After submitting the manuscript, it was already 10 o'clock in the evening when I returned to the hotel. Alice, who was still cleaning the floor, saw Lin Zihan coming back, so she jumped over happily: "Brother Wickham, you're finally back, I still want to hear your story." Lin Zihan smiled and touched Alice's golden hair, and said with a smile: "Little Alice, you can't walk like you, you have to walk like a little lady, okay?" Mrs. Schmidt wanted to come forward and tell Alice that being a lady was not something that a low-class person like them could hope for, but when she saw Alice's sunny smile, she restrained herself.

Little Alice put down the broom and said in a slurring voice, "I'm sorry, Brother Wickham, but today Alice broke her promise and didn't go to tidy up your room." Mom said, let me not go to your place in the future. Mrs. Schmidt's eyes rolled, her daughter was really stupid enough to sell her mother so quickly.

Lin Zihan didn't care, he understood Mrs. Schmidt's worries, but he had already said it this morning, and it was nothing: "It's okay, Alice." In the future, you will clean your brother's room, Mrs. Schmidt, you will not object, will you? After speaking, Lin Zihan glanced at Mrs. Schmidt with a smile.

Mrs. Schmidt was a little embarrassed, after all, it was very rude to doubt the character of a gentleman behind her back, so she said slightly apologetically: "Mr. Wickham, naturally I will not disagree, but Alice is still young, and not as skilled as the maid Ruth." ”

Lin Zihan remembered Mrs. Bernard's invitation, Fleet Street is in the West End of London, it is a long distance from here, he doesn't want to walk past, which reminds him of William, the coachman who sent him over.

"Mrs. Schmidt, I want to ask you for a favor, I don't know if it's convenient?"

"Mr. Wickham, you are too polite, if there is anything you need me to say."

"That's right, ma'am. I'm going to Fleet Street to-morrow night, and I'm going to need a carriage to take me there. Madame, may you go to the carriage shop on Green Street and ask a coachman named William Edward? ”

When Mrs. Schmidt heard that this was not a difficult matter, and that she knew about the carriage and horse dealership, she agreed.

The next day, Lin Zihan simply wrote seven or eight poems in one breath in the hotel room, and even the later great god Pushkin did not let go, but unfortunately our protagonist was a layman, and these poems turned into piles of glittering gini (the British unit of gold coins) in his eyes.

As usual, Lin Zihan's meals were all delivered by little Alice, looking at the eager eyes of little Alice, Lin Zihan relented for a moment and told the story of the seven dwarfs and Snow White. This time it caused a big trouble, and little Alice sometimes didn't come to her, trying to dig out a few more stories from Lin Zihan's mouth. In the end, it was Mrs. Schmidt who came out and got the little girl back.

At four o'clock the next afternoon, William arrived in front of the hotel in his carriage on time. William stopped the carriage and said happily to Lin Zihan: "Mr. Wickham, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon. He had a good impression of this kind and generous customer, and knew that Lin Zihan wanted to use a car, so he pushed the employment of a law firm and immediately drove the car over.

Wearing his most handy clothes, Lin Zihan said to William: "William, it's really troublesome for you, let you come all the way." William helped Lin Zihan into the carriage: "Sir, how can I be, I am very happy to serve you, sir." Lin Zihan didn't say anything more, and directly asked William to go to No. 34 Fleet Street.

When he came to Mrs. Bernard's house, Zhang Zihan knocked politely on the door. The one who opened the door was an old man with gray hair, and when he saw Lin Zihan with a gift, he looked similar to what his wife described, so he asked, "Are you Mr. Wickham?" I'm the housekeeper of the Berna family. Lin Zihan nodded and indicated that he was Wickham.

The old butler then gave a graceful and rigorous salute: "Mr. Wickham, Mrs. Bernard and Mr. Bernard have been waiting in the small living room for a long time, and I will take you there." Lin Zihan looked at the old butler who led the way in front with green eyes, this kind of British butler who revealed dignity and elegance everywhere was sought after by those rich people in China in later generations, as if hiring a British butler could wash off the rustic atmosphere on his body and squeeze into the upper class. Lin Zihan sighed in his heart, when will he be able to buy a big manor, hire a housekeeper and a bunch of servants, and then enjoy life beautifully, it seems that he still has a long way to go to travel to the happy life of the UK.

After arriving at the small living room, Lin Zihan found a man in his fifties sitting inside, two young men and women, and Mrs. Bernard, whom he already knew. When Mrs. Bernard saw Lin Zihan coming, she happily greeted her: "Mr. Wickham, welcome to our house, this is my husband Hyde Berner, this is my son Robert, and this is my daughter Margaret." Lin Zihan hurriedly saluted Mrs. Bernard's family, and bowed slightly to Mr. Bernard: "Mr. Bernard, I took the liberty to visit, hoping not to disturb you and your family." ”

I have to say that Wickham is very good at winning the favor of others, no wonder all the people in Longborn are full of affection for him in the original book. Evidently, Mr. Bernard was overwhelmed by the sight of this polite and dignified young man: "Don't be so polite, Mr. Wickham. Our whole family should be grateful for your selfless help to my wife. I really can't imagine what would happen to my poor wife without your help. And Mrs. Bernard's children should have released enough kindness to Lin Zihan for saving their mother.

