Chapter 39

  Chen Ke counted the members of Huangpu Book Club, a total of 127 people. This expansion training is not mandatory to attend. After spending 10 minutes on instruction and training, everyone finally managed to report numbers according to Chen Ke's command.

  “1”

  “2”

  “3”

  “……”

  “15”

  The first row finally finished reporting their numbers.

  "Have you eaten? Why are your voices like mosquitoes buzzing? Report again." Chen Ke's voice was not severe. The young people in the front row were still okay, but many of the young people in the back row were still chatting and laughing.

  A burst of laughter later, the roll call did not start. Chen Ke shouted in a loud voice, "Start the roll call." All the young people were shocked and looked at Chen Ke's smile which had obviously faded a bit. The classmates in the first row started to report their numbers again.

  Discipline and obedience start with normalization, and squad training is just the first step. And this first step took an hour, before these students were finally formed into a 10 by 11 square formation.

  Teaching everyone to march in step required first stepping out with the left foot, and another half hour was spent on this.

  Look left, look right, and another half hour is gone.

  The phalanx advanced together, but had hardly gone ten metres before the ranks that had previously been fairly well-ordered began to break up.

  Chen Ke did not lose heart. According to the memoirs, at that time, in order to train the peasants-turned Red Army soldiers to turn left and right, it took a very long time. Today's military training has already shown excellent performance from the students. Military training is never a short-term process, even the most basic training takes several days. Not to mention today was only one day.

  They walked in a queue like sheep to the designated location, Chen Ke ran over with an expressionless face and directed everyone to re-form their lines, starting training again.

  More than three hours passed quickly. Everyone was visibly tired, Chen Kegao shouted, "Dismissed." Classmates were like amnesty, and they dispersed one after another.

  Military training is not an easy thing, just this round of orders has left Chen Ke's throat sore. Looking at the young people rushing to rest in the shade, Chen Ke wiped the sweat from his forehead.

  However, soon everyone's attention fell on a place that was not noticed by people. Chen Ke turned his head and saw Yan Fu still wearing the same clothes as when he last saw him, standing there watching the crowd. Chen Ke had been focusing on military training all along and didn't know when Yan Fu arrived. The appearance of this person was somewhat unexpected, and Chen Ke reflected on his answer that morning, but couldn't think of any problem. Since it was like this, Chen Ke also didn't play any common tricks, and simply went up to greet him briefly.

  "Wen Qing is training troops?" Yan Fu asked, his attention was not on Chen Ke, but on that group of young people.

  "How could that be? It's just a bit of military training to give everyone some organizational discipline." Chen Ke looked at Yan Fu's face and couldn't see any emotions. However, the way he was looking at the young people with his eyes was very special, as if he was observing the effect of the military training. Chen Ke suddenly remembered that Yan Fu himself was not a simple scholar. Although in later generations, Yan Fu is most famous for "Tianyan Lun", which introduced Western learning to China, but Yan Fu had actually worked at the Beiyang Naval Academy for many years and eventually became its principal. As for military training, Yan Fu was no amateur. Thinking of this, Chen Ke didn't dare make a sound and stood beside Yan Fu waiting for him to speak.

  Yan Fu withdrew his gaze and asked, "Has Wen Qing been in the military?"

  "No."

  "Is today the first day of military training?"

  "This is military training, not troop exercises." Chen Ke corrected again.

  Yan Fu nodded slightly, "Being able to practice to this extent on the first day is already a rare achievement."

  Chen Ke didn't want this elder to scrutinize his hard work again. Although Yan Fu didn't seem to have any malicious intentions, if he continued to evaluate like this, who knows where it would lead.

  "Mr. Yan, you came here today, are you just passing by?"

  "No, since you refused to see me, I had to come over and pay my respects in person." Yan Fu said with a smile.

  "Today is really busy." Chen Ke said calmly.

  "Regarding the matter of the pharmaceutical factory I mentioned last time, I have already spoken with the Shanghai Daotai about it. He wants Wenqing to go to Hankou to treat a few patients."

  "This medicine of mine can only cure patients in the first and second stages, I don't know if Mr. Yan knows." Chen Ke hastily said.

