A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

School officially started the next day. The classroom was bustling with chatter during the first class. Students were sharing where they had gone during the holidays and what interesting things had happened. Some students even brought local snacks to share with everyone. The atmosphere was very lively.

Gui'er sat quietly in her seat alone. She was in no mood and didn't even sleep well last night. She felt that Xu Wenjie's situation was even worse than Song Xichen's. After all, they were both under surveillance.

At this time, the classmate sitting next to her said to her, "Guier, why are you so quiet? You seem unhappy. Didn't you have a good time at home during the holidays? Are your adoptive parents treating you harshly?"

The fact that Gui'er was an adopted daughter was not a new thing in the class, but no one looked at it with tinted glasses, so Gui'er especially liked coming to Nanjing to study.

She smiled and said casually, "No, I went to the bookstore yesterday but didn't buy the book I liked."

The classmate said, "Oh, so that's how it is. What's the big deal? We're going to Xu's Bookstore after school. You can come with us."

"Xu's Bookstore? Is it the one on the far right after two blocks? The one at the end?"

"Yes, that's the one. There are a lot of new books there, many of which contain progressive ideas and are worth reading." She was referring to the bookstore opened by Xu Wenjie.

Gui'er was moved and said, "You guys are going over after class? Do you know the boss? Can you help me ask if he has any books? I have something to do at home and can't go today."

"Okay, what's the title of the book?"

"The book's title is 'Be Careful Outside the Door.' Do you recognize the owner? If he's in the shop, then you need to ask for me, because he said he ordered it for me personally. If you say I'm Gui'er, then he'll know. If someone else is in the shop, then you don't need to ask."

The classmate agreed nonchalantly. Gui'er felt that this trick was a bit risky. After all, this classmate was just a teenager, and she might not do exactly what she said.

Guier wanted to remind her again and again, but she was afraid that if she said too much, it would arouse the suspicion of her classmates. She was very uneasy until school was over. When she saw her classmates packing their bags and preparing to go to the bookstore with other classmates, she reminded them again.

"When you go there, ask only if the boss is there. If the boss is not there, there is no need to ask. The boss of his shop occasionally invites his own relatives to look after the shop, and they are people who know nothing about anything. The last time I went there, he gave me the wrong item. It's very annoying, haha." Gui'er instructed carefully and meticulously.

Afterwards, although I was nervous, I had no choice but to go back to Sha Mansion.

When they returned to the Sha Mansion, they found out that Director Wang had come again during dinner. He seemed to really care about Yulan. Dingxiang said that the lady even told her personal maid privately that it would be great if Director Wang's wife died. In that way, Yulan could be married to Director Wang and become his wife. She would then become Director Wang's mother-in-law, and she would have endless benefits to reap.

Gui'er was too tired to complain, but she had long been accustomed to her wife being like this. One thing worth noting was that she found that Song Tingting actually agreed with her wife's idea.

Since Song Tingting got married, she has been humble and submissive in front of her wife. She is very cold every time she interacts with Guier, but she gets along very well with Yulan.

Dingxiang said, "The servants all found it very strange. The new wife is obviously a lady from a noble family, so how could she be so sociable with a prostitute? Miss Mingming, even as an adopted daughter, you are not worthy to pay any attention to her."

Gui'er had no choice but to say, "Sister Yulan hasn't done anything wrong to us, so why are you doing that? I don't spend much time with Sister Yulan and my sister-in-law. It's mainly because I have to go to school every day and don't spend much time at home. They both spend more time at home, so it's common for us to keep each other company and chat more."

The next day, Guier came to school with a nervous mood, but found that her deskmate was not there, and several classmates who went to buy books with her yesterday were not there either.

Gui'er felt that the situation was very bad. She was wondering whether she needed to evacuate, but she had nowhere to go and could not call Song Xichen.

Gui'er was in no mood all night and couldn't even do her homework properly. She always felt that an invisible net was slowly approaching her.

I thought hard all night but still had no clue.

Early in the morning on the third day, after breakfast, Acheng followed the rickshaw to send Guier to school as usual.

When Guier arrived at school, she found that the classmates who had not come to school yesterday to go to the bookstore were back in school. She immediately asked, "Why did you suddenly ask for leave yesterday?"

The classmate said with a frustrated look on his face, "How could I ask for leave? The government is really getting more and more inhumane these days. If I go to the bookstore to buy a book, they will say I am a reactionary and want to arrest me."

Gui'er was startled. As she expected, something had happened. She asked cautiously, "You're so confused. How could I get arrested for buying books? Did the boss report it to the police?"

The student said, "The boss wasn't even there. As soon as we entered the bookstore, before we could even say a word, a group of burly men swarmed us and detained us. It was incredibly rude. In the end, my uncle, who works in the administration department, went to the police station and paid a fine, and they finally let us go. I asked them what law I had broken, but they kept hesitating and prevaricate. It's just that they wanted to make money. It's outrageous."

Guier asked cautiously, "How's the bookstore owner?"

Suddenly, the classmate said to Gui'er mysteriously, "I'm only telling you this, don't tell anyone else. My uncle said that Mr. Xu, the owner of that bookstore, might be a 'communist suspect.' That is, you know the Communist Party, right?"

How could Gui'er dare to say she knew? She shook her head in mock confusion and asked, "So the boss has evidence and has been caught."

"What evidence? Why do these people need evidence? They didn't ask for evidence when they arrested us. Later, my uncle gave us money and they released us all."

Gui'er had an idea and returned to Sha Mansion. She took a few books such as Dream of the Red Chamber and Journey to the West and went to Yulan's room.

Yulan was very surprised by her visit and said with a smile, "Since my sister came back from Jiangcheng, she has been working extra hard. We even have less time to talk. Why did you suddenly come to my place today?"

Guier smiled and said, "Sister Yulan, well, you know, when my previous sister-in-law was around, she would always talk to me about books and literature. Now that she's gone, there's no one to chat with me, but I can't express it. After all, my new sister-in-law will definitely be unhappy if she hears it."

Yulan smiled and said, "Don't tell me, although this new sister-in-law seems to be getting along well with me, I feel like she's not even as good as the old one."

Gui Er was very curious and asked, "Why do you say that? I see your new sister-in-law chats with you more often than your old one."