Wishing you all a blessed Year of the Dragon!

On the weekend, Chen Zikun arrived at Wang Geng's mansion, a chic European-style two-storey western-style mansion with magnificent decorations, with servants hanging coats and top hats at the door, while the hostess was sitting in the living room chatting with friends who came first.

Seeing Chen Zikun come in, the hostess immediately got up, walked up, and proudly stretched out her hand to him: "Miestochen, do you remember me?" ”

Chen Zikun gently pinched the hostess's soft and kissed it on her lips, and said with a smile: "Of course remember, Mrs. Sister-in-law is fine." ”

The hostess gave him a blank look, "Seeing it like this, what is your sister-in-law's name, as before, call me Xiaoman." Then he took Chen Zikun's hand and introduced to everyone: "This is Chen Zikun who has returned from studying in the United States, and now he works for the War Department, and his tango dancing is very good." ”

The gentlemen and ladies sitting on the sofa nodded elegantly to Chan, a gramophone was placed in the corner of the living room, the soothing blue Danube was played, the air was filled with the smell of Chanel No. 5 and Luzon cigars, and the maids in white clothes and black pants stood by the door with their hands down, ready to serve at any time.

Chen Zikun is also a person who has seen the world, and it can be seen at a glance that there are elites from Beijing's upper class here, and these elites are completely different from those elites of the Crescent Society, which are all intellectuals and cultural people, while Lu Xiaoman's living room is a leader in the fields of government, finance, and business.

Of course, there are exceptions, a young man with glasses sitting alone in the corner looks very familiar, Chen Zikun's eyes lit up, and he stepped forward to greet him: "Brother Shima, it's really a place in life where you don't meet." ”

Xu Zhimo glanced at him and said proudly: "It turned out to be Mr. Chen, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." After saying that, he took the wine glass and walked away.

"Oh, Mist, don't mind, that's what poets look like." Lu Xiaoman hurriedly played the round, Chen Zikun smiled and said: "It's okay, Brother Shima and I are old friends, we are both the backbone of the Crescent Society, it may be that I interrupted his train of thought, you know, Shima's mind is full of those poems and dramas or something." ”

Lu Xiaoman's smile trembled, and a tender little fist kept beating Chen Zikun's shoulder: "Hee-hee, Miest Chen, you are so mean, I guess it's not that simple, you must have robbed someone else's lover, so he doesn't want to see you like this." ”

"Where, by the way, how long have Xiao Man and the poet known each other?" Chen Zikun smiled, in the living room of the Wang family, he had a very open feeling, compared to it, the Crescent Society is more like a paradise for a group of children, and this is the world of adults.

"You must not have thought of anything good." Lu Xiaoman glanced at Chen Zikun and said, "Shima and Wang Geng are both disciples of Mr. Liang Qichao, so he is Wang Geng's guest and has nothing to do with me." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Then whose guest am I?" ”

Lu Xiaoman flew over with a wink: "What do you say?" As he spoke, he kicked Chen Zikun lightly, and his movements were very hidden, and no one saw it.

Chen Zikun suddenly had a very strange feeling, as if he had known Lu Xiaoman for a long time, and he was familiar enough to make some ambiguous jokes, but in fact this was only the second time they met, and there was a gap of more than two years.

Maybe this is Lu Xiaoman's unique temperament, or maybe after the woman got married, her aura changed somewhat.

"Oh, Wang Geng is down, you two talk, I'll go greet other guests." When Lu Xiaoman saw her husband coming down from upstairs, she patted Chen Zikun's arm, returned to the sofa, and squeezed her eyes at Chen Zikun before leaving, as if there was some secret between the two.

Wang Geng didn't wear a military uniform today, he was dressed in an elegant tweed dress, the last button on the shoulders of the suit was not buttoned in strict accordance with British rules, he held a heather pipe in his hand, came down from upstairs with a smile, and stretched out his right hand to Chen Zikun, "Sorry, I answered a phone call and couldn't meet him from afar." ”

Chan smiled and shook his hand, and the two sat down on two circle chairs in the corner of the living room and began chatting.

"Brother Kunwu has good means, and he subdued the teahouse with a little trick, which is really wonderful." Wang Geng said with a smile.

Chen Zikun hurriedly waved his hand: "Brother Wang, don't laugh at me, I can't do anything about it, the little lieutenant of the General Affairs Section, that's all." ”

Wang Geng took two puffs of cigarette and said, "You have been classified as a lieutenant, and your military rank is obviously low, this is someone manipulating you." ”

Chen Zikun said: "No, I didn't offend anyone." ”

Wang Geng said: "There is no wind and no waves, you think about it, what you have done after coming to Beijing, by the way, the person who wants to rectify you is Vice Minister Jin." ”

"Vice Minister Kim Yong-yan of the War Department?" Chen Zikun wondered, he is a well-intentioned person, and the list of officials in the War Department is like a stream, so he naturally knows who Vice Minister Kim is.

"Yes, Jin Yongyan, this gentleman is a graduate of the fourth phase of the Japanese non-commissioned officer school, he has never been in charge of the army, before coming to the War Department, he also served as the principal of the Guangxi Jiangwutang Army, he can be the last chief, completely depends on the face of President Li Da."

"In this way, his backer is Li Yuanhong." Chen Zikun suddenly realized, no wonder Vice Minister Jin dared to wear his own small shoes, it turned out that people relied on the president, and they didn't take Wu Peifu in their eyes at all.