Wickham hurriedly handed his gift to Mrs. Bernard, who unpacked it expectantly, found that it was a scroll, and gently opened it. After a while, Mrs. Bernard exclaimed in surprise: "Come and see, my dear, it seems to be Oriental calligraphy." Berner was stunned for a moment, and when he leaned over to see that it was really oriental calligraphy!

This is really embarrassing Lin Zihan, this is what he wrote in the hotel. Lin Zihan knew that Mrs. Bernard's family must be either rich or expensive, but he was a "poor man" with twenty pounds left on him, and he couldn't afford to give expensive gifts at all. After thinking about it, Lin Zihan thought about it, and asked Mrs. Schmidt to buy a larger piece of paper for herself, and then borrowed a ponytail brush for painting the wall, dipped it in ink and wrote down the four big words: "Competition, Quiet, Purity, and Respect", and then spent two pounds for people to wrap it, so there was this gift.

Lin Zihan had been mixed in the company's sales department back then, and his face was not ordinarily thick, so he didn't have to be stupid enough to say that it was written by himself: "Mr. Bernard, this is a calligraphy work of the Oriental Qing Kingdom, and the four words written on it represent an attitude towards life." What's even better is that these four characters have the same Chinese pronunciation, but they represent different meanings, and the four words together have become a supreme state in the Eastern philosophy of life. ”

From childhood to adulthood, Lin Zihan in order to practice calligraphy, just the consumption of waste newspapers can fill a room, although the penmanship is too far worse than everyone, but fooling foreigners he still has this confidence. Although Mrs. Bernard could not read the calligraphy, there was a wave of Oriental craze in London now, and it was possible to show off such a work of art from the Orient to those ladies when she held an art salon with them.

Bernard on the side was also interested, and said, "I know that this kind of calligraphy from China seems to be written with something called a brush." Lin Zihan suddenly became interested, but he didn't expect this Mr. Berner to know something about China: "Mr. Birner, I didn't expect you to be so knowledgeable." This is indeed written with a brush, and the Chinese have been writing with this pen for more than 2,000 years. Mr. Bernard smiled heartily, "Haha, young man, I have traveled all over the world with our British warships, and I know something about that country. I have this kind of oriental calligraphy in my study. Lin Zihan thought that Berner had been to China, so he said in surprise: "Mr. Berner, have you been to China?"

Robert on the side interjected at this time: "Mr. Wickham doesn't know, my father was the fleet commander of the Cainka Special Envoy Qing Regiment." Lin Zihan searched in his memory, and he didn't know that there was this Kane Ka envoy Qing Tuan in history. In fact, in 1787, King George III of the United Kingdom sent an envoy to clear the mission, that is, Cairncar's special envoy to clear the mission, but unfortunately the ambassador Kane Carter died of illness halfway, and the fleet had to return in vain. Therefore, this diplomatic activity is not as famous as the later Magalni envoy, and it is normal for Lin Zihan not to know.

Berner remembered the years when he was galloping on the sea, and his face couldn't help but show a look of nostalgia: "Eh, that was the last time I commanded a fleet to go to sea. Unfortunately, Mr. Cain Carter died on the way, so I never went to China, and the words in my study were given to me by a friend of mine at the East India Company. That ancient country in the East is so mysterious, I wanted to see the whole picture, but it's a pity. ”

Lin Zihan knew in his heart, it turned out that Mr. Berner was a senior admiral, no wonder their family was very knowledgeable, and the things that fooled people in the future could not be used on their family, otherwise the danger of goofing would be greater. After a few more conversations, the housekeeper of the Berner family came over, bowed down, and said, "Sir, madam, dinner is ready." Mrs. Bernard got up and said, "Mr. Wickham, please come to the restaurant and enjoy the delicacies of the French chef."

To be honest, since Lin Zihan had never eaten Western food a few times in his previous life, although Gao Yuanyuan had taken him there a few times for romance, he had never known much about Western food etiquette. I was worried about what to do if I made a fool of myself at the dinner table next, but I didn't expect that some of the living habits and memories of Wickham himself were still left in the subconscious, which made the worried Lin Zihan completely relaxed.

During the banquet, Mrs. Bernard's daughter, Miss Margaret Bernard, always glanced at Lin Zihan intentionally or unintentionally, and the shame on her face could not be concealed, which made Lin Zihan complain weakly about Wickham's rotten peach blossom in her heart, this kid's female fate is not ordinarily good.

Robert and Lin Zihan are the same age, and they have a lot in common, from those beautiful aristocratic ladies at the London Social Season Ball, to hunting in the countryside on horseback in the summer. Robert was very pleasantly surprised when he learned that Lin Zihan graduated from Cambridge University, and then he became more affectionate to Lin Zihan.

