Flowers, Swords and France

The city was full of vitality in the early morning, with people marching everywhere. They were in a hurry and didn't look around, which was a perfect annotation of modern life. In an attic facing the street, a young man was standing by the window, looking at the street in the distance.

He had no expression on his face, but his eyes seemed to be able to spit fire, as if he wanted to burn everything clean.

He had reason to be so angry - as an employee who had already worked hard in the agency, was appreciated by the leaders, and was about to stand out, all his hopes were washed away by a sudden disaster overnight. How could he not be angry?

He had just got his freedom not long ago - as a "criminal" who led people to resist the Republic, Kongze was immediately arrested and thrown into prison after the February Revolution. It was not until more than two months later that he was released by the government that gradually drew a line between himself and the mob.

Misfortunes never come singly. After finally getting out of prison and returning to his rented house, he found that many valuable or important things he had kept in the house during the chaotic months had disappeared. Fortunately, the landlord showed mercy and did not throw away all his things when he owed rent, so that he still had a place to live. What's more, his savings were also hit hard by the financial crisis, and he still couldn't withdraw them. The government only gave him some deposit bonds to fool around.

Naturally, after experiencing this series of blows, he was full of hatred for the Republic that took away everything from him.

This hatred is now more shining after being polished by reality.

His boss who admired him very much. He fell into disgrace during the revolution and could only hide in the countryside; while his colleagues were all very smart. He immediately changed his allegiance in the ever-changing situation and suddenly became a loyal defender of the Republic - at least they still remembered the old feelings, so they didn't let Kong Ze suffer in prison. Sometimes Kong Ze couldn't help asking himself, who is more stupid, himself or those incompetent colleagues whom he looked down upon?

During this period, Kong Ze also constantly summed up his previous lessons and reflected on his mistakes.

However. Even if the hope of making a name for himself was shattered, even if the accumulation of more than ten years before was turned into nothing, Mr. Kong Ze did not lose the burning fighting spirit in his heart. And his determination to make a name for himself. After suffering so many blows, the desire to climb up in his heart became stronger, as if he could not compensate for his losses otherwise.

Now, he relies on the cash he has accumulated before to barely maintain his life. At the same time, he is looking for opportunities to make a name for himself again every moment. Although he is definitely unable to enter the government agency for the time being, he has not given up hope. He firmly believes that with his talents and efforts, he can definitely be appreciated by others-as long as he gets a chance.

However, after waiting for several months and witnessing the previous riots and the shocking scenes of the government army suppressing the mob, these opportunities still did not come. Seeing that the cash in his hands was slowly running out under the rising prices, he had to complain secretly and planned to sell his bonds at a discount to alleviate the financial crisis.

"I can definitely make a name for myself again!"

Looking at the bustling crowd downstairs. The young man clenched his fists, as if to encourage himself.

As if the heaven in the dark heard this sentence, he just finished this sentence, and the door of the room suddenly rang.

How can someone find me at this time? Kong Ze smiled bitterly in his heart, and then immediately walked over and opened the door.

"Is it you?" After seeing the identity of the visitor, he was slightly surprised.

The visitor's name is Machianzi, a senior staff member of a newspaper. He knew him before. He had some dealings with him because of his job when he was in the Ministry of the Interior.

After seeing Kong Ze, the middle-aged man had an exaggerated smile on his face.

"Mr. Kongze, I'm glad to see you're still so energetic."

"Thank you." Kongze was as cold as usual, he nodded expressionlessly, "Please come in."

Machianz hurried in.

"Please sit down." Kongze pointed to a chair and motioned him to sit down.

Machianz hung his hat on the rack at the door, and then sat down as the master ordered. Even though he had fallen to this point, Kongze's room was still clean and tidy as before, and his things were neatly stacked.

"Sir, what's the matter with you coming to see me today?" Kongze asked directly, without any polite words.

The other party was not in a hurry. He carefully scanned the room, and then subtly saw the current financial difficulties faced by the master from the neat furnishings, so he felt more confident.

"Mr. Kongze, if I'm not mistaken, you are very short of money now, right?"

"Yes, I am very short of money now, very short of money." Kongze nodded coldly, "So the purpose of coming here is to see me make a fool of myself?"

"Not only short of money, but also to restore the lost social status and regain people's respect, right?" Machiants asked, "In my opinion, Mr. Kongze, although we don't interact very often, I can see that you have ambition and don't want to be just a small person..."

After hearing Machiants' encouragement, Kongze couldn't help but feel moved.

"You seem to know me very well." He remained calm. "So, what do you want to do with me?"

"Opportunity, we want to give you a chance to recover from your current predicament and see hope in life again."

Konze couldn't help but frowned slightly.

"Mr. Kongze, I won't hide it," Machiants continued, "Our newspaper has recently changed its boss. This boss is very ambitious. He wants to expand our business and make us the leading news organization in the country. To achieve this goal, we now need to find some talents to help. What kind of talents do we need? Of course, those who are well-informed and have active minds. Friends, when I heard the news, I thought of! Talents, and the relationships left over from previous work. They can definitely meet our requirements! Moreover, we can get what we want: we are short of money now, and our boss will not be stingy with salary; if we want to stand out, can't we also achieve it in our newly established organization?"

