Li Junyu was pushed into a room lit by an electric lamp, and the door was heavily closed. Before Li Junyu could understand what was happening, someone in the room shouted in surprise, "Junyu, you were arrested too?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Li Junyu turned to look and saw two people stand up from simple benches in the room. They were actually Song Sheping from Beijing Normal University and Wang Donglu from Tsinghua School.

The three had been entrusted by the joint association of Beijing schools, which organized the parades in Beijing this time, to come to schools in the Northeast for networking. Song Sheping went to schools in Siping, and Wang Donglu went to schools in Changchun. They didn't expect that just three days after parting in Shenyang, they would gather together again under such circumstances.

Li Junyu looked at everyone; none seemed injured. He heard Wang Donglu ask, "Junyu, they didn't treat you roughly, did they?"

Li Junyu recalled for a moment. Although the soldier in black uniform who grabbed him had a strong grip, because Li Junyu held the mindset that a wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him, he didn't resist, and the other party didn't hit him or curse at him. Since he was fine, Li Junyu hurriedly asked the two classmates, "How about you?"

Song Sheping raised his arm and answered quite angrily, "The two of us were handcuffed and escorted all the way here by train. The people on the train must have thought we were bad guys."

Wang Donglu was also quite angry. He replied hatefully, "Newspapers all say He Rui is a patriotic general. I didn't expect him to do things exactly like the Beiyang government in Beijing. Absolutely not allowing others to speak! A warlord is a warlord!"

The three young men angrily criticized the Northeast government's clampdown on school students, but they also felt tired, so they sat back on the bench. Li Junyu then looked around the room. Under the slightly yellowish light of the electric lamp, the room was very simple and tidy. A bench, a coffee table, two chairs leaning against the door, and nothing else.

Except that the window had iron bars, making escape impossible. The three looked for a while and could only sit back on the bench helplessly. Li Junyu sighed, "Brother Qinian, will being arrested affect your study in the United States?"

Wang Donglu, courtesy name Qinian, was from Guizhou and a student at Tsinghua School. Tsinghua was a preparatory school for studying in the US and had very strict requirements for students; one must absolutely not have a bad record, so basically no one from Tsinghua School openly participated in the parades. Wang Donglu privately accepted the commission to come to the Northeast, originally thinking that the Northeast under He Rui's rule should be promoting progressive movements, but unexpectedly, the precautions were even stricter than in Beijing.

Hearing Li Junyu's worry, Wang Donglu braced himself. "It shouldn't! Is patriotism a crime?"

Just as they were talking about this, footsteps were heard outside the door. The three students immediately stopped talking and stared at the door. The door opened, and three soldiers in black military uniforms walked in.

Two of them pulled the chairs by the door and sat opposite the three students, facing them across the coffee table. The other one stood at the door, watching Li Junyu and the others without saying a word. All three students were arrested for the first time. Although angry, they were actually feeling guilty inside. Seeing the other party looking over without saying a word, with no intention of speaking, as time passed minute by minute, the unease and fear in their hearts became stronger and stronger.

After an unknown amount of time, one of the two sitting men took out a file folder from his handbag, opened it, flipped through the papers inside, and handed a paper to the soldier beside him. Now the three students were even more afraid. Had the other party already written a report and prepared to send it to Beijing?

The leading soldier suddenly asked, "Why did you come to the Northeast?"

Li Junyu didn't dare answer, but Wang Donglu replied, "To expose the government's treason."

The soldier in black continued to ask, "Have you read the recent *Northeast Daily*? If you had, you would know that the *Northeast Daily* has already published relevant news, including the Paris Peace Conference and the protest movements of all circles in Beijing. These don't need you to run outside the pass to talk about."

Li Junyu had indeed read the *Northeast Daily* and knew the soldier was telling the truth, so he was speechless for a moment. He couldn't possibly say that the purpose of this trip was to establish a National Student Union, right?

"There is nothing wrong with patriotism, but you running to the Northeast to network has affected the normal teaching activities of Northeast schools, so we can't pretend not to see it. Now I give you two choices. One is to go back obediently yourselves and don't come again in the future. But given you attend these schools, you are probably either rich or noble and think the government might not dare to touch you. If you refuse to leave honestly, there is another way: we detain you, send a telegram to your schools, and let the schools send people to pick you up. I wonder how you students choose?"

Just as this soldier in black said, the three students came from very good backgrounds and indeed weren't very afraid of the government. But hearing that the news would be informed to their schools, the three couldn't help looking at each other, seeing panic in each other's eyes. Especially Wang Donglu; although he tried hard to appear calm on the surface, the matter concerned his qualification to study abroad. Once known by the school, his efforts over these years would probably be in vain.

