Fengtai County remained as lively as ever, but the city itself did not possess the conditions to be a political center. Just like Yan'an, no matter what destiny it held or what characteristics it possessed, there would eventually be a day of change.

This could be seen from the changes in schools and factories. Primary and middle schools were increasing, and there was even a teacher training school. However, Anhui Normal College, the military academy, and the technical college had already moved to other regions. Either to Hefei, Fengyang, Fuyang, or simply to cities in other provinces, such as Wuhan and Xuzhou. Although the masses in Fengtai County did not feel it, the entire government knew that as soon as the central government gave the order, many government departments in Fengtai County would move away.

Chen Ke's trip home this time was not just to visit; he also needed to discuss moving with his wife, He Ying. It wasn't appropriate for his wife to follow him everywhere, after all, Chen Ke's child was still young. However, he was going to take his family away from their home in Fengtai County and move to Hefei. North Anhui was no longer the center of the People's Party; in the north, Xuzhou would replace Fengtai County's status. In fact, there were already discussions about the location of the future center of Anhui. Now that the railway from Anqing to Hefei was about to be fully connected, Hefei was not yet the choice, but the call to re-establish the provincial capital in Anqing was no longer a minority view.

"The closer one gets to home, the more timid one feels." The larger the proportion family occupied in Chen Ke's thoughts, the more timid he felt. When he asked himself, he felt he could do right by the country, the Party, and his comrades, but he had failed his family in this era. He Ying was just living; she had a life with their daughter, but not a life of family reunion. This wasn't something Chen Ke could justify with the word "sacrifice," saying it was a necessary cost. He Ying didn't choose revolution; she was simply forcibly dragged into it by Chen Ke himself.

So when Chen Ke was about to push the door open, his hand paused, a rare hesitation. It was a kind of timidity. This was something Chen Ke could control.

In the yard, a little guy wearing thick padded clothes was running around. Chen Ke felt the fabric looked familiar; it was one of his navy blue fleece jackets. That was a travel garment absolutely impossible to find in this era, just with two holes worn in the elbows. Now, the child's clothes made from this jacket were worn over the thick padded clothes. Against the red brick house and the white wall, which had been drawn on with charcoal drawings that were childish but full of vitality—the kind only a child would make—Chen Ke suddenly felt as if he had traveled through time and returned to some countryside in the 21st century.

Hearing the door sound, the little guy running around stopped, turned her big black eyes toward Chen Ke, and then stared at him with that direct gaze unique to children. Suddenly, a tender, childish voice rang out. "Mom. A stranger uncle is here." The little guy shouted as she ran into the house.

Chen Ke didn't understand the meaning of these words at all. He felt his eyes heat up, and his heart was filled with joy. Chen Ke just stared blankly at his daughter's back. This was his daughter. Chen Ke had a feeling that was extremely unfamiliar but thoroughly moved his heart. A thousand thoughts intertwined and collided within him. Chen Ke suddenly discovered he could have so many unfamiliar faces. Father, kin, guide of the revolution, leader of the base area. The experience of thousands of struggles, negotiations, and even wars he had experienced circled in Chen Ke's mind. Each role wanted to speak to that small figure with its own characteristics, but all the incarnations were battling with this extremely unfamiliar identity of a father, trying to seize control of Chen Ke himself. Then, they gradually were defeated one by one. When Chen Ke finally forgot his other identities and existed solely as a father, his face was already covered in tears.

The room door was pushed open by his daughter, and then that voice like the sound of nature shouted: "Mom, Mom."

"Be good, what is it?" He Ying's voice came from inside the room.

"There's a stranger uncle outside." Because the door was closed, the voice was only faintly audible.

"Oh." The door opened, and He Ying's familiar yet unfamiliar figure appeared at the doorway. The husband and wife stood facing each other, one inside and one outside. He Ying had changed. It wasn't her hairstyle or figure, but that He Ying was now a true mother. She no longer had the melancholy look of her girlhood, nor was she the woman who had silently wept when they parted shortly after becoming a mother. Instead, she was a mature, capable mother living alone with her daughter.

Chen Ke was truly at a loss. Did this home, composed of his wife and daughter, still have a place for him? Chen Ke wasn't sure. It wasn't until He Ying rushed over, threw herself into Chen Ke's arms, and hugged him tightly that Chen Ke knew: he was home.