When Pang Zi's mighty horse team entered Gaojia Village, no one even needed to notify Chen Tianhua. That hubbub and shouting could be heard clearly in the breeding farm outside the village. Chen Tianhua was directing the cadres of the Peasant Association to inventory accounts, count livestock on hand, and verify the roster of Peasant Association members. Hearing the noise coming from afar, he stood up, "Everyone hurry up; absolutely don't delay the time. By the way, Side, you take people to kill pigs and render fat now; absolutely don't delay this matter."

The faces of the Peasant Association cadres were solemn one by one. Jing Side stood up, "I'll go now."

After assigning tasks, Chen Tianhua left the breeding farm and went into Gaojia Village.

After Chen Tianhua walked far away, the members of the Peasant Association put down the work in their hands one after another, "Do we really have to go out and hide this time?" someone asked.

"In the Xinchou Year (1901), after Commander-in-Chief Jing Tingbin was defeated, the Beiyang Army raged here for a long time. This time that kid Pang Zi caused trouble; I'm afraid the Beiyang Army will come again. If we don't leave quickly now, are we waiting to be like last time?"

"Yes. Once the disaster of war passes, life won't be easy. Once arrested, we have to pay money to redeem people. Where do we have money?"

"Where should we go? If this Beiyang comes again this time, where will they come from?"

For a time, everyone discussed animatedly. Suddenly someone said timidly: "How about we go home now to arrange things at home first?"

Hearing this sentence, the originally lively room suddenly became silent. Every Peasant Association cadre in the room looked at others. The more intelligence they knew, the more they could touch the true face of the matter. These cadres of the Peasant Association already knew the danger they were about to face. At such a moment, the most instinctive thought was nothing more than hurrying to take their families to flee for their lives. Such a choice was not wrong.

Everyone suddenly felt a kind of reflection: why stay here to deal with other people's affairs? Knowing their own family affairs, if they wanted to persuade their families to flee quickly, it was not easy. After participating in the Peasant Association, everyone's life was much better. Pang Zi's caravan brought a lot of family properties, cloth, and farm tools. Plus the food in this breeding farm was good, and a lot of grain was saved. Once the soldiers came to burn, kill, and loot, the family properties would inevitably be destroyed. Although the cadres of the Peasant Association might not be able to think of these so methodically, they knew. Preparing a quarter of an hour earlier could reduce a bit of loss.

Someone couldn't hold back and stood up already. Red-faced and tongue-tied, they wanted to find some excuses for themselves to leave. But found that no matter what they said, it was inappropriate. Since being elected by everyone as this cadre, now considering for their own family first couldn't be justified emotionally or reasonably. Even if doing so conformed to human nature, it didn't conform to principles.

Some cadres who stood up sat down awkwardly, but there were also cadres who had made up their minds. They sighed and walked out with iron-green faces. Just then, Jing Side, who went out just now, happened to come back. Seeing someone walking out, he felt very strange, "Where are you going?"

The Peasant Association cadres who had made up their minds simply ignored him and continued to walk out with their heads lowered. Jing Side understood the reason in a blink of an eye. He grabbed these two people and shouted loudly: "Not allowed to leave." Regardless of how these two people struggled, Jing Side dragged these two people back into the room forcibly. As soon as he returned to the room, Jing Side shouted angrily: "Pang Fifth (*Pang Lao Wu*), Pang Dog (*Pang Gou*), where are you two going?"

"Uncle, we go home to have a look first. We'll come back immediately after looking." Pang Wu hurriedly explained.

"Go home to have a look? Can you come back after returning home? Who are you fooling?" Jing Side shouted angrily.

"Uncle, I beg you. I have to go home; I really have to go home. If I don't go back, it will really be too late." Since Pang Wu made up his mind, his mind was no longer on work.

"Can people die if you go back half a day late? You! You are really fucking useless." Jing Side came back originally to call two people to help kill pigs. He never expected that after encountering things, someone among the Peasant Association cadres actually wanted to run away first. This was the critical moment when manpower was needed. The Peasant Association cadres were busy themselves; if someone ran away again, such a big stall of the Peasant Association couldn't be cleaned up at all. But Jing Side knew that dragging people like this was not a solution either. Other cadres of the Peasant Association were watching; reasoning was useless at all.

Thinking of this, Jing Side kicked each of the two Peasant Association cadres, "Useless things, get out! You get out for me now!"

