Chapter 40

  Yan Fu could not have possibly experienced the expansion training of the early 21st century, and the core purpose of the expansion training in the 21st century is completely different from that of military training in the early 20th century. The core of 21st-century expansion training is "talking about reason", which is vastly different from the forced indoctrination of discipline in early 20th-century military training.

  After lunch, Chen Ke instructed everyone to clean up the picnic. Chen Ke's explanation was "Things need to have a beginning and an end." You can choose not to eat, but if you do, you must clean up your bowl and chopsticks. In 1905, when compulsory education was not widespread, those who could read books, or more specifically, members of the Huangpu Book Society, were not from poor families. Many people even came from wealthy families, where after meals, there were servants to clean up the dishes, and they had never personally washed bowls and chopsticks. So Chen Ke's words struck a chord with everyone, which is what sparked their enthusiasm for labor.

  Watching Chen Ke commanding over a hundred young people, acting according to Chen Ke's wishes. Although it was just these simple small things, Yan Fu also felt very impressive. In those years at the Beiyang Naval Academy, students knew that they had to follow rules after entering school, and even so, instructors had to check and correct them repeatedly, and even use corporal punishment to establish discipline and norms. As far as Yan Fu knew, Huangpu Book Society was not a formal organization, it was not established for long, and its members were diverse. Chen Ke could command these people after all. Moreover, as Yan Fu saw, the young people did not seem to resist Chen Ke's orders at all. This commanding ability surprised Yan Fu greatly.

  When Yan Fu carefully observed Chen Ke, he could determine that Chen Ke was not from a military academy. Yan Fu had studied at the British Royal Naval Academy and had also been the principal of a military academy himself. Chen Ke's movements and demeanor were clearly not those of someone from a military background. However, Chen Ke's grasp of rules and his understanding of the emotions of others seemed quite familiar to him. Yan Fu knew that leading a group of people was no simple task; just standing in front of over a hundred people and speaking fluently, while also being able to keep up with the speaker's train of thought, already made someone a qualified instructor. Such instructors were rare even at the Beiyang Naval Academy back then.

  Yan Fu originally came here just to see if Chen Ke was really busy with things. He didn't plan to stay for long, but looking at Chen Ke's performance, Yan Fu didn't rush to leave after all. A 25-year-old young man, even in 1905, belonged to the age group of "no hair on his mouth, not doing things firmly." The strength shown by Chen Ke made Yan Fu really feel "awesome". Yan Fu had a lot of actual experience and had seen countless capable people, he didn't believe in that kind of "genius" said in the evaluation book, who knew everything about heaven and earth, could make the country prosperous with literature, and could stabilize the country with martial arts. He knew that people who were good at writing books and giving speeches often didn't perform well in actual work. Those who performed well in actual work often couldn't write anything.

  Chen Ke's performance overturned Yan Fu's past experience of judging people. He can write books and do things, really having the style of those true "masters" in history books. Sun Wu could write books and lead troops to conquer Chu. Even the princesses of the Wu kingdom could practice under Sun Wu's command. The group of people in front of Chen Ke must be better than those women over 2000 years ago. However, from Yan Fu's observation, they are just a mob. Sun Wu had the power to kill back then, while Chen Ke can only rely on his personal ability to persuade and lead everyone. Precisely because Yan Fu is not an ordinary person, he can better understand how outstanding Chen Ke's abilities are. Sun Wu shook the world, becoming a mighty war god, worshipped by later generations for thousands of years. What will happen to Chen Ke in the future?

  "If there were such people in the Beiyang Naval Academy back then..." Seeing Chen Ke's calm and orderly command, even Yan Fu couldn't help but imagine.

  Chen Ke didn't know what Yan Fu was thinking about. He finally managed to direct everyone to finish packing up their things, and then led the crowd to start their afternoon expansion training.

  The first item is a game. The game is simple, with ten people holding hands in a circle, as long as no two people hold hands with each other in the same direction. Without letting go of their hands, the people move around and eventually one or more circles will form.

  Chen Ke and ten others joined hands, tightly gathered together, looking like a dead knot. The onlookers thought Chen Ke's words were unreliable. However, Chen Ke had played this game many times before, and the key to solving it was to start from the top hand that was being held. Soon, with everyone's efforts, or simultaneously squatting down, the person holding hands could step over the tangled arms above, or turn around with great difficulty, so as not to twist their arm connections. Or they raised their arms high, forming an arch shape, and the human pile slowly dispersed, becoming more and more scattered. In the end, just as Chen Ke had said, they indeed formed a circle of ten people holding hands.

