"Knowledge is power!" Regardless of how despicable the character of Bacon, who said this sentence, actually was, this sentence itself pointed out a part of reason and truth.

Ren Qiying didn't know about Bacon's personal affairs. When she stood on the platform and recounted to the comrades below the future expectations formed almost entirely from mixing Chen Ke's documents and the statement provided by You Gou, looking at the dumbfounded comrades below, Ren Qiying truly felt a kind of illusory powerful strength.

Although Chen Ke's documents also had some descriptive content, in terms of Chen Ke's mindset at the time, these descriptions were cold. However, this was merely Chen Ke's own view. If he saw Ren Qiying recounting with an almost "sacred" attitude that tractors only needed maintenance but could work regardless of wind or rain, severe cold or intense heat, Chen Ke would probably feel torn between laughter and tears.

Tractors replacing large livestock wasn't just because of the tractor's power; the maintenance of mechanical equipment was actually simpler than raising large livestock. Tractors would also have problems, but compared to the complex illnesses and raising of large livestock, they were easier to solve instead. When Chen Ke wrote these things, what arose in his heart was merely a kind of engineering student's feeling about practical application. But the cadres who had used large livestock felt that an absurd and bizarre brave new world had unfolded before their eyes.

Whether a suggestion proposed by a cadre in the base area could receive everyone's support largely depended on whether this cadre could turn Chairman Chen Ke's meaning into words that everyone could understand. Ren Qiying didn't truly understand why the base area would eventually become like this, but she intuitively felt this model. Sure enough, after learning that "mechanization" was Chen Ke's idea, the number of comrades starting to support Ren Qiying increased.

Yuwen Badu watched all this, and the taste in his heart was really not too good. Actually, Yuwen Badu knew why there was such an effect. In the traditional political organization model, the people at the very top actually did the least concrete work; they were mainly responsible for system operation work. That Yuwen Badu could have such profound understanding wasn't because he had such a level of understanding of politics, but because as one of the nine Standing Committee members, he could participate in the highest-level meetings and training. These were all contents Chen Ke had talked about.

When mentioning the current base area construction, Chen Ke pointed out the difference between the People's Party and other political forces. The official system, or bureaucratic system, of the People's Party was an "administrative official system" (*shiwuguan* system). That is to say, the officials of the People's Party were not so much "officials" (*guan*) as "clerks" (*li*). They were all officials promoted from specific work, executing various specific tasks. Those acting as "political officials" (*zhengwuguan*) in other political forces were the "Party members." Party members were not produced by reading the Four Books and Five Classics, nor by imperial examinations. Party members were comrades selected after learning "revolutionary theory," genuinely voluntarily joining the Party, and passing the test of revolution.

Compared with the Manchu Qing's current system, the "officials" of the Manchu Qing represented the interests of the ruling class group, while the Party members of the People's Party were the vanguard of the revolution, representing the interests of the Chinese people masses. The "clerks" of the Manchu Qing were the lower-level lackeys of the ruling class, while the "officials" of the People's Party were government formal employees serving the people, or called "civil servants." From the angles of organization, discipline, and regularization, the People's Party's organizational model comprehensively surpassed the Manchu Qing, and could even be called one of the most advanced in the world.

With Yuwen Badu's cognitive ability and level, he could only barely understand these. His perspective of understanding these party and government organizations Chen Ke spoke of was relatively "mass-oriented." That is to say, he recognized that everything Chen Ke promoted—"Science, Democracy, Liberation"—genuinely developed productive forces, reduced labor intensity, improved labor efficiency, and allowed more people to effectively engage in social labor. Thus, life in the base area took on such a completely new look.

In Yuwen Badu's view, the entire base area was like a spinning top. No matter how big the top was, the true fulcrum was only that tiny sharp cone. The tip of the cone was undoubtedly Chairman Chen Ke. The layer above was the nine Standing Committee members, above that were the Party members, and above Party members were the cadres and the army. The upper part of this cone bore the cylindrical main body of the spinning top, and this main body was undoubtedly the common people of the entire base area. No matter how huge this main body was, without the tiny sharp cone located at the very bottom, no matter how huge this main body was, it absolutely had no way to stand up.

