"...Speaking of the end of seclusion and the time after returning to Liangshan, I wanted to establish a correct life orientation for the children, encourage them to love life and strengthen their bodies, so I told them some stories about the martial world... But in this matter, I'm relatively low-key, I can't say it's myself, so I usually make up a few powerful names..."

Gentle light spread, and several figures walked on the city wall, listening to the ins and outs of certain things in the warm night breeze.

"Well, those who come out to make a name for themselves, of course, the name must be domineering, like Dongfang Bubai, which sounds very powerful... Dongfang Bubai's younger brother, Xifang Shibai (Western Failure), is a supporting role, he is not important... and Dugu Weiwo, meaning 'I am the only one,' ah, this name is also good, I like it very much... Then there are the three great masters in the world, one of them... is called Long Aotian..."

Wearing a handsome coat, Ning Yi walked and pointed to the newspaper in his wife's hand. Seeing his lengthy speech, full of idioms, Su Tan'er knew something was wrong, and the expression on her face had changed several times. She opened the newspaper with the reward on it and looked at it again.

"So... in those powerful martial arts stories you told... this Long Aotian... the third greatest master in the world, Long Aotian's nickname is... Five-Foot Erotic Demon? How could you tell the children this..."

"It's the number one master in the world." Ning Yi rubbed his forehead. "The tragedy is that the number one master in the world can't be called the Five-Foot Erotic Demon. How could I tell a group of children that the number one master in the world is called the Erotic Demon? First, the number one master in the world can't be called the Erotic Demon, second, I can't tell children about the Erotic Demon - Tan'er, what's wrong with your thinking..."

He turned to look at his wife beside him, only to see her looking at him, amused and annoyed. Then he received a punch from her.

"Sigh..." Ning Yi sighed.

Tan'er also rubbed her forehead and smiled wryly, "So this is the reputation he earned himself. Er'er this... um, this matter must be suppressed. Xiaochan can't know, if Xiaochan knows, I won't let you go... Fortunately, he used an alias..."

"It's useless to use an alias. Xi'er, Xiaohe, Wenwen, Xiao Ke, Shuang, Ning... every one of them knows Long Aotian's name. Hei Niu and her group of children have also heard of it... I was careless. I think this child will die socially when he comes back... Alas, I, a dignified heart demon, gave birth to a child called the Erotic Demon... The rewards in the back are in groups, the Five-Foot Erotic Demon also has a bunch of cronies called the Four-Foot Erotic Demon, psychopaths, he's just a little monk, are you lacking in virtue..."

Tan'er suppressed her laughter. Her expression changed, and she couldn't help but hit Ning Yi a couple of times. In recent years, she had been in charge of the family and had been steady and dignified. Even in front of Ning Yi, she rarely couldn't help but bicker, but then she frowned again.

"Then what should we do... Xiao Ji, how did this child get into this... it must be a misunderstanding..."

"Who knows? Qian Lao Ba and the others haven't returned yet, so the whole story isn't clear. But the human heart is treacherous, and the martial world is dangerous. It might not be a misunderstanding. After being played by that bitch Yu Xiao'er, he painfully reflected and decided to take revenge on all the women in the world. After going out, through unremitting efforts, he made a huge name for himself... Look, he even took a younger brother, who must especially admire him..."

"Nonsense. If that were the case, Eighth Master and the others wouldn't have sent back these few headless pieces of paper. This matter is not small, what about Xiaochan..."

"What's the matter? Young people, going out for three thousand miles, making a joke is better than being killed by someone."

In the night, the moon and stars were sparse. The night breeze was gentle on the city wall surrounded by lights. During their walk, Tan'er looked at the newspaper several times. Then she looked at her husband beside her, "You seem quite happy."

Ning Yi smiled slightly, "The world is vast and wonderful. He is young and walked three thousand miles to see his parents' old home. He made such a name for himself, he must have experienced a lot of chaotic things. Have you ever thought about what kind of Jiangning he saw? Is the Su family mansion, our things still there... Also, I heard that this time in Jiangning, Chen Fan went to Lin Echan to collect debts, and the two sides fought. A peak duel, I wish I could be there in person to kill that bastard."

