Yan Zhiyong's mouth was almost unable to close, thinking that he had clashed with Chen again. Last time Yu Deshun called for a fight, it was also him, this time friends helped find someone to teach a lesson, but unexpectedly met him again.

  Chen Zikun is a formidable opponent who defeated Zhuang Kui, and is referred to as "brother" by both northern and southern heroes. What kind of person is he? Although he has the title of "Senior Master of Qitian Martial Arts Academy", in reality, he doesn't have much substance. He can only bully ordinary people, but when facing a true master like Chen Zikun, he can only suffer defeat.

  "Ah, it's you, Chen Daxia! Hurry up and get me four dishes from the second restaurant at the end of the alley, and bring a jug of wine." Yan Zhiyong quickly got up, wiped the bench with his sleeve, and invited Chen Zikun to sit down.

  Chen Zikong didn't mince words either and sat down asking: "Master Yan's scowl earlier, was he preparing to fight someone?"

  "Haha, you're really good at joking, where did I have a cold face? You look at me, my whole face is festive." Yan Zhiyong rubbed his big hands and smiled foolishly, his mouth stretched to the base of his ears. Since Chen Zikun defeated Yu Zhankui, the business of Qitian Martial Arts Hall had plummeted, no one came to learn martial arts anymore. The hall's income relied solely on tuition fees from apprentices, without apprentices there was no money to spend, so he took people's money and troubles in exchange for helping them out, just thirty bucks and he'd help someone out of trouble.

  Chen Zikun smiled and said: "Don't deceive me, I have an idea. Where is that letter? Bring it to me to see."

  Yan Zhiyong had no choice but to take the letter Chen Zikun brought and pull out the letter paper, only to find that there was not a single word on it, just a blank sheet of paper.

  "Mr. Chen, you are a superior man, I don't dare to deceive you, a friend gave me 30 bucks to teach someone a lesson, hehe, don't worry, I'll deal with him later, whoever dares to mess with you will be sorry."

  Yan Zhiyong clenched his fists and rubbed his palms, his teeth itching with hatred. This expression of his wasn't fake at all. He had been careless in making friends and had harmed people greatly.

  Chen Zikong said: "Bie Jie, this friend of yours must also be entrusted by someone. Alright, you go back and tell him that I was taught a lesson by you, isn't that settled?"

  Yan Zhiyong smiled and said: "You're joking, how can this be? You're a great hero, how can you be taught by me, a small role? If this gets out, it won't do."

  Chen Zikong said, "Yan Shixiong has promoted me, I'm just a businessman who opened a car factory, not one of you martial artists. I don't open a martial arts school, nor do I accept apprentices. What's the point of caring about that empty title? You mentioned earlier, how much money did that friend spend?"

  Yan Zhiyong stretched out three fingers: "Thirty bucks."

  "Alright, I won't take advantage of you either. Let's just split it 2:1 and call it five. Just give me half, do you want cash?" said Chen Zikong.

  Yan Zhiyong was stunned again, it seemed that this old man had a keen eye for money, but this was for the best. He quickly went back inside and fetched 30 silver dollars: "Chen Dashao, how could I dare to split with you? It's all yours."

  Chen Zikong said: "I'm a man who values brotherhood and justice, I never take more than I should, so just give me 15 yuan."

  Saying so, he took 15 yuan and put it in his pocket, then left with a swagger.

  Yan Zhiyong wiped his sweat: "My goodness, what's going on? The world is getting more and more incomprehensible."

  Half an hour later, a martial arts friend who was a guard at the Yao Gongguan came to the door and asked with a smile: "Zhiyong, is your fist practice going well?"

  Yan Zhiyong nodded: "Thanks to you, I was almost scared to death."

  "What do you mean by this?"

  Yan Zhiyong said: "Do you know who you arranged for me to fight? It was Chen Zikun, the Jianghu newcomer who defeated my master Yu Zhanwei at Taoran Pavilion!"

  The martial artist stuck out his tongue: "It's actually him, how did he end up pulling a rickshaw?"

  Yan Zhiyong said: "Others are originally car manufacturers, hiding in plain sight, you understand?"

  "Have you ever sparred with him?"

  Yan Zhiyong sneered, "If I had fought with him, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you now. They say that if you want to settle accounts, you have to find the mastermind behind it all. Luckily, I have some connections with him and after begging for half a day, he finally agreed, but it cost me 50 bucks."

  The martial artist wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and took out a 50-yuan bill: "This money should be mine, you take it." He forcibly stuffed it into Yan Zhiyong's hand.

  "We two brothers, who should help whom? Helping big brother out with money is what I should do as the younger brother." Yan Zhiyong's words sounded nice, but he clenched the cash tightly in his palm.

  The two of them discussed their excuse again, and then the martial instructor went back to report to Miss Yao, saying that he had already taught Chen Zikun a lesson.

  "Will he know martial arts?" Miss Yao asked.

  The martial artist was caught off guard and randomly responded: "Can't say I don't know anything."

  "Will it or won't it?"

  "It's also possible that he was trained, my friend had a hard time subduing him, they exchanged over 300 moves." the martial artist said casually.

  Yao Yire furrowed her brow, it seemed certain that Julian was the one, if he were to be injured, it would be troublesome, she waved her hand and let the martial artist retreat.

  "Miss......" The martial artist was thinking of that one hundred yuan and didn't dare to mention it clearly.

  The little maid was quite rude and pushed the martial artist out with one hand.

  The martial artist went downstairs with a sullen face, still feeling heartbroken, and finally spent 50 yuan on himself.

  ……

  Yao Yile's heart was still uneasy, so she had the maid call Chen Zikun up again. Seeing that he didn't have any injuries on his body, she finally felt at ease and asked in a pretentious tone: "Are you satisfied with this job? If anyone bullies you, tell Miss, I'll take care of it for you."

