Chapter Nineteenth: The Kiss on the Hand

  The next day, the General Affairs Department did not assign a vehicle to her. It turned out that the whole thing was carried out in secret, and it was impossible to openly dispatch a government car. However, this does not mean that there were no arrangements made. At 4 pm, Chen Shunzhen's driver was already waiting in the courtyard.

  "Ah! Miss Dong, we meet again!" Xu Genbao said as he busied himself opening the car door for her, his tone surprisingly sincere in its surprise.

  "Yes, Master Xu." Dong Zhiyu said with a smile.

  "Hey, Miss Dong still remembers my surname as a driver," Xu Genbao chuckled with a smile, he enjoyed chatting with this pretty little country girl. "I originally thought I was here to pick up Miss Wu, but instead, I picked you up!"

  "I heard Wu is sick and I was temporarily called in. Is there a car coming with it?"

  "Yes, we were hired by Shun'an Car Bureau, let's go."

  All the way to Shun'an Cheju, another black Dodge was already waiting, Xu Genbao led the way, one in front and one behind, heading down to Guanzhou Station.

  Xiaguan District is an important transportation hub of Nanjing, and at that time, Xiaguan Railway Station and Yangtze River Wharf were under the control of the Japanese military. The area was a major garrison for the Japanese army. As soon as the train passed by Coal Harbour, I saw a Japanese military truck heading towards the main road of Xiaguan. What's strange is that on the truck, there weren't guns or food supplies, nor were there Japanese soldiers, but rather over ten women from Taiwan.

  Dong Zhiyu stared at the military vehicle, her slender eyebrows furrowed in deep doubt.

  "Deadly, another batch of women has been caught."

  "Grab women?"

  "Yes, send them to those houses over there and let the little devils... Ah, I've misspoken. Miss Dong, please pretend you didn't hear that," Xu Genbao was momentarily frightened by his own slip of the tongue, "let Hui Guo Bing amuse himself."

  Dong Zhiyu roughly understood what was going on and recalled a scene he saw at the Dong family mansion, "Why capture the Tangguo woman? Aren't there Heiguo women here?"

  "What about the Korean women?" Xu Genbao thought for a moment, "Oh, those Korean girls are all for the officers to have fun with, what treatment can ordinary soldiers get? They just caught some Korean women and sent them over there. There were many of that kind of woman." Xu Genbao felt it wasn't good to say this too directly in front of a young girl, "And then there were those from poor common people's families, all doing evil deeds!"

  "At this age, still doing such things!" Dong Zhiyu was shocked on one hand, the pseudo-Xuanwu government had been established for almost a year, yet it still openly allowed Hei Guo people to do such things. On the other hand, he felt ashamed and humiliated, these captives were all his own sisters, mothers, aunts...

  "It's all right now, wasn't Miss Dong out of town during the massacre two years ago? At that time, Jin Female University became a brothel for Japanese soldiers. That American female principal with the surname Wei was really a good person! The US Consulate warned her before the Japanese army entered the city, 'This is your last chance, if you don't leave now, we can't save you!' But she didn't leave and protected many women in Xuanwu City! And yet, at night, Japanese soldiers would climb over the walls of Jin Female University to look for women. They knew that inside those walls were all flowers (a euphemism for prostitutes). When they caught women, some were... ravished on the spot!"

  Dong Zhiyu fell silent, and the truck carrying the women from Taeguk gradually disappeared from view. However, she felt that the flames of anger in her chest were burning brighter and brighter, as if they were about to burst out of this helpless body, bursting out, igniting every cell's anger, and setting off a prairie fire from this small car.

  Arrived at the train station, a car from the Chamber of Commerce was already parked there, with Gu Yanxi, then deputy director of the History Department of National Central University, sitting inside. This man had some experience in appreciating antiques, but he was an out-and-out cultural traitor.

  Dong Zhiyu nodded at him and then there was nothing more to say. One person, one car, waiting for the arrival of the American antique dealer.

  Before long, the gate of the exit was wide open, and some passengers came out one after another. The soldiers at the gate were still checking them one by one with a fierce expression. When four or five Westerners with high noses and blue eyes walked out, the soldiers and their wolf dogs all barked loudly until these foreigners showed everything they should show to prove that they were just ordinary businessmen, then they were allowed to pass through.

