Chai Qingguo was hopping along the "road" leading to the county town in a hurry. This was definitely not the result of a sudden burst of childlike innocence. It had been a few days since Yuezhangji was taken. Under the summer sun, the "roads" the Insurance Corps had once found were basically no longer soaked in water. But with many people walking, this road was trampled into sloppy mud. He could only zigzag and jump around on places where he could still walk.

There were busy crowds on both sides of the road. Perhaps it was Chai Qingguo's psychological effect, but everyone looked like they were slacking off in Chai Qingguo's eyes, which were filled with resentment for them not meeting expectations. He clenched his fists angrily, and the large blisters worn out by the hoe handle on his palm immediately stung with burning pain. Chai Qingguo had no intention of loosening his fists at all. This stinging sensation relieved his anxious mood a bit instead, allowing him to concentrate on thinking about problems.

What exactly should he say after seeing Chen Ke? This was the most difficult thing for Chai Qingguo right now. Tell Chen Ke that building water conservancy is too tiring and the soldiers can't take it? As soon as this thought popped up, Chai Qingguo denied it. Although various troops were emotional, the First Regiment was an old unit after all. No matter how the comrades muttered, the orders issued could still be executed. If he directly said he couldn't undertake the work, this clearly meant Chai Qingguo himself couldn't do it. Then don't even think about being this Deputy Regiment Commander.

Telling Chen Ke that the troops have great resentment was also an excuse. But Chai Qingguo knew very well that work in this area was the responsibility of the Brigade Political Department. As a military cadre, intervening in the work of the Brigade Political Department was obviously inappropriate. The Insurance Corps stressed "clear responsibilities." Even a small Engineering Section Chief could issue orders to Chai Qingguo relying on work responsibilities. In the army, the status of the Political Department was higher than that of military cadres. Chen Ke had emphasized countless times that the Insurance Corps was the Party leading the army, and the Political Department decided the action direction of the army. If he managed the things the Political Department should manage, he certainly wouldn't get any support.

Two thoughts in a row were denied by himself. Chai Qingguo was not discouraged at all. On the contrary, another thought closer to his original idea emerged more and more clearly. Chai Qingguo knew very well that there was only one thing he found hardest to accept. That was the discipline of "officers and soldiers as one."

Before joining the Insurance Corps, Chai Qingguo thought he would at most fight battles for Chen Ke. Although fighting battles was dangerous, Chai Qingguo was also someone who had gone through life and death, so this bit of thing didn't scare him. But since joining the Insurance Corps, he felt incredibly uncomfortable. The system of the People's Party and the Insurance Corps constructed by Chen Ke completely bound Chai Qingguo's hands and feet. As a cadre, as an officer, he had to undertake more, but what he got was only the same material treatment as ordinary soldiers.

Not only that, the Soldiers' Committee opposed Chai Qingguo from below, and the political department suppressed Chai Qingguo directly from above. This was completely different from the days of riding good horses and leading thousands of brothers to gallop freely back then. Chen Ke claimed to revolutionize, but the result was that Chen Ke was actually convening officials and landlords for meetings. As a Party member and senior military cadre, many trends within the Party had to be notified by meetings. Chai Qingguo knew that a "People's Representative Congress" was to be formed, which meant that in the future, there would be even more people overriding Chai Qingguo in the organizational system. This was what Chai Qingguo couldn't accept the most.

"I came here to sit on a leader's chair, not to be a coolie for you." Chai Qingguo finally found the words he wanted to say in his heart.

The large blisters on his palms stung with burning pain, which gave Chai Qingguo a lot of courage instead. "I've led soldiers, done work, and got blisters on my hands. I've done right by everyone. I quit." Chai Qingguo muttered in his mouth.

Now Hebei was about to enter the days of crisp autumn air. His own brothers would pull up a horse team and gallop across Hebei and Shandong. Eating meat in large chunks, drinking wine in large bowls. This was the life Chai Qingguo truly hoped for. More than half a year ago, when listening to Chen Ke introduce the base area construction, Chai Qingguo was once very fascinated. At that time, Chen Ke described that kind of orderly and strictly disciplined blueprint. Chai Qingguo was obsessed with being able to master that degree of power. When he practiced it personally, Chai Qingguo realized this was too difficult, and this kind of difficulty was definitely not what he hoped for.

"Just say it straight; I don't want to do this anymore." Chai Qingguo made up his mind. Thinking of this, he breathed a sigh of relief as if relieved of a heavy burden. Looking at the cadres and soldiers around him working hard again, Chai Qingguo no longer had the anxious mood he had at the beginning. Instead, he could take in the soldiers' performance.

