A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Xu Wenjie was quietly cleaning up the store. Guier walked into the store and helped pick up the books on the ground. Miss Shen and a group of students were discussing there.

Some radical male students proposed to hold a demonstration to expose the darkness of the authorities, which was supported by the majority of students. The crowd was in an uproar. While helping to clean up, Gui'er secretly observed and found that some small vendors not far away were glancing at the bookstore intentionally or unintentionally. She coughed twice and Xu Wenjie looked at her.

She quickly winked at Xu Wenjie, who looked up and saw the vendors. He quickly walked over and said to the students, "Demonstrations are useless. How much money did your families spend to get you out? Don't you know the truth?"

After hearing these words, the students all lowered their heads. One of them asked him, "Boss Xu, weren't you the one who encouraged us to fight for freedom and democracy?"

Xu Wenjie said dejectedly: "I fought for it. Look, this is the result of my efforts. My family can hardly make ends meet now. Please don't interfere with my business. Let's go." Then he pushed the student out.

Guier then realized that Xu Wenjie usually used the bookstore as a cover to guide the students' thoughts. The students were a little at a loss as to what to do and left one after another.

Zhou Huifang said to Guier, "Guier, let's go too. I brought you here, and I'll take you back right away."

Gui'er said, "It's okay, you go first. I'll help clean up here. Otherwise, I don't know when Boss Xu's place will be able to reopen."

Zhou Huifang left with the other classmates, and Miss Shen also stayed. The three of them worked hard to put the books away, sorting the dirty ones into another place, and then used a broom to sweep the floor that was full of debris and garbage.

When they were almost done, a pot-bellied old man in his fifties or sixties, with a bald head, a top hat, a round head, and round-framed glasses walked in.

Gui'er was surprised. Why were there guests at this time?

The fat old man entered the bookstore, looked around with wide eyes and said, "Hey, look at me, look at what you have done to my store."

Xu Wenjie heard it and quickly stepped forward and said with a smile, "Landlord, you're here?"

The fat old man walked around the shop with his hands behind his back and said in a domineering tone, "It's time to pay the rent. You've ruined my shop like this. You have to pay for the glass windows and doors too. I'll go back and calculate it and give you a number tomorrow."

Xu Wenjie said helplessly and pitifully, "Landlord, it's not that I intend to default on your payment, but you know what happened to me. I really don't have any money on hand now. Can you give me a few days' grace period?"

"Give me a few days' grace? Do you think I'm doing this for charity? I also need this shop to make money to support my family, okay? If you don't want to do it, just move out quickly, but make sure you clean the doors and windows and fix them for me, otherwise I'll report you to the police and have you arrested. And the deposit you paid previously is not refundable."

The landlord said these words and walked away in a swagger.

Xu Wenjie stood still for a few seconds, then suddenly threw the books in his hands to the ground with all his strength, and the books were scattered all over the floor in an instant.

Miss Shen quickly walked over to comfort him and said, "Don't worry, we'll find a solution together." As she spoke, she took out a few silver dollars from her pocket and handed them to him, saying, "I have some money here, you can use it for an emergency."

Gui'er only brought out a silver dollar and wanted to give it to him, but Xu Wenjie stiffened his neck and said, "I can't take your money anymore. You spent so much on me this time. I don't know when I can pay you back."

Miss Shen said gently: "Take your time, everything will pass."

Xu Wenjie said nothing, staring into the distance.

Gui'er and Miss Shen helped clean up the books on the floor and cleaned up before leaving. In order to avoid arousing the lady's suspicion, Gui'er also took a study-related book from the bookstore.

When we got back to the Sha Mansion, my wife not only didn't blame me, but she also said happily, "Why are you back so soon? Don't you want to play with your classmates outside for a while longer?"

Gui'er had no choice but to say, "My classmates all said they wanted to go home, so I went back."

The wife smiled and said, "This classmate looks plainly dressed, but he's actually from a very important background. His uncle is Director Zhou. Everyone knows that Director Zhou's wife is close to Mrs. Jiang. It seems that sending you to school is not bad after all. You should hang out with classmates like him in the future and try to visit their homes more often. Who knows, you might be able to get close to those high-ranking officials."

Guier smiled and said nothing.

During dinner that evening, the wife excitedly brought up this matter and said, "Guier is truly capable. She's made friends with the children of high-ranking officials so quickly. I've discovered this is a shortcut. In the future, you should work hard to socialize with those classmates. Perhaps you can help our family achieve higher status."

Sha Yanyao smiled and said, "Mother, please don't make things difficult for my sister. She is not like that."

The wife said, "What kind of personality is needed? It's just about making friends. Do you think I'm willing to shamelessly go around making connections? It's all for you, Gui'er. Don't listen to your brother. You're living and eating at home all day, which is a lot of money. Of course, you have to contribute to the family."

Sha Yanyao quickly stopped her and said, "Mother, why are you saying these things as a family?"

The lady realized that she had spoken out of turn and said with a smile, "Well, it never hurts to make more friends, right?"

Gui'er pretended not to hear and nodded with a smile.

The lady really disliked having to bear Guier's expenses, but now, apart from food and accommodation, Guier has to pay for almost everything else she wants to buy in Sha Mansion. If she continues to spend without earning, her savings will definitely be exhausted. However, she is still a student and has no way to earn money. Guier is very distressed.

Ever since they went to Xu Wenjie's store, Zhou Huifang seemed to have stopped discussing with her about rescuing those who were captured.

Gui'er asked curiously, and Zhou Huifang said, "I asked my uncle to find out, and he said those people might be sentenced to a few years in prison and then released. My uncle also said that this time they were implicated because they destroyed several underground printing houses."

When Gui'er heard about the underground printing point, she realized that it might be her comrades, so she quickly asked, "Are those people in the printing point Communists? How are they doing now?"

Zhou Huifang said, "That shouldn't be the case. It's said that some progressive students took the initiative, and some of them had parents who were high-ranking government officials. So, those with money were redeemed, while those without remained in prison."