Chapter 326 Signature

Charles' car slowly drove into the town of Darwaz amid the cheers of his neighbors. If Laurent had not ordered the guards to strictly prohibit all strangers from entering, there would definitely be a large number of reporters surrounding him for interviews.

However, when Charles got off the car, several people ignored the guards' obstruction and squeezed in front of Charles to ask for autographs.

One of them was Teddy, who had three notebooks in his hand and opened them one by one for Charles to sign.

Charles asked in confusion: "What's the use of your autograph? When I was in school, my name was written on every homework book."

"I didn't ask for it." Teddy explained with an innocent look: "Someone 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 in confusion.

"Yes." Teddy nodded and answered innocently: "One franc per book!"

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 buyers. What do you think?"

Teddy's eyes lit up: "Are you serious? That's great, a very good idea!"

The neighbors laughed. They all knew that Charles was joking. With Charles' current financial resources and strength, how could he do such a thing as selling signatures.

However, Charles thought in his heart that if he could make one franc by writing a name, then he could easily make hundreds of francs a day, which might be much better than fighting with capitalists in the capital and military fields.

...

When I walked into the house again, I suddenly felt a sense of familiarity and strangeness about this small home where I had lived for more than ten years.

It cannot be described in words.

At this moment, Charles unconsciously re-examined the world and experienced the breath, taste and meaning of life.

It was like the soul touching the body.

The past experience was a nightmare. Even after he came out of the fear, he still couldn't completely erase it, so the joy of survival burst out more intensely.

Suddenly, Camille brought Charles a cup of hot milk and a plate of cake left over from breakfast.

Charles was actually not hungry at all. His eating habits were completely disrupted on the battlefield. He would only eat a few bites of bread when he was hungry, but he still ate quietly with gratitude.

This is life, Charles thought.

"They said you landed in Gallipoli?" Camille's eyes were a little nervous.

"Yes." Charles nodded.

"How was it?" Camille asked with difficulty, as if he was worried about revealing Charles' unpleasant experience.

"Don't worry, mother." Charles answered with a relaxed face: "That's the seaside, and I'm a staff officer. I always fight under the protection of others. It's just a change of place. I can even bask in the sun on the beach and sleep in the swinging basket. Look at me, I'm tanned."

Anyway, Camille didn't know what the battlefield was like, so she would believe it no matter what she said.

Camille seemed relieved.

But Djoka saw that Charles was lying. If it was as smooth as he said, he wouldn't have walked into the house with such a look of relief and memories.

But Djoka didn't say it out loud, just nodded slightly.

...

Charles' lie was almost exposed. He slept for two full days, only got up once a day to eat, and then went back to sleep.

This was because he was seriously exhausted and could hardly fall asleep in the trenches. Now it seemed that he had to make up for it all.

Sometimes Charles couldn't help but wonder, what about those soldiers who stayed in the trenches and faced the enemy?

Charles actually stayed in the trenches for only two weeks, while the soldiers generally had to stay on the front line for three or four months. If they were still alive, they would get a rare vacation.

Charles thought, maybe they had already regarded 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 in a daze, and after a while, he remembered that it was true.

"Why?" Deyoka 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." Charles replied: "It should be because of the military uniform. I hope to change to a different military uniform."

Deyoka asked carefully: "If possible, can you make some compromise and not go to the battlefield? I mean, like some kind of exchange."

Charles was silent.

He could understand the thoughts of Deyoka and Camille. They would rather have nothing, give up everything and surrender to the capitalists in exchange for their own safety.

Charles got up and put on his military uniform and replied: "There is no turning back for us, father. Even if I am willing to give up everything, do you think the capitalists will let me go?"

"Is there no other way?" Deyoka still held a glimmer of fantasy.

Charles shook his head gently.

Charles' existence is a danger to the capitalists. What the capitalists fear 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 his head? Or destroy his image 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!"

With that, Charles opened the door and went downstairs.

Dejoka stared at Charles' back blankly, and suddenly found that Charles was no longer the same as before. He seemed to have grown up and become much stronger.

Even, there was a murderous aura and cruelty in his bones.

Then Dejoka understood that it was tempered on the battlefield.

He was almost sure that the situation in Gallipoli was not as Charles said. On the contrary, it was a cruel torture, even a test of life and death!

…

In the car rushing to the House of Representatives, Charles casually flipped through the documents handed by Colonel Laurent. That was the preparation that Gallieni had made for Charles's questioning in the past two days.

Charles originally thought that parliamentary questioning was to answer whatever they asked, or to explain to the members of parliament the reasons for changing military uniforms.

After reading the documents, he realized that he should understand some basic common sense, such as which members of parliament opposed the change of military uniforms, why they opposed it, what different reasons there were, etc.

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 very useful." Charles replied softly, "But they can't influence the results!"