Chen Yongren's death was like a basin of cold water poured over Chen Zikun from head to toe, in the vast ocean of people, where could he find his own life?

  There was nowhere to go, so he had to return to the Dazayuan again. Commander Xue saw him carrying his bedding back and was about to ask a question, but seeing Chen Zikun's dejected face, he swallowed his words instead. After a while, he called out Xiao Shunzi alone, and after understanding the situation, he said thoughtfully, "We need to think of a solution."

  Back home, he called his wife and son over to discuss: "Chen Dabao's relatives who fled have died, leaving him alone and penniless, and he spent all his money on treating Xing'er's illness. He has kindness, we must have righteousness. I think we should let him take over the embroidery work arranged for Baoqing first, and then worry about food later."

  "My partner is a kind-hearted person and replied: 'It's up to you, house owner.'"

  This job of pulling a rickshaw for half a month, Baoqing had been looking forward to it for nearly half a year. However, upon hearing his father's words, he said without hesitation: "Alright, I'll teach him some rules about pulling a rickshaw, so that he won't be at a loss when the time comes."

  Xue Xun Chang was delighted and patted his son on the shoulder: "Don't worry, Dad will find you a good job again."

  He got up and came to Xiao Shunzi's house, knocked on the door and went in. Chen Zikong was sitting on the kang staring blankly, and when he saw Xue Xunzhang come in, he quickly stood up to greet him.

  "Take a seat, don't be polite. I came here for something specific and coincidentally there's a job opening for a porter. If you're not ashamed of it, I'll take you to meet the boss. If you think it's not suitable, we can look again."

  Chen Zikun's face suddenly changed color, and he thought to himself: "Can the great Double Gun Fast Leg Little White Dragon really be reduced to pulling a rickshaw? Just as he was about to refuse, he heard Xue Xunzhang say: 'That's a wealthy household, the mansion on Shi Ma Da Jie Hou Zhai Hutong, I hear the owner is from the south and is an official in the Ministry of Education.'"

  "Let me try," Chen Zikong said offhand, and the slender blue figure appeared in his mind once again.

  "This is fate." He thought to himself with a warm feeling, but said out loud: "Thank you, Director Xue."

  "This kid, what's with the politeness? From now on, the big courtyard is your home, and neighbors should take care of each other, that's a given." Sheriff Xue looked Chen Zikun up and down again and said: "You'd better change into some decent clothes."

  Chen Zikun looked at himself, wearing a dogskin hat, an old sheepskin coat, and high-top felt boots, dressed like an old traveler from outside the pass. It seemed that he didn't quite fit in with Beijing's environment, and Beijing's weather wasn't as bitterly cold as it was outside the pass, so dressing like this made him look a bit overdone.

  The neighbors lent a helping hand, Zhao the loudmouthed old man gave Chen Zikun his son's set of blue cotton padded jacket to wear, Xue the patrolman sent him a pair of sturdy leather shoes, Xiao Shunzi also donated a woolen hat, and Xing'er brought a basin of hot water with soap and towels for Chen Zikun to wash his face thoroughly. His face hadn't been washed in days, and it was so dirty that it produced a bowl of yellowish water after washing.

  "This beard also needs a trim." Xue Xun led Chen Zikun to the barber shop at the entrance of the alley, spent three copper coins to shave off his beard, and he looked much more spirited and younger.

  Dressed and ready, Xue Xunlong took out a business card and handed it to Chen Zikun: "Take this to the Lin residence in Hutong, Shi Ba Ma Street, inside Xuanwu Gate. Say that Mr. Zhou introduced you as the driver." After thinking for a moment, he also handed him a map, "You can read, right? Take this map with you, Beijing's streets are all laid out in a grid pattern, easy to recognize."

  "Thank you." Chen Zikong bowed to Xue Xunzhang. This old man was warm and meticulous, really a good person.

  He walked all the way to Shi Zima Street, Hou Zhai Alley, and asked around before finding the entrance of Lin's new residence. The gate was newly painted with black lacquer, and the two copper door rings shone brightly. He knocked loudly on the door, and a servant came to open it, sizing him up from head to toe. "The new coachman?"

  "Yes, I was introduced by Mr. Zhou."

  "Come with me."

