As January 1912 arrived, the people in the base areas were joyfully preparing for the Lunar New Year. After a full year of hard work, everyone could finally relax during this traditional spring festival. 1911 had been quite a good year; aside from the disasters in Hubei, the weather in other provinces had been largely fine. The masses, who had been battered by climate-related tragedies in previous years, finally had a chance to catch their breath.

Many spices appeared on the market in the base areas: star anise, cinnamon bark, Sichuan peppercorns, and more. These seasonings, which would be supplied in large quantities in the history of New China, began to appear in abundance on the People's Party's markets. In the early 20th century, many blockades were not very tight. The People's Party's plan to transplant spice crops had achieved massive success. Starting in 1908, with the cooperation of Chinese merchants in the South Seas, and through a mix of "stealing, cheating, and kidnapping," the People's Party had acquired many spice tree species and plants originally from Southeast Asia. After several years, in addition to imported spices, the base areas' own spices began to hit the shelves.

Chen Ke knew how to cook. Tossing three or four Sichuan peppercorns into a pan of stir-fried greens could greatly enhance the flavor. When cooking meat, these spices were even more indispensable. "Thirteen-Spice" powder, made from various spices, could completely mask the gamey smell of meat and make food much more palatable.

"Comrades, I use this example for one reason only: do not think that just because we have spices and have promoted them to the masses, everything is fine. Promoting things must help improve the living standards of the laboring masses; that is only the first step. Thinking that simply telling the masses how good something is will suffice is useless. We must come up with a complete model ourselves."

At the People's Party's cadre school training, the lesson on spice was actually about the problem of policy promotion.

"Everything has two sides. When it comes to propaganda aimed at the masses, never harbor the thought that because we, the People's Party, are doing something good for them, the masses must be grateful. That is a very wrong way of doing things. Propaganda and promotion are never inherently 'good' or 'bad.' For instance, with these spices, adding a bit while stir-frying can effectively improve the flavor; but if you add them at the wrong time or in the wrong amount, you might very well ruin the dish. We can never force the masses to use spices exactly according to our methods. If we only talk about how good our promoted products are during outreach, we are just looking for trouble." The instructor at the cadre school spoke eloquently to the assembled trainees.

On the surface, this was about spices, but in reality, it described the techniques for promoting all People's Party policies—though the instructors did not make it completely explicit. Qualified cadres are not trained through rote memorization; without the basic ability to draw inferences from one case to another, it means those being trained are unqualified.

No matter how advanced or complete a theory or policy is, it is meaningless if the capacity for execution and promotion cannot keep up. In this regard, the cadre school, which did not break for the holiday even near the Spring Festival, was preparing for the spring plowing that would begin immediately after the New Year. Comrades who passed the test would return to their posts. As for those who failed, they would leave the cadre school and step down from their cadre positions, moving to ordinary labor posts to become the "reserve army."

Even with so many international affairs to handle, Chen Ke kept his attention shifting from the external back to the internal. "To forge iron, one must be strong oneself." Without one's own strength, hoping for victory in external struggles was nothing but a fool's dream.

The reason for using spices as an example was that it was closely related to the People's Party's agricultural policy. The plan for the whole year depends on the spring; the production arrangements in the spring completely determine the production for the entire year. After land reform, every member of the masses received land—that was the surface result. Equal distribution of land does not produce any efficiency on its own. To increase production, the masses must be made to use land and tools more effectively and arrange their production plans more efficiently. It is just like how, without spices, the flavor of the food cooked by the masses is hard to improve. But having spices does not guarantee that the masses will be able to significantly improve the taste of their food.

Huaihai Province had vast plains, and Chen Ke's purpose in staying there was to see what kind of agricultural work the local cadres could manage. Thus, he did not say much, focusing instead on observation. For a while, Chen Ke's main energy had been focused on external affairs—trade agreements and wars had occupied almost all his time. Now that he was turning his attention back to internal construction, the best method for him was to shut his mouth and focus on observation and research.

"For those who only understand theory but not the actual situation, such investigations are especially necessary. Otherwise, they cannot link theory with practice. Many people, as soon as they 'step off the carriage,' begin to blather and offer opinions, criticizing this and accusing that. In fact, ten out of ten such people will fail." This was one of Chairman Mao's classic statements.

Chen Ke deeply agreed with this discourse. He believed his current job was to conduct honest investigation and research in Huaihai Province. If possible, he would go deep into the grassroots, determined to wear out a few pairs of shoes to clearly investigate the foundational agricultural work.

On January 18, the security department submitted a report to Chen Ke. A comrade named Li Nana had fled from Anhui to Huaihai Province, insistently demanding to see Chen Ke to report a situation.

The Huaihai security department still had an impression of Li Nana. Her original name was Nalan Neruo; she had once posed as Chen Ke's cousin but later chose to join the revolution. When the security department was handling Nalan Neruo back then, there had been opinions suggesting she be executed. However, the base area's policy did not advocate killing without cause, and since Nalan Neruo insisted on joining the revolution, they eventually released her. Now, such a person with a prior record was insisting on seeing Chairman Chen Ke; no one dared to treat the matter lightly.

