"I still have some family matters to deal with; I don't want to work overtime today. Can I go home first?" As soon as Chen Ke said these quite humane words, the comrades of the Central Politburo were immediately shocked. They originally thought Chen Ke would be like before, working all night to handle official business. In these few years, between work and family, Chen Ke always prioritized work.

Everyone knew the little troublesome matters in Chen Ke's family. Among the released Beiyang Army prisoners of war, there was Chen Ke's "Uncle" (*Gufu*) Sun Yongsheng, and Chen Ke's "Aunt" (*Gugu*) He Qian was currently living in Chen Ke's home. Relatives were often harder to serve than immediate family members; everyone knew that. But Chen Ke actually chose not to work overtime for a meeting temporarily because of relatives' matters. This reasonable thing felt quite unexpected instead.

Everyone looked at each other, completely unable to think of a reason to oppose Chen Ke. Chen Ke misunderstood the comrades' attitude a bit; he said somewhat embarrassedly: "After finishing the talk, I will come back to continue handling work. The meeting will continue early tomorrow morning."

This workaholic attitude made everyone can't help feeling a strong sympathy for Chen Ke. As the Chairman of the People's Party, Chen Ke's requirements for himself were a bit too harsh. If Chen Ke were a person fishing for fame, it would be fine. But Chen Ke's performance wasn't to pressure comrades, but really feeling that doing things for his own family would delay revolutionary work. This simple shame made quite a few comrades feel embarrassed instead.

"Chairman Chen, if you really don't want to delay work, then please be sure to deal with the matters at home thoroughly first, and then come to work. You might not think about your family affairs while working, but I can't help thinking about your family affairs now. So please, don't torture us, okay?" Unlike the sympathetic mentality of ordinary comrades, Qi Huishen's words were extremely thorough.

You Gou was a woman; she had long been dissatisfied with some of Chen Ke's life attitudes and practices. Finally finding an opportunity this time, You Gou simply frankly put her dissatisfaction clearly in the open. "Chairman Chen, as the Chairman of our People's Party, you cannot set a wrong example for the Party. Work is not a haven to escape your family problems. Even if you clearly know you can't solve family affairs well, you have to try your best to solve them. Fear and evasion are useless. If you can't do your utmost to solve it and have a clear conscience, you will definitely regret it in the future."

If someone else said this, perhaps there would be a feeling of shaking people's hearts. But in the eyes of many male cadres, You Gou herself hadn't handled her own family affairs well either. You Gou's brother came to the base area several times to persuade You Gou to go home, and the live-in son-in-law You Gou's family found for her actually had no intention of giving up on You Gou completely, coming to the base area with You Gou's brother every time. Chen Ke's practice might be called "too strict with oneself" in the eyes of men, while You Gou's performance was somewhat incredible in the eyes of men.

"Comrades are right. Because I failed to deal with family affairs in time myself, I indeed caused trouble for everyone. Then I won't work overtime today. Meeting adjourned now." Chen Ke understood; never cause trouble for others. Sometimes causing trouble didn't really lie in substantially asking comrades to do anything. Since Chen Ke was the Party Chairman, he had the obligation to do his own things well. The ostrich policy behavior in family affairs was also irresponsibility to revolutionary work. Moreover, You Gou was right; Chen Ke actually didn't know how to solve his own family affairs, so he was a bit afraid.

He Ying didn't expect Chen Ke to go home on his own initiative. Ignoring the resentment towards Chen Ke in her heart, she went up and grabbed Chen Ke. "Wenqing, you finally came back. Help me persuade Aunt too."

"Does Aunt have to go back?" Chen Ke scratched his head about this matter.

"You guys come in; what does it count as whispering outside." He Qian shouted from inside the room.

Since He Qian shouted, Chen Ke and He Ying entered the room together. After the three sat down, He Qian said frankly: "Wenqing, I know you don't treat me as your relative, and it's even less possible to treat Yongsheng as your uncle. To put it bluntly on this point, Yongsheng and I are like you; we don't treat you as a relative either. So Wenqing, you don't need to hypocritically think about how to put on an act for outsiders to see. A real man acts according to his conscience. If you care too much about others' views, it's just asking for trouble."

These words were extremely clear. Chen Ke felt a big stone in his heart fall to the ground instantly. Just as He Qian said, Chen Ke used reason to tell himself He Qian and Sun Yongsheng were his relatives, but his feelings were completely unwilling to accept this fact. That's why he was in a dilemma. He Qian being so frank, Chen Ke developed some respect for He Qian instead.

"Aunt, you are right. I am too poor at conducting myself. Originally, I had to pretend well in such matters. But I really can't pretend. My petty places made Aunt laugh." This was the first time Chen Ke called He Qian Aunt without feeling uncomfortable at all. Since the attitude was corrected, Chen Ke spoke without the previous awkwardness. "The He family up and down have all been put in prison. Aunt, if you go back, it's not guaranteed you won't be implicated. Wait until we overthrow the Manchu Qing; Aunt, you can go wherever you want. It won't be too late to go back then."