  After entering the gate, the servant asked him to wait at the door of the inverted house and went in to report. Before long, he saw Mr. Lin coming out with a middle-aged man wearing a long shirt, glasses and a goatee. Mr. Lin obviously did not recognize Chen Zikun as the person who had sent his wallet at the train station. After asking him a few simple questions, he said: "Alright, you can work for me from now on. First, take Mr. Li to Peking University. Oh, there's nothing much to do today, so just pick up Mr. Li after work."

  Chen Zikun was very displeased, the young lady didn't show up, and instead dragged along an old man, what bad luck.

  How can one get the cub without entering the tiger's lair? I endured, Chen Zikun pulled the rickshaw out of the warehouse and pretended to be familiar with it, wiping it with a towel before inviting Mr. Li to get on.

  Mr. Li and Mr. Lin bid farewell, got into Chen Zikun's rickshaw and headed north, still chatting non-stop along the way, asking all sorts of questions like where he was from, how old he was, how much money he made in a month, whether it was enough to make ends meet, and so on, if not for his kind demeanor, Chen Zikun would not have bothered with him.

  Peking University is located at the northeast corner of the Forbidden City, easy to find, it's a four-story red brick building, and Mr. Li works here.

  "Little Chen, just park your car at the entrance, it won't get lost. Come in and warm up," said Mr. Li.

  Chen Zikun followed Mr. Li into the building, where they were met by some university students who respectfully addressed Mr. Li as "Director Li."

  Mr. Li's office is in the southeast corner, where some students are gathered discussing something, seeing Mr. Li coming in, someone stands up and shouts: "Mr. Li Dazhao has arrived, everyone be quiet."

  They sat in the house, fiercely discussing something like philosophy and ideology. Chen Zikun squatted at the door, feeling as if flies were flying all over his head. He stood up and wandered around, students in the building wearing dark blue uniforms, copper buttons shining brightly, student hats properly placed, teachers either in suits or long shirts with horse jackets, only Chen Zikun was out of place in his coarse linen short jacket. Others looked at him sideways, but he didn't mind.

  Chen Zikun slipped to the door of a classroom and saw through the crack that on the podium stood a refined gentleman, his hair perfectly combed, gold-rimmed glasses elegant and dignified, a double-breasted suit neatly pressed, saying: "It's not that I don't allow you, it's just that Peking University has its own rules, so please leave."

  Looking down at the platform again, a tall and handsome young man was sitting in the front row. His forehead was full and his jaw was square, with hair combed back and a mole on his chin. He wore a half-new blue cotton-padded jacket, which looked slightly shabby compared to the students around him. With a look of shame on his face, he was about to stand up when a cold questioning voice came from the doorway: "Is this the demeanor of Beida?"

  All eyes were focused on the entrance, and there stood a laborer wearing an old cotton-padded jacket, looking indignant.

  "Comrade, why do you have such a view of Beida?" asked the double-breasted suit gentleman, not getting angry at all, but instead asking politely.

  Chen Zikun was not intimidated at all, and said loudly: "The greatness of a university does not lie in its reputation or the size of its buildings, but in the breadth of mind of its people. Even private schools in rural areas allow children who can't afford to attend school to listen in on classes, yet Beijing University can't even accommodate one auditing student?"

  The classroom suddenly exploded, and the students began to discuss in whispers. The double-breasted suit gentleman on the podium smiled: "You're right, university should have a broad mind. Mao classmate, you can sit down and listen to the lecture now. This worker, if you're interested, feel free to attend the class together."

  Chen Zikun glanced at the blackboard, where five chalk characters read "Chinese Literature History", and suddenly felt uninterested. Just as he was about to refuse, he caught sight of a slender figure in blue sitting in the corner of the classroom, and his eyes lit up. He strode confidently into the classroom.

  Mao's classmates started applauding first, then the whole class joined in, and even Mr. Double-Rank Button smiled and applauded. The warm applause was not only for the worker who dared to enter the university classroom but also for Peking University's tolerance, broad-mindedness, and magnanimity.

  Chen Zikong sat down with a pleased expression next to Mao's seat.

  "Nice to meet you, I'm Mao Runze from No. 1 Normal School of Hunan." Mao stretched out his hand to him.

  Chen Zikun hesitated, the other party reported their school number, should he also report his own school number as a student of Peking University's "Double Guns, Fast Legs, Little White Dragon"? He thought for a moment, this is Peking University after all, a place of elegance and refinement, so it's better to keep a low profile.

  "It's been a long time, Border City Rogue Chen Zikun." Chen Zikun casually came up with a pretty cool pen name, shook hands with Mao classmate and asked: "Who is this teacher? Is his lesson good to listen?"