Arriving at the county town, he saw the streets were deserted. Before large-scale rush-planting began, tens of thousands of people crowded in the county town. Although the people who didn't need to work were sealed in the "Home of the Common People," there were always so many people needing to work on the streets. Now that people were all transferred away, the county town suddenly felt somewhat empty. This contrast made Chai Qingguo feel a bit unaccustomed. A few shops opened sparsely, but there was no business. Shopkeepers sat at the door looking listlessly at the passersby. Seeing Chai Qingguo walking over, everyone's eyes fell on him. Although the Insurance Corps didn't have formal military uniforms, the posture of a soldier walking with head high and chest out already proved Chai Qingguo's identity. The people speaking in the shops stopped talking. The gazes looking over were full of awe, which made Chai Qingguo feel a kind of pride arising in his heart again.

The gate of the Insurance Corps barracks was closed tight, and the sentries at the door lined up neatly. Somehow, this reminded Chai Qingguo of the time when he went to the Beiyang Xiaozhan camp with Chen Ke to visit Yuan Shikai last winter. At that time, Chen Ke mocked the Beiyang gate guards as being virtually non-existent. But when he walked near the camp gate himself, although the soldiers recognized him, the alert posture was not lifted at all.

When Chai Qingguo walked to the gate, the guard raised his hand to salute politely, then said: "Regiment Commander Chai, hello."

Because he wanted to be the Second Regiment Commander very much, Chai Qingguo actually cared about the word "Deputy" in his title very much. Hearing the guard address him like this, his mood became even better. He wanted to say something to the guard with a smile, but remembering military regulations, he raised his hand to return the salute. Just as he wanted to go in, he heard the guard say with slight hesitation: "Regiment Commander Chai, your pass."

"What does this mean?" Chai Qingguo was baffled.

"Today the alert level is Level One. Without a pass, no one can enter or exit. Regiment Commander Chai, please forgive me." The guard explained apologetically.

"Even I can't enter?" Chai Qingguo's momentary good mood just now flew to the nine heavens immediately. Not only could a small section chief manage him, but now even a guard could manage him.

Seeing Chai Qingguo's face change greatly, the guard also became somewhat worried. But he still stuck to his duty, "This is disciplined. Regiment Commander Chai, Brigade Commander Chen specially instructed that because a meeting is being held inside, no one can enter or exit without a pass."

While speaking, Zhou Xiushan, who served as the Security Section Chief, walked out from the small door beside the main gate, "Deputy Regiment Commander Chai, hello." After speaking, Zhou Xiushan also gave a simple military salute, then approached Chai Qingguo and whispered: "Brigade Commander Chen is convening a meeting now. For security work, no one can enter or exit without a pass. I'll go issue a pass for you now."

Hearing this, Chai Qingguo's brows frowned. "I have business with Brigade Commander Chen. Besides, who are you going to ask to issue a pass for me? Why should they issue one for me?"

While speaking, a team of logistics department soldiers walked over carrying loads. The low-level officer in the lead showed a pass. The sentries counted the number of people and let them in. But there was still no intention of letting Chai Qingguo in. Chai Qingguo looked at what happened in front of him dumbfounded, then turned back to glare at Zhou Xiushan.

Zhou Xiushan had to explain: "You can enter holding a pass issued by the First Regiment Commander or Political Commissar. But without a pass, no one can enter or exit. Without a pass, even if you go in now, you can't come out."

This was actually Zhou Xiushan's good intention. Chen Ke had always required extremely strict discipline for the security department. Zhou Xiushan was already the second Security Section Chief. After the first one made mistakes three times in succession and was removed by Chen Ke, the replacement Zhou Xiushan naturally refused to repeat the same mistakes. Now his mind was full of not letting security work have loopholes, especially this kind of camp gate defense, which was even more critical. This meeting was where landlords were hard-"persuaded" to come. If someone really took hostile actions from inside and outside, it would be too troublesome. So Zhou Xiushan didn't pay much attention to Chai Qingguo's mood.

But the problem was, Chai Qingguo also didn't pay attention to Zhou Xiushan's mood. he was already very annoyed with the increasingly strict discipline. Being blocked at the camp gate made Chai Qingguo even more angry.

