Chapter 31: Private Villa! Seeking Recommendation Tickets!

  Du Qianxue beside him looked at Zhang Xinghan stopping in his tracks and asked puzzled: "What's wrong? Aren't you going into the city?"

  "Oh, never mind, let's go! We're entering the city!" Zhang Xinghan hastily said.

  "Ah!" Du Qianxue nodded with a smile, finally arriving in Nanjing City. Du Qianxue also let out a sigh of relief, having successfully completed the task given to her by Shang Feng.

  But thinking of parting with Zhang Xinghan, there is a faint inexplicable reluctance in his heart.

  Du Qianxue walked away while turning her head back to secretly glance at Zhang Xinghan, as if she wanted to take one last look at him before leaving.

  Just then, Zhang Xinghan suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned to ask Du Qianxue: "By the way, we're almost at Nanjing. Has your superior given any instructions on how to arrange for me? Should I go to school first or somewhere else?"

  "Ah!" Du Qianxue hastily turned her head away, her cheeks flushing red as she dared not look directly at Zhang Xinghan, afraid that he would discover her sneaking a peek at him.

  "What's wrong?" Zhang Xinghan was just thinking about his next move, so he didn't notice Du Qiansheng sneaking a peek at him, but saw her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

  "Nothing! Nothing at all!" Du Qianxue hastily replied, as if she had been discovered with a little secret.

  "What should I do next?" Zhang Xinghan asked again. After all, he was unfamiliar with the place.

  "Come with me!" Du Qianshuo didn't hook her arm around Zhang Xinghan's this time, but instead directly grabbed his palm and pulled him along. Indeed, Nanjing was already within reach, so they no longer needed to pretend to be a couple. But being led by Du Qianshuo's soft small hand like this made Zhang Xinghan feel not only somewhat unaccustomed, but also a thread of indescribable feeling that left this gun-wielding man feeling stifled.

  As the capital at that time, Nanjing's prosperity was still beyond doubt. After entering the city, Du Qianshu pulled Zhang Xinghan and walked forward for about a few hundred meters before finding a foreign-owned shop with a considerable scale, which had a public telephone inside. Zhang Xinghan followed Du Qianshu into the shop in a daze.

  Du Qianxue walked straight to a public phone and was heard talking on the phone, surprisingly calling a taxi.

  This surprised Zhang Xinghan, who did not know that in the 1930s during the Republic of China period, the taxi industry was already quite large in cities like Nanjing and Shanghai. In Nanjing alone, there were over 40 to 50 taxi companies, ranging from small ones with only two or three cars to larger ones with over a hundred vehicles.

  At that time, in the Republic of China era, cars were still very valuable, and people who could afford to take taxis were either rich or noble. It was like having a telephone during the Republic of China era - ordinary families couldn't possibly own one. Large shops like this were mostly run by British, French and other foreign businessmen, who could certainly afford to install telephones.

  During the Republic of China era, taking a taxi was not as easy as it is in later generations where you can just hail one on the street. To take a taxi back then, you had to call ahead and book one, similar to making an appointment with a prostitute.

  As a noble-born, Du Qianxue was no stranger to taxis. Whether in Shanghai or later in Nanjing, whenever she traveled long distances, she usually took a taxi.

  Of course, money is her famous adoptive father's expense, otherwise just relying on her salary would not even be enough for a taxi ride.

  Moreover, this time she was entrusted with picking up Zhang Xinghan, and the organization gave her sufficient funds.

  After finishing the phone call, the two of them walked out of the store and waited at the entrance for a taxi to arrive.

  "Miss Du, where are you taking me? Are we still taking a taxi?" Zhang Xinghan asked with some confusion.

  "It's twenty or thirty miles from here to the military school, are we going to walk instead of taking a taxi?" Du Qianxue asked with some coquetry.

  "Ah!" Zhang Xinghan was silent after hearing this, indeed, the Huangpu Military Academy is now located in Jurong, also known as the Xuanwu District Huangpu Road, and here is Xiaoguan, the straight-line distance between the two places is at least nine kilometers, if you really want to walk, you have to walk at least 25 miles, this basic historical knowledge, Zhang Xinghan still has.