He was in a cheerful mood, and Tan'er also smiled, "I think, Lord Ning, you shouldn't go and make trouble. If you join forces with Chen Fan, we will lose."

"What do you mean join forces with Chen Fan? What is his identity, what is my identity? I will definitely bring my right and left followers..."

"These followers, one is named Lu and one is named Liu, right?"

"Yes, let them help out and chop that fat bastard to death."

He said this, looking outside the city, "Alas, this is the kind of scenery that only young people can have. Unlike us now, we have meetings every day, or a group of people come to intercede, pleading earnestly, asking you to withdraw your order. Each one doesn't say it wonderfully enough, far inferior to Zuo Duanyou. I think, this group of great Confucian scholars is getting worse and worse..."

In front of his closest family members, this sigh of "being caged for a long time, unable to be free" was not the first time. Su Tan'er was drawn into thought by his words. Looking outside the city, she also recalled the scenery of Jiangning for a moment, then tilted her head and said, "The people in Zhang Village are also restless. The military, various departments, some wives and ladies come to the door in turns, trying to make connections,

and then asking about this land reform. I think, I can imagine how much benefit they will get if the land is taken back by the state. Moreover, if we conduct peaceful redemption, how much money will we have to pay to buy all these lands? The tricks that can be played in the middle, the advantages that can be taken, are not a small amount, including the pricing link in the middle, which will not be smooth."

She paused, then smiled, "Of course, some sisters are more ruthless, asking why we don't promote a killing of landlords like in Jiangnan, and then we can reverse the chaos. I remember you mentioned this method before."

"The general trend at the conference is to promote this matter in a peaceful way." Ning Yi tilted his head and said in a low voice, "In essence, this is because the concept of equality has not become the spiritual axis of the Huaxia Army. In the past, the order was first the two words Huaxia corresponding to revenge and resistance against the Jin, then Gewu corresponding to development, and then people's livelihood, civil rights, and people's wisdom and corresponding equality. But honestly, many people are hesitant about whether true equality is possible, even including me, my confidence is insufficient."

Tan'er turned to look at him, then hooked his finger, "This... I think it's okay to take it slow..."

"Hmm." Ning Yi nodded with an ambiguous meaning. "We have only been beaten for more than ten years. Many people believe that the old methods are very good, including today's Chengdu. Everyone sees its prosperous development and is unwilling to do more tossing. Mobilizing the Huaxia Army to promote an out-of-control land equalization campaign from the bottom up, we don't have this option for the time being. If I force this, the Huaxia Army may disintegrate internally."

Su Tan'er nodded, "When you talked about it in the past, I felt that you wanted to use this method more. I don't quite understand, but if you want to do it, I will support you."

"I have some strange obsessions." Ning Yi smiled, "But things will always change in motion. As far as the situation of the Huaxia Army is concerned, it is most convenient to promote this kind of thing when we kill out of Liangshan, directly instigating the entire Chengdu Plain to fight local tyrants and divide the land. And we also have a basic base of more than ten or twenty thousand people here, who can gradually clean up the mess in the entire area. In short, it is to replicate the situation in Jiangnan today. The only difference is that we guarantee the internal purity and can gradually digest others, while He Wen's internal purity is worrisome..."

He took his wife's hand and turned to move forward.

"...But in this way, the process of unifying the Chengdu Plain will be greatly extended, and the resistance of the local landowners will intensify. Moreover, our focus will basically be on rectifying and guiding the peasant movement, and the development of Gewu will lag behind... And at that time, there were two important considerations..."

"First, in the current social level, everyone can ultimately understand the prosperity after the development of Gewu, but the thinking and desire for equality are not so widespread, nor is there any rational accumulation at the ideological level... And the second consideration is that if the development of Gewu has not formed a scale, has not found practical and long-term development possibilities, then the enlightenment of the people is likely to be empty talk. Confucianism was actually radical and heroic in the time of Confucius. He wanted to use the efforts of several generations to achieve universal harmony. Later people found that it could not be done, so they turned 'the people can be made to know, but cannot be made to understand' into 'cannot be made to know, but can be made to follow'. In fact, if there is no possibility of great material development, this is actually a very scientific way of handling it."

"In any case, we have made a choice here..."

