Chapter 79

Lu Huitian is a student at Fudan Public School and has been actively participating in various activities of the Huangpu Book Society. He usually likes to joke around and can be quite talkative. After this incident, his response to the question of his involvement in the gunfight was concise and to the point. He did not avoid Chen Ke's gaze at all. Chen Ke was very satisfied with this.

"Who else?" Chen Ke continued to call out.

"There's no one else here; the others have run away," Qi Hui answered the question. He stared at Chen Ke, trying to read his attitude. But Qi Hui could not discern anything. In the past, Chen Ke would always, intentionally or unintentionally, reveal his thoughts through his expressions. Now, Chen Ke's face showed only firmness and focus, revealing no inner emotions.

"Several days have passed since the gunfight. What thoughts do you have?" Chen Ke asked. After speaking, he noticed everyone was standing and waved his hand, "Everyone, please sit down. We are having a meeting."

The meeting room was a classroom, fully equipped with tables and chairs. Everyone pushed the desks together and sat around them. No one took the head seat, and Chen Ke naturally sat there. Unconsciously, to Chen Ke's left were Qi Hui, Qin Wuan, and Kuroshima Jinichiro, with an empty seat between Qi Hui and Qin Wuan, presumably for Hua Xiongmao. To his right were You Gou, He Zudao, Xie Mingxian, Wu Xingchen, and Chai Qingguo, with the others sitting further away from Chen Ke. Lu Huitian sat directly opposite Chen Ke, giving the scene a sense of a hearing.

Following the party meeting rules, Chen Ke was elected as the chair of this meeting. He Zudao continued to serve as the secretary.

"I now formally propose that in all official meetings of the People's Party, we address each other as comrades," Chen Ke said. Although everyone was unclear about Chen Ke's intentions, the proposal was unanimously agreed upon. "Comrade Lu Huitian, I want to ask you, several days have passed since the gunfight. What thoughts do you have about this incident?"

Lu Huitian was about to speak when he noticed everyone's gaze on him. He straightened his back and said, "I acted too rashly, causing a lot of trouble for the party. I was wrong. At the previous meeting, my comrades also criticized me."

"Any other thoughts?" Chen Ke continued to ask. In the past, Chen Ke might have found Lu Huitian's sincere attitude commendable. Now, he had no such feelings. His attention was entirely focused elsewhere.

Lu Huitian, who had been severely criticized, did not resist Chen Ke's questioning, "I should have informed the party branch that I was carrying a gun out of fear of an incident..."

"That's not the key point. I don't know how the Shanghai party organization discussed this matter. I don't want to hear apologies. Comrade Lu Huitian, I want to know what you think your obligations and responsibilities are to the party organization, and what kind of voice you should have within the party organization," Chen Ke said seriously.

Lu Huitian was silent. The older party members had never asked this question, or if they had, they had never asked it so clearly. He had many things to say but could not articulate them clearly.

"Whatever you have done, whether you regret it or are satisfied, it is in the past. It cannot be changed or redone. I am not just asking Comrade Lu Huitian; I am asking everyone here. What do you think your voice should be in the party organization, what work you should do, and what responsibilities you should bear? What is your relationship with the party organization? I am asking this to look to the future. According to the party's plan, our focus will shift to establishing a base in Anhui. I went to Beijing for this purpose. Now that I am back from Beijing, I want to know what everyone thinks about the People's Party. Then I can decide who will stay in Shanghai to continue working and who will go to Anhui with the Central Committee."

When Chen Ke finished speaking, everyone except the older party members showed surprise. Chen Ke scanned the room, seeing the new party members exchange glances and even start whispering. He was very satisfied with the older party members' confidentiality. This was the core secret of the party. If the two traitors had learned this secret, future work would indeed face significant setbacks. Now, Chen Ke was happy to see that this had not happened. He was confident that the older party members' confidentiality was indeed very reliable.

"I think I should know more information," Lu Huitian said, genuinely surprised by Chen Ke's frankness. "If I had known we were going to Anhui, I would have been more cautious and would not have been so impulsive."

"Your meaning is that you hope to become a full party member. Is that correct?" Chen Ke asked. His voice was calm and emotionless. This calmness immediately froze any complaints that Lu Huitian might have had. "I... I did not follow the party's regulations," he said hesitantly.

Recalling that moment, Lu Huitian suddenly felt a wave of excitement and fear wash over him again. Every nerve in his body tingled, and his entire body felt paralyzed. It was only after the incident that he realized he had narrowly escaped death. During the gunfight, Lu Huitian had not had time to think much. At the time, the sound of gunfire was just a concept to him. He was only aware of people suddenly falling around him and the sharp sounds, without any clear judgment. His question at the time was, "What's happening?"

