Generally speaking, Chen Ke's attitude at People's Party meetings was always the most intense. The early Party members all knew this well. When He Zudao first heard Chen Ke talk about "class oppression" at a Party meeting, he was truly shocked. According to Chen Ke, all "exploiting classes" must be overthrown. At that time, He Zudao thought Chen Ke was truly an incredible existence. But as he stayed in the Party longer, He Zudao's attitude also underwent constant changes.

At the mobilization meeting for the People's Party's move into Anhui, Chen Ke had said very seriously, "Comrades, if we think that because we have read a few books and recognize a few characters, we should be the leaders of the people, that is a completely wrong view. If we do not serve the people, then the people will absolutely not follow us."

He Zudao felt that many comrades had already cast these words to the back of their minds. Just because Chen Ke's effective command allowed the People's Party to possess sufficient influence and appeal within more than four months, many comrades subconsciously thought this should be taken for granted.

As a political cadre, He Zudao knew the psychological changes of ordinary soldiers best. Among these new local comrades, many initially even thought the People's Party was a bandit armed force from outside. Their attitude toward cooperation was "sufficiently passive." The reason they joined was simply that there was food to eat after joining the Insurance Corps. Only after the Insurance Corps forcibly intervened in local disaster relief activities under Chen Ke's command did the masses change their understanding of the People's Party. In various disaster relief activities, the masses showed great obedience and support. But this support was not support for the People's Party, but support for their hometown elders trapped in natural disasters. If comrades could not deeply understand this, the people's support would not be infinite.

While engaging in internal reflection, He Zudao heard Chen Ke ask: "Comrade Chai Qingguo, what do you think about the matter of mobilizing the masses?"

Chai Qingguo had always been unconvinced by Chen Ke. He Zudao worked in a team with Chai Qingguo, so he knew very well that Chai Qingguo originally thought that after arriving in Anhui, they would "raise the banner and kill in all directions." Chai Qingguo had always been extremely impatient with complex political work. The problem was that Chai Qingguo was an "outsider"; his accent was different from that of this place in Anhui, and the traditional set of "brotherhood loyalty" had no place to be used in Anhui completely. So Chai Qingguo was very disappointed with this. Chen Ke himself still had some expectations for Chai Qingguo; after all, the People's Party at this stage needed more military talents. Moreover, Chai Qingguo came from a rural background after all; Chen Ke felt that Chai Qingguo should have more affection for the peasant class.

Hearing Chen Ke call on Chai Qingguo to speak, He Zudao, who was partnered with Chai Qingguo, paid even more attention.

"I think we should still mainly 'eat from the big households'," Chai Qingguo replied. Hearing this answer, He Zudao's face darkened slightly. At today's meeting, Chen Ke's proposition was very clear: they must destroy the old land system of Fengtai County. What was "eating from the big households"? After the water receded, the big households would still exist, and the old order of Fengtai County would continue to operate as usual.

"Things like completely getting rid of landlords can't be rushed. After all, everyone is fellow villagers, and many big households have shown some kindness to everyone. If we kill all these big landlord households, what will the common people think? Many of these big households are clan patriarchs. As the saying goes, 'a span is not closer than four fingers' (close neighbors are tighter than distant relatives); I feel everyone may not be willing," Chai Qingguo actually held a stability-first theory. And such an attitude actually made many people nod slightly.

"Comrade Yuwen Badu, I want to ask you, is the situation in your village as Comrade Chai Qingguo said?" Chen Ke continued to call names. Chen Ke had sufficient psychological preparation for this mobilization. This meeting would absolutely not end in the short term. In the early stage of this meeting, Chen Ke explained his plan to the comrades in detail, and now the collision of different lines within the Party had just begun.

Yuwen Badu didn't expect Chen Ke would actually call his name. He hadn't joined the People's Party for long and didn't have much guts to speak. Moreover, Yuwen Badu was also a smart person; he could tell that Chen Ke called his name with the purpose of proving Chai Qingguo's statement wrong. Yuwen Badu was not too willing to play this role of offending people. "I don't understand much; I can't say for sure about such things," Yuwen Badu said somewhat timidly.

