Chapter 17

Qi Huishen's attitude towards foreigners, to put it very tactfully, was that he didn't like them at all. To put it more bluntly, he despised them. In the past, Qi Huishen would never have obeyed his father's command to interact with the British. This time, the matter was very special, as he was going with Chen Ke. Otherwise, Qi Huishen would likely have given up.

However, the closer the rickshaw got to the British Consulate, the more uneasy Qi Huishen became.

"Chen Ke, how do you usually deal with foreigners?" Qi Huishen finally asked.

"This matter... I..." Chen Ke almost let it slip. In fact, he didn't have much experience dealing with foreigners. Chen Ke was relieved he hadn't said the wrong thing and began to think.

"Let's first hear what the butler has to say. Since your father sent him, he wouldn't have made a casual decision."

Qi Huishen had no better ideas and changed the subject. "Chen Ke has never been afraid of foreigners, right?" This casual remark revealed Qi Huishen's inner thoughts.

"I'm not afraid of individual foreigners, but when it comes to organized foreigners, I always believe one should be cautious. No matter how corrupt the British organization is, I can't handle it alone." Chen Ke vaguely answered the question.

Seeing Qi Huishen's worried expression, Chen Ke smiled. "But, foreigners are also human. If they are human, they don't act much differently. Treat them with respect, understand their procedures realistically, and you won't encounter anything too excessive."

The three of them got out of the rickshaw in front of the British Consulate. Before the two young men could speak, the butler began to "lay down the rules." As Qi Huishen's father, Qi Si'e, had said, both sides had already determined the overall direction of the project. Chen Ke felt that if he understood the butler correctly, his and Qi Huishen's job was to get the necessary stamps. A counselor at the consulate was responsible for the British side, and the first document needed to be issued by this counselor.

Chen Ke didn't dare to guess blindly and straightforwardly told the butler his understanding. The butler nodded in satisfaction, and then they began their work.

"Bureaucratic formalism" has always been a target of criticism in the industrial age, characterized by its slow, methodical, and endless paperwork, forms, and stamps. Anyone unfamiliar with the bureaucratic system would have a terrible impression after dealing with it. Chen Ke used to feel the same way, but after personally navigating the bureaucratic process to accomplish a few significant tasks, his view of the system changed. Compared to the rule of the masses or personal rule, the modern bureaucratic system has made significant progress. The criticism of the bureaucratic system often centers on "not being able to find the decision-maker." However, if you listen carefully to the bureaucrats' explanations, you can usually find the responsible person. Chen Ke always believed that compared to the bureaucratic system, those who think the system can solve everything might be making a bigger mistake.

This time, the situation confirmed Chen Ke's view. The first document was issued by a counselor named Humphrey, and the next step was to get the signature of the British Concession's education department official. Chen Ke didn't simply entertain the official and rush away after signing the document. Instead, he made an effort to communicate with the official.

Compared to Indians, the British are much more diligent. Compared to the Chinese, the British are more laid-back. Because of his practice with American TV shows, Chen Ke spoke standard American English with a bit of a New York accent. When choosing words, Chen Ke tried to use "may" instead of "can," which has a London flavor. The education official hadn't spent much time in London; he was from Coventry.

Chen Ke, a short-haired Chinese man who spoke English that clearly wasn't from mainland China, wasn't disliked. Chen Ke neither showed obvious hostility towards the British like ordinary Chinese nor fawned over them like compradors. The official answered Chen Ke's key questions, such as who would be in charge of the school and which departments would lead the project.

In the following days, Chen Ke approached each department for signatures and stamps in the same manner. Not all officials were as friendly as the British education official, and some treated Chen Ke poorly. In such cases, Chen Ke had to adopt another approach: "As long as you don't kick me out, I will handle the steps you are responsible for."

Qi Huishen accompanied Chen Ke throughout these days. In his imagination, handling matters involved finding the responsible person, negotiating openly or privately, and reaching a conclusion. This was his first time dealing with the modern bureaucratic system. Seeing the British officials' stern faces and unfriendly tones, Chen Ke fearlessly exchanged opinions and followed their instructions. Many of the demands that Qi Huishen found unreasonable, Chen Ke managed to complete multiple times.

Stamping documents, filling out forms, and more stamps and forms. Today, they went to one department, and tomorrow, they had to go to the same person for a different purpose. On the afternoon of the fourth day, Chen Ke finally brought the final document back to Counselor Humphrey.

Counselor Humphrey looked at Chen Ke and Qi Huishen with a somewhat surprised expression. As a British person well-versed in the bureaucratic system, he admired the two young men's determination and perseverance. He had known about Chen Ke's actions in the British bureaucratic system in Shanghai. Chen Ke didn't strictly follow the procedures but figured out who to find and went to get the necessary stamps without compromising Counselor Humphrey's "position."

