The back garden of the Gaoyou government office is not large, only one acre. Wei Yuan's wife has passed away. There are three sons and one daughter in the Wei family. Only Wei Yuzhen is with Lao Wei, and the other three sons are outside. This is the legacy of Lao Wei's family.
When the family is well established, they study, become a master, and take the imperial examination.
In April, the garden is full of spring. The plum blossoms have faded and the peach blossoms are in full bloom. There is a small pond in the garden. Water lilies spit out pink flower buds. Various flying insects fly around on the lotus leaves, attracting birds on the willow trees. The pond
There is a circle of jasmine flowers around the edge, full of golden little flowers. There is even a vegetable garden in the corner of the garden. Several kinds of seasonal vegetables are grown in it, and they are as neatly maintained as a flower garden.
Dong Shuheng walked alone in the garden, feeling extremely quiet. He walked into a small bamboo pavilion by the pool and sat down. He took out a small ceramic thing from his pocket. It had a mouth and a swollen belly.
There are six holes on the top and two holes on the bottom - this is an ocarina that Dong Shuheng asked a potter to help him make when he was in Dongtai.
He put the ocarina to his mouth and tried the sound, then played the song "Original Scenery of My Hometown", and the melodious sound of the six-hole ocarina sounded.
The music is filled with endless nostalgia, which travels through time and space. I am brave enough to do justice, and coupled with my status as a police officer, maybe the local government and work unit will give me the title of martyr. I hope that my parents in the previous life will be taken care of by my brothers and sisters.
Next I can get out of the shadow of sending myself away.
It has been more than two months since he came here, and he is busy with endless things every day. He can no longer be a happy homebody like in his previous life, distinguishing the changes of seasons by changing his uniform.
…
There was a "crack" sound, and a branch was trampled down on the path behind him. Dong Shuheng looked over in response, and saw a slim girl appearing behind a wisp of green silk ribbon. The green wicker reflected her goose-yellow dress, scattering
The charming brilliance is none other than Wei Yuzhen.
She was just listening to music and saw Dong Shuheng sitting in the pavilion. For some reason, she stayed where she was when she saw Dong Shuheng playing a strange flute. At this time, she felt that this man was full of stories, which fascinated her.
.
The two people looked at each other and were speechless for a moment. It was as if they were seizing the time to look at each other and burning every detail on the other person's face in their minds. At this time, the two people's eyes kept flashing with regrets and sympathy for each other.
, all kinds of different emotions.
"You..." The two people suddenly spoke at the same time, breaking the long silence. But a new embarrassing scene arose.
"Hello, Junior Sister!" Dong Shuheng was the first to break the embarrassment. Due to some circumstances, he was already familiar with the title "Junior Sister".
"Junior sister's women's clothing is more charming than men's clothing!" Dong Shuheng said sincerely.
Wei Yuzhen blushed. She didn't expect Dong Shuheng's words to be so direct. She glared at him and said, "Hmph...have you noticed it a long time ago? Why did you pretend not to recognize that I was a girl in the temple?"
"Oh...junior sister, don't be excited. If I had pointed out that you were a girl that day, you would have blushed and run away. How could we have such a happy conversation and regret seeing each other so late?" Dong Shuheng explained.
"Will you propose marriage to my father?" Wei Yuzhen suddenly lowered her head and whispered, her voice as loud as a mosquito.
This sudden change made Dong Shuheng stunned for a moment, and he didn't react for a while.
Wei Yuzhen raised her head and looked at Dong Shuheng's face. Only then did Dong Shuheng solemnly say to her: "I will, soon. When I feel that I have enough power to protect you, I will ask your father to marry me. When I
When I'm with you, I won't put you in any more danger."
"Shu Heng, I just listened to your music, which was full of sadness. I believe it definitely didn't come out of thin air. Can you share it with me? Whether it's sadness or joy." Wei Yuzhen looked into Dong Shuheng's eyes and said. She was originally
She is not a traditional and reserved girl. Just like her natural feet, the dregs of feudal tradition have not left any mark on her body.
"Junior sister, actually I miss my hometown in my dream. In my dream, we overthrew the Manchu rule and established a country where the people are the masters. All ethnic groups are members of the Chinese nation. Our country is like the Han Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty generally stood proudly in the world, and no country dared to bully us; at that time, men and women were equal, and women could work and serve as officials like men; all children had to participate in free and compulsory education; our army only wanted to protect the country and the people.
; Our workers can produce everything in the world; our merchants take business all over the world along the Silk Road; people at that time could drive their own cars when traveling, and the train could run from Nanjing to Beijing in three hours
…”
Wei Yuzhen looked at the man in front of her quietly and listened to what he said. She knew that what Dong Shuheng was talking about was not his hometown but his ideal. Although there were many things she didn't understand, looking at Dong Shuheng's longing eyes, she also felt that
Such a future is really fascinating.
