The front gate of the railway station is directly opposite the Zhengyangmen city gate tower and arrow tower, with the West Zhengyangmen Station on the west side of the arrow tower, the starting point of the Beijing-Hankou Railway. The Zhengyangmen Square, sandwiched between the two railway stations, was bustling with cars, horses, rickshaws, and pedestrians coming and going in all directions. The sunset cast a golden glow on the majestic shadow of the arrow tower, and Chen Zikun stared blankly at this magnificent building, as if overwhelmed by its grandeur.

  "My god, this is the legendary Beijing!" Chen Zikun took out a crumpled piece of paper from his old sheepskin coat and looked around, wanting to find someone to ask for directions to the address on the paper.

  His gaze was attracted by a scene in the duty room next to the exit, and he couldn't move his feet anymore. A small soldier in blue-gray uniform was disassembling a pistol inside the house.

  This is a large mirror-faced box produced by the Dagu Shipyard, with exquisite craftsmanship. The entire gun does not use any screws, relying solely on the tight fit of zero parts. The quality is comparable to that of the original German Mauser factory goods. Outside the pass, it cannot be bought for 200 taels of silver, but after this soldier disassembled and cleaned the large mirror-faced box, reassembling it, a single bronze cylindrical component was left lying alone on the table.

  The duty soldier was sweating profusely, and on the table were still laid out British-style double-buckle wide leather officer's belts and brown leather gun holsters, which had been polished to a high shine with chicken oil. It seemed that this little soldier had taken apart his gun while helping his superior officer tidy up and couldn't put it back together again.

  "I'm here!" Chen Zikun, who had been holding back for a long time, pushed the door open and came in. Without saying a word, he grabbed the gun and started to disassemble it quickly. The duty soldier was stunned and at a loss for a moment, only to see the unexpected guest's hands flying fast, instantly turning the large mirror surface into a pile of parts. He then inserted the column-shaped part on the table into a spring, and swiftly assembled the pile of parts back into a gun. With a series of clicks, the high-quality metal components of the mirror surface collided with each other, producing a crisp clanging sound.

  "Brother, that's a hammer strike on the top of the head, don't forget next time." Chen Zikun spun the large mirror surface around his fingers a few times, reluctantly handing over the gun with the barrel facing downwards.

  The soldier on duty took over the large mirror in a daze, just wanting to speak, but that person had already walked away with big strides.

  "Damn it, how many times have I told you to keep a low profile? You just can't help but show off!" Chen Zikun walked quickly away, afraid that the soldier would catch up with him. Someone who could play with guns so skillfully was either a bandit or not a regular soldier. His own behavior was definitely not the latter, and revealing his true nature in the capital city where military police were gathered was no trivial matter.

  As I walked forward, a low voice came from behind me, "Hey, big guy, be careful, Ma San and the others are looking for trouble with you." Turning my head back, it was a thin young boy, squatting on the ground picking up cigarette butts, his slightly raised face had a line of clear snot, his hands were covered in chilblains, and the metal can he was holding already had half a can of cigarette butts.

  Chen Zikun cast a grateful glance at him, but instead of escaping, he walked towards an alley beside the station. The several guys following far behind exchanged a look and trailed after him.

  The alley was quiet and deserted, Chen Zikun threw the bedding roll and saddle bag to the ground, the saddle bag fell on the frozen hard ground, making a clanging sound of silver coins colliding, at least several dozen.

  "Come on, guys! Show yourselves, don't hide and sneak around, it's no fun." Chen Zikun stretched his limbs, warming up.

  Four black shadows appeared, led by a fat black man with a face full of scars and a strong aura of the pugilistic world.

  "Listen up, kid. You're on my turf now, so you'd better follow my rules. Today, you messed with my brother's business, let's talk about it." Hei Pangzi had been hanging around the front gate of the train station for a while and was quite knowledgeable about the area. Seeing the young man's demeanor, he knew he was a drifter, so he decided to test him with some words first.

