Chen Zikong was shocked and couldn't help but carefully examine this Hu Banzhen. He wore a worn-out black cotton-padded jacket, a small calabaza hat, and was around thirty years old, with a square face, big ears, and three long beards. He didn't look like a fortune-telling swindler, but rather like a school teacher.

  "Half Immortal, can you tell my fortune?" Chen Zikong took out the only dollar he had on him and slapped it onto the small table used for divination. The silver coin clinked loudly as Hu Banshan said: "Let's give it a try, report your birth date and time."

  Chen Zikun said: "I don't remember."

  "Hu Banshen hesitated for a moment before saying: 'That's not easy to do. Alright, you write a character and I'll try to guess it.'"

  Chen Zikun picked up the brush pen, scratched his head and thought for a moment. The first thing that came to mind was Lin Wenjing's figure, so he wrote a "Lin" character on the white porcelain piece.

  Hú Bàn Xiān looked and calculated with his fingers: "If you want to find your origins, go to the forest in the northwest."

  Chen Zikong said: "The forest in the northwest is too big, it's all nonsense."

  Hu Banzhen said: "I haven't finished speaking yet, it's a temple in the northwest forest."

  "Is the temple in the northwest... the Sleeping Buddha Temple or the Biyun Temple?" Suddenly, he woke up with a start and realized that Chen Yongren's coffin was indeed placed in the Biyun Temple!

  "This is not urgent, you can take your time to find it. The top priority now is how to avoid a great disaster. Seeing that you are so generous with your moves, I'll help you break through." Hu Banshan said.

  "What did you say?"

  "You've been having a run of bad luck, and your fortune is being affected by petty people. Recently, haven't you offended someone? And this person is definitely not a good sort, must be one of those who bully men and cheat women, running amok in the countryside."

  Chen Zikun raised an eyebrow: "Recently, I taught a group of bastards a lesson."

  "That's it. These people are like beasts preying on the countryside, no different from animals. The first of the six domesticated animals is the horse. You were destined to run into this little scoundrel with the surname Ma."

  Chen Zikun's mind stirred, could it be that Ma Er Ye wanted to find trouble with him?

  "How can it be solved then?"

  "It's simple, just don't go back home for now."

  Chen Zikun cursed in a low voice, "Isn't this nonsense? He told me to dodge and hide, but what about the brothers from the big mixed courtyard? However, this half-immortal's calculations are quite accurate, it won't hurt to ask him about my wife."

  "Half immortal, I still want to calculate the marriage destiny." Chen Zikong said.

  Hu Banshen smiled slightly and calculated with his fingers: "From the perspective of marriage, today there will be some small setbacks such as financial losses, but it won't affect the overall situation. Just go to Tianqiao once and it can be resolved. Also, I'll give you another sentence for free: if you want to win a beauty's heart, you must first achieve something in your career."

  ... Chen Zikun's mind conjured up a scene of himself standing in the schoolyard, wearing a snow-white uniform and shouting "Down with imperialism!" at the top of his lungs. A large group of female students with white scarves around their necks looked up to him with reverence.

  Instead, she was wearing a set of Tsinghua University student uniform, sitting in the classroom discussing various philosophical issues with her classmates. Lin Wenjing stared at her big eyes and supported her cheeks, sitting in front of the window with fine rain listening carefully to her own grandiose talk.

  "Got it, Half Immortal." Chen Zikong nodded and pulled out his rickshaw, dashing off in a flash.

  He rushed back to Beida, threw his bicycle at the entrance of the building and hurried to the library. He wanted to consult with Assistant Mao on how he could become a student at Beida. As he passed by an office, someone inside called out to him: "Hey, worker, please stop."

  Chen Zikun stopped in his tracks, sizing up the two people in the room. Both were dressed in long shirts and glasses, with an extraordinary air about them. The ashtray on the table was already filled to the brim with cigarette butts, and the room was poorly ventilated, with smoke swirling around. One of them, a pale yellow complexion, was smoking and coughing at the same time, yet seemed to be enjoying himself.

