Chapter 65

  Many times, silence is a good choice. The emotions contained in not speaking out loud, some are resistance, and some are silent requests. Wu Xingchen is now silent. The previous discussion completely dispelled Wu Xingchen's illusions, he clearly knew that Chen Ke would not help Pang Zi.

  When people are weakened, they often have a psychological weakness. At the beginning of the party, Wu Xingchen felt that Chen Ke's way of treating Pang Di was not appropriate and always thought that Chen Ke should pay more. Now he can't help but think of Pang Di's consistent disrespect towards Chen Ke. In the Jianghu, even such an impolite attitude may trigger a very serious conflict, let alone Chen Ke's words and deeds are really out of concern for Pang Di.

  "Wu Xiong, do you still consider yourself a member of the People's Party?" Chen Ke broke the silence. Upon hearing this, Chen Tianhua felt a tightness in his chest. He knew that Chen Ke had sympathy for him, but he also knew that Chen Ke was not one to show mercy to women. The reason for asking this question was probably to be ruthless towards Wu Xingchen. Wu Xingchen had always been leaning towards Pang Zi, and Chen Tianhua was well aware of this and was not satisfied with it. However, looking at Chen Ke's intention, there seemed to be a hint of wanting to expel Wu Xingchen from the party. Chen Tianhua instinctively wanted to object, but he couldn't say anything. In the organizational constitution of the People's Party, there was a clause that stated: "Members of the Chinese People's Party must thoroughly sever all ties with parties and groups that attempt to oppose the party's platform." Pang Zi didn't count as an enemy, and based on his actions, he couldn't be considered a friend either. If Chen Ke were to follow organizational discipline in handling this matter, Chen Tianhua would have no grounds for objection.

  After hearing this, Wu Xingchen's face became even more solemn, his eyes becoming serious, and he even rarely bit his lip. After making up his mind, he said: "Wen Qing, if what you're saying is about the Pang brothers..."

  Chen Ke interrupted Wu Xingchen's words, calmly saying: "It has nothing to do with Brother Pang. I just want to ask, does Brother Wu still insist that he is a member of the People's Party up to now?"

  Hesitating for a moment, Wu Xingchen replied, "Yes, I still insist that I am a member of the People's Party. However..."

  "Let me finish, okay?" Chen Ke interrupted Wu Xingchen's words again. For some reason, Chen Tianhua suddenly felt a relaxed tone in Chen Ke's voice. Chen Ke picked up the scissors and trimmed the candle wick, making the flame burn brighter.

  "As the chairman of this party meeting, I would like to ask you, Brother Wu, to go to the north to do revolutionary work. Whether it's with Brother Pang or those several brothers from Shandong, I want you to participate in their revolution, well, should say insurrectionary work. What are your thoughts on this, Brother Wu?"

  After hearing this, Wu Xingchen was shocked. He didn't want to quit the People's Party, and just now he wanted to propose staying in Hebei with Pang Zi to participate in the uprising. Unexpectedly, Chen Ke brought it up first. Taking advantage of the bright candlelight, Wu Xingchen carefully examined Chen Ke's face, and Chen Ke showed a very understanding and encouraging smile, without any dissatisfaction or probing intention.

  "What about it, Brother Wu? Do you agree?" Seeing that Wu Xingchen didn't say anything, Chen Ke asked again.

  "I agree." Wu Xingchen hastily replied.

  Chen Ke wasn't going to punish Wu Xingchen, but rather proposed a reasonable and emotional suggestion, which made Chen Tianhua very happy. After all, they were comrades in arms, why would they want to expel someone? Upon further reflection, Chen Tianhua felt a bit embarrassed. Chen Ke wanting to expel Wu Xingchen was just his own speculation. His own speculation was where he fell short of Chen Ke's magnanimity. Just as he was secretly criticizing himself, Chen Tianhua suddenly heard Chen Ke say: "Xingtai, I want you and Wu brother to stay in the north together. You'll be responsible for preparing the uprising."