Under Machiants' narration, Kongze's heart became more and more eager.

Isn't this the opportunity he has been waiting for? Isn't this a chance for me to start over? My talent has not been buried after all!

However, even in this situation. Kong Ze can still maintain a certain degree of clarity.

"Machianz, is your boss reliable? He is not the kind of person who brags casually when his brain is hot, right?"

"Oh, of course not!" Machianz shook his head. "If he is that kind of person, would I come to you today? Don't worry, he thinks he is quite reliable. In addition, his background seems to be quite deep. He is from the De-Treville family. I think since he plans to do it, it is definitely not like a small fight... My friend, we have waited for so many years, and finally waited for an opportunity to stand out. I don't think we will let it go easily, right?"

"De-Treville?" After hearing this surname, his heart suddenly moved, and his mind seemed to suddenly have a little impression.

It can't be that person?

"Is he very young?" He asked in a low voice.

"Yes, very young." Machienz glanced at him in a rather strange way, not knowing why he asked that. But he still answered truthfully, "He is only in his early twenties now. But don't worry, you will know after meeting him. He is very smart and calm, and he knows a lot of things. He is not like a young man at all. I don't think he is a person without a plan... Otherwise, why would I be so enthusiastic to help him work?"

Machienz kept explaining, and Kongze didn't listen at all. Could it be that he was the young man from the Treville family who he met in the palace?

I seemed to have listened to the advice of Viscount Dillion that day and didn't make it too difficult for him. This should have left a good impression on him, right? In this case...

There was nothing to hesitate, Kongze made up his mind instantly.

"Please take me to see him, okay? I have to know who I'm working for."

After hearing what Kong Ze said, Machianz's eyes flashed with joy. He knew that Kong Ze, who had fallen to such a state, would not give up such a good opportunity.

"No problem, leave it to me!" He agreed loudly. "Come over this afternoon. He will come to inspect us at that time. You can have a good talk with him then. You can also negotiate with him about salary. Don't worry, you won't lose money!"

……………………

When Kong Ze arrived at the headquarters of "Observer", the sky had already darkened slightly.

The original text is in Liu # 9 @shu/bar!

He came to an office on the top floor under the leadership of Machianz.

When the door of the office was opened, Kong Ze's heart condensed-it was indeed the young man he had seen in the palace.

He actually had such a career at this age! His heart couldn't help but ache slightly again, and a thought mixed with jealousy and bitterness flashed through his mind.

But he quickly put this thought behind his head.

"Mr. Kongze?" The young man on the other side smiled and stood up, stretching out his right hand. "Glad to meet you again."

Kongze walked up a little stiffly, and then shook the other's hand across the desk.

"Mr. de Treville, I'm honored..."

………………

After the two shook hands for a while, Charles motioned for the other to sit opposite him, and then gestured for Machiants to leave the office.

"I think Mr. Machiants has already told me the specific situation?" The young man on the other side was still smiling, "Mr. Kongze, do you know what work we need to do? Any opinions?"

"Yes, I have already understood it." Kongze nodded, "You need me to collect information and then publish this information as news. If so, this job has a lot in common with my previous one. We also need to collect various information, but not to sell it but to catch criminals."

"Yes, that's right, it's great to be able to understand it this way." Charles nodded, indicating that the other party understood it correctly, "I want to call our news organization - I decided to call it 'La Presse Française' - —Become an efficient information collection organization. I think talent can help me achieve this goal. As for salary..." Charles wrote a number on the paper with a pen and handed it to the other party, "Look at this number. Is the annual salary enough?”

After seeing this number, Kong Ze immediately answered honestly.

"Enough, even more than I expected."

"Then, I hope the results will be better than I expected." Ciel looked at the other party, "We have always been very, very generous to useful talents."

Of course it goes without saying to useless people.

Kong Ze solemnly took the piece of paper into his arms, as if it were a check.

"I can officially start working tomorrow."

"Very good, my office is downstairs. Someone will tell you then."

"Thank you, Mr. de Treville, you will see my reward." Kongze stood up and looked at Charles sincerely.

"I believe so." Charles nodded again, "By the way, I have one more thing to tell you, it's very important."

"Please tell me."

"I am a Bonapartist and firmly support Mr. Louis Bonaparte. Therefore, I must also become a Bonapartist - at least for now..." Charles deliberately used a strange tone to say The words came out.

As he expected, after hearing these words, Kong Ze's pupils widened instantly, and he looked at Charles steadily. "You...could...could it be..."

"Oh, no need to be surprised." After seeing that his joke worked, Charles suppressed the smile in his heart and looked at the other party with a serious expression, "Although I am indeed a Bonapartist, but in that scene in the palace, It is true that I did not plan or participate in the unfortunate incident, so there was no malfeasance at the time... Now, we should all look forward to it, right?"

After hearing these words from Charles, Kong Ze finally calmed down a little.

No matter what, that is meaningless history now, so what’s the point of dwelling on it anymore?

At that time, this was not considered dereliction of duty. Today, when the July Dynasty has been wiped out, there is no need to pay attention to it. Kong Ze told himself in his heart.

"Yes, we should all look forward." He looked at Charles quietly, his face returning to his usual indifference, "I serve now, sir." (To be continued...)