A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Miss Shen thanked the old man repeatedly. The old man went in and came out about ten minutes later. He called a rickshaw. Miss Shen and Guier got in the rickshaw, and the old man led the rickshaw towards Xiaguan.

The rickshaw was going further and further off the track. Gui Er was a little frightened and whispered in Miss Shen's ear, "Sister Feng Shu, are we going in the right direction? Don't go the wrong way."

Miss Shen smiled and comforted her, "Don't worry, I'm a local here. Xiaguan did come from this direction, and don't we have Ah Cheng with us?"

Gui'er thought about it and agreed.

We kept walking forward, and the houses on both sides of the road gradually turned into simple bungalows. Rickshaws shuttled through the narrow streets, and the sound of rutting wheels continued. There were many small vendors on the roadside selling simple daily necessities and food. Most of the pedestrians here were dressed in homespun clothes, and occasionally there were one or two people wearing silk gowns, which were considered to be well-dressed.

After walking for about half an hour, they finally stopped in front of a house. Guier took a look and was a little surprised. It was an ordinary two-story blue brick house. It looked quite old. The walls were mottled and the roof was covered with old tiles. It was also relatively small and had no yard.

The old man said to Miss Shen, "We're here. This is it. They live on the second floor."

Miss Shen was shocked, but she still got out of the car, took Guier, and followed the old man upstairs.

After entering the house, Guier realized that each of them was a suite, a rental house. He was very shocked. Xu Wenjie's father was a high-ranking official after all, and he must have left behind some assets. How could he have fallen to this point?

Miss Shen's father is gone, and most of his assets have been taken away by the Marshal, but he still lives in a villa and employs servants.

The group walked to a door at the corner of the second floor. The old man knocked on the door and called respectfully, "Madam, are you home? I'm Lao Zhao."

After about ten seconds, the door creaked open and a haggard woman in her 50s opened the door. She was dressed very decently in a silk cheongsam and looked rich, which was totally out of place with the living environment here.

This must be Mrs. Xu. The old man said to her, "These two young ladies came to see you and said they were the young master's friends."

Miss Shen called out, "Mrs. Xu."

Mrs. Xu looked up and squinted her eyes, glancing at Miss Shen. A little embarrassed, she said unnaturally, "It turns out to be Miss Shen. Are you looking for our Wenjie? What's the matter? He's not here."

Miss Shen anxiously grabbed Mrs. Xu's hand and said, "I know he was arrested. He was taken away as a suspected communist."

When Mrs. Xu heard this, her face turned pale and her whole body went limp. She wanted to fall backwards. Miss Shen and Old Zhao hurriedly helped her into the house. Gui'er quietly asked Ah Cheng to keep watch at the door to see if there was anyone following them nearby, and then followed her in.

The two men helped Mrs. Xu sit down. Miss Shen found the thermos, poured a glass of water for Mrs. Xu, and handed it to her. After she drank it, she finally calmed down.

Mrs. Xu shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "He used to go out suddenly, but he always told me. This time, he went out to open the shop in the morning, and he didn't come back until very late that night. I went to his bookstore and ran into him. Someone was arresting someone outside. I was so scared that I didn't dare to go forward, and I had no one to ask. I didn't know what to do."

As she spoke, she grabbed Miss Shen's hand and said, "What's going on? My son's father works in the government. He can't be a Communist."

Gui'er said quickly, "How could Boss Xu be a Communist? It's just that some people who wanted to make money seized this opportunity to extort money. Several of our classmates were arrested, and their families later paid money to redeem them."

When Mrs. Xu heard this, she quickly asked, "How much does this cost?"

Miss Shen said, "We went to see Director Wang, and he asked for five gold bars."

Mrs. Xu felt like a deflated ball after hearing this. She said in despair, "After his father passed away, a bunch of uncles and cousins showed up out of nowhere, some with IOUs, some claiming inheritance rights. Wenjie was a noble man, disdaining to compete for property. Most of the family money was gone, and then he used what little savings he had to open this bookstore."

Suddenly, Mrs. Xu said, "Wait a minute, you mean Director Wang? Director Wang from the Military and Political Affairs Department?"

Miss Shen nodded.

Mrs. Xu said bitterly, "Old Xu has helped this man many times in the past."

Everyone present was silent.

Mrs. Xu silently shed tears for a while, then calmed down and said to Miss Shen, "Thank you for telling me this, but I can't even take out a single gold bar right now. Since moving here, all our family savings have been given to Wenjie to manage so that he can buy stock for the bookstore. I only have a few silver dollars and some change for buying groceries."

Miss Shen quickly comforted her, saying, "Mrs. Xu, don't worry. We will find a way. We came here just to inform you about this matter. It's getting late today, so we'll leave first."

Old Zhao also said to Mrs. Xu, "Madam, I'm leaving now. You must relax. This young lady will help rescue the young master."

Although Mrs. Xu's face turned pale, she still stood up and politely said to the two of them, "Thank you both for coming. Miss Shen, although I'm sorry, I'm a woman and I really have no one to turn to for help. Wenjie, please help me."

Miss Shen said, "Don't worry, Mrs. Xu, I will do my best."

After leaving Mrs. Xu's house, Miss Shen thanked Old Man Zhao who led the way and hired a rickshaw to take them home.

Guier glanced at Acheng, who smiled and shook his head. Guier realized that what he wanted to say was that no one was following them, and she felt relieved.

When she returned to the Sha Mansion, she saw Sha Yanyao, Song Tingting, and Mrs. Shen sitting on the sofa in the living room, staring at her.

Gui'er felt a little guilty. After all, she went to such a far place after school, and it took her almost two hours to go there and back, so she came back much later than usual.

The wife said, "That's why they say that girls should not be kept at home when they grow up, but our family is a famous one after all. We cannot tolerate girls messing around outside."

Gui'er quickly said, "Mother, you misunderstood. Teacher Shen was going to Xu Wenjie's house to inform his mother. That place is a civilian area, and she was worried about a girl going there alone, so she brought me along."

Upon hearing this, the lady stood up, walked over to Gui'er, poked her hard on the forehead, and said, "Stupid, you're doing such a thankless job. What if the authorities are still keeping an eye on Xu Wenjie's house and arrest you too? Stay away from that woman surnamed Shen from now on."