Yan Fu naturally couldn't have seen outward bound training in the early 21st century, and the core purpose of outward bound training in the 21st century was completely different from military training in the early 20th century. The core of 21st-century outward bound training was "reasoning." It was very different from the forced indoctrination of discipline in early 20th-century military training.

After lunch, Chen Ke directed everyone to pack up the picnic items. Chen Ke's explanation for this was "One needs to see things through from beginning to end." You can choose not to eat, but after eating, you must clean up the dishes and chopsticks. In 1905, when compulsory education was not yet universal, those who could study, or more specifically, the members of the Huangpu Book Society, were not from poor families. Many even came from wealthy families; they had servants at home to clean up tableware after meals and had never washed dishes themselves. So Chen Ke brought out reasoning that everyone could understand, which finally stimulated everyone's enthusiasm for labor.

Watching Chen Ke direct more than a hundred young people to act according to his wishes—although it was just these simple trivial matters, Yan Fu felt it was remarkable. Back in the Beiyang Naval Academy, students knew they had to obey rules in the military academy after enrollment, but even so, instructors had to check again and again, correct again and again, and even resort to corporal punishment to establish discipline and norms. As far as Yan Fu knew, the Huangpu Book Society was not a formal organization, had not been established for long, and its members were diverse. Chen Ke could command these people at any rate. And from what Yan Fu saw, the young people had no intention of resisting Chen Ke. This leadership ability surprised Yan Fu very much.

Observing Chen Ke carefully, Yan Fu could determine that Chen Ke was not from a military academy background. Yan Fu had studied at the Royal Naval College in the UK and had been a military academy principal himself. Chen Ke's movements and bearing clearly showed he wasn't from a military academy. But Chen Ke was obviously not unfamiliar with rules and grasping everyone's emotions. Yan Fu knew that letting a person lead everyone wasn't a simple matter; let alone anything else, just standing in front of more than a hundred people talking with fervor and assurance, and enabling these more than a hundred listeners to follow the speaker's line of thought—this in itself was already a qualified instructor. Such instructors were rarely seen even in the Beiyang Naval Academy back then.

Originally, Yan Fu just wanted to come here to see if Chen Ke was really busy with things. He hadn't prepared to stay long, but looking at Chen Ke's performance, Yan Fu wasn't in a hurry to leave anymore. A twenty-five-year-old youth, even in 1905, belonged to the age range of "unreliable because of youth." The strength Chen Ke displayed made Yan Fu truly feel "the younger generation is to be feared." Yan Fu had a lot of practical experience and had seen countless capable people; he didn't believe in the "geniuses" in storytelling who knew everything about astronomy and geography, could revitalize the country with literature and stabilize the country with martial arts. He knew that people who could write books and establish theories often performed poorly in practical work. Those who performed outstandingly in practical work often couldn't write things.

Chen Ke's performance overturned Yan Fu's previous experience in judging people. Able to write books, able to do things. This really had the style of those true "famous masters" in history books. Sun Wu could write books and could also lead troops to attack Chu. Even the King of Wu's concubines could be drilled under Sun Wu's command. The quality of this pile of people in front of Chen Ke was definitely better than those women more than 2,000 years ago. However, based on Yan Fu's observation, they were just a rabble. Sun Wu had the power to kill back then; Chen Ke could only rely on his personal ability to persuade and lead everyone. Precisely because Yan Fu was not an ordinary person, he could better understand how outstanding Chen Ke's ability was. Sun Wu's fame shook the world, becoming a prominent god of war worshipped by later generations for thousands of years. What would become of the Chen Ke in front of him in the future?

"If there had been such a figure in the Beiyang Naval Academy back then..." Seeing Chen Ke directing everyone in an orderly manner, even Yan Fu couldn't help but imagine.

Chen Ke didn't know what Yan Fu was thinking; he managed to direct everyone to finish packing up with difficulty. Then he led everyone to start the afternoon's outward bound training.

The first item was a game. This game was very simple: ten people held hands with each other; as long as there wasn't a situation where two people held both hands with each other, and without letting go, people constantly moved their positions, then these people could inevitably untangle themselves into one or several circles.