After having such recognition, Yuwen Badu also had his own thoughts about revolution. Without high-speed rotation, the spinning top couldn't stand up either. The "high-speed rotation" driving the operation of the People's Party and the base area was what Chen Ke called "revolution." The people needed a better life, needed to obtain their own liberation and dignity; this was the motive force of the spinning top's rotation. Before the People's Party led by Chen Ke, including Yuwen Badu, arrived in Anhui, the main body of the people hadn't been able to rely on any political force as a fulcrum to stand up. Thus, this huge main body was battered by wind and rain, ravaged by natural disasters, trampled by corrupt officials, rolling helplessly and wailing. Only when Chen Ke led the People's Party as a fulcrum to prop up the people did the people of the base area break away from the painful life of the past and advance towards a life with hope, with a future, and with dignity.

Being a member of the "People's Party" who bore the interests of the people, especially as a member of the "nine Standing Committee members" at the bottom layer next to Chairman Chen Ke in the "spinning top," Yuwen Badu consciously realized that his actions were not for his own individual interest, but bore the heavy "hope" of the people. Yuwen Badu felt a kind of fear and trepidation. He worried he would do things wrong, would make Chairman Chen Ke and the people feel disappointed, and would cause loss to this flourishing life. This was the thing Yuwen Badu worried about most on normal days.

Every time he completed a task and settled a matter normally, this fearful mood would temporarily dissipate. At this time, what filled Yuwen Badu's heart was a kind of genuine pride. So Yuwen Badu gradually discovered a thing: he never knew he was actually a person with extremely strong jealousy. Leaving aside the nine Standing Committee members with the same status as him and other members of the Politburo's Council of Twenty-Five, every time he saw a comrade with status below him show excellent talent, a strong sourness would rise in Yuwen Badu's heart. He extremely longed to possess talent overriding these comrades. Although he himself could consciously and willingly be subordinate to Chairman Chen Ke, following and looking up to Chairman Chen Ke, Yuwen Badu didn't wish to look up to others.

Ren Qiying's advantage in knowledge allowed her to temporarily gain quite a lot of support, but she wasn't Chen Ke after all. If it were Chen Ke speaking about mechanization, the comrades would all support it unconditionally regardless of whether they could understand it or not. These issues regarding agricultural mechanization weren't thought up by Ren Qiying herself after all, but obtained in a short time by reading literature and listening to others' explanations. When He Yaqing, the Deputy Director of the County Committee Office, asked "when next year can this mechanization process begin," Ren Qiying discovered her fatal problem. —She herself had been dazzled by this long-term prospect of mechanization.

Everyone in the base area knew Chairman Chen Ke didn't talk big. So after reading the documents written by Chen Ke and getting "news" from You Gou, Ren Qiying habitually took this unknown thing as the foundation for establishing her own policy. And the prospect of mechanization was so wonderful. Not only Ren Qiying, even when You Gou mentioned this matter, her emotions were unusually agitated. She spoke at length to Ren Qiying about the benefits of machinery and even took Ren Qiying to see the gas internal combustion engine.

That huge steel body of the gas internal combustion engine, and the rumbling sound emitted during operation, gave Ren Qiying a feeling of fear. This gas internal combustion engine drove the water lifting system of the People's Party's waterworks. As the settled population of Fengtai County increased, the coverage of the tap water network naturally became larger and larger, and the original water supply power was far from enough. The gas internal combustion engine was first used in the waterworks. Ren Qiying had become accustomed to using clean and convenient tap water. In just over a year, she could no longer get used to the rural way of carrying water. This was also one of the many reasons she was willing to let her family give up rural land and enter city life.