  "I took a look at the printed matter of the literati and roughly understood it. I also brought a copy with me when I went. The Shanghai Daotai looked at it and said that it should be curable."

  "This medicine is poisonous, I'm afraid it will kill people instead of curing them." Chen Ke hastily added.

  "Haha, Wen Qing is indeed cautious. You've repeated it several times in the Huangpu Review. Dao Tai must have seen it. My original intention was to push this medicine into the Nanyang and Beiyang navies. But Yuan certain person actually wants us to help him first. This matter requires Wen Qing to take the lead."

  "I'm unable to leave. How about sending a capable person to handle this matter?"

  "Alright."

  "Should we go see Governor Yuan first?"

  "It's unnecessary. The Magistrate has already instructed someone to handle this matter, and the literary youth can go find that person."

  "I'll go and arrange it now. Please wait a moment, Mr. Yan." After finishing speaking, Chen Ke quickly walked towards the construction site.

  This is a good opportunity, these days the places that need special medicine are mainly port cities. Wherever there are foreigners, this evil disease spreads. Chen Ke originally wanted to discuss with Hua Xiongmao and send Dr. Wang Qinyan over. If Wang Qinyan were sent, who would take Wang Qinyan's place? A name suddenly popped out, Chen Ke's footsteps slowed down, and finally Chen Ke turned his head and walked towards Mao Ping.

  "Come with me for a moment." Chen Ke said to Mao Ping.

  After hearing Chen Ke's idea of letting Mao Ping go to Hankou for medical treatment, Mao Ping was quite excited. Firstly, he could do something for Mr. Chen, whom he respected very much, and secondly, he could show off his professional skills. Both reasons made Mao Ping feel proud and confident. "Mr. Wenqing, I will definitely get this done."

  "I believe you," Chen Ke said resolutely.

  Two men talked about Mao Ping's medical skills on the way, and soon found Hua Xiongmao. Chen Ke told him about it. Hua Xiongmao looked at Mao Ping for a while, seeing that Mao Ping was looking back at him with firm eyes, seemingly confident in handling this matter. He nodded, "Wen Qing, so you want me to take Mao Ping to see Dr. Wang?"

  "We can't take full charge of this matter either. Tell Dr. Wang that the injections for today's patients will be done by Mao Ping, with Dr. Wang guiding him on the side. When there is a spare moment, have Mao Ping read through the medical records carefully." Chen Ke said to Hua Xiongmao.

  After finishing, Chen Ke turned to Mao Ping, "Read the medical records carefully and see what reactions the patient had during the medication process. How should we respond? I only give you two days, today and tomorrow, just do it well."

  "I will absolutely not let Mr. Chen down."

  Watching Mao Ping and Hua Xiongmao leave together, Chen Ke again instructed Qin Wu'an on the work, then ran back to report this matter to Yan Fu. The two confirmed that tomorrow afternoon, they would have the person in charge of this matter go find Yan Fu, who would then introduce this person to Yuan Shu-fan.

  Things having been settled, Chen Ke looked at Yan Fu and said with some embarrassment: "Mr. Yan, there aren't many places to eat around here either. I'll be cooking for everyone today. Mr. Yan, will you join us or make other arrangements?"

  "Does the boss want to cook for everyone himself?" Yan Fu found it quite strange. In Yan Fu's opinion, Chen Ke was also the president of the study society, so naturally there would be others who had already prepared food and sent it over; he didn't expect Chen Ke to actually want to do the work personally.

  "I'm the head of this academic society, and when I encounter work, I flee in a hurry. How can others respect me?" Chen Ke said casually. To Chen Ke, this was just the most basic work attitude. Even in the 21st century, he had seen many provincial-level cadres who, for a national reception conference, would personally direct the venue setup and even lift tables and chairs themselves. A deputy general manager of a mobile company, after receiving a batch of printed materials, would squat at the door to check each flyer one by one. Although this deputy general manager would rush off to eat and drink with everyone after finishing the work, the quality of handling matters was not something that those who were lazy and perfunctory could match.