  "What? I'm staying too?" Chen Tianhua asked in surprise. Of this decision, Chen Tianhua was surprised for five parts, and the other five parts were actually delighted.

  "Let Wu brother stay here alone, the revolutionary passion is there, but the revolutionary theory is obviously insufficient. Originally I should have stayed in the north, but since we left Shanghai for several months, I'm not too reassured either. So I can only let Xing Tai stay in the north."

  "That's great!" Chen Tianhua replied excitedly.

  Seeing Chen Tianhua's joyful face, Chen Ke felt that he couldn't let him be too happy. "Don't be in a hurry, I didn't let everyone stay in the north just to slack off. What we're staying here for, I need to discuss with everyone."

  "Let's stay here, what are we going to do?" Wu Xingchen was not as optimistic as Chen Tianhua. He felt that Chen Ke would not easily give in to Pang Di. Moreover, Chen Ke had already made it clear that Wu Xingchen was staying here not as a close friend of Pang Di, but as a member of the People's Party. In other words, if Wu Xingchen insisted on his stance as a member of the People's Party, Pang Di's stance would not be the top priority.

  "Brother Wu, no matter what, I don't want to see the Pang brothers die in vain. Everything I said earlier was to explain to the Pang brothers that following the old pattern of rebellion is definitely not going to work. The Pang brothers have prejudices against me, thinking that I'm not on the same path as them." Chen Ke suddenly smiled again, "I was wrong to say that. The Pang brothers don't have prejudices against me, and indeed we're not on the same path. But what I want to ask is, Brother Wu, are you going to follow the same road as the Pang brothers or take the road to revolutionary success? On this point, as party members, there's no need to speak nonsense."

  After hearing such a sincere question, Wu Xingchen pursed his lips. Emotionally, he wanted to support Pang Di. But rationally, he had already been convinced by Chen Ke. Finally, Wu Xingchen let out a long sigh, "Forget it, some things can't be done just with brotherly love. I have to take the path of revolution."

  "Alright, let's discuss how to help the Pang brothers and their Shandong brethren keep their lives after rebelling. As long as we have a green mountain, we won't worry about firewood. This method should be most practical for them."

  "What's the clever plan?" Chen Tianhua was very interested in this.

  "They must change from being easily annihilated bandits into more difficult-to-annihilate guerrilla fighters."

  "Haha!" Chen Tianhua couldn't help but burst out laughing after hearing Chen Ke's "brilliant plan". What's the difference between this and not saying anything? If you can't beat them, of course you'll run away, how could you just sit there waiting for the government troops to come and annihilate you?

  Wu Xingchen's reaction was completely different from Chen Tianhua's, his eyes lit up, "This is a good opportunity to ask Wen Qing to explain." Wu Xingchen had been defeated by the Beiyang Army in Shandong before. When he was escaping, he really felt like there was nowhere to hide in the world.

  "What's meant by 'a favor of a pint of rice is repaid with a grudge of a pint of rice.' It's absolutely impossible to buy people's hearts with charity. The common folk aren't buying it." Chen Ke didn't lecture about revolutionary principles this time.

  Looking at Wu Xingchen nodding slightly, Chen Tianhua was quite perplexed. "Being able to make everyone's life a bit better, why wouldn't people be grateful?"

  "Is it better? How much is better? Is eating more rice and having a lot of money better? Your view is absolutely wrong." Chen Ke's voice was cold, "If someone is content, they don't need your little bit of wealth. If someone is not content, no matter how much you give them, it's never enough. So, relying on scattering wealth will only make capable people look down on you and incapable people envy you. Moreover, with the methods that Brother Pang is using now, this money didn't come from a proper source either. If he's trying to buy people's hearts, that's really like Zhu Bajie looking in the mirror - not a good person inside or out."

