As the morning light just dimly illuminated the window, Chen Ke woke up. This was a standard army officer dormitory, imitating Chen Ke's university dormitory: a four-meter by five-meter room, four one-meter by two-meter bunk beds, eight people living in one room. This was the officer dormitory; ordinary soldier dormitories were large communal sleeping platforms (*tong pu*). Now the conditions were this simple. Except for the Chen Ke couple, there was no one else in the dormitory. The young couple snuggled together; He Ying slept soundly on Chen Ke's left shoulder.

Chen Ke looked at his watch; it was almost five o'clock. Last night, he was busy preparing troop-comforting supplies until ten o'clock. Chen Ke, who always performed quite neatly, returned to the bedroom a bit shyly. Since the main force of the Insurance Corps transferred to Yuezhangji, Chen Ke finally lived together with his wife.

Chen Ke always felt he had the obligation to set an example. The Insurance Corps didn't provide accommodation for couples to live together. For the convenience of management, there were only male dormitories and female dormitories. Due to the major troop transfer, many rooms were vacated. Chen Ke then temporarily lived together with his wife He Ying. Returning to the bedroom, Chen Ke was somewhat at a loss, and He Ying also had no experience in married life. Since this young couple got married, they had been separated more than together. Less than two months after marriage, the two arrived in Anhui. Then Chen Ke was busy outside all day, and their residences were not together.

Having finally got the chance to live together, He Ying knew very clearly that this was only a temporary measure. He Ying's family status was not low in this era. Children from families like hers learned to understand rules from a young age. He Ying had long understood the rules of the People's Party and the Insurance Corps clearly through chatting with her roommate You Gou. Although she could be with her husband, He Ying also knew this gathering was very short.

The couple snuggled together silently like this. He Ying felt Chen Ke wanted to speak but stopped several times. She knew Chen Ke wanted to apologize but was afraid she would be angry. He Ying rested her head on Chen Ke's shoulder and said softly: "Wenqing, you don't need to say words of apology. You work with peace of mind; I won't be angry with you."

With his wife being so considerate, that impulse of Chen Ke as a man came up, and words of promise blurted out, "Wait for me..."

Just as he said this, He Ying's slender finger pressed on Chen Ke's lips, "Don't say anything. If one day you achieve something for me, you just need to tell me where to go and what to do. The days are long; just live day by day." While speaking, He Ying adjusted the angle of resting on Chen Ke's shoulder to make herself more comfortable. The young couple pressed tightly together, fingers interlocked.

"I feel so quiet and comfortable in my heart," He Ying's voice was low.

Chen Ke had the same feeling. He turned his head sideways, kissed his wife's forehead gently, and whispered: "Me too." Busy to death outside all day, fighting this, fighting that. Chen Ke finally knew what a luxury it was to have someone with a shared destiny by his side. They didn't have excessive demands; just snuggling together simply like this, they felt happiness from the bottom of their hearts. No matter how fierce and cruel the outside world was, for two people who cared about each other and loved each other to be together, this moment was enough. A minute or two later, the two fell asleep like this.

The happy sleep time was so short. When the sky was slightly bright, someone in the barracks had already gotten up. These slight disturbances woke Chen Ke up. Although he really wanted to hold his wife and be tender for a while, Chen Ke didn't. He slowly withdrew his arm, then got up, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and tidied his clothes. His wife was still sleeping soundly; there was still some time before the wake-up bugle at six o'clock. Chen Ke bent down and gently touched his wife's beautiful hair, then turned and went out. The gentle expression on his face had disappeared completely. Chen Ke's spirit had switched from a husband back to the role of the leader of the People's Party and the supreme commander of the Insurance Corps.

Not only had Chen Ke gotten up, but according to yesterday's plan, the transport troops for comforting the army had also gotten up, and even earlier. The pigs had been slaughtered overnight, and various supplies were ready. A simple order to comfort the troops required twenty or thirty people to busy themselves all night. Any organization with some scale is like this; the top only needs one sentence to issue an order, but below, many links and manpower need to work together to realize this order. If under the old order, there was still a hierarchy to maintain this system. And the new revolution inevitably had to find an organizational philosophy that was more effective and could unite comrades better.

