The news of Pang Zi being placed in solitary confinement quickly reached the comrades of the Central Committee. Everyone was aware of Pang Zi’s personal vendetta against Yuan Shikai, and no one found his sentiments problematic. The real shock triggered by this incident was the question of the fundamental relationship between an individual and the organization. In the eyes of many, Wu Xingchen’s clean and decisive handling of the matter seemed somewhat "simple and crude."

Wu Xingchen did not believe he had done anything wrong. Though he felt a flicker of trepidation when he sought out Chen Ke in private, Chen’s words set his mind at ease. "Commander Wu, your judgment in this matter was correct. There isn't much room for debate regarding the relationship between an individual and the Party organization. We are not here for a 'gathering of heroes' in the bandit sense; we are here for a revolution based on shared goals."

"Comrade Pang Zi isn't acting out of personal interest, I can guarantee that," Wu Xingchen replied.

"I know. It is perfectly normal for Comrade Pang Zi to hate Yuan Shikai. However, he surely feels wronged. The ideological education work will likely face significant resistance."

Listening to Chen Ke’s gentle tone and looking into his bright eyes, Wu Xingchen did not dare to probe too deeply. He simply spoke the truth. "Chairman Chen, I have great expectations for Comrade Pang Zi. I hope he can take on more important responsibilities, so I don't want him to harbor any ideological errors."

Having said this, Wu Xingchen carefully watched Chen Ke’s expression. As he expected, Chen Ke showed no sign of surprise, nor did he put on an air of profound mystery to bait Wu further. "It is human nature to want the comrades close to you to progress. But for Comrade Pang Zi to pass this test, it will be very difficult. This isn't something that can be easily resolved by a stint in confinement or a talk with a political commissar."

This was a standard conversation, yet Wu Xingchen felt a chill run down his spine. From the moment he first met Chen Ke, he had felt an instinctive awe toward him. Wu Xingchen had met many people, and they gave him various impressions—liking or disliking them, agreeing or disagreeing. Even with those who were openly hostile, Wu had never felt this kind of dread.

In Wu Xingchen’s view, what made Chen Ke different was not just his encyclopedic knowledge or broad vision. Given enough time and energy, many people could achieve those. Through various study programs, the People's Party was constantly teaching modern knowledge to the comrades; what once seemed like Chen Ke’s "miraculous abilities" were no longer surprising.

As his own knowledge and understanding grew, there was one thing Wu Xingchen became increasingly wary of: no matter how the surface appearance changed, everyone, at their core, looked out for themselves. Whether it was altruism, shared ownership, Communism, or the Socialist system, in Wu Xingchen’s view, these were all tools that *had* to be adopted to solve immediate problems.

In their hearts, however, even the most outstanding comrades of the People's Party were fundamentally different from Chen Ke. Everyone else believed there was a finish line—that as long as they crossed a certain threshold, they would reach a state of safety and stability. But in Chen Ke, there seemed to be no such boundary. He never seemed to stop, always moving toward an even more distant horizon.

Because of this, Chen Ke appeared magnanimous. It was as if he had already experienced every hardship and trial the comrades were going through. His attitude seemed "tolerant," but in reality, it was just that nothing he saw surprised him. Wu Xingchen had no idea what the ultimate outcome of following such a person would be.

Using the incident with Pang Zi as a pretext, Wu Xingchen asked, "Chairman Chen, can’t a person consider their own interests just once?"

"Of course they can. It’s no problem if they consider themselves every single time," Chen Ke laughed.

"I feel that Pang Zi’s considerations are somewhat different from yours. Where do you see the difference? I mean, from the perspective of personal considerations, where is the distinction?" Wu Xingchen wanted an explanation outside of organizational discipline. If it was always the same grand principles about the interests of the People's Party, he felt he might go mad.

"Comrade Pang Zi believes the matter between him and Yuan Shikai is not over. When he decided to kill Yuan Shikai, he thought it would be the end of something. But in my view, wanting to kill Yuan Shikai is the beginning of something." Chen Ke did not lecture on discipline; he followed Wu Xingchen's desired line of reasoning.

However, the leap in this answer was too great, momentarily exceeding Wu Xingchen’s comprehension. He frowned and thought for a long time, unable to connect the facts with this theory.

"He has a feud with Yuan Shikai. How is that a 'beginning'?"

"His feud with Yuan Shikai is a result of everyone’s uprising back then. Comrade Pang Zi believes that uprising hasn't ended. He originally thought the result of the uprising would be their victory. But the actual result was a crushing defeat, with many loved ones killed. Comrade Pang Zi does not see joining the People's Party's revolution as a brand-new start. He is still trying to make up for his past failure. Personally, I think it's a 'redemption' mindset. He is still firmly nailed to that failure from ten years ago, unable to move. In this regard, I pity him," Chen Ke replied.

"You mean, because Comrade Pang Zi thinks our revolution is the same thing as Uncle Jing Tingbin’s rebellion back then—at least the enemy is the same—he thinks the organization should accommodate him when dealing with Yuan Shikai?" Wu Xingchen suddenly understood.

