A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

On Sunday, after breakfast, Guier asked Dali to take her and Taohua to the orphanage. She told Sha Yanxiao that the third concubine had assigned Taohua such a task and she was worried, so she wanted to go with her.

When Sha Yanxiao heard that someone at the orphanage had tuberculosis, he repeatedly reminded people not to go in, and to cover their mouths and noses with handkerchiefs when meeting with people from the orphanage, and to wash their hands after meeting.

Gui'er agreed to all of their requests and drove them both to the orphanage. This was Gui'er's first time at an orphanage, which is probably what is commonly known as an orphanage today.

The car arrived at a courtyard on the outskirts of the city. As Gui'er sat in the car, she noticed that this courtyard was different from the neighboring farmyards. It was larger, and there was a cross on the roof. Dali said to Gui'er, "This orphanage was originally founded by a priest from Shanghai. The priest is no longer here, but some local believers still maintain it. It usually relies on donations from local wealthy businessmen and celebrities."

Guier saw a less obvious corner next to the house. There was a wooden cabinet like a big drawer built in the corner of the wall, protruding from the wall. There were three big words "Baby Reception Place" written on it. It should be the place where abandoned babies were received.

As they were getting off the bus, a timid young woman came from somewhere. The color of her clothes could not be seen, and there were patches on her shoulders and elbows. She was holding a swaddled baby in her arms. She walked over, stopped, looked at the baby in her arms, as if she was reluctant to let go. Suddenly, she found that Gui'er and her group were staring at her, so she put the baby in the box and turned and ran away.

A woman in her 40s came out and said to Dali enthusiastically, "You must be the people sent by the Third Concubine of the Marshal's Mansion. The housekeeper called me yesterday and told me about it."

Taohua stepped forward, handed her a bag of medicine residue and three silver dollars, and said, "Excuse me, this is what the Third Concubine asked me to pass on to you."

The woman took the things from Taohua, looked them over, and said to Guier with a smile, "Miss, why don't you come in and sit down? Have a look at the children and have a cup of tea."

Just as Gui'er was about to say something, Dali spoke up first, "We have things to do. We'll come over next time. Thank you for your hard work, Ma'am. Someone just brought a child over there."

The woman stamped her feet upon hearing this and said, "What a sin! The hospital is overcrowded now. There are only a few people working, and yet several more are sent in every day. One has a cold, another has a fever. The other day there was a patient with tuberculosis. We just sent him away this morning and disinfected him with vinegar, and now another one is sent in. Sigh."

Gui'er felt sorry for the woman after hearing what she had said, so she took out a spare silver dollar and some loose copper coins that she had on her and wanted to give them to the woman. The woman's eyes lit up when she saw them and she stepped forward, but was stopped by Dali. He took the money from Gui'er's hand, gave it to her and said to her, "We have something else to do, come again next time." Then he asked Gui'er and Taohua to get in the car.

After getting in the car, he said to Guier, "This place is creepy. You kids shouldn't stay there for too long. Do you see that chimney at the back? That's where dead children are cremated."

Gui'er and Taohua were indeed horrified when they heard this.

After coming out of the orphanage, Dali asked the two, "It's a rare opportunity for you two to come out. Do you want to go out and have some fun? Gui'er is out of money, but I have some."

Gui'er smiled and said, "Thank you, Brother Dali, but we don't have anything to buy, so we won't go shopping. Taohua said she often sells embroidery pieces to Zhenxiufang, and she hasn't met the owner yet, so she wants to go say hello."

After hearing this, Dali turned the car around and drove towards Zhenxiufang without saying a word.

Arriving at the Zhenxiu Workshop, Gui'er knocked on the door and said to Shopkeeper Zhang, "Shopkeeper Zhang, this is Taohua, the embroiderer who embroidered the pieces I usually send you."

Shopkeeper Zhang's eyes lit up when he saw Taohua, and he praised her, "Oh, what a pretty child! She really lives up to her name. Please come in and have a seat." Then he turned to Dali and said, "Master, would you like to come in and have a seat too?"

Dali smiled and said, "No need, you guys chat, I'll go take a look and come back."

Several people entered the house, and Manager Zhang said to Gui'er and Taohua, "Please sit down for a while." Then he went into the inner room.

After a while, Wu Dahua and Wu Dafu came out from the inner room. They had both grown taller. No wonder Manager Zhang said that their clothes were too short. They were wearing new homespun clothes, which looked a bit awkward.

When they saw Gui'er, they came up happily. Wu Dahua took out two apples from his pocket, handed them to Gui'er and Taohua, and said awkwardly, "Sister, eat apples."

Gui'er and Taohua were both a little embarrassed. When they were at the Marshal's Mansion, this was the usual after-meal fruit. Moreover, they were meeting in Manager Zhang's shop, but he only brought two, which was really a bit shabby.

Seeing this, Shopkeeper Zhang quickly said, "You guys chat, you guys chat, I have things to do over there."

Wu Dafu took the apple and said, "Boss, can you lend me a knife? I'll cut it up so we can share it."

Shopkeeper Zhang said, "Okay, come with me."

This made the atmosphere less awkward. Guier looked at Wu Dahua, who was about 1.8 meters tall, and asked, "Brother, are you guys doing well in the carpentry workshop now?"

Wu Dahua said dully, "It's OK."

Wu Dafu came over with a tray filled with sliced apples with toothpicks stuck in them. He sat down at the table and handed a piece of apple to Gui'er and Taohua, saying, "Come, eat. I'll give two pieces to Shopkeeper Zhang and Shopkeeper Liu."

Then he took a few more cups, poured tea into each of them, and then said, "What can we do? As soon as the news of the war came, the master and his wife ran away, saying they were afraid of bombs. They asked us to watch the store and slipped back to the countryside without leaving us a grain of rice. Some of the brothers who had relatives and friends went to live with them, and the two of us stayed there to watch the store for them. The news of the war was everywhere, so who would make furniture? We almost starved to death. Luckily, I earned some money secretly. Later, when it was really hard, I secretly ran to the countryside to dig wild vegetables. My second brother also did some private work, so we managed for a while."

Gui Er then remembered that she had taken three silver dollars from Wu Dafu before, and quickly said, "Then why didn't you come to me for the money?"

Wu Dafu smiled and said, "I'm afraid if they really call, you and Taohua are so rich. We are men, so where can we find a meal?"

When Taohua heard this, she said in a crying voice, "Brother Dafu, no wonder you have lost weight. I have money, I will give it to you." As she said that, she was about to take money from her pocket.

Wu Dafu said quickly: "No, no, no, our master and his wife have returned, and we have food to eat now."

Wu Dahua echoed repeatedly: "Yes, yes."

Guier asked them, "Now that the war has ended, how is your business going?"

Wu Dafu said, "It's okay. By the way, Master and his wife want to take my second brother in as their son-in-law, so I wanted to discuss it with you, my sister."

Gui'er was very surprised and asked, "How old is Second Brother this year?"

Wu Dahua said: "I will be 21 years old in two months." This age is indeed considered an older youth in this era.

Gui Er knew that ordinary people, under traditional concepts, would definitely still yearn for a family, so she said to Wu Dahua, "Are you willing to do that? If so, it's fine, but I heard from you two that your master and his wife are a bit demanding. Marriage is a lifelong commitment, so you should think it over carefully."