  Leading by example, this is the party's tradition. Before the founding of the country, in the face of harsh environments, the party absolutely implemented the role of party members taking the lead. Even after reform and opening up, when encountering difficult times, party members still stood out. Before a major disaster, you can definitely see those figures who are usually rarely seen in the most dangerous places. This is the power of organization.

  Chen Ke himself can gain recognition from the masses, relying on his own never escaping responsibility and never seeking special treatment. Cooking and eating with everyone, Chen Ke thinks it's just a very ordinary thing to do.

  Yan Fu did not think so, as an educated intellectual from a privileged class society. Yan Fu thought it was natural to have various privileges. As the principal, if he had meals with students together, it would be inconsistent with his status. However, he had already determined that Chen Ke had rebellious intentions, and as a rebel, if he could not get the support of the people below, there would only be a dead end. What Chen Ke did was not without precedent, China's historical records had recorded too many rebels who were so gathering followers. Yan Fu thought it was okay for Chen Ke to do so. He smiled: "I didn't know that Wen Qing could cook, then I must bother him for a meal."

  "I'll do my best." Chen Ke also didn't stand on ceremony.

  "Comrades, start cooking!" Chen Ke shouted loudly. Those who heard the words turned their faces to look at Chen Ke.

  Pots, rice, vegetables, salt, soy sauce and other materials have been prepared. Shovels, firewood and other tools are also ready. Chen Ke asked his classmates to form small groups of ten people in each row. The task assignment for each group began. Young people like to be lively when they get together, let alone this sudden outdoor cooking. After a morning of exercise, the young people were all hungry, and for a time, there was laughter and chatter.

  Some were responsible for fetching water, some for rinsing rice and washing vegetables. Chen Ke personally led people to dig stoves and bury pots, while Yan Fu stood by and watched. Everyone had a task assigned to them, and everyone was busy at work. Although the students' eyes held a sense of longing when they looked at each other, surprisingly no one came over to talk to him without regard for the others in such an environment. This was truly remarkable. Chen Ke's organizational abilities left Yan Fu very satisfied.

  Many hands make light work, and it didn't take too long for the dishes to be cooked, and the big pot of steamed rice was also emitting a puff of white steam. Chen Ke did not let the students have free activities, but instead had everyone line up again and sit down neatly.

  "I want to ask everyone a question. Dinner is about to start soon. How can we divide today's meal evenly? How can we make everyone believe that the meal has been divided evenly?"

  This question is really interesting. Nobody has ever thought about how to achieve this level.

  "Any suggestions? Please raise your hand and speak up."

  Everyone looked at each other in dismay. This matter of dividing the food seemed simple, but if it were really to be divided equally, they had to make everyone believe it, which was not easy. After a while, a student raised his hand. Chen Ke knew that this classmate's name was An Rishan, and he was a student at Fudan Public School. "Nominate someone that everyone can recognize."

  Chen Ke let An Rushan sit down, and only then did he say: "There are so many of us, and we may not all know each other. How can we elect someone that everyone will accept? And with over a hundred of us, it'll take three watches to elect someone. We can have dinner by then."

  The classmates below burst into laughter, and An Ruyi's face turned bright red with embarrassment.

  Seeing no one dared to continue speaking, Chen Ke smiled and said: "This meal will be ready soon. If I can't think of a solution, I won't let everyone eat. We came for team-building training, but ended up creating resentment, I'm not doing that."

  Another student raised his hand, Lu Huitian, also from Fudan Public School. "We'll find a few people to supervise the serving of meals. Set very strict rules. For example, how much rice should be served in each bowl, there should be a standard." As he spoke, Lu Huitian suddenly had a new idea, "We can use a balance scale, and weigh each bowl." The other students heard this suggestion, some thought it was acceptable, while others thought it was absurd. Someone already shouted: "By the time you finish weighing, I'll be starving to death!" Immediately, another burst of laughter erupted.

  Deng Luohui's face turned red as he sat down, and Chen Ke asked: "Do you think this meal can be absolutely divided fairly? Not even a little bit different?"

  Most of the students had disbelieving looks on their faces.

