A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Later, Gui'er heard from Dingxiang that the next morning, Dali arranged for Master Ji's wife, the uncle, and the four maids left behind by Ji Yiru to take a car back. Although no special car was arranged, they were still afraid that they would have an accident on the road and give people a chance to talk, so they arranged for two guards to change into casual clothes to send them home and back.

Life seemed to have returned to normal, and Guier still went to Zhenxiufang as an apprentice after school every day.

Gui'er had met Song Xichen with that man before, but this time there was no news about him, and no wanted notice was published in the newspaper. Gui'er carefully observed Sha Yanxiao, and he was not particularly busy that day. It seemed that his arrival this time did not alarm the authorities.

Song Xichen has been coming here often recently, but he comes in from the pharmacy. Every time he comes, he asks Manager Liu to do moxa burning and massage. He says that he had some sequelae from a previous hand fracture and needs to be treated. Gui'er is very happy to see him often. Every time Song Xichen comes, she goes to chat with him, and Song Xichen also asks about her homework.

That day, when Song Xichen was chatting with her, he suddenly said, "I saw your brother Dahua the other day."

Gui'er was stunned for a moment before realizing that he was talking about her biological brother Wu Dahua, who was said to be an apprentice before. Gui'er actually had no feelings for her relatives in this world. First, she had no memory of him, and second, they sold her. This was unforgivable no matter what the reason was.

Seeing Gui'er's droopy face, Song Xichen smiled and said, "It seems that you still don't like them in your heart, right? Actually, I think your brother is okay. He even asked me about you and cared about how you were doing."

Guier sighed and asked, "How is he now? Is his apprenticeship going well?" She remembered that Wu Dahua used to be an apprentice to a carpenter.

Song Xichen smiled and said, "He's doing well now. Although carpentry is hard work, his master is a well-known craftsman in the surrounding area. He has about seven or eight apprentices in his workshop. Once he finishes his training, he should be able to live a good life."

Gui'er nodded and said, "That's his own good fortune."

Song Xichen pondered for a moment, then said to Gui'er meaningfully, "Why do you think your family was forced to sell their children when you were young?"

Gui'er was a little confused and said, "I know. Because there was a severe drought that year, the harvest was not enough to eat, so my father said, sell me for some money so that I can have something to eat and they can have something to eat too." This was actually told to her by Taohua.

Song Xichen touched her head and said, "That actually happened a few years ago, right? But you have to know that in the year you mentioned, we still had food and drink in the city, it was just that food was a little more expensive."

Gui'er naturally knew this. When she came to this world, the disparity between the rich and the poor she saw was beyond her imagination. Some people were lying on the street waiting to starve to death, while others were sitting at home enjoying delicacies.

Song Xichen continued, "Those begging on the street or working all day in your hometown, who could starve to death if a natural disaster strikes, are actually all members of the proletariat. The reason they are so poor is not because they are not diligent, but because this society is so unfair. Even if they work hard to farm, they still have to pay most of the rent. Workers have to hand over most of the profits created by their hard work to the capitalists, and only receive very meager wages. A large amount of wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small number of people. They don't need to work hard to obtain wealth that exceeds that of the vast majority of people. The way they obtain wealth is by exploiting the working people. We must defeat them through struggle. Then, there will be no more exploitation and plunder in the world, and all people will have enough food and clothing."

After Song Xichen finished speaking, he looked at Guier's little face with some anticipation, wanting to know how she would react.

When Gui'er heard him mention the proletariat, she was very excited. Although she had doubts before, she never expected that Song Xichen was actually the great ancestor she had seen in books.

Gui'er said to Song Xichen, "Is the man you came with the gangster wanted by the government? Are you two together?"

Song Xichen was stunned for a moment. At this time, Manager Zhang and his wife also came over. They became obviously nervous when they heard this.

Song Xichen smiled, touched Gui'er's head and said, "You recognized it, but you didn't expose it."

Gui'er said, "You are a good person, and so are Shopkeepers Zhang and Liu. I believe you wouldn't do anything bad. Besides, the world is so chaotic right now, and I think those in power have a responsibility."

Song Xichen was very surprised. He had always thought that Gui'er was just a child, but he didn't expect that she already had her own thinking ability and was a thoughtful teenager.

Song Xichen said happily, "Yes, that uncle is our comrade. I chose to tell you this because you have been an apprentice here and it is inevitable that you will have some contact with him. We are open and honest and don't want to lie to you."

Gui'er was very touched and said, "Don't worry, I won't expose you. If there's anything I can do to help, I will. Although I've been adopted by the Marshal's Mansion, I'm still the same orphan with nothing. It's just that the Marshal is temporarily willing to give me shelter. But the social class I was born into is deeply ingrained in me and cannot be erased. Just this time, the Marshal's parents-in-law came and wanted to marry me off to their opium-smoking son. If the world gets better, I'll be better too."

Sha Yanxiao and Zhang and his wife exchanged glances, then smiled gleefully. Then, realizing something was amiss, they asked in shock, "You're being asked to marry the opium-smoking son of the Ji family? That's ridiculous! How can you do that?"

Gui'er quickly said, "Don't worry, Brother Yanxiao has already refused."

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Gui'er took the opportunity to ask, "Will you deal with Brother Yanxiao? I think he's a good man. Look, he banned gambling and opium, all for the benefit of the people. He even built a highway. The Marshal didn't want to build it, but he insisted, saying it would benefit the development of both cities."

Song Xichen smiled and said, "I know he's not a bad person. Many of the things he did were beneficial to the people, such as building roads, banning gambling, and banning smoking. But there are limitations. You probably don't know this, but the gambling dens and opium dens Sha Yanxiao shut down were all run by people without power or connections. He couldn't shake those with connections either, so gambling dens and opium dens still exist in both Jiangcheng and Fengcheng. But he's an open-minded person, and he's the kind of person we should strive for. We will unite all the forces we can."

Gui'er felt relieved when she heard this and said, "Just be sure you won't do anything to Brother Yanxiao."

Song Xichen smiled and said, "This time, our comrades passed through here very smoothly without encountering any obstruction. We suspect it's because the young marshal didn't want to get involved in this matter and turned a blind eye."

So that's how it is. Song Xichen explained to Gui'er that Zhenxiufang was just a liaison station, responsible for transporting personnel and supplies. The thrilling, volatile battles that Gui'er had seen in those spy films before, where they could influence the entire war, didn't exist here. But that was also true. This was just a small place, with little geographical or strategic significance. Once the day of earth-shaking change arrived, everything would fall into place naturally.

After that, Gui'er returned to the Marshal's Mansion as usual, did homework, ate, read the newspaper, and slept.

She didn't dare to release her emotions until she went to bed at night. She was so happy that tears filled her eyes. After coming to this world, she had encountered danger several times, seen too much darkness, and often secretly collapsed. She was about to lose confidence. She wanted to go back to the future, but she didn't know how to do it. She couldn't possibly commit suicide, right?

Song Xichen's words gave her hope, just like seeing a window to the light in the darkness. Since she couldn't go back to the future, she would create the future with her own hands.