"I am no longer a member of the He family; I am now a member of the Sun family. I am now Sun-He Shi (Mrs. Sun née He)." There was a faint vigilance in He Qian's voice.

How could Chen Ke understand the marriage relationship in 1908? He completely didn't understand He Qian's attitude. Even with a basin of cold water poured on his head, Chen Ke still didn't understand He Qian's meaning. He continued to persuade: "What future does Sun Yongsheng have following Beiyang? Aunt, why must you follow Sun Yongsheng to be buried with Beiyang and the Manchu Qing?"

Just after these words were finished, He Qian gave a cold laugh with sarcasm on her face. "Hehe."

And He Ying beside her was already so angry her face turned a bit green.

"Wenqing, what a big tone you have. You just won these few battles, as if you have already entered Beijing and become the Emperor now." He Qian said with a sneer, "Since Wenqing you mentioned the He family, that means you treat me and He Ying as daughters of the He family. Then let me ask you, when did my family's He Ying know you were a rebel?"

"Uh?" Chen Ke was very surprised by this question. He was actually also a bit strange; even if He Ying knew clearly more than a year ago that he wanted to rise up and rebel, He Ying's attitude towards him didn't change at all. She still followed him without hesitation.

"How big a territory did you have when you just rose up to rebel, how many troops? Could my family's He Ying not know? But has He Ying ever been afraid? Did she abandon you because you were alone and weak?" He Qian's voice was full of sarcasm. "Marry a chicken and follow the chicken, marry a dog and follow the dog. Since you think both He Ying and I are daughters of the He family, my He family's daughters don't have the family education of abandoning their husbands to flee for their lives because of fear."

Being mocked by He Qian like this, Chen Ke immediately felt a burst of burning on his face. But his ashamed mood at this time was far less strong than the emotion of admiration. Regardless of whether it was He Qian's stubbornness of feudal ethics, or ignorance of not recognizing the situation clearly. Just this personal loyalty attitude couldn't help but make Chen Ke feel admiration. Moreover, Chen Ke could feel that He Ying was absolutely not an ignorant person; she knew what she was doing.

"Aunt, actually I don't care about Sun Yongsheng's life or death at all. He Ying loves you very much, respects you very much, and cares about you very much. I also feel I have an obligation to your personal safety. If you encounter danger, He Ying will be very sad."

He Qian knew these were Chen Ke's sincere words. Actually, even if those "shameless boasting" words Chen Ke said before made He Qian quite unhappy, she didn't have any disgust for Chen Ke himself. He Qian was just a bit strange; how did someone like Chen Ke, who had no scheming and was self-righteous, win incredible victories one after another? Why did a big figure like Yuan Shikai misjudge Chen Ke? A guy like Chen Ke who didn't understand human relationships and worldly wisdom at all actually achieved great success in the hopeless profession of "rebel." Except for "frankness," He Qian couldn't see any other advantages in Chen Ke worth following. If forced to compare, Sun Yongsheng fit the positive evaluation of this era far better than Chen Ke.

However, anyone who fit the positive evaluation of this era was all defeated by Chen Ke. He Qian suddenly felt perhaps she should understand a little bit about what ability Chen Ke exactly had.

"Then what does Wenqing want me to do?" He Qian asked.

"Aunt, in our base area, distribution is according to work. Everyone has the right to employment. Look, He Ying can also support herself by working now. Aunt is also extremely learned; whether being a teacher in school, or employed in factories, government, or hospitals. All can have their own development. I feel, even if you don't divorce Sun Yongsheng, stay and work in the base area. Wait until things calm down later, then talk about future things. No need to go back to Beijing now. I wonder what Aunt thinks."

If He Qian was originally prepared to listen to Chen Ke's suggestion because Chen Ke mentioned He Ying sincerely, after Chen Ke mentioned the suggestion of "divorce," He Ying's face became as ugly as it could be. He Qian hadn't heard the word "divorce," but she could understand the meaning of this word. Her original patience flew completely to the nine heavens.

"Chen Ke. Why don't you go die?" He Qian gave Chen Ke an extremely clear answer.

He Ying could no longer care about correcting Chen Ke's words or smoothing things over for Chen Ke. "Aunt..." He Ying shouted.

"He Ying, are Wenqing's words your meaning?" He Qian asked He Ying coldly.

He Ying paused. Asking herself honestly, she actually didn't oppose Chen Ke's words. She just thought Chen Ke's words were really unskillful. With He Qian asking so directly, He Ying bit her lip and was silent for a moment. She nodded seriously. "Aunt, I think you shouldn't be with Sun Yongsheng anymore. That person is not a good companion."

"Haha." He Qian really didn't expect He Ying to say this. She laughed in anger. "Indeed, Yongsheng is inferior to Wenqing. He is older than Wenqing, and now he is just a small officer with less than a thousand men under him. Can't compare with a big rebel like Wenqing sitting on Anhui. However, I said, I am Sun-He Shi. Living I am the Sun family's person; dying I am the Sun family's ghost. This is my fate. I accept it. I thank you two for your good advice. But our views on life and death are different. Wenqing, if you are unwilling to lose status by forcibly keeping people, I hope you send me back to Beijing tomorrow, okay?"