A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1012 Provoking Zhou Hongzuo's Downfall

Lin Peishan comforted her after hearing this, and the two went to Xinmin Bookstore after school.

“Gui’er, look who’s that? Why are they being so affectionate with Zhongyu?” Lin Peishan suddenly grabbed Gui’er’s hand.

Gui'er quickly looked up and saw that Zhou Hong and Chen Zhongyu were sitting face to face in the store, chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere was quite nice.

Lin Peishan's face turned ashen, and she was about to rush forward when Gui'er quickly grabbed her and said, "What do you think you're doing?"

Lin Peishan said aggrievedly, "He told my parents at the last banquet that he wanted to save money to marry me. My father has already contacted some friends to recommend him to people in major foreign firms and government departments to see if he can get a position."

Gui'er quickly said, "Calm down. That's Zhou Hong, an editor at Xingmin Magazine. She used to work for Brother Chen. I told her at the newspaper office last time that Brother Chen moved here. Maybe she's just here to visit. After all, she's an old colleague. Don't overthink it."

"but……"

"If you have any doubts, how about we go to the clothing store across from the bookstore and sneak a peek at what those two are doing inside?"

Lin Peishan thought for a moment, nodded, and the two walked into the clothing store.

While pretending to pick out clothes in the store, the two secretly peeked into the bookstore.

Chen Zhongyu was pointing at the newspaper on the table, whispering something to Zhou Hong. Zhou Hong nodded frequently, occasionally interjecting a word or two, her pencil flying across her notebook. Chen Zhongyu picked up a stack of documents and handed them to her. Zhou Hong took them, flipped through them, and frowned slightly, as if discussing something written in the documents, or perhaps deliberating on something important. The two leaned closer, and Zhou Hong pointed to a page. Chen Zhongyu leaned over to examine it closely, his expression serious, without a trace of intimacy.

About fifteen minutes later, Zhou Hong closed her notebook, stood up, shook hands with Chen Zhongyu, and seemed to say a few words of farewell before turning and leaving the bookstore.

Gui'er then pulled Lin Peishan inside. Chen Zhongyu saw them and greeted them with a smile: "Why are you so late? Peishan, you don't look well."

Lin Peishan turned her face away and remained silent. Gui'er quickly smoothed things over, "I saw Editor Zhou at the clothing store earlier, so I waited a little longer. Were you talking about work?"

Chen Zhongyu immediately guessed the reason for Lin Peishan's unusual behavior, smiled knowingly, and took her hand: "Zhou Hong is actually someone I developed at the newspaper... kind of like a subordinate. She works at the newspaper, firstly to use the connections there to gather information, and secondly to facilitate the transmission of our manuscripts. Just now we were talking about the recent suppression of domestic goods by foreign firms. I suspect that the Japanese are behind it and want to use the newspaper's space to write a commentary so that the public can see through their tricks."

Lin Peishan finally breathed a sigh of relief, a blush spreading across her face: "I thought..."

"Silly girl," Chen Zhongyu flicked her nose, "Who else but you could make me care this much?"

Gui'er was very surprised that Zhou Hong was one of her own, because she was usually very stingy and petty. Her reputation in the newspaper was actually not very good. After becoming the deputy editor-in-chief, other editors even said behind her back that she was sharp-tongued and harsh, not as good as Chen Zhongyu.

She said, "Brother Chen, are you sure? I feel that Zhou Hong doesn't have the qualities to be a comrade's idol."

Chen Zhongyu smiled and said, "I didn't tell her everything, but our work still requires the unity of all parties. She has several younger siblings and she's the only one supporting the family, so she's relatively frugal and therefore a bit stingy. But she hates Japanese imperialism, and we share the same goal. I will continue to observe her, and I won't tell her everything until she passes the test. She doesn't know your identities either, so don't worry."

Lin Peishan felt relieved and said somewhat embarrassedly, "You too, you didn't even tell me beforehand, making me almost lose face. How annoying."

Seeing that they were about to start flirting again, Gui'er quickly brought up her own business first: "By the way, Brother Chen, my third brother Sha Yanlun passed away a few days ago. I would like to trouble the organization to send a message to my second brother so that he can know about it over there."

Chen Zhongyu's smile faded, and he said with some surprise, "Is that so? Then please accept my condolences. Don't worry, I'll have someone try to contact the comrades over there and make sure the message gets there. Don't be too sad. People are gone, but the living still have to move on."

Sunlight streamed through the glass windows of the bookstore, casting a soft glow on the stacks of books. Lin Peishan's anger subsided, and she and Chen Zhongyu resumed their lively conversation. Gui'er, not wanting to be a third wheel, went to help organize the books.

"By the way, my father said he'll take you to meet Mr. Mogansheng, the Justice of the Peace, in a few days. If possible, he hopes to get you into his company as his assistant. If you do well, you might be promoted to manager in the future. That's how some managers in their trading company got promoted."

"But I don't know how to do business; I've always worked in the cultural field."

“It’s alright. Mr. Mok Kan-sang, a Justice of the Peace, holds many public offices. He is the director of Tung Wah Hospital and Po Leung Kuk, a lifetime trustee of the University of Hong Kong, one of the founders of Kowloon Tong Min Sheng College, and has donated to many schools and established scholarships. I believe he will be very interested in your resume as deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper. You are very suitable to be his assistant.”

"Okay, then I'll try it."

Gui'er, who had been listening nearby, asked curiously, "What? Is Brother Chen going to look for a job? What will happen to the bookstore then?"

Lin Peishan said, "I think Zhongyu, as the person in charge, should take the lead. Only if there is one person to run this liaison point can it serve its purpose." She lowered her head somewhat shyly as she spoke, "Although my father has a good impression of you, if you are just a bookstore owner, he and my mother probably will not agree to our marriage."

Chen Zhongyu nodded and said, "I know." He then turned to Gui'er and said, "Actually, I've always felt that I need to climb the ladder and get in touch with the top leaders in Hong Kong to obtain more useful intelligence in a timely manner. Recently, some other comrades have reported to me that there seem to be Japanese spies in Hong Kong. I don't know if this is true. If we can use the connections of the top leaders in Hong Kong, we should be able to find out more quickly."

Gui'er's expression immediately turned serious upon hearing this: "Really, Brother Chen?" She knew that the Japanese invasion method was to first send spies to the cities they wanted to occupy to find out the terrain, and then send the intelligence back to Japan to facilitate the army's advance.