In Beiping, Yenching University President John Leighton Stuart endured the second public display (shaming) in his life. Sitting in an iron cage on a horse-drawn carriage, he passed through streets and alleys, heading to the epidemic prevention inspection station.

Not only in Beiping, but such live dramas were also staged on the streets of major cities like Shenyang, Tianjin, Wuhan, Jiangning, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Guangzhou, and Shanghai. Especially in Shanghai, citizens couldn't help sighing when seeing such convoys.

At noon, most citizens eating in restaurants and canteens were discussing this matter. Some young people who looked like they lived in Tingzijian (small garret rooms) were somewhat worried, "Will the United States go to war with us?"

The local Shanghai citizens beside them answered with contempt, "How can you out-of-town country bumpkins think like this? No matter how powerful the United States is, can it be more powerful than Britain? Can it be more powerful than France?"

In the eyes of Shanghai locals, anyone not from Shanghai was an 'outsider', and outsiders were country bumpkins. The young people living in Tingzijian were 'out-of-town country bumpkins' in the eyes of Shanghai locals. Even though they were used to such regional discrimination, the Tingzijian youths still wanted to fight back, "Aren't foreigners all 'people from heaven' in the eyes of Shanghai people?"

Hearing this, many 'out-of-town country bumpkins' laughed out loud. The Shanghai locals didn't care, and even sighed with emotion, "Yeah, in the past, if you knew a few foreigners, you were considered to have connections in Shanghai Bund. Now foreigners have to tuck their tails in Shanghai Bund. No, tucking their tails isn't enough. Chairman He is really a powerful figure, able to beat foreigners into such a state."

Although the Tingzijian youths could use foreigners to mock Shanghai locals, as outsiders facing locals, their position was still weak. When the locals didn't care about the mockery, the outsiders had no way. The topic of conversation changed to the current flagship of the Chinese Navy, the former British warship captured after being heavily damaged by the Chinese Air Force and repaired at the Jiangnan Shipyard.

The public didn't have any special emotions; everyone just felt that what the Chinese government couldn't do for nearly a century was done in just a few years in He Rui's hands. He Rui was powerful, and the Republic's National Defense Force was powerful. The former 'people from heaven' were now no different from ordinary Shanghai citizens, and everyone just felt happy.

Stuart, however, was very unhappy. He was born and raised in China, later returned to the United States for college, and then returned to China to live. He was not averse to the Chinese people's actions against foreign aggression. Moreover, the Chinese hygiene and epidemic prevention personnel neither beat nor scolded the Americans in China who were forced to come for quarantine, which was much more civilized than the US government.

But Stuart disliked He Rui very much because He Rui, like the US government, characterized religious organizations as 'commercial organizations', completely stripping away the sanctity religious organizations tried hard to create. Besides the conflict in faith, Stuart confirmed through newspapers that the Chinese government repeatedly emphasized, 'The outside world thinks China is retaliating against the "Chinese Exclusion Act" in the United States; this is a wrong view. The Chinese government does not interfere in the internal affairs of the United States, nor will China adopt retaliatory means. All actions we take are to promote the development of world civilization. The regulations are based on science and the degree of civilization...'

Previously, Stuart enjoyed the superiority brought by his identity as a foreigner in China and was happy to educate China. Now, all the statements of the He Rui government made Stuart feel the humiliation of facing arrogance. If arrogance were graded, the arrogance of the He Rui government was undoubtedly top-tier.

The formal statements of the He Rui government did not admit the existence of reciprocal retaliation between China and the US. The Chinese government stood at the height of civilization and took action to protect advanced civilization. The United States was just one of many barbaric civilizations, not even qualified to be specifically targeted by the Chinese government.

With arrogance reaching this extent, the humiliation of the US government had reached the extreme.

After finishing the second epidemic prevention inspection for Americans in China, the American teachers of Yenching University submitted their resignations to Stuart one after another. The first epidemic prevention inspection for Americans in China caught these teachers off guard. Although they felt ashamed, they inevitably fantasized that the He Rui government would only do this once. After all, the US "Chinese Exclusion Act" came first; as a Great Power, China taking retaliatory action was completely within the understandable range. Doing it once to vent anger would be about enough.

Unexpectedly, the Chinese government actually 'ruled by law', saying that Americans in China should be inspected regularly once a week, and they really inspected once a week. The future of continuous humiliation was so clear. When the teachers of Yenching University sent their resignations to President Stuart, their expressions were resolute. Stuart wanted to persuade them, but seeing that the American teachers were determined to leave, he stopped persuading.

But some things had to be made clear. Stuart informed the teachers, "It's not yet time to settle the monthly salary this month, and the days for settling the annual salary professors haven't arrived either. If everyone wants to leave China now, please be sure to leave contact information, and we will settle the salary for everyone later."

Although these American teachers and professors cared about their salaries, they couldn't care about that much right now. Those teachers and professors preparing to return to the United States left their addresses in the United States. Some teachers and professors didn't want to return to the United States but wanted to go to other countries first, such as Japan or the colonies of Britain, France, and the Netherlands in Southeast Asia. They said they would go back and think about it first and give Stuart the address tomorrow.

Some teachers and professors were very angry and asked Stuart questions, "Mr. President, when do you think the US government will declare war on China?"

