Chen Ke: "...Would you believe me if I said that during the time I was away I discovered I'm a genius at making fake antiques?"
Li Guaizi: "Believe it, believe it, believe it! Master said before that you have a great eye for distinguishing real and fake antiques and you're a genius!"
Chen Zhuo: "What does this have to do with making fake antiques—wait, you even have a master? What do you learn? How do you learn to make fake antiques?"
Li Guaizi glanced guiltily at Chen Ke.
Chen Ke: "...I told you to observe more and ask less."
Ten minutes later.
Li Guaizi was shocked again: "What? How many silver dollars did you get for selling those fake antiques to the French?"
Chen Ke: "One million."
"Hiss!" Li Guaizi's teeth suddenly ached, he didn't know if it was because he had inhaled too much cold air today.
He thought to himself, no wonder Chen Ke wasn't worried at all about the lack of business at the antique shop; it turned out there really was a ghost willing to be the sucker.
Chen Zhuo was much calmer than Li Guaizi in this regard. He looked around and said, "Are these all going to be sold to foreigners?"
Chen Ke gave him an approving look. "Not bad. You can get to know more people by my side in the future, which will be helpful to you." Because in Shanghai, no matter which regime you join, you will inevitably have to deal with foreigners.
Regarding Chen Zhuo's future path, Chen Ke certainly hoped that he would join the Red Party, but in their era, joining Mr. Sun's party was also an option, since they were united against the enemy during the War of Resistance.
This was also Chen Ke's purpose in asking Chen Zhuo to join the army five years later, because at that time he could not only study at a military academy that would be famous in later generations, but the Beiyang warlords would also be on their last legs, and the two-party regimes of later generations would gradually take shape. No matter which side Chen Zhuo chose, it would be better than the current Beiyang warlords.
Chen Zhuo was unaware of Chen Ke's far-reaching plans for him. Upon hearing Chen Ke's words, he subconsciously wanted to nod and speak but then stopped himself. He felt that even if this was for his own good, why should he listen to him? Chen Ke had ignored him for over ten years, and now that he was suddenly doing this for his own good, he was expected to accept it with gratitude?
So Chen Zhuo muttered, "I'm not going." But as soon as he said that, even Chen Zhuo himself felt that he was being childish.
Chen Ke chuckled inwardly but didn't show it on his face.
Li Guaizi was unaware of the old story between the two brothers. After hearing Chen Zhuo's words, he thought he was just a rebellious kid who always wanted to contradict what adults said, so he kindly advised, "Chen Zhuo, listen to your brother's advice. It will be of great benefit to you. Don't be stubborn."
Chen Zhuo's eyes turned cold. "Whose brother are you?"
Li Guaizi was startled by Chen Zhuo's gaze, wondering why a child's eyes could be so frightening.
“I… I’m bigger,” Li Guaizi explained through gritted teeth.
Chen Zhuo sneered, "Want to be my brother? You're not qualified!"
Li Guaizi's face flushed red, but he didn't say anything more. He could only complain in his heart that Chen Ke's younger brother was really impolite and didn't know how to respect the elderly and care for the young!
"Chen Zhuo," Chen Ke called out, reminding Chen Zhuo.
Chen Zhuo's expression was mocking, and when he turned to look at Chen Ke, there was still a hint of malice in his eyes that he couldn't hide in time, but it quickly disappeared, and Chen Ke thought he was just imagining things.
After all, Li Guaizi had only addressed him as "brother," and hadn't committed any heinous crime.
After the brief interruption, Chen Ke continued talking about the plan, and this time no one interrupted him...
Because it was late, Chen Ke asked Chen Zhuo to get in the car and take him home first. But when they got out of the car, Chen Zhuo looked at Li Guaizi and asked him inexplicably, "Where... do you live?"
Li Guaizi now harbors deep resentment towards Chen Zhuo, not for any other reason than that this brat really doesn't give him any face when he speaks.
He replied sheepishly, "What, what?"
"Just answer my questions."
"Live with your brother." As soon as Li Guaizi finished speaking, he regretted it. He was really afraid that Chen Zhuo would say to him: You don't deserve it?
Li Guaizi's intuition was quite accurate. Sure enough, Chen Zhuo's expression immediately changed. However, his expression was too complicated for Li Guaizi to tell whether he was more angry or more sarcastic, or perhaps there was also a hint of... resentment.
However, Li Guaizi couldn't understand why Chen Zhuo was so unwilling. If he wanted to live with his brother, he could just move in, which would be more legitimate than his own choice.
Hmm? Isn't the phrase "名正言顺" (ming zheng yan shun) a bit inappropriate here?
But the current situation didn't allow Li Guaizi time to hesitate. Trembling, he resolutely pulled... under Chen Zhuo's murderous gaze...
"Um, well, loosen your grip a bit, I'm going to close the car door." Li Guaizi tends to say this when he's nervous.
Chen Zhuo didn't move his hand.
"What's wrong?" Chen Ke, who was sitting in the front row, turned around and asked.
Li Guaizi didn't know where he got the courage from, but he pried Chen Zhuo's fingers open one by one and slammed the car door shut. "No, it's okay, let's go."
Chen Zhuo, who remained where he was, watched the car speed away with a gloomy expression on his face.
Haha, very good. You bought the house but don't come back to live there. You're living with shady people outside. You really don't care about your parents at all!
Chen Ke, who was in the car, touched the back of his neck and suddenly felt a chill on his back.
Seeing this, the driver, Li Gang, asked with concern, "Sir, are you feeling a little cold?"
Chen Ke: "The weather seems to be getting a bit cold."
"Then sir, you should take care to wear more clothes recently so you don't catch a cold."
Li Guaizi, who was sitting in the back row, suddenly asked, "Hey, does it snow in Shanghai?"
Chen Ke nodded: "Probably, but the drop will be very small."
“That’s better than our hometown. Those homeless people are better off there. Every year, quite a few people freeze to death in our area.”
The atmosphere in the car suddenly became heavy, and no one said a word until the three of them got out of the car.
Three days passed uneventfully like this.
Before long, the day arrived when Hebrews invited Chen Ke to the salon.
Now that a cooperative relationship had been established with Xu Manling, Chen Ke couldn't miss this opportunity to use her to build connections, so he came to pick up Xu Manling first.
Xu Manling wore an elaborate and gorgeous dress today. The tight-fitting top and fluffy petticoat showed off her graceful figure. When she came out holding up the hem of her skirt, she looked elegant and noble.
But Chen Ke's brows were furrowed tightly.
"Is your skirt big enough for a car ride?"
Xu Manling snorted, "Who said we were going to take a car? We'll take that one."
Chen Ke looked in the direction Xu Manling was pointing.
A standard European aristocratic carriage turned the corner, its tall horses and extremely luxurious carriage eliciting gasps of amazement from those around it.
······
"Miss Xu, you're sitting here, right? Then I'll take my leave first." Chen Ke was certain that as soon as they sat down, they'd be stared at like monkeys.
Xu Manling couldn't keep this moment of great attention to herself, so she immediately called Chen Ke to get in the car with her.
Chen Ke waved his hands repeatedly, his movements so fast they left afterimages, showing his strong resistance. But Xu Manling acted as if she couldn't see it, standing in front of the carriage and gracefully extending her slender hand to Chen Ke.
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