The daughter smiled strangely, and Mrs. Yao felt a little guilty, asking: "Lele, is there something you're hiding from Mommy?"

  Yao Yile shook her head like a rattle drum, but the little girl's love of showing off and mysterious nature couldn't help it, so she pretended to be mysterious and said: "Mommy, I'll tell you, but you mustn't tell Daddy."

  "I promise not to tell him, this is a secret between us two mothers." Mrs. Yao readily agreed.

  "Actually... Chen Zikun's French is really good." Yao Yile said.

  Mrs. Yao smiled: "Lelai, he learned French from you, didn't he? Being clever and a quick learner is an advantage, but it's not enough."

  "It's not that I'm good at it, my half-bottle-of-vinegar-level French can only fool those who don't understand, and I definitely can't use it in a real situation. Chen Zikun can have fluent conversations with the French."

  Mrs. Yao's heart moved, she was not that kind of isolated and ignorant noblewoman, usually reading newspapers and the like, knowing that during the European War, China sent 500,000 laborers to France, it seemed that this Chen Zikun was one of them.

  "Alright, it seems he has been to France and seen the world, that's good. Is there anything else?" asked Mrs. Yao.

  "Everything else you know." Yao Yile suddenly regretted it, her mother was also a big mouth like herself, and she couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't tell her father about their conversation. After all, Chen Zikun had killed Japanese people and was a wanted fugitive by the government. If he were to be exposed, they would really have to flee for their lives.

  She was frightened for a moment, and quickly changed the subject. Fortunately, Mrs. Yao didn't intend to ask further questions either. The mother-daughter pair chatted for a while before Mrs. Yao said: "Alright then, let's settle on this for now. Your father and I don't object to this marriage arrangement. We'll give him a chance to prove himself. Meanwhile, you shouldn't continue living in the factory dormitory anymore. Beijing newspapers have been going crazy publishing your scandalous news these past few days. Those who know understand that it's just our political enemies attacking your father, but those who don't know would think our family is really in trouble."

  Yao Yile nodded and said: "As long as Dad and Mom don't object, I can move back home to live too. However... when can we get married?"

  Mrs. Yao's willow eyebrows stood on end, and she poked a finger at her daughter's forehead: "You, don't you have any shame? You're not even 18 years old yet! Alright, let's wait until Xiao Chen gets into college before we talk about this again. We'll give him two years. If he can prove himself within that time, then on your 20th birthday, we'll get engaged."

  "Two years, it's been so long?" Yao Yire made an exaggerated expression on purpose.

  "I said, why are you in such a hurry to get married? Don't you know that giving birth is very painful and after having children your figure will change. People like Little Chen from the countryside definitely believe in 'more children, more blessings', so later on you'll just have one child after another for him, won't you? You'll have a whole bunch of kids and you won't even need to hire a driver."

  Mrs. Yao's sharp tongue was far superior to her daughter's, and before long, Yao Yire lost the argument and compromised.

  The daughter went to the Ziguangche factory to pick up her luggage. Mrs. Yao was elated and called her husband to report: "It's all settled, my daughter agreed to come back and live with us. I promised her that she can get engaged to Chen in two years."

  Yao Cizhang was being worn down by the Japanese delegation when he received a phone call and immediately blew his top: "Preposterous, how can you take charge of such an important matter as marriage on your own?"

  Mrs. Yao scolded, "Isn't this a delaying tactic? Our daughter is always enthusiastic for just five minutes, and two years later she'll have long forgotten about Chen."

  "Madam is indeed wise."

  ……

  Inside Xuanwu Gate, on Toufa Hutong, Wang Dongliang pulled a rickshaw back home. At the entrance of the alley, he saw a young man in a Western suit holding a large black box and standing there stealthily. He thought to himself, this guy has been lurking around here for several days, could he be a thief?

  Returned to the car factory and reported this matter to Chen Zikun, Chen Zikun secretly thought, could it be that I have been targeted by a Japanese spy?

  He went back to the house, took out a pistol and tucked it into his waistband, covering it with his coat. He left the garage through a side door and made his way back to the entrance of the alley, where he saw the man in the suit peeking around. Chen Zikun grasped a knife behind his back with his right hand and patted the man's shoulder. The man spun around, revealing a youthful face that didn't look like it belonged to a Japanese spy.

  "What are you doing here?" Chen Zikun asked straightforwardly.

  The young man retorted: "Are you a worker from the Zi Guang Car Factory?"

  "What's wrong with me?"

  "Oh, I'm Ruan Mingchuan, a reporter from Jingbao. I'd like to invite you out for a meal and have a chat."

  Chen Zikun was taken aback and lost his smile, it turned out to be a reporter. Seeing the anxious look on his face, he agreed: "This is a rare thing, someone invites you to dinner for nothing, okay."

  Ruan Mingchuan was delighted, and with Chen Zikong arrived at the Erhun shop at the entrance of the hutong, ordered a plate of stir-fried pig liver, a plate of sautéed large intestine, a plate of roasted tofu, four ox tongue head pancakes, and a pot of Erguotou, saying excitedly: "Eat, not enough to order again."

  Chen Zikun ate without hesitation, Ruan Mingchuan put down the camera, took out a small notebook from his suit pocket, picked up a pen, and breathed hot air to moisten the dried ink on the nib, saying: "I want to ask you a few questions."

  "Speak." Chen Zikong had a mouthful of wine and meat, eating with great relish.