Someone had come to "lodge an imperial appeal"—Chen Ke's first feeling was one of great surprise. After listening to the security department's introduction of the somewhat legendary Li Nana's background, Chen Ke felt even more surprised. The reason the opinion against killing Li Nana had prevailed within the security department back then was that she had been kidnapped by bandits. The People's Party also bore responsibility for the bandits' kidnappings.

"What exactly does Comrade Li Nana want to report?" Chen Ke asked this key question. If it weren't a major issue, the security department wouldn't have been forced to pass the matter to him. Bypassing the chain of command was strictly forbidden by People's Party discipline.

Hearing Chen Ke's question, the security comrades' expressions changed slightly. They looked at each other for a few moments before answering, "One of our female teachers was forcibly seized as a concubine by Wang Youhong, the Military Governor of Jiangsu. Comrade Li Nana is requesting that we rescue her."

Although Chen Ke was certain the matter would be extremely thorny, his eyes still widened involuntarily upon hearing this news.

Li Nana sat in a single room in the security department with a nervous heart. She could tell this was a place for holding prisoners, but she wasn't afraid at all, let alone angry. In the entire base area, Li Nana was confident that no more than fifty people could surpass her in knowledge of officialdom. For a bureaucratic system, a corresponding status meant a corresponding safeguard. For example, during this attempt to "lodge an imperial appeal," her status as a teacher was her greatest protection before a final decision on how to handle her was made. No one in the base area would dare to casually dispose of a teacher, especially a female teacher.

As for the future decision, Li Nana didn't care. Any punishment seemed insignificant compared to the result of being able to see Chen Ke. Having been in the base area for two or three years, Li Nana's thoughts about Chen Ke had not faded; instead, because she had seen the changes in the base area with her own eyes and learned in detail about Chen Ke's series of victories over domestic and foreign enemies, they had become even more intense.

Li Nana knew very well how rare this opportunity was. Given the People's Party's fearless style, if the Anhui educational, police, and court institutions hadn't responded clumsily, she would never have found a reason to seek an audience with Chen Ke. Even if she did see him, she wouldn't have been able to leave a deep impression.

Since being detained by the security department, Li Nana had waited patiently. In less than a day, someone called her out and ordered her to wash up a bit. Suppressing her excitement, Li Nana washed her face and rinsed her mouth as if she had no idea what was happening, simply and properly tidying her appearance. As she expected, even though she took a bit more time, the security comrades did not rush her.

After being led out for a good while, Li Nana found herself at the entrance of the Huaihai Provincial Committee. After the hand-over formalities were completed, they entered the building. After waiting a moment in the reception room, she saw Chen Ke push the door open and walk in.

That was indeed the Chen Ke she could never forget: tall, handsome, sturdy, and especially those bright eyes. Involuntarily, Li Nana stood up and moved toward him. In her imagination, she had walked toward Chen Ke like this countless times, and he would smile and walk toward her. When it all actually happened, Li Nana found she couldn't even hear clearly what Chen Ke's first sentence was. She felt a buzzing in her ears and discovered her heart was pounding wildly.

"Chairman Chen!" Li Nana couldn't help but cry out, and then tears blurred her vision.

The group of men in the room completely failed to understand her feelings. Seeing her burst into tears after shouting "Chairman Chen," Chen Ke thought she was worried about her colleague, while the security department thought she was "suffering grievance" and wanted to complain after seeing him. However, Li Nana did not wail or talk nonsense. Instead, she took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears and then stepped forward gracefully to shake hands with Chen Ke. This composed manner significantly raised Chen Ke's evaluation of her and also reassured the security comrades.

Sure enough, Li Nana didn't mention her own experiences at all. After shaking hands with Chen Ke, she waited patiently for his questions.

Chen Ke was quite surprised that Wang Youhong actually dared to seize a base area teacher. The security department had given a rough overview, but he wanted to hear it directly from Li Nana, who had reported the matter.

The matter itself was not complicated. Wang Youhong, being a soldier, moved around everywhere. When he became the Governor of Jiangsu, he had only a wife and no concubines. Since he had taken the "top seat" in Jiangsu, taking a concubine was inevitable. But heaven knows what he was thinking; he actually wanted to find a woman with a background as a People's Party teacher. For the powerful and wealthy, there is never a lack of sycophants. Among the girls the People's Party had forcibly taken from Anqing, there was one named Gu Wei. Her father, Gu Renyu, was a businessman who moved his business to Nanjing because he opposed the People's Party. Given the chance to cozy up to Wang Youhong, Gu Renyu didn't care about his daughter's feelings.

He first tricked his daughter into coming to Nanjing during the winter break, then forced her to marry Wang Youhong. Half a month ago, Li Nana received a letter sent by Gu Wei through an intermediary. There was nothing special about the Chinese characters in the letter, but it contained a plea for help written in Pinyin. Li Nana immediately went to the Anhui educational, public security, and court departments to request a rescue. But to deal with the Jiangsu Military Governor Wang Youhong based on just a letter—the local cadres in Anhui did not have the courage for that.

Seeing that she could get nowhere, Li Nana simply ran to find Chen Ke for help.

"Chairman Chen, you are the only one who can save Comrade Gu Wei now." Li Nana's eyes reddened again as she finished.