In the night, Ning Yi's words were calm, more like a self-reflection and summary made in private, when no one was around. Su Tan'er listened quietly. This was a scene that occasionally appeared in Zhang Village. Ning Yi was accustomed to sorting out his thoughts in front of a few close people. Tan'er could understand some, but most of the time, she was not as enthusiastic about participating in discussions as Xigua.

At this moment, it was the same. She shook Ning Yi's hand, "So, are you confident?"

"Ah, it can be done."

Ning Yi looked towards Chengdu.

The possibility of an industrial revolution had begun to germinate and take root.

With this achievement as the foundation, what else could not be tried?

In the cool night breeze, the couple walked hand in hand, then chatted about some trivial family matters. Tan'er talked about the children's homework, and then talked about Ning Ji's problem.

They went down from the city wall, got on the carriage, and the carriage gradually drove into the tree-lined streets, traveling forward, and the people who were originally watching the scenery gradually turned into the scenery in the eyes of others.

This was a Chengdu night where land reform had entered the countdown.

Rising from his seat, the dinner at "Yingzhou" had also come to an end. A group of people went down from the building, huffing and puffing. Lin Qiu put his arm around the shoulders of the Chen-surnamed leader.

"Brother Chen, really, don't act rashly. The boss is watching this matter. There will be no good end for those who oppose the boss. Back then in Shiling, Wanyan Zonghan and Gao Qingyi were scolded in front of him like grandsons. Even if their sons were killed, they had to say thank you. I was there. Brother, I'm saving your life, saving your life..."

He walked and patted the other party's chest, "But the land, it will always be released after it is taken back. How to divide it, I, your brother, will help you keep an eye on it. Are you afraid of not having any benefits? I'm afraid you won't have any money by then... So, Brother Chen, development here depends on you. The strategy from above now is to boost domestic demand. What is domestic demand? You bring in more and more people from outside.

After they come in, they need to live in houses, they need to marry wives, they need to study, they need to eat, drink, and excrete. They are domestic demand. Recruit more people, recruit more people. With more people, there is more power, with more people, there is enough consumption. These are all the principles that the boss said. When has the boss ever been wrong? Tell me, when has the boss ever been wrong..."

The Chen-surnamed businessman smiled and echoed. Lin Qiu asked twice, but didn't get a response, so he waved to the side, "Lao Tan, Lao Tan, you tell me, when has the boss ever been wrong?"

"...Ah?" The fat man named Lao Tan blinked.

"You say, when has the boss ever been wrong? You say it..."

"The boss is never wrong!" The Chen-surnamed merchant who was being hugged quickly smoothed things over, "How could the boss be wrong, right? But Director Lin, it's getting harder and harder to bring people in from outside now. You have so many policies, the benefits are so high, and you have to arrange for children to go to school, and there are physical examinations and accommodation. Our investment is also big..."

"What big investment? You're crying poor in front of me, is that spending your money? It's written in black and white that the money belongs to them, borrowed by you, and they have to work to pay it back. Isn't that wool coming from the sheep's back? The more they borrow, the more they have to do, right? They help you do more work, and you earn more money. Look, they borrow more, then they spend more, and then they do more work. Everyone has more benefits. Isn't this a win-win-win situation? This is human rights!" He turned to look at everyone, "Do you understand this is human rights?"

The crowd replied in a chaotic manner.

Lin Qiu waved his hand, "Human rights are a good thing. If it weren't for human rights, why would the state take back the land? If the state didn't take back the land, what benefits would you have in the future? Huh? If there were no human rights, why would they borrow so much money from you? If they didn't borrow so much money from you, why would people work hard to repay the debt? You guys, ingrates, don't understand the boss's painstaking efforts... You have to look at the long term, the long term, 'consider the long term with a broad view'! Do you understand?"

The air was filled with the smell of alcohol.

"...So, recruit more people, find more people to do more work and earn more money. When you earn money, you recruit more people. What kind of people are hard to recruit? Don't try to fool me. What's going on outside? They're all fighting. Liu Guangshi is fighting Zou Xu, the Fairness Party is in infighting, Wu Qimei and Tie Yan are about to die, the Southeast Little Dynasty is finished. Lao Chen, Lao Tan, is that a place for people to stay? No, people in troubled times are all livestock. Who doesn't want to come here? Lao Tan, you say, who doesn't want to come here?"