"Shu Heng, can I help you? Help you reach your dream hometown." She said softly.
Dong Shuheng gently grabbed her hand, and a soft and warm feeling spread between his fingers. Wei Yuzhen just grabbed her hand without any resistance or disgust, although this was the first time.
A man grabbed her hand like this.
"Thank you, junior sister!" Dong Shuheng said solemnly.
"Junior sister, have you read the newspaper?" Dong Shuheng felt that he could no longer be ambiguous. He was worried that he couldn't control it. After all, this was in the backyard of Old Wei's house. He didn't want to be chased by an old man with a kitchen knife, so he changed his mind.
topic road.
"I know this. There are foreign newspapers in Shanghai, and there are also many Chinese working there. Dad often asks people to bring back some foreign newspapers, and I secretly read them." Wei Yuzhen said.
"Then do you know why the master has been preaching about "learning from the foreigners and developing skills to defeat the foreigners", but not many people have recognized him?" Dong Shuheng continued to ask.
This time, Wei Yuzhen shook her head.
"That's because everyone has no way to come into contact with the ideas preached by the master. If we also have our own newspaper and our own bookstore, we can publicize these ideas and let more people recognize us. The more people we have, the better.
When the number of people supporting us reaches a certain level, it will be easier to realize our ideals."
"Shu Heng, I think you are right, but why are you telling me this?" Wei Yuzhen asked in confusion.
"Because I want you to host this bookstore." Dong Shuheng said to her solemnly.
"What? I...but I am a woman." Wei Yuzhen looked surprised.
"Junior sister, this is not what you said. Who said women are inferior to men, and you have inherited the master's mantle. I think only you can take care of the direction of this bookstore. Of course, if the master agrees, he may
Find some helpers for us. But I hope you can at least be the person in charge." Dong Shuheng advised, this guy is very bad, he would rub his palms from time to time when he was talking to other girls about business.
Wei Yuzhen may have noticed something, so she quickly retracted her hand. She blushed and said, "Of course I have no problem, but daddy must agree."
"Why do you need my consent?" At this time, the familiar bad old man's voice rang again. I saw that Wei Yuan had already walked into the garden.
"Oh, it's like this, master, my junior sister and I met by chance in the garden, so we discussed setting up a bookstore to spread your thoughts through books and newspapers." Dong Shuheng said first, knowing that Wei Yuzhen became shy again after being bumped into by her father.
"Oh, Shu Heng, no one in the Qing Dynasty has done what you are talking about. I also know Western newspapers. And it costs a lot of money to run a newspaper and publish a book!" Wei Yuan said. He did not contradict this in his heart.
Yes, which literati doesn’t want his ideas to be spread?
Dong Shuheng continued: "The money problem is not difficult to solve. Besides, someone just wanted to give you money."
"Hey, you guessed this!" Wei Yuan glanced at Dong Shuheng appreciatively.
"So Master, we only need to solve two problems now. One is the problem of people. Opening a bookstore will definitely require many editors. These people must have certain skills and have certain research on our new learning. The other is the problem of the imperial court.
The imperial court will not allow people below to manipulate public opinion, so I think we should first put the bookstore in a place under our control. Of course, the Qing government has no time to take care of these trivial matters. So now is the best time for us to open a bookstore." Dong Shuheng said in detail.
said.
"People's problems are easy to deal with. I recommend two people, one is Huang Liping and the other is Zhou Xiang. These two people are editors of foreign newspapers in Shanghai and have experience. Moreover, I have a master-student relationship with them, so they are your
Senior brother. As for the location, we can put it in Gaoyou first. At least for now, I still have the final say."
As soon as he said it was done, Wei Yuan immediately wrote a letter. Dong Shuheng also sent people from the company's purchasing department to Shanghai to meet the two of them to purchase related printing equipment. At the same time, Wei Yuan asked people to find a place to repair and use as a bookstore in Gaoyou City.
The name of the bookstore is Huaihai Bookstore, and it has a translation library. In addition to translating foreign books, it can also cultivate foreign language talents. The bookstore will mainly publish books by Wei Yuan and Gong Zizhen, as well as translated foreign books, so that Chinese people can see the world through books. In addition,
, the bookstore will also publish a weekly newspaper, which will be changed to a daily newspaper if conditions permit in the future. The name of the weekly newspaper will be "Fuxing Daily".
The three of them finalized this important matter in the garden. Wei Yuan still did not agree with Wei Yuzhen to host the bookstore. In the end, they bargained and only agreed that she would occasionally help out.
After saying this, Wei Yuan remembered to tell Dong Shuheng that the gentry would go to the military camp in the afternoon to discuss the protection of Gaoyou. Time was urgent, so Dong Shuheng quickly returned to the army to prepare, and he still had to do some superficial things.