Chapter 326 Signature
Charles' car drove slowly into the town of Darvaz amid the cheers of the neighbors. If Laurent had not ordered the guards in advance to prohibit all strangers from entering, there would definitely be a large number of reporters surrounding it for interviews.
However, when Charles got off the car, several people ignored the guards' obstruction and squeezed in front of Charles to ask for his autograph.
One of them was Teddy, who had three notebooks in his hands, and he opened them one by one for Charles to sign.
Ciel asked in confusion, "What's the point of you signing? When I was in school, I wrote my name on every exercise book."
"I didn't ask for it." Teddy explained with an innocent look, "Someone else hired me to do this. They thought I was your classmate and it would be easier to get an autograph."
"Hire you?" Charles quickly wrote his name on the notebook and looked at Teddy with confusion.
"Yes." Teddy nodded and answered innocently, "One franc a copy!"
Charles rolled his eyes and handed the signed notebooks back to Teddy one by one: "Then you should give me half. I have an idea, maybe we can cooperate, I will be responsible for signing and you will be responsible for contacting the buyer, what do you think?"
Teddy's eyes lit up. "Are you serious? That's great, a very good idea!"
The neighbors burst into laughter. They all knew that Charles was joking. With Charles' current financial resources and strength, there was no way he could do such a thing as selling autographs.
However, Charles thought to himself that if he could earn one franc by writing a name, then he could easily earn hundreds of francs a day, which might be much better than fighting openly and secretly with capitalists in the fields of capital and military industry.
…
When I walked into the house again, I suddenly felt a sense of both familiarity and strangeness about this small home where I had lived for more than ten years.
It can't be described in words.
At this moment, Charles unconsciously re-examined the world and experienced the breath, taste and meaning of life.
Like the soul touching the body.
The past experience was a nightmare, and even after he came out of the fear, he could not completely erase it, so his joy at survival became even more intense.
Before he knew it, Camille brought Charles a cup of hot milk and a plate of leftover cake from breakfast.
In fact, Charles was not hungry at all. His eating habits were completely disrupted on the battlefield. He would only take a few bites of bread when he was starving, but he still ate quietly with gratitude.
This is life, thought Charles.
"They said you landed in Gallipoli?" Camille asked with a hint of nervousness in his eyes.
"Yes." Charles nodded.
"So what?" Camille asked with difficulty, as if he was worried about revealing Charles' unpleasant experience.
"Don't worry, mother." Charles answered with a relaxed look: "It's the seaside, and I'm a staff officer. I always fight under the protection of others. It's just a change of location. I can even bask in the sun on the beach and sleep in the swaying hanging basket. Look at me, I'm all tanned."
Anyway, Camille doesn't know what the battlefield is like, so she will believe whatever you say.
Camille seemed relieved.
But Djoka could see that Charles was lying. If everything was as smooth as he said, everyone's eyes wouldn't be filled with gratitude and memories when he walked into the house.
But Djokovic didn't say anything, just nodded slightly.
…
Charles' lie was almost exposed. He slept for two whole days, only getting up once a day to eat a meal and then going back to sleep.
This was because he was severely physically exhausted and could hardly sleep in the trenches, and now it seemed that he had to make up for it all.
Sometimes Charles couldn't help but wonder, what about those soldiers who had been staying in the trenches fighting the enemy?
Charles actually stayed in the trenches for only two weeks, while soldiers generally had to stay on the front line for three or four months, and if they were still alive, they would get a rare vacation.
Charles thought that perhaps they had already taken the trenches as a habit.
On the morning of the third day, Charles was awakened by Deyoka: "Major Laurent is waiting downstairs. He said you will be questioned by the parliament today."
"Oh?" Charles opened his eyes dazedly and was stunned for a while before he remembered that this was indeed the case.
"What's the reason?" Djokovic came in and carefully closed the door. He sat on the chair and asked in a low voice, "Is it because of your battlefield?"
"No, father," replied Charles; "it is because of the uniform. I wish to change it."
Djokovic asked cautiously, "If possible, could you make some kind of compromise and not go to the battlefield? I mean, like some kind of exchange."
Charles was silent.
He could understand the thoughts of Djokovic and Camille, who would rather have nothing, give up everything and surrender to the capitalists in exchange for their own safety.
Charles stood up and put on his military uniform, and replied: "There is no turning back, father. Even if I am willing to give up everything, do you think the capitalists will let me go?"
"Is there no other way?" Djokovic still held on to a glimmer of hope.
Ciel shook his head slightly.
Charles' existence is a danger to the capitalists. What the capitalists are afraid of is not the factories, workers and funds owned by Charles, but the ideas in Charles' head and the support of the French people.
How can Charles surrender?
Give them your head? Or destroy yourself in front of the French people?
After Charles finished dressing, he said to Deyoka, "Safety is created by ourselves, father. We can never rely on the mercy of others. That is precisely to hand over the decision of our own life and death to the enemy!"
Having said that, Charles opened the door and went downstairs.
Djoka stared blankly at Charles' back, and suddenly realized that Charles was no longer the same Charles as before. He seemed to have grown up and become much stronger.
There is even a murderous and cruel aura in his bones.
Then Djokovic understood that it was honed on the battlefield.
He was almost certain that conditions in Gallipoli were not as Charles described them. On the contrary, it is a kind of cruelty, a torture, and even a test of life and death!
…
On the way to the House of Representatives, Charles casually flipped through the documents handed to him by Colonel Laurent. These were the preparations that Gallieni had made over the past two days for Charles's questioning.
Charles originally thought that parliamentary questioning would just mean answering whatever they asked, or explaining to the MPs the reasons for changing the military uniforms.
After reading the document, I realized that he should have known some basic common sense, such as which members of parliament opposed the change of military uniforms, why they opposed it, what were the different reasons, and so on.
However, Charles just flipped through the documents and put them aside, yawned, tightened his infantry coat, closed his eyes and took a nap.
"Are they useless?" Laurent asked curiously, "The general ordered Lieutenant Colonel Fernand to collect them."
"No, they are useful." Charles replied softly, "But they can't influence the outcome!"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
