A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1089 Revisiting Lin Peishan

Wu Mingqiang paused for a moment and then said, "Okay." He then escorted Gui'er back to the villa and left.

After finishing her meal, Gui'er glanced at the sky outside. She remembered the look in Lin Peishan's eyes when she went to see the doctor earlier, as if she had something to say. So she said to Acheng, "Brother Acheng, I need to go to the hospital to see Peishan again. Can you take me there? Oh, and by the way, have the kitchen make some chicken soup so I can take it with me."

Mary Hospital was even more solemn at night than during the day. The gas lamps at the entrance flickered, illuminating the hurried figures of nurses. Gui'er asked Acheng to park the car on the street corner. She had already changed out of her daytime clothes and was carrying a food box containing chicken soup. She pretended to be a distant relative of the Lin family and managed to get past the gatekeeper's questioning.

The corridor on the second floor was so quiet you could hear the ticking of a clock. Gui'er tiptoed to the door of room 307 and saw that only a bedside lamp was on. She then gently knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" the person inside asked warily.

“It’s me, Sha Gui’er.”

The door was opened a crack, and Lin Peishan's mother peeked out, her eyes filled with exhaustion: "Peishan just fell asleep, you..."

"Auntie, I'll just say one thing and then I'll leave." Gui'er handed over the food box. "This is chicken soup that we made at home. Maybe she can have a sip when she wakes up."

The ward reeked of disinfectant. Lin Peishan was awake, leaning against the pillows, her eyes, hidden behind gauze, shining brightly. She gestured for her mother to leave before grasping Gui'er's hand, her fingertips icy cold: "That truck deliberately crashed into us."

Gui'er's heart clenched, and she sat down on the edge of the bed: "Tell me slowly."

“There weren’t many cars on Wan Chai Road in the early morning,” Lin Peishan’s voice trembled. “Our car had just crossed the intersection when that truck suddenly rushed out of the alley and crashed straight into the passenger side—I was sitting right there.” She gasped for breath, tears streaming down her face. “Zhongyu reacted quickly, swerving the steering wheel and ramming the driver’s seat into the truck. I only heard a loud crash, and all the car windows shattered. I felt a terrible headache, and then I quickly lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was already in the hospital…” She finished speaking, her expression pained, and tears streamed down her face.

"If it weren't for saving me, Zhongyu wouldn't have..."

"This isn't your fault, it's the truck driver's fault. Don't worry, everything will be investigated and cleared up." Gui'er gripped her hand tightly, her knuckles turning white.

It seems that Chen Zhongyu deliberately took the danger upon himself, protecting Lin Peishan with his life.

"Did you see the truck driver clearly?"

“It was a man wearing a baseball cap,” Lin Peishan shook her head. “I didn’t see his face clearly, but I remember that after the car crash, he didn’t look back and ran straight towards the dock. Zhongyu said that there are often Japanese plainclothes officers around the dock area.” She suddenly grabbed Gui’er tightly. “This can’t be a coincidence, right? My parents both said it was an accident, but I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it, Gui’er.”

Gui'er recalled the disappearances of Professor Xu and Professor Meng, and Du Jianbang's words about the "frequent actions of the Japanese," and a chill ran down her spine. She also felt that this was not an isolated accident, but a premeditated purge, targeting those active progressives.

Does your father know about this?

“I told you,” Lin Peishan closed her eyes, “he just thought it was an accident and told me to take good care of my injuries and not to overthink things. But I know that Zhongyu’s death was suspicious, and I will never see him again, never again.” As she spoke, tears streamed down her face once more.

"Peishan, please accept my condolences. I am also very saddened, but our main task now is for you to recover. I will investigate this matter and notify the comrades who have not yet been evacuated."

Just then, footsteps sounded in the hallway, and your wife pushed open the door and said, "Student Sha, it's getting late, you see..."

Gui'er quickly stood up and said apologetically, "Auntie, I'm leaving now. You've worked hard taking care of Peishan, so please take care of yourself too." Then she turned back to Lin Peishan and said, "I'll go back first. You take good care of yourself and don't be too sad. Try to think positively."

“Gui’er,” Lin Peishan called out to her, her voice very low, “Next to the cashier at Xinmin Bookstore, in the third loose brick, there’s a list… a roster of our comrades and their contact points.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the nurse pushed open the door and came in to change the IV drip. Gui'er could only nod hurriedly, turn around and walk out of the ward.

As she walked out of the hospital, Ah Cheng waited anxiously at the street corner. Seeing her come out, he quickly went up to her and asked, "Miss, are you alright?"

Gui'er shook her head, looked at the hospital lights, and said softly, "Drive to Xinmin Bookstore."

When I arrived at Xinmin Bookstore, it was completely dark. This wasn't the main street, so there weren't many people around. The surrounding shops were also closing up shop, but the doors of Xinmin Bookstore remained closed.

Gui'er thought for a moment. If they opened the main door of Xinmin Bookstore directly, it might arouse suspicion. So she said to Acheng, "Brother Acheng, we should be able to enter the bookstore through the back door, right?"

Acheng nodded and said, "I still have the key with me. The back door staircase was originally designed to make it easier to go straight to the second floor without having to go through the front door, but the bookstore has also opened a door that connects to the back door staircase."

The two parked the car, went to the back, opened the door and went inside. They turned on the lights, then went up to the second floor and turned on the lights again, pretending to be going to the second floor. They then looked through the second-floor window to make sure no one was paying attention or watching them before quietly going down to the first floor and opening the back door of the bookstore.

To avoid being discovered, they didn't turn on the lights but instead used flashlights.

Acheng asked, "Miss, what are we looking for?"

"There's a loose brick on the wall next to the cashier's counter, and there's a list left by Brother Chen there."

The two carefully removed all the wall tiles near the cashier, and finally found a loose tile near the floor. Gui'er quickly pried it out and found that it was empty.

"Could it be that the shop assistant from the original store took it first?" Acheng said.

Gui'er was at a loss for what to do. She also thought it was possible, but she was also worried that if it had been taken by someone else, all the comrades would be in danger.

“Miss, since the things have already been taken, there’s no point in us staying here any longer. It’s getting late, let’s go back first. Tomorrow I’ll have Brother Qiang send someone to keep watch here. If anyone comes here, we’ll know immediately. Are you relieved?”

Gui'er stood there, thinking and thinking but unable to come up with any other solution, so she could only sigh and say, "Alright then."

The two came out of the back door and were about to get into the car when suddenly a dark figure darted out from the shadows and walked straight up to Gui'er.

Acheng was startled and pulled Gui'er behind him, reaching for his gun at his waist.