A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Gui'er suddenly remembered that she had used Tong Yujun as an excuse to call Song Xichen before, so she quickly took advantage of Sha Yanxiao's absence to call Tong Yujun and told her that she had just got a collection of Lu Xun's essays and asked her if she wanted to come over and take a look.

Tong Yujun usually pays more attention to clothing, food and drink, and is not interested in literary hobbies such as reading. However, this time she agreed immediately and said she would go there tomorrow, which surprised Guier a little.

Sha Yanxiao came back very late that night. When Gui'er heard the sound, she quickly got up and ran out.

Seeing that she was wearing thin pajamas, Sha Yanxiao quickly wrapped his coat around her and said, "Why are you up?"

Guier asked, "Brother, how is it going?"

Sha Yanxiao frowned and said, "The Shen residence has stepped up its security. It took a long time to get any news. The person who was captured was not one of ours."

That must be Song Xichen's men. Gui'er took another breath and asked hurriedly, "What's going on? What did they do with the man they caught?"

Sha Yanxiao shook his head and said, "I don't know. Anyway, our people are fine. But now that this has happened, Director Shen will be extra cautious in the future. I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to do anything."

Sha Yanxiao saw Gui'er's worried expression and said with a smile, "Don't worry, we will find another way. It's getting late, go to bed quickly."

Gui'er had no choice but to smile and go to bed obediently to rest.

Tong Yujun came over the next day. Guier knew that she never liked reading literary works, so she took out some comic books and asked Dingxiang to get some snacks and drinks.

Sure enough, after a while, Tong Yujun suggested going to find her aunt, and asked Guier how her aunt got along with the Marshal after she came back.

Gui'er has been running around outside these two days. Even in the villa, she doesn't have much time to see the Eighth Concubine, only during meals. She can't explain it clearly, so she has to go with her to the Eighth Concubine's room to take a look.

The eighth concubine was very happy to see Tong Yujun and Gui'er coming, and she quickly got up to pour tea. Gui'er then realized that there was no one serving her in her room. None of the people in her original courtyard had been sent to Shanghai.

When Tong Yujun saw the current situation of the Eighth Concubine, she was so sad that she almost cried. However, because Gui'er, an outsider, was there, she bit her lip and held back her tears.

Gui'er felt a little guilty. She thought that the current housekeeper, Zhou Bo, was a leftover from the former Ji family and must have been quite considerate of Sha Yanxiao. She looked around again and found that the mistress and the third concubine were not there. She called Zhou Bo over and said to him, "The eighth concubine has been back for a few days, and there's still no one to serve her in her room. This is not good. Do we have any extra staff in our courtyard?"

Uncle Zhou was stunned for a moment, then quickly said, "Yes, there are some, but they're old maids doing rough work in the yard. I wonder if Auntie would mind. If not, I'll pick a more refined one to serve her."

Tong Yujun was overjoyed. The Eighth Concubine also smiled and nodded, and took out a silver dollar and said to the housekeeper, "Thank you very much, Housekeeper Zhou."

Gui Er knew that Tong Yujun and the Eighth Concubine must have something personal to say, so she said to Tong Yujun, "How about you two chat for a while? I'll go back and ask the maid to prepare the dessert, and you can come over and eat it later."

Tong Yujun nodded gratefully.

Gui'er returned to her room and asked Dingxiang to prepare the food. After a while, Tong Yujun came over and Gui'er treated her to some snacks.

After the meal, Tong Yujun suddenly asked Guier to go shopping in the department store, saying that there was a very trendy calligraphy and painting exhibition on the second floor of the recently opened Daxin Department Store.

Gui'er was also curious and agreed.

The two came to Daxin Department Store and went up to the second floor. As expected, in addition to calligraphy and painting, the art exhibition also had artworks, including Western oil paintings, Chinese calligraphy and paintings, ink and wash paintings, and so on.

Gui'er walked over to an ink painting titled "Hosta and Cordyceps" and was shocked to discover the artist was Qi Baishi. Her eyes widened, thinking that if she bought it now, it would surely appreciate in value. But then she looked at the price tag: 200 silver dollars. She immediately felt deflated. It wasn't that she couldn't afford it, but she simply couldn't bear to spend most of her savings on a painting that couldn't be eaten or drunk. It seemed that high-end art, no matter the era, was only for the wealthy.

