Lin Wenjing pulled her brother's hand and entered the second gate with trepidation. Chen Zikun had not yet put away the carriage when he heard the angry shout from inside: "What have you been up to!"

  No wonder the wife was furious, it had already turned dark and the twins were still not back home, this was something that had never happened before. And when she saw her son carrying a bunch of ice sugar gourds on his shoulder, like a small vendor selling snacks, she was even more exasperated.

  She snatched the bunch of sugarcanes her son was carrying, and threw them all to the ground along with the ice sugar gourd on top. At the same time, she also snatched the one in her son's mouth and trampled it to pieces with her foot.

  Lin Wenlong's mouth pouted and he was about to cry, his wife picked him up horizontally and spanked him a few times. Although she lifted him high, the fall was light, and the spanking wasn't very severe, but Lin Wenlong had never seen his mother so flustered before, and he felt both scared and wronged, and his heart ached for the ice sugar gourd. He opened his mouth and wailed loudly, crying so hard that he almost fainted.

  "Auntie, I took Wenlong out, don't blame him anymore." Lin Wenjing's heart ached for her brother and she urged bravely.

  The wife snorted: "You've become quite capable, haven't you? You can even take your brother on a wild goose chase all over the city. Do you know how unsafe the capital is?"

  Lin Wenjing explained: "There is Chen Shu accompanying her."

  The lady got even angrier: "A young lady from a wealthy family, always mixing with laborers, what kind of behavior is this? Kneel down for me!"

  Lin Wenjing knelt down straight in the living room, and the lady took her son into the bedroom and locked it. She handed five cents to Lin's mother and said: "Get rid of the rickshaw puller."

  Lin's mother pointed at him and said, "The mistress has spoken, you don't have to come tomorrow."

  Chen Zikong sneered and walked away with a swagger.

  Lin's mother didn't mince words either and put the five cents into her own pocket before leaving.

  Zhang Bo shook his head and sighed: "The world is getting worse by the day."

  After half an hour, the husband returned and saw his eldest daughter kneeling on the ground. He asked his wife what had happened, and she recounted the events of the day in detail. The husband smiled and said, "It's normal for children to be playful, never mind, get up."

  The wife was about to retort, but suddenly heard the sound of vomiting from the bedroom. She rushed in and saw her son vomiting uncontrollably on the bedside.

  "It must be those candied hawthorns that have upset your stomach!" his wife exclaimed in anger.

  The master also frowned and said to his daughter: "You are also too careless, what unhygienic things you give to your brother to eat. You don't have to eat dinner today, go back to your room and reflect on your mistakes."

  Lin Wenjing hung her head and returned to the west wing, thinking of her father's attitude towards her, and then thinking of her deceased mother, she couldn't help but burst into tears. Just as she was crying, someone knocked on the door. She opened it to find a tray on the floor with half a roasted duck and a plate of white buns.

  Who brought this? Lin Wenjing looked around suspiciously, the window of the main room reflected the shadows of her father and Mi Ayi, and Lin's mother was also chatting with Zhang Bo at the gate.

  Never mind, let's eat first. Lin Wenjing, who was hungry, took the tray into the house and placed it on her desk to eat. The roasted duck skin was crispy and tender, fatty but not greasy. She ate with her hands covered in oil, and as she thought back to the scenes of playing in the snow today, a smile floated up to the corners of her mouth.

  ……

  After sending the roast duck to his heart's desire, Chen Zikun wandered aimlessly on Shi Ma Street, feeling listless. Losing his errand didn't seem like a big deal to him, but not having an excuse to enter the Lin residence again was a huge trouble.

  In the future, if you want to see Miss Lin, you'll have to squat at the gate of the Lin residence all day, but this is not a good way either. What if someone mistakes me for a thief? Chen Zikun had an idea and decided to buy a rickshaw and become a free-wheeling rickshaw driver. This way, he could wait wherever he wanted without anyone being able to control him, and he could also take his heart's desire on a ride around town - wouldn't that be perfect?

  But where does the money to buy a car come from? That big bundle of cash that fell from the sky should belong to Xiang'er's family, and it wouldn't be good for me to use it again. I won't cheat myself, and relying on hard work to earn money is too slow. Ah, right! Aren't there still two gambling dens? The total bet is over 700 yuan. If I win the gamble, then I won't have to worry about anything.

  Thinking of this, he became spirited and hurriedly went to Cypress Tree Alley according to the address Gu Hongming had given him.

  Professor Gu's mansion was easy to find, and after knocking on the door, a sturdy servant with a queue let him wait at the entrance for a moment before reporting to the master and then letting Chen Zikun in.

  In the living room, a dim oil lamp was lit. Gu Hongming sat in a taishi chair smoking a dry pipe. When Chen Zikun arrived, he pointed to the stool beside the round table and said: "Sit."

  Chen Zikun sat down quietly and waited for Gu Hongming to start his lesson. Half a day passed without any movement, so he asked: "Professor, you won't have forgotten what we discussed the other day, will you?"

  Gu Hongming burst out laughing: "I didn't think you still remembered this, I thought you wouldn't dare to come. It seems that you are determined to get the Latin text."

