A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Afterwards, Guier followed the eldest wife back to Nanjing. Needless to say, they asked Guier to take an ordinary seat on the train. Sha Yanyao wanted to book a suite for Guier, but was stopped by his wife and Song Tingting on the grounds that it was too expensive.

After returning to Nanjing, she hurried to register at school the next day. Zhou Huifang said, "You came so late. I thought you weren't coming."

Guier smiled and said, "Of course I'm coming. Why not? Mainly because my family has something to do, and they won't let me come alone."

Zhou Huifang said, "What's so strange about this? Every year there are a few people in our school who are asked by their families to get married, and then they don't come anymore."

After returning to Nanjing, Yulan followed Director Wang to live in the Wang Mansion. His wife was very happy and said, "This way, we have one less person in the family and one more wealthy and powerful relative. We should visit Sister Yulan more often when we have time. We are her family."

Gui'er rolled her eyes when she heard this, but she was still taken by her wife to visit Director Wang's home every few days.

Director Wang's villa would surely rank among the most luxurious villas in Nanjing. The courtyard was filled with lush, towering sycamore trees, beneath which ran winding gravel paths. Flowers bloomed in all seasons. The villa was a three-story, standalone structure, lavishly decorated. The ornate crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling stretched a full two or three meters. Compared to the Sha Mansion Gui'er and her friends had rented, it felt like a poorhouse.

Every time Gui'er came, she felt like she had come to a modern hotel. However, Director Wang's three daughters were not very welcoming to their arrival, especially the eldest daughter, who always spoke in a sarcastic tone.

The wife didn't take it seriously at all, and even said to Gui'er behind her back, "Don't look at her like that. If only our Yulan gave birth to a son, and then whispered something in Director Wang's ear, would she be able to get so arrogant?"

However, Director Wang's eldest daughter held a grudge against Gui'er because of this and brought a few people to Gui'er's classroom to settle the score with her.

He came up and said to Gui'er, "Does your family specialize in soliciting prostitutes at brothels? How did you get such a thing into our family?"

Guier smiled and said, "Senior, you misunderstood. This is a new era, marriage is free, and you, as your father's daughter, can't stop his marriage. Why do you think that I, an adopted daughter, can make the decision?"

At this time, Miss Shen and Zhou Huifang also came to help Guier. Miss Shen also said to her as a teacher: "My dear student, if you are dissatisfied with your father's marriage, you should communicate with your father instead of expressing your dissatisfaction to irrelevant classmates."

She left in disappointment.

Miss Shen even found a time after school for Gui'er to ride in a rickshaw with her. On the way, she talked to her about Yulan and Director Wang and comforted her, saying, "This matter really has nothing to do with you. Don't feel bad about it. Just study hard. If she bothers you again, just tell me."

Gui'er nodded gratefully and said to Miss Shen, "How have you and Xu Wenjie been doing recently?"

Miss Shen said shyly, "Our mothers have already met, and they both agree."

Guier knew that they both only had their mother. If her mother had met them, it would basically be confirmed. She smiled and said, "That's great. It looks like your wedding is coming soon. Congratulations."

Miss Shen said shyly, "Look at what you said. You haven't even started with ten strokes yet. Oh, and Xu Wenjie also told me about you. He said he would definitely treat you to a meal when you come back, so the three of us can get together."

Gui'er was stunned for a moment. Xu Wenjie was her comrade, so he might have a reason for doing this. So, she quickly said, "Okay, I haven't eaten out for a long time."

So Miss Shen made an appointment for a Sunday, and Guier told her wife that she was going out to play with Zhou Huifang, and she got away with it successfully.

Gui'er remembered that Xu Wenjie had invited them to eat noodles before, and thought that this time, they might be able to try the special noodles from Nanjing. Unexpectedly, they were invited to Wenliuyuan, a famous Nanjing local cuisine restaurant located on Gongyuan East Street. The building was spacious and the utensils were gorgeous. The restaurant could accommodate one or two thousand people, which was almost the same as a modern star-rated hotel. The decoration was also very modern, but it retained some Chinese characteristics. It was a unique combination of Chinese and Western styles.

Xu Wenjie booked a private room and ordered the dishes early in the morning. The three of them actually ordered six dishes, including braised big fish head, braised meatballs with day lily, fried chicken with wild tea oil, braised tripe in Jinling, and grilled beef ribs with sesame oil.

Looking at the large number of dishes, Gui'er thought that this meal must have cost a lot, so she said to Xu Wenjie, "Boss Xu, you're too polite. It doesn't really need to be so expensive."

Xu Wenjie smiled and said, "Don't take it to heart. These are actually my favorite foods. I used to be aloof and looked down upon associating with the rich, capitalists, and bureaucrats. But when I became truly poor, I realized that my dislike for extravagance was because I could eat and use them every day. So now I'm just being open-minded. As long as I don't waste money, improving my life is fine. Now that I'm in the Military Commission, due to my responsibilities, many people rush to curry favor with me and give me gifts. So the extra compensation I receive is actually much more than my actual income."

Miss Shen was a little worried when she heard this and asked, "Will this be a problem? Is this legitimate?"

Xu Wenjie said, "Don't worry. Others accept gifts too. I only accept gifts that everyone in the organization gets one. I don't ask for extra. If everyone accepts and I don't, I'd be out of line and wouldn't last long."

Miss Shen was about to say something when Guier heard someone outside shouting that the snacks were coming out of the oven and quickly said, "There are more snacks."

Xu Wenjie said to Miss Shen, "Please help her get a basket of crab soup dumplings. With so many dishes, one basket should be enough."

After Miss Shen left, Gui'er lowered her voice and asked Xu Wenjie, "Is it okay for you to do this?"

Xu Wenjie said, "It's okay. I reported it to my superiors. I just had to keep it a secret from Feng Shu. It was very painful."

Gui'er said, "Why don't you bring her in as our comrade? She has progressive ideas." She felt that Miss Shen would definitely become an excellent revolutionary.

Xu Wenjie said, "I've asked, and the higher-ups need to investigate first. The reason I called you here is because I have some important intelligence to share with you. It's targeting your adoptive father's family. Director Zhou, you originally wanted to use his connections to get into the government, but he changed his mind, leaving him with nothing. Now, he's targeting Tang Yaozu, who has a good relationship with him, and he holds a grudge against Marshal Sha's mansion. I'm afraid this will harm your family, so be careful."