"--Everyone wants to." Lao Tan quickly replied.

"That's right. Everyone wants to come here, so what's hard to recruit? Don't give me any complaints, the people of the Huaxia Army never complain. The Huaxia Army is hardworking and enduring, working overtime... By the way, Lao Tan, Lao Chen, how come you're dragging your feet on so many orders that I placed for you last time? The Long-surnamed guy told me yesterday, you do it faster, don't make me lose face... I see, you're just especially not hardworking..."

The parting scene was chaotic. After Lin Qiu dawdled and arrived in the courtyard, someone brought over a sandalwood carved food box. The old Chen said, "I was so busy chatting with Director Lin during the meal that you didn't eat much. So, I asked the chef to make food, all of which is your favorite tofu, Lao Tan, come on, let's send Director Lin back."

At this time, the carriage had already driven in. Lin Qiu waved his hand, "Send what? My home isn't far from here. Give me the food, and I'll walk back to get some exercise."

"Director Lin has drunk..."

"Where did I drink? I only took a few sips. Okay, give me the box. Don't whine... It's just a few steps."

As he said this, he reached out and patted his head hard a few times. Then he went to grab the box. The box was quite heavy in his hand, but he immediately moved it up and down without changing his expression, "Exactly, it's quite handy. Okay, no need to see me off!"

Bringing out the domineering aura of the officialdom, the group couldn't keep him. After a while, he left the side door of "Yingzhou" carrying the box, and walked slowly along the tree-lined street. The influence of alcohol made him feel dizzy. In his eyes, the flashy majesty faded away, and he became calm.

The drinking bouts of the past few months had made his body worse. Realizing this, he alternated his left and right hands to lift and lower the food box, treating it as exercise. There were pedestrians walking on the road beside him, and tinkling carriages drove past him with orange lanterns. In the night scene of the peaceful and prosperous age, he thought of the scenes in the studio of the secretariat in the past. At that time, He Deng was very young, and Ning Yi was very disciplined. He got up every morning to practice boxing, and everyone else followed suit. Now, his body hadn't yet lost its shape, but the flesh was obviously becoming looser.

Land reform was about to begin, and countless ants were moving at the news. But he didn't want to let the people around him die in this wave. He let them do many of the dirty things. If they made money from buying and selling land, who would go to squeeze those foreign indentured workers?

The recent dinner parties had turned into a good deed of saving people.

Walking to the small river not far from his home, the night breeze made his head gradually clear. He stood there, blowing the wind for a while. At the other end of the view, Xu Shaoyuan, whom he had worked with before, walked over with another young soldier.

"Director Lin, what are you doing here, contemplating life? You smell of alcohol."

"Xu Gong, are you taking a walk?"

Xu Shaoyuan being called "Xu Gong" was not a proper title. It was because he was tall and handsome, and people often joked, "Who is more handsome, me or Xu Gong of the north of the city?" and that was how he got the nickname. At this time, he pointed to the young man beside him, "Fang Cheng of the working group, the Fang of square, the Cheng of sincere. Fang Cheng, Lin Qiu, the one I told you about, the one who had the honor to follow Mr. Ning to give Wanyan Zonghan a hard time in Shiling. He is now working in the Ministry of Commerce. Because he is a virgin, he is generally called Director Lin."

"Okay, I don't know who is a virgin. I went to Yong Jinrou's wedding."

Lin Qiu returned the favor without changing his expression. After shaking hands with Fang Cheng with a smile, he pointed to Xu Shaoyuan, "He, with Mr. Ning's advice, still can't catch up with the woman he likes. Mr. Ning even invented an idiom based on him, called 'shídòngránjù' (ten times moved, but still rejected). Very moved, but then rejected him -- that's him."

"Ah, our group leader..." The young man named Fang Cheng was immediately interested.

Xu Shaoyuan slapped him to the back, "Stop chatting with this guy about nonsense, do you also want to be a virgin?"

Lin Qiu showed a victorious smile, then said, "Okay, I won't disgust you. Do you want to eat something? I have tofu here."

"Director Lin is very simple, okay."

