On April 18, 1934, this was the first day that Yu Peichen worked as Zhou Hexuan's secretary.

Early in the morning, Yu Peichen came to the "Ta Kung Pao" newspaper to summarize and sort out some manuscripts of "Ta Kung Pao", "Popular" supplements and "Non-offensive" magazines, which required Zhou Hexuan to personally interrogate. In fact, it is not that important, but the content of the manuscript is relatively sensitive and requires Zhou Hexuan's signature and consent.

Many times when Zhou Hexuan was not in Tianjin, Hu Zhengzhi made his own decisions, and Hu Zhengzhi was basically in charge of the affairs of "Ta Kung Pao" in Tianjin. As for Zhang Jiluan, he has long put the focus of his work on Shanghai, and cooperated with Hu Zhengyi in the south and in the north.

There are not many manuscripts that need to be interrogated by Zhou Hexuan, but the number of letters from all over the country is spectacular. There are letters from readers, letters from scholars, invitations from institutions and private individuals, and even courtship letters from female fans.

Letters from readers, in particular, had been piling up for months and had not been processed, and were two sacks.

Yu Peichen picked up the phone and dialed Zhou Hexuan's house and said, "Mr. Zhou, what to do with those backlog letters?" ”

"You can do it yourself." Zhou Hexuan replied simply.

"That'...... All right. Yu Peichen felt that Zhou Hexuan was a little unreliable, how could he be so perfunctory to loyal readers?

After hanging up the phone, Yu Peichen first put aside the letters from scholars in the past two days, as well as the invitation letters, which needed to be sent to Zhou Hexuan to read in person.

The next thing is a letter from a reader, Yu Peichen opened a letter and read it carefully.

The letter, dated November 3, 1933, was sent from Hubei, and was preceded by a large section of admiration. At the end of the letter, the student said that he was about to graduate from college and that his parents forced him to marry a woman he had only met three times and to work as a clerk (assistant manager) in his factory. But he has a girl he likes, he wants to pursue free love, and he also wants to go abroad to study advanced science in the West. After his repeated struggles, his parents promised to send him to study abroad, but the premise was that he would marry his daughter first, otherwise he would not provide the cost of studying abroad, and he asked Zhou Hexuan how to choose.

In Zhou Hexuan's view, there is no need to reply to such a letter, and he is not a confidant sister who specializes in solving life problems.

However, Yu Peichen thought that she had to reply to the letter, because it was related to the future of a young man, and she immediately wrote with a pen:

"Hello Mr. Liu, I am Mr. Zhou's secretary Yu Peichen. I am very glad to hear from you, and I thank you for your support to Mr. Zhou. Young people should aim high, set high goals for themselves, and work tirelessly for that goal. It is not my intention to discuss your family affairs, as such matters should be chosen by me. But you have to remember that China has reached the critical point of life and death, and at this time of national crisis, good men should contribute to the country. If you choose to stay in the family factory, then please contribute to China's national industry and use your financial and material resources to support the anti-war fighters. If you choose to study abroad, then please be sure to study hard and use your academic knowledge to support the construction of your motherland. If you want to study abroad and your family doesn't provide funds, you can try to apply for a study abroad fund......"

Throughout the morning, Yu Peichen only wrote a dozen replies and the time was already noon. She looked at the two remaining sacks of letters, and suddenly felt that her head was big, and the workload was a little too much.

Yu Peichen quickly finished lunch, and then took the invitation letter and the letter from the scholar and went straight to Zhou Hexuan's house in a rickshaw.

"Miss Yu, please come in!" The servant took Yu Peichen inside.

Although Yu Peichen is a young lady from a large family, she was in a middle-class family when she was a child, and she never enjoyed a rich life at all. She observed the wide garden all the way, and when she entered the house, she looked at the luxurious decoration, and couldn't help but secretly scold: Sure enough, he is a big capitalist with a lot of magnanimity!

