A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Sha Yanyao looked at him in surprise and said, "Chen Zhongyu, you're actually in Nanjing? I've been here for so long and I didn't even know."

Song Xichen smiled and said, "I just found out recently. He kept asking me to come over to play, so I took the time to come over."

The fashionable young man said with a playful smile, "I just came back from Hong Kong recently. Besides, you all have official business, and I'm the only one with nothing to do. How can I be so embarrassed?"

Sha Yanyao walked up to him, punched him in the chest, and said, "If I had known you were coming, I would have taken a day off to go play with you guys."

Chen Zhongyu said, "We're going to the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum tomorrow. Are you free? Let's go together."

Sha Yanyao was about to say something when his wife said, "Yanyao, you're going to be late for work."

Sha Yanyao paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "I'll take a look tomorrow."

Song Xichen said to Chen Zhongyu, "Take a kid to school on the way."

Chen Zhongyu glanced at Gui'er and said, "Okay, get in the car, kid."

Guier followed them into the car and went to school.

The car drove out of the gate of the Shazhai Mansion and drove along the road Gui'er usually took to school. Song Xichen looked back and said, "No one is following us."

Then the car suddenly turned and drove through an alley. Gui'er was startled and quickly asked Song Xichen, "Brother Xichen, what's going on?"

Song Xichen comforted her and said, "Don't worry, we are going to the Nanjing underground party headquarters now."

Gui'er was very excited when she heard this. She never thought that one day she would be able to meet the real revolutionary predecessors of the underground party in person.

The car drove on for a while, then turned several corners before arriving at a rather secluded, ordinary house. This house looked rather shabby, but it had a yard. When the car arrived, before we could get out and knock on the door, the gate of the yard opened to both sides, and the car drove into the yard.

Guier got out of the car and found that there were people quietly standing guard in hidden corners at different angles of the house, including the gate, the second floor, and the roof. She believed that there were probably people standing guard at the entrance of the alley outside as well, so when their car arrived here, someone opened the door without them having to call.

Chen Zhongyu led Song Xichen and Gui'er into the house. Gui'er saw that the first floor was the living room and kitchen. There were simple tables and chairs in the living room, and a large landscape painting hung on the wall.

Gui'er was puzzled when she saw that no one was in the room. Then she saw Chen Zhongyu lift the painting upwards. It turned out to be a secret door. He opened the door and walked in. He said to Song Xichen and Gui'er, "Follow me."

Gui'er was very surprised and followed Song Xichen in. It turned out that this door led to the basement.

The space in the basement is not big, but very secretive. There is a large table and several benches, which should be used for meetings and work discussions. There are also several cabinets and shelves next to it with some materials and colorful flyers.

Chen Zhongyu said to Song Xichen and Gui'er, "There are several rooms on the second floor here that serve as rest areas for comrades and to store important documents. We advertise this place as a shared accommodation for outsiders. It's not very busy during the day; some go out to gather information, while others use this place as cover. We usually hold meetings to share intelligence and formulate action plans at night."

This was a girl in her 20s, dressed simply, with short hair that reached her shoulders, and very pretty. She poured them tea in cups. Guier took a look and saw that she came down from another secret passage. It seemed that there was more than one exit from the basement.

Chen Zhongyu said to Song Xichen, "We have seen what you reported. This time, we asked you two to come over to verify the situation. Classmate Gui'er, please tell us what you know."

Guier said, "Can you please call the school first to ask for leave? Otherwise, if the school calls my house, it will be exposed."

Chen Zhongyu heard this and said, "You're right. Come here, there's a phone."

Guier hurried over and called Miss Shen's school office, telling her that there was a guest at Sha Mansion and she was going to school by the guest's car today. However, the car broke down halfway and she might have to wait for some time before she could get to school.

Miss Shen didn't doubt it much and just told her to be careful on the road and didn't say anything else.

Gui'er hung up the phone and turned around to see Song Xichen and Chen Zhongyu looking at her with smiles.

Chen Zhongyu said, "Gui'er is truly adaptable and her excuses are logical. By the way, you figured out a way to rescue Xu Wenjie before we took action this time. You did a great job."

Gui'er felt a little embarrassed by his praise, and sat back down at the long table. She told him everything she knew about Xu Wenjie's arrest, and then she told him what Xu Wenjie had told her about Director Zhou trying to win him over.

Chen Zhongyu walked around the room with his hands behind his back. He frowned, thought for a moment, and said to Song Xichen, "Xichen, what do you think?"

Song Xichen also frowned and said, "I also think this matter is too strange and totally unreasonable. Xu Wenjie, is there any possibility of rebellion?"

Chen Zhongyu said: "Xu Wenjie's past performance was very good."

Gui Er suddenly wondered if Xu Wenjie knew about this place, and quickly asked, "Mr. Chen, does Xu Wenjie know about this place? If he does, it would be troublesome."

Chen Zhongyu said, "Don't worry, our comrades in charge of the contact point don't know about this place."

Gui'er felt a little relieved. She said, "Then you can find someone to contact him and ask him clearly. He himself is eager to find the organization."

Chen Zhongyu said, "Of course we have to contact him, but we need to find out more about the situation first. Do you have anything else to add?"

Gui'er shook her head and said, "No more."

Chen Zhongyu said, "Okay then, go to school first."

Song Xichen said, "I'll take her there."

Chen Zhongyu also nodded, and then Song Xichen brought Guier out of the basement.

After getting in the car, Gui'er saw that there was no one else, so she said to Song Xichen, "Brother Xichen, did you receive my cream cake?"

Song Xichen touched her face and said, "I got it. Thank you. This is the first time in my life that a girl has treated me to cake."

Gui'er giggled, then asked, "So, did you come here specifically for Xu Wenjie's matter, or for something else?"

Song Xichen said, "I came here for a lot of reasons this time. One of them is that my mother is really worried about my sister, so I took the opportunity to suggest that I come over to see her. Do you think they are doing okay?"

Gui'er sighed and said, "This Miss Tingting is still the same as when we were in the Song Mansion. She's usually like a quail, hanging out with that Yulan. A few days ago, she even secretly opened the article I submitted to the magazine about the 128 Incident, which caused Sha Yanyao to scold me."