The birds chirped sweetly in the clear afternoon as Peng Yueyun walked through the woods between the farm and Xiaoye Village, discussing his upcoming marriage with Tang Minjie.

"...Some time ago, there was a big conference in Chengdu, and things were very busy, so I didn't have time to come see you. After getting things somewhat settled, I proposed to Jingmei... the Chairman approved it, and we're planning to have the wedding around the beginning of next year."

"Jingmei?" Tang Minjie frowned at him.

"Hey, she's only half a year older than me." Peng Yueyun clasped his hands behind his back, appearing somewhat youthful despite his upright posture and solemn military uniform in the autumn sunlight. "I can't keep calling her 'older sister,' can I?"

"...That's all good news." Tang Minjie smiled.

Time flew. He was about the same age as Peng Yueyun was now when he was transferred to the north. Peng Yueyun and Lin Jingmei were just seventeen or eighteen years old then. Peng Yueyun was full of bitterness and resentment, always looking rebellious. Among their peers, only Lin Jingmei could scold and lecture him. He never imagined they'd end up together.

As they walked, Peng Yueyun said, "We won't have a big wedding, probably just in Zhang Village, with the elders present. I hope you can come, brother. Jingmei and I would especially like you to be there."

Tang Minjie shook his head. "I'm not available."

"How can you not be available? You saved my life."

"I'm a convict..."

"Come on, even if you made a mistake, you've already been punished. Besides, this is a personal matter. Regardless of anything else, you're my senior and mentor. And more than that, I owe you a life. It's okay for you to come to my wedding."

Their footsteps crunched on the fallen leaves, making a rustling sound. Peng Yueyun's words were sincere and persuasive. Tang Minjie smiled at him, seemingly with approval, then shook his head and patted his shoulder. "Let's not talk about that... I'll have someone bring a gift."

"You..."

Now twenty-five years old, Peng Yueyun came from a respected family and had undergone intense training as an adult. He now held a high position. When he spoke, he was persuasive, authoritative, and imposing. His wedding feast, although not extravagant, symbolized the union of the Ning family's main lineage within the China Army and the Western Army faction. Tang Minjie had saved his life. Even if the teacher didn't forgive him or promote him in the future, the support of the Western Army would be enough to sustain him.

This was Peng Yueyun's plan: to bring him before the elders, no matter what. He had anticipated that the other would refuse, and even considered various reasons. But Tang Minjie simply brushed him off. His imposing manner had no effect.

With a slight sigh, he hurried to catch up.

"Okay, okay, if you can't come, you can't come," he conceded. "How about this? I'll help you find a date. How's that?"

"...Huh?"

"Here's the thing. I have a cousin on my father's side, from the Northwest like me. She comes from a respected family. Not only is she skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but she can also wield a sword and spear. She's seventeen this year, quite pretty. My family said if I had the chance, I should help her find a good match. This is... the best I can offer. I think she's worthy of you. So, find some time, and I'll bring you two together to see."

Tang Minjie laughed. "I think you're a really unreliable older brother. What's gotten into you, Little Peng? You used to seem so serious, but now you're so out of tune..."

"It's not that." Peng Yueyun's expression was calm and natural. "She's good. She told me she wanted to find a great hero of the China Army. I said those great heroes might not be good husbands. She said it didn't matter, she would be understanding and would definitely be a good wife... You know, those of us from the Northwest carry hate in our hearts. She's not a vulgar woman. So, I think you two could work."

"...I have hate in my heart, do you know that?" A subtle sound seemed to come from the depths of the forest, and Tang Minjie rubbed his forehead.

"...So you're planning to introduce her to an old man who hauls manure, with all sorts of injuries. "

"But you have reasons for all of that..."

"How will you tell her?"

"Uh, I'll hint at it, I'll hint at it and she'll understand... Brother..."

"Don't call me 'brother.' You're the most unreliable younger brother..."

As Peng Yueyun spoke, he reached out and tapped Tang Minjie a few times. Tang Minjie laughed and threw a punch. "It's a wonder the teacher even assigned you to intelligence work, tapping people like that... Forget about that unreliable stuff. How are things outside lately? Is there anything you can tell me? How's Zou Xu?"

Peng Yueyun became eloquent when discussing external affairs. "Liu Guangshi's army is crossing the river in force. In the Central Plains, Zou Xu is retreating his main battle line to Bianliang, with several decoy units harassing Liu Guangshi's allied forces on the periphery. In our view, it's a bit like luring the enemy in deep, inviting them into a trap. Some say he might want to concentrate elite forces in Bianliang for a decisive battle, stretching Liu Guangshi's battle line and then resolving everything at once, creating a Battle of Hubudagang..."

"...Also, He Wen's Jiangning Conference failed, and the Fair Party's five factions are engaged in full-scale infighting in Jiangnan. Maybe Wu Qimei, Tie Yan, and those people can live a few more days... The situation in the Southeast is unclear. The Fujian puppet court wants to seize public opinion and promote 'honoring the king and expelling the barbarians.' On the one hand, they want to centralize power and compete with the Confucianists. On the other hand, they want to engage in maritime trade and seize profits from merchants. Although Yue Fei and Han Shizhong's troops are stationed there, strong and impressive, seemingly deterring any jumping clowns from moving, we think problems might arise sooner or later..."

