A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Guier started going to school again, and she went to and from school with Miss Shen every day. Although there were daughters from ordinary families in the school, there were also daughters of powerful families.

However, perhaps because the school was in a big city, everyone was more open-minded. Compared with Jiangcheng, there were not so many factions and small groups. Guier quickly made friends. They were all children from ordinary families. After they knew that Guier was an adopted daughter, they did not do anything special, which made Guier very happy. Guier also found that some people in the school had been exposed to advanced ideas and would secretly read articles on communist ideology.

Gradually, Miss Shen also began to read such articles. She also promoted them to Guier. However, in Guier's opinion, her ideas were still more inclined towards perfection and romanticism, which was a little different from people like Song Xichen who were truly engaged in revolutionary work. So Guier did not dare to tell her that Xu Wenjie was already engaged in revolutionary work.

That day, while having dinner, Sha Yanyao excitedly announced that he had secured a position in the Military and Political Department, something like an inspector. Everyone was very happy, and his wife immediately ordered more dishes and champagne to celebrate. She also said that the dinner should be more sumptuous, and asked Mrs. Shen to come and eat with them.

Guier asked, "Brother, what does an inspector do?"

The lady said happily, "You don't even understand this. I'm responsible for inspecting the various departments to see if their military expenditures are reasonable, right? Yan Yao."

Sha Yanyao nodded and said, "That's about what I mean."

Gui'er said, "Wouldn't that offend a lot of people?"

The lady smiled and said, "What are you thinking about? They're afraid of offending us. In ancient times, this would have been the position of an imperial envoy, with plenty of benefits."

Miss Shen frowned and said, "Since we are doing this kind of work, we must be honest and upright and investigate and punish illegal activities in the military. Otherwise, wouldn't it be the same as corruption and bribery?"

Everyone present was stunned for a moment. Sha Yanyao smiled and said, "Of course..."

Guier knew that it was almost impossible to be an honest official in this era.

Anyway, Sha Yanyao's position was finally decided. Gui'er was curious about how it was decided in the end?

Sha Yanxiao said, "Director Wang knows that while it may seem like he's taking advantage of the Sha family, in reality, he has leverage over them. If he only takes advantage and doesn't do anything, and they turn against him, he won't be able to handle it with our warlord style. Furthermore, this time, his driver molested Miss Shen, and he had nothing to say. He handed the person over himself."

Gui'er was a little disappointed. She hated Director Wang and was hoping that Sha Yanyao and Sha Yanxiao would go find Director Zhou and let them fight each other.

Sha Yanxiao said to Gui'er, "Although I really want to take you back to Jiangcheng, Jiangcheng's affairs haven't been settled yet, and Mother wants you to stay in Nanjing. So, you should study here for two years. I'll leave Wu Mingqiang and Ah Si here to protect you and to keep an eye on the central government's movements so I can know as soon as possible. You'll live under the care of Mother and Big Brother. Just be smart. If you run out of money, you can ask Wu Mingqiang."

Gui'er said, "Can I come back to see you during my vacation?"

Sha Yanxiao smiled and patted her head, saying, "Of course. If you don't go back during the holidays, I will pick you up. By the time you go on holiday, I might have moved back to the Marshal's Mansion. Then we can still live together like before."

Gui'er nodded happily, and Sha Yanxiao stayed for two more days, bought some Nanjing specialties, and then went back.

After seeing Sha Yanxiao leave, Yulan said to Guier, "Why did Second Brother leave so soon? It's so hard to let him go."

Guier rolled her eyes and said nothing.

Not long after Sha Yanxiao left, Director Wang came over again. What he did was pretty much the same as before, which was to eat and then find an excuse to stay overnight in Magnolia's room.

But now Gui'er and Miss Shen both have to go to school, so the chances of meeting each other are not many. One Sunday, Gui'er was doing homework in the room when she heard a slight quarrel coming from upstairs.

"Since you've already secured the position, why did you allow Director Wang to come to your house and do such dirty things?"

"If he comes over, what can I do? He's my superior."

As soon as Gui'er heard it, she knew that Miss Shen and Sha Yanyao were arguing about Director Wang coming over. Miss Shen was still brooding over the incident of being molested by Director Wang's driver last time, so naturally she didn't like Director Wang.

During this time, Madam Shen once again brought up the topic of Miss Shen quickly having children, saying, "You've been married for so long, why is there no news about your pregnancy? You should go to the hospital. If it were another family, they would have grandchildren."

Miss Shen remained silent. Sha Yanyao said, "It's not that my job has only recently stabilized. I didn't have time to think about these things before."

The wife said, "What does this pregnancy have to do with you, man? It's not you who's pregnant, so it won't affect your affairs at all. As the eldest son, you should have children sooner rather than later. Your father is over 50, so it's time for him to have a grandson."

After that, Ms. Shen was in a very bad mood. At school, she even said to Guier, "For women, marriage is just a form of exploitation. It makes women unable to do anything except give birth to children and take care of the family."

Miss Shen's remarks can be said to be very avant-garde in this era. Guier also knows that there is already a huge gap between Sha Yanyao and Miss Shen. Sha Yanyao is now busy with work and social activities, and he no longer tries to please and accompany Miss Shen like before.

But she still didn't want Miss Shen and Sha Yanyao to divorce. Miss Shen was the woman whose thoughts were closest to modern people that she had met in this era. Moreover, Guier knew that if Miss Shen divorced impulsively, she would probably not be able to find a man with better material conditions as Mrs. Shen said.

However, as Director Wang became more and more familiar with the place and his wife pressed Sha Yanyao for labor, the relationship between Sha Yanyao and Miss Shen became increasingly strained.

One day after school, Gui'er and Miss Shen came out of the school building together. When they were about to take the bus back to Sha Mansion, Miss Shen said to Gui'er, "Guier, I have decided to divorce."

Gui'er was no longer surprised. She said to Miss Shen, "I respect your decision. I also feel that you are not happy or fulfilled in the Sha family, but I really can't bear to leave you. From my own selfish point of view, I hope you can always be my sister-in-law."

Miss Shen smiled and hugged her, saying, "I can't bear to leave you either. It's strange that after leaving a marriage, the person you're most reluctant to leave is your sister-in-law. But we live very close to each other and go to the same school. I believe that other than not living in the same house, there won't be much difference."