As a characteristic of the bureaucratic system, subordinates had already come to Humphrey, hoping to know if there was anything fishy about the matter. Humphrey simply said, "Follow the procedure." The subordinates naturally understood that this meant "don't deliberately cause trouble."

This school project wasn't a significant matter. Since the Americans used the Boxer Indemnity to establish schools in China, the British had similar intentions. However, the British, considering their "international status," were unwilling to be as straightforward as the Americans. This school project fell into this category. Without this background, Counselor Humphrey might not have been so willing to approve Chen Ke's request.

Chen Ke, following the butler's instructions, placed the silver ticket on the final document. Counselor Humphrey signed a receipt for Chen Ke and dismissed the two of them.

"Do you mean the British are using China's Boxer Indemnity to build schools to win over the Chinese?" Outside the consulate, Qi Huishen asked Chen Ke. "And this school, the British Consulate in Shanghai is having my father fund it, while they don't contribute. What did you call it earlier?"

"Political achievement project."

"Right, a political achievement project. You mean the British Consulate is running a political achievement project."

"If it weren't for this reason, we definitely couldn't have completed the task."

Chen Ke said this with a relaxed and pleased expression. Qi Huishen, however, was not in a good mood. He felt that all the hard work of these days had merely created a hollow school for the British, which made him very unhappy.

"Huishen, this is revolution. Our revolutionary cause has made a significant breakthrough. Haven't you always wanted to recruit revolutionary comrades? Through this school, the process of recruiting revolutionary comrades will be much more efficient," Chen Ke persuaded.

"Even if we can recruit comrades, we are mostly gathering people to work for the British. I always feel it's wrong," Qi Huishen still couldn't understand.

"Huishen, what kind of revolution do you think it is? A bunch of comrades with knives and guns, killing the enemy. I think you shouldn't be so naive anymore."

"But it shouldn't end like this. Brother Wenqing, you talk about revolution, but it seems you are moving further away from it. You used to explain revolutionary principles to us, but these days, you don't even talk about them anymore."

Chen Ke disagreed with Qi Huishen's view. "Ha, when I talked about revolutionary principles, you weren't revolutionary comrades. Now we have even established a party cell. Why do I feel my revolutionary work has been very effective?"

"Then what do you plan to do next, Wenqing?" Qi Huishen knew he couldn't argue with Chen Ke and asked directly.

"The party relies on its members. We don't judge whether someone is a party member by what they say but by what they do. Why should you believe me when I say I am a revolutionary? I think it's not because I gave you long speeches about revolution, but because I led the comrades to work diligently and accomplish tasks. Comrades can get along well because everyone works diligently, not just for themselves but for our common cause."

Hearing this, Qi Huishen fell silent and nodded slightly. Chen Ke could dye cloth, treat patients, and now get the necessary approvals. If there were no special circumstances, Chen Ke could likely accomplish many more things. Qi Huishen complained that Chen Ke was no longer revolutionary, but he believed Chen Ke should also be able to start a revolution. As Chen Ke said, the comrades around them, even if Qi Huishen joined by accident, still liked these people. He hoped to revolutionize with them, not with those who were helpless or ran away when faced with hard work.

Seeing that he had convinced Qi Huishen, Chen Ke felt very pleased. Being able to say these things to Qi Huishen today made him very happy.

The success of the Communist Party, especially the myth-like success before 1949, was an important external manifestation that the Party did what it promised to the people, and even more. Chen Ke didn't think that all the comrades in the Party truly understood the theory of communism when the People's Republic of China was founded. Chen Ke believed that at most 4% of the Party members truly understood communism. As for the Chinese people, those who understood communism were less than 1%.

But why could this party crush all the reactionaries? Because the party relied on "being practical" to do things that benefited the people. It was the result of millions of Party members, from top to bottom, implementing the Party's program and organizational discipline.

Chen Ke felt regretful that he couldn't tell Qi Huishen these things. Even if he did, Qi Huishen wouldn't believe him. For Chen Ke, he could only lead by example and, through practical actions, make the comrades recognize the power of the new party. This political ideology and organizational model could liberate China, even the entire world.

Chen Ke strongly agreed with the widely spread fable: in a country of madmen, the sane are the madmen.

If facts cannot speak, then everything is an unresolvable lie.

But the Long March always has a first step. With an initial outline, Chen Ke had many things to do. "What do you think of the British bureaucratic system, Huishen?" Chen Ke asked.

"Too complicated. I can't understand it at all. I'm amazed you can figure out what they are doing."

"Then, for the new China we will establish, or rather, the new school and new factories and enterprises we are about to set up, how do you plan to organize the management system?"

