Section 8 Leaving School

  Zhuang Jihua listened to Xuan Xiafu's account, especially Chiang Kai-shek's words, and then squatted down to draw horizontal lines on the sandy ground with a branch in his hand. In his heart, however, he was very clear that Chiang Kai-shek had made up his mind to take drastic measures. Although it seemed like Xuan Xiafu was being left with an exit route, in reality, he had no way out. If he wrote a letter of repentance, he would have to admit to taking orders from someone else - and the only possibility was the Communist Party. In that case, Xuan Xiafu could stay, but his career within the party would be over. Moreover, Chiang Kai-shek would then have leverage over the Communist Party, and if he didn't make good use of it, he wouldn't be Chiang Kai-shek anymore. But this couldn't be explicitly stated, because they hadn't yet reached that level of understanding.

  Seeing him silent, Jiang Xianyun's heart sank. The three of them were all excellent party members within the party, and neither their literary talent nor military strategy was inferior to Zhuang Jihua. In terms of appeal within the school, Jiang Xianyun and Li Zhilong were also stronger than Zhuang Jihua. In terms of experience, Jiang Xianyun had led workers' strikes, and Li Zhilong had even served as Borodin's translator - they were all figures who could stand on their own. However, last night Zhuang Jihua's analysis of the development of events had conquered them, and the outcome of things also proved that Zhuang Jihua was correct. Therefore, this meeting made them subconsciously hope that Zhuang Jihua would come up with a plan.

  "Wushan, Tian, you two go find the principal and the political commissar separately. Especially the political commissar, let him talk to the principal and give Jianhun a warning or a disciplinary action to see if it's feasible." Zhuang Jihua stood up and said seriously to Jiang Xiyun and Li Zhilong.

  "Go find a few classmates to look for members of the student union, and ask them to plead on our behalf."

  "I'm going to look for Director Deng Fu." Zhuan Jihua said and turned around to leave.

  Xuan Xiaofu initially thought that Zhuang Jihua would advise him to write a letter of apology, but Zhuang Jihua left without saying a word to him. He understood Zhuang Jihua's intention: if he didn't plead guilty, then he had no choice but to leave.

  Zhuang Jihua left, Li Zhilong dazedly said: "Is that it? Is there no other way? He didn't say what to do with the sword spirit."

  Xuan Xia's father didn't seem to think much of it. He patted his hands and said, "In the fields, Jihua didn't say anything, but he said everything."

  Jiang Xianyun nodded, but Li Zhilong didn't quite understand. In his heart, he thought that Jiang Xianyun was a perceptive person and would likely surpass him in the future developments.

  "Ji Hua's meaning is that this matter I am already powerless, can only rely on you, the letter of repentance cannot be written."

  Li Zhi Long looked at Jiang Xian Yun, saw Jiang Xian Yun nodding his head, and suddenly realized. After a while, he asked: "Why can't we write a letter of apology? Admitting one's mistake is nothing."

  Jiang Xianyun and Xuan Xia's father looked at him in shock, neither of them thought about why they couldn't write a letter of apology, but simply believed that they should stick to the truth and not write something against their will. Jiang Xianyun thought for a moment, Zhuang Jihua said that either a warning or staying in school to reflect would be acceptable, but never mentioned writing a letter of apology, which meant that in Zhuang Jihua's mind, the harm of writing a letter of apology was even greater than being expelled from school. Why did he make such a judgment? Jiang Xianyun walked and thought about Zhuang Jihua's analysis of the whole thing yesterday, suddenly he understood, and then felt a wave of fear.

  He suddenly stopped and shouted: "Soul of the Sword."

  Xuan Xia's father walked ahead, heard Jiang Xianyun shouting him, and turned his head. Seeing Jiang Xianyun's face, he felt that something was wrong, and asked: "Wushan, what's the matter?"

  Jiang Xianyun said to Xuan's father word by word: "The letter of repentance must not be written, even if it means expulsion from school. If you write it, I will report this matter to the higher authorities and demand that your Communist Party membership be revoked. You will bear all the consequences personally."

  Actually, Xuan Xia's father never thought of writing a letter of repentance. He was convinced that he was not wrong, it was Chiang Kai-shek who was wrong. But Li Zhi-long's question just now suddenly made him think of Zhuang Ji-hua's words. However, he hadn't thought about it so deeply yet. Now seeing Jiang Xian-yun being so serious and raising the issue to the level of expulsion from the party, he also suddenly thought of something.

  He nodded: "Wushan, rest assured that Xiang Ye is not a fickle and unscrupulous person. He will never become a traitor who betrays the organization. No matter what the outcome of this matter is, I will take responsibility for it. As for the letter of repentance, I have never thought about it."

