Time Travel: Female Cannon Fodder of the Republic of China

As time went by, newspaper sales improved and the newspaper began to make money. Ai Shutong hired Luo Xiaomei, who had worked at the Shanghai Daily, as a manager. She herself retreated to the second line and occasionally wrote some articles to liberate women's thoughts and published them in the newspaper.

"Tuk-tuk-tuk-"

There was a knock on the door, and Ai Shutong's thoughts were pulled out of the article. She turned her head and looked at the door, "Come in."

Mother Lin led the middle-aged man in and smiled with a forced smile, "Miss, this is the neighbor from my mother's family that I talked to you about some time ago."

Ai Shutong was stunned for a moment, then quickly came to her senses, "Oh! Hello, what's your name?"

The middle-aged man took off his hat and gave a gentleman's salute. "Hello, my surname is Guan, and my given name is 'Chong'."

Ai Shutong nodded, "Hello, Mr. Guan, please take a seat."

After Guan Zhong thanked him, he sat on the chair opposite the desk.

Ai Shutong didn't even offer to serve tea, she just waited quietly for the other party to speak.

Sure enough, not long after they sat down, Guan Zhong politely said, "I came here uninvited, I hope Miss Ai will forgive me."

"I visited you this time because I heard from Lin Rui that you have a machine-made flour mill that you want to sell. I just wanted to open a flour mill, but foreign flour mills are hard to come by. I thought that if I could buy Fengda, it would just solve our problems."

Ai Shutong refused expressionlessly: "I'm sorry, Mr. Guan, most of the workers in my flour mill are women, so I want to find a female buyer."

Guan Zhong obviously came prepared. He spoke again, "It seems that we are really destined to meet. To be honest, I have many brothers in my family. Due to livelihood issues, I came to Shanghai to make a living. Later, my boss took a fancy to me and married his only daughter. My wife is the head of the family."

"My wife had attended a girls' school and was very open-minded. She often said that women are important people in society and have the greatest responsibilities! If you want to shoulder this responsibility, you must become a person and a person."

Ai Shutong immediately became interested in his wife, "Oh? Did the wife really say that?"

Guan Zhong smiled and nodded, "How dare I lie to you."

Ai Shutong smiled a little, "It seems that Madam is also a responsible person who is eager to get rid of the old and instill new knowledge."

"I would like to make the acquaintance of the lady. I wonder if Mr. Guan can introduce me to her."

Guan Zhong has an elegant face. Although he is in his forties, he looks very friendly and his smile gives people a sincere feeling.

"Madam, you usually like to communicate with like-minded women. Miss Ai is an excellent student at St. John's. If Madam knew that you wanted to meet her, she would be very happy."

"How could I let my wife lose a friend like you who is much older than me? It is my honor to introduce you to each other."

Ai Shutong was very happy to see that he agreed, and turned around and told Lin Ma, "Lin Ma, please cook some good dishes for lunch today, and let's keep Mr. Guan for dinner."

Aunt Lin, who always knew her limits, said abnormally, "Miss, there are mostly women in our mansion, and there are no men to accompany us. It seems inappropriate to invite Mr. Guan to dinner."

Ai Shutong stroked her chin and thought, there were only two men in the family, Xia's father and Vasily. One of them was illiterate and obviously could not get along with Guan Zhong, and the other was even worse and had not even learned Chinese well.

As if she had thought of something, Ai Shutong, who had been frowning, suddenly laughed, "It's okay, just go ahead and do it. I'll call Jiaxing and ask him to come over to accompany me."

Without waiting for Mother Lin to nod in agreement, Guan Zhong stood up and said, "Miss Ai, don't bother me. We can make another appointment. I will bring my wife along to the appointment. Wouldn't that be great!"

Ai Shutong stood up embarrassedly, exchanged a few words with him, left her contact information, and sent him out.

Turning around, he saw Lin's mother standing behind him with a troubled look on her face. He asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Lin's mother?"

Mother Lin raised the corner of her mouth and said slowly: "Nothing, Miss, I just felt that I was a little rude just now."

Ai Shutong comforted her, "What's the big deal? Don't take it to heart, Aunt Lin. We were polite. He wanted to leave, and we were not rude."

"Okay, don't think about it anymore, go make something delicious. Your cooking skills are definitely this good."

Ai Shutong gave her a thumbs up and said, "If he doesn't stay for dinner, it's his loss."

After these words, Mother Lin's expression became cheerful again and she turned around and went to the kitchen.

Two days later, Ai Shutong brought Lin's mother to Hongbo Building at No. 15 Zijin Road.

As soon as I entered the door, a waiter in a white coat came to greet me, "Miss, how many people are there?"

Ai Shutong: "We have an appointment, I wonder if Mr. Guan Zhong has arrived?"

The waiter threw a white towel over his shoulder and said, "We're here, we're here. Please go to the upstairs box."

The waiter led the two men to the T-shaped box upstairs. Guan Zhong and a thin woman were sitting at the table. When they saw the two men come in, they quickly stood up.

"Miss Ai, you are here. Let me introduce you to my wife Liu Zhenhui."

The thin woman wore a moon-white cheongsam with a slanting collar. Her hair was curled, and she had two long pearl and jade earrings on her ears and an exquisite agate necklace around her neck. She was really beautiful and elegant.

She extended her hand and shook hands with Ai Shutong, saying, "Guan Zhong told me that I didn't expect Miss Ai, who has such a big business, to be so young and beautiful. She is really as good as a man!"

Ai Shutong smiled and replied, "Ms. Liu is no less impressive. I heard from your husband that you went to a girls' school and have your own career. You can be said to be a winner in life."

Liu Zhenhui laughed, "Haha, let's stop bragging about each other. Come and sit down. Try the West Lake Longjing tea here. It tastes very authentic."

Ai Shutong sat down, and after drinking tea, the three of them started chatting animatedly, and the more they talked, the more they got along.

After a while, Liu Zhenhui took Ai Shutong's hand and called her "sister."

"You and I! It's a shame that we met too late. I didn't expect you to be the owner of the Women's New Newspaper. This is my favorite newspaper. It not only has novel stories, but also often contains thought-provoking articles."

"By the way, I also like the food section above, it's really addictive."

Ai Shutong didn't expect to meet a reader of her own newspaper. Seeing that she was enjoying it, she was very happy. "I'm really glad that you like it. Please give us more suggestions. We will develop our strengths, avoid our weaknesses, and strive to do better."

Liu Zhenhui paused and asked curiously, "I heard that you are going to study in the United States and want to get rid of your domestic business. Aren't you going to sell the Women's New Newspaper?"

Ai Shutong shook her head. "Manager Luo Xiaomei has run the Women's New Newspaper very well. The people working there are all women like us who have received a new-style education. If it is sold, it will be difficult for them to find similar jobs again."

There was a glimmer of something strange in Liu Zhenhui's eyes, but before Ai Shutong could take a closer look, it disappeared without a trace.