"Then I'll ask a few questions. First, how many landlords in your village employ tenant farmers long-term? How much is the land rent?"

"Landlords... there are five or six. The land rent is sixty percent," Yuwen Badu said somewhat tremblingly.

"Regardless of whether they are good or bad, have they reduced rent during disaster years?"

"This, this... as far as I know. In a major disaster year, one can pay a bit less that year, but they will ask for more the second year." Yuwen Badu's answer became even more trembling.

"In every disaster year, have landlords taken the opportunity to seize other people's land?" Chen Ke continued to ask. This was all just common sense. If they didn't "acquire land" while ordinary people couldn't survive during disaster years, which peasant who regarded land as their lifeblood would sell their land?

Chen Ke pressed step by step like this. Yuwen Badu knew Chen Ke's meaning. Precisely because he knew Chen Ke's meaning very clearly, Yuwen Badu finally got anxious. "Mr. Chen, if you do this, we'll definitely have to fight. Those big landlords all have their own fortified villages (*weizi*). In this northern Anhui, decent landlords all have their own fortified villages. Usually, their own people guard the fortified villages. They have people and guns. Now our Insurance Corps has people, guns, and grain. I heard that someone nearby is already inciting people in local villages. Let alone us eating their big households, they are already preparing to link up and eat our big household."

As soon as these words were spoken, it could be said that the whole room was shocked. The air in the room immediately became heavy. Except for Chen Ke, the comrades looked at each other in blank dismay. No one expected that they themselves would become "fat sheep." Chai Qingguo had just returned today. Although he didn't advocate completely getting rid of landlords, upon hearing that landlords actually plotted against him, his anger erupted. Chai Qingguo stood up abruptly, took a few steps to Yuwen Badu, and roared: "Which blind bastard dares to touch his grandpa?"

"Comrade Chai Qingguo, sit back in your seat for me. There must be discipline in meetings," Chen Ke shouted immediately.

"They are about to attack us, what discipline are you still talking about!" Chai Qingguo was already furious at this moment. "These ungrateful things! The grain we worked so hard to transport is to save the people, and this gang actually wants to come and hit us."

"If those people who received our benefits are ungrateful, how did Comrade Yuwen Badu get the news? Wasn't it from the common people? Would those landlords preparing to move against us tip us off?" Chen Ke laughed. Although it was the first time hearing this news, Chen Ke was not surprised at all.

Hearing Chen Ke's words, Chai Qingguo glared resentfully at the uneasy Yuwen Badu, then returned to his seat huffing with rage.

"Everyone doesn't need to worry. The water hasn't receded completely yet; this gang can't attack now. I want to ask everyone a question: how can these landlords incite the common people to follow them to attack us?" Chen Ke felt Yuwen Badu was really an interesting fellow. He hadn't instigated Yuwen Badu to throw out such a bombshell at all. In fact, he was somewhat worried Yuwen Badu would support Chai Qingguo's "gradualism." He didn't expect Yuwen Badu did countless times better than Chen Ke expected.

Yuwen Badu got this news yesterday. He was somewhat undecided about whether he should say it. This news wasn't confirmed yet. He didn't expect that being forced to speak by Chen Ke today, he said it out by some strange influence. Now he was really uneasy. Hearing Chen Ke ask this question, Yuwen Badu simply stood up prepared to tell everything he knew. He felt that if he didn't do this, he really couldn't be at ease.

Seeing Yuwen Badu stand up, Chen Ke raised his left hand, his raised index finger tapping slightly in the air. "Comrade Yuwen Badu, you sit down first. I don't want you to speak now."

"But Mr. Chen..." Yuwen Badu said anxiously.

"Don't call me Mr. Chen; there are no 'Misters' in the Party. Call me Comrade Chen Ke." Chen Ke interrupted Yuwen Badu's speech again. "Comrade Yuwen Badu, everyone trusts you. If we didn't trust you, Comrade Chai Qingguo wouldn't be so anxious either. Don't you think so? If he didn't trust you, he would have first asked where you heard it from, instead of standing up and cursing so angrily." After Chen Ke finished speaking, he laughed loudly. The hearty laughter diluted the tense atmosphere in the room a bit.

