A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Gui'er felt that the Marshal had a reason for asking everyone to go back so hastily and not letting Gui'er inform Miss Shen.

But Gui'er didn't know whether Ah Si, who was driving, was reliable, so she didn't dare to ask Sha Yanxiao in front of him.

It was not until they got on the train that Guier finally asked about the doubts in her heart.

Sha Yanxiao frowned, shook his head, and said, "The male student my father beat to death seemed to be a distant relative of a brigade commander in the 19th Route Army. They were very distant relatives, and we didn't want to intervene, but the Tong family found them and gave them money. Luckily, my father had a friend in the 19th Route Army, and that person tipped us off."

"My father is afraid they will come and take us away directly. This is not our territory, so we will be in a very passive position. So we plan to go back and hide for a while, and then find someone to smooth things over."

Gui'er knew that the matter had developed to this point, which might have been due to her calling Tong Yujun, so she didn't dare to say anything more.

She asked Sha Yanxiao and still asked Taohua to come and stay in the same suite with them.

After the train started, Sha Yanxiao went out to check on the others. Taohua then said to Guier with a relieved look, "Guier, I'm so scared."

Gui'er asked, "What are you afraid of? We'll be in Jiangcheng soon."

Taohua shook her head and said, "It's not that. It's about the night that the boy was beaten to death. The nanny of Sister Sanmei's child got up to go to the bathroom and saw the Eighth Concubine with her hands and feet tied, her mouth gagged, and a sack put on her. She was thrown into a cart and taken away. She never came back after that. Anyway, many people in our house said she was dead."

This was exactly what Gui'er had expected. She said to Taohua, "Just pretend you don't know anything about this. Don't tell anyone about it, okay? Especially don't let your parents know you know about this."

This trip back to Jiangcheng went quite smoothly. Jiangcheng was more lively than usual at this time. It was already the twelfth lunar month, and everyone had begun preparing for the New Year. The festive atmosphere on the streets was noticeably stronger.

While dining with the Marshal, he said with a wry smile, "I had been hoping to earn some money this year and take everyone to Shanghai for a good New Year's celebration, but things didn't turn out so suddenly. However, we can still celebrate back home. I've already told the housekeeper to get more New Year's goods ready, and I've also distributed everyone's monthly allowance in advance, with an extra silver dollar per person."

As soon as these words came out, the third concubine took the lead, and the fifth and sixth concubines all said with smiles on their faces: "Thank you, Marshal. In fact, it is just the same to celebrate the New Year here. Here I can also go back to my mother's family and let my brothers there see how beautiful our Marshal's Mansion is this year."

The Marshal naturally benefited greatly from it.

Gui'er wanted to call Song Xichen, so she said to Sha Yanxiao, "I'm back for the New Year now, and I'm just sitting around doing nothing. Why don't I go to the Zhen Embroidery Workshop and be an apprentice?"

Sha Yanxiao thought about it and agreed, saying, "Of course, I can, but I need a driver to pick me up every time I go there. It's getting late, and things aren't peaceful anywhere."

Guier quickly nodded and agreed.

The next day, Gui'er came to the Zhenxiufang. Shopkeeper Zhang was very surprised to see her and said, "Didn't you go to Shanghai for the New Year?"

Guier walked in with a smile and said, "It's a long story. We decided to spend the New Year in Jiangcheng."

Shopkeeper Zhang glanced at the driver assigned by Sha Yanxiao standing behind her and said with a smile, "It's good to be back for the New Year. It's actually quite lively here. Come in and sit for a while, Master."

The driver smiled and said, "No, I'll just drop you off. I'll pick you up when it's time to go back. You can take your time learning. I'm leaving now."

Guier nodded.

After the driver drove away and Shopkeeper Zhang closed the door, he asked her, "What's going on?"

Gui'er told her everything that happened in Shanghai. Shopkeeper Zhang said, "I also heard about the sacrifice of the comrade who was hiding in the Shen residence. These reactionaries are really murderous."

Gui'er said to her, "Manager Zhang, could you please call Brother Xichen for me? I've disappeared so suddenly, and I'm afraid he'll be worried."

Shopkeeper Zhang smiled and nodded, saying, "Okay, I'll go to the post office right away."

After that, Gui'er went to Zhenxiufang as an apprentice during the day, and read newspapers and chatted with Sha Yanxiao at the Marshal's Mansion at night. The only consolation was that they brought back the radio from Shanghai, so there was one more entertainment program every day, just like when people watched TV before there were mobile phones.

Dingxiang said to Guier, "With this radio, we can listen to a lot of news and trendy songs. It's really great. Now the servants in other courtyards envy our servants for being able to listen to the radio."

Later, probably all the concubines mentioned to the Marshal that they wanted a radio, so the Marshal simply asked someone to urgently purchase a super large one from Shanghai and placed it in the dining room of the mansion. Now, even on days when they didn't have to accompany the Marshal for dinner, those concubines liked to stay in the dining room just to listen to the radio.

That day, after everyone finished their meal with the Marshal, they didn't want to leave, so they sat at the table and listened to the radio. At that time, Zhou Xuan's song "Special Express" was playing.

Suddenly, the news anchor's voice came over the radio: "Breaking news! Today, Japanese monk Amasaki Keisho and five others threw stones at workers at the Sanyou Industrial Society headquarters on Mayushan Road, provoking a brawl. There were casualties on both sides. Subsequently, thugs from the Japanese Overseas Chinese Youth Association burned down the Sanyou Industrial Society and hacked to death and injured three Chinese patrolmen. Japanese overseas Chinese held a rally and march, demanding intervention. So far, the Japanese Consul General and the Mayor of Shanghai are still negotiating."

After this news, the music started playing again. No one else paid any attention to it. After all, the Northeast had been invaded, so this was nothing.

Only Gui'er felt cold sweat all over her body, and always felt that something was wrong. She tried hard to recall the history she had learned before, but she couldn't remember it.

Seeing that her face was pale, Sha Yanxiao hurried over and said to her, "How come you caught a cold just after eating? Go back to our yard and keep warm." Then he pulled her back.

The next morning, after Gui'er had breakfast and was about to go to the Zhenxiufang, Sha Yanxiao said to her, "Don't go today."

Gui'er was a little puzzled and asked, "Why?"

Sha Yanxiao said, "Listen to the radio. The Japanese army raided Shanghai last night and is now fighting the 19th Route Army of our Nationalist Army. I'm going to go out to the barracks to check. Although this area hasn't been affected, the streets might be in chaos. It's best not to go out, okay?"

Gui'er had no choice but to nod, and Sha Yanxiao immediately changed into his military uniform and went out.

Guier quickly turned on the radio, only to hear a report coming from every channel: "At 23:30 PM last night, the Japanese Marines launched an invasion of our Zhabei District. Now the Nationalist 19th Route Army is resisting."