He Rui did not mind Principal Wang’s coldness. Wang Ruxian was the Principal of the Baoding Military Academy and a Lieutenant General; meeting He Rui at all was merely giving face to Duan Qirui.

Upon seeing the Personnel Section Chief, He Rui stepped forward in pleasant surprise. "Brother Zhou, I am He Rui. It has been a long time!"

Personnel Section Chief Zhou Yinshan was also surprised to see He Rui. Zhou Yinshan and He Rui had studied together at the Japanese Army Academy as Beiyang officers. The year He Rui entered the Army War College, Zhou Yinshan had graduated from the Academy and returned to China.

Reunited now, faced with He Rui’s enthusiastic greeting, Zhou Yinshan suppressed his smile. After shaking hands, he said indifferently, "Brother He, long time no see. You’ve returned from Japan?"

He Rui did not know why Zhou Yinshan was so cold—they hadn’t been like this in Japan. Presumably, Zhou Yinshan had his own difficulties. He Rui took out his official documents. "Brother Zhou, I have come to recruit students. I ask for your assistance."

"Does Brother He wish for the school to recommend candidates, or to select them yourself?"

He Rui replied, "If I can choose them myself, that is naturally best."

Returning the documents to He Rui, Zhou Yinshan advised, "The school knows the students’ roots and backgrounds. If you let the school recommend them, Brother He would save himself much trouble."

"No. I still wish to choose them myself," He Rui replied firmly.

Seeing He Rui’s determination, Zhou Yinshan ordered his orderly, "Take Commander He to see the rosters and files."

Only when the room was empty did Zhou Yinshan sigh slightly.

Meeting an old friend should have meant drinking and talking cheerfully, or at least a warm reception, but he truly dared not.

Three years ago, the second principal of the Baoding Military Academy, Jiang Fangzhen, had dismissed a number of instructors with shallow knowledge and insufficient ability, replacing them with officers who had returned from Germany and Japan. The curriculum was also modeled after Germany and Japan. This result angered Duan Qirui, who created all sorts of difficulties for the academy.

The following year, Jiang Fangzhen protested with his life, shooting himself in the chest. Although he was saved, he was transferred away from the principalship, and Major General Qu Tongfeng took over.

After that, Duan Qirui interfered in the academy’s personnel matters, and Zhou Yinshan, having returned from Japan, was nearly driven out. Although he did not wish to act this way now, he had no choice.

Since he didn't want to stir up trouble, Zhou Yinshan did not explain the twists and turns within the academy to He Rui. The students of Baoding Military Academy were evaluated as Class A, B, or C based on their daily performance. If He Rui asked for a recommendation, even for a Provincial Regiment Commander with a hollow title like He Rui, they would have at least slipped him a Class B student among every four. Even among the Class C students, they wouldn't have given him only the bottom-feeders.

If He Rui insisted on choosing his own men, the only ones available for him to pick from were the Class C students.

Feeling guilty at heart, Zhou Yinshan asked his orderly at dusk, "What is Commander He doing?"

The orderly replied, "Commander He has already eaten dinner. He is continuing to review the student files. Section Chief Zhou, Commander He also asked if he could continue reading tonight."

Zhou Yinshan nodded. "Tell Commander He to be careful with the candle."

Early the next morning, just as Zhou Yinshan sat down in his office, He Rui strode in and placed a list before him. "Brother Zhou, I have circled the names. Can we hold the exam this morning?"

Zhou Yinshan took the list and asked in confusion, "Exam? How can we test? Where are the papers?"

As he spoke, he saw He Rui pull a roll of prepared stencil paper from his backpack.

Since He Rui was prepared, Zhou Yinshan looked down at the list. There were nearly thirty students on it—infantry, engineering, cavalry, and artillery majors were all represented. It was clear he had put his heart into it.

Zhou Yinshan suddenly remembered something and looked up at He Rui. "Brother He, did you not sleep all night?"

He Rui indeed hadn't slept. Baoding Military Academy had been unexpectedly cooperative, so He Rui had raced against time, carving the stencil for printing yesterday afternoon. This saved a day.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yinshan had noticed. He Rui laughed, "Brother Zhou, do you remember the days we spent reading all night in Japan?"

Zhou Yinshan sighed, feeling a bit of nostalgia in his heart. But those days were long gone. Zhou Yinshan stood up. "I will take Brother He to the mimeograph room."

For an exam of fewer than thirty people, thirty-four test papers were printed. Aside from one for each examinee, the instructors who heard about He Rui’s affair took the remaining few to critique.

The exam was divided into four parts. The first part was military technical subjects; the questions were a bit eccentric, but not difficult. Among the instructors, someone immediately expressed disdain: "Putting out questions like these, does he want the students to get full marks?"

When they saw the second part, the instructors were somewhat puzzled. Astronomy, geography, physics, chemistry. These were one thing, but the exam questions even included content about farming and planting trees.

Seeing the third part, the crowd simply skipped over it. This section was about *why we fight*, *for whom we fight*, expectations for the nation's future, and expectations for one's personal future.

The fourth part made the instructors frown again. This section was entirely problems concerning bandit suppression, military-civilian relations, and war zone management. An instructor who had heard He Rui was going to the Northeast found a reason: "Is Commander He planning to thoroughly wipe out the bandit scourge outside the Pass?"

"Hmm. The questions include how to pursue, how to investigate bandit dens. And also questions on how to prevent bandits from reigniting after the troops leave. It looks like Commander He wants to do this for real."

Some instructors disagreed. "Bandits are in the countryside. It’s not hard to use troops to wipe them out, but once the troops leave, it’s inevitable they will reignite."

This was a matter of common sense; the instructors all knew that if bandits could really be easily eradicated, they wouldn't be like cutting chives—cutting down one wave only for the next to rise.

Everyone returned to their seats. Some continued their own business, while some instructors mocked He Rui: "Is this all a graduate of the Japanese Army War College amounts to?"

By evening, Zhou Yinshan, having heard the officers' evaluation of the exam questions, arrived at He Rui’s dormitory. Zhou Yinshan knew He Rui was absolutely not that poor, and knew even better that the Japanese Army War College was an exceptionally excellent school. Since he couldn't figure out the meaning of He Rui’s exam, even in his capacity as Section Chief of Personnel, he had to come and inquire.

Entering the door, the dormitory at dusk was unlit and very dim. Test papers and other items were on the table, but the stool before the table was empty. He saw someone lying on the bunk. Zhou Yinshan walked over to look closely and saw He Rui sound asleep.

Knowing He Rui hadn’t slept since arriving at Baoding Military Academy yesterday, Zhou Yinshan didn't wake him. Seeing what He Rui had written lying on the table, Zhou Yinshan’s curiosity was piqued, so he lit a candle and began to flip through it.

Behind the selection list, He Rui had drawn a table in pencil. Aside from the three basic items of name, place of origin, and age, the remaining fourth item was *class background*. Looking closely at the content, among the nearly thirty people, they were either middle peasants or workers. The most respectable background was merely a teacher’s family.

Baoding Military Academy had 1,300 students in a term; even the Class C category had several hundred. For students with such identical backgrounds to be listed separately astonished Zhou Yinshan.

To pick out people with such similar backgrounds from hundreds of others, He Rui must have looked through them one by one.

He had originally thought He Rui’s selection was a case of *luobo kuaile bu xini*—"washing the mud off the radish quickly"—sacrificing quality for speed. He hadn't imagined that He Rui was absolutely not looking for speed—he had come prepared.