A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1082 Being Out of Place with Rich Kids

Ever since Liu Lanfang started questioning Gui'er so thoroughly, she felt uneasy. She didn't want others to know too much about her, so she gradually made excuses to distance herself from Liu Lanfang.

But for some reason, Liu Lanfang still relentlessly sought her out. They would sit together in the classroom, attend classes together, leave classes together, go shopping together, watch plays together, and even suggested going to Gui'er's house to play several times.

Gui'er skillfully declined all offers, but she increasingly felt something was amiss. If it were friends like Tong Yujun and Lin Peishan, who were wealthy but didn't care much about class, it wouldn't matter. However, Liu Lanfang clearly had the air of a rich young lady, and Gui'er couldn't understand why she was trying to get close to her.

She wanted to ask Lin Peishan, but Liu Lanfang was always by her side at school, and she didn't have a good excuse to go to Lin Peishan after leaving school. Besides, she hadn't received any contact from Chen Zhongyu or Lin Peishan, so she couldn't go to them on her own.

After much thought, Gui'er approached Wu Mingqiang and asked him to investigate Liu Lanfang's background.

Wu Mingqiang asked curiously, "Miss, you're usually not very suspicious. Why do you feel that this classmate is acting strangely? Did she say or do something? Do you suspect that she's related to the recent events?"

Gui'er shook her head and said, "No, it's just that she keeps asking about our family situation. She seems very interested in our family's money flow and family members. Moreover, she is clearly a rich girl, with the typical rich girl demeanor, and she is not as approachable as Lin Peishan. I really can't figure out what she wants by deliberately getting closer to me, so I think it would be better to be more careful and know her background."

"Okay, I'll check for you. But you didn't tell him about our family situation, did you? It's best not to mention the Marshal and the Young Marshal. After all, the Japanese army could invade Hong Kong at any time. If your identity is exposed, it will be very dangerous."

"Brother Wu, don't worry, I've never told anyone about this. I've always told people that my family is in business. It's just that when things got tough, my father died and my mother was seriously ill, so we couldn't come over. I was the only one left in Hong Kong. As for our family business, we only have this small pawnshop, which is managed by you as the manager."

“That’s a very good point,” Wu Mingqiang said approvingly. “I’ll go and find out more about this Liu student for you.”

The next day at school, Liu Lanfang came to find Gui'er as usual. This time, the other classmates also noticed something was amiss and said with a smile, "Why are you two always sticking together lately?"

A wealthy young man who used to be in Liu Lanfang's circle also laughed and said, "Yeah, Lanfang, why can't I get a hold of you lately? I was thinking of inviting you to play mahjong the other day."

Liu Lanfang laughed and said, "Why didn't you say so earlier?" Then she turned to Gui'er and said, "Gui'er, let's go to his house to play mahjong after school."

Upon hearing this, Gui'er quickly said, "I'm not going. You guys go. I don't know how to play either."

Liu Lanfang said, "If you don't know how, you should learn even more. Sigh, I really find it hard to imagine. Isn't your family in business? Aren't the biggest pastimes for wealthy businesswomen and their daughters playing mahjong, watching plays, and shopping? How come you don't even know how to play mahjong?"

Gui'er saw this as an opportunity and quickly said, "Because I am an adopted daughter, my family doesn't provide me with much food, clothing, or other necessities. Besides, the eldest wife and concubines don't take me with them when they go out for entertainment. I have no money, I don't know how to fight, and most importantly, I can't afford to fight."

As soon as he said that, the room fell silent.

After a few seconds, a male student walked over and said, "What are you guys talking about? I think I heard you playing mahjong. I want to join in too."

Everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and quickly joked, "Great, let's dominate the city!" Then they all went out, and Liu Lanfang followed her classmates.

Although everyone is a classmate, they are actually divided into different small groups based on their family backgrounds. Gui'er doesn't seem to fit into any of these groups, so she only interacted with Lin Peishan and kept her relationships with other classmates distant.

Many students in the classroom had been listening intently to their conversation, but when they saw those rich kids just abandon Gui'er and leave, they figured there was no point in watching and left as well.

Gui'er sat blankly in the classroom, feeling an unprecedented loneliness. Throughout her academic journey, she had one or two close friends who, despite knowing her situation, had no prejudice and were friends with her without any reservations. She never expected that things would change as she grew up. No, it should be said that the adult world is more realistic. They are adults now, and no matter the era, adults, especially wealthy people, are more realistic.

Thinking of this, she sighed and told herself it didn't matter. Anyway, Liu Lanfang seemed to have a motive for approaching her, although she didn't know what that motive was, but she had a feeling it wasn't anything good.

"Gui'er, are you alright? I heard they bullied you." Lin Peishan suddenly walked in from outside.

"Peishan, you haven't left yet? I clearly saw you go out with your friends just now." Gui'er hurriedly looked around, thankfully there was no one else there.

"I was already at the school gate when I heard them laughing and talking, saying things like you're poor. Did they bully you?" Pei-shan asked anxiously.

"No, I don't know why, but Liu Lanfang has been trying to drag me shopping and drinking coffee with her these past few days. Today she even asked me to play mahjong with her, but I refused. Anyway, we're not on the same wavelength, so it doesn't matter."

"Liu Lanfang? Oh right, you two seem to be getting quite close lately. Are you very familiar with her?"

"No, we usually don't talk much. It's just that you didn't come on the first day of the Japanese military exercise. She told me that her house is near yours and your family won't let her out. After that, we would chat occasionally, but we didn't have much contact. Recently, I don't know why she keeps coming to ask me why we're not together anymore, and whether we've had a fight. I said no, and then for some reason, she started asking me to hang out with her. I'm pretty confused about it."

"Oh, is that so? Her house is indeed not far from ours. But she's not that close to me. Why is she suddenly trying to get on your good side like this?"

"Who knows if she saw me alone and felt sorry for me?" Gui'er said with a wry smile. "I feel that she might actually think that I am the daughter of a down-on-his-luck rich merchant. On the one hand, out of sympathy, and on the other hand, she thinks that even a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and that I have some money or something."