You Gou was the same. Although Fengtai County was now just a small county town in Anhui, the level of mechanical power used per capita was not much different from Shanghai, and in quite a few aspects was even above Shanghai. You Gou wasn't a hedonist, but she would absolutely not refuse a more relaxed life. You Gou firmly believed mechanization must be promoted faster, and successfully instilled this concept into Ren Qiying, making Ren Qiying's heart surge and her blood boil.

Hearing He Yaqing ask if the hot bulb engine could be confirmed for mass production next year, Ren Qiying, whose emotions had remained relatively agitated, finally recovered some calmness. She realized that all her expectations were actually built on absolute trust in Chen Ke. Whether the base area could complete the manufacture of hot bulb engines, the only one who could truly be counted on was Chen Ke. Ren Qiying had always obeyed orders and listened to commands before; she always placed herself in a position below Chen Ke, at least she thought so herself.

When Ren Qiying tried to promote her own policy for the first time, she suddenly discovered she was wrong. Chen Ke was never high above. Only when facing danger and difficulties would Chen Ke appear at the very front of the ranks. In normal times, Chen Ke was always at the very bottom. Anyone hoping to obtain better methods, better tools, could get support and help from Chen Ke here. If Ren Qiying wanted to promote mechanization, apart from Chen Ke, no one in the base area could give Ren Qiying true support.

Suddenly discovering that the operation model of the base area was actually not the traditional top-down model, but the completely opposite bottom-up model, Ren Qiying was stunned by her own discovery. She stood tongue-tied on the platform, completely at a loss. Thousands of thoughts and memories in her mind were quickly guided and recombined under this new understanding. Then a clear result was reached. All changes in the base area now invariably came from Chen Ke alone. All science and new methods were invariably provided by Chen Ke, or at least guided by Chen Ke.

She didn't know how long the dazed state lasted. "Comrade Ren Qiying, are you okay?" Surprised shouts called Ren Qiying's thoughts back to reality. She saw the comrades below looking at her in astonishment. Ren Qiying knew she had zoned out, but the new understanding was like a huge flood, leaving Ren Qiying's mind unable to hold any other train of thought. She managed to say: "Comrades, my train of thought is a bit messy right now. Please allow me to leave for a moment." After finishing, without waiting for everyone's agreement, Ren Qiying walked quickly out of the conference room. She just wanted to straighten out her thoughts quietly, so she rushed quickly towards the dormitory in the County Committee courtyard. As soon as she entered the door, she closed it tight, and then covered herself tightly with a bed sheet.

When Ren Qiying tried to spread her wings and fly towards the figure of Chen Ke she thought existed, she suddenly discovered she was originally standing on Chen Ke's shoulders. When she realized the tall figure she originally saw was just an illusion she imagined, and the so-called flying was just leaping into a void of nothingness, this huge contrast made Ren Qiying feel a kind of panic and suffocation. At this moment, what was in Ren Qiying's mind was not only a theoretical summary but also realistic considerations. She wanted to promote agricultural mechanization, so someone must provide mechanization. Ren Qiying wanted to promote it next year, so this person must guarantee to provide machinery before next year. If this person were Ren Qiying's subordinate, Ren Qiying could demand, could order. But this person happened not to be Ren Qiying's subordinate; this person was the highest leader of the base area, Chen Ke. Thus Ren Qiying discovered she was wrong, and terribly wrong. She had no power or reason to demand that Chen Ke must complete the task.

The error of this thought brought Ren Qiying a huge sense of fear. She knew Chen Ke wasn't a petty person. Even if Chen Ke knew about this matter, Ren Qiying could imagine Chen Ke would show a very simple smile and then say: "Comrade Ren Qiying, some things aren't things I can accomplish just because I want to." Regarding excessive demands from subordinates, Chen Ke had always been very tolerant. Ren Qiying hadn't seen this kind of response just once or twice.

Thinking of Chen Ke's tolerance, Ren Qiying felt much more relaxed in her heart. Another thought immediately appeared in her mind. "Is the way to achieve one's goal downwards rather than upwards?"