Xu Shaoyuan smiled, and the two walked to the bluestone bench by the river. When he called back to Fang Cheng, the young man said he didn't want to eat and stayed there to wait. Opening the food box, there were several stacks of dishes, mainly tofu, in the three-layered box. There was only one pair of chopsticks. Lin Qiu broke the two chopsticks in half, and the two sat there and tasted the dishes. Xu Shaoyuan liked it very much, but Lin Qiu was tired of it.

After eating a few bites, Lin Qiu said, "Speaking of which, I prefer the Chen Ji tofu outside the He Deng family compound. Do you remember the stir-fried dried tofu with meat? They have a lot of meat."

"So, do you like to eat meat, or do you like to eat tofu?"

"I don't know..."

"And there's not much meat at Chen Ji's at all, it's always just a little bit. Look, there's less meat in a bowl of their dishes than there is in this stuffed tofu of yours... Mmm, delicious, this chef has a way."

"If it's delicious, eat more."

"Needless to say, seeing that you're a little constipated, don't eat it, I'll have all the rest."

Under the cool night breeze, Xu Shaoyuan gobbled it up on the stone bench by the river. Lin Qiu laughed, "Xu Gong, pay attention to your image, you look like a starving ghost being reborn. People will think the Huaxia Army is short of food."

"I've already been 'ten times moved, but still rejected', what kind of image do I need? You, on the other hand, have been given important positions and promoted. This year... I heard in May that you got engaged to a girl? Um... a woman of the Zuo family left here, named Zuo Jing, right? Beautiful and excellent. In July, you broke off the engagement again. The person is as her name suggests, very calm, she didn't beat you up, but what's wrong with you? Do you really want to keep the title of Director Lin? Or are you dazzled by the variety of flowers and have other objects?"

Xu Shaoyuan talked about this matter, Lin Qiu looked calmly ahead, and after a moment of silence, he lowered his voice and said slowly, "I... suddenly discovered something."

Xu Shaoyuan stuffed the stuffed tofu into his mouth, "What?"

Lin Qiu's voice was even lower, word by word. Xu Shaoyuan leaned over and heard him say, "...Men are better."

Xu Shaoyuan was stunned, and readily agreed, "I think so too."

"It's a pity you're too ugly..."

"You're a little short..."

People who came out of Ning Yi's side never feared any tasteless jokes. The two disgusted each other, then laughed helplessly. After a while, Xu Shaoyuan finished all the food and burped. He knocked the chopsticks on the box.

"After the Huaxia Army entered Chengdu, the stall became bigger, and everyone had their own places to go. Sometimes, we can't see each other, and we don't know what you're busy with, but brother has a word to educate you."

"Brother, say it."

"Although tofu is delicious, you can't fill a whole box with tofu, you know? Look at you, you got constipated. If it weren't for me today, you would have wasted it. So people, whatever happy things they do, they must be restrained. Without rules, there will be problems."

As he said this, he put the chopsticks back in the food box.

Lin Qiu smiled, "I understand, Xu Gong still cares about me."

"Xu Gong doesn't love you, Xu Gong's heart is already broken."

The two sat there, looking at the moon in the sky. After a while, Xu Shaoyuan got up, and Lin Qiu also got up and said, "When will the land reform start? You're about to set off, right?"

"The preliminary publicity has already been done. We just finished the last meeting. Tomorrow morning, everyone will move." Xu Shaoyuan pointed to the sky, "Land reform countdown..."

He paused.

"...Five hours."

"Take care."

Lin Qiu saluted.

Xu Shaoyuan also returned a salute. Then he reached out and patted the other party's shoulder, smiling.

"One day, when the revolution is successful, let us drink happily with you all."

This was a saying that many people in the Huaxia Army had learned from Ning Yi. Some understood its meaning, and some did not, but in any case, it was the most solemn agreement.

……

The stars and moon flowed. After a while, Xu Shaoyuan and Fang Cheng left the riverbank caressed by the night breeze.

Lin Qiu carried the sandalwood food box back to the courtyard where he lived. He cleaned up the bowls and dishes in the box, split the wooden box, and threw the gold bars padded in the interlayer into the messy storeroom. After sobering up with a hot towel, he sat quietly in the courtyard for a long time.

It wasn't until he was about to go to bed that he remembered that he should exercise and slapped himself in the face.

Not long after, land reform began.