The long-haired man reached out and directly lifted Ye Qingning up, raising her high into the air.
Ye Qingning: He is clearly trained.
Her grandfather had said that many people in this era had real skills, and it turned out he had not been lying.
But she was not so easy to bully. She immediately stepped on his face with one foot.
“Hey, hey, that’s not cute at all,” the man said.
“Put me down.”
She was not really a child. This behavior damaged her Queen-like dignity.
Ye Qingning was put down as she wished.
“My name is Liu Jinting. Little one, what is your name?”
“Ye Qingning.”
“I know what you want, but unfortunately I am already being watched. So you can only pass the message and make other plans.”
“You mean the man selling candied hawthorn at the opposite door, and the one smoking at the street corner?”
“Good observation. From today onward, you are my distant relative. The daughter of my second uncle’s third uncle’s cousin’s family.”
“What kind of people are they? Why are they watching you?”
“Bad people. They want to find the medicine I’m hiding here. I even want to burn it all and erase the traces. It is extremely expensive—more expensive than gold. They probably do not have much patience left and want to tear my house apart.”
“This place is not bad.”
The environment was quiet, the decoration old-fashioned. At a glance, the owner seemed like someone who knew how to enjoy life.
It did not look like a proper handicraft shop.
“Do you know why I have been fine until now?” Liu Jinting said. “Because I am liked by women.”
“Shameless!”
“Hahaha, little one, I quite like you too. How about becoming my little sister? If I die someday, you can inherit this shop. No, I will go change the registration today. How about it?”
“……”
Ye Qingning could not keep up with his rhythm. His attitude changed too quickly.
He was good-looking, yes, but a pity.
“Little one, what kind of look is that?”
“Do you remember why I came here?” Ye Qingning reminded him.
“Isn’t it to deliver a message? Something happened with the Japanese yesterday, martial law was imposed, they probably cannot come.”
“If I do something, I do it perfectly!”
“So? Do you have a solution?”
“Where is the medicine?”
“Right in front of your eyes.”
Ye Qingning looked at the largest carving in the shop—a beautiful woman statue.
“Good eye, little one. Someone almost bought it yesterday. I was so nervous. Do I look pale today?”
Ye Qingning stepped forward and hugged the statue. Without using her ability, it could not be moved.
“Don’t mess around. You might knock it over,” Liu Jinting said, casually shifting the statue aside.
“You look weak.”
“Don’t judge people by appearances. Have you eaten? I’ll take you to eat.”
“Meat.”
“Deal!”
Liu Jinting closed the shop and put up a “closed” sign. For safety, Ye Qingning collected the medicine hidden inside the statue.
Neither of them knew that after they left, someone entered the shop to search. They even knocked and inspected the statue, but of course found nothing.
“Didn’t expect you, little one, to eat so much.”
“You are stingy.”
“I’m stingy? I took you to the best restaurant and ordered the most expensive dishes! I spent half my entire fortune on you. If I don’t reopen soon, I’ll starve.”
While Liu Jinting was complaining, he opened the shop again and immediately noticed it had been disturbed. Seeing the statue still there, he finally relaxed.
“Eat well, then work. I’ll carry the statue away.”
“You already tried—you cannot move it. Even if you could, you cannot leave the Concessions.”
“A rickshaw!” Ye Qingning called out when she saw one passing outside.
She immediately tried to lift the statue, but Liu Jinting took it from her.
Ye Qingning: Good thing I put the medicine back.
“I’ll deliver it myself.”
“Brother, you don’t trust me?”
For a moment, Liu Jinting seemed to see a girl with tearful eyes looking at him, then disappearing under Japanese gunfire.
Taking advantage of his distraction, Ye Qingning quickly loaded the statue onto the rickshaw and slipped away.
Of course, if he followed her, how would she leave the Concessions?
“Miss, where are you going?” Sheng did not expect to meet the same young lady again.
Ye Qingning casually gave an address.
“Alright, please sit properly, miss.”
“It’s you. Didn’t expect to meet again.”
“Miss still remembers me?”
“It has only been a few days. How could I forget so quickly?”
She was not suffering from dementia.
“You are truly kind-hearted,” the driver said.
Ye Qingning did not understand how that related to kindness, but she was pleased at the praise.
She learned that the driver’s name was Wang Sheng, and he lived in the South City Refugee Area. He came to the Concessions because there were more passengers and often tips. However, he also had to pay fees to operate there.
When they arrived, Ye Qingning gave Sheng a hundred yuan in cash.
“Miss, this is too much.”
“Buy yourself comfortable shoes, and get food for two children.”
Sheng looked down at his worn-out shoes, holes in them, soles tied together with rope, and his eyes reddened.
He usually only kept his clothes neat so wealthy passengers would take his rickshaw, allowing him to earn more.
“I’ll help you carry it, miss.”
“No need. Someone will meet me. If you pass by my brother’s shop again, tell him I arrived safely.”
Sheng nodded repeatedly and went to Liu Jinting’s shop to deliver the message.
Liu Jinting finally relaxed upon hearing it.
Meanwhile, Ye Qingning had already left Shanghai City.
Because it had just rained, the ground was muddy. With each step, her shoes were almost pulled off by the mud, so she switched to rain boots.
When she arrived at the destination, the two people were not there yet. She stored the supplies and kept the statue.
She thought Liu Jinting’s craftsmanship was quite good—she could even turn it into a storage container in the future by carving a small opening in its mouth.
Ten minutes passed; she still had time to observe the barren surroundings.
Half an hour passed; she climbed a tree and sat on it.
Even in summer, there were not many dense trees. The Japanese had cut and burned most of them—truly vicious.
Finally, Captain and the other man saw her sitting lazily on the tree, yawning.
“It’s already dark. Why are you only arriving now?” Ye Qingning looked at their bare feet, then at the shoes hanging around their necks.
What kind of operation was that?
“We ran into two or three Japanese soldiers. It took some time.”
“Dealt with them?”
“Of course.”
“Did you meet Liu the boss?”
“Yes.”
“You little girl really surprised us.”
On the way, he had thought trusting a little girl was foolish and that they should have infiltrated the Concessions at night instead.
But they had still held a bit of hope.
And now, that “maybe” had come true.