Hebei was much drier than Jiangnan. It must have been windy a few days ago, as there was quite a bit of dust on the floor and tables of Pang Zi's house. Chen Ke didn't mind this at all. Anyway, denim jeans were inherently dirt-resistant; Chen Ke sat down heavily on a dusty stool. He still liked the dry and crisp autumn days in the north. The "Autumn Tiger" (Indian summer) was fierce, but inside the house, when the wind blew through, it was cool and pleasant.

Pang Zi, sitting in the main seat, wasn't tall, probably around 170cm. He had a lean build with solid muscles, and his two eyes shot out sharp light; he looked like someone from a martial arts background. Contrary to the cold and vigilant attitude when they first met, upon learning that Chen Ke was sent by Wu Xingchen, Pang Zi immediately became enthusiastic.

There was no tea; boiled water was poured into a pottery bowl with a small chip. Chen Ke was really thirsty, so he picked up the bowl and drank it all in a few gulps. Wiping the water from the corner of his mouth, Chen Ke said, "Some more."

Pang Zi refilled the water for Chen Ke, then asked, "How has Big Brother Wu been recently?"

"He is very well. This is his letter to you." Chen Ke took the letter out of his travel backpack.

Pang Zi took the envelope, but his gaze fell on the zipper of the travel backpack. This gadget that opened with a pull and closed with a pull, especially the sound when opening, attracted Pang Zi's attention. This thing looked much more convenient than a wrapped bundle.

But Pang Zi was a prominent figure in the area after all; although curious, he still did business first. He tore open the envelope and began to read Wu Xingchen's letter.

Wu Xingchen was literate, especially after joining the Party organization; Chen Ke had even opened a special cultural remedial class for Wu Xingchen. That is to say, Chen Ke learned to write traditional characters together with Wu Xingchen. So the letter Wu Xingchen wrote to Pang Zi was reasonably free of typos.

"Big Brother Wu has really improved after joining the Revolutionary Party; I don't recognize many characters in this letter." Pang Zi laughed after reading the letter. "Two Mr. Chens, Big Brother Wu said you are revolutionaries; is it true?"

Chen Ke laughed, "Brother Wu is also a revolutionary now. We are all in the same Party."

Pang Zi smacked his lips after hearing this. "Two Mr. Chens, Big Brother Wu said in the letter that he would come to my place in a few days and let you two say hello first. Coming all the way from Shanghai to our place definitely isn't as simple as just saying hello, right?"

There was no one else in the room. For safety's sake, Chen Ke still lowered his voice. "Brother Wu should have said in the letter what we are going to do. I haven't seen that letter, but Brother Wu said Brother Pang is preparing to rise up and make a disturbance, so we came specially."

"I read the letter; Brother Wu said Chen Xinglian, that old boy, said so," Pang Zi laughed. "Those surnamed Chen aren't any good stuff."

Hearing this remark pointing at the mulberry tree while cursing the locust tree, Chen Tianhua's face changed slightly, but Chen Ke didn't feel anything at all. On the contrary, he asked with interest, "Has Brother Pang suffered a lot from scholars before?"

Seeing that Chen Ke heard the overtones in his words, Pang Zi said hatefully, "In the Gengzi year (1900), the court sent some scholars to harm us Yihequan (Boxers). Suffering that loss once was enough. If I'm harmed twice more, my little life will be gone."

"Brother Pang is worried that I came this time to egg you on to rise up and make a disturbance, and then I gain advantage from you for nothing?" Chen Ke laughed.

"Then what is Mr. Chen doing at my place? Could it be to join the gang?" Pang Zi asked tit for tat.

Chen Ke answered seriously, "I came to Hebei Province preparing to hire some people. Why come to see Brother Pang? Brother Wu said let us come and have a look, so I came. If Brother Pang wants to rise up and make a disturbance, I want to persuade Brother Pang not to rush into action."

Hearing this, Pang Zi was unmoved and refused to continue the conversation. Everyone fell silent for a while like this. Chen Ke asked, "Brother Pang, I wonder if there is an inn in this Gaojiazhai."

"Since you have come, I naturally have to arrange accommodation for the two of you. Mr. Chen's words are too treating me like an outsider." Although saying this with his mouth, there was no enthusiasm on Pang Zi's face at all. He picked up the letter and read it again, then got up and took the two to the wing room. There was only an earthen *kang* in the wing room. Pang Zi brought grass mats and also got bedding for the two.

"You two look like people who enjoy life; just make do with this."