  "Let everyone go," Chen Ke shouted: "In the order of the queue, ten people in a group, complete this game."

  Young people these days don't have many entertainment activities, sports like basketball, volleyball, table tennis and football are not popular domestically. Even glass balls aren't popular. The game immediately attracted everyone's enthusiasm. Chen Ke looked at everyone gathering together to play, slowly retreating backwards. Everyone's enthusiasm was beyond Chen Ke's imagination. Chen Ke participated in the expansion training, even people who weren't enthusiastic about games had a lot. Chen Ke originally wanted to see how many people would be like this in the expansion, didn't expect every single person to be so enthusiastically invested, even introverted people, although they were a bit shy and embarrassed, but they also actively participated. This really surprised Chen Ke.

  "What's the point of Wen Qing's game?" Yan Fu asked, having unknowingly walked up beside Chen Ke.

  "Mr. Yan, this game is to bring everyone's feelings closer."

  "Oh? So there's more to it?" Yan Fu was very interested in this.

  "The game below is to increase everyone's trust. The last one is to let everyone accept the challenge together." Chen Ke also didn't hide, it was meaningless to talk nonsense in front of clever people.

  As expected by Chen Ke, Yan Fu thought for a moment and said: "First, show him the truth, then bring emotions closer, cultivate trust, and finally face challenges. I've learned my lesson."

  Chen Ke didn't want to boast or make small talk either. He just smiled and said nothing.

  Yan Fu said unexpectedly: "Wen Qing, I have a suggestion. After the last game is over, can Wen Qing lead these students to practice?"

  Chen Ke was slightly startled after hearing this, he indeed had such an intention, but hadn't expressed it. He didn't expect Yan Fu to have the same idea too. Chen Ke turned his head and asked: "Why is that?"

  Yan Fu looked at the students and said calmly: "You will know when the time comes."

  Chen Ke didn't ask more questions and turned around with Yan Fu to continue watching everyone's actions.

  In the process of modern expansion training, someone has to play the role of a coach. This role is not easy to play, and problems must be discovered and punished at all times. However, Chen Ke had no intention of playing this role in this training session. It's not the right time yet. But looking at his classmates' serious attitude, Chen Ke felt that everyone's seriousness really exceeded his imagination. No one intentionally broke the rules to end the activity early. If it were in the 21st century, let alone others, Chen Ke himself as an otaku, games are great, but going home early is even better. Turning on the computer, watching a movie, listening to music, chatting with friends... these are all very comfortable things. Compared to this comfort, expansion training is just a supplement.

  When Chen Ke was young, he loved going to the cinema to watch movies. After getting a computer, he basically stopped going. At home and in the cinema, it's just a matter of screen size, and at home, you can watch whatever you want. Why bother with so much effort when entertainment is easily accessible? In 1905, even the most comfortable life couldn't match the level of 2005. What was lacking wasn't just material goods, but also spiritual life. This was an era where knowledge, culture, and entertainment were all in short supply. These students' enthusiasm for the games Chen Ke taught them is no different from his own childhood passion for playing marbles, flipping through picture books, and later becoming addicted to video games.

  As he thought of this, Chen Ke's mind suddenly cleared up some of the doubts. Why in just a few months, seven comrades joined the party. This society is so stagnant and oppressive, full of injustice. That's why his comrades would follow Chen Ke, who was still relatively fair, to work together, even to make revolution.

  The revolution was originally nurtured among the people, just as Yan Fu summarized earlier. In small matters like dividing food, everyone still pursues fairness. It's not that these games increase emotions, but rather that classmates themselves need to increase their emotions. These healthy and positive games provided an opportunity for everyone. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain those who were not enthusiastic about the 21st-century expansion training. And also Chen Ke himself, who thought the activity was okay but wanted to go home more.

  Chen Ke has always been telling his comrades that it was not the People's Party that initiated the mass revolution, but rather the masses needed a revolution and followed the People's Party. He understood this theoretically, but only after actually initiating this expansion training did Chen Ke verify that his words were indeed correct.