"This stuff isn't really classified," Peng Yueyun said with a smile. "But recently, my main concern isn't external affairs. After the conference, the biggest thing here is land reform. Honestly, the workload is huge, and there aren't enough people. So, I was transferred here, with the knife pointing inward. Oh, the land reform thing, you've probably heard about it here, right?"

"The village isn't very clear on the details. I come back every morning and go to Wenpu every night. I've heard rumors in the county seat that the wealthy are a bit worried." Tang Minjie frowned at the mention of land reform. "Are you really ready for this?"

"The teacher has made up his mind. In the second half of the year, around the time you came back, the Seventh Army underwent rectification. During the conference, the Seventh Army and the Fifth Army exchanged more than six thousand personnel. That's the military guarantee. Then, regarding the Fair Party's killing of the rich and wiping out entire families, the newspapers have been emphasizing it. And mainly, relying on the Bamboo Records' thrice-weekly reading sessions to infiltrate the grassroots... By the way, are the thrice-weekly reading sessions still happening in Xiaoye Village? Are they being conducted by veterans or by people from Bamboo Records?"

"It should be Bamboo Records here. I've met people coming through, but... they look very tired," Tang Minjie said.

Within the China Army, the Bamboo Records' peddler-tour model has always been the basic channel for reaching the grassroots. From the time the China Army emerged from Liangshan, the initial forces couldn't complete the takeover of the grassroots. Instead, they relied on Bamboo Records' small carts selling daily necessities, touring the villages one by one. During this time, the cart was often accompanied by a storyteller who would gather the masses. While listening to the stories, they would promote the China Army's policies, sometimes with a doctor providing medical care, and sometimes with a traveling court or executing soldiers to handle the people's accusations.

Today, the China Army has completely taken over the management of all the large towns. For many villages, they try to arrange retired veterans to go down and take over the governance of public security and malicious crimes first. The Bamboo Records' peddlers still tour, and the storytelling model has evolved into a newspaper-reading system after the popularity of newspapers. While telling certain stories, they introduce villagers to events happening outside or the policies the China Army wants to promote.

"...There still aren't enough people," Peng Yueyun said. "After taking the Chengdu Plain and expanding outwards, there are nineteen large cities and over a hundred county towns. The number of villages under our jurisdiction, according to the last count, is thirty-seven thousand two hundred and sixty-eight. But in our China Army, the army and officials combined are only one hundred thousand. Averaging everyone out, there aren't even three people per village. The newspaper readers try to do a tour every three or four days. Even if it's just selling goods and reading the news, two people managing ten villages requires seven thousand people... Bamboo Records doesn't have that many people. How many of them can really tell stories? But if they don't tell stories and just have someone else read aloud, not many people will want to listen..."

Peng Yueyun rambled on. Tang Minjie laughed and said, "If someone reads and understands the newspapers well, has a good brain, maybe you'll snatch them away?"

"Haha, that's true." Peng Yueyun laughed. "There's a shortage of people everywhere. After defeating the Jurchens, we're recruiting everywhere, saying 'old leads new.' How many usable people can we train in more than a year? Brother, I can say I come from a respected family and studied since childhood, but what did I know when I was seventeen or eighteen? Back then, if you'd asked me to divide the land, all I would've done was kill people. That's all I would've done."

The young man in military uniform shook his head. "Recruiting people, we can't recruit on a large scale, we can't recruit endlessly... Honestly, the most useful people in execution, those who can get things done right away, are the old Confucian scholars who have read books, even served as officials... Ah... advisors, secretaries. Some merchants are good too, but some of these people have outdated ideas, some have no ideas, but they have outdated habits. We can't absorb them on a large scale. I've investigated several groups, it's very troublesome, very frustrating..."

"...Sometimes, complaining to the teacher, the China Army's standard for using people is uncertain. In the past, when we said 'China,' we were mainly targeting the Jurchens. We had to unite, be incorruptible, be selfless, to prove that the people of China would not lose to the barbarians... Now that the Southwest War is over, the standard has become a bit blurry. We can't recruit endlessly on a large scale, too many people would mess up the thinking. But we can't not recruit. If you recruit an old scholar, he's also incorruptible and upright, but occasionally raises some questions, can you use him? How much can you use him? Where is the line? Where is the standard? If he's corrupt, I can deal with him, but aren't there corrupt people among us? Sometimes, they collude in secret, maybe the harm is even greater... We can't just stare at them..."

The two men's footsteps moved towards the edge of the forest. The sunlight of early winter fell like shuttles amidst the rustling sound. In response to Peng Yueyun's words, Tang Minjie sighed. "So, it's time..."

"Yes... The teacher said that the term 'China' contains our hatred for the Jurchens, supporting everyone to get here, but we can't go any further with that. The four classes of people... mainly the people as the core... are at a critical point where we must move from the abstract to the concrete. After this is done, we can say that anything that is actually good for the people is what we must do, and anyone who can help with this is a comrade we want. This measuring standard can become more practical. And exactly how to do good for the people, to practice the path of the four classes, is the answer... In this way, everything will be connected..."