Wang Geng said: "But don't worry, Vice Minister Jin can't do anything to you, after all, you are Wu Dashuai's person, such a young person, disdain to ignore him." ”

Chen Zikun nodded and smiled: "Reasonable, thank you Brother Wang for your advice." ”

This topic ended, Chen Zikun looked at Lu Xiaoman and the red men and green women shuttling back and forth in the living room, and asked: "Brother Wang, you have traveled a lot, this salon in your mansion has simply gathered people from all over Beijing's fashion circle." ”

Wang Geng smiled bitterly: "Where and where, these are Xiao Man's friends, I came to her, I am just to accompany her, this room full of guests, only you are my friend." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Mrs. Zun's circle of friends is so wide, it is really breathtaking. ”

Wang Geng replied with some pride: "You just returned to China, maybe you don't know Xiaoman's identity, she is the diplomatic translator of Foreign Minister Gu Weijun, and it is normal to know more people." ”

As he was talking, the maid brought two glasses of champagne, Chen Zikun and Wang Geng each took one glass, and saw Lu Xiaoman holding a goblet and smiling gracefully at them from a distance.

The two gentlemen also raised their glasses to greet Lu Xiaoman and took a shallow sip.

……

The guests are still coming, a car drove into the courtyard of the Wang family, the driver jumped out of the car quickly, opened the back door, the first to come down was a short and fat man, then a woman in a cheongsam, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling long window Chen Zikun almost took off the wine glass, isn't this woman Yao Yilei!

The short and fat man didn't care about Yao Yilei, and entered the door by himself, Yao Yilei followed into the living room, took off the shawl and hat and handed it to the servant, Chen Zikun noticed that Yao Yilei's hairstyle was no longer the style of a little girl, but a young woman's style of bun.

Lu Xiaoman hurried to greet him, and said with a smile: "Mr. Xiyuan, Mrs. Xiyuan, you are late, you will be fined three glasses of wine." ”

The short and fat man didn't seem to understand Chinese, so he just bowed stereologically: "Khoni Chiva!" ”

Yao Yilei smiled: "Xiaoman, I haven't seen you for a long time, you have lost a lot of weight...... she didn't speak, and she was already stunned, because she saw Chen Zikun standing behind Lu Xiaoman.

It's been four years, since May Fourth in 1919, the two people who had been talking about marriage had never met again.

Lu Xiaoman is such a smart person, when he saw Yao Yilei's appearance, he immediately understood, but he pretended not to know, and deliberately introduced them: "Let me introduce you, this is Chen Zikun from the War Department, my husband's colleague, this is ......"

Without waiting for her to finish, Chen Zikun preemptively said, "Hello, Mrs. Xiyuan." ”

"Hello, Mr. Chen." Yao Yilei stretched out her hand and shook hands with Chen Zikun, with no special expression on her face.

"You talk, I'll go and greet Xiyuan-sang." Yao Yilei smiled slyly, pulled the short and fat Japanese, and ran to a group of pot-bellied gentlemen, creating good conditions for Chen Zikun.

"You're married." Chen Zikun's voice was a little bitter.

"yes." Yao Yilei looked indifferent.

"Why marry a Japanese." Chen Zikun smiled bitterly, and a scene in the Six Nations Hotel came to mind, Yao Yilei, who was entangled by a few little devils, was so cute and honest when she thought about it now.

"Does it have anything to do with you if you marry someone?" Yao Yilei took out a box of cigarettes from the crocodile Pikun bag, skillfully lit one and smoked it.

"Of course it has something to do with me." Chen Zikun turned his back and looked out the window, as if he was talking to himself: "In the early summer of that year, I was involved in a movement, just released from the police department, and killed someone by mistake, forced to flee to Shanghai, and then went to Guangdong, Hunan, everywhere I went, I will write to you, a year and a half later, I will return to Beijing, but you have already crossed to Japan, and the letters I gave you have not been opened......"

Hearing this, Yao Yilei's eyes were already full of tears, and her fingers holding cigarettes were trembling slightly.

Chen Zikun turned back suddenly: "You say, am I not qualified to ask who you marry!" ”

"I'm sorry, I don't know you." Yao Yilei was as cold as ice, she didn't look at Chen Zikun, and walked straight away, her high heels made a series of sonorous and powerful crisp sounds, as if she was laughing at someone.

Chen Zikun took a deep breath and told himself that he must be calm, Yao Yilei is no longer the little girl who loves heroes and fantasies, she is now the wife of a Japanese, a noble lady in Beijing's social circle, and she is a stranger to herself.

I don't know when, Lu Xiaoman came behind Chen Zikun and said quietly: "Actually, Yao Yilei is not the kind of person you imagined. ”

Chan did not answer.

"After the Great War of Zhiwan, Yao Qizhen, Vice Minister of Communications, was wanted as a traitor, and later the president pardoned these people, but the vitality of the Yao family was greatly damaged, and the scenery was no longer good, if it were not for the strong support of the Xiyuan family, Yao Qizhen would never have been able to sit in the position of vice president of the Bank of Communications."

After a pause, Lu Xiaoman said softly again: "Yao Yilei sacrificed her happiness in exchange for her father's comeback. ”

With a "snap", the goblet in Chen Zikun's hand shattered, and the blood flowed from his palm.

"Oh, you're bleeding, Mother Wang, get gauze and red potion." Lu Xiaoman shouted, the guests probed their brains and talked about it, but the hostess was very able to calm the scene, and said with a smile: "It's okay, Wang Geng ordered two dozen crystal cups from France, and it doesn't hurt to drop one more." ”

The guests smiled and went on with their own business, only Yao Yilei in the other corner bit her lip to prevent herself from crying.

The maid quickly brought gauze and red mercury water, and Lu Xiaoman skillfully helped Chen Zikun bandage the wound, and whispered: "If you are a real knight, then there is still a chance to win back the woman you love, and her wedding with Nishinoo will not be held until June." ”