  "The Chinese people are a great people, because even an illiterate person knows that they should maintain the order of justice." Chen Ke forgot which book this sentence was from, but he deeply agreed with it. Although it was just theoretical agreement. Today, Chen Ke finally believed that as long as what is provided is healthy and positive, and conforms to the Chinese people's pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty, then everyone will follow you. Just like Chen Ke saw with his own eyes, a team that had failed twice was now challenging the game for the third time.

  The revolution still has a bright future, Chen Ke couldn't help but reveal a smile. With such a social foundation that needs revolution, how can it not succeed? Chen Ke said to himself. Although the objective nature of science and engineering later made Chen Ke have some doubts about his optimism.

  In less than forty minutes, all eleven teams had completed the game. Everyone was laughing, some were still acting out how their arms had just been twisted into what, or how they had looked when someone else crossed over their arms.

  "Classmates, now we're moving on to the next project. Trust fall!" Chen Ke yelled loudly while clapping his hands.

  This project is not simple, Hua Xiongmao followed Chen Ke's command and built six sets of shelves. All are over three meters high. Chen Ke asked twenty people to divide into two teams and stand under the shelves, facing each other. With their arms behind their backs and palms up, they placed their hands on each other's shoulders. Chen Ke explained the rules: he would straighten up and fall backwards from the top of the shelf onto everyone's arms. Chen Ke guaranteed that this impact would not hurt him or anyone below.

  After the explanation, Chen Ke loudly asked: "Do you believe me?" Everyone was very worried about this posture. If his palms were facing down and his back was on top of his classmates' shoulders, Chen Ke would fall off, and everyone could hold him up somehow. But with his palms facing up, there was no place to borrow strength at all. When Chen Ke fell from above and slammed onto their arms, he would definitely knock everyone's arms off, and then Chen Ke would fall straight down to the ground.

  The classmates looked at each other in dismay.

  "I've said there's no problem, then there's absolutely no problem. Does everyone believe me?" Chen Ke asked with a firm gaze.

  After the previous training, classmates have established confidence in Chen Ke, and everyone said to Chen Ke: "We believe in Mr. Chen."

  "Don't add anything, Mr. You answer me together." Chen Ke said loudly again, "Do you believe me?"

  "We believe." was almost the unanimous answer.

  "Did you believe us?" Chen Ke asked loudly again.

  "We believe." The voices were uniform and in unison.

  Upon hearing this momentum, Chen Ke smiled and explained the rules and precautions. With agile movements, he climbed up onto the frame. As he said himself, standing only on his toes on the platform, facing away from everyone. "My name is Chen Ke, I'm ready," he shouted.

  "Our first team is also ready, trust us." The students below responded excitedly.

  As soon as he heard the reply, Chen Ke's body straightened up immediately. Under the gaze of over a hundred pairs of eyes, he spun around like a second hand, with his feet as the axis, and fell backwards in a perfectly straight line. Everyone didn't expect Chen Ke to fall down just by saying so, and amidst the sound of collective gasps, Chen Ke's body had already fallen horizontally onto the "net" formed by his classmates' arms. The feeling on his back was a slight sinking sensation, but it stopped immediately.

  Everyone had their palms facing upwards, another advantage of which was that Chen Ke didn't need to flip his arm over to put it down smoothly. The classmates surrounding him were already asking in unison: "Does it hurt?" They were shocked by Chen Ke's clean and agile descent. The platform was more than three meters high, and when Chen Ke stood on it, the top of his head was more than five meters away from the ground. Falling straight down from such a great height with his back facing downwards was shocking just to watch.

  "It doesn't hurt at all."

  "That's right, Mr. Chen is absolutely right, with a person's weight distributed across these forty arms, it doesn't feel like much at all."

  Just now, the students below proudly said that when Chen Ke, such a big guy, fell down, everyone was worried, but unexpectedly, as Chen Ke said, there was no big deal.

  Some people can't help but prepare to climb onto the stage and try it out for themselves.

  The biggest fear of this training is that people naturally stick their buttocks down, and forty arms can bear the weight of a person without any problem, but three or four arms are not enough. Chen Ke made five bundles of bags to avoid this problem.