  "Your car factory, recently a Miss Yao came, right?"

  Chen Zikun's heart moved, it turned out that he was here for this matter, and after a long time, he was still an entertainment reporter.

  "Yes, there is such a person."

  "Can you tell me some trivial things about her life, such as who she sleeps with? What time does she get up? What does she eat? What does she play?" Reporter Ruan's heart was filled with joy, and his hand holding the pen trembled slightly.

  Chen Zikun retorted, "You're a journalist, instead of investigating the Paris Peace Conference and the Shandong issue, you're snooping around to find out who's sleeping with someone else's daughter. Aren't you ashamed?"

  Our reporter's face turned red, and he didn't expect a rickshaw boy to be able to say such great truths. He put down his pen and replied solemnly: "Digging up the gossip of Director Yao's daughter is also a kind of battle for me, a battle for the nation, a battle for the country."

  Chen Zikun laughed: "Haha, you tell me, how did gossip news become a battle?"

  "Our reporter said: 'Vice Minister of Communications Yao Qizhen, along with Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang and Lu Zongyu, are all leaders of the new Communications Clique, notorious pro-Japanese elements, traitors who can be killed by anyone. They obtained a large loan from Japan at the cost of Shandong railway sovereignty, which enabled them to wage civil war and massacre people. As journalists, we may not be able to take up arms to kill these traitors, but we can use our pens as guns to attack this traitor in public opinion.'"

  Chen Zikong said: "Who taught you all these?"

  "Our reporter said: 'These are all my mentors and idols, Mr. Shao Fengping, the editor-in-chief of Jingbao, said.'"

  Chen Zikong said: "You go back and tell Mr. Shao, freedom of speech is not wrong, but prying into others' privacy, using a young girl's reputation to attack opponents, it's not very decent. This time I'll let you off because you invited me to dinner, if there's next time, I'll beat you so badly that your mother won't recognize you."

  Our reporter trembled with fear: "Who are you?"

  "I am Chen Zikun."

  "Ah, you're the one..." Journalist Ruan was stunned.

  Miss Yao's car whizzed past in the alley, Chen Zikun got up from his seat and said, "Thank you for your wine, see you later." After that, he strode away.

  Back at the garage, Yao Yire excitedly told him that her family had agreed to their relationship.

  "As long as you get into college, earning 100,000 yuan in three years, let's get engaged." Miss Yao jumped up excitedly.

  Engagement... Chen Zikun felt a bit bewildered, he had just crawled out of the old forest in Guandong not long ago and still couldn't figure out where his ancestral home was or who his parents were, and now he's getting engaged, this... isn't it too fast?

  "What's wrong, didn't you understand?" Yao Yire stretched out her hand and waved it in front of him.

  "It's not that I don't understand, it's just that the world is changing too fast." Chen Zikun said with a bitter smile.

  "Never mind all that, now come home with me for a visit, meet your future mother-in-law, and give me some spiritual support, okay?" Yao Yile happily ran back to pack her luggage.

  Half an hour later, after cleaning up, they got in the car and left the factory. When passing by the entrance of the alley, Chen Zikun saw Ruan Mingchuan still holding his camera and standing there, so he stopped the car, stuck his head out and said: "Reporter Ruan, I'll give you a piece of news, Miss Yao has moved back to the mansion."

  When our reporter came back to his senses, the car had already driven away. He hastily picked up his camera and took a shot of the car's rear view.

  Back at the newspaper office, he found Chief Editor Shao Piaoping and told him what had happened. Chief Editor Shao was furious: "When Yuan Shikai declared himself emperor, I wrote several articles criticizing him, but no one dared to threaten me. Now, just because of a minor interview with a celebrity, someone is trying to intimidate us - this is an insult to freedom!"

  Scold him as you like, he still told Ruan Mingchuan not to follow Miss Yao's gossip news again.

  "Xiao Ruan, the newspaper has a more important task for you," said Chief Editor Shao with emphasis and concern.

  ……

  Chen Zikun returned to the Yao Mansion, in the past he always entered through the side door as a servant, but now he came as the son-in-law of the master, his status and position had undergone a qualitative leap, and his treatment was also greatly different. The large black iron gate of the Yao family was wide open for him, and the servants knew that the young lady had returned to the mansion, they all stood at the door to welcome her, which gave Chen Zikun quite a fright.

  "My god, this is so grand." Chen Zikong sighed.

  Yao Yilei leaned on his shoulder and chuckled: "Are you feeling honored?"

  "Mao, I've seen bigger scenes than this before." Chen Zikun opened the car door and jumped out, thinking he looked very cool.

  Seeing him get out of the driver's seat, Ah Fu couldn't help but feel resentful. This kid not only cheated Yao Miss into his hands, but also snatched away his own job as a car husband. Why didn't heaven strike you dead?

  Entering the living room, Mrs. Yao smiled and sat on the sofa, seeing them come in without getting up, just pointing casually: "Come, sit down."

  Yao Yile noticed that her mother was dressed very elegantly today, wearing a diamond necklace and looking radiant and poised, probably trying to intimidate her son-in-law.

  Chen Zikong seemed to feel no pressure at all, and sat down casually, without looking around.

  "Little Chen, where are you from? Are there any other family members?" Mrs. Yao seemed to ask casually, but Yaoyi Le's heart was hanging in suspense, not knowing how Chen Zikun would respond.