And all this required the leader to be more able to set an example.

Chen Ke appeared in front of the transport team in high spirits and carefully checked every item of comforting supplies. Originally, he should change clothes at such a time, but the comrades working were all covered in mud and water now. It would be inappropriate for Chen Ke to dress brightly and decently. A set of old clothes and a pair of straw sandals were enough. Confirming that the comforting supplies were not lacking, Chen Ke ate breakfast with the comrades. The cadres and soldiers had long been accustomed to eating with big cadres. No one looked up at Chen Ke; everyone focused on eating. With so many supplies needing everyone to transport together, the road would be very hard.

The time for the troops to set out was exactly six in the morning. "Brigade Commander, should we wait for Hu Xingzhi?" the guard beside him asked.

"No need. You notify the guard; if Hu Xingzhi comes, tell him we have already set off." After speaking, Chen Ke said loudly, "Comrades, set off."

The comforting team moved very fast. Not long after leaving the county town, they saw signs of rush-planting having started. The thick silt left by the flood had been turned over here and there. Some of the lands that emerged from the water earliest had already been sown with seedlings. Others were also processed. Debris dug out, stones, tree branches, and some debris remains of victims' houses and furniture drifting with the water were piled up here and there in the fields. One couldn't tell what those debris originally were; anyway, piles of stuff with unclear content were just there.

It's good that work started. Chen Ke was at least gratified by this.

In the late stage of the flood, the Insurance Corps began to prepare for rush-planting. Normal planting was naturally impossible after the disaster. The Insurance Corps only cultivated three crops: rice, sweet potatoes, and potatoes. Fengtai County is located on the edge of the Huainan Plain, on the north bank of the Huai River. The climate is mild, and it is a good producing area for one season of wheat and one season of rice. Now the wheat was definitely gone (*mei xi le* - assume typo for 'mei xi' or 'hopeless'), so only late rice could be planted. Sweet potatoes and potatoes have large yields and low requirements for land; they have always been the priority crops for disaster relief. As for the taste, during disaster relief, it was completely not the time to care about such issues. 1906 was not New China; it was impossible to have "support from all sides when one place is in trouble." The Manchu Qing's disaster relief was completely a drop in the bucket. Fengtai County had to rely on itself to save itself.

The terrain of the county town was relatively high. Walking further forward to lower terrain, the disaster relief work became more obvious. Teams of soldiers were digging drainage ditches under the leadership of commanders at all levels. Just overnight, a lot of water seeped out in the ditches. Soldiers jumped into the water.

Chen Ke grew up on the great plains of Henan. The land he had seen was whole stretches of very flat land. When traveling by car as a child, looking at the land unchanged for hours, Chen Ke would be drowsy. Many years later, when Chen Ke occasionally talked about past things with classmates attending agricultural university, the agricultural university classmates told Chen Ke that such a mode was very convenient for irrigation and drainage. The land of such great plains Chen Ke had seen actually had a slight slope. The purpose of building it like this was simple: to facilitate natural irrigation and drainage of water through the slope of the ground. In dry weather, water is lifted to a high place through a pumping station and then irrigated along the waterway. On rainy days, excess water will flow down the sloping ground and enter the drainage ditch along the waterway. Such a construction mode requires investing huge manpower and material resources in farmland water conservancy projects. In the era of Grandpa Mao, rural water conservancy projects consumed huge labor. A large batch of labor was spent on such projects.

But in 1906, large-scale farmland water conservancy construction was nowhere to be seen. The characteristic of the small-peasant economy is sweeping snow from one's own door, and the land is cut into scattered pieces. Such large-scale farmland construction is impossible to realize. If the flood and the Insurance Corps hadn't appeared at the same time, Fengtai County would have to wait at least half a century to engage in large-scale rural water conservancy construction.

The Insurance Corps now had only eight thousand people and was powerless to build the kind of large-scale water conservancy construction after the founding of the PRC. Wu Longfu, Chief of the Water Conservancy Section of the Insurance Corps, discussed with Chen Ke and formulated a plan. It was to find a piece of the lowest-lying land first, then dig a big pond here, and dig drainage ditches on the land everywhere. In this rush-planting, let the water flow into this big pond temporarily. More comprehensive rural water conservancy construction could only be discussed after this rush-planting and rush-harvesting ended.