  After such a long period of training, everyone has already begun to get used to obeying. Two people stood on the stage to help students who were about to perform "trust falls" put on sacks, large canvas bags with several flat sticks inside, and after putting someone in, they tied it tightly with ropes outside, making it impossible for the person inside to bend. These two people are also responsible for controlling the direction, not just to prevent tilting. Chen Ke himself can do a good job, but he dare not let the students complete it on their own.

  More than 100 people were divided into five teams to start the project. Some people took a deep breath, finished the Q&A session and immediately started leaning back. Others were not so quick, hesitated for a while, then gathered courage several times before tilting backwards. In mid-air, although their bodies were forced straight by the bar, it was still possible to see that their buttocks were slightly more prominent. These people did not meet the requirement of keeping their body straight as required by the rules.

  There were still some people standing there, shouting a few times, and the people below responded, but they couldn't lean back no matter what. Unable to do so, the classmates on the stage could only help them out. According to Chen Ke's account in the dark, they used force to push the foreheads of their classmates who refused to fall, so that they could fall relatively straight down.

  One by one, the inquiries were made, and in unison, the responses came from below, "Please believe us." Then, the "Flying Men" fell down one after another. With the people in front setting an example, those behind became more and more skilled. This game actually ended in less than an hour and a half.

  Yan Fu watched as his classmates' excited expressions mixed with a hint of fear, watching them become more and more skilled in their "dangerous" training. His own face also became increasingly serious. Chen Ke's training looked dangerous but was actually very safe. As each person went through this training, the atmosphere between everyone became more and more harmonious. If there weren't classmates to catch him, falling backwards from such a height would be fatal. But he could land safely in his classmates' arms and then be carefully put down by seven or eight hands. This feeling was very different. In some sense, this was also a kind of "life-and-death friendship".

  After undergoing such training, Yan Fu believed that the relationship between these people would inevitably be greatly different. The training of the Beiyang Fleet had always been very rigorous, and before the Sino-Japanese War, there were several incidents where soldiers died due to excessive rigor in training. However, such training could not cultivate a sense of trust like this. How did Chen Ke come up with such an approach? Watching Chen Ke seriously inspecting the training, although he was the leader of everyone, he naturally blended into the environment. Yan Fu was not worried that someone would oppose Chen Ke at this time, but neither would anyone deny Chen Ke's command authority. If it were to be a long time, these students would become an army, and they would inevitably be in harmony with each other, working together in unity.

  Yan Fu was very pleased with this.

  "Mr. Yan, you're also invited to join in." Just as Yan Fu was deep in thought, a student excitedly ran over to invite him. After this stimulation, the students' faces were all flushed red. Many of the original rules had already been cast aside in the excitement of the young people.

  "Huh?" Yan Fu hadn't expected to be invited.

  I don't know who started it, but anyway, the classmates all shouted in unison: "Mr. Yan, come on! Mr. Yan, come on!" More and more people joined in the shouting. In this scene dominated by group consciousness, everyone couldn't help but join in. As the enthusiastic and friendly invitations grew louder, even Yan Fu felt somewhat moved involuntarily. He was a soldier and didn't like empty courtesy. Yan Fu took off his glasses and, with the skillful stair-climbing ability he had honed at the British Royal Naval Academy and during training in the Nanyang and Beiyang fleets, climbed up onto the platform. The classmates applauded and cheered as they watched Yan Fu climb up nimbly. Yan Fu stood up straight like Chen Ke, and in the sudden silence, Yan Fu said loudly: "My name is Yan Fu, I'm ready."

  "Trust us." The voice below was loud and powerful. Yan Fu could tell that it wasn't just the people waiting to catch him, but everyone responded in unison.

  Yan Fu straightened his body and fell backwards, pen-straight. No matter what, that innate human reaction would not disappear, and the faint sense of fear still occupied the main feeling. However, Yan Fu was not a person who gave up easily, he did not subconsciously tense up his body, on the contrary, he let his body straighten even more. Just like during naval swimming training, when jumping into the water's surface. The falling sensation seemed very long, but also not long-lasting, before Yan Fu began to question whether what was below could catch him, his body had already fallen into a solid barrier composed of arms. The collective strength of the people held Yan Fu suspended in mid-air. No one was injured. Cheers erupted once again.