Ren Qiying's father Ren Yugang liked a sentence in Laozi's *Tao Te Ching* very much: "The highest good is like water. Water is good at benefiting all things without striving. It dwells in places that all men dislike, so it is close to the Tao. In dwelling, be close to the land. In meditation, go deep in the heart. In dealing with others, be benevolent. In speech, be truthful. In government, be well-ordered. In business, be competent. In action, be timely. It is only because it does not strive that it is without fault." This was also Ren Yugang's way of conducting himself, and likewise one of the moral standards Ren Yugang educated Ren Qiying with.

Regarding such a profound moral level, Ren Qiying actually had quite some criticism in her heart. She never believed one could really meet such a person. Even her father Ren Yugang, Ren Qiying felt he hadn't necessarily reached this moral realm. Until experiencing this matter, Ren Qiying realized what true "dwelling below" was. Everything Ren Qiying obtained now wasn't suddenly obtained in this instant; everything was previous accumulation and preparation. Without her father's education since childhood, without the study and training in the People's Party, Ren Qiying absolutely couldn't understand everything now. Everything was built on accumulation. Anything Ren Qiying used now came from the accumulation of her father, of Chen Ke, of those people walking at the very front.

The reason Ren Qiying felt these people "didn't dwell below" was only because what she saw was the superior status of these people. Now it seemed these were merely superficial illusions. Because these positions were not self-appointed by them, but given and recognized by others. Just as no one in the People's Party dared to challenge Chen Ke's status now, even Ren Qiying willingly elected Chen Ke as Party Chairman. If Ren Qiying proclaimed herself People's Party Chairman now without knowing the height of the sky and depth of the earth, would anyone recognize it?

Why was everyone willing to give Chen Ke this status? Because Chen Ke gave everything of himself to everyone. Through the hard work of the People's Party comrades, these forces changed the lives of the people in the base area. As long as one was a laborer, one could obtain a better life by oneself, so everyone willingly followed Chen Ke, followed the leadership of the People's Party.

"The People's Party is really a bunch of incurable fools." Ren Qiying couldn't help laughing out loud. Because she was lying there, tears flowed down her cheeks from the corners of her eyes.

Working so hard for others' happy life should originally be something only fools would do. Why did she not feel it was absurd at all in her heart? Why did she feel very happy? Ren Qiying wiped her tears indiscriminately with the bed sheet. Why did she not feel wronged at all? Was it because someone was working harder, striving more, and seeking repayment even less than herself?

Ren Qiying didn't participate in the revolution to save others. She just intuitively felt the People's Party could be dealt with. In the flood, only such a group of people could be relied on and cooperated with. So for her parents and siblings, she could only choose to stand out and sacrifice herself. Perhaps the reason she decided to choose the People's Party back then was the so-called "birds of a feather flock together"?

Ren Qiying, holding the idea of sacrificing herself for her family, walked together with another group of people who decided to sacrifice themselves for this country. Ren Qiying had never thought of leaving this team; she felt it was very strange herself. Thinking about it now, the comrades including Ren Qiying were all following behind that biggest fool. Was it because that most foolish guy was walking at the very front of this team that they felt they could walk down together?

Although she still didn't understand what "liberating all of China" was exactly about, Ren Qiying could already feel that this bunch of big fools including herself, regardless of what purpose, relied on serving others' happiness and interests to have everything today. Precisely because everyone sank to the very bottom, the people trying to break free from the flood had a support point and a foothold. And the one located at the very bottom of these fools was Chen Ke, this biggest fool.

Taking a deep breath, Ren Qiying felt the inhaled air was mixed with a faint salty taste; that was the smell of her tears. "I want to follow this person," Ren Qiying thought. Only now did she understand why people like You Gou, like Shang Yuan, like Hua Xiongmao, like He Zudao—people far older, smarter, and more powerful than You Gou—would be together with Chen Ke. Because everyone knew Chen Ke was serving others, so everyone would consciously or unconsciously believe in Chen Ke, believe that the unknown new world Chen Ke wanted to create would definitely descend.

"I also want to follow this person." Ren Qiying made up her mind.