  Chen Zikong said, "Not satisfied, our Purple Light Car Factory is determined to be the best in all of Beijing. What kind of work does your esteemed household have? Walking dogs, sending letters... You can just find some idle person to do it, why spend 60 yuan a month to hire us professional drivers? And besides, the steward arranged for me to send a letter, but when I arrived at the destination, someone wanted to beat me up. Luckily, I had practiced before and didn't get hurt. Do you think this is bullying me?"

  Yao Yile followed her father's example, being very shrewd. It was normal for 100 yuan to become 60 yuan, and things like embezzlement and corruption were a common occurrence in their household, nothing out of the ordinary. She didn't think much of it. What she cared about was whether this Chen Zikun was actually Julian or not.

  "Hehe, you can easily subdue even a Japanese officer, so I'm sure you won't be at a disadvantage. Maybe the housekeeper is just trying to play a joke on you." Yao Yire deliberately set a trap.

  Chen Zikong said, "What did Miss Yao say? I didn't understand. I've never fought with the Japanese before. On the other hand, I once compared martial arts skills with Yu Zhankui, a well-known practitioner from Beijing, and luckily won by a narrow margin. That was several months ago, not worth mentioning."

  Yao Yile furrowed her brow, calculating the time. Apparently, Chen Zikun was first and Julian was later. According to his account, he had come to Beijing before the Lunar New Year and had been mixing with the lower class society, running a car factory, and even compared martial arts skills with Yu Zhankui. It was absolutely impossible for one person to play two completely different roles at the same time.

  So there's only one possibility: Julian and he are twin brothers!

  "You're even more fierce than Yu Zhongkui, that's great! Why don't you just become our family's guardian? I'll give you 100 yuan a month, how about it?" Yao Yile said with pleading eyes, determined not to let Chen Zikun leave.

  "A hundred bucks? Chen Zikun swallowed his saliva, this was no small sum of money, but he still stuck to his guns: 'No way, I've got a lot on my plate, can't be babysitting your house every day.'"

  Yao Yilei said: "What can you have? Isn't it just opening a broken car factory? How much income can you get per month, I'll double it for you."

  Chen Zikong said with a straight face: "A gentleman loves wealth, but takes it in a proper way. Thank you for your kindness, Miss Yao. As a man of seven feet tall..."

  "Two hundred a month." Yao Yile interrupted him and threw out a price that he couldn't refuse.

  "Me..." Chen Zikun was really at a loss for what to do.

  "Besides, you don't have to stay here all day. Just do what you normally do and I'll call you when something comes up. You don't have to rush to answer now, go back and think about it some more. By the way, your family doesn't have a phone, right? I'll arrange for someone to install one for you later so we can be in touch easily. That's all, you can leave first, I need to rest."

  After finishing speaking, he let out a yawn. The little maid understood the implication and immediately came over to drive him away, not giving Chen Zikun any chance to speak.

  Listening to Chen Zikun's footsteps going downstairs, Yao Yire revealed a sly smile like a little fox, teasing and provoking men's emotions. She was indeed an expert in this field, and many famous young masters in Beijing had been driven crazy by her. But Chen Zikun, just like Zhu Lian, seemed to be completely unaware of his own good looks and charm. This made Yao feel a strong desire to conquer him, even if he wasn't Zhu Lian. She wanted to win him over and then ruthlessly discard him.

  Hmph, let you pretend to be profound, sooner or later you will be under my skirt. Yao Yire thought complacently as she lay on the bed.

  ……

  Chen Zikun pulled an empty rickshaw back to the Zigguang Rickshaw Factory, and Xue Ping asked anxiously: "Did you really push away the business from Yao Gong's residence?"

  "No, I've changed jobs, no need to pull carts, if there's anything else, come back in a month, 200 yuan." Chen Zikun said.

  Xue Pingshun almost fainted, nothing to do, 200 yuan a month, where on earth is such a good thing, even if it's the home of the Deputy Minister of Transportation, Jinshan Yinhai, can't stand this kind of waste.

  "What's up, is Yao Gongguan still recruiting people? I'm willing to risk this old life of mine." said Xue Ping.

  Chen Zikun said: "Xue Shu you're really good at joking, Miss Yao is not interested in the wine itself."

  Xue Ping said, "Da Kunzi, you'd better be careful. The young lady from a wealthy family and us are not on the same path in life. You're not young anymore, and there are some things that Uncle can't say. Ah, Xing'er has left you some food, it's still hot on the stove."

  Just then, Wang's mother came in with a tray, a bowl of white rice porridge, a plate of stir-fried cabbage and shredded meat, a plate of fried peanuts, a plate of scallion and egg stir-fry, four large steamed buns, some green onions and yellow sauce, and a small thermos of warm Erkuai tea.

  Chen Zikong was wolfing down his food, while Wang Dama muttered beside him: "Xing'er is such a virtuous girl, she works quickly and is filial, whoever marries a daughter-in-law like her must have accumulated great virtue in their past life."

  Xue Ping Shun also said: "Xing Er is almost eighteen, it's time to go out. A big girl can't be kept at home. If she marries far away, Xing Er's mother will cry to death. In my opinion, it's best to find someone who knows the roots and the bottom."

  Two people sang and harmonized, but Chen Zikun didn't listen at all. His mind was a jumble of things: the vast white ocean, the shiny bicycle, Lin Wenjing's slender figure, Ms. Yao's tempting red lips... Suddenly, he caught sight of the Latin book on the corner of the table, and his heart cooled down instantly.

  The whole winter vacation was spent playing and homework was neglected.