The gunfight was completely unexpected. When the angry crowd marched to the Shanghai Consular Group's Municipal Council, they saw the armed police officers looking at the thousands of angry people with fear. This greatly boosted the crowd's morale. The usually arrogant police officers were now trembling with fear, which greatly stimulated the crowd's emotions. Although the People's Party had planned the route of the march, anger, enthusiasm, and the collective consciousness of the crowd took over. The slogans "Chinese people do not need foreigners to manage us" and "Foreigners get out of China" grew louder. As these slogans became more and more powerful, the crowd became more and more determined to put them into practice. It was like a dam holding back a flood; the longer it held, the higher the water level rose. Lu Huitian stood at the front of the crowd, clearly seeing the grim faces of the police officers, the fear in their eyes, the tight grip on their rifles, the tense shoulders, and the constricted pupils. Some even showed signs of despair.

The people's momentum had already overwhelmed the police. If pushed a little more, the flood of people could have swept away everything, bringing down the once arrogant foreigners and trampling them underfoot. At this critical moment, when the people's anger had completely overwhelmed the foreigners, the Indian police opened fire.

Lu Huitian was not injured. He and a few other comrades had brought guns. Honestly, before the march, the comrades who had privately purchased guns had only done so to boost their courage. In their view, the foreigners were only arrogant because they had guns. They had brought guns to the march for the same reason. During the rural social survey, You Gou had brought a gun and it had worked very well, which inspired Lu Huitian and others to bring guns.

Not only did the marchers have their own collective behavior, but the police officers, terrified by the thousands of marchers, also had their own collective emotions. Because they were in a weaker position, their fear was amplified. After a few shots, a few people at the front were hit, and those behind instinctively surged forward to see what was happening. This situation, seemingly enraged by the Indian police's gunfire, made the thousands of people seem like a tidal wave to the dozens of foreign police, who felt they would be swallowed up at any moment. Since some had already opened fire, the others fired without hesitation.

It was this forward movement of the crowd that saved Lu Huitian and others. The people at the front were hit, but Lu Huitian, who was further back, was not. The crowd finally realized something was wrong, and with the sound of screams and gunfire, those at the back began to flee. Lu Huitian was swept away by the crowd. His mind was filled with various emotions and signals, and it was only after running far away that he began to regain his senses. By then, the police station was already filled with gunfire.

For the past few days, Lu Huitian had been hiding in the school. Outside, the police and the authorities were out in force. Apart from him, the other comrades who had brought guns had not shown up. It was only when Qi Hui personally came to Fudan Public School to find him that he attended the party meeting. He then learned that after he fled, a gunfight had broken out at the Shanghai Consular Group's Municipal Council. Many members of the Huangpu Book Society and the People's Party were arrested. Thanks to the mediation of Yan Fu and Ma Xiangbo, these people were released. However, the comrades arrested in front of the Shanghai Consular Group's Municipal Council were still in the police station. Some were reportedly seriously injured, and their fate was unknown.

At this moment, Lu Huitian suddenly felt that perhaps it would have been better if he and the other comrades had not brought guns. In later meetings, Lu Huitian admitted his mistake. However, after admitting his mistake, he had another thought: would the Indian police not have opened fire if he and the others had not brought guns? He was certain that before the Indian police opened fire, he and the other comrades had not drawn their guns or intended to do so.

"Regarding this incident, I want to say that it was definitely the Indian police who opened fire first. Our comrades engaged in a gunfight with them, and we were not wrong. Our mistake was in organizing the march without considering that the Indian police would open fire on the Chinese crowd, putting the marchers in danger. As for those foreigners, we did not shoot enough, and we did not shoot powerfully enough. We did not shoot enough!" Chen Ke's voice echoed in the meeting room.

These words shook Lu Huitian's eardrums, and the fatigue and numbness he had felt from the memories suddenly disappeared. Yes, if it was just about the foreigners, there was no reason to forgive them. They had taken so many Chinese lives; killing them would not be unjust.

"But that is all in the past. I want to ask again, what do you think your rights and responsibilities should be within the party organization? If you do not understand these, we have no basis to move forward."

"Comrade Wenqing, what exactly do you mean by this basis?" Wang Qian asked. As a Cantonese, Wang Qian had been studying Mandarin phonetics and now spoke with a clear Cantonese accent.

"Do we need to obey the party's discipline and the party organization's resolutions? Not only do we need to follow the party's arrangements, but more importantly, do we need to do our work well? If we say we have done our best to follow the party's arrangements but have not done a good job, is that an acceptable answer? For this march, was there a plan before the march? If the reason for not doing well was that the plan itself was flawed, or was it that our comrades did not execute it properly?" Chen Ke's voice was not harsh, but it had a firmness that demanded an answer.

