Chapter 6 Dormitory Temporary Notice

  Xu Shaowen returned to the school in the afternoon, and the team of military cadets who had gone to petition the Presidential Palace had also just returned. He lied to the gatekeeper at the school entrance, saying that he had fallen behind on the way back because he had gone to the toilet. The gatekeeper naturally did not investigate this small matter, so Xu Shaowen was able to return to school smoothly.

  After the petition was over, the Dean of Studies would let the students rest for half a day and resume normal training and classes the next day. Xu Shaowen wandered around the campus for a while before heading straight back to his dormitory.

  The campus of the Army University was rebuilt on the original site of the Zhongyuan Temple after moving from Baoding to Beijing. However, in the early days of school, most of the buildings were still old and retained their ancient architecture in order to save expenses. The dormitories for students were directly converted from the original quadrangle courtyards

  Xu Shaowen's dormitory was at the far end of the second floor of the quadrangle courtyard. When he walked to the door, it was already wide open. Each dormitory only had four places, but now there were eight people waiting inside, and students from other dormitories also rushed over to join in the excitement.

  "Wen Yuan, you've finally come back. We've been waiting for you." Before he even stepped into the dormitory, a tall and slender schoolmate with a clear and fair complexion walked up to the door to greet him. "Now that you're back, you must be relieved. You spent the whole day playing outside, while we were scorched by the sun at the entrance of the Presidential Palace for half a day."

  The classmate who spoke was named Li Zhenning, also known as Wenhan. He was originally the son of a wealthy family in Shanghai, but because of his father's requirements, he took the entrance exam for Nanjing Army Middle School. Xu Shao-wen and Li Zhenning were classmates when they were in Nanjing, so among all the students in the fourth term of the regular class, their relationship was one of the closest.

  Xu Shaowen smiled and said, "Hey, what's the big deal about playing around all day? I almost got lost in Beijing's alleys, and walking around like this isn't exactly comfortable either."

  "Wen Yuan, look at you with a smug face, did you get lost in the Eight Great Hutongs?" At this time, another older schoolmate got up from the bed, with a mocking smile on his face, and said with a chuckle.

  As soon as this was said, other roommates in the dormitory immediately followed and burst into laughter.

  Beijing's eight major brothel alleys have been heard of by both government officials and ordinary people. Since the Ming Dynasty allowed prostitutes to operate as a regular business, prostitutes in Beijing have continued to develop for over 200 years. Until the end of the Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, the eight alleys of Baishun Hutong, Yanzi Hutong, Hanjiatan, Shanxi Xiang, Shitou Hutong, Wang Guangfu Street, Zhu Jia Hutong, and Li Sha Mao Hutong in the inner city became the most prosperous areas for prostitution.

  According to official statistics, after the founding of the Republic of China, there were 117 brothels in the Eight Great Alleys that had officially hung out their shingles, with more than 700 prostitutes. This did not include streetwalkers or clandestine prostitutes. The brothels operating in the Eight Great Alleys were usually high-end establishments, especially after the fall of the Qing dynasty, when many palace maids and even princesses were forced to become prostitutes, further increasing the allure of the Eight Great Alleys.

  Xu Shaowen just smiled and shook his head, saying: "Brother Maosheng really told you the truth, I was indeed lost in the Eight Great Hutongs, unfortunately my pockets weren't fat enough, otherwise this getting lost would have lasted even longer."

  The most interesting thing was that it made all the students in the dormitory laugh for a while.

  He was referred to by Xu Shaochang as Mao Zhen, an older fellow student, who was actually Guo Songling, a veteran general under the warlord Zhang Zuolin of the Fengtian clique. Guo Songling was also a notable figure during the Republican era, although he followed Zhang Zuolin, but when Zhang Zuolin ordered to go to war with the National Government, he defected to the side of Feng Yuxiang and turned against the Fengtian clique in anger and frustration.

  Kuo Sung-ling was 31 years old when he entered the Army University, and his age was also considered to be quite long in the fourth regular class. Moreover, before entering school, he had been a regimental commander of the revolutionary army, so he was respected by many people in the school.

  Six months ago, when Xu Shao-wen entered the Army University, he was quite shocked to meet Guo Songling for the first time. However, over the past period of time, he also discovered that this old classmate is actually quite humorous and often uses his mature worldview to crack some off-color jokes.

  "Let's not talk nonsense, Wen Yu, do you remember the things we asked you to take care of?" A young fellow sitting at a desk by the window in the dormitory interjected, his appearance was proper and upright, looking like a bookworm, with a hint of Zhejiang accent in his tone.

  "Does Brother Wei have something for me to take care of?" Xu Shaowen pretended to be confused.