Yuwen Badu saw Chen Ke's firm attitude, and these words indeed soothed Yuwen Badu's mood. Yuwen Badu was no different from ordinary "informants"; since he had said the beginning, the remaining stuff couldn't be hidden in his heart at all. It was as if he couldn't be at ease or gain everyone's trust without saying it out. Since he received the expression of loyal trust from the People's Party leader Chen Ke, Yuwen Badu felt a burst of relief. He obeyed Chen Ke's order and sat back on the stool.

"Wenqing, why not listen to Comrade Yuwen Badu introduce the situation?" You Gou, as a female Party member, hadn't spoken much all along. Seeing Chen Ke didn't look anxious or angry at all, while other comrades were either nervous, angry, or both, You Gou simply spoke up. You Gou herself was extremely supportive of Chen Ke. Plus her understanding of Chen Ke, You Gou thought it necessary to guide the meeting in a direction Chen Ke could control.

"Landlord armed forces are a rabble. If we go to attack them, it might be somewhat troublesome. But if they pull people out to fight us, they won't do. What I'm worried about is not how to get rid of landlord armed forces. I'm worried that if we kill and injure a large number of people coerced by landlord armed forces, will we still want to enter rural work in the future? So we have to know how landlords coerce the people. We have to separate the people from the landlords."

Lu Huitian raised his hand to request to speak. After getting Chen Ke's agreement, Lu Huitian stood up. His voice contained a kind of confusion and a feeling of being stunned by the sudden change in the situation. "Comrade Chen Ke, why do the common people want to attack us?" Lu Huitian didn't understand this question very well.

"After the great flood, the common people need to eat. This year's heavy rain started from late spring and early summer. It has been almost two months at once. Late spring and early summer are originally days when the green crop has not yet replaced the yellow (the connection between crops). Last year's stored grain is about to be eaten up, and this year's new grain hasn't grown yet; it is exactly the days with the least grain. With this big flood coming, there is even less grain to eat. Everyone can't just wait to starve to death, right?" Chen Ke explained.

Listening to Lu Huitian's question and Chen Ke's answer, He Zudao only felt very disappointed with the group of comrades represented by Lu Huitian. Chen Ke had said this once when analyzing the recent situation at the beginning of the meeting. Lu Huitian asking this question now wasn't because he didn't understand it then, but because he completely failed to recognize the harshness of the situation in Fengtai County from the beginning.

Since starting work in Anhui, He Zudao's greatest feeling was not the intensity and firmness of Chen Ke's revolutionary attitude, but the weakness shown by many comrades in work. Although before coming to Anhui, most comrades in the Party had a high-spirited "ambition to clarify the world." However, as He Zudao felt, after arriving in Anhui, if not for Chen Ke's command, the comrades would have long been crushed by the difficulties coming one after another.

Coming all the way to Anhui, from establishing the People's Party's armed force "Insurance Corps" to suddenly encountering this great flood, it was Chen Ke who was responsible for commanding. He Zudao knew very well that if it were just himself or other comrades, facing these difficulties time and again, everyone would probably have been helpless long ago, and the People's Party might very likely have scattered like birds and beasts in front of these difficulties. As for turning the unfavorable into favorable and seizing every opportunity to constantly expand the local influence of the People's Party, this foreign force, in Fengtai County—don't even think about such things.

Chen Ke was almost dragging everyone forward alone. Although in every meeting, Chen Ke tried hard to mobilize and encourage the comrades. And the comrades indeed worked hard, but in the end, what everyone could do was merely obey Chen Ke's arrangements. This was already not bad; at least a team of several hundred people had been gathered, and effective work had been done for so long. Everyone finally had some confidence and habit. If after months of hard work, they were still the same few people as before with no development in the People's Party's strength, Chen Ke wouldn't be able to hold the fort either. But learning that there were local landlords elsewhere who wanted to use force against the People's Party, many comrades were still scared. He Zudao took a deep breath. Now he absolutely could not have the slightest fear. Facing this kind of thing now, He Zudao's judgment was simple: he must follow Chen Ke closely. Only in this way could there be a way out.