  "Everyone is not a god, and it's impossible to achieve absolute equality. The reason we can't accept unequal distribution is that we can't accept the subjective intention of giving more to ourselves or people we like. As long as it's not intentional subjectively, objectively distributing food will inevitably result in some getting a little more and others getting a little less. I think everyone can accept this tiny difference."

  After listening to Chen Ke's lesson, everyone understood the two words "subjective" and "objective". The students nodded one after another.

  "If we find someone to be in charge of distributing food, soon everyone will discover that this person gives himself the most. This is human nature. So we change to another person, and everyone still finds out that the person in charge has the most and best food in his bowl. Everyone thinks this method doesn't work, so we take turns being in charge of distributing food, one day per person. This is equivalent to acknowledging that each individual has the right to give themselves more food, while also giving everyone the opportunity to do so. Although it seems fair on the surface, what about today? We only have one chance, and immediately there's conflict. Or, we elect a trustworthy person to be in charge of distributing food. Not to mention how long it takes to choose this person, even if this person is virtuous and basically fair, they won't give themselves more, but because of face, will give more to people they have good relationships with. Still not fair."

  "After saying that, Chen Ke took a look at the steaming steam on the big pot of steamed rice and glanced at his watch. "This meal will be ready soon, why are we still here discussing this issue? If we can't quickly come up with a plan, we'll go hungry!"

  The students burst into loud laughter again.

  "Mr. Chen, do you have any methods?"

  "Right, as you said, no matter how we divide it, it won't be fair. How can we make everyone feel that it's fair?"

  Everyone shouted. The interest of the crowd was really mobilized, and Chen Ke's confident appearance seemed to have a perfect method. Chen Ke had already negated all other ideas, so what method could Chen Ke come up with? Including Yan Fu, everyone was full of curiosity.

  "It's very simple. We don't need to choose some dignified person, nor do we need to set up any supervision. First, find three people and divide the rice in the pot into eleven large portions. Then these three people will go aside and wait. Each team randomly selects one person, draws lots, and chooses one large portion according to the order, then divides this large portion into ten small portions. Then they can go aside and wait. After that, everyone goes up to get their own rice, and finally, let those who divided the rice go get theirs."

  People who are clever have already understood Chen Ke's meaning, and they have started to cheer. Those who didn't understand pulled those who did and asked for an explanation. "Anyway, the person dividing the food doesn't know if it's more or less in the end, but if it's not divided evenly, they will definitely eat the least themselves. The person dividing the food will naturally divide it very seriously. And we also know this is how things are, so we'll definitely leave the least for the person dividing the food. It will naturally seem reasonable." The person being asked excitedly explained.

  This principle is very simple, and everyone understands it as soon as they hear it. Everyone is marveling at how they didn't think of such a simple principle themselves. It's unknown who started clapping first, but in an instant, over 100 students began to applaud. Originally, everyone already admired Chen Ke's knowledge greatly, and this incident made everyone feel even more sincere admiration. Every person hopes for fairness, and every person feels they have been wronged. Chen Ke's method has the greatest advantage of ensuring fairness to the maximum extent. For such ingenuity, everyone truly admires him immensely. The dissatisfaction with Chen Ke that had accumulated over three hours of training instantly dissipated.

  Yan Fu couldn't help but applaud lightly. After Chen Ke proposed this problem, Yan Fu was thinking about how to divide it fairly. The methods that Chen Ke later summarized were things that Yan Fu had thought of long ago. Although it can't be said that they are not fair enough, making everyone feel like they have been treated fairly is truly a difficult task. Chen Ke's method made everyone accept the objective unfairness, but the subjective feeling of unfairness completely disappeared. Yan Fu has been an official for many years and has experienced too many struggles with cunning people. It is easy to take away a general's command, but it is impossible to take away a humble man's will. Persuading one person is too difficult, yet Chen Ke came up with such a simple method that at least made sense of the messy issue of dividing food, which couldn't help but make Yan Fu admire him.

  "Classmates, stop making noise. Whoever is willing to volunteer to serve everyone, come out." Chen Keke didn't want everyone to be so noisy, he was also hungry.

  Article 39