A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Gui'er felt very sad after reading Tong Yujun's letter. She felt that when Tong Yujun wrote this letter, the war in Shanghai had not yet broken out, so she thought that the Marshal would definitely be overthrown by the officers hired by her family, and that was why she was asked to leave.

I don’t know whether their family left for Hong Kong before the war. In this era, sometimes saying goodbye may mean goodbye forever. Thinking of this, Guier felt uncomfortable, and she decided to help Tong Yujun notify Song Xilun.

After school, Gui'er came to the Zhenxiu Workshop. Shopkeeper Zhang was surprised to see her. Gui'er smiled and said, "School started today, so I came back to see if I could be of any help." Then she turned to the driver and said, "Master, you don't have to wait for me there. You can go wander around for a while, do something else, and then come back to pick me up."

The driver was naturally willing and said goodbye. After seeing him leave, Zhang said to the inner room, "The person has left. Come out."

Gui'er was just wondering when she saw Song Xichen coming out. She ran over in surprise and hugged him, "Brother Xichen, I was so worried. What happened during your time in Shanghai?"

Song Xichen patted her head, pulled her to sit down, and said, "It all happened so suddenly. After the war broke out, I was assigned by the organization to organize a strike by workers at the Japanese cotton mills in Shanghai to protest the invasion of Japanese imperialism. Later, I participated in the evacuation and relief of refugees, transferring comrades and civilians in the war zone and occupied areas to the rear. Later, the organization considered that I was the only person in charge of the liaison station in Jiangcheng, so they asked me to return first."

Gui'er thought of Tong Yujun's entrustment and asked, "How are your family members?"

Song Xichen nodded and said, "It's not a big deal. Although we hear the roar of planes from time to time, which scares people, as long as we are not in a war zone and have enough food and money, it won't have much of an impact."

Gui'er asked, "I heard that tickets for the return train are very hard to come by. You have to pay a lot of money and bribe people to get them. How did you manage to buy so many tickets so easily?"

Song Xichen smiled and said, "We have comrades at the station. We can get a few standing tickets and stand all the way back. I was worried about you. When the war broke out, I immediately sent Dali to go to your house, but he found that the gate to the Marshal's villa was walled off. I thought something had happened."

Gui'er felt warm in her heart after hearing this, and quickly told Song Xichen about the murder of the eighth concubine, the Tong family's revenge, and the Marshal running away with his entire family.

Song Xichen was very surprised to hear this. Perhaps remembering that Tong Yujun was Song Xilun's fiancée, he quickly said, "Is there such a thing? Our family has no news at all. So, has the Tong family already arrived in Hong Kong?"

Gui'er took out the letter, showed it to Song Xichen, and said, "I think this letter must have been written before the war, otherwise she wouldn't have completely ignored it. So I don't know if their family has arrived in Hong Kong safely. I'm afraid it's not convenient for me to go to the Second Young Master. Brother, can you help convey this? And I want to know what the Second Young Master thinks. Do you still want this marriage?"

Song Xichen nodded and agreed. Gui'er, remembering Madam Song's affair with the Marshal, said, "Can you please just tell the Second Young Master about this? After all, it was the Tong family who offended the Marshal. I'm afraid if word gets out to the Marshal, it'll be bad for the Tong family. Although the whole family is gone, it seems their shops have been taken over by their former owners. One of them is run by the father of my classmate He Duanzhu. If the Marshal wants to retaliate against these people, it will be very troublesome."

Song Xichen smiled and said, "You are very thoughtful. I will try my best to keep it a secret and tell Xilun."

Now, half of the task entrusted by Tong Yujun was finally completed, and Gui'er could breathe a sigh of relief. She asked Song Xichen worriedly: "Do you think we can win this time?" Although she knew the result, she always hoped that a miracle would happen.

Song Xichen said: "We must have confidence in ourselves. Japan launched an unjust war of aggression, and we are defending our own territory. We are the righteous side. No matter how vicious the enemy is or how difficult the process, we will win in the end."

At this time, Gui'er looked at Song Xichen and suddenly felt that he was not the older brother she depended on, but a respectable revolutionary predecessor in history. It was people like this, full of enthusiasm and belief in the ultimate victory of the revolution, that made China what it is today.

Gui Er suppressed her inner excitement and asked Song Xichen, "So what should we do now?"

Song Xichen said, "We should summon our courage, awaken the people's patriotic enthusiasm, and encourage the masses to fight the invaders together. I have found a printing place nearby and printed a lot of anti-Japanese leaflets. When the time comes, I will secretly distribute them to the people."

Gui'er quickly said, "Let me help too."

Song Xichen and Shopkeeper Zhang were both amused and said, "You are quite enthusiastic, but your status is inconvenient. Although you usually keep a low profile, the risk is still too great. However, you also have a mission. Now in wartime, we need to know the situation of the defenders first. You are in the Marshal's Mansion, so you can just know what the Marshal is thinking."

Gui'er nodded and told Song Xichen that Sha Yanxiao had gone to Fengcheng to defend it and that he had arranged people to be ready to blow up the railway at any time.

Song Xichen smiled and said, "See, that's why I say you're so important. No one else would be able to find out about this. Just go back and keep a close eye on the Marshal's Mansion. If there's anything worth noting, tell Manager Zhang or me."

Gui'er was a little happy and felt that she had been of some use.

Although Gui'er later went to school and worked as an apprentice, she still listened closely to the news broadcasts on the radio every day. Most of the time, the broadcasts talked about: "The 19th Route Army strongly resisted the enemy." Another report: "The Fifth Army, led by General Zhang Zhizhong, employed flexible tactics to stubbornly resist the Japanese army in positions such as Jiangwan and Miaoxing, with multiple units working closely together. The soldiers were brave and fearless, repeatedly repelling the Japanese attacks, inflicting heavy losses and making the Japanese realize the Chinese army's determination to resist."

As time went on, the fourth concubine's brothers seemed to be getting a little anxious about the current situation, muttering all day long: "What's going on now? We're both on temporary assignments. It's not right to go back now, and it's not right not to go back either. What should we do?"

Director Shen laughed heartily and consoled them, saying, "Why are you two so anxious? The situation is uncertain right now. Besides, the Chairman has already said that we must first stabilize the country before resisting foreign aggression. I believe that even if we can't win the war, we will definitely resolve it through negotiations."

The faces of the four concubine's two brothers changed immediately. They said, "What if Japan occupies all of Shanghai? What will we do as government employees? We two brothers have worked so hard to get these two jobs."

Gui'er listened to their conversation coldly. She originally thought that the fourth concubine's brother reacted so strongly because of his patriotism, but she didn't expect that he was afraid of losing his official position.