At this moment, she was finally able to cry her heart out.

Unable to offer comfort, Duan Jiancheng could only temporarily lend her his shoulder.

In the evening, Duan Jiancheng took her home.

As she passed by Marshal Xu's mansion, she stopped and looked at the lanterns hanging in the Xu family's house. Her red and swollen eyes were so sad.

"When my second brother left, I knew he had already prepared himself for not to come back."

"He must have wanted to be buried with Sister-in-law Zhuqing, but... as his younger sister, I can only silently build him a cenotaph, without even being able to get his body..."

"Jiancheng, do you think my brother will blame me?"

Duan Jiancheng took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders: "No, he'll just say, 'Little sister has grown up, and brother is very proud.'"

Zhang Shufen smiled, but tears streamed down her face: "I'm leaving, going home."

After that day, Duan Jiancheng made a decision and submitted an application to change his major.

His classmates and teachers all tried to persuade him, but only Zhang Shufen, when she found out, said to him: "Jiancheng, I know your faith. Whatever you want to do, I will support you."

"Shufen, what if my decision is wrong?"

"No, I believe you."

"The road ahead is long and unknown, but that's alright, I'm willing to walk with you."

They smiled at each other in the sunset.

Later, he finally passed the exam and officially transferred from the history department to the physics department, but it was on that very day...

He received a letter from home, but it brought devastating news.

My father is gone, and my family is forced to move south. We don't know when we'll see him again.

His fourth brother told him to study hard and to offer incense to his father whenever he had time. His mother told him never to come back because he couldn't take his father with him and had already buried him on the spot. Duan Jiancheng could only kneel again and again in the direction of his home.

Now, even sending a letter home has become a luxury for him.

The situation is becoming increasingly difficult. Duan Jiancheng's final exams are approaching, and his fellow students and workers are launching uprisings everywhere, but they are repeatedly suppressed.

Although Zhang Shufen had someone to protect her, the number of wolves and tigers eyeing the Zhang family was increasing, and the survival of her classmates and teachers was also becoming a problem.

Despite the hardships they faced, they persevered for another three years.

The bombardment once again covered Kyoto. Every day, they had to worry about being bombed while attending classes, and they had to run to the air-raid shelter several times a day. There were fewer and fewer classmates around, and the school became very desolate.