Cui Huifu personally made a cup of tea for Yu Peichen, and said with a smile: "Miss Yu, please wait, Mr. Zhou is writing in the study, and he will go downstairs soon." ”

"Thank you," Yu Peichen hurriedly took the teacup and asked, "May I ask who you are?" ”

Cui Huifu said: "I am Mr. Zhou's housekeeper Cui Huifu. ”

"But Miss Cui Huifu, a talented girl in Tianjin who is as famous as Lu Bicheng?" Yu Peichen asked in surprise, she lived in Tianjin for many years when she was a child, and studied in middle school in Tianjin, so she naturally heard of Cui Huifu's name as a talented woman.

Cui Huifu said: "Talented women don't dare to be, but they can do some tricks to dance and write." ”

It's really Cui Huifu, who is willing to deign to be Zhou Hexuan's housekeeper!

Yu Peichen pressed the shock in his heart and asked, "Sister Cui, I just became Mr. Zhou's secretary, and I don't know much about Mr. Zhou's situation, can you introduce it to me?" ”

Cui Huifu's tone was very steady, and she didn't want to reveal any information at all, so she only smiled: "It's nothing special, Mr. Zhou is peaceful, you can do your job well." ”

At this moment, Xiao Lingjun pushed open the door and ran in, shouting loudly: "Aunt Fu, Aunt Fu, you see I have painted another painting." Everyone praises me for my good drawing, so hurry up and praise me. ”

Cui Huifu couldn't help laughing, hugged Xiao Lingjun and said with a smile: "Yo, let Aunt Fu see what our Xiao Lingjun has drawn." ”

"It's a big train." Xiao Lingjun triumphantly opened the drawing paper.

Cui Huifu glanced a few times and said: "The painting is really good, Xiao Lingjun is a genius, remember to continue to work hard in the future!" ”

Xiao Lingjun nodded solemnly: "Well, I want to be a painter when I grow up." ”

Cui Huifu said with a smile: "Didn't you say last time that you want to be a scholar like your father when you grow up?" ”

Xiao Lingjun thought for a while and asked seriously: "Then can I be a painter and a scholar at the same time?" ”

"Absolutely." Cui Huifu touched Xiao Lingjun's head dotingly, she was never married, and she completely loved Xiao Lingjun as her own daughter.

Yu Peichen asked curiously beside him: "Sister Cui, is this Mr. Zhou's daughter?" ”

Cui Huifu smiled and said: "This is the little princess of the Zhou family, the eldest lady Zhou Lingjun who is loved by everyone." ”

Xiao Lingjun blinked his big watery eyes, tilted his head to look at Yu Peichen and asked, "Are you a new aunt?" The aunts in the family all have little babies, so you can give me a brother as soon as possible. ”

"Poof!"

Yu Peichen squirted out a sip of tea, not knowing how to answer.

Cui Huifu said with a strange expression: "Miss Yu, don't think about it, Tong Yan is unscrupulous." ”

"yes, I know." Yu Peichen hurriedly said.

Meng Xiaodong's shout suddenly came from outside the house: "Lingjun, where did you run again?" ”

"Mom, I'm here!" Xiao Lingjun shouted.

Soon Meng Xiaodong came over and pushed the door open, while Zhang Leyi was holding Xiao Weilie, and the two women were dressed up beautifully, as if they were going out shopping.

Meng Xiaodong quickly dragged his daughter away, and Yu Peichen asked dizzily: "Sister Cui, who are the two Mrs. Zhou?" ”

"Both," Cui Huifu said, "the tall one is the eldest lady Zhang Leyi, and she is holding Mr. Zhou's son, Zhou Weilie." The shorter one is Ling Jun's mother Meng Xiaodong, she is a Peking Opera actress, you should have heard of it. ”

Yu Peichen muttered to himself: "It turns out that the rumors in the newspaper are true, and Mr. Zhou has more than one wife. ”

Yu Peichen was soon completely dumbfounded, and through the window of the reception room, she saw Liao Yaquan and Wanrong each holding a child, talking and laughing in the sun. And the foreign woman, who had a slightly bulging belly, also asked the maid to come out with a chair and sit under the tree in the garden holding a book and reading quietly.

How many wives does Mr. Zhou have?