Chen Ke, demonstrating, and nine others held hands tightly together, looking like a dead knot. The onlookers felt what Chen Ke said was unreliable. But Chen Ke had played this game many times; the key to untying this kind of thing lay in starting from the topmost clasped hands. Soon, with everyone's efforts—either squatting simultaneously to let those holding hands step over the dense arms, or turning around with great difficulty so the connection of arms wouldn't twist, or raising arms high to form an arch—the pile of people slowly disbanded and became looser and looser. Finally, just as Chen Ke said, they indeed formed a circle of ten people holding hands.

Letting everyone let go, Chen Ke shouted, "According to the order of lining up, groups of ten, complete this game."

Young people in these years didn't have many recreational activities; sports like basketball, volleyball, table tennis, and football weren't popularized in China at all. Even glass marbles weren't popularized. The game immediately attracted everyone's enthusiasm. Chen Ke watched everyone gather to play and slowly retreated backward himself. Everyone's enthusiasm far exceeded Chen Ke's imagination. In the outward bound training Chen Ke had participated in, there were quite a few people not enthusiastic about the game itself. Chen Ke originally wanted to see how many people in this outward bound training were also like this, but he didn't expect everyone to invest themselves very enthusiastically; even naturally shy people, although somewhat bashful, participated quite actively. This really surprised Chen Ke.

"What is the significance of Wenqing's game?" Yan Fu had walked to Chen Ke's side at some point and asked.

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

"Oh? So, there are more to follow?" Yan Fu was very interested in this.

"The next game is to increase everyone's trust. The last one is to let everyone accept a challenge together." Chen Ke didn't hide his secrets; telling lies in front of a smart person was a very meaningless thing.

Just as Chen Ke expected, Yan Fu pondered for a while and said, "First showing fairness, then drawing feelings closer, then cultivating trust, and finally meeting a challenge. I've learned something."

Chen Ke didn't want to boast or be polite blindly either. He just smiled but didn't speak.

Unexpectedly, Yan Fu said, "Wenqing, I actually have a suggestion. After the last game ends, could Wenqing lead these students to drill for a while?"

Chen Ke was slightly startled after hearing this; he indeed had this plan himself, just hadn't said it. He didn't expect Yan Fu to have this idea too. Chen Ke turned his head and asked, "Why is this?"

Yan Fu looked at the students and said indifferently, "Wenqing will know when the time comes."

Chen Ke didn't ask further and turned his head with Yan Fu to continue watching everyone's actions.

In the process of modern outward bound training, someone always has to act as a coach. This role isn't easy to play; one must discover problems at any time and mete out punishment. But Chen Ke didn't plan to play this role in this training. It wasn't the time yet. However, watching the students' serious attitude, Chen Ke felt everyone's seriousness truly exceeded his imagination. No one deliberately 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 were good, but going home early was better. Turning on the computer, watching movies, listening to music, chatting—all were very comfortable things. Compared to this comfort, outward bound training was merely a kind of adjustment.

Chen Ke liked going to the cinema to watch movies when he was a child, but after having a computer, he basically never went. The difference between home and the cinema was nothing more than screen size, and at home, one could watch whatever one wanted. Why spend so much effort when one could get entertainment easily? In 1905, no matter how comfortable life was, it couldn't reach the level of 2005. What was lacking wasn't just living materials; spiritual life was equally lacking. This was an era of comprehensive lack of knowledge, culture, and entertainment. These students being so enthusiastic about the game Chen Ke taught—what difference was there from Chen Ke being enthusiastic about playing glass marbles and picture cards when he was a child, and later indulging in video games?

Thinking of this, some doubt in Chen Ke's heart was suddenly somewhat resolved. Why did seven comrades join the Party in just a few months? This society was such a pool of stagnant water, so oppressive, full of injustice. That was why comrades would work with Chen Ke, who could still be considered relatively fair, and even revolt.

Revolution was originally bred among the people; just as Yan Fu summarized just now, even on small matters like dividing rice, everyone still pursued fairness. It wasn't that these games increased feelings, but that the students themselves needed to increase feelings; these healthy and uplifting games merely provided everyone with an opportunity. Otherwise, this couldn't explain those people who weren't enthusiastic in 21st-century outward bound training, as well as Chen Ke himself who felt the activity was okay but wanted to go home more.

