh dear, I know it's not easy for you either, but I know you'll never lack money. Your brother is gone, and now your niece is with you. Given Fourth Madam's personality, she's definitely gotten back what was owed to your brother. But you're quite cautious, aren't you? I see you're dressing more and more frugally." Gui'er was afraid that she might be up to some bad idea again, so she exposed this point first.
Sha Lili paused for a moment, somewhat embarrassed: "I thought you were usually a bit slow and clumsy, but I didn't expect you to be so thoughtful. Oh dear, but let's not say who's smarter. Back then, Father seized so much treasure from Miss Shen's family. After Director Shen died, it all went to our family. In the end, Second Brother handled all of this treasure. Now Second Brother's fate is unknown in the mainland. This treasure is in your hands, isn't it?"
Gui'er nodded calmly: "It is indeed in my hands, but it's almost all gone. My brother is fighting the Japanese devils in the mainland. Although I can't help him fight, I can't just watch him suffer. So in the past two years, I've been secretly buying supplies, like medicine, cotton, guns and ammunition, and shipping them to Jiangcheng in batches. Now the money is almost gone, and I'm living off the little profit from the pawnshop."
"What? You, you..." Sally jumped up, realizing she had lost her composure, and quickly sat down again. She cleared her throat and said, "How could you be so stupid? All this money is gone. What will you eat when the Japanese invade? Don't think your little pawnshop can make a lot of money."
Gui'er looked at her with some confusion, not understanding why she suddenly lost her temper.
After finishing her long speech, Sally thought for a moment and then asked, "Is it really all gone?"
"That's about it. I took a sum of money from there to open this pawnshop, and I really don't have any money left."
"Sigh, forget it. I was thinking that my sister and I could start a small business together, but these days you can't trust men."
Gui'er thought to herself that she was right after all; the fourth concubine and her daughter were indeed as shrewd as crystal monkeys.
She guessed that the mother and daughter were envious of the assets Sha Yanxiao had given her and wanted to find ways to swindle some of them from her.
“Lily, my second brother is now fighting bravely in Jiangcheng. It’s dangerous and expensive. I heard that my father spent a lot of money to become a general. So when school was out for break, I went back to Guangzhou with the supplies and asked someone to take all the remaining gold and silver treasures back to him.”
"Are you stupid? How can you give it all away?" Shali cried out anxiously. She had actually been eyeing the money for a long time. If Gui'er were alone in Hong Kong, she and Fourth Madam could have taken care of her. She hadn't made a move because she was wary of Wu Mingqiang and Acheng, since she knew they were assassins left behind by Miss Ji.