  Chen Tianhua still didn't quite understand, but seeing Chen Ke's determination and Wu Xingchen's complete agreement, he simply stopped interrupting.

  "So, now that the Pang brothers are making a fuss, everyone needs to be careful. We must let Brother Pang be able to rescue and help those in trouble. Show everyone the direction of struggle, rather than just using money and grain to solve the problem." Chen Ke continued. Wu Xingchen's emotions this time were vastly different from before. He highly approved of Chen Ke's various ruthless suggestions, and when Chen Ke mentioned some extremely vicious methods, Wu Xingchen even applauded enthusiastically. Chen Tianhua quickly took notes, regardless of whether he could accept Chen Ke's views, but these were all very important materials. Absolutely cannot be dismissed after being said.

  The night grew darker, and the party's meeting had become very harmonious. However, just after they left the remote door, it was already past two o'clock, Wu Xingchen and Chen Tianhua could no longer bear it. Chen Ke let them sleep, continuing to write by himself.

  The sky gradually brightened, and Chen Ke put down his pen. Although he didn't feel tired yet, after all, it was exhausting to write these things that he wasn't good at. Writing wasn't too tiring, but thinking hard about the specific ways of struggle was really unbearable mentally. For the past few days, Chen Ke had been running around outside and hadn't taken a bath, so his body already had an odor. He simply stripped naked, took a basin and soap, and went to wash up by the well outside.

  It was not yet dawn, and the sky was just a little bright. In the pale white sky, there were still a few stars scattered about, and the entire courtyard was still dark, shrouded in a cold, faint light. Chen Ke poured a basin of water over himself, and compared to the chilly air, the well water was warm. The sensation of the water flowing over his skin was so comfortable that Chen Ke couldn't help but hum a tune. The autumn breeze blew by, quickly carrying away the warmth from his skin, and soon made this bather feel a chill to the bone. Chen Ke poured another basin of water over himself, then rubbed his face, and lifted his head up high. A bird flew from high in the sky towards the east, perhaps noticing Chen Ke, it suddenly cried out loudly. Watching as the silhouette of the crow gradually merged into the bronze-colored eastern sky, Chen Ke suddenly remembered that crows were supposed to be a bad omen. Of course, Chen Ke didn't believe in such nonsense. Several more basins of water poured down, then he lathered up and rinsed off again. The well water shower made his somewhat numb thinking come back to life.

  Among those good men, Chai Qingguo was always very polite to Chen Ke. Moreover, judging from his usual behavior, he seemed to agree with Chen Ke's views. However, since he was with the other brothers, Chai Qingguo couldn't directly express his approval of Chen Ke. It seems like I need to find an opportunity to talk to Chai Qingguo alone. Or, when Wu Xingchen and the others go to the countryside, let Chai Qingguo stay behind to help. Chen Ke thought to himself as he dried his body and went back inside. Indeed, one can get used to a place after staying there for a long time without noticing its smell; as soon as Chen Ke entered the room, he felt that it smelled quite strongly in there. Luckily, he was still able to stay here for a night. He didn't close the door, but instead found some clean clothes to change into, threw his dirty clothes into the basin, and squatted down in the courtyard to start washing them.

  There are still a lot of dirty clothes, and Chen Ke is washing them alone on this quiet morning. Suddenly, a strange thought pops up in his mind - he wonders if Miss He washes her own clothes too. This thought appears out of nowhere, and Chen Ke finds it quite odd - they only met once, so why did he suddenly think of her?

  Carefully recalling, Chen Ke couldn't remember the specific appearance of that miss. The only thing he could recall was those bright and determined beautiful eyes. That was a gaze Chen Ke was very familiar with, in the 21st century, only women who were strong enough had that fearless gaze.