  "What instructions do the professors have?" Chen Zikun asked.

  "Are you Mr. Gu Hongming's new disciple Chen Zikun?" the pale-faced man asked.

  "How did you know?" Chen Zikong asked back.

  "Probably the only one who can run around in the Red Mansion with abandon is you, brother." Another professor with a proud smile said, pointing to the door with his pipe. "Close the door."

  Chen Zikun closed the door. The man said: "My name is Huang Kan, and this is Liu Shipei." Then he quietly watched Chen Zikun, waiting for his reaction.

  "Hello Professor Huang, hello Professor Liu." Chen Zikun was neither arrogant nor humble, and showed no unusual expression.

  The two professors looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  "Kou Lao and Hu Shih made a bet with their students, saying that they could teach you Latin during the winter break. Do you have confidence?" asked Liu Shi-pei.

  "Thanks to the professor's appreciation, I have confidence and must learn; without confidence, I also must learn." Chen Zikun replied loudly. This was the truth. As for Latin, he had never heard of it before and had no foundation at all.

  "Alright." Liu Shipei said, "This matter is already well-known among the Northern University students. Huang Jigang and I are planning to set up another gambling den, where we'll bet with Hu Shi. Each side will find one person, who will teach in either classical Chinese or vernacular Chinese. The betting period will be one winter break, and whoever can produce a useful talent will win. We won't bother you twice, so we've come to ask you too. This gamble is even bigger than the one with Old Gou, with over 500 yuan at stake. Are you daring enough to take on the bet?"

  Chen Zikun said: "This is a bit of a problem, I think. With only a few days left in the winter break, I have to study Latin and Chinese, and also pull carts. I'm afraid there won't be enough time, and if I fall behind in either one, it will affect the professors who are betting on me."

  Huang Kan and Liu Shipei burst out laughing, Huang Kan said: "Gu Hongming indeed didn't misjudge you, this little brother of yours really has some meaning. Don't worry, the gambling is fair and equal, Hu Shi and others also found a rickshaw boy just like you, during the winter break, learn vernacular Chinese and English, when the time comes, we will each hand out test papers, let you two take the exam, winning or losing doesn't matter."

  Chen Zikun was secretly delighted and thought that this was a shortcut to entering Beida. He immediately said, "I agree, which of the two professors will be my teacher?"

  Liu Shipei smiled and said: "Both of us will be your teachers."

  Chen Zikong shook his head and said, "That won't do, I'll only follow one teacher."

  Huang Kan said: "Professor Liu is a great master of national studies, let him be your teacher, what do you think?"

  "Alright, anyway it can only be one. Teacher, wait a moment, I'll go and come back right away." After saying that, he hastily left.

  Huang Kan and Liu Shipei looked at each other and smiled. Huang Kan said, "This cart driver is really interesting. Many students from Beida dream of becoming your apprentice, but he only wants to choose one person. Why is that?"

  Liu Shipei said: "This cart driver is very clever, he knows that each teacher has his own teaching method, and the more teachers there are, the more they will be at a loss as to what to do. I think he's actually quite teachable."

  Without much ado, Chen Zikong came in again, holding a roll of paper in his hand and standing in front of Liu Shipei, bowing: "Sir, this is my gift for becoming your apprentice."

  Liu Shipei hesitantly took over the paper and unfolded it to take a look. Several shrimps were vividly depicted, as if they were alive.

  "This is the master's handwriting, where did you get it from?"

  "I pulled an old guest who lived in Fayuan Temple, and used this painting to pay for the fare. I had nothing on me, only this painting, so I could only bow to one master, so Professor Huang, I owe you an apology." Chen Zikun gave a deep bow to Huang Kan.

  Huang Kan naturally wouldn't argue with him, and instead sighed: "You young people actually understand etiquette, you're much stronger than those who advocate for Vernacular Chinese and betray the classics."