Chen Ke scratched his head. Sitting on boats and trains these few days, he hadn't been able to take a good bath. "Is there a place to take a bath here, Brother Pang?"

Hearing such a request, Pang Zi immediately laughed somewhat unkindly. "Bath? There is a river to the east of the village; you can go wash there."

"Many thanks." Chen Ke didn't mind at all.

"Since the two gentlemen don't mind, then please help yourselves." After speaking, Pang Zi went out the door.

After tidying up the bedding slightly, Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua took soap and towels. As soon as they went out of the courtyard gate, they saw a pile of children surrounding the gate watching. Seeing the two come out, the children first scattered in a hubbub, then hid behind something or stood far away watching these two strange adults. In their bright eyes, there was curiosity and puzzlement. Not far after walking east out of the door, Chen Ke felt someone pulling the back of his jacket. Turning his head, he saw a child screaming and running away quickly. His little friends were all laughing. Very happy. Before that child ran far, other children already tried to run over. Glared at by Chen Ke, they stood on the spot, daring not act rashly. But as soon as Chen Ke turned around, not long after, children continued this game.

Rural life in these years was just like this; everyone's range of activity was just that tiny bit. A person coming from outside was a big rarity. Let alone people dressed differently. Not only children, but many adults were also watching the two outsiders, whispering and evaluating these two people. Occasionally, a girl or daughter-in-law from some family would come out or approach face-to-face; seeing Chen Ke and the other, they immediately hid to the side as if frightened. Chen Ke couldn't be bothered to care about these; if he went down to the countryside in the future, such things would definitely not be rare. Just get used to it for now. His attention was placed on the surrounding scenery.

This was a common village in the north, with yellow adobe courtyard walls; even the walls of houses were mostly adobe walls. Pang Zi's house was considered relatively imposing, with tiles on the main room; the roofs of many houses were simply thick thatch. Looking in from the half-open gates or over the low walls, most courtyards had some strung-up corn hanging. There were also some bundled sorghum stalks piled by the wall. The strings of dried chili peppers occasionally seen added quite a bit of festive air to the courtyards. Door gods were pasted on the old wooden doors; the colorful papers had turned somewhat white under the wind and rain, and the images of gods on them were already blurred. The air was mixed with the smells of various plants, animals, and dust.

In such a dilapidated atmosphere, Chen Tianhua said, "This village looks not bad."

Hearing this, Chen Ke really didn't know how to answer. Honestly speaking, rural areas all looked like this. Let alone 1905, even the northern rural areas Chen Ke had seen in 1995, 90 years later, might not really have changed much.

Spotless wooden floors, snow-white walls, full floor-to-ceiling large glass doors on the balcony, fabric sofas, European-style double-layer large curtains—cities might need them. In the countryside, Chen Ke might not really feel much interest in this either. Chen Ke had also seen many villages; comparatively speaking, this village at least looked not bad. At least at dusk, there was cooking smoke from every household, and parents began to urge their children to eat. The children who were following Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua with great interest just now ran back to their own homes one by one like birds returning to the forest. Perhaps because there were outsiders, quite a few households closed their gates tight after calling back their children.

Entering October, the evening wind was already chilly. Walking side by side on the empty dirt road outside the village, Chen Tianhua saw there was no one around, so he asked, "This Brother Pang seems to have some opinion about us."

"People of the Yihequan hate foreigners the most. Now there is also the Manchu Qing. It is said they especially hate fake foreign devils. When in Beijing back then, some lost their heads just because they pinned a fountain pen. This Brother Pang is already very polite to us."

"The Yihequan was so fierce in Beijing?" Chen Tianhua disbelieved Chen Ke's words somewhat.

"The one leading at the time was some Prince. I forget exactly which one; that guy represented a bunch of people who hated the Westernization faction to the bone. It's not strange to incite doing this."

Chen Tianhua remained silent for a long time after hearing this explanation. Although he was already accustomed to Chen Ke's way of looking at problems, this kind of sharp evaluation made Chen Tianhua feel very wrong. "Wenqing, you never seem to get angry because of these perverse acts?"

"Of course I get angry, but I'm not angry anymore now. They will inevitably do this. Wait until we liberate China; lock up those of this batch who should be locked up, behead those who should be beheaded. Apart from this, we have nothing else better to do, right?"

"That is the only way," Chen Tianhua replied.

After walking for another stretch, they finally saw the river Pang Zi mentioned. Chen Ke believed this river was definitely different from later generations; there was absolutely no industrial wastewater or civil wastewater mixed in it. Sure enough, as Chen Ke thought, this riverbed had high sand content, and the river water was quite clear. It was autumn, and the temperature had dropped a lot. The river water was actually warmer than the air temperature. Taking a bath heartily. The sky had turned completely dark.

