A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Wu Mingqiang looked Chen up and down, then said with a smile, "Professor Chen, my apologies. You really care about your students. You even came to visit them at home."

There was a barb in those words.

Chen Muli didn't mind and stood up, saying, "I won't bother you anymore. Gui'er, feel free to ask me anything you don't understand." He walked to the door and then turned back to remind her, "Don't stay up late all the time, take care of yourself."

After Wu Mingqiang had walked away, he whispered to Gui'er, "Miss, why would a schoolteacher be so concerned about his female students for no reason? He might have ulterior motives. You should avoid associating with him. It's better to avoid trouble in Hong Kong."

Gui'er frowned and said, "Brother Wu, that's not very polite of you to say it like that. This is called a home visit. Other students in the class have also had their homes visited by teachers. Besides, Professor Chen is my brother's senior from school. My brother asked him to take care of me. If it weren't for this relationship, he might not have come."

With the care and concern of Lin Peishan and Chen Muli, Gui'er finally felt less anxious. She returned to the editorial department of "Xingbao" and tried to build relationships with the editor-in-chief and other editors. Occasionally, she would get one or two advertising articles to write.

However, she still didn't know which comrade Chen Zhongyu was referring to. Come to think of it, Chen Zhongyu had been running the bookstore for a while now, so Gui'er decided to go to the bookstore to make contact and see if there were any tasks available.

After school that day, Gui'er asked Acheng to drive her to the bookstore address given by Chen Zhongyu.

The bookstore wasn't located in a bustling area, but it was on a main street, and there were two schools nearby. Ah Cheng said with a smile, "It seems that Editor-in-Chief Chen is quite a shrewd businessman. He found a great location."

Gui'er got off the car, looked at the address, and found the bookstore.

The storefront is a pointed-roof arcade style, with dark brown wooden shutters embedded in the off-white walls. The window frames are carved with Western-style scrollwork patterns, and a gilded signboard hangs above the door, with the store name "Xinmin Bookstore" written in both Chinese and English.

As you step inside, the teak flooring gleams with a warm luster, and the air is filled with the scent of old books' ink and a faint aroma of coffee.

The left bookshelf displayed English novels, their gold-embossed spines gleaming under the chandelier; the right side held traditional thread-bound books, neatly folded in blue cloth sleeves. Behind the counter, Chen Zhongyu, dressed in a slightly worn suit, was haggling in Cantonese with a foreigner in a suit, while a lady in a cheongsam nearby was engrossed in reading a copy of "New Youth" magazine. Several students squatted in a corner, searching for cheap secondhand textbooks. An old-fashioned gramophone sat in the corner, playing Cantonese opera tunes. For this era, it was a very stylish bookstore.

"Gui'er, you've arrived?" After Chen Zhongyu finished entertaining the guests, he looked up and saw Gui'er, so he happily walked over.

Gui'er looked around and said to him with a smile, "Editor-in-Chief Chen has become Boss Chen, Brother Chen, you've done a great job of switching roles. This bookstore looks really trendy, even A-Cheng said the location is well chosen."

Chen Zhongyu smiled: "This address was provided by a friend of mine. By the way, we have some progressive newspapers and magazines in the store. Would you like to take a look?"

Gui'er was very surprised. She looked around warily and, seeing that no one was paying attention, said with relief, "How could you say such a thing in public?"

Chen Zhongyu smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's not like the mainland. The White Terror isn't as severe here. Of course, we still need to be careful, but the government here doesn't intervene openly, so most people don't care unless it attracts the attention of secret agents, in which case they will take action."

Gui'er felt that he had let his guard down, so she said, "No matter what, it's always better to be careful. How did your ex die? Have you forgotten?"

Chen Zhongyu nodded and said, "What you said makes sense, but he was targeted because he published some progressive views in a magazine. I'm just a bookseller now, so I shouldn't have much of a connection. By the way, what brings you here?"

Gui'er picked up a book casually, pretending to discuss it with Chen Zhongyu, and then whispered, "I got news that Jiang Cheng has fallen. Do you have any news about Brother Song?"

Chen Zhongyu was very shocked, then sighed, shook his head and said, "He's been busy preparing for the bookstore lately, and our discipline prohibits us from contacting other comrades without approval from our superiors. However, generally speaking, he should have gone underground."

Gui'er was somewhat disappointed, and asked again, "Do you have any news about Sha Yanyao?"

Chen Zhongyu glanced at the calendar hanging on the wall and said, "I received a call from him at the magazine office a little over a week ago saying he was being sent to Shanghai. I haven't heard from him since, but that's normal. He's doing such a dangerous job now. It's not convenient for him to contact the outside world. Although we don't know each other's identities now, he's still a comrade-in-arms on the same front as us."

Gui'er nodded and said, "I saw in the newspaper that the Japanese army was burning, killing, and looting all the way. I'm very worried about the people in Jiangcheng. By the way, can you contact the comrades in Nanjing? I feel sorry for the Nanjing Municipal Government. If the Japanese army really advances there, will they massacre the city as retaliation for our resistance in the Battle of Shanghai? Shouldn't we have Teacher Shen and Brother Xu find an evacuation route first? Anyway, we're going to fight a guerrilla war."

Chen Zhongyu said with a smile, "We are still resisting. Both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party have invested a great deal of manpower and resources in this resistance. Don't lose confidence in ourselves so quickly."

Gui'er quickly said, "I'm not losing confidence. I just think we should establish more strongholds behind enemy lines so that we can better resist the enemy and attack them from behind. Our weapons and equipment are not as good as theirs, but we have a vast territory and a strong mass base. We should make the most of our advantages."

Chen Zhongyu was taken aback for a moment, then said admiringly, "I didn't expect that. Have you read any books about strategy? You seem quite knowledgeable. You've really grown up. You have your own opinions and thoughts now."

Gui'er felt a little helpless. Chen Zhongyu was her elder, so it was normal for him to treat her like a child. But Jiangcheng had already fallen, and the thought of the catastrophe that would happen in the future made her shudder.

“Brother Chen, I’m serious. Actually, back in Jiangcheng, Brother Song also set up some temporary shelters in remote mountain villages. I donated money back then, and if needed now, I can donate money and supplies again.”

Chen Zhongyu smiled gently and said, "So Old Song did the same thing. No wonder you made this suggestion. I will raise it with the higher-ups. The battle is fierce right now, and what we need most is medicine. I plan to purchase a batch of medicine in Hong Kong and ship it back to the mainland. However, these are contraband items, so we have to be careful."