Chen Ke had always been telling comrades that it wasn't the People's Party launching the masses to revolt, but the masses needing revolution and following the People's Party. He understood this theoretically, but only after really launching this outward bound training did Chen Ke verify that his words were indeed correct.

"The Chinese people are a great people because even an illiterate knows they should maintain a just order." Chen Ke forgot which book this sentence came from, but Chen Ke agreed with it very much. Although it was also a theoretical agreement. Today, Chen Ke finally believed it; as long as the things provided were healthy and uplifting, conforming to the Chinese people's nature of pursuing truth, kindness, and beauty, everyone would follow you. Just like Chen Ke saw with his own eyes, a team had already failed twice, and now they were challenging this game for the third time.

Revolution still had a very bright future. Chen Ke couldn't help showing a smile. With such a social foundation needing revolution, how could it not succeed? Chen Ke said to himself. Although the objective nature of STEM later made Chen Ke have some doubts about his own optimism.

Spending less than forty minutes, all eleven teams completed this game. Everyone was laughing; some with lively personalities were still performing how their arms were twisted just now, or the embarrassing state of others when stepping over the dense arms.

"Classmates, now, we proceed to the next item. Trust Fall." Chen Ke clapped his hands while shouting loudly.

This item wasn't simple. Hua Xiongmao had built six sets of platforms according to Chen Ke's instructions. All were over three meters high. Chen Ke let twenty people divide into two teams and stand under the platform, facing each other. Arms with backs of hands downward, palms upward resting on the other person's shoulders. Chen Ke explained the rules; he himself would fall straight back from the platform and land on everyone's arms. Chen Ke guaranteed that this impact wouldn't hurt Chen Ke or the people below.

After explaining, Chen Ke asked loudly, "Do you trust me?" Everyone was very worried about this posture. If palms were downward and backs of hands upward resting on the opposite classmate's shoulders, when Chen Ke fell, everyone could hold Chen Ke at any rate. With palms upward, there was no place to leverage strength at all. When Chen Ke, this big tall guy, fell from above and smashed onto the arms, he would definitely smash everyone's arms down, and then Chen Ke would fall straight to the ground.

The students standing ready looked at each other in blank dismay.

"I said no problem, so there is absolutely no problem. Does everyone trust me?" Chen Ke asked with firm eyes.

After the previous training, the students had already established confidence in Chen Ke. Everyone said to Chen Ke one after another, "We trust Mr. Chen."

"No need to add 'Mr.' Answer me together." After speaking, Chen Ke said loudly again, "Do you trust me?"

"We trust," came the almost simultaneous reply.

Chen Ke asked loudly again, "Do you trust us?"

"We trust." This time the voices were uniform.

Hearing this momentum, Chen Ke smiled, explained the rules and precautions, and climbed up the rack nimbly. As he said himself, he stood on the platform only with the balls of his feet, back to everyone. "My name is Chen Ke; I am ready," he shouted.

"We, the first team, are also ready; please trust us," the students below responded excitedly.

Upon hearing this reply, Chen Ke immediately straightened his body. Under the gaze of more than a hundred pairs of eyes, like a turning second hand, with his feet as the axis, his body fell straight back. Everyone didn't expect Chen Ke to fall as soon as he said so. Amidst a sound of sharp intakes of breath, Chen Ke's body fell straight in a horizontal state, landing on the "net" formed by the students' arms. The feeling on his back was a slight sinking, but it stopped immediately.

Everyone had palms upward; another benefit of this was that they didn't need to turn their arms to put Chen Ke down following the momentum. The students surrounding him were already asking all at once, "Does it hurt?" They were frightened by Chen Ke's clean fall. The platform was over three meters high; when Chen Ke stood on it, the top of his head was more than five meters from the ground. Falling straight down with back downwards from such a high place—just looking at it caused a kind of shock.

"It doesn't hurt at all."

"That's right, Mr. Chen was right; distributing one person's weight onto these forty arms, there isn't much feeling at all."

The students who were below just now said proudly. When such a big guy as Chen Ke fell, everyone was somewhat worried; they didn't expect it to be truly as Chen Ke said—there wasn't much feeling at all.

Someone couldn't help preparing to climb up the platform to test it himself.

What this training feared most was people naturally sticking their buttocks down. Forty arms bearing the weight of one person was naturally no problem, but three or four arms wouldn't work. Chen Ke had made five binding bags. The purpose was to avoid this problem.