On the way back to the village, Chen Tianhua asked Chen Ke what he planned to do before Brother Wu Xingchen arrived.

"Try to do a social investigation; see the situation of this village. Anyway, we'll have to go down to the countryside sooner or later; this step is absolutely indispensable," Chen Ke replied.

"Wenqing, do you think we can really achieve something in the countryside?" Although Chen Tianhua accepted Chen Ke's concepts, he still didn't believe much in rural revolution.

Chen Ke pointed to the pitch-black surroundings. "When we came today, we saw such a vast area. In such a vast world, what can't be done? The enemy's strength is weakest in the countryside, but China is composed of countless such villages. As long as we can seize the leadership of these villages, what enemy can't be overthrown?"

"How many people are in one village? How many villages added together can equal the population of Shanghai? I actually feel launching an uprising in Shanghai might be better," Chen Tianhua said.

"Shanghai has a large population. I won't say anything else; even if the uprising succeeds in Shanghai, what do we eat? Where does grain come from?"

"We can buy it, right?"

"Buy? Where does the money come from?"

"Relying on collecting taxes should be about enough."

"Collecting taxes? Whose taxes? Why should those rich people pay taxes to us? The Concession is the wealthiest area in Shanghai; if we collect taxes into the Concession, what will foreigners do?" Chen Ke asked with a smile.

Chen Tianhua stopped making a sound. Chen Ke could understand Chen Tianhua; what oil could be squeezed out of such a tiny village? Moreover, this was different from densely populated cities; it really felt so empty here. From Xingtai to here, the mules walked for almost a day. The two walked from the village to the riverside for more than twenty minutes. Compared with the city, the countryside is just like this. Small gathering points are scattered all over the vast land like stars. Every small village doesn't have too many people. It's absolutely impossible to support a revolution. Just communicating news takes a long time, and to fully utilize the human and material resources of these villages, what powerful organizational ability is needed! Chen Ke had read some materials about how much energy the Party poured into the grassroots back then; he could understand it theoretically. After personally arriving in the countryside, Chen Ke also felt a strong sense of powerlessness.

The two returned to Pang Zi's place; the gate was already closed. Knocking open the door, Pang Zi, who opened the door, invited the two to eat dinner together. Sorghum flour *wotou* (steamed bun), salted vegetables, corn porridge. There was little salt in the dishes, let alone oil. Coarse fiber, low oil, low salt. Chen Ke remembered a friend's joke from before: "Food from the 60s absolutely conforms to the so-called healthy diet standards of the 21st century." Thinking of these, Chen Ke also had a somewhat happy look on his face.

Pang Zi watched Chen Ke eating with great interest, looking quite happy, and felt somewhat surprised instead. "Mr. Chen seems tired of eating wine and meat and wants to change taste," Pang Zi said heartily.

Chen Ke wasn't angry either. "Stuff like wine and meat, one never gets tired of eating."

"My hospitality is inadequate; there's no chicken, duck, fish, or meat. Mr. Chen, don't take offense," Pang Zi laughed.

When Chen Ke walked through the village, he actually heard quite a few calls of chickens and ducks. He suddenly remembered a matter. "I see we have a river here; I wonder if we can catch earthworms and fish for fish and shrimp to feed chickens and ducks."

"Of course we catch them. Feeding only grain isn't enough for people to eat," Pang Zi replied.

"Brother Pang, actually there is a method of raising earthworms. Mix horse manure and cow dung with straw and rice stalks, ret it like composting, mix with soil, and raise earthworms in it. The earthworms will eat very stoutly and grow fast. At least in winter, chickens and ducks will still have enough things to eat. It's indeed much better than feeding grain."

These were very common breeding techniques in later generations' time-travel literature, but Chen Ke firmly believed Pang Zi absolutely hadn't seen them. Fooling Pang Zi a bit was still very easy.

Sure enough, as Chen Ke said, Pang Zi scoffed disapprovingly: "Mr. Chen just knows how to hoax people; earthworms can also be raised?"

"Brother Pang must have also caught earthworms. Then let me ask, where is it easy to catch earthworms? Is it muddy ground, or grassland, or under trees?" Chen Ke asked.