  As for this Weiwen, Xu Shaoxun even thinks that his later reputation is above Guo Songling. This person's full name is Lin Wei, who is the most trusted confidant of Chiang Kai-shek throughout his life.

  Xu Shaowen didn't know much about Lin Wei, and his understanding of some figures in the Republic of China was limited to what he had read in extracurricular books. He only knew that Lin Wei had been loyal to Chiang Kai-shek all his life. In 1949, Lin Wei followed his superior, Chen Yi, who was preparing to revolt against Chiang, but the plan was discovered by the Military Intelligence Bureau beforehand and failed. As one of Chen Yi's former subordinates, Lin Wei never pleaded for leniency on his behalf, except when he went to prison to persuade him to surrender.

  However, Lin Ju's loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek was also due to Chiang Kai-shek's trust in Lin Ju.

  After graduating from the Army University, Lin Wei was transferred back to Zhejiang as a regimental commander. Later, after Chiang Kai-shek gained control of part of the national army, he decided to establish the Garrison Command. The personnel requirements for this command were only four words: "Huang, Zhe, Lu, Yi", which referred to graduates of the Huangpu Military Academy, people from Zhejiang, graduates of the Army University, and members of the First Army. Since Lin Wei was a graduate of the Army University and also from Zhejiang, he was promoted to the Garrison Command.

  From then on, Lin Wei was always received with esteem and trust by Chiang Kai-shek.

  Xu Shaowen also heard that Lin Wei had crossed out his own name three times when he was promoted to First-Class General of the Army, so when Lin Wei passed away, he only retained the rank of Second-Class General of the Army. Xu Shaowen still admired Lin Wei for this, which at least showed that Lin Wei was a self-disciplined and humble person.

  "Stop pretending, Wen Yuan. Look at your bulging pockets, oh my, you've bought several packs!" Li Zhenning chuckled and patted Xu Shao's pant pocket as they walked into the dorm together.

  "Hah, can't you see Wen Yuan is still thinking of monopolizing it?" Guo Songling laughed loudly.

  "Alright, alright, here you go." Xú Shào Wén smiled and pulled out several packs of Hademen from his pants pocket and jacket pocket, tossing them to Guō Sōng Líng and Lín Wèi respectively.

  Other schoolmates in the dormitory immediately gathered around, seven or eight hands reaching out to Guo Songling and Lin Wei for a cigarette to smoke. Soon, the originally small room was filled with smoke, and all the schoolmates' faces were filled with a comfortable expression.

  Kuo Sung-ling, after distributing the cigarettes, specially walked to Xu Shao-wen and Li Zhen-ning's side, skillfully took out two cigarettes from the cigarette case and handed them over to the two men, while also winking and saying: "Two gentlemen, take a puff."

  "Ma Zhen, you're not teasing us, are you? I and Wen Han have never smoked," Xu Shao said with a smile, he had always thought that smoking was harmful and had no benefits.

  Li Zhenning was born into a wealthy family and had good living habits since childhood, so he didn't want to get involved in this kind of thing either. He shook his head and said, "Yes, since you guys like to smoke, I can save a few for you."

  "Hey, cigarettes are a symbol of manhood, everyone follows suit, but you two are the only ones who don't, this is splitting and being self-righteous!" Guo Songling squinted his eyes and joked, putting on an expression that he must get Xu Shaowen and Li Zhenning to break their vow.

  "Look at what you're saying, brother Mao Zhen. Not smoking has become a sin for the Chinese," Li Zhenning said with a smile, but still pushed away the cigarette handed over by Guo Songling.

  Just then, the wooden door of the dormitory was heavily slapped, and a majestic voice shouted: "What are you all doing? Are you taking the Army University as a tea house?"

  The dormitory door was originally open, and this sound suddenly made everyone quiet down. Several students hastily threw the cigarettes in their hands to the ground and stepped on them with their feet. However, after seeing the person standing outside the door clearly, everyone couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

  Outside the door, a thin and bespectacled person with a rather rigid appearance was glaring at everyone in the dormitory, but everyone knew he wasn't the Dean of Studies or the Academic Supervisor, just the class leader of the Cavalry Class, and like everyone present, a cadet of the Military Academy.

  Every term of students at the Army University has no class division, and the cavalry class monitor referred to here is because all students have more or less studied at the Army Middle School before entering the Army University. The graduates will be assigned to the five branches of infantry, cavalry, engineering, logistics, and artillery. After entering the Army University, the dormitory allocation of students is also divided according to these five branches, so the cavalry class monitor is only equivalent to the cavalry enlistment student dormitory head.

  "Hey, it's actually Brother Weixin! Look at you with a straight face, you scared us all," Guo Songling, relying on his seniority, quickly became amiable and smiled, while taking out a cigarette from the Hardman cigarette case and handing it to this head of the engineering department.

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