  "Shut up and don't waste words. If you're not convinced, let's practice and see who wins. The 50 yuan in this bag is yours if you can beat me. If you can't, get the hell out of here."

  As soon as this was said, Ma San Ye became furious and waved his hand, saying: "Pi Hou, you come up."

  The skin monkey was the white-faced man who had just stolen the package. He spat two mouthfuls of saliva onto his palm, rubbed his fists and walked to the front of the young man with a fierce momentum. Seeing that the opponent was one head taller than himself, he suddenly became timid again, and returned to say to the black fat man: "Third Master, lend me something to use."

  Third Master pulled out a sharp knife and threw it over, Pi Hou caught the knife, his courage greatly increased. However, he saw that the young man opposite him drew out a shiny single-edged long knife from an old sheepskin coat, about one and a half feet long, with a narrow and long blade body, a very deep blood groove, and a cold light flashing under the water moon lamp. The long knife in his hand made a quick turn, apparently a master of using knives.

  Pi Hou was stunned again, and Ma San Ye also furrowed his brow. They were pickpockets who mixed with the crowd at the train station, bullying honest and simple-minded travelers from out of town was okay, but when they really encountered a tough nut, they could only walk around him. But today, they actually fell into the hands of a beggar-like guy, this breath was really hard to swallow.

  Just as they were in a precarious situation, shouts suddenly rang out from afar: "The patrol police are coming!"

  Ma San and others led the donkey down the slope, nodded their hands and said: "Young man, next time don't offend my hand, we will meet again." After finishing, they slipped away with oily feet.

  Chen Zikun picked up the canvas bag, looked at their backs with disdain and hummed, the young man who had just picked up cigarette butts ran out from the dark corner, gave a thumbs-up: "Big guy, you're really something, one against four."

  "Didn't the patrolman come?" Chen Zikun looked at the youth's back, suddenly enlightened, and solemnly said: "Thank you, brother."

  "My name is Xiaoshunzi, what's yours?" The young man smiled with a grin.

  "My name is Chen Zikun."

  The big self-sounding bell on the clock tower of Dongzhimen Railway Station rang out, a low hum one after another, drowning out Xiaoshunzi's voice.

  "Chen Dagei, where did you come from?"

  "What?"

  "I'm asking you, where are you from?" Xiao Shunzi leaned in close to Chen Zikong and asked loudly.

  "I came from Fengtian to Beijing to visit relatives."

  "Where is your relative? I'll take you there." Little Shunzi volunteered.

  Chen Zikun took out a note and handed it over to Xiao Shunzi. Fortunately, he recognized most of the characters on it.

  "The boss of the South-North Goods Store at No. 143, Dong'an Market is Chen Yongren. Ah, unfortunately, it's closed now and you won't be able to find him even if you go there. Why don't you find a place to stay for the night, have some food, and then go visit your relatives tomorrow?" Xiao Shunzi said this with a flicker in his eyes.

  "Let's go." Chen Zikun said.

  Xiao Shunzi let out a sigh of relief and smiled: "Great, what do you want to eat, old tofu or braised fire-roasted?"

  "Which one tastes good?"

  "They're all delicious." Xiaoshun swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

  "Then let's all eat."

  "Alright, I'll take you there."

  The sky slowly darkened, and the gas lamps along the road gradually lit up. The two of them strolled along Zhengyangmen Outer Street, chatting and laughing.

  "Chen Dage, what's with that short sword of yours?"

  "That's not a short sword, it's a bayonet, a Japanese Type 38 Arisaka rifle bayonet, one that has seen blood."

  "Ah, you've killed someone?"

  "No, I'm an apprentice merchant. I carry this thing for self-defense." Chen Zikong felt a bit guilty and quickly covered it up.

  "Oh, you scared me! I thought you were..."

  "What is it?" Chen Zikong gripped the knife handle warily.