Qi Huishen had never really thought about these things. Since joining Chen Ke's team, he didn't need to consider such matters, as there was always work to do, and the team ran very well. Qi Huishen subconsciously believed this was the best model.

"Huishen, I said before that our party emphasizes democracy. Future organizational structures will be decided by meetings, and all Party members must unconditionally obey the decisions. When we have a meeting, you can't just go along with it. You must express your own views."

Chen Ke's words reminded Qi Huishen of this. Since Chen Ke said a party meeting was needed to determine future development, it meant the revolutionary work would continue. Thinking about this, Qi Huishen felt happy again.

These days, Chen Ke and Qi Huishen ran around getting stamps during the day and treated patients at night. Seeing the sun was setting, it was almost time to treat patients. According to the usual schedule, they should rush back to the workshop, change into white coats, and carry the medical kit to the patients' homes. But holding the receipt, Chen Ke absolutely dared not let Qi Huishen take it to Qi Si'e. It wasn't that he didn't trust Qi Huishen; if Chen Ke let Qi Huishen take the receipt, Qi Si'e would think Chen Ke didn't know how to handle things. Facing such an absolutely unaffordable person, Chen Ke couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

Qi Si'e called Chen Ke and Qi Huishen to the living room. Chen Ke first handed the receipt to the old man, who looked at it and then passed it to the butler.

"Wenqing, I've seen the receipt, and it's fine. The matter is settled."

Chen Ke sighed in relief. "I can finally give you an account."

"Haha, Wenqing is really cautious," the old man laughed, then turned to scold Qi Huishen, "Do you know how difficult this was?"

Qi Huishen, though somewhat不服气 (unwilling), didn't dare to contradict his father. He obediently responded.

"This is because Wenqing is sensible, which is why it was done so quickly. If you had done it, it would have taken a month," Qi Si'e said.

"Uncle Qi, it's because you had already paved the way for us. They didn't make things difficult for us. If we had to do it ourselves, it wouldn't just be a matter of running around; it would be impossible," Chen Ke quickly said.

Seeing Qi Huishen didn't argue, and the matter was settled, Qi Si'e didn't want to say more to his son. He looked at Chen Ke again, "Wenqing, I've never run a school and don't know how to do it. How do you plan to help me?"

"I really want to run a school, but I can only do the work. How to do it is up to you, Uncle Qi." Chen Ke said while taking out a document, "Uncle Qi, I studied abroad, so I wrote an outline based on foreign schools. I hope you can give me some guidance."

This was the document Chen Ke had prepared for Cai Yuanpei, slightly modified for this purpose.

"Wenqing, I originally thought that if the British asked me to do this, I would just spend the 5,000 yuan and consider it a loss. I didn't expect you to be able to handle it, and my son to be willing to do something serious. As for the school, I won't be involved. If you think my 5,000 yuan shouldn't be wasted, then go ahead and set it up. If you need anything from me, just say so, and I'll help. If you can't set up the school, I would have considered the money lost, but it's not a big deal."

"Uncle Qi, I originally wanted to set up a hospital. I didn't expect such an opportunity. This school is a medical school, and every medical school has its own affiliated hospital. My hospital can benefit from this, which is my luck. Rest assured, I will assist Huishen in setting up the school."

Qi Si'e nodded in satisfaction, "This school is nominally run by the British, but the money is mine. I've told the British that they can send people to be board members, but the chairman cannot be a British person. So, Huishen will be the chairman, and you, Wenqing, will be the principal. Set up the school well."

"I will do my best to assist Huishen."

"By the way, Wenqing, are you a revolutionary?" Qi Si'e suddenly asked.

Chen Ke was startled by this question. Seeing no malice in Qi Si'e's words, though he was speaking to Chen Ke, his gaze was on Qi Huishen.

Chen Ke said, "I used to talk about revolution, but I don't dare to speak recklessly anymore."

Qi Si'e grunted and turned to his son, "Revolution, revolution. What do those revolutionaries do besides causing trouble? Isn't it better to do business and run a school honestly? Isn't it better than idling around all day?"

Chen Ke recalled Qi Huishen's words: as long as he didn't cause trouble, his father would support him. It seemed this wasn't a joke.

Although the times were different, a parent's love for their child was the same. Qi Si'e criticized and educated Qi Huishen for half an hour until Qi Huishen, annoyed, promised to focus on the school. Only then did the old man let his son go.

After the family education session, Qi Si'e invited Chen Ke to have dinner together. Chen Ke was relieved; if not for the "treatment" as a legitimate reason, he couldn't have refused.

After Chen Ke left, Qi Si'e said, "Wenqing is busy today, so I won't keep him. Huishen mentioned the medicine you are working on together. We can talk about it when we have time."

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