  Chen Ke likes this kind of woman, they just do things to achieve their own goals. In the process, they only follow the rules with all their might and don't pursue any final results. So, that gaze is so bright and focused. Like He Ruming "Daren", he only cares about getting results, and doesn't care about the process in between. If possible, He Ruming "Daren" hopes the process would be like this: others shout "He Dieye" "He Yeye", you must give face, please let us serve you. Facing He Ruming's humble "repeated refusals", others firmly insist on doing things for He Ruming. In the end, He Ruming reluctantly accepts others' services to save face. Finally, He Ruming doesn't even use a finger's strength and still gains both fame and benefit.

  "I'm a bit too harsh," Chen Ke thought to himself. But when He Ruming and he discussed those trivial matters, his eyes kept changing. On the other hand, when it came to the core content, He Ruming's reaction was surprisingly dull. This contrasted perfectly with He Qian's sharpness. Are these two really siblings?

  It would be great if it were in the 21st century, Chen Ke couldn't help but think. That way, he could ask He Qian out and have a good talk about this matter privately. Who knows, maybe things would have been settled already. And everyone could still be friends. Chen Ke liked smart and capable women, being with them was easy-going, no nonsense, and chatting with them was also enjoyable.

  But this is an absolute luxury, just like in the 21st century, Chen Ke only needs to throw his clothes into the washing machine and he doesn't need to worry. Now he has to wash them by hand in order to maintain hygiene.

  The clothes have been washed, and the sky is bright. No one gets up, it seems that everyone is exhausted from the long journey. Chen Ke feels a bit sleepy, but he doesn't dare to go back to bed either. He guesses no one will call him to get up, what if he oversleeps? So he simply falls asleep on the table in the main room.

  "Mr. Chen, wake up." Someone beside him called out. Chen Ke slowly lifted his head and saw Pang Zi standing beside him. He glanced at his watch and found that he had slept for about two hours.

  "What's wrong?"

  "I've had breakfast," said Pang Zi.

  Taking a glance outside, they saw that the pot on the beehive coal stove was emitting hot air, and Wu Xingchen and the others were busy surrounding the pot.

  After a while, Chen Ke felt fully recovered and stood up, saying "Let's eat."

  According to yesterday's agreement, after finishing dinner, Wu Xingchen talked with Pang Zi and others. Chen Ke did not participate. If Chen Ke participated, it would only make Pang Zi feel uncomfortable. So Chen Ke took this opportunity to visit He Ruming.

  Mr. He's family was very enthusiastic about Chen Ke's visit, and he told Chen that He Ruming was not at home. Chen Ke almost blurted out to ask if He Qian was there, but he managed to hold back. If he had really dared to ask, Mr. He would probably have thrown him out of the house. Feeling embarrassed, he returned to his residence and heard Wu Xingchen talking to everyone in the side room. Chen Ke didn't stop, and went straight back to the main house. Just as he sat down for a moment, he heard someone knocking on the door. The front gate was not closed tightly, and the person outside pushed it open slightly before shouting through the gap, "Is Mr. Wenqing in?" It was Xie Mingxian's voice.

  "I'm here, Ming Xuan, come in quickly." Chen Ke replied happily.

  Xie Mingxian was carrying a square package, which seemed to contain medicine. What surprised Chen Keda was that there was another person standing outside the door with him, who turned out to be Wang Bin. Chen Ke was slightly taken aback, but quickly regained his composure. "Brother Wang, welcome! You must have had a tiring journey, please come in." As he spoke, he took the package from Xie Mingxian's hand and picked up Wang Bin's suitcase, leading the two men into the main house.

  Wang Bin is indeed a rare guest. Since You Yun introduced Wang Bin and Zhou Yuanxiao to Chen Ke, the two began to cooperate. As a senior manager of the German firm, Wang Bin actually helped Chen Ke get many things. However, the two did not have much private contact. He came over from Shanghai with Xie Mingxian, but didn't know why.

