There's only one more day left of winter break, and according to the bet, on the first day of school, there will be a competition in Chinese and Latin, with several hundred dollars at stake. With this money, he can immediately buy the latest model of bicycle, so Chen Zikun doesn't dare to slack off.

  Although Gu Hongming and Liu Shipei both praised him highly, who can guarantee that at the time they won't come up with some tricky questions? Chen Zikun was also influenced by Peking University's academic atmosphere and knew that this competition involved a scholarly dispute between the old and new factions. If someone intentionally made things difficult for him by coming up with some strange and awkward questions, losing face would be a minor issue, but not getting the several hundred dollars would directly affect his future prospects.

  Thinking of this, Chen Zikun lost his appetite and didn't even want to eat. He took a steamed bun with scallions and started reading his book. Seeing him study hard, Xue Ping and Wang Dama also stopped chatting and cleaned up the remaining dishes before leaving.

  In the corridor, Wang's mother said: "He's uncle, I think Daxun is really not interested in Xing'er, otherwise we shouldn't have randomly matched them up."

  Xue Ping said, "That's the way it is, but Xing'er has set her heart on marrying him and no one else. Her whole family thinks Da Ke is a good match for her too. We can just drop the subject if it doesn't work out; after all, it's not like the Matchmaker in Heaven had arranged this marriage to begin with."

  Two people chattered and walked out of the backyard, when a figure suddenly appeared on the wall, looked around, jumped down quietly, and the two guard dogs rushed up, their front paws on the person's body, licking wildly, extremely enthusiastic.

  Chen Zikun, who was reading by the light of a candle in his bedroom, heard a noise and immediately blew out the candle. He reached under his pillow and pulled out two boxers, cocked them and crouched down on the floor, ready to strike.

  A familiar voice came from outside: "Da Kunzi, it's me."

  It was Zhao Dahai's voice. Chen Zikun hid the gun behind his back and went to open the door. As expected, he saw Zhao Dahai standing at the door with a look of anxiety on his face.

  "What's up, Big Brother?"

  "Something's happened! Little Li has killed Old Ma!"

  "What! What's going on?" Chen Zikun was stunned, this is a murder case after all.

  "It's a long story, but Little Li is now outside the back wall." Zhao Dahai said while paying attention to the surroundings, afraid that someone would burst in.

  "Hurry up and let him in." Chen Zikun helped move a wooden ladder to the top of the wall, Zhao Dahai climbed up and pulled Little Li over, and they both entered the courtyard. Little Li was the bathhouse worker from Huaqingchi who looked like a girl, now he was flustered and bewildered, with a face full of confusion, and his body still reeked of blood.

  Two dogs caught wind of the blood and crept closer, baring their teeth, but were chased away by Chen Zikun. He led Zhao Dahan and Little Li into the house, lit a candle, and placed the gun under the pillow again. Pouring himself a cup of hot water, he asked: "What's going on?"

  "A few days ago... Old Horse came to the bathhouse, taking advantage of the fact that there were fewer people around..." Little Li's emotions were somewhat agitated, and he couldn't speak, his chest heaving violently, a dark stain visible on his black cotton jacket in the candlelight, probably a bloodstain.

  Zhao Dahai spoke on his behalf: "Ma Laoer has come up with a ruthless move, how can Xiao Li call himself a real man if he can't even withstand this humiliation."

  "I went to the barber's shop and got a razor. When Ma Lao'er came again, I cut off his life root with one knife!" Little Li said gritting his teeth.

  "Well done! Real men!" Chen Zikong praised, picking up the wine jug on the table to pour a cup for Xiao Lizi, "Have a drink, calm down."

  Xiao Li Zi gulped down the cup of wine, and his face suddenly flushed red. His skin was originally delicate and white, but now it was rosy and radiant, like a peach blossom, even more beautiful than a woman's.

  "Is he dead?" Chen Zikun asked.

  "I don't know, that one knife cut down was ruthless enough, the whole thing was completely cut off. Even Liu, the small knife of the Qing dynasty's respectful affairs house, didn't have this kind of skill. I reckon if the bleeding can't be stopped, Ma Laoer's life won't be saved." Zhao Dahi laughed generously.

  If it were someone else, they would have been stunned by now, but Zhao Dahan and Chen Zikun were both seasoned veterans who remained calm and composed, chatting and laughing as usual, which also steadied Xiao Lizi's nerves.

  "Brother Zhao, Brother Chen, this time I've stirred up a hornet's nest. The Ma family will never let me off easily. I don't want to implicate you two, so I'll take my leave." As he was about to get up and leave, Chen Zikun pressed him down: "At this critical moment, going out is equivalent to death. The Ma family has connections with both the underworld and the authorities, they must be searching for you everywhere."

  Zhao Dahai gave Chen Zikun a signal with his eyes, and the two of them went out of the house to discuss in a low voice.

  "I met him on the road in the evening, he had blood on his body and was dazed. I only found out what happened after asking him. He didn't originally plan to hide here with you, but coincidentally ran into a few patrol officers and came around this way. He also didn't dare disturb the coachman in the front yard. Big guy, this matter has nothing to do with you, don't get involved, I can handle it myself."

  Chen Zikun didn't like hearing this: "Big Brother Hai, your friends are my friends. Besides, I've disliked those sons of the Ma family for a long time now. This matter is settled."

  Zhao Dahi praised: "Dakuangzi, you're a real brother!"

  The two returned to the house and said to Xiaolizi: "It's already past nine o'clock, the city gate is closed, and it's specified that you can't go out tonight. Tomorrow morning, think of a way to leave the city, either go to Guandong or go south, the farther the better."

  Xiao Li nodded with tears in his eyes.