  The last project was to climb over obstacles, ten people in a group, and the whole team had to pass through a barrier more than three meters high. This thing is a sturdy wooden frame deeply buried underground, with thick wooden boards spliced together without any gaps inside. Everyone had to pile up and climb up first, then flip down, and the last person left had to hold onto the legs of the second-to-last person and be pulled over by everyone. Although the theory was simple, it was also quite laborious to implement.

  Yan Fu walked up to Chen Ke's side and asked, "Wen Qing, for the final drill practice, can I be in command?" Looking at his classmates working together in unison to overcome obstacles, Yan Fu suddenly felt a sense of nostalgia wash over him, reminiscent of his days as principal of the Beiyang Naval Academy. It was a long-forgotten feeling.

  "This expansion training is initiated by me, I must come to command in person. Can't follow Mr. Yan's will, really sorry." Chen Kewen firmly refused Yan Fu's request.

  Yan Fu didn't think much of it, he was just simply excited. After hearing Chen Ke's refusal, Yan Fu suddenly realized that he was no longer the principal and those days that belonged to him had been shattered in the year of Gengzi. Looking at Chen Ke's young and energetic face, looking at those young students who were encouraging each other, carrying and pulling their companions over high obstacles, Yan Fu nodded slightly. But didn't say much.

  At five o'clock in the afternoon, everyone had climbed over the obstacle. Many people even had blood stains on their arms. But no one cared about this, and they were all happy to talk and chat. A day of training, even for young people, would make them feel a bit tired, but everyone felt very comfortable. Originally at Huangpu Book Club, everyone also met up, but no matter what, it wouldn't be as intimate as this. After going through so many challenges, everyone suddenly discovered that the classmates around them, even some who didn't seem particularly pleasant, had their own reliable or lovely side. This new discovery made the students who already liked making friends even closer.

  "Fall in, form up!" Chen Ke shouted. His arm stretched straight out to a point in front of him. No further explanation was needed. Someone had already run over and stood at that spot, like a magnet attracting iron filings, and the other students quickly formed a 10-by-11 square formation with this person as the center.

  "Everyone is here, let's march in step." Chen Ke shouted.

  Although the team was still a bit disorganized, and some people couldn't help but step out with their right foot first, under Chen Ke's "one-two-one" command, everyone adjusted their footsteps on their own without needing Chen Ke to order them. Before long, everyone's pace finally matched up to the same beat. The more uniform the footsteps were, the more powerful they sounded; and the more powerful they sounded, the more uniform they became. The classmates marched in unison for fifty meters, with the wall getting closer and closer. Although everyone felt that maybe they should stop, no one stopped their pace. This was a strange feeling, as if each person had gained a brand new power. As long as Chen Ke gave the order, everyone would work together to climb over the wall in front of them, advancing into the vast space beyond.

  "Attention!" Chen Ke finally shouted.

  "Classmates," Chen Ke shouted in front of the team, "Today, everyone has accepted the expansion training. Everyone did very well for the first time participating in the training. The first thing we want to tell you through this training is that fairness is possible. Secondly, as long as you can believe in your comrades and obey discipline, there are no obstacles that cannot be overcome. Even if you fall down, you will be caught. In the future, everyone's life and study will definitely encounter many difficulties and obstacles, but as long as you can work hard like today, there is nothing that cannot be passed."

  Looking at the excited and satisfied faces of his classmates, as well as their understanding and agreeing expressions, Chen Ke continued: "Today, I thank you all for your participation. Tomorrow, we still have classes, learning to do. Now, I declare, dismissed."

  Classmates stood still and didn't disperse. Chen Ke's concise style was what everyone had always liked. Nobody likes lengthy and tedious lectures, but now, nobody wanted to leave, everyone felt like something was missing, such a day passed by, Chen Ke's simple summary made everyone feel a sense of inadequacy, as if they needed some kind of conclusion.

  Chen Ke was extremely satisfied, he slowly raised his left arm, and everyone's eyes were focused on this clenched fist left arm, "Struggle for the rise of China!" Chen Ke shouted loudly.

  Everyone's emotions seemed to find their final outlet in this sentence, "Struggle for the rise of China!" Someone had already shouted it out. "Struggle for the rise of China!" Everyone unknowingly joined in the shouting. The sound waves surged in all directions. Whether it was Yan Fu in the distance or the workers on the construction site, they all looked over.

  The 40th