  Chen Zikong said: "I'm not determined to learn Latin, I'm determined to get those 213 silver dollars. Hurry up and start teaching, I'm in a hurry."

  "Are you still going to hurry up and pull carts?"

  Chen Zikun said: "In the second half of the year, I will go to Mr. Liu Shipei's place to study Chinese literature."

  Gu Hongming burst out laughing again and asked, "You young fellow are really interesting. Are you an ignorant brave warrior who fears no tiger? Do you know how difficult Latin is?"

  Chen Zikun said: "Latin is difficult, but it's just 26 letters. Chinese characters have tens of thousands, and foreigners who are proficient in Chinese are everywhere."

  "Good!" exclaimed Gu Hongming, clapping his hands and laughing. He took a piece of paper and a pen, without using any textbooks, and began to teach the rickshaw driver Latin, which was only learned by European nobles.

  Originally, Gu Hongming just wanted to give Chen Zikun some simple training, at least he could write letters silently, spell out a dozen or so words, and say one or two short sentences, which would be considered a great success. However, after ten minutes, the mouth of this great Confucian scholar who was well-versed in both Chinese and Western learning had opened wide enough to swallow an egg.

  This coachman is simply a genius, everything he teaches is unforgettable and his hearing is excellent, with pure pronunciation. If it weren't for knowing the inside story, Gu Hongming would suspect that this young man spent the last decade in European palaces, systematically studying Latin under the guidance of famous teachers.

  "I often thought I was a genius, but it turns out there are people beyond the sky and others beyond men." Gu Hongming sighed and stroked his beard.

  Chen Zikun didn't think much of it, he had long known that his language learning ability was super strong. Under the guidance and influence of Er Gui, he could speak fluent French and Russian. Having been in Beijing for only a few days, his Beijing dialect was also very authentic. Learning some basic Latin was a piece of cake for him.

  An hour had passed unknowingly, and Chen Zikun was already able to recite the Latin alphabet, read aloud Latin proverbs, and write over a hundred words. This exceeded Gu Hongming's expectations, and the old man became enthusiastic, so he took out a "Latin Dictionary" for him.

  "Take this back and see it for yourself, how much you gain from it depends on your talent."

  Chen Zikun carelessly took over the dictionary and put it in his bosom, asked clearly about Liu Shipei's residence, bid farewell to Gu Hongming and rushed to that side.

  Liu Shipei was equally surprised by Chen Zikun's arrival, they all thought the driver had given up on the gamble. The Liu family was shrouded in smoke, Professor Liu, despite his severe coughing, still held onto his cigarette. The table, bed, and even floor were filled with books. He first rummaged through a box to find an elementary school textbook published by the Beiyang government's Ministry of Education, and asked Chen Zikun to take a good look.

  "Professor, what age group is this book for?" Chen Zikun asked.

  "Oh, you're so shallow, this is a book for seven-year-old kids."

  "Professor, you underestimate me too much, I'm going to fix it for eight years." Chen Zikong said proudly.

  Liu Shipei was speechless and lost his smile, then found another primary school textbook for him. Chen Zikun quickly flipped through it once and said, "I've learned it, let's have a test."

  Look at this car husband so confident, Liu Shipei happened to take out a high school graduate can only answer the Chinese test paper, Chen Zikun took the pen, up and down flying, pen walk dragon snake, Liu Shipei took over the paper looked, shocked: "You've been to school!"

  The handwriting on the test paper is elegant and powerful, with a style reminiscent of Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy. It is impossible for someone who has not received more than ten years of education to produce such beautiful handwriting.

  Chen Zikong scratched his head: "I don't remember if I read a book before."

  Liu Shipei continued to ask questions, and Chen Zikun told him that he had fallen off a horse and lost his memory two years ago, but concealed the fact that he was a bandit.

  "What a pity, what a pity. Perhaps you are the young master of a wealthy family, yet you have ended up in this place." Liu Shipei sighed and fetched a brush, inkstone, and rice paper, asking Chen Zikun to write some characters with a brush.

  The result was a great disappointment. Although Chen Zikun's hard-brush calligraphy was quite regular, his brushwork was a mess.

  "It seems you were raised in a new-style family, what a pity." Liu Shipei sighed again.

  But this "what a pity" has a completely different meaning from the previous sentence. Typically, comprador families in Shanghai or Guangdong would let their children fully westernize, believe in Christianity, study English, eat Western food, and write with fountain pens. Chen Zikun probably came from such a family. In recent years, frequent wars have led to rich young masters falling into the ranks of common people. His identity background is actually more suitable for studying Hu Shi's school of thought rather than following Liu Shipei.

  Well, in that case, let's teach him something more profound. Liu Shipei put away those textbooks and took out a new one, "Lectures on the History of Medieval Chinese Literature", handed it to Chen Zikun, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and began to formally lecture this student.

  As I left Professor Liu's house, the sky was filled with stars, and the snow had just cleared up. The air was exceptionally cold, almost freezing. Chen Zikun walked in big strides under the starlight, his mouth exhaling white mist. Suddenly, two dark figures appeared on the roadside ahead, their bodies sturdy, their voices like thunder:

  "Are you the White Dragon, the swift and agile dual-wielding gunslinger who roams beyond the borders?"