  After the commotion, Chen Zikun couldn't study either. He vacated his room for the two to stay in and gave his own clothes to Xiao Lizi to change into. The old clothes stained with blood were thrown directly into the latrine pit.

  ……

  The next morning, the gate of the Zi Guang Car Factory was knocked open. Chen Zikun heard it in the backyard and quickly jumped up like a carp, Zhao Dahan and Xiao Lizi were also startled awake, they had been sleeping with their clothes on, now they got up and wanted to go out.

  Chen Zikong picked up the box and stuffed it into his waistband, saying: "The patrol police won't come so quickly, this bunch of wine sacks doesn't have this kind of divine power, I'll go take a look, maybe it's something else."

  When they arrived at the gate, Xue Ping had already opened the door and was negotiating with them. It turned out that they were workers from the telephone bureau who came to install a phone. Chen Zikun let out a sigh of relief and led the workers into the front yard, where they nailed up a ceramic insulator on the wall, pulled a wire from the utility pole in the alleyway, and strung it all the way to the house, connecting it to a black hand-cranked telephone.

  The worker gave Chen Zikun a telephone directory with all the phone numbers in Beijing, and demonstrated it to him. He dialed the number, shook the handle, picked up the receiver, told the operator a number, connected after trying several times, hung up the receiver, and shook the handle again.

  "Before making a call, you must turn the handle, tell the operator the number you want to connect to, hang up the receiver after finishing the conversation, and then turn the handle again, got it?"

  "Got it." Chen Zikun was somewhat excited, this thing looked quite interesting.

  The workers slung their tool bags and left. Xue Ping Shun smiled and saw them out the door, then came back to ask: "How much does it cost to install a phone? A few hundred yuan?"

  Chen Zikong said: "Miss Yao pays, I don't need to spend a single cent."

  "Ah... now it doesn't cost money, but I'm afraid in the future there won't be any bones left." Xue Ping Shun muttered to himself.

  The phone suddenly rang, startling Xue Pingshun. Chen Zikong picked up the receiver and said in a fake tone, "Hello, who is this?"

  "Hehe, it's me. Is the phone fun? My home number is 88, call me anytime." The voice on the other end of the line was Yao Yile's.

  "Oh, what's my number on this side?" Chen Zikun suddenly thought of it, the worker didn't tell him his own phone number.

  "It's 172, isn't it? I helped you choose it." Yao Yile smiled.

  "Anyway, this number is really not ordinary, okay, I still have something important to do, hang up." Chen Zikun remembered that Zhao Dahai was still waiting in the backyard, and he quickly hung up the phone.

  "You stinky brat, you're the first person in all of Beijing who dares to hang up on me!" On the other end, Yao Yile also angrily hung up the phone.

  ……

  At this time, the west wing of the Ma family compound was bustling with maids and young servants carrying hot water and cotton yarn in and out, each one as silent as a cicada in winter, not even daring to breathe.

  Old Master Ma has already put out the word that anyone who dares to gossip outside will be beaten to death, but among the servants, they are still whispering and discussing the strange injury of Second Master Ma.

  "Do you know? Second Master was beaten up by someone and there's a huge bloody wound on his forehead, it's terrifying."

  "Who did this? It's so cool."

  "It's probably because of the enemy family, but Second Master's young daughter-in-law and eldest daughter are not too old or too young."

  "Ah, okay!"

  No wonder the servants in the Ma family are gloating, this second master is evil and has committed many wrongdoings. Not only does he cheat men and bully women outside, but also at home, his evil deeds are numerous. Almost all the pretty maids and servant girls in the mansion have been tainted by him, even the slightly handsome young servants can't escape his clutches. It's said that the second master's thing was cut off by someone, the servants in the mansion are happier than during the Chinese New Year.

  Ma Lao Er lay on the kang, groaning and grunting, his wound throbbing with pain, so painful that he didn't even have the energy to scold anyone.

  These past few days' events are still vivid in my mind. A week ago, Old Ma brought two thugs to the Huaqing Pool for a bath at dusk. Taking advantage of the absence of other guests, they pinned down Little Li on the bed. The two thugs held his arms, and it was a case of "might makes right". As the old saying goes, "three flats are not as good as one round", Little Li's skin was smooth and tender, more enjoyable than playing with a big girl, especially after they finished, that pitiful look on his face really made people fond of him. Second Master generously threw down two silver dollars to help him take care of his butt, which can be considered fair treatment for him.

  Yesterday, Ma Lao Er, who had tasted the bitter taste, came to Huaqingchi again, wanting to make a comeback. Unexpectedly, Little Li Zi showed a coy and shy demeanor, making Ma Lao Er's heart flutter with excitement. He let his guard down, sent away his bodyguards, and wanted to spend some quality time with Little Li Zi. Just as things were getting intense, Little Li Zi flashed a cold light in her hand, and suddenly everything was gone.

  It is said that a sharp razor was left at the scene, and Second Master's precious mole was also cut off. The two thugs often fought in groups and had some experience in treating external injuries. They sprinkled some talcum powder on the wound, covered it with gauze, called a car to rush Second Master back to the mansion, where Third Master and Fourth Master happened to be at home. They quickly called for medical attention, and both Chinese and Western doctors came to stop the bleeding, apply medicine, and bandage the wound. However, they could only do so much, as what had been cut off could never be reattached.

  The Tianqiao area was shocked when Ma Er Ye, the notorious horse, was actually castrated. If this gets out, where would the Ma family put their face? Old Man Ma was so angry that he spat up blood on the spot and offered a reward of 1,000 yuan to catch the culprit. Li Junqing from Huacai Pond must be brought in alive or dead.

  A reward of 1,000 yuan was offered, and all the police officers, detectives, and street thugs in Beijing were stirred up. It was a large sum of money, and the person being pursued was just a bathhouse worker. This deal was absolutely worth doing.