  Li Zhi Long did not speak at this time, but furrowed his brow in contemplation before saying: "The organization sent us to take the entrance exam for Huangpu specifically so that we could study military affairs. If Jianhun were truly expelled, how would I explain it to the organization?"

  "In the fields, the repentance book seems to be nothing, but actually hides evil intentions... As for the organization, I will report to the organization." Jiang Xianyun quietly told his analysis to the two, and they suddenly realized.

  Li Zhi Long looked at Jiang Xian Yun with admiration: "Still, Mount Wu is formidable. I hadn't thought of these things at all. I'm inferior, I'm inferior."

  Jiang Xianyun said with a self-deprecating smile: "I'm not the one who's formidable, it's Ji Hua who's formidable. I got my ideas from him. Just now he didn't even mention regretting writing that book, which means he had already thought things through back then." Seeing Li Zhilong's disbelieving expression: "Don't believe me? Ask Jianhun."

  Jian Xuan's father nodded in agreement, and Li Zhilong was finally convinced.

  Xuan Xia's father slowly said: "Ji Hua's political sense is indeed keen, and his talent is superior to others. But I always feel that he lacks something... Ah, it should be a spirit of dedication. He is too calm, too calculating about gains and losses. Wu Shan, I think it's hard for him to become a revolutionary."

  Jiang Xianyun shook his head and said: "Sword Soul, people can change, we'll influence him slowly, I believe he will transform eventually."

  Xuan Xia's father Zhang was about to speak, but saw Jiang Xianyun's serious expression and stopped talking.

  Zhuang Jihua found Deng Yanda and told him what had happened, hoping that Deng would persuade Chiang Kai-shek to withdraw his order. Deng agreed readily enough, but Zhuang did not realize how resolute Chiang's attitude was. Neither Liao Zhongkai nor Deng Yanda could move him, and he even threatened to resign if Xuan Hu were not punished. When Zhuang heard this, he knew that everything was beyond recall.

  Three days later, Huangpu's father left the poem "The big jade is not finished, it is always jade, the fine steel would rather break than be bent into a hook" and left Huangpu, causing an uproar among all the students.

  Report

  "Come in"

  Zhuang Jihua walked into the principal's office with a standard posture, stood upright in front of Chiang Kai-shek's desk and said loudly: "Reporting to the principal, trainee Zhuang Jihua has been ordered to report for duty, please give orders."

  From the moment Zhuang Jihua entered, Chiang Kai-shek had been watching his every move, and he was very satisfied. Zhuang's gestures were full of a strong military spirit.

  "Ji Hua, take a short rest, sit down. I didn't call you here for anything else, just to have a chat." Chiang Kai-shek said with a smile all over his face.

  Zhuang Jihua sat upright in the chair opposite him, his eyes fixed straight ahead, his hands placed on his knees, and his back as straight as a pen.

  "Relax, I didn't call you out today for anything in particular, just small talk."

  "The principal once said that soldiers should maintain their military style in all situations, and students dare not forget it for a moment." Zhuang Jihua said solemnly.

  "Good, you're indeed my student. However, I'm not the principal now, and you're not a student either. We're just fellow townspeople meeting to chat." Chiang Kai-shek was delighted, his bald head shining brightly.

  "But you, Zhu Jihua, are a bit unfriendly. You've been in Huangpu for so long and haven't come to see me. You should know that I'm the one who recommended you. Do you want me to have to look for you?" Chiang Kai-shek joked.

  Zhuang Jihua cooperated and showed an embarrassed expression: "It's not that the students forgot, it's just that the principal is busy with official duties, and the students are too shy to disturb him. Moreover, the principal's nephews are also in school, but they don't often come here either, which shows that the principal has strict requirements for them as well, without any special treatment. The students dare not disturb him casually." The nephew Zhuang Jihua mentioned is Jiang Xiaoxian, who is Chiang Kai-shek's legitimate clan nephew and was also recommended by Chiang Kai-shek to take the entrance exam at Huangpu. Here, Zhuang Jihua secretly flattered Chiang Kai-shek, which made Chiang Kai-shek even happier. Chiang Kai-shek wasn't happy about the strict requirements, but rather about Zhuang Jihua's flattery.

  So the two of them chatted idly, with false pretenses. Zhuang Jihua let Chiang Kai-shek indulge in his addiction to being a mentor, and greatly satisfied his vanity. It's worth noting that what Chiang Kai-shek feared most was that students wouldn't take him seriously, and what made him happiest was when students took his words to heart, the latter indicating that the students were gradually coming around.

  "Ji Hua, you haven't written your character yet."

  "Yes, Principal." Zhuang Jihua didn't understand why Chiang Kai-shek asked this.

  "Hmm, how can a Chinese person not have a character? I'll give you one, are you willing?"