After training for so long, everyone had long begun to get used to obeying. Two people stood on the platform helping the student who was going to perform the "Trust Fall" put on the bag. Inside the large cloth bag like a body bag were a few carrying poles. After putting the person in, it was tied tight with ropes on the outside; the person inside couldn't bend even if they wanted to. These two people were also responsible for controlling the direction to prevent deviation. Chen Ke could do it well himself, but he dared not really let the students complete it themselves.

More than a hundred people divided into five teams and started this item. Some hardened their hearts and started falling back immediately after the Q&A. Some weren't so straightforward; they always hesitated for a while and plucked up courage several times before falling back. In the air, although their bodies were forcibly straightened by the carrying poles, one could still see their buttocks protruding relatively obviously. These people didn't achieve the rule's requirement of keeping the body straight.

There were also some who stood there and shouted a few times; the people below also responded, but they just couldn't fall back no matter what. As a last resort, the classmates on the platform had to help them a bit. According to Chen Ke's secret instructions, they pushed the foreheads of the students unwilling to fall forcefully so that they could fall relatively straight.

Questions one after another, and the simultaneous answers from below: "Please trust us." Then the "flying men" fell one by one. With the people in front demonstrating, the people behind became more and more skilled. This game actually ended in less than an hour and a half.

Yan Fu watched the students' expressions mixed with excitement and lingering fear, watching them conduct the "thrilling" training more and more skillfully. His face also became more and more solemn. Chen Ke's training looked thrilling but was very safe. As everyone experienced such training, the atmosphere among everyone became increasingly harmonious. If the students below didn't catch him, falling back from such a height would cost him half his life if not kill him. But being able to land safely on the classmates' arms and then being put down by seven hands and eight feet—this feeling was very different. In a sense, this could be considered a "friendship of life and death."

Having undergone such training, Yan Fu believed the relationship among these people would inevitably be very different in the future. The Beiyang Navy's training had always been harsh; before the Battle of the Yalu River, incidents of soldiers dying due to overly harsh training had occurred multiple times. But such training couldn't train such a sense of trust. How exactly did Chen Ke come up with such a method? Watching Chen Ke patrolling the training seriously, although he was the leader of the crowd, he integrated into the environment so naturally. Yan Fu didn't worry that anyone would oppose Chen Ke at this time, but no one would refuse to acknowledge Chen Ke's command authority either. Given time, if these students became an army, they would inevitably be united from top to bottom, working as one.

Yan Fu was very satisfied with this.

"Mr. Yan, you come participate too." While Yan Fu was thinking, a student ran over excitedly to invite him. After this stimulation, the students' faces were all red. Many original rules had been cast aside under the young people's excitement.

"Uh?" Yan Fu didn't expect to be invited actually.

It wasn't known who started the jeering first, but the students shouted in unison anyway: "Mr. Yan, come one! Mr. Yan, come one!" More and more people joined the shouting. Under this scene already dominated by group consciousness, everyone couldn't help joining in. Hearing the enthusiastic and friendly invitation becoming louder and louder, even Yan Fu felt somewhat involuntarily moved. He was a soldier and didn't like empty politeness. Yan Fu simply took off his glasses. The proficient ladder-climbing skills trained earlier at the Royal Naval College in the UK and in the Nanyang and Beiyang Fleets were still there. Watching Yan Fu climb up the platform nimbly, the students clapped and cheered together. Yan Fu stood properly like Chen Ke; in the sudden silence where not a crow could be heard, Yan Fu said clearly, "My name is Yan Fu; I am ready."

"Please trust us." The voices below were resonant and powerful. Yan Fu could hear that it wasn't just the people prepared to catch him; everyone responded in unison.

Yan Fu straightened his body and fell straight back. In any case, that innate human reaction wouldn't disappear; that faint sense of fear still occupied the main feeling. But Yan Fu was not a person to admit defeat. Not only did he not tighten his body subconsciously, but on the contrary, he made his body straight. Just like leaping into the sea during the navy's swimming training. That falling feeling seemed very long, yet not long lasting. Before Yan Fu began to question whether those below could catch him, Yan Fu's body had already fallen into the barrier formed by solid arms. The strength of the crowd stopped Yan Fu in the air. No one was hurt. Cheers rang out again.