Li Junyu was preparing to agree to leave the Northeast immediately when he heard Song Sheping speak up. "General He recovered the Chinese Eastern Railway, and his name of patriotism is known to all under heaven. Why does he remain silent facing the interests of Shandong? General He is from Shandong; is he going to sit back and watch the people of his hometown suffer the poison and slaughter of the Japanese?"

Hearing these righteous words, Li Junyu only felt the fire in his heart burn again. He Rui was from Shandong, and many students thought He Rui might come forward to intervene in the Shandong issue. However, reality disappointed the students; He Rui actually ignored it, showing none of the demeanor of the patriotic general who recovered the Chinese Eastern Railway.

The face of the soldier in black immediately turned ugly, but he didn't get angry. When he spoke, his voice was quite cold. "Since you think so, why didn't you shout slogans during the parade to force the Beiyang government to appoint Chairman He as the Military Governor of Shandong?"

This remark stunned Li Junyu. He hadn't expected the other party to retort like this, and for a moment he couldn't find a way to answer. The one beside the soldier in black said impatiently, "What's the use of talking to them about this? Students who don't even dare to be soldiers... saying a few pretty words takes no effort. Hurry up and finish this matter; we are still busy!"

Li Junyu quickly pulled Song Sheping, signaling him to look at Wang Donglu. Song Sheping probably also thought of Wang Donglu's study abroad and finally said nothing more. In the end, the three agreed to leave the Northeast immediately and never come back. They were then taken out and stuffed into a car.

In the end, the three spent the night in the detention center of the railway station police station. After dawn, the three, along with their luggage, were put on a train and left Shenyang.

When the train left the station, Wang Donglu thanked Li Junyu and Song Sheping. Li Junyu didn't know what to say either. Everything that happened yesterday seemed like an unpleasant dream. But after waking up from the dream, apart from an unhappy mood, no real harm was done.

The three sat dully in the carriage, barely speaking during the two-day return journey. When they walked out of the train station and saw the familiar Beijing, the three just said goodbye and went their separate ways. Li Junyu was a student at Peking University, and this journey made Li Junyu feel very uncomfortable.

Not only because of being arrested for patriotism, but more unpleasant feelings came from the words of the soldier in black. The other party easily grasped the soft spot of the three; parades and such had no influence on the Beiyang government at all. They completely couldn't change the decision of the Beiyang government.

Moreover, Li Junyu had considered several times on the train whether to join the army, but had to admit that he had absolutely no interest in military service. Then the ridicule of the soldier in black was not wrong. This feeling generated resentment toward He Rui in Li Junyu's heart: did one have no right to speak if one didn't become a soldier and fight wars?

What Li Junyu didn't know was that his name was written into a report and sent to the current Director of the Statistics Bureau, Xu Jia. This report didn't revolve around Li Junyu, Wang Donglu, and Song Sheping.

Xu Jia saw a report on the impact of the national movement triggered by the Paris Peace Conference in China on the Northeast. After reading it, Xu Jia made a phone call. "Let Comrade Wang Bin come to see me."

Not long after, a soldier wearing a black military uniform appeared at the door. Xu Jia stood up and greeted, "Come in quickly!"

Letting Wang Bin sit down, Xu Jia personally walked to the door and closed the office door. Returning to Wang Bin, Xu Jia said, "Comrade Wang Bin, prepare yourself. Take this report and report to Chairman He. Also, regarding the discussion about establishing the Security Bureau previously, what do you think?"

Wang Bin was a slightly chubby young man, one of the very few students from the Baoding Military Academy recruited after He Rui became the Zhen'an General. Hearing this, Wang Bin also became a bit unnatural.

Xu Jia certainly knew what Wang Bin was thinking. Recently, the Statistics Department was preparing for the establishment of the Security Bureau. This was a powerful internal security department, jokingly called the *Jinyiwei* (Imperial Guard). The Security Bureau even monopolized the black color in uniforms, showing the importance He Rui attached to the Security Bureau.

To shoulder such a heavy responsibility, it would be strange if Wang Bin wasn't excited.

When Wang Bin's emotions stabilized a bit, Xu Jia heard Wang Bin say, "Secretary Xu, I think the work of the Security Bureau is to maintain normal production and learning order, and strike at people who disrupt this order. So the personnel of the Security Bureau had better be selected from frontline personnel in factories and rural areas."

"Oh?" Xu Jia was somewhat surprised.

Wang Bin bit his lip unconfidently. "Secretary Xu, people sitting in offices really don't know who the bad guys are."

After speaking, Wang Bin stopped temporarily and looked at Xu Jia, probably to see Xu Jia's reaction.

These words really suited Xu Jia's taste. Xu Jia laughed, "Go on."