  Dong Zhiyu and Gu Yanxi stepped forward, Professor Gu couldn't utter a single foreign phrase, originally the main character, now had to stand aside, relying on Dong Zhiyu's introduction.

  These foreigners were all around fifty years old, dressed in various shades of black, except for one young fellow who stood out from the crowd. He was tall and slender, wearing a half-length, belted khaki coat, with light brown hair that fell over his neck, looking quite dashing. His face didn't have the shrewdness of a businessman, but instead wore an air of nonchalance, with a hint of a smile that seemed to say he didn't care about anything.

  Everyone introduced themselves one by one, and when it was this young man's turn, he first shrugged his shoulders with a "well, I don't have anything important to say, but since it's my turn, I'll just say something" look. Then, he opened his mouth to reveal a set of good-looking white teeth: "Miss Dong, my name is Matthew, nice to meet you." As he spoke, he bowed down without hesitation, lifted Miss Dong Zhiyu's right hand to his lips, and stopped two inches away from her lips, making as if to kiss it.

  Dong Zhiyu knew that this was the superior etiquette of a respectable family, a formal hand-kissing ceremony, which required the person performing the ceremony to not actually touch their lips to the other person's skin on the back of their hand. However, she was just an accompanying translator, and the other men simply shook her hand politely. But when it came to this man, he insisted on making a big show of kissing her hand, being flirtatious but not so much that you could pinpoint anything specific, after the ceremony, the self-proclaimed Matthew smiled at Dong Zhiyu again, raised an eyebrow, and his eyes sparkled with electricity, if Dong Zhiyu hadn't seen some things in her life, she would have been struck by his powerful current.

  "I'm also happy to meet you." Dong Zhiyu subconsciously put his hand in his pocket and rubbed the skin on the back of his hand, although the other person's lips hadn't actually touched it, but still had a cleanliness spasm, wiping it clean before feeling comfortable.

  "Matthew is my nephew. He came with us, but he's just sightseeing at the City Wall." The antique dealer named John explained.

  Matthew heard this and burst out laughing again, winking at Dong Zhiyu.

  "I hope Matthew has a good time here." Dong Zhiyu said briefly and turned to lead them to the car parked on the side.

  There were five people in this row, plus Dong Zhiyu and Gu Yanxi, a total of seven people, three cars, with two people sitting in the back row of each car. Dong Zhiyu must be sitting in the same car as Gu Yanxi, Gu didn't speak foreign languages, it was not suitable for her to sit alone with anyone, she thought that as an interpreter, she should sit in the front row and let Gu Yanxi sit in the back row with any of the foreigners.

  Just as he walked up to the car, Matthew took a steady step forward, opened the rear door and said "Please."

  Dong Zhiyu was taken aback, not wanting to refuse, and said thank you before sitting down. Matthew closed the door, walked around to the other side, opened it again, and sat down beside Dong Zhiyu.

  He had been idle for two months in Korea, and was gradually getting bored. He was a rich and noble playboy who came to Korea just to have fun, eat, drink, and chase women. It was difficult for him to get in touch with high-class girls, and even if he did, they were very reserved and closely protected by their relatives, which didn't make sense to him. Although there were some attractive women at the bar, all they could say was "thank you" or "dollar" in a Korean accent, and nothing more. Matthew, though a playboy, didn't bother with such superficial relationships. Today, he saw Dong Zhiyu, who wasn't beautiful but had a delicate and elegant appearance, dressed differently from other Korean women, and had a good taste. When she opened her mouth, her standard English shocked him, and he suddenly felt energized.

  The author has something to say: The "Jin Female University" mentioned in the text refers to Jinling Women's College at that time. The American female principal with the surname Wei, Xu Genbao, is Minnie Vautrin. Many people know about John Rabe, a German who wrote the Rabe Diary, but there is also a Vautrin Diary. At that time, Ms. Vautrin resolutely stayed in Xuanwu and Jinling Women's University, working hard to protect women and children in the occupied area, recording the atrocities of the Japanese army in diary form. In May 1940, half a year before the start of this story, Ms. Vautrin was sent back to the United States for treatment due to severe depression. The following May, she chose to take her own life. I guess that what she saw and heard in China led her to express her dissatisfaction with God's forgetfulness of Xuanwu by ending her life.

  How did I end up writing something so crappy?

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