The old procuress's words had a bit of an "this place has no silver three hundred taels" meaning, perhaps they could deceive someone like Xu Tingguo who was new to this kind of thing, but in front of Professor Chen, a veteran of the pleasure quarters, they were completely useless and only added to the ridicule.

  Professor Chen strode swiftly upstairs, pushed open the door and was met with a sight that ignited his ire. Manli was nestled in the arms of a young man, whose face still bore several lip prints, their fingers intertwined as they gazed lovingly into each other's eyes, their affection palpable.

  "Who is Manny?" Professor Chen stormed forward, his face red with rage, and separated the two. Manny was his old flame, on whom he had spent thousands of dollars, how could he tolerate someone else making a move on her?

  Although the patrons and prostitutes in these places are all just playing along, there are always those who get too into it. Professor Chen is one such person, and so is Xu Tingge. In just a short time over dinner, he has already made a promise of undying love to this Miss Manli from Shanghai and privately agreed to marry her. Just as things were going smoothly, someone came along to stir up trouble - how could they possibly let things end well?

  "Who are you again!" Xu Da Shao Ye stepped forward, shielding Man Li in front of him.

  Manli was so scared that her eyes were filled with tears, and she looked pitiful. However, this kind of situation was nothing new to her. Since the year she was sold by her stepmother to Changsan Bookstore on Shanghai's Fourth Avenue at the age of nine, she had been living a life revolving around various men. Her previous stage name wasn't Manli, but Cui Xiaohong. She used to be a famous courtesan in Shanghai's Hui Le Hall, but after a young man who was infatuated with her died from an overdose of opium, she could no longer stay in Shanghai and had to move to Beijing.

  Originally, the prostitute would tease and tempt her clients, dangling them with promises of pleasure, only to charge them exorbitant prices. However, this time was an exception, as Xu Gongzi bore a striking resemblance to the young man who had taken his own life. As a result, Manli's heart softened, and she allowed Xu Gongzi to take advantage of her during their first encounter. Coincidentally, Chen Professor, her old flame, happened to witness this and couldn't help but feel jealous.

  Professor Chen is one of Manli's old customers, calling her three or four times a month. As a university professor, he not only spends money generously but also has a lot of talent and emotions. It is said that he is the editor-in-chief of some magazine. Prostitutes all like to associate with such cultured people to improve their own value. Manli is no exception. However, among her many patrons, Professor Chen can't even rank first.

  Just as they were about to fight, the madam brought in two turtle servants to mediate, Professor Chen looked up and down at Xu Tingguo, feeling somewhat familiar, and after thinking for a moment, he realized that this was a student from Beida, and he had an idea in his mind. He said to the madam, "It's nothing, we're all civilized people, of course we'll use a civilized way to resolve it, bring another set of cups and chopsticks."

  The old procuress saw that he didn't intend to make a big deal out of it, so she gave the turtle servant a signal to leave, personally brought in the bone dishes, chopsticks and wine cups, and even sent over another pot of good wine, with a smile all over her face, persuading him for a few sentences before going out.

  Although they had left, the old procuress was still uneasy and arranged for a small servant to squat at the door to eavesdrop. After a while, the servant slipped back to report: "They are discussing their studies together, it seems nothing is wrong."

  "I knew it, scholars can't fight." The madam curled her lip and wiggled her fat buttocks as she beckoned other customers over.

  Another hour passed, and suddenly a loud noise and a woman's scream came. The old procuress hurried over to find that the furniture in Manli's room had been overturned, wine and dishes scattered all over the floor, Xu Gongzi's forehead was bleeding profusely, looking disheveled, Professor Chen was holding a stool, looking ferocious, Manli was frantic, covering her face with both hands and screaming repeatedly.

  The brothel was in an uproar, with all the customers peeking out to watch. Professor Chen, reeking of alcohol, held up his stool and shouted, "Today I'm going to teach you a lesson, you unruly student who doesn't respect your elders!" With that, he brought the stool down, and Xu Gongzi was so frightened that he wet his pants and scurried away with his head in his hands. The professor followed close behind, his anger making him look like a fierce general.

  The old procuress was so flustered that she hurried to pull, but was pushed by Professor Chen on the stairs and fell heavily on her buttocks. The servants and maids rushed to help her up, several turtle-like men rubbed their fists and were about to fight Professor Chen, when they were stopped by the old procuress.

  "We can't afford to mess with him, Professor Chen is a god from heaven, we can't provoke him."

  The tortoises looked at each other in dismay, thinking that this gentleman was not the literary star descended to earth, and even if he said he was the military star descended to earth, no one would believe him.

  The brothel in Shaanxi Alley is not comparable to those low-end dens outside, the customers here are either high-ranking officials or famous businessmen, so there are no thugs equipped in the brothel, actually they are not needed, under the emperor's feet, the first good district, the whoremongers compete with each other, what can they make a fuss about, besides it's just a fight between whoremongers, the brothel is also inconvenient to intervene, however if they really want to fight, and beat Xu Gongzi to death, the brothel will not be able to explain.

  So the old lady spread her legs and chased after him, running while shouting in a crying tone: "Professor Chen, retract your divine power!"

  Xu Tingge's bloody mouth was smashed by Professor Chen with a Jingdezhen vase, the wound was very deep, and blood was gushing out. He was young and had never been in a fight before, let alone expected his professor to be so brutal, so he was immediately stunned and didn't even think about fighting back. Covering his head, he hastily ran out of the brothel. Xu Er was squatting at the door eating roasted flatbread and saw the young master come out with blood all over his face, giving him a big fright.