  "Mao said: 'This is Professor Hu Shi, the advocate of Vernacular Chinese.'"

  Chen Zikun nodded and said: "Oh... I don't know him."

  The classmate next to him put his finger on his lips: "Shh, be quiet."

  The two of them quickly stopped talking and listened attentively.

  Professor Hu cited classics on the stage, and his classmates listened with relish. Only Chen Zikun's mind was not on listening to the lesson, pretending to sit there, with a pair of eyes constantly glancing at Miss Lin.

  Miss Lin wore a suit of white cotton today, the classroom was warm and cozy, so she didn't wear her white scarf. She held a pen in one hand and supported her cheek with the other, staring intently at Professor Hu on stage, who looked handsome and elegant. She didn't notice at all that a pair of thief-like eyes were watching her.

  Before long, the bell rang for dismissal. Mao Da-yi stood up and said to Chen Zi-jun: "I have something else to attend to, I'll take my leave."

  "Oh, I'm leaving." Chen Zikun's distracted nod, his eyes stuck on Miss Lin, that slender figure bouncing out with two female classmates.

  An opportunity once lost will never come again, and Chen Zikun thought to himself that today's mission would only be accomplished if he could catch up with Lin and exchange a few words. He followed her out of the classroom and down the long corridor, but then saw the three girls enter a door with a wooden sign that read "Women's Toilet".

  Chen Zikun's face turned red and his ears were burning. He hastily turned around, but collided with someone, and when he looked closely, it was a school worker.

  "Big guy, Director Li is looking for you, first floor library, hurry up and go."

  "Alright." Chen Zikong reluctantly glanced back at the women's restroom, went downstairs to the library, and found a newly acquainted friend, Mao classmate, busily organizing newspapers.

  "Hey, Mao, you're here too." Chen Zikun greeted him and looked around for Director Li.

  "I'm actually an assistant in the library, and I take advantage of every opportunity to attend classes." Mao's Hunan accent was quite strong, but for Chen Zikun, it didn't pose any obstacle.

  "I was going to ask you too, what is the word for Hunan First Normal? Is it the First Division of the Hunan Army?" Chen Zikun asked.

  Mao classmate did not laugh at Chen Zikun's ignorance, and seriously replied: "Hunan Public First Normal School, also known as Hunan First Normal University, I graduated from there." After a pause, he sighed and said: "First Normal is a good school."

  Chen Zikun nodded solemnly, though he didn't quite understand: "Oh, I see."

  Suddenly, a bright and cheerful voice came from afar: "Cai Yuanpei once said that this is the general principle of freedom of thought, and that's why universities are great. A rickshaw driver has the same views as He Xiangning, no wonder Hu Shi was left speechless."

  It turned out that Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu walked over together, Li Dazhao smiled and asked: "Little Chen, I didn't expect you to have such insight, it's a pity not to go to school. By the way, I only know your surname is Chen, do you have a name?"

  Chen Zikun said: "Yes, I am Chen Zikun."

  Li Dazhao suddenly became interested, this didn't seem like a laborer's name. He beckoned Chen Zikun to come over to a table, took out a brush and paper and said: "Can you write your own name?"

  "Agreed." Chen Zikong grasped the brush and scribbled his name on the rice paper with a flourish, but Li Dazhao secretly shook his head, knowing from the way he held the pen that he was completely uneducated.

  Although the three characters "Chen Zi Kui" looked like three dung beetles on the rice paper, Chen Duxiu still praised: "Not bad, Kui is a precious sword, I'd rather give you a character, surname Chen, name Zi Kui, courtesy name Kunwu, brother Shou Chang, what do you think?"

  Li Dazhao smiled and said, "Brother Zhongfu getting the character is not bad at all. Kunwu has the meaning of precious stone and also the meaning of treasured sword, it's a good character. Little Chen, don't you thank Professor Chen?"

  Chen Zikun was shocked and said, "This professor is indeed extraordinary, he can actually guess the words engraved on the jade pendant around my neck. He bowed his head in gratitude: "Thank you, Professor Chen, for bestowing this character upon me."

  Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu exchanged a smile, both feeling that they had done something meaningful.

  "Right, Little Chen, I won't be going home for now, you go ahead and send Miss Lin back first." Li Dazhuang said.

  Chen Zikong couldn't help but feel a sudden jolt in his body.