A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

That day, Gui'er came out of school and wanted to ask Zhou Huifang to go to the bookstore to see what new books were available. However, Zhou Huifang said that she had something to do and could not go, so she had to go alone.

Gui'er's life has been very peaceful recently. There has been no news about Liang Guowei and Mr. Liang, so she finally feels relieved.

Arriving at the bookstore, she habitually looked at the newspapers first. This being Nanjing, newspapers would occasionally publish articles by people with advanced ideas, and she liked reading that kind of stuff. Xu Wenjie told her, "The best-selling newspapers in his bookstore are also those that publish articles with advanced ideas."

Guier picked up two newspapers and bought a copy of "The Complete Works of New Chinese Literature" and "My Country and My People". Then she left the bookstore and asked Ah Cheng to call a rickshaw to return to Shafu.

After walking a few hundred meters in the rickshaw, I passed by a coffee shop when I suddenly saw two familiar figures sitting in the window seats.

Guier looked closely and saw that there was a man and a woman. The man was Liang Guowei and the woman was Zhou Huifang, and Zhou Huifang was wearing a school uniform.

Gui'er was very surprised and thought she was dazzled. She quickly turned her head and stared at the window.

When Liang Guowei looked up and saw Guier, instead of being surprised, he smiled at Guier provocatively, then leaned over and said something intimately to Zhou Huifang.

Zhou Huifang raised her head and saw Guier. Her face looked very embarrassed and she quickly looked away.

Gui'er was terrified. Did Liang Guowei see no point in targeting her, so he changed his target?

The next day, as soon as Gui'er arrived at school, Zhou Huifang took her to a secluded place on campus.

She said to Gui'er coyly, "Guier, you saw everything yesterday, didn't you? I'm not trying to steal your boyfriend. Ever since we met at the school gate, he came to look for you twice, but you didn't see him. I happened to be there, so he asked me about your situation at school. He's a nice guy, and then we went back and forth... and that's it. You won't blame me, will you? Actually, he told me that there's nothing between him and you. He said that you were extremely disgusted with arranged marriages, so he kept rejecting them, and he felt he had given up. He just wanted to make things clear with you one last time."

Gui'er immediately saw that Zhou Huifang had been bewitched by Liang Guowei. However, Zhou Huifang was her good friend, and she couldn't bear to see her deceived. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Did he tell you why half of his ear was missing? I beat him up. When my family tried to match me up with him, I realized he was a playboy who liked to hang out, so I refused. He ended up making advances on me, and I was helpless. In desperation, I took my father's pistol and shot him in the ear. He held a grudge against me because of this, and that's why he kept bothering me. If it weren't for his uncle's powerful background, my father and brother would have dealt with him long ago."

Gui'er didn't want to reveal the whole situation, but Liang Guowei was an extremely smooth-talking man. If she just said that he had bad behavior, Zhou Huifang might not believe it, so she had to tell her the real situation.

Guier thought that Zhou Huifang should be able to see clearly now.

Who knew that after hearing all this, Zhou Huifang's face was very calm, and she said, "Actually, he told me all this. He said that his father had been involved with various women since he was a child, and his mother, because she was a concubine, was not valued by the family and could not stay with him, which made him feel very empty and lonely. So when he grew up, he lingered in prostitutes. But after meeting you, he was exposed to new literary and artistic ideas, which made him reborn. He was drunk at the time, and you rejected him because you knew his past. He was very depressed, so he behaved inappropriately. He also knew that it was impossible for him to be with you, so he wanted to make things clear with you and sincerely apologize. Gui'er, I know you are also a victim in this matter, but if a person abandons the sluggish life of the past and gains a new life, it is also a good thing. Can't you forgive him?"

Gui'er widened her eyes in disbelief. She hadn't expected Liang Guowei to be so thoughtful and even prepare this set of rhetoric long ago. If she didn't know Liang Guowei's character, she might have believed it.

Zhou Huifang wanted to persuade her, but Guier knew that it was useless to say anything now, as Liang Guowei had already calculated all her moves.

She said to Zhou Huifang: "You have your opinion, I have mine, but I still want to remind you to be vigilant against him."

Zhou Huifang said, "Then can't we just be ordinary friends?"

Gui'er said, "No, if I start interacting with him normally, the elders on both sides will definitely try to match us up again."

After hearing this, Zhou Huifang immediately fell silent.

After that, both of them acted as if nothing had happened and continued to talk at school. However, after school, Zhou Huifang became a busy person. Not only Gui'er, but other classmates also couldn't make an appointment with her. Classmates were rumored to have a new boyfriend, the handsome man who used to come to the school gate to look for her.

Gui'er wanted to intervene but couldn't, and she was getting anxious. She told Acheng about the situation.

Ah Cheng said, "Miss, I don't think you should interfere too much in this matter. You're not hiding anything anyway. You've made it clear to her. If she wants to throw herself into your arms, that's her own business. Besides, I know a little about your classmate's situation. She broke off her engagement with her previous fiancé, and even if she wants to find someone new, it's going to be difficult now that Director Zhou is gone, and there are rumors out there. So Liang Guowei is also a good marriage candidate for her."

Gui'er sighed and said, "If Liang Guowei truly has turned over a new leaf, I won't interfere and will even bless them. I'm just worried that Liang Guowei is actually using her to get close to me, or is deliberately trying to piss me off. How could a man who spends all day hanging out with wealthy ladies, looking for opportunities, be willing to marry a girl from an ordinary family? Wouldn't that ruin her life? Has Wu Mingqiang found out anything recently?"

Ah Cheng said, "He went to Shanghai. Last time, after you told the Marshal what you learned from Miss Shen, the Marshal sent him to Shanghai to re-investigate the matter of Director Shen's antiques. Before he left, he repeatedly warned me not to let you take any risks. Miss, everyone has their own destiny. Miss Zhou, that's what she likes, so just let her be."