Chen Ke stood rooted to the spot, completely unmoved. This was nothing like the social death at the Western restaurant; just think about the flow of people along the way…
"Mr. Chen, what are you standing there for? Come with me so I can introduce you to everyone."
Chen Ke walked over, a forced smile on his face, "Miss Xu, I really thank you for thinking of me so much."
Xu Manling smiled gracefully, "Mr. Chen, you're too kind."
Chen Ke gentlemanly extended his hand, and Xu Manling gracefully took it, and the two boarded the carriage together.
The luxurious aristocratic carriage was eye-catching enough, but with a handsome man and a beautiful woman riding inside, not only passersby but also customers in the shops came out to watch as the carriage slowly started to move.
On the other side of the street, Chen Zhuo, who was conducting a school activity, saw the whole scene.
"Chen Zhuo, Chen Zhuo?"
"Huh? What's wrong?" Chen Zhuo snapped out of his daze and looked at his classmates.
"What's wrong with you? You've been staring at that place for ages, not moving. What's so interesting about that? They're just two people who don't know the country is in danger and only know how to indulge in pleasure."
Chen Zhuo turned sharply to the speaker, his gaze sharp as a hawk, chilling him to the bone.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?"
a long time.
Chen Zhuo casually uttered two words, "No," and turned to leave.
"What...what does he mean by that?"
"Oh well, you know his personality. Why go up there and make yourself miserable?"
······
Chen Ke was completely unaware of this little incident, which had already passed by.
The two arrived at the place where the Hebrews held the salon by carriage. By this time, quite a few people had already arrived, but most of them came in cars. They were the only ones who had come by carriage.
As a result, he immediately attracted everyone's attention.
"Wow, Xu, Chen, the way you made your entrance is truly amazing!" As soon as the carriage stopped, Hebrew reached out his hand to Xu Manling.
Xu Manling had no choice but to help Heber out of the car.
"Chen, welcome, welcome." The Hebrews had changed their address of Chen Ke from the polite "Boss Chen" to "Chen," which, to be honest, made Chen Ke quite uncomfortable.
Hebrew led the crowd into the hall, which was decorated in a magnificent and opulent style. Magnificent art decorations were displayed everywhere, and coveted jewels were casually placed there for people to admire. This showed Hebrew's wealth and extravagance.
Thanks to Hebrew's introduction and Xu Manling's subtle atmosphere-changing, Chen Ke smoothly blended into the crowd.
Most of the people who attended the Hebrew Salon were French, and even more so, French people of considerable status.
At this time, the lifestyle of French royalty and nobility was imbued with a strong cultural atmosphere. They loved passionate and romantic literary works, praised freedom and democracy, enjoyed engaging in lengthy discussions in salons, and held people with unique insights in high esteem.
Chen Ke made ample preparations for this day. He not only knew the representative works of the great writers by heart, but he could also recite their life stories, ideas and propositions fluently, and even talk about their rural gossip in a very sensible way.
This surprised the French nobles who had previously looked down on him, and they all came forward to discuss it with him.
After this salon, Chen Ke finally made his debut in front of the upper echelons of the French Concession, and everyone came to know him as an antique shop owner with a romantic and passionate mind and an enthusiasm for collecting antiques.
Of course, Chen Ke could not become a "friend" of these arrogant French nobles with just one salon, so the day after the salon ended, Chen Ke sent an "antique" as a greeting gift to each of the participants.
They also included a card with a short essay written on it.
Each short essay contained the same content, the gist of which was: We hit it off immediately at the salon yesterday and had a very pleasant conversation, so I carefully selected a gift for you, hoping to see you again soon.
There was no news for two days after the gift was sent.
Li Guaizi was impatient and would spend half a day every day looking out the door to see if anyone would bring back a message.
"No way, these people are so despicable! They didn't even say thank you after sending the gift."
Chen Zhuo was writing his homework on the golden nanmu wooden table next to him. Hearing Li Guaizi's words, he curled his lips in a mocking smile: "Who is he? There are plenty of people who want to curry favor with him and give him gifts. If you hadn't gone to the salon and made an appearance in front of them, it would be another matter if you could even get your gift in."
"Oh dear, young master, you should hurry up and do your homework."
Chen Zhuo now comes directly to the shop after school every day, but he has nothing to do now, so he can only take out his homework and start doing it. Li Guaizi, who also has nothing to do in the shop, has become the "book boy" who helps the young master with his homework. He pours him a glass of water and washes his fountain pen, keeping himself very busy.
Li Guaizi had never been to school and could not read many words. He admired and respected Chen Zhuo, who had gone to school and learned to be educated.
Perhaps because of Li Guaizi's "attentiveness," Chen Zhuo's attitude towards him has improved considerably, which is reflected in his particular fondness for chatting with him.
For example, now that Chen Ke is not here, Chen Zhuo has started chatting with him again.
"Do you know Xu Manling?" Chen Zhuo had already found out that the woman who went to the salon with Chen Ke that day was named Xu Manling, and that she was the owner of the Lido Ballroom. However, he hadn't found out how Chen Ke knew her or what their relationship was.
Li Guaizi shook his head after hearing Chen Zhuo's words, "I don't know him."
"That Chen, no, my brother, when he went to Shaanxi, did he...?"
"Is there anything?" Li Guaizi asked anxiously when Chen Zhuo hesitated.
"Have you... looked for...?" Chen Zhuo felt his face getting hot. He didn't know why he was asking this, but he just wanted to know. It felt like being scratched by a cat.
"What are you looking for?" Li Guaizi seemed even more anxious than Chen Zhuo, looking at him with intense curiosity in his eyes.
If it weren't Chen Zhuo asking him this question, but any other normal man, Li Guaizi felt he would understand instantly.
But the person opposite him was Chen Zhuo, who was always aloof and indifferent, not at all like a teenager. Li Guaizi was not confident.
However, precisely because he was unsure, Li Guaizi, who rarely saw Chen Zhuo's face like this, was even more curious about what he wanted to ask.
"...Never mind, it's nothing." After agonizing for a while, Chen Zhuo realized that whether Chen Ke found a woman or not really had nothing to do with him, and that agonizing over it made him seem like a fool.
Li Guaizi, whose curiosity had reached its peak: ......
Chen Zhuo took a deep breath, cleared his mind of distractions, and continued doing his homework.
Helpless, Li Guaizi could only continue to linger at the door, but Chen Ke returned shortly afterward.
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