Pang Zi recalled for a moment; he really hadn't paid attention. Chen Ke discussed with Pang Zi while eating. As the saying goes, truth becomes clearer with debate. After a discussion, Pang Zi remembered that indeed, as Chen Ke said, wherever there was humus, earthworms were plentiful. Hearing Chen Ke speak methodically, it didn't seem like he was cheating people. Pang Zi had never believed fake foreign devils, but after listening for a while, he found he actually believed Chen Ke's words somewhat. This was truly a strange thing.

"Has Mr. Chen farmed land?" Pang Zi asked.

"Haven't farmed. But I have a friend who once raised earthworms to feed chickens; the effect was very good."

Hearing this, Pang Zi immediately confirmed Chen Ke was definitely telling lies. But just as this thought arose, Pang Zi felt hesitant. Pang Zi had also seen the world; whether someone was telling lies or not could be seen from the expression on their face. Chen Ke's expression was open and magnanimous; if he could deceive people like this, it could only be said that Chen Ke was truly too insidious a guy. There wasn't much food to begin with, so they finished eating quickly. Chen Ke yawned. "If there's nothing else, Brother Pang, I'll go to sleep first."

After Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua went to sleep, Pang Zi closed the door carefully and returned to his own room. Just now when Chen Ke went out to take a bath, Pang Zi secretly checked the backpacks Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua left in the room. Inside, besides a dozen books, there was a pile of small bottles. All sealed tightly. The rest were some change of clothes. Pang Zi simply couldn't figure out the principle of that strange zipper on the bag. But it was really convenient; opening with a pull, closing with a pull.

He took out Wu Xingchen's letter and read it again. The letter should be written by Wu Xingchen. Pang Zi had indeed invited a few old brothers over to discuss the matter of "making a disturbance" together. The letter spoke of this matter. The letter told Pang Zi that Chen Ke was a revolutionary and had extraordinary insight. Wu Xingchen thought letting Chen Ke participate should be of some help. Pang Zi knew Wu Xingchen was like him back then, hating fake foreign devils the most. Unexpectedly, not seeing him for a few years, he actually started befriending these people. It really puzzled him.

Pang Zi met Wu Xingchen in the Gengzi year. At that time, Jing Tingbin, as a military examination graduate, was also a famous figure in Xingtai. As a relative, Pang Zi practiced martial arts with Jing Tingbin. When the Hebei Yihequan entered Beijing in the Gengzi year, Pang Zi wanted to go to Beijing to watch the excitement behind Jing Tingbin's back. Arriving in the capital, he was also a person with kung fu and became a small leader.

At that time, Wu Xingchen was the helmsman of the Tiandihui in Zhili, but he concealed his identity and also became a leader. He had dozens of people under him and met Pang Zi often. The two hit it off, and Wu Xingchen urged Pang Zi not to trust the court. Later, before the court joined hands with foreigners to suppress the Yihequan, Wu Xingchen notified the brothers of various groups to run quickly. Many people didn't believe Wu Xingchen's words, but Pang Zi did. As a result, not long after the two led their subordinates to flee the capital separately, the suppression of the Yihequan happened.

The two were also considered "famous outside"; Pang Zi dared not go home, so he simply followed Wu Xingchen to Shandong to defect to Zhao Sanduo. Zhao Sanduo led the Yihequan to launch an uprising, dividing troops into three routes. Wu Xingchen stayed in Shandong, while Pang Zi followed Zhao Sanduo back to Hebei. When Jing Tingbin and Zhao Sanduo "resisted foreign tax" and proposed "sweeping away and destroying foreigners," launching an uprising together, Pang Zi was very active as a capable subordinate. The uprising failed; Jing Tingbin was executed by *lingchi* (death by a thousand cuts), and Zhao Sanduo died of hunger strike in prison. Pang Zi had to flee to Shandong.

Arriving in Shandong, he learned that the Shandong uprising had also failed, and Yuan Shikai had bloodily suppressed the Shandong uprising. Wu Xingchen's whereabouts were unknown. Pang Zi had to flee to Cangzhou. He only returned to his hometown this year. He had always been in contact with surviving brothers over in Shandong. A while ago, he suddenly learned that Wu Xingchen was actually still alive; after the failure of the Shandong uprising, Wu Xingchen fled to Shanghai. Pang Zi asked the brothers in Shandong to notify Wu Xingchen to come to his place together to discuss great matters.

But he didn't expect Wu Xingchen to send these two foreign devils running over first. However, Pang Zi believed Wu Xingchen shouldn't have defected to foreigners. "Forget it; anyway, looking at the letter, Brother Wu will arrive in these two days. We'll talk then." Thinking of this, Pang Zi blew out the candle and went to sleep too.