  "What's wrong, young master?"

  "No nonsense, let's go!" Xu Tingge jumped onto the rickshaw, and when he saw a fierce general waving a bench behind him, he quickly threw away his bun, pulled up the rickshaw and took off in a sprint.

  Professor Chen saw that he couldn't catch up, so he disdainfully spat and shook his oily hair, carrying the stool back in triumph.

  ……

  Xu Tingge's intoxication had long since turned into cold sweat, and he sat in the rickshaw with his mind racing quickly. Getting into a fight at a brothel wasn't exactly something to be proud of, and if Uncle Xu Shuzheng found out, he'd probably beat him to death.

  "Xu Er, go to Xiehe Hospital." Xu Tingge said.

  The Concord Hospital was run by foreigners, with foreign doctors and nurses. Xu Tingguo spent two dollars to have his wound bandaged, bought a bottle of iodine, and found a faucet to carefully wash the bloodstains on his suit collar. Although they couldn't be completely washed away, at least they didn't look so glaring anymore.

  After doing all this, he plucked up the courage to return to the mansion, not daring to enter through the main gate, but instead sneaking in through a side door. He sternly warned Xu Er not to mention today's events to anyone, and Xu Er naturally nodded repeatedly.

  Xu Tingge quietly returned to his own small courtyard residence, only to find the butler waiting for him in the yard. As soon as he saw Xu enter, he said: "Young Master, the Old Master has summoned you."

  It's all over now, Xu Tingge is completely disappointed. You should know that this uncle of his is not an ordinary person. He is not only the Deputy Minister of the Army, but also the master of the Anhui Club, the Secretary of the State Council, and the military and political affairs are in his hands. One man is above all, and to say something unpleasant, even the President has no greater power than him. His uncle has many eyes and ears, and today's events will definitely be known to him.

  As soon as Xu Tingge entered his uncle's study, he instinctively knelt down on the ground, hanging his head like a defeated rooster.

  Xu Shuzheng, dressed in military attire, sat at his desk reading a thread-bound ancient book. He completely ignored his nephew and only spoke after a long while: "Ge'er, your parents entrusted you to me so that you could study hard and bring glory to our family. But what have you done? Can you justify yourself before the ancestors of the Xu family, before your parents, and before me?"

  Xu Tingge did not dare to argue, and said in a low voice: "Nephew knows his mistake, and will never dare again."

  Xu Shuzheng said: "Tell me, where did you go wrong?"

  "I shouldn't have lingered in the brothel, indulged in sensual pleasures, and I certainly shouldn't have fought with Professor Chen over petty things. It's truly a shame to our cultural heritage and an insult to our ancestors."

  Xu Shuzheng hesitated for a moment, apparently his intelligence did not mention "Professor Chen" this character.

  "Which Professor Chen?" he asked.

  "It's our Beida's liberal arts dean, Professor Chen Duxiu..." Xu Tingge stammered, this matter was really hard to mention, and it would be fine if it were just a conflict with ordinary people. But since both parties involved were from Beida, the whole thing became somewhat laughable - students and teachers fighting over prostitutes, it would definitely become a sensational scandal once it got out.

  Xu Shuzheng said: "But wasn't Chen Duxiu the founder of 'New Youth' and 'Weekly Critique'?"

  Xu Tingge nodded and said, "It's him."

  Xu Shuzheng suddenly stood up, his sword clanking, startling Xu Tingge's face changed. He didn't expect his uncle not to hit him, but instead walked over to examine the gauze on his head and the bloodstains on his collar that hadn't been washed clean. Looking at it, he actually smiled: "A scholar appearing among the flowers is a elegant thing, but getting one's head broken isn't beautiful. Go back and get 50 yuan from the steward to take care of your illness properly, you can go."

  Xu Tingge was like a great amnesty, crawling up and running away. He couldn't figure out why his uncle's board was raised high but then gently put down, and in the end, not only did he not get punished, but he also got 50 yuan as consolation.

  As his nephew walked away, the smile on Xu Shuzheng's face gradually faded. He picked up the phone and dialed a few numbers, then said to the operator, "I want all of tomorrow's Beijing newspapers to report on a scandal..."

  ……

  Chen Zikun sent Miss Yao back and returned to the carriage factory. Now, Zigong Carriage Factory has twenty carriages. The day shift and night shift have hired a total of forty drivers, which is also a small-scale carriage factory. Xue Pingshun saw him return and said: "Dakunzi, let's discuss something."

  "What's up, Uncle Xue, you said it."

  "It's like this, our factory's foreign car is now one of a kind in Beijing, business is booming. With good business comes envy, I think there must be someone keeping an eye on things. Big Brother, if you're not busy, it's better for you to stay at the factory more often."

  Chen Zikun understood what Uncle Xue meant. He spent all day pulling a cart around, not even making a living, just occupying a cart and affecting income was minor, the key point was that with one more cart, two more people could be employed.

  "I've got it figured out," said Chen Zikong.

  "There's another thing, several families have come into contact with us about business and want to charter our cars, what do you think is a suitable charge?"

  "Uncle Xue, you handle it."

  "That won't do, you're the boss."

  Just then, Wang Zuoliang came in from outside: "Boss, Xue Zhuanggui, someone has come to discuss business."

  "Please, hurry." Xue Ping Shun said hastily.

  A dignified-looking man in a long gown and horse jacket came, opened the door and said: "I am the steward of the Ministry of Communications Yao's second home, I heard that your car factory is doing well, want to package a car, you quote a price."