The last item was climbing over obstacles. In groups of ten, the whole team had to pass an obstacle over three meters high. This thing was a solid wooden frame deeply buried underground on the outside, and inside, thick wooden planks were pieced together without gaps. Everyone had to climb up by forming a human pyramid first, then climb down. The last person remaining had to grab the leg of the second to last person and be pulled over by everyone. Although the theory was simple, implementing it took quite some effort.

Yan Fu paced to Chen Ke's side and asked, "Wenqing, regarding the final formation drill, can I command it?" Watching the students full of vigor and working together to surmount obstacles, Yan Fu felt he suddenly regained some of the feeling of being the principal of the Beiyang Naval Academy back then. That was a long-lost feeling.

"I launched this outward bound training; I must command it personally. I cannot follow Mr. Yan's wish; I am truly sorry." Chen Ke rejected Yan Fu's request gently but firmly.

Yan Fu hadn't thought that much originally, just slightly simply excited. Hearing Chen Ke's refusal, Yan Fu suddenly understood that he was no longer a principal; those days belonging to him had been shattered in the Gengzi year. Looking at Chen Ke's young and vibrant face, looking at those equally young students encouraging each other, carrying, and pulling companions over the high obstacle, Yan Fu nodded slightly but didn't say anything more.

At 5 PM, everyone had surmounted the obstacle. Quite a few people even had blood marks rubbed onto their arms. But no one cared about this; everyone talked and chatted happily. A day of training would make even young people feel some fatigue, but everyone felt very comfortable. Originally in the Huangpu Book Society, everyone also met, but they would never be this intimate no matter what. Having passed so many passes, everyone suddenly discovered that those surrounding classmates, even some who didn't look very pleasing to the eye, all had their reliable or lovely sides. This new discovery made the students, who already liked making friends, even closer.

"All assemble, line up," Chen Ke shouted. His arm pointed straight at a position in front of him. No need for special explanation anymore. Someone already ran over to stand at that position; like a magnet attracting iron filings, other students formed a ten-by-eleven square formation with this person as the origin one after another.

"Whole unit, forward march," Chen Ke shouted.

Although the formation was still somewhat messy, although some people still couldn't help stepping with the right foot first, under Chen Ke's command of "one, two, one," everyone consciously adjusted their steps without Chen Ke's order. Not long after, the crowd's steps could finally tread on the same beat. The neater the footsteps, the more powerful they were; the more powerful, the neater. The students marched fifty meters stepping on the same beat. The wall got closer and closer. Although everyone felt perhaps they should stop, no one stopped their steps. This was a wonderful feeling; everyone felt they had a seemingly brand-new strength. As long as Chen Ke gave an order, everyone would work together to surmount the wall in front of them according to the training they had just received, advancing toward the vast space outside the wall.

"Halt!" Chen Ke finally shouted.

"Classmates," Chen Ke shouted in front of the formation, "Today, everyone underwent outward bound training. Everyone did very well participating in the training for the first time. What we want to tell everyone first in this training is that fairness is possible to achieve. Secondly, as long as you can trust comrades and obey discipline, there are no obstacles that cannot be crossed. Even if you fall, you can 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 are no passes that cannot be crossed."

Looking at the excited and satisfied faces of the students, as well as the expressions of understanding and agreement, Chen Ke continued, "Today, I thank everyone for participating. Tomorrow, everyone still has to attend class and study. Now, I announce, dismissed."

The students stood on the spot and didn't scatter. Chen Ke's concise and to-the-point style was what everyone usually liked. No one liked chattering long speeches, but now, no one wanted to leave. Everyone felt as if something was missing. After such a day, Chen Ke's simple summary made everyone feel a kind of insufficiency. It seemed a summary was needed.

Chen Ke was very satisfied with this. He slowly raised his left arm, and everyone's gaze focused on this left arm with a clenched fist. "Struggle for the rise of China!" Chen Ke shouted.

Everyone's emotions seemed to find the final eruption point in this sentence. "Struggle for the rise of China!" someone already shouted. "Struggle for the rise of China!" Everyone joined such shouting unknowingly. The wave of sound rushed straight in all directions. Whether it was Yan Fu in the distance or the workers on the construction site, they all looked over.