Pang Wu and Pang Chengqian, nicknamed Dog (*Gou Zi*), dared not talk back after being kicked. They fled out of the Peasant Association courtyard with their heads lowered as if granted a great pardon.

"Who else wants to leave? Say it now. If you want to get out, get out now. Don't let your mind wander when you work. This is the Peasant Association's money; if calculated wrong, it's everyone's money lost." Jing Side roared.

Everyone looked at each other, then stood up one after another, lowered their heads and left the room. Only three of the dozen Peasant Association cadres remained. They were Pang Cheng, and the Jing Xiuzheng and Jing Xiuchun brothers. These three people were always considered chivalrous. Their families had few members and few belongings. Their lives only got better after joining the Peasant Association. So they always worked very seriously. In the study class run by Chen Tianhua, these three were the most active, learned math very well, and now undertook the work of accounting.

Although knowing he shouldn't get angry at them, Jing Side really held a burst of evil fire in his heart. He asked ferociously: "Can you work well?"

None of the three got angry. Jing Xiuchun smiled and said: "Uncle, rest assured. We won't leave. We stay here to work well."

Hearing this, Jing Side said angrily: "You follow me to kill pigs. Not enough hands." After speaking, Jing Side got up and left the room. Jing Xiuchun didn't say anything else either; he got up and followed Jing Side.

News spread fast. Members of the Peasant Association had already learned the news. Peasant Association members originally working in the breeding farm left their posts one after another and went home. Seeing Jing Side bringing Jing Xiuchun over, they lowered their heads in shame one by one. But the pace of hurrying home didn't pause at all. When Jing Side arrived at the pigsty, only a very few people remained.

He saw an old man sharpening a pig-killing knife unhurriedly, picking up the pig-killing knife from time to time to look closely in front of his eyes, and then touching the blade with his finger to test the sharpness.

"Uncle, I asked you to lead the pig killing just now; why did you start sharpening the knife?" Jing Side asked respectfully.

The old man's name was Jing Tingwen; his generation rank was one generation higher than Jing Side. Hearing his nephew ask this, the old man laughed: "Sharpening the knife doesn't delay cutting firewood (*Mo Dao Bu Wu Kan Chai Gong*). These people all ran away; if the knife is not sharpened, we few will kill pigs too slowly."

Hearing such calm words, Jing Side couldn't help laughing out loud, "Haha! Uncle, you are right. We'll go tie the pigs first; you continue to sharpen the knife." After speaking, Jing Side shouted to the few Peasant Association members still sticking to their posts: "Let's start tying pigs."

Chen Tianhua didn't know these things happened in the Peasant Association just after he left. He rushed out of the breeding farm gate. Not far away, he saw Gaojia Village had become a sea of joy. The horse team had entered the village; people on horses were elated one by one. In these days, Chen Tianhua's patience improved more than a little bit. He didn't rush over but stood in place observing the horse team members carefully. He saw they basically carried two long guns per person, and at least one was a new-style rifle. It should be the trophy captured after defeating the Canal Defense Battalion.

Judging from the quantity of these guns, the capture this time was extremely abundant. These subordinates of Pang Zi were all full of excitement. Obviously, they had already cheered. Some people's faces were even full of fatigue. But as long as cheers came from somewhere, others would follow to continue cheering, even if there was no enthusiasm in this cheer anymore.

Chen Tianhua couldn't help sighing. Although he didn't know how Chen Ke's situation was now. But when following Chen Ke, those comrades were quite serious. Only after completing a job seriously would everyone have a truly happy appearance. Compared with these people pursuing excitement almost hysterically, Chen Tianhua really couldn't treat these subordinates of Pang Zi as his own comrades.

After observing, Chen Tianhua walked quickly into the village. A large number of people crowded at the entrance of the restaurant in the village. People inside and outside were shouting: "Bring wine out!" "Wine! Wine! I want to drink wine!"

Without stopping to watch, Chen Tianhua continued to go to Pang Zi's residence. Many of the Escort Agency crowd had seen Chen Tianhua and knew this Mr. Chen was the person responsible for providing them with meat and eggs, a confidant of Big Brother Pang Zi. No one stopped Chen Tianhua. Chen Tianhua entered the courtyard straight away. Inside the courtyard were some leaders of the Escort Agency; compared to the people outside, they appeared much calmer. Many people had excitement on their faces, but there were also a few people with quite solemn expressions.