Guier looked at these artworks even more attentively, wondering if there were any names she was familiar with. If she could find a bargain, maybe she could make a fortune in the future.

Tong Yujun suddenly said, "My aunt still wants a divorce."

Gui'er was stunned for a moment and said, "What should I do?"

Tong Yujun said dejectedly, "Originally, my aunt didn't want to go to the villa to live with the Marshal this time, and she kept putting it off. My father was afraid that the Marshal would notice something, so he sent her back. I just had a chat with her, and she said that after she came back, the Marshal was very cold and his mind was all on the Ninth Concubine. She thinks that if she asks for a divorce now, the Marshal should agree."

Gui'er said to her, "But Father is a man who values his reputation. His dislike for the Eighth Concubine and his divorce from her are two different things. I suggest you be more cautious. Father came here amidst the hail of bullets, so his thinking is different from ours."

Tong Yujun nodded hesitantly and said, "Then I'll go back and tell my father and ask him to persuade her again." Then he held Gui'er's hand and said, "I'll have to ask you to keep this a secret."

Guier said to her, "Don't worry, this is your family's business, and I think it is really unfair to your aunt for her to marry someone as old as my father. By the way, does your aunt know that I know about this?" In fact, she was also afraid that this matter would inexplicably implicate herself.

Tong Yujun smiled and said, "I haven't mentioned this to anyone else, including my father and aunt. I know adults have their own considerations. I really don't have any other friends to discuss this with, so I came to you for help. Besides, you've helped me so many times with my aunt's affairs, so I won't let you down."

Gui'er didn't know whether to be touched or sad.

Tong Yujun really didn't feel like shopping anymore, so she suggested going back and said, "I'll have the driver take you home first."

Gui Er suddenly remembered that this was a good opportunity to act alone, so she said to her, "No, I have somewhere else to go. I'll take a rickshaw by myself."

After they parted ways, Guier took a rickshaw straight to the Dahuchun Dim Sum Shop. The shopkeeper saw her and hurried over to greet her, saying, "Miss, what would you like to order?"

Gui'er lowered her voice and said, "I want to see Mr. Song."

The shopkeeper said loudly with a business-like smile, "Please sit down, it will be served soon."

So Gui'er went back to where she had been and sat down. The waiter served her a dozen pan-fried dumplings with fresh meat and a cup of soy milk. After waiting for more than ten minutes, Song Xichen finally arrived. He walked in, sat down in front of Gui'er, and said to her, "I didn't see Sha Yanxiao's men at the door."

Gui'er nodded and said, "I'm here with my classmate Tong Yujun. How did that incident go? Brother Yanxiao said it wasn't theirs, so it's ours? Did they rescue him?"

Song Xichen hesitated for a moment and said, "We sent two skilled comrades to sneak in that night, but the Shen residence was already heavily guarded, and our comrades were almost caught. They finally managed to escape."

Song Xichen paused and spoke in a low voice, "The next day, we caught the Shen family's cook while he was out buying groceries. Using threats and bribes, he finally told us the truth. It turned out that Director Shen had her locked up in front of you. As soon as you left, you strangled her to death with a rope. Then you found a homeless person on the street and gave her a set of clothes to change into. At night, you had the body taken away and thrown on the street as a homeless person who had died of cold and starvation. We looked for her at the place he said, but she was gone. She might have been taken away by the body collectors."

"But we won't give up. We will keep searching for her body and give her a proper burial."

Gui'er felt a buzzing in her head and could no longer hear any other sounds. She had watched many films about the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation since she was a child. The heroes all died heroically, but she had never imagined that there would be people who were killed and abandoned like ants.

Her tears fell uncontrollably. Song Xichen helped to hand her a handkerchief. Gui'er asked, "What was the name of that comrade?" She tried hard to recall her appearance in her mind.

"It's best for your safety not to know her name, but we will always remember her, right?"