  The taxi's efficiency was still very fast, and the two of them waited for about ten minutes at the entrance of the store. A Ford Fox car that was about 70% new came speeding from the direction of the city.

  These two Ford cars are all black, typical foreign goods, but on both sides of the body there are words indicating that they are taxis. Below that is the name of their company.

  Before Zhang Xinghan could take a closer look at the small words below, the taxi door creaked open and a driver wearing an ordinary Western-style work uniform and a hat walked out. He took big strides to Du Qianshuai and Zhang Xinghan's side and asked in a friendly manner: "Excuse me, sir and madam, is this your taxi?"

  "Uh-huh!" Du Qianxue replied hastily, nodding her head and saying smoothly: "We're going to the First District (Xuanwu District. In 1933, the National Government divided Nanjing into eight administrative districts, with Xuanwu being the first district)."

  "Alright! Please get on the bus!" The driver said with a courteous gesture.

  After getting on the taxi, Du Qianxue and Zhang Xinghan sat in the back row. As the car slowly drove into the bustling streets of the city, looking at the prosperous scenes on both sides of the street, the endless crowds, thinking about the full-scale war that broke out four years later, thinking about the Nanjing Massacre, Zhang Xinghan's heart was secretly aching. He made up his mind in secret, as long as he didn't die, he would definitely not let the tragedy of the Nanjing Massacre happen again! It won't happen.

  Soon, the taxi arrived in the first district (Xuanwu District). The taxis of this era were far less comfortable and slower than those of later generations, but they were still better than nothing and much faster than walking.

  Before getting off the bus, Du Qianxue naturally paid the fare. However, Zhang Xinghan noticed that when Du Qianxue gave the fare, she seemed to have given at least ten percent more.

  After getting off the car, Zhang Xinghan asked inexplicably: "Why did you give that driver so much money? It seems like you gave too much?"

  "No! The extra ones are for wine money! Now everyone who takes a taxi gives some." Du Qianshuo explained.

  "What's with the wine money?" Zhang Xinghan clearly didn't understand what was meant by "wine money".

  "It's just giving the driver some money for drinks! To put it bluntly, it's a reward. What we give is considered little, but rich people give enough to cover these taxi drivers' annual salary!" Du Qianxue explained patiently.

  Xia Zhang Xing Han understood that the so-called wine expenses were actually the tips of later generations. It seems that this bad precedent for consumers was set by someone as early as 70 or 80 years ago.

  Fortunately, in later generations, taking a taxi does not require giving any tips, but those people no longer care about their own affairs.

  After getting out of the taxi, Zhang Xinghan found that Du Qianxue did not take him to register at the military school, but instead came to a fairly luxurious villa.

  Arriving at the gate, Du Qianxue shouted towards the inside as if she had arrived at her own home: "Zhang Ma!"

  "Ah!" A moment later, a hurried and delighted response came from inside.

  A woman in her forties with a joyful expression quickly walked out and said: "Miss, you're back?"

  Zhang Xinghan pulled Du Qianxue and asked: "Who are you? Where is this place?"

  "I am Du Qianxue! This is my home!" Du Qianxue replied calmly.

  At this time, a woman named Zhang Mama had already opened the door and walked out. Seeing Zhang Xinghan, this strange man, she asked inexplicably: "Miss, who is this gentleman?"

  "This is Mr. Zhang, he's my friend!" Du Qianxue replied with a smile.

  "Oh!" Zhang's mother looked up and down at Zhang Xinghan. He was dressed neatly, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, not looking like a bad person.

  "Quickly, Miss, Mr. Zhang, come in and talk!"

  In this way, Zhang Xinghan followed Du Qianxue into her home in a daze. At this time, Zhang Xinghan had no relatives to turn to and was in unfamiliar surroundings, so he could only choose to believe in Du Qianxue. He could only take things one step at a time, and he believed that Du Qianxue would not harm him, otherwise she wouldn't have waited until they arrived in Nanjing and could have taken action against him on the way south.

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