Chen Tianhua didn't care so much either; he went straight into the main room. Out of expectation, there was no imagined grand feast celebration in the room, nor a group of people boasting about their merits together. He saw Pang Zi and Pang Tianshuo whispering something together. Seeing Chen Tianhua come in, Pang Zi continued to say a few words to Pang Tianshuo. Pang Tianshuo stood up and left hurriedly. He even closed the door when leaving. Quite a cautious appearance.

"Mr. Chen, sit." There was no smile on Pang Zi's face. He didn't exchange pleasantries either, saying directly.

After sitting down, Chen Tianhua said straight to the point: "Brother Pang, after doing such a big thing, what do you plan to do next?"

Pang Zi pursed his lips and glanced meaningfully to the left, then turned his head, "Mr. Chen, at most I'll run if I can't beat them. Instead, on your side, what do you plan to do about the Peasant Association?"

"I also plan to organize everyone to run. I came this time actually wanting to ask Brother Pang to promise me a few things. Don't know if Brother Pang can listen."

"I also have things I want to talk to Mr. Chen about. Let me speak first." Pang Zi said with a dark face, "The Peasant Association earned a lot of money. We need money for this run. Mr. Chen, I want half of this money."

Hearing this, Chen Tianhua said decisively without thinking: "No, this money cannot be divided. The Beiyang Army will definitely arrest people in the future; this money will be used to ransom people."

Pang Zi never expected Chen Tianhua to reject him with such a reason. His eyebrows raised immediately.

Chen Tianhua raised a hand, stopping Pang Zi from speaking. "Brother Pang, I know you are unhappy. I came this time just to tell you one thing. If you want to appear in this Nangong County again. You cannot lose the hearts of the common people here."

"Haha, people's hearts." Pang Zi sneered, "Mr. Chen, you scholars just like to talk about this. People's hearts? When Uncle Jing raised the flag to rebel back then, I knew what people's hearts looked like. When you have ability, there are people's hearts. When you have nothing, there is a fart of people's hearts." After speaking, Pang Zi couldn't help sneering again.

Chen Tianhua stared at Pang Zi tightly, "Brother Pang, then let me ask you, why Uncle Jing failed back then, but you can still mix in this Nangong County now. Why didn't the common people tie you up to see the officials? There is a wanted order on your head. Why do so many people still recognize Uncle Jing's face?"

"That is, that is..." Pang Zi was speechless by this question. He opened his mouth several times, and finally argued strongly: "That is because Uncle Jing was popular!"

"That is because the things Uncle Jing did, attacking churches, resisting foreign donations, raising flags to rebel, were all for the common people. Even if Uncle Jing failed, the common people didn't blame Uncle Jing." Chen Tianhua said very seriously, "Brother Pang, whether you should fight the Canal Defense Battalion or not, I won't say anything. You definitely have your own reasons. But, since you fought now, then you cannot let the common people suffer losses because of you. If you let the common people suffer losses because of yourself, when the common people think of you, Pang Zi, won't there be resentment in their hearts? Do you think you can still return to Nangong County in the future?"

Hearing this, Pang Zi's face was no longer iron-green, but pale. Chen Tianhua's explanation of Jing Tingbin's uprising solved a mystery that had not been solved in Pang Zi's heart for a long time. Why did Uncle Jing do so many big things but no one dared to say a 'no' to Uncle Jing? Why did Uncle Jing offend so many people in his life, but no common people had complaints about Uncle Jing? Even if the rebellion failed, the common people still praised Uncle Jing so much when mentioning him. Even when Uncle Jing was captured and executed by lingering death (*Ling Chi*). Local officials actually still recognized Uncle Jing's face.

Because Uncle Jing never did anything for his own interests in his life. Uncle Jing was a Military graduate (*Wu Ju Ren*), a big family in Xingtai; if he just wanted to make his life better, he didn't need to stand out to this extent at all. Uncle Jing just couldn't stand those people who acted recklessly in his life. He just wanted everyone to live a good life, so Uncle Jing would uphold justice everywhere, fight against injustice, and even raise flags to rebel.

And Pang Zi himself was not like this. Although he was also learning from Uncle Jing, Pang Zi knew very well himself that everything he did was for himself.

Chen Tianhua ignored how much insight Pang Zi gained at this time; he said directly: "Brother Pang, I want you to do three things. First, cannot force common people to follow you to fight. Second, you have to help common people flee. Third, you have to leave people for me to guard the Peasant Association's money." After saying these, Chen Tianhua thought for a while, then continued: "You also have to give me 100 rifles to hide."