The soldiers had eaten breakfast, but one by one they had no enthusiasm for labor. It was obviously the appearance of a monk hitting the bell for a day (doing the bare minimum). Not only that, the mood of commanders at all levels wasn't high either. When the comforting team passed by, the cadres and soldiers saw the slaughtered pigs, and their eyes lit up. Then they smiled happily or stood there watching. Chen Ke saw their appearance and suddenly smiled bitterly.

"Brigade Commander, should I go and say a few words to them?" Following behind Chen Ke was Zhu Zhenji, Deputy Chief of the Logistics Section. He was from Hunan. His family opened a shop, but offended local petty clerks and the family was ruined. He had to come out to find his brother in Shanghai. He didn't find his brother but wandered the streets. Last year, seeing the construction of Shanghai Renxin Hospital start, he recommended himself to be an accountant. He didn't become an accountant but became an ordinary worker. Being someone who had suffered hardship and knew the fickleness of human relationships, Zhu Zhenji didn't feel he was misused, so he worked seriously and was promoted because of serious work. When Chen Ke and the others came to Anhui, Zhu Zhenji firmly requested to come along. Now he finally returned to his profession of "accountant." After suffering hardship, Zhu Zhenji also grew a lot. Hearing Chen Ke's bitter smile, he knew what Chen Ke was sighing about.

"No need. This is our work not being in place. Everyone doesn't know exactly what hard work they are doing. What's the use of us scolding everyone now? It will only make everyone more dissatisfied," Chen Ke said.

Zhu Zhenji always admired Chen Ke, thinking Chen Ke was reasonable and a rare good boss. If not so, he wouldn't have followed Chen Ke all the way from Shanghai to Anhui. Because his family had been persecuted by petty clerks, Zhu Zhenji naturally had enthusiasm for "revolution." Knowing the People's Party and Insurance Corps wanted revolution, he wasn't afraid but participated enthusiastically instead. Hearing Chen Ke's words, Zhu Zhenji just nodded, feeling it was logical. If Chen Ke hadn't said such words, Zhu Zhenji might have been disappointed.

"By the way, are the spice bags prepared?" Chen Ke asked Zhu Zhenji. Chen Ke once heard a classmate tell a story. In the seventies, a certain village held a "Recall Bitterness and Think of Sweetness" (*Yi Ku Si Tian*) meeting. Although it was recalling bitterness and thinking of sweetness, they couldn't really get some weeds for everyone to cook and eat; it was still normal stir-fried vegetables. The next day, pork was prepared. Because eating meat wasn't common at that time, and the cooks in the village lacked experience, the meat was stewed fishy and oily. This led to the masses saying privately that eating meat was not as delicious as eating vegetables. Chen Ke's father had some characteristics of a gourmet and often stewed meat at home since childhood. Chen Ke praised his father's craftsmanship endlessly. His father once devoted himself to teaching cooking skills to Chen Ke. How to prepare spice bags and how to effectively remove the fishy smell of large chunks of meat, Chen Ke remembered clearly.

"Prepared completely according to the Brigade Commander's prescription," Zhu Zhenji answered. Shanghai was a port city after all; these spices could still be bought. Since Chen Ke had the intention of building large-scale farms, canned meat was also an object that must be considered. Spices were indispensable things. Coming from Shanghai this time, Chen Ke brought some spices. Unexpectedly, they could play a role when comforting the troops.

The troops were stationed separately by battalion. Chen Ke and the others delivered comforting supplies to eight battalions along the way, and then left a cook personally trained by Chen Ke in each battalion to be responsible for stewing meat. There were only these ten pigs. If the meat was spoiled, the loss would outweigh the gain.

The working soldiers saw Chen Ke send comforting supplies into the barracks and then come out. One by one, they were happy. When work ended at noon, just after returning near the camp, a fragrance never smelled before drilled into their nostrils. All comrades who smelled this scent immediately had their mouths watering.