As Peng Yueyun spoke these words, the two gradually walked out of the woods and reached the pond where Tang Minjie often sat and sunbathed. The young soldier smiled. "It's also for these reasons that recruiting people is not easy. There aren't many people in the middle and upper levels who truly understand the teacher's ideas. At the most critical time, brother, how about you..."

"Stop... You've really learned how to be shameless and persistent until you achieve your goal..."

"It's all for work, brother, you know that things on the intelligence line have no rules or regulations. As long as you succeed, anything goes. If you don't succeed, a million reasons are wrong..." Peng Yueyun said. "What you did in the north, I would've done the same."

Tang Minjie shook his head. "You don't know the specifics of the situation there. It's dangerous to think that way... But you're still young, you'll understand slowly."

"If you hadn't been ruthless back then, I might already be dead."

Peng Yueyun wasn't usually a humorous or lighthearted person. He was mostly gentle only in front of Lin Jingmei, and showed a brief youthfulness in front of Tang Minjie. Now, as the two stood side-by-side, looking towards the dilapidated village across the pond, his face showed a cold and calm aura again. Tang Minjie glanced at him. Most of the China Army had deep-seated grievances. He wasn't unfamiliar with the occasional seriousness and extremism of young people. As long as they weren't in extreme environments like he was, they mostly wouldn't go down the wrong path.

"You'll understand," he said with a smile. "You'll probably understand after you get married."

At the mention of marriage, Peng Yueyun smiled again.

The two stood there side-by-side, looking ahead for a moment. Tang Minjie said, "About this land reform, if there aren't enough people, how are you going to do it?"

"Same old way, start from a point and expand outwards," Peng Yueyun said. "In the larger areas, the first wave of propaganda has laid the groundwork. Now the whole of Jiangnan is in chaos, so there are plenty of negative examples... Among the thirty-seven thousand villages, we first identify those with large populations and landlords. For the landlords, we first negotiate to recover the land. They have to agree this time. The main difficulty is in negotiating the price. On the people's side, working groups move in to start propaganda and classes. There are about ten classes in total. After the classes, there's a test, and then the land is distributed. That's the process..."

"After the classes... a test?"

Peng Yueyun tilted his head and smiled. "Writing your name and the characters for 'China,' and you pass... The test isn't hard, but setting a threshold and giving them a reward will make them more likely to identify with the idea of the four classes of people – national, livelihood, civil, and intellectual rights. Even if it's just to get the land, it will restrain them from resisting the landlords. At the same time, during these ten classes, we identify and absorb useful activists. Compared to the people we recruit from outside, this group is larger and purer, and may become the mainstay of the future..."

As Peng Yueyun talked about these things, Tang Minjie listened quietly. They then discussed many other things, even including the details of Tang Minjie's current work, including the lives of those who collected night soil. Peng Yueyun also listened quietly. As evening approached, the two had a simple dinner together. Tang Minjie hitched up his mule cart to return to Wenpu Town to wait for the next day's night soil collection. Peng Yueyun was scheduled to go to other places. He used to be responsible for external intelligence work, but this time, with the knife pointing inward, much of his work still needed to be kept secret.

"...I have a good friend in Wenpu, works in the county seat. When I came, I mentioned your situation to him. If there's anything you can't handle for the time being, you can look for him. His name is..."

As they were about to part, Peng Yueyun mentioned these arrangements. Tang Minjie smiled and shook his head. "There's no need, don't do these things," he said. "I'm home now, what big things could happen?"

"It's also easier for you to contact me if you need to," Peng Yueyun said.

After the two said goodbye, Tang Minjie hitched up the mule cart and headed towards Wenpu Town as usual. The sun was gradually setting, casting a magnificent, pale light across the sky. He could see traces of villages along the winding mountain road. These villages were mostly isolated and dilapidated, and the ragged people lived peaceful lives. These lives hadn't changed much due to the arrival of the China Army. Even though small carts occasionally toured, and people occasionally came to read the newspapers and provide medical care, life itself remained ordinary and mundane.

The earth-shattering changes in Chengdu, Zizhou, and other places hadn't yet permeated the administrative extremities of this land.

Halfway along the road, his manure cart passed a simple cart flying the Bamboo Records flag. The peddler and newspaper reader on the cart were as listless and tired as usual. They traveled through the dilapidated villages on this road day after day. The storyteller simply told a few appealing stories and read some mechanical news. Sometimes, if he was in a good mood, he would chat with the wealthy households or old Confucian scholars in the village.

The sun sank into the sky like it was sinking into the sea. And on the teacher's side, the sharp scalpel in his hand had already sunk into the most subtle textures of this land. Many people were about to scream, so his heart also seemed to be surging with hot blood.

The mule cart moved forward, and he hummed a tune, imagining all of this in the afterglow of the setting sun.

What was the teacher doing at this moment?

It must be exhilarating to be able to do these things, right?

He wanted to participate.

What a pity...

His life had already been spent elsewhere.

Okay, okay, it was a little short yesterday...