  "This coal looks quite interesting." Wang Bin asked, holding his tea cup with both hands. Shanghai is much warmer than Beijing, and he and Xie Mingxuan had taken a boat to get here, so they were not used to the temperature difference. Just now, when Chen Ke was boiling water, he put honeycomb coal into the stove, which caught his attention.

  "I'm planning to make a big deal out of this in Beijing." Chen Ke didn't hide it from him. Anyway, the price of smokeless coal in the south is high, and Chen Ke wasn't worried about Wang Bin making a move in the south either. "Brother Wang, do you want to stay in Beijing and work with me on honeycomb coal?" Chen Ke said jokingly.

  "This time I came not for this. A German friend has arrived in Beijing, I came to see him." Wang Bin replied.

  "It's really like that, it's really like that." Chen Ke smiled and said. He didn't have any special feelings about Wang Bin's approach. He himself liked to travel, and when he suddenly had an idea to go out in the morning, he would immediately contact his friends in that place, buy tickets at noon, and take the train at night. This wasn't the first or second time something like this had happened. In the past, there were times when a brother from another city would call him after 9 pm saying they needed one more player for mahjong. Chen Ke would immediately head to the train station to buy the next available ticket, and by 11:30 he would be at the mahjong table over 100 kilometers away, playing cards all night. Wang Bin's approach was something Chen Ke fully supported. For his German friend who had come from afar, traveling from Shanghai to Beijing to meet up wasn't a big deal at all.

  It was Xie Mingxian beside him who looked at Chen Ke with a strange gaze. Although Xie Mingxian had heard of "traveling ten thousand miles" when he was in school, it was just talk, and traveling alone from Hunan to Shanghai made him feel that the journey was long. Being sent by Qi Hui to Beijing from Shanghai was even more so. A young person's nature is naturally fond of going on long trips. But having really experienced such a long journey over the sea, he had actually arrived at the imperial capital beneath the emperor's feet. Xie Mingxian instead felt that it was somewhat unreal. Looking at Chen Ke's nonchalant attitude made Xie Mingxian feel very uncomfortable.

  Chen Ke noticed this and patted Xie Mingxian's shoulder. "Mingxian, you're also brave, from Shanghai to Beijing, it's thousands of miles along the way. What do you feel now?"

  Xie Mingxian smiled and said, "It's really far away." After that, he added another sentence, "The weather is quite cold here."

  "Haha." Chen Ke and Wang Bin both burst out laughing after hearing this.

  "By the way, Brother Wang, where are you planning to stay in Beijing? If you don't mind, why not temporarily stay at my place for a few days?" Chen Ke said.

  Wang Bin did not decline either, "I had this intention."

  Looking at Wang Bin's swollen eyes, Chen Ke said with concern: "You must be tired from the journey. Brother Wang, go take a nap first."

  When Wang Bin fell asleep, Xie Mingxian looked around and saw no one, then took out a letter and handed it to Chen Ke. "Mr. Wenqing, this is a letter from Mr. Qi to you."

  Chen Ke didn't rush to open it either. "Ming Xuan, you go sleep for a while too. If there's anything, we'll talk about it when we get up at noon. In the afternoon, you and I will go out for a trip to a good place."

  "Where are you going?" Xie Mingxian felt that Chen Kezhe's words were a bit off, so he asked.

  "The Imperial University." As soon as Chen Ke finished speaking, he saw Xie Mingxian's eyes widening immediately, and getting bigger and bigger, until they were almost round.

  "That's right, it's Jingshi University." Chen Ke added.

  Xie Mingxian's arm was a bit stiff, he saw that Chen Ke didn't mean to cheat him, so he stood up, "Mr. Wenqing, I'm going to sleep now." After finishing speaking, Xie Mingxian almost stumbled towards the bedroom. Chen Ke could understand how excited this scholar was when he heard this name.

  With less than a tenth of the excitement that Ming Xian had, Chen Ke checked the integrity of the envelope before opening it and pulling out a thick stack of paper.

  The 65th