"That is my personal view. As for whether that is truly the case, we would have to ask Comrade Pang Zi himself," Chen Ke’s voice remained calm.

Wu Xingchen nodded repeatedly. Put that way, the root of the problem was perfectly clear. Having faced life and death with Pang Zi, Wu knew he was a very sentimental person. If he hadn't been pushed to the brink, he never would have joined the People's Party. Of course, Pang Zi was also a man of honor; once he joined, he worked his heart out. However, in terms of understanding, Pang Zi currently had a significant misalignment with the revolution.

"I’ll go talk to Pang Zi right now," Wu Xingchen said excitedly.

"Don't be in such a hurry. Since we've put him in confinement, let him cool down first. I suspect Comrade Pang Zi’s sense of defiance is still very strong right now."

Things were much as Chen Ke predicted. Pang Zi never imagined he would be locked up by his elder brother, Wu Xingchen. His personality was on the extreme side, and the fact of being confined actually made him feel like he didn't have to care about anything anymore. After spending a night in the cell and letting go of his composure, he started shouting at the top of his lungs, denouncing Yuan Shikai’s past atrocities against the people and the threat Yuan posed to the People's Party.

After shouting for half the day with no one paying attention, Pang Zi finally grew tired. Leaning back in the cramped cell and panting, his thoughts turned extreme again. His contributions weren't being recognized at all, yet he was being hammered this hard for such a small thing. What exactly was the People's Party organization trying to do? Normally, no matter how he talked about work, it never ended like this. Was it possible someone had wanted to get him for a long time and had finally found an excuse?

If such a person existed, it certainly wouldn't be Brother Wu Xingchen. Even if Brother Wu had changed, he had always treated his brothers with total sincerity. The one playing dirty behind his back definitely wasn't Wu.

Then who was it? Pang Zi went through everyone from Chen Ke to Shang Yuan to everyone else he knew, but he couldn't figure it out. The more he thought, the more agitated he became. He jumped up and kicked the door of the cell violently. "Let me out! Do you hear me? Let me out!"

The purpose of confinement was to make one calm down, so the door to explanation wouldn't budge. The guards outside had seen this many times. Although a high-ranking cadre like Pang Zi had never been in there before, the other comrades who had been confined had fully demonstrated the cell's power. Some cursed, some wailed, some even threatened suicide. But after a few days, these comrades would quiet down, which always helped in restoring their emotional state. Making a ruckus in the cell meant the person was fine. If they didn't make any noise at all, that was when people started to worry.

After a day of confinement, Pang Zi began to realize its power. Humans need interaction with others to confirm their own existence. Pang Zi was someone who loved company; being suddenly thrown into a small dark room all alone was something even he couldn't quite take.

"Was I wrong?" This thought finally surfaced.

Previously, he had always thought he was right and everyone else was wrong. In that state of mind, he dared to make a scene. Once he started to doubt himself, Pang Zi thought back to everything that had happened since he joined the People's Party, and he found himself completely lost.

If he had to describe his feelings after joining the Party, Pang Zi felt it could only be summed up by "lots of people, large scale." Back during Uncle Jing Tingbin’s uprising, they had gathered dozens of bands of "heroes" from Hebei and Shandong. Each band had its own men. There were indeed tens or even hundreds of thousands of brothers, but Pang Zi never saw many of them. The core personnel were only a few dozen, and even with all the hangers-on, the number of people he actually laid eyes on was only a few thousand at most. Back then, because of the food supply, Pang Zi didn't dare to sincerely interact with the other bands. All they ever talked about was eating, drinking, and housing; as a young junior, Pang Zi had no say in such matters, let alone the ability to solve them.

In the People's Party, if they said there were a certain number of people, that was exactly how many there were. There were no vague estimates in the unit designations or troop movements. Every morning and evening drill was roll call. If one person was missing, they had to figure out exactly what happened. In such a large collective, Pang Zi had to learn to cooperate with his comrades. The staff department, the logistics department—every department had its own functions. Just figuring out which department to go to for a particular problem had taken him a significant amount of time.

Beyond basic cooperation, there were all the meetings and various studies. In the past, the "jianghu" world operated on a command model: if you joined my faction, you listened to me. In the People's Party, the education Pang Zi received was that for any task, all comrades had to understand it and know their own position within that work.

As a typical figure of "bandit style," Pang Zi had frequently clashed with his comrades and received his fair share of criticism.

But he could accept all the friction of this collective. This was because the Worker-Peasant Revolutionary Army practiced equality and democracy. Matters were put on the table; no one played mind games. Everything was said to your face, so no one had to spend all day worrying about infighting. Compared to the world of the jianghu, the Worker-Peasant Revolutionary Army was a comfortable place. Pang Zi left the political work to the commissar and focused solely on fighting.

Until Brother Wu Xingchen threw him into the cell, Pang Zi thought his life was going pretty well. As long as he could get his revenge, he wouldn't have much to complain about, no matter how much longer this life lasted.

But now, he had been thrown into a dark cell by Brother Wu, and the pain and internal torment of this moment far exceeded his imagination.