A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 121 Obtaining Help from the Dancer Couple

It was already past noon. Zhao Ruyu looked at Gui'er and said, "How's it going? Can you remember where you're from?"

Gui'er didn't want to tell her where she lived, so she said, "Is there a phone nearby? I remembered his home number. I can call a relative to pick me up."

Zhao Ruyu smiled and said, "Where can you find a telephone here? You have to go to the post office two miles away to get one. Your relatives are so rich that they actually have a telephone at home."

Gui'er quickly said, "No, he just works in a company and can answer calls."

"So that's how it is. Anyway, I'm going out to buy groceries, so I'll take you with me."

Zhao Ruyu changed into a new set of clothes. The style of the clothes was much simpler than what she had just worn, and the length and slit of the clothes were the same as those worn by ordinary people.

As Gui'er followed her out of the room, a man stumbled up from downstairs. Seeing that they were about to go out, he pushed them back in.

Zhao Ruyi was horrified and shouted to the person who came, "What happened to Brother Zhuzi?"

The man was also a young man in his early 20s, with a flat head, wearing a black silk jacket, a round face, small eyes, thick lips, an onion nose, and protruding ears. He gave people a feeling of being both honest and shrewd.

He pushed the two into the room and found Gui'er. He asked Zhao Ruyi, "Who is this child?"

Zhao Ruyi said: "I found her. She got separated from her family and I was planning to send her home."

The man called Zhuzi said, "Don't go out now. I heard that several prominent people were beaten to death at the musical at the Paramount this morning. Now both the black and white forces, as well as the patrolmen in the concession, are investigating everywhere."

Gui'er couldn't help but feel a little worried about Sha Yanxiao and Song Xichen when she heard this, so she quickly asked, "Who died?"

Zhuzi glanced at Gui'er and said, "I heard they killed two Chinese working for a foreign company, a minor government official, and a small leader of the Green Gang. I don't know who they were. Many others were also injured, some of whom were injured while trying to escape."

Zhao Ruyu interrupted and said, "That's right. Look at this child. She was stepped on when she came out. If I hadn't pulled her up, I don't know how many people would have stepped on her. Look at her hands."

As he said this, he pulled Guier's hand to show Zhuzi. Only then did Guier discover a purple bruise on her wrist and a slight pain in her back. She probably got it from someone stepping on her when she fell just now.

Zhuzi looked at Gui'er and asked Zhao Ruyi, "Is this child's family rich?"

Zhao Ruyu smiled and said, "I heard her say that she must be a wealthy woman in the countryside, but look at her clothes, she's not wearing any gold or silver jewelry, so I guess she's just an ordinary family."

Looking at Zhuzi's attire, Gui'er felt that he looked like a gangster, yet not quite. However, his questioning of her background made Gui'er even more defensive. She smiled and said to Zhao Ruyu, "Sister Ruyu, can I make the phone call now?"

Zhuzi said, "Wait a minute. The streets are in chaos right now. I'm afraid your family won't be able to pick you up in time even if they answer the phone."

Zhao Ruyu also comforted Guier: "It's okay, just play with me for a while."

Gui'er thanked Zhao Ruyu and sat obediently on the stool beside the window sill, looking at the scenery outside.

At this time, Zhuzi took Zhao Ruyu into the bedroom.

Gui'er looked at the two people dressed like this and always had some bad ideas. After a while, the sound of their conversation came from the room.

Zhuzi asked Zhao Ruyi, "Have you received your salary this month? Take some money and use it."

Zhao Ruyu said, "You're dizzy. What day is it now? Where's the salary coming from? Besides, all I have this month are dance tickets. I didn't bring any out-of-town tickets. I even ran into some street vendors and students along the way. I didn't make much money at all. The boss even despised me."

Zhuzi said, "Why didn't you tell me when you met a gangster?"

"It's no use telling you that. You won't be able to find anyone all day."

"Alas, I have no choice. The boss always asks me to run around."

"It's fine if you ran away, you didn't make much money. Others who followed the boss are all doing well, but you didn't put any money into it. If I had known this, you might as well not have come out."

