A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Wu Mingqiang was stunned. In fact, he had already made this plan and had asked people to inquire about and find a house. However, he originally wanted to fund it himself because he felt that Gui'er was, after all, a woman and was probably conservative in her thinking. The fact that she was willing to give him such a large sum of money to open a pawnshop showed that she trusted him a lot.

If I told her I was going to spend a large sum of money to buy a house in Macau, I was worried she would suspect I had ulterior motives. I never expected her to bring it up herself. It seems Gui'er is no ordinary woman.

"Brother Wu, what's wrong? Is it very difficult?" Gui'er asked, puzzled, seeing that Wu Mingqiang hadn't reacted for a while.

"No, actually I think it's necessary. I've already asked around, and I heard that the houses there are slightly cheaper than in Hong Kong, but the environment isn't as good. However, it seems that Chinese people aren't allowed to live in the good areas there, so I'll try to find some better ones so that we can live more comfortably if we go there."

Gui'er nodded: "It would be best if the ground floor could be used as a shop. If we really have to go to Macau for refuge, we will probably suffer a lot of financial losses."

“Your insight is excellent, Miss. I’ll give you that advice later.”

For the next month, a sense of unease hung in the air in Hong Kong. The shadow of the Japanese military exercises loomed over the hearts of Hong Kong people like a stone.

Every day on her way to school, Gui'er could see the changes on the streets. Air raid sirens had been added to the trams, and the clanging of bells was mixed with the shouts of newsboys yelling "Japanese troops are reinforcing the New Territories"; the British flag still flew in front of the foreign firms, but the employees hurried home, clutching leaflets printed with "emergency evacuation routes." The air raid pamphlets that she and Lin Peishan distributed had long been snatched up. The number of classes at school was decreasing, and military doctors were teaching first aid and bandaging on the playground. The girls practiced tying knots with bandages, their fingertips trembling.

Tong Yujun did call once, her voice extremely low: "Gui'er, the Song family's house in Macau is all ready. Before I leave, I want to go to Ren'an Hall to get some more medicine..." The call ended abruptly, leaving only a busy tone, presumably because Mrs. Song had caught her. Gui'er later learned that Tong Yujun ultimately didn't go to Macau, but was kept at home by her mother-in-law, who said, "A daughter-in-law of the Song family cannot desert her post."

Wu Mingqiang became even busier, spending his days running to the docks to gather information and check on the day's military exercises, and his nights taking stock of the pawned items received that day.

He had someone find a place for him in Macau and settled on it. It was on Rua Nova, with a small shop on the ground floor. He said happily, "This area is usually where Portuguese people and the wealthy live. The house we bought is on the edge of Rua Nova, which is very remote, but many wealthy Chinese and middle-class people go there to shop. It should be good for business. I've already arranged for someone to renovate it. Once it's finished, I'll rent out the ground floor first. At least I can recoup some of my investment."

Gui'er said, "I don't understand this matter either, you can make the decision."

One night, Gui'er got up to drink water and saw that his room light was still on. She pushed the door open and saw him staring blankly at a map. The waterway from Hong Kong to Macau was circled in red, and next to it was written "Avoid the reef area of ​​the Japanese patrol boats".

"Why isn't Miss asleep yet?" He hurriedly folded the map. "We can get the property deed for Macau tomorrow. I'll have Ah Cheng go get it."

Gui'er noticed the bloodshot in his eyes and handed him a cup of hot water: "Don't overwork yourself. If a fight really breaks out, how can you manage if your health collapses?"

He took the water glass and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm in good health. But Detective Long, he invited me for tea yesterday. He said the British have increased their troops in the New Territories and asked me to keep a close eye on the docks and report any suspicious activity to him." He paused. "I've noticed he's also moving his assets to Macau; he's emptied his safes."

Lin Peishan's family's trading company was also in chaos. Her father shipped most of the cotton yarn to Singapore, and her mother spent her days on the phone urging the shipping company, saying, "Even if it's by cargo ship, it's fine." Peishan herself remained calm and continued to volunteer at the school, but now she had a small pistol in her schoolbag, which she said was given to her by Chen Zhongyu: "He said that if things really come to that, you have to be able to protect yourself."

One evening, Gui'er passed by the Xingmin Daily office and realized that she hadn't written anything since the incident, so she strolled over.

Inside, everything was bustling with activity.

"Is the front page ready?" "Yes."

"Has it been approved?" "Still waiting for a response."

"Oh dear, why haven't we received a reply yet? Hurry up and urge them."

Gui'er was very surprised, and even Zhou Hong and Editor-in-Chief Zhao looked extremely flustered.

When Zhou Hong saw her arrive, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "Gui'er, you're here? I'm sorry, I really don't have time to entertain you right now."

Editor-in-Chief Zhao, with an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips, merely raised an eyelid when Gui'er entered: "Miss Sha, a rare guest. Please have a seat." He gestured to Zhou Hong, "Pour Miss Sha a glass of water."

"Stop busy," Gui'er waved her hand, looking at the manuscripts scattered all over the table. "Is this... a problem?"

Just as Zhou Hong placed a cup of tea in front of her, Editor-in-Chief Zhao called out, "Have you been urging us? Has that article from last night, 'New Territories Garrison Movements,' been reviewed?"

“We’ve urged them three times already,” Zhou Hong stamped her foot, her voice filled with anger. “The Hong Kong government’s Information Services said it involves military secrets and publication will be postponed.” Postponed? It’s been almost 24 hours; if we publish it now, it’ll be old news!

A young reporter next to me was so anxious that he was scratching his head: "And my article, 'A True Account of the Japanese Army's Exercises,' which clearly describes the villagers of Yuen Long fleeing, is being accused of 'creating panic' and they want to cut half of it. What's the point of it if it's all cut out?"

Editor-in-Chief Zhao slammed his cigarette on the table, his brow furrowed: "It's not just these things. The other day, our article exposing how some residents were left homeless because of the Japanese military exercises was directly suppressed, with the excuse that it 'affected Anglo-Japanese relations.' What kind of nonsense is this? We are the Xingmin Daily, not the mouthpiece of the Japanese!"

Gui'er picked up a proof on the table, which was covered with red pen corrections. "Japanese military exercises" was changed to "Japanese military routine training", "public panic" was changed to "citizens' lives are normal", and even "railway shutdown" was changed to "line maintenance".

“This isn’t just reviewing manuscripts, it’s changing our lives,” Zhou Hong said with a wry smile. “Now, we have to send our manuscripts to the press office for review before we can publish them. At best, they’ll be edited; at worst, they’ll be confiscated. The printing plants don’t even dare to take our jobs anymore, saying they’re afraid of being investigated. Of the 500 copies we printed yesterday, they only allowed us to distribute 200; the rest were all confiscated.”

"What should we do then?" Gui'er asked, only then realizing that she hadn't seen the Xingmin Daily newspaper for several days.

"What else can we do?" Editor-in-Chief Zhao sighed. "Either we revise it beyond recognition, or we stop publishing. But if we stop publishing, what will those who want to know the truth read? The other day, a student submitted an article saying that he saw the Japanese army setting up artillery on the other side of the Shenzhen River. If this article can't be published, who will believe it?"