A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

The young master unbuttoned his collar and replied, "Alas, I had some business to attend to, so I came back late."

Gui'er hesitated for a moment, then, to test the waters further, she pretended to speak casually, "Brother, when I was leaving school today, I saw the former captain of the Military Commission's action team at the school gate. He was sneaking around in the shadows with a few other people. Were they on a mission? They looked pretty scary."

When Sha Yanyao heard Gui'er's words, his eyes froze slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and said with a smile, "Hey, you're just a kid, don't get involved in these things. They're probably just carrying out their mission. Don't speculate. Study hard and that's the real thing."

After hearing what he said, Gui'er concluded that he must have known about it, but was unwilling to speak. She didn't want to ask any further questions, lest she arouse his suspicion.

She sneaked back to the attic worriedly, took another look and saw that the windowsill was indeed lit and the desk lamp was still there. Only then did she finally feel at ease and return to her room.

That night, Gui'er couldn't concentrate on studying at all. She just completed the homework assigned by the teacher. Normally, she would preview it, but today, because she couldn't calm down for a long time, she simply gave up.

She tried her best to recall the faces of the people she saw after school and silently wrote them down, thinking that they might be useful.

The next morning, she got up early, had breakfast, and couldn't wait to go to school.

Sha Yanyao looked at him and asked with a smile, "Why are you here earlier than usual today?"

Gui'er was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Oh, it's like this. I forgot to bring one of my textbooks back yesterday, and I haven't done my homework for that subject yet. I want to go back and finish it early."

Sha Yanyao nodded approvingly and said, "You're so diligent, that's great. In that case, I'll drive you there, it'll be faster."

Gui'er was very wary. She even suspected that Sha Yanyao had participated in yesterday's operation. However, if she refused, it would be even more abnormal. So she quickly pretended to be happy and said, "That's great. Thank you, big brother."

After getting into Sha Yanyao's car, Gui'er remained silent the whole way.

"By the way, how is your teacher Shen doing recently?" Sha Yanyao suddenly asked.

Gui'er thought for a moment and said cautiously, "She's quite good. Her lessons are easy to understand, and she's not arrogant. All the students like her. Oh, brother, she knows you and your wife have a baby, and she wanted to congratulate you."

"Oh, really?" Sha Yanyao touched his nose with a hint of embarrassment. Then he asked, "She and her current husband, haven't they conceived yet?"

"No," Gui'er said, then thought something was wrong and quickly added, "Boss Xu was very good to Teacher Shen, but his family had fallen on hard times. They weren't as well off as Miss Shen's family, so Old Lady Shen wasn't very happy with them."

"Oh, really?" Sha Yanyao became a little interested.

"Yes, Mrs. Xu is now living in the Shen Mansion. Mrs. Shen must be feeling uncomfortable, even though she hasn't said it out loud." Gui'er deliberately shifted the focus to family affairs. In this way, at least people wouldn't suspect other things. After all, every family has some gossip about family conflicts, but these things have nothing to do with the revolutionary party.

Sha Yanyao smiled and didn't ask any more questions. Gui'er felt relieved.

When they arrived at the school gate, Gui'er waved politely to Sha Yanyao after getting off the car, and then walked into the campus without looking back. She actually wanted to see if there was anyone guarding the school gate, but Sha Yanyao was there, and she was afraid of arousing his suspicion.

When I returned to the classroom, some classmates had already arrived, including Zhou Huifang.

Gui'er wanted to discuss this with her, to find out if she knew about someone following her after school yesterday, and to ask if she had seen any of them when she came here this morning. But she was afraid of attracting too much attention.

"Gui'er, did you know that there seemed to be people from the Military Commission carrying out a mission here when our school was over yesterday?" Zhou Huifang spoke first.

"Really? I saw a few strangers standing there looking around, and I thought they were looking for someone. Turns out they were from the Military Commission. But how did you know their identities?"

"This is easy. Have you forgotten what my uncle did before? Some of those people have been to my house. One of the action team leaders often came to our house for dinner. I saw that he was an acquaintance and wanted to go over to say hello to him, but he pretended not to know me and turned his head away. It's really true that people forget about you after you leave." Zhou Huifang sighed.

Gui Er was sure that she wasn't trying to trick him, so she felt relieved and said, "You also said that he was on a mission, so he might be working and it's not convenient for him to greet you."

"My father seems to have been demoted recently." Zhou Huifang suddenly said with some sadness.

"Huh? Why?" Gui'er was very surprised. After Director Zhou's death, Zhou Huifang's father still stayed in the same unit. However, because he was usually humble and was just a civilian employee, there was no reason to demote him.

"Why else? Of course it's because my uncle is gone. My father was originally recommended by my uncle to work as a clerk. He was not cut out for intelligence work. He just helped write official documents every day. Now the new director Tian wants to insert his own people in, and he thinks my father is an eyesore."

Gui'er was a little embarrassed. After all, Sha Yanyao was still valued because of Director Tian.

"I overheard a conversation between my father and mother. They said they are forcing my father to resign, but my uncle has passed away. Now the burden of the entire family falls on my father's shoulders. If he loses this job, the family's finances will become a problem. I plan to apply for the special training class at the police academy after I graduate from here, so that I can take over my father's job." Zhou Huifang said suddenly.

"Ah? But that's for intelligence. I see those people investigating this and that all day long. How can you, a woman, be suitable?" Gui'er tried to dissuade him. She didn't want to become Zhou Huifang's enemy one day in the future.

"Then what else can I do? My academic performance isn't very good, so I can't become a teacher. I want to find a good family. My uncle is dead, and our family has fallen on hard times. People may not even look up to us. It's better to work in the government. The salary is stable, and this is the only connection my family has. Oh, Gui'er, why don't you apply too? We'll have company."

Gui'er quickly said, "No, no, no, I'm not interested in this. I want to study medicine."