The 48th gift!

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  On April 25, 1936, the three-day and four-night joint military exercise of all branches of the Huangpu Military Academy's tenth term ended with the Eastern Army winning.

  After the exercise, Zhang Xinghan and the trainees returned to the military school to rest for a day. For several days, they had hardly slept a wink, every day on tenterhooks defending against the Western Army's sudden attack. Fortunately, their hard work and dedication were not in vain, and the Eastern Army ultimately won, becoming the only session in the history of the exercise to defeat the Instructional General Headquarters.

  And this time, the heroes of the exercise, Zhang Xinghan and others, have greatly increased their popularity and prestige among their fellow students. Moreover, Zhang Xinghan was originally an anti-Japanese hero who had killed a Japanese general in the Battle of Xifengkou during the War of Resistance against Japan, so everyone admired him even more.

  After this exercise, the students' admiration for Zhang Xinghan grew even stronger. Every day, students flocked to room 206 to chat with Zhang Xinghan and discuss their future plans.

  Facing the enthusiastic students, Zhang Xinghan couldn't bring himself to refuse them. Although he knew that some of these students were intentionally flattering him and others genuinely admired him, none of this mattered. What was important was that Zhang Xinghan needed influence, and naturally had to start with the backbone and core members of the various National Revolutionary Army units. In these chaotic times, having many friends was better than having many enemies.

  Especially in the face of the impending nationwide anti-Japanese war, and having many in-depth conversations with them, Zhang Xinghan was also able to instill more patriotic thoughts in them, firm up their determination and confidence to defend their homes and country, and drive out foreign humiliation.

  It wasn't until three days after the exercise ended that Zhang Xinghan had time to go out. Since the studies and courses of the 10th batch of students were basically completed, before the graduation ceremony arrived, the 10th batch of students had holidays except for some necessary physical training classes.

  Zhang Xinghan did not go out drinking with Zhao De Sheng, but went out alone. He planned to buy a gift for Du Qianxue, after all, they had known each other for so long, and he hadn't even given her a decent gift yet.

  It's been over a week since Zhang Xinghan last saw Du Qianxue, from the exercise to now. Thinking of the promise he and Du Qianxue made to get married after his graduation, Zhang Xinghan couldn't help but feel warm in his heart.

  In a country plagued by turmoil and ethnic crisis, to have a woman who loves me and is willing to be faithful to me for the rest of her life, what more could I ask for?

  After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhang Xinghan and his classmates will definitely put on their uniforms and go to the battlefield to fight for the country, for the nation, and for the 400 million Chinese compatriots. The ancients often said that cultivating oneself, regulating one's family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world seems to have become a household name, but it is not necessarily impossible to serve the motherland and defend the rivers and mountains.

  A nation is made up of thousands and millions of small families gathered together, called a nation. Putting aside the great righteousness of the nation, the Japanese invaders have invaded our China, killed my father, brother, son, and younger brother, and ravished my wife, daughter, sister! As a man, how can I sit idly by?

  As he walked down the main street, Zhang Xinghan looked around. Since arriving in the Republic of China era, he hadn't really strolled along the streets before, and now he was dazzled by the dazzling array of goods on display at the roadside.

  He walked back and forth, not knowing what to choose, so Zhang Xinghan gritted his teeth and bought a box of rouge at a cosmetics store. After all, every woman has a fondness for beauty, so buying a box of rouge as a gift shouldn't be bad, Zhang Xinghan thought to himself.

  After buying the rouge, Zhang Xinghan walked out of the cosmetics store with big strides and headed towards Du Qianxue's residence along the street.

  ……

  All went smoothly, although from Xuanwu Avenue to Changxing Street was a distance, but for Zhang Xinghan, who often ran long distances with heavy loads, it was nothing.

  After walking for about half an hour, Zhang Xinghan arrived at Du Qianxue's residence located at No. 52 Changxing Street. This was a typical European-style building from the 1930s, with a two-story small building and a courtyard. With such a house and location, if you wanted to rent it out for yourself in later generations, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to do so without a certain economic foundation.

  However, at that time, there was no high housing price. Moreover, with Du Yuesheng, a legendary figure of Shanghai, as her foster father, and Du Yuesheng's deep affection for his foster daughter, money seemed not to be a problem for Qian Xue.

  The owner of the courtyard, Zhang Xinghan, had heard Du Qiansheng mention it once. It was a couple who also had a house in Shanghai. The two were said to be running a newspaper agency and seemed to have some connection with the Du family, but Zhang Xinghan didn't pay attention to the specific name.

  So the house was temporarily lent to Du Qianxue for free.

  Zhang Xinghan composed himself, took a deep breath and walked forward to the far gate. Through the large iron gate, he could see the lawn and some potted plants inside the courtyard that he couldn't name.

  There was an electric doorbell on the wall beside the iron gate, Zhang Xinghan walked up and pressed it, in a moment, Mrs. Zhang's figure appeared in the courtyard.

  She took a few steps forward and saw that it was Zhang Xinghan, so she quickened her pace and walked over to the open door, smiling and saying: "Mr. Zhang, what brings you here today?"

  "Oh, school is closed today, is Qianxue at home?" Zhang Xinghan asked.

  "Ah! Miss is just upstairs!" Zhang's mother turned her head and shouted into the house: "Miss, miss, Mr. Zhang has come to see you." As for Du Qiansheng and Zhang Xinghan's affairs, Zhang's mother was very clear about it. The two were a perfect match, and Zhang Xinghan was also an anti-Japanese hero, so Zhang's mother was very supportive of him.

  "Oh! Got it!" A slightly hurried voice came from Du Qianxue on the second floor.

  Mrs. Zhang turned her head and smiled at Zhang Xinghan: "The young lady is a bit uncomfortable, she was just sleeping. Come on, come in first."

  "Uh-huh!" Zhang Xinghan nodded and slipped inside, whereupon Mrs. Zhang closed the large iron gate and led Zhang Xinghan into the living room on the first floor.

  For Zhang Xinghan, this is not his first time here, apart from being familiar, it seems like there's also a hint of home.

  Mrs. Zhang walked in with a smile and said to Zhang Xinghan, "Mr. Zhang, please sit down! The young lady will be down soon. I'll go get you some tea!"

  "Hey! Zhang Ma, don't be polite, I'm not thirsty. And from now on, just call me Xing Han, no need to call me Mr. Zhang anymore, it sounds too formal!" Zhang Xing Han said, stopping Zhang Ma.

  "Ah! Alright!" Zhang's mother nodded happily and immediately said, "Then you sit down, I'll go prepare lunch, today I'll make something delicious for you all!"

  "Ah! You're busy." Seeing Zhang's mother off, Zhang Xinghan sat down on the sofa in the living room.

  He had just pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and was about to light it when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming from the stairs on the second floor.

  Zhang Xinghan turned around, only to see Du Qiansheng wearing a fiery red cheongsam with high heels, the white thighs visible through the slit of the cheongsam, and under the contrast of the high heels, her entire slender body looked particularly sexy. Seeing Zhang Xinghan, Du Qiansheng quickly ran down.

  Zhang Xinghan got up, looking a bit dazed. Today, Du Qianxue had put on light makeup, and her originally snow-like face looked white with a hint of red, like a ripe red apple that made people want to take a bite.

  ...........

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