"Yes, yes, yes. In the final analysis, you just think I'm incompetent, don't you? If you are so capable, why don't you find a good place to dock? Then we can both live in peace. Look at Chen Manli."

"Come on, forget it! She comes from a family of scholars and is proficient in everything from music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. How can she be like me? I only learned dancing for two days and then went to work. Customers can't use me to buy tickets. People will laugh at me and call me a dumpling girl."

"Oh, so you're always thinking about being taken out? Okay, okay, okay, then just let the customer give you the ticket."

Gui'er didn't expect that the two of them would start arguing right away, but from their tone, they seemed to be quite close.

At this moment, the sliding door of the bedroom suddenly opened with a crash, and Zhuzi came out from inside, looking unhappy. He opened the door and left.

Guier walked cautiously to the bedroom door and looked inside.

Zhao Ruyi was sitting on the bed wiping her tears. Seeing Gui'er, she quickly smiled and said, "It's okay. I'm sorry to bother you. My husband just has a bad temper."

Gui'er was a little surprised that she and Zhuzi were actually husband and wife, but when she thought about it, it was normal. In that era, people got married at the age of fifteen or sixteen, and they were both in their twenties.

Gui Er asked curiously, "Sister Ruyi, what do you mean by 'white-collar people' and 'bringing out tickets'?"

Zhao Ruyu hesitated for a moment and said awkwardly, "I'm a dancer. You won't look down on me, will you?"

Gui'er quickly waved her hands and said, "How could that be? The teacher said that all occupations in the world are just for survival."

Zhao Ruyi breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Survival—what a fancy word! Did you go to a modern school?"

Guier nodded. "I went to a girls' college."

Zhao Ruyu sighed. "I did go to school for a year, but my father passed away. My parents didn't have a son, so my uncles kicked us out of the house for various reasons. My mother took me back to her parents' home, but my uncle wouldn't tolerate me. My mother died of depression. I followed some fellow villagers to Shanghai and became a dancer. That's when I finally made a living."

Gui'er sighed. It seemed like there were people with miserable lives everywhere in this world. She asked, "Is Brother Zhuzi the fellow villager who brought you here?"

Zhao Ruyu smiled and said, "He's not like that. He came to Shanghai with his grandfather to make a living. They bought a house and two acres of land in the countryside on the outskirts. But how could a large family rely on these two acres of land? So my mother-in-law farmed in the countryside and took care of our children. My father-in-law and Zhuzi both worked as errand boys for the Green Gang. They didn't make much money and were always fighting and killing. When I got into some trouble, he helped me out, so I followed him without thinking. Now we just want to make more money, buy more land, and then we can retire."

Gui'er said nothing. She knew that once someone made a quick buck, it was hard to get out. However, she was a little curious about the world of dancers, so she asked, "You were arguing about that ticket just now. What is a ticket?"

Zhao Ruyu said hesitantly: "Bringing out the ticket means that the guest can take you out for dinner or something else." Guier understood immediately.

"Brother Zhuzi is actually doing this for your own good. Those guests are from unknown backgrounds. Who knows if they are good people or bad guys?"

Zhao Ruyu sighed and said, "Yeah, but for a glutinous rice ball dancer like me," she laughed self-deprecatingly and explained to Gui'er, "It's actually very hard for a dancer with no skills and no regular customers to make it. I only make a little over 180 yuan a month, and after splitting the profits with the boss, I'm left with about 80 yuan. I have to pay for makeup and skincare, buy clothes, and do my hair. These alone have cost me over 100 yuan. Last month, I even owed the dance hall over yuan."

Gui'er was shocked. She hadn't expected a dancer to earn so much. It was almost as much as Song Xichen's monthly salary. Zhao Ruyu smiled and said, "My income is already very low. A top dancer like Chen Manli spends more than 300 yuan a month on her own expenses. But she has many patrons. Dance tickets and show tickets are not what they look at. They mainly rely on sleet, which means cash tips and various gifts."