  ……

  At the same time, in another office at Peking University, Xu Tingge's driver, Xu Er, stood helplessly among Professor Hu Shi and many students.

  "Master, I...I..." Xu Er was sweating profusely. He often drove Master in and out of the Peking University campus, so he naturally knew the names of these people. It went without saying that Professor Hu Shi, whose name shook the whole of Beida, was among them, as were Master's classmates from the New Tide Society, such as Fu Sinian and Luo Jialun - each and every one of them was a luminary, and in their presence Xu Er was so nervous he could hardly speak coherently.

  Xu Tingge encouraged him, "Xu Er, don't be nervous, let's just treat it as a game. During the winter break, I'll give you time off with pay. You just need to learn vernacular Chinese and English with us. Don't worry about it, whatever level you reach is fine. If you do well, not only will I reward you with 100 silver dollars, but I'll also ask Master to introduce his daughter Cui Lian from the kitchen as your wife."

  Upon hearing about the ocean and his daughter-in-law, Xu Er's eyes lit up: "Young master, I, Xu Er, will brave boiling water and walk through fire to learn English well."

  Xu Tingge smiled and said: "Not Wen, but Vernacular Chinese. Xu Er, you have made up your mind, that's good enough. You can go out for now."

  Xu went out with a swagger, bowing and scraping as he backed out of the door, carefully closing it behind him.

  Professor Hu Shih said: "This gamble, seemingly playful, is actually deeply meaningful. The popularization of vernacular Chinese education is related to the future of our country. China must resolutely struggle with old forces, old traditions and old ideas in order to revive itself, and this gamble of ours is a part of that struggle."

  The students listened intently as Xu Tingguo said, "Since the founding of our New Tide Society, we have expressed our views and promoted our ideas through magazines, but that is just empty talk on paper. To promote vernacular writing and popularize it, we must start from the most basic, grassroots level. Xu Er is my family's coachman, so naturally I am responsible for his education, but I also need your cooperation, fellow students."

  A chubby classmate next to me said: "I won't go home for the winter vacation, and I'll educate Xu Er with you. As for English, let Luo Jialun take care of it."

  Another young man wearing glasses smiled and said, "The responsibility is clear."

  ……

  It was finally time to get out of school, Chen Zikun returned to the gate and waited for Lin Wenjing by the bicycle, when suddenly a cold hum came, turned his head to see Xu Er staring at the sky with his arms around his knees, looking very pleased with himself.

  "Xu Er, your neck is strained?" Chen Zikun muttered.

  Xu Er fundamentally didn't pay attention to him, still gazing up at the sky with his eyes, muttering to himself: "Good belly oil belly, surround and attack Kangmu..."

  A group of students rushed out from the building, Lin Wenjing and Wang Yueqi got into Chen Zikun's car, Xu Tingge got into Xu Er's car, and the two cars drove away from Peking University together.

  All the way Wang Yueqi kept asking Xu Tingge about how to join Xin Chao She, while Lin Wenjing remained silent and listened quietly to their conversation.

  Returning to the Lin residence, only a shiny black sedan was parked at the entrance. Lin Wenjing got out of the car and entered the gate. Lin's mother came over, took Miss's school bag, and said: "The old master and the young lady have arrived. The old master said that when you return, you don't need to wash up, go directly to the living room."

  "Hmm." Lin Wenjing smoothed her hair and entered the second gate. Lin's mother saw Chen Zikun staring at the cars outside and scolded, "Today we have guests coming to the mansion, can't you be more diligent and go sweep the snow in the courtyard?"

  Chen Zikun glared, scaring Lin Ma into silence. Still glaring, he picked up a large broom and entered the vertical flower gate, intentionally eavesdropping on the conversation inside the main house.

  Mr. Lin said, "Wen Jing, come quickly to pay respects to your great uncle and also to your cousin Hui Yin."