"I must go in now; I have important things. I can't wait for you to issue a pass." After speaking, Chai Qingguo walked straight up, pushed Zhou Xiushan away, and barged in through the small door. As soon as he entered the door, he saw sentries with live ammunition on the other side of the door as well. They obviously heard the dispute and were already pointing weapons at the small door. Seeing several rifles pointing at him, Chai Qingguo was really startled.

Zhou Xiushan came from Beijing with Shang Yuan and others. He was originally a worker at the Tianjin Machinery Bureau and had an understanding of the gate guard system. Moreover, he knew how to conduct himself. He chased up from behind and stood between Chai Qingguo and the gun muzzles. Then he pulled Chai Qingguo to the table nearby, wrote a pass deftly, and handed it to Chai Qingguo.

Chai Qingguo was not someone who didn't know when to advance or retreat. Seeing this heavily guarded appearance, he also knew it wasn't something Zhou Xiushan himself could decide. This must be personally arranged by Chen Ke. When the previous Security Section Chief was dismissed, the troops held a special meeting to notify this matter. Chen Ke had said clearly that if anyone disobeyed discipline, no matter who it was, they would absolutely not be spared. At that time, all cadres signed documents guaranteeing to set an example in obeying discipline. Since he got the pass and the matter didn't blow up, Chai Qingguo had to accept it.

"Where is Brigade Commander Chen meeting?" Chai Qingguo asked grumpily.

"In the large conference room."

Chai Qingguo walked towards the conference room without turning his head. The surroundings of the conference room were also heavily guarded. After being stopped by the sentry, Chai Qingguo dared not act rashly anymore. The sentry went to report. A moment later, Chen Ke walked out with the sentry.

"Qingguo, is there anything wrong with the troops?" Chen Ke didn't know Chai Qingguo's intention, but with work so busy now, Chai Qingguo coming here specially must mean something big happened.

Although he thought a lot on the way and thought about what to say, when he really saw Chen Ke with his own eyes, Chai Qingguo opened his mouth but couldn't speak. It had been more than half a year since the first meeting with Chen Ke. Chai Qingguo had conflicts and cooperation with Chen Ke. Everyone argued about many things, so Chai Qingguo was by no means inexperienced in saying things that made Chen Ke unhappy. But wanting to tell Chen Ke that he couldn't stand the Insurance Corps and prepared to leave, Chai Qingguo couldn't say it out.

He looked up at Chen Ke, only to see that on that young square face, in the clear and bright eyes, two sharp gazes looked straight over. When he first met Chen Ke, these eyes were also so clear, but that gaze was absolutely not filled with firmness and persistence like this. At that time, Chen Ke was once unconfident. Now Chen Ke seemed to have an invisible pressure that made Chai Qingguo dare not speak his heart. Chen Ke's pressure might be one reason, but Chai Qingguo himself actually didn't quite approve of his own idea either. This practice of "running away" was not a glorious thing no matter what.

Mustering up his courage again, Chai Qingguo said: "Wenqing, the troops' emotions are very unstable now. The work is too tired. Look, I have blisters on my hands. Let alone the soldiers below. Everyone just wants to ask one thing now: until when do we have to work to be assigned our own land to farm?"

Although he spoke, Chai Qingguo didn't dare to say the thing about wanting to leave in the end.

"Haha, Qingguo. I know you want to be a cavalryman (*Qi Bing*). But now you have become a blister soldier (*Pao Bing*). You've worked hard." Chen Ke laughed heartily.

"Artillery soldier (*Pao Bing*)? We don't have cannons, let alone forming artillery troops." Chai Qingguo didn't quite understand Chen Ke's meaning.

"Stretch out your hand, let me see your blisters (*Pao*)," Chen Ke said.

Chai Qingguo stretched out his hand. Several large blisters had risen where the palm and hoe handle touched.

"You have blisters (*Pao*) on your hand, and you are being a soldier (*Bing*). Isn't this a blister soldier (*Pao Bing*)?" Chen Ke laughed again after speaking.

Chai Qingguo really couldn't understand Chen Ke's humor. Seeing Chen Ke laughing happily, he said angrily: "You say blister soldier, then blister soldier. Now everyone has blisters, and complaints are heard everywhere in the troops. Wenqing, Brigade Commander! Everyone thinks about getting a piece of land for themselves, planting it quickly, and harvesting grain. You let everyone dig ditches and prepare land. But these jobs are done for others. Everyone doesn't understand."

"So you ran here yourself to ask for clarification, right?" The smile on Chen Ke's face disappeared, but he didn't look angry either, "Qingguo, we have indeed encountered difficulties, but we cannot let difficulties scare us down."