Stuart could fully understand such anger. Even an American like him who was born and raised in China had considered the possibility of the US government declaring war on China. Even in such angry emotions, Stuart had to admit that the United States could not declare war on China.

Facing the angry questions of angry teachers and professors, Yenching University President Stuart answered in as soothing a tone as possible, "I think we want peace, not war."

Hearing President Stuart's answer, the American teachers and professors of Yenching University were not moved by such humanistic care but became even more excited, "The atrocities of the Chinese government must be punished!"

"After returning home, we will petition the federal government to declare war on China!"

Stuart did not stop such warmongering clamor, nor did he agree, letting these American educators vent their unhappiness. After an emotional vent, these teachers and professors left the President's office. Buying boat tickets required advance notice, and it also took time to get from Beiping to Tianjin. Since they decided to leave China, they had to set off quickly. If they left late, they would be forced to accept the third humiliating epidemic prevention inspection.

Not only American educational personnel came to resign, but some Chinese educational practitioners who originally decided to stay at Yenching University also came to submit their resignations. Stuart signed their resignation letters with a straight face, feeling another burst of anger in his heart.

Yenching University didn't have many students left. With the resignation of this batch of Chinese and American teachers, Yenching University completely lost the ability to maintain basic teaching. This school, established to cultivate pro-American factions in China, had reached the time to close down.

From afternoon to evening, teachers coming to submit resignations came in an endless stream, and the President's office was lively for a time. However, a few hours later, the President's office suddenly became deserted. Even though it was already the Start of Summer, Stuart still felt a chill. The climate at this time had nothing to do with cold, but if there were no people in a building, such inexplicable chill would arise.

Stuart stood up and walked to the window. He saw many trucks parked at the campus gate. Some teachers and professors had already hired porters to load their luggage onto the trucks. Some trucks were already full of luggage and slowly drove out of the gate of Yenching University. A more desolate feeling rushed over his face. It should be the season entering midsummer, but Stuart felt a mood as if it were deep autumn.

Just then, a car drove into the campus against the flow of cars leaving Yenching University. A small American flag was inserted on the front of the car, showing identity to people outside the car. Stuart thought it was a car from the US Embassy. The car stopped at the entrance of the office building, and two Americans got out. They both had conspicuous red, blue, and white badges on their chests; that was the American flag, unmistakable.

Before long, with footsteps in the empty corridor, the visitors entered Stuart's open President's office door. Stuart had already stood up and saw that the visitor was actually the American director of Tsinghua School. As soon as he saw Stuart, the Tsinghua School director said, "Mr. Stuart, I am going back to my country."

"Did you receive a notification from the US government?" Stuart was somewhat surprised. previously, he had communicated with the American director of Tsinghua School about the current situation in China. The director stated, 'I will never leave unless there is a notification from the US government!'

A helpless expression appeared on the director's face. "It was China that wanted me to leave!"

"Why? On what grounds does the Chinese government expel you?" Stuart was somewhat stunned.

The American director of Tsinghua School shook his head. "It wasn't the Chinese government, but a policeman from the district where I am who came to tell me that I was expelled."

Stuart couldn't help biting his lip. The arrogance of the Chinese government's current style made him completely unable to accept it. Sending a policeman to deliver the expulsion of a director who had recruited students for study in the US in China for 20 years—this attitude was completely different from the Qing Dynasty or the Beiyang government!

Stabilizing his mind, Stuart asked, "What about the students of Tsinghua School?"

"There is no need to worry about this." The American director of Tsinghua School smiled bitterly. "The Chinese Ministry of Education has already sent notifications to those students. They will obtain qualifications to study in Europe. Britain, France, Germany, Austria. Schools in these countries are available for them to apply to."

"...Did the Chinese Ministry of Education not notify you?" Stuart heard some problems.

The director shook his head. "Only one policeman came to inform me that I was expelled. If I don't leave within a week, the Chinese local police station will arrest me for illegal stay and send me to a detention center!"

After speaking, seeing Stuart's somewhat hopeless expression, the director forced a smile, "President Stuart, I have contacted the consulate in Tianjin. For the next few days, I will live in the Tianjin consulate. What about you? What do you plan to do?"

Stuart didn't know what to do either. Facing such a China now, Stuart, an American in China, had absolutely no power to resist. Even an ordinary local policeman could manipulate Stuart at will.

Finally, Stuart asked somewhat guiltily, "Sir, have you heard any strong reaction from home?"

"You want to say the United States declaring war on China, right?" The American director of Tsinghua School put the whole question forward frankly.

Stuart didn't know whether to nod or not, but finally nodded. The director answered, "Some domestic tabloids are indeed shouting like this. But the big newspapers didn't even mention it. I went to see the Ambassador to China yesterday. He explicitly stated that at this stage, he has absolutely not heard any news of the United States declaring war on China."

Stuart originally felt that the US and China couldn't go to war over such a trivial matter. Since there was confirmation from the Ambassador to China, a Sino-US war was impossible to break out. This made Stuart feel very powerless. He didn't want a Sino-US war, but hoped the US government could restore the status of Americans in China to the status before He Rui led the army into the pass.

Amidst the upset, Stuart lowered his gaze but saw today's newspaper on his desk. The front-page headline read "China and Japan Begin to Exchange Prisoners of War and Personnel Detained Due to War".

With just this glance, Stuart felt his mood become heavier for some reason.