The comrades did not speak. This was indeed a difficult question to answer. Was it a matter of questioning the party's resolution or the execution by the comrades? This was a classic case of "to each his own." The decision to participate in and organize the large march in Shanghai was a collective resolution of the party organization, and everyone present had voted. If it was just a matter of the comrades executing poorly, fewer people would be involved. However, everyone knew in their hearts that they had not considered the possibility of the police opening fire. Many eyes fell on Qi Hui, who, in Chen Ke's absence, was the de facto leader of the Shanghai party organization. He had indeed raised this question, but it was voted down in the final decision. Qi Hui had then followed the group's decision in making the plan.

Chen Ke now clearly questioned whether the party branch had made a mistake or if the comrades had made a mistake in execution. From the current situation, it seemed that both had made mistakes, and the party branch's mistake might be more obvious.

"Comrades, as a new political party, I believe everyone has studied the party constitution. This new political party does not want to repeat the mistakes of old political parties. We certainly do not want to emulate the corrupt Qing government. The facts have shown that we made a mistake. Is there anyone who thinks this action was successful? If so, please raise your hand!" Chen Ke asked loudly.

No one raised their hand, and many lowered their heads.

"Then who can tell me what the purpose of this action was?" Chen Ke continued. "Who was the temporary chair of that party meeting?"

"It was me," Qi Hui answered loudly.

"Then, Comrade Qi Hui, please tell me, what was the purpose of the action as decided in that party meeting?"

Qi Hui pulled out a record and read aloud, "The purpose of the People's Party's participation in the Shanghai Municipal Council's mass protest was to connect with various political groups in Shanghai, strengthen our influence and appeal in these groups. The People's Party is currently operating under the name of the Huangpu Book Society. Through this march, we aim to absorb as many forces as possible into the Huangpu Book Society." After reading this, Qi Hui stopped.

No one spoke. This was a collective resolution of the party organization.

Chen Ke scanned the room again. Under his bright gaze, many avoided his eyes, while others straightened their backs and looked back at him seriously. After looking at everyone, Chen Ke said, "This march did not achieve our goals. We must now find out why we were wrong. Finding the mistakes is to avoid making them again in the future. It is not for personal attacks or to promote or demote anyone. It is not to find scapegoats. Everything we do is for the Chinese revolution that the People's Party is pushing forward, to ensure the success of this revolution and the liberation of all Chinese people. Therefore, before we take the next step, we must understand what we require from the party organization, what responsibilities and obligations we have. If we do not understand this, we will make the same mistakes again. This time, four comrades were arrested, and two betrayed us, revealing many internal matters to the police. Yes! This is a clear sign that we do not understand our relationship with the party organization."

Chen Ke's voice was firm and powerful. The comrades who had lowered their heads now looked up at him.

"According to the People's Party's organizational rules, everyone has the right to speak, especially for this action, since everyone voted. As the chair of this meeting, I require everyone to speak in turn. This meeting will be long, so I will now adjourn it temporarily. Those who need to use the restroom can do so. Everyone, think about what questions you want to raise. When Comrade Hua Xiongmao arrives, we will continue the meeting. Now, adjourned."

When Chen Ke finished speaking, some felt surprised, while others felt relieved. Chen Ke said to Qi Hui and You Gou, "You two, come with me to the office."

The three went to Chen Ke's office, which had been reserved for him in the plan. Chen Ke had left his wife, He Ying, inside. Upon entering, Chen Ke introduced his wife to Qi Hui and said, "Junjie, you can go for a walk around the school. I need to have a meeting."

He Ying had already gotten used to Chen Ke's busy schedule. She asked, "Where will we stay? In the school?"

"Good question. Hui, where will I stay?" Chen Ke asked Qi Hui.

"I have already arranged the dormitory. But since Wenqing has brought his family, I will make some adjustments."

The school was already built, and the party meeting was held in the teaching building. After leading Chen Ke and He Ying to their dormitory, He Ying looked at the room, which was four meters by six meters, and was quite satisfied. There was a bed, a table, and a bookshelf. She said, "Wenqing, you go ahead with your work. I will arrange the living space."

Leaving the dormitory building, Qi Hui smiled, "Your wife is really understanding."

"Yes, I feel very lucky," Chen Ke smiled. As they walked, they saw the gate open, and Hua Xiongmao came in. Seeing Chen Ke and Qi Hui, Hua Xiongmao ran over and shook Chen Ke's hand tightly, "Wenqing, you're back. Without you, many things are completely different."

These words were heartfelt, and Chen Ke couldn't help but glance at Qi Hui's expression, but Qi Hui remained calm, showing no anger or disappointment. Chen Ke then said, "Zhenglan, it's good that you're safe. The work in Shanghai has been successful. Revolution always has setbacks. Let's get back to the meeting