Margaret was glad to interject, and explained to Lin Zihan with a smile: "My brother is studying Greek classics at Cambridge University, and Robert is still Mr. Wickham's apprentice." Mrs. Bernard put down her knife and fork: "Mr. Wickham, you must tell him about Cambridge, Robert only went to Cambridge this spring, and he doesn't know a lot about this school." Lin Zihan rolled his eyes, he had never been to Cambridge, and he didn't know as much as Robert. Fortunately, some of Wickham's memories are still there, and Lin Zihan recalled telling Robert about Wickham's fun things during his school days, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious for a while.

Seeing that Mr. Berner was relatively dull and rarely spoke, Lin Zihan deliberately introduced the topic to Mr. Berner: "Mr. Berner, Robert said that you served in the Navy, can you tell us about your experience in the Navy?" Here's what he's learned from his sales work, which is to try not to give anyone in the room a cold shoulder. Mr. Berner is most proud of his experience in the Navy, where he commanded a British Navy squadron during the American Revolutionary War, raiding French warships and trading ships in the Caribbean.

Speaking of these experiences, Mr. Bernard seemed to be ten years younger, and his whole person seemed to be in high spirits. Robert and Margaret were able to memorize the stories told by their father, and had no interest at all, just intently cutting the lamb chops on their plates. Lin Zihan listened to it with relish, any man will always have some yearning for commanding a huge warship and galloping on the sea, and Mr. Bernard's thrilling battle stories completely attracted his attention.

Seeing Lin Zihan's enthusiastic appearance, Berner felt that no one usually listened to him at home to talk about his past experience, and finally a good audience came, how could this not make him happy? After Bernard finished his experience of shelling a French colonial port in Haiti, Mrs. Bernard quickly interrupted her husband's nagging: "Mr. Wickham, I wonder where you live now?" I'll have a dance party at my home next week, and I'll have an invitation delivered to your accommodation. ”

Lin Zihan said calmly: "I am now staying at Mrs. Schmidt on Maggie Street." Robert looked surprised, he didn't expect a well-bred gentleman to live there. Margaret was less composed: "Oh my God, Mr. Wickham. There are thieves and criminals rampant in that place, so you might as well move out quickly. Bernard glared at his daughter fiercely, and Margaret, who knew she had said the wrong thing, quickly shut up. Lin Zihan seemed very indifferent, not that he didn't want to move out of that dirty and messy place, but he couldn't always move to a luxury hotel in the West District with a swollen face and a fat man, and besides, he could tease and tease little Alice every day at the Schmidt Hotel, and his life was quite leisurely. "It's nothing, Miss Bernard. I used to work at the Darcy family's Bloomburly estate, but now that I want to venture out, I've quit that job and I'm staying at the Schmidt Hotel because I haven't found a suitable job. ”

Looking at Lin Zihan's calm appearance, Berner couldn't help but nodded, thinking that although this young man was not from a very good background, he had an excellent upbringing and extensive knowledge. Berner was interested in promoting Lin Zihan, so he said: "Mr. Wickham, you can't do this way, or how about I write a letter of recommendation to the Admiralty and get you a position in the Royal Navy?"

Lin Zihan was stunned, he didn't expect Bernard to think so highly of himself, but the next big battle between the British Navy and the French Navy continued, if it weren't for Nelson's perverted generals who often won more with less, the British Royal Navy would have been wiped out by the French. Besides, even Nelson, a great god, was killed in the war, wouldn't it be his life to go to the Royal Navy to deliver food to people? Lin Zihan, who had thought through these joints, considered his tone and declined politely: "Mr. Bernard, I feel very honored by your promotion, but I still have plans to join the army in the near future, so I can only live up to your kindness." Seeing Lin Zihan's refusal, Berner didn't care: "It's nothing, if Mr. Wickham wants to go to the army for training and training one day, I will always be your recommender." ”

Lin Zihan saw that it was getting late, so he said goodbye to the Berner family, and Mrs. Bernard was unsuccessful, so she asked the servant to go to the kitchen to prepare some French snacks for Lin Zihan to take away. Before leaving, Mrs. Bernard did not forget to tell Lin Zihan that she must come to the dance party next Thursday night, and Lin Zihan naturally agreed.

Out of Bernard's house, Lin Zihan found that William, a young man, was still squatting on the side of the road waiting for him, so he said to him: "William, thank you for your hard work." You didn't eat dinner, did you? Take a box of these French pastries and try them. William smelled the fragrance coming from the food box and swallowed his saliva: "Sir, you better keep it for yourself, I'm more used to the taste of brown bread." Lin Zihan didn't say much, just stuffed a box of dim sum into his hand and got into the carriage. William looked at the snack in his hand, and his heart was very moved, and only Mr. Wickham treated them as equals, and this equality was something he had never dared to think of before.

William carefully put away the food box and drove the carriage towards the East End.