Without command, in front of the large kitchens of the eight battalions stationed in different areas of the Insurance Corps, it was a scene of surging crowds. Even in an old unit like the First Battalion, which had the largest number of old soldiers, the habit of lining up was thrown to the nine heavens. Everyone crowded in front of the big pot of stewed meat, stretching their heads one by one to look into the pot, wondering what exactly smelled so appetizing. Everyone had the same thought in their hearts: if they didn't eat a mouthful of this meal, they would regret it incomparably in this life.

Commanders of various units had to suppress it personally, but without using force, "Line up for food!" With such a shout, clever soldiers already hurried to line up. People behind saw someone already took the lead and immediately scrambled to line up.

"I'm in front."

"Get lost, I'm in front."

Soldiers in the back snatched for positions further forward, while soldiers in the front row couldn't care about the dispute behind. Their eyes lit up one by one, arms holding bowls stretched straight forward. Soldiers whose turn it was to get food held bowls with both hands, leaned forward, eyes staring tightly at the big ladle going back and forth between the rice pot and the bowl. Their eyeballs almost popped out.

Troop commanders also couldn't care so much. They had to solve many quarrels caused by the order of the queue. They pulled apart soldiers disputing over queue problems one by one, and even had to curse a few sentences loudly. And at this time, the commanders absolutely didn't lack saliva. Because of the fragrance of the meat sauce, commanders had to swallow mouthfuls of saliva back into their stomachs continuously. Since commanders had to get food last, if the queue was chaotic, their eating time would also have to be postponed.

The stewed meat Chen Ke guided this time followed the method of "Cured Meat (*La Zhi Rou*) for Baiji Mo (Chinese Hamburger)." There were few pigs and little meat. If the meat was cut into large chunks, it definitely wouldn't be enough to distribute. The stewed meat was fished out and chopped, then soaked in meat soup. Lunch was white rice. A spoonful of meat sauce was poured on a bowl of rice, which was just the extent of one portion per person. Then Chen Ke witnessed with his own eyes a thing he could never imagine. Many soldiers took a mouthful of rice, then froze on the spot. Next, they cried.

How fragrant and thick that was! The spices removed the fishy smell of the meat, giving the pork sauce an unspeakable deliciousness in the mouth. Sweet and salty just right, the abundant and delicate meat juice was hot, mixed in the equally hot rice. Every chew was a kind of happiness. The whole person was intoxicated by the taste in the mouth, wishing to swallow their tongue together. These soldiers and cadres of peasant origin never knew food could be delicious like this. Except for shedding tears, they had no other way to react. And other soldiers might not be sentimental; they shoveled rice into their mouths quickly, licking the bowl from time to time. Their expressions had become completely agitated.

"Wenqing knows how to cook?" Hua Xiongmao also asked with a mouth full of saliva.

Chen Ke was not elated about his "great" success. Seeing soldiers eating with extreme excitement one by one, his mood also rose. Chen Ke hurriedly said to Hua Xiongmao: "Maintain discipline for me immediately." Just as Chen Ke's words fell, he saw some soldiers who ate fast had already started to line up again, asking for more rice. With someone leading, the remaining soldiers, whether they had finished their own portion or not, followed to start lining up. At this time, the food distribution hadn't ended yet. Those who finished their rice and those who hadn't got rice yet immediately had disputes. The scene became chaotic immediately.

Many years later, many of the soldiers participating in this chaos already held high positions. When asked what was the most delicious meal they had ever eaten in the revolutionary era, almost everyone would talk about the food of this troop comforting. This was the first time in their lives they knew that such a thing as "gourmet food" really existed in the world. Old comrades-in-arms talked about this past event with happiness, teasing each other friendly about their lack of ambition back then. Recalling the good times of those years together.

But they all knew one thing: not to mention this matter to Chen Ke. Because this was one of Chen Ke's "great humiliations." The troop-comforting activity caused riots in multiple units due to fighting for food. For gourmet food, they didn't care about anything at that time. The troops had to dispatch the Military Law Enforcement Team to "suppress" the riot.

This was in regular troops like the 359th Brigade. In other "Reclamation Brigades" composed of victims, fighting for food even caused casualties. Dozens of people were injured, and three died from stampede in the chaos.