A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

After Gui'er moved to Sha Yanyao's yard, she didn't have much time to see Sha Yanyao. They only talked for a few words occasionally during meals.

He has become very busy now, just like Sha Yanxiao before, he has to go to the military camp early in the morning and come back at night. Miss Shen stays with him all day, teaching her homework, listening to the radio and reading books together, exchanging reading experiences, and discussing current affairs.

Gui'er was quite envious of Miss Shen's status after marriage. She felt that she was no different from modern women except that she could not go out to work.

Sunday came in a flash, and Miss Shen said to Gui'er cheerfully, "You finally have a day off today, why don't we go out and play?"

Gui'er was surprised and said, "Just the two of us? Why not invite brother? Then I'll seem ignorant."

Just then, Sha Yanyao came back and heard them talking about going out to play. He came over and said, "Why don't you take me with you when you go out to play?"

Miss Shen smiled and said, "You are a very busy person now, I am afraid that I will delay your work."

Sha Yanyao took Miss Shen's hand, brought it to his lips and kissed it, saying, "How could that be? Isn't it a husband's duty to accompany his wife?"

Miss Shen smiled, but for some reason Guier felt that she was not particularly happy.

Sha Yanyao took Miss Shen and Gui'er into the car. Gui'er thought he was taking them somewhere to play, but they ended up at the Paramount Ballroom. Gui'er looked around curiously, and saw a row of dancers dancing hard in the hall on the first floor. The one in the middle was said to be a very popular singer named Sayuri, who was specially invited from Shanghai. She was singing "Night Jasmine". There were tables placed in a circle below, all of which were occupied by people, mostly men, and many of the female companions next to them were dancers.

At this time, everyone's attention was attracted to the stage, because the clothes they wore were considered very hot at the time, with miniskirts, stockings, high heels, and super low-cut V-neck tops. Not to mention in the Republic of China, even in modern times, Guier only saw those stars on TV wearing such clothes when attending certain occasions.

Miss Shen frowned, turned around, took Gui'er's hand, and asked Sha Yanyao: "What are we doing here?"

Sha Yanyao didn't answer her question, but only said, "Go to the second floor."

Arriving on the second floor, under the guidance of the waiter, several people came to a private room. There were several tables in the spacious room. Some people in military officer uniforms were playing mahjong, and some were playing cards. There were female companions sitting next to them. Most of them were relatively young, but some of the officers were older. They did not look like their original wives, and it was hard to tell whether they were concubines or dancers.

When those people saw Sha Yanyao walk in, they all stood up and greeted him, "Young Marshal, you are here?" "Young Marshal, why did you bring your wife with you today? You are in such a refined mood. Hello, Madam." Their tone was quite respectful.

Sha Yanxiao had never taken Gui'er to the military camp before, so she didn't know the officers very well. However, there were a few who often went to the Marshal's Mansion, and she looked familiar with them.

The officers were also surprised to see her and greeted her, "Miss, are you here too?"

Guier smiled and nodded.

Sha Yanyao quickly sat down at the table and started playing cards. Miss Shen was also dragged away by the female relatives to play mahjong. Gui'er was a child and there were no other children to play with, so Sha Yanyao asked the waiter to bring her a bunch of snacks.

Gui'er was already an adult at heart, so she was naturally not shy like a child. She just sat there and ate snacks slowly and obediently, while observing the people in the suite. She felt that this was like a club for them. From time to time, new people came in, and the women they brought with them were either wives or concubines.

Some people deliberately tried to curry favor with Sha Yanyao, while others simply used the place as a place for entertainment, heading straight to one of the tables to play cards, mahjong, or even billiards, without even saying hello to Sha Yanyao. A few people, noticing a child in the room, even came over to ask Guier, "Whose child are you? Why are you here?"

When people or Gui'er heard that Sha Yanyao had brought her here, they would suddenly realize and say, "Oh, so you're the adopted daughter the Marshal mentioned who can take out bandits with a gun? You're quite impressive, little one."

Gui'er would chat with them for a bit, mainly to learn about the military situation, but most of the time she would just eat snacks and read the newspaper.

Suddenly, someone brought her a glass of milk. Gui'er looked up and saw that the man looked very familiar. He was in his 40s, not very tall, but rather strong. He looked at Gui'er with a smile and said, "Miss Gui'er, do you remember me? The last time I saw you, you were still living under Young Master Song."

Gui'er was startled. Few people knew about this past, especially those in the military. Looking closely at that man, wasn't he Captain Duan, a relative of Mrs. Song? When Sha Yanxiao first appeared before Gui'er as the Young Marshal, it was this Captain Duan who took him to visit the Song family.

Gui'er didn't know what this person's purpose was, so she smiled cautiously and said, "I remember now, it's Captain Duan."

Captain Duan smiled and said, "It's been a few years since we last met. Miss Gui'er has become even more beautiful. How is your brother now?"

Gui'er guessed he might be asking about Sha Yanxiao, so she pretended to be confused and said, "Isn't my brother playing cards behind you?"

Reluctantly, Captain Duan leaned forward and whispered, "I'm asking about Sha Yanxiao, your second brother."

Gui'er had no choice but to say frankly, "He went to Fengcheng. Didn't you know? I haven't heard from him since he left. I miss him too. Didn't he contact you?"

After hearing this, Captain Duan sighed.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sha Yanyao asked as he came over. Captain Duan was visibly startled, then smiled and said, "Nothing, just playing with the kids," and walked away.

Sha Yanyao asked Gui'er, "Will you feel bored?"

Guier said obediently: "No, it feels a bit novel."

Sha Yanyao smiled, touched Guier's head and went back to playing cards.

Gui'er ate some snacks and read the newspaper for a while. She felt a little bored and saw that Sha Yanyao and Miss Shen were busy playing cards and mahjong, so she quietly left her seat and ran out of the suite.

She went to the bathroom first, and when she came back she saw another song and dance performance on the first floor. She was standing in the aisle on the second floor, facing the stage, with a very good view. Thinking that it was smoky and noisy inside, she decided to just watch the song and dance performance here. In order not to attract too much attention, she found a pillar and leaned against it to watch.