The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Human joys and sorrows are never shared.

While the South Asian subcontinent was in near chaos, Gaul was immersed in the atmosphere of its homeland's restoration and everything returning to normal.

At least for the residents of Huadu, the capital city, everything is as usual.

The afternoon sun filtered through the gaps in the chestnut leaves, casting dappled shadows on the cobblestones of Boulevard Saint-Michel.

The outdoor seating area of ​​the café was packed with students and intellectuals.

Lin Zhenhua pushed open the door of an old café called "Le Procope" near the Sorbonne University, holding the latest issue of the "Annals of Physics" that he had just bought at the Gibel Bookstore.

"Zhenhua, over here."

At the table by the window, Chen Siyuan was waving his arms.

An open notebook lay before him, densely covered with Dirac symbols and dazzling integral formulas, next to which sat a half-cold cup of coffee.

Lin Zhenhua walked over, placed the journal on the table, pulled out a wicker chair, and sat down: "You've been hanging around here all day again?"

"Inspiration strikes and you can't stop it." Chen Siyuan grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.

This 23-year-old youth from Southeast Asia has a robust physique that seems incongruous with his identity as a theoretical physicist.

He insists on going for a run every morning, saying that "both the body and the brain need to be strong."

"I think I've figured out a bit about the new algorithm for the meson coupling constant... but it still needs to be verified."

Lin Zhenhua shook his head.

He and Chen Siyuan were among the first batch of government-sponsored students sent abroad by the Ministry of Education in Nanyang, where they studied theoretical physics and high-energy physics at Huadu Higher Normal College.

The two have very different personalities: Lin Zhenhua is calm and reserved, like a precision instrument; Chen Siyuan is enthusiastic and outgoing, like an unstable particle.

But they have one thing in common: they are both the kind of monsters who can sit in a coffee shop for five hours, pondering an equation and completely forgetting the passage of time.

"By the way, have you received the embassy's notification?" Chen Siyuan suddenly asked.

Lin Zhenhua was taken aback and pulled an envelope out of his bag.

The dark blue sealing wax was imprinted with the coat of arms of the United States of Southeast Asia.

"I received it this morning. It only said to go to the embassy at 4 pm today, as there is something important to discuss, but it didn't say what it was about."

“Me too.” Chen Siyuan took out the same envelope. “Old Wu and Xiaomei also received it. I arranged to meet them at the embassy entrance at 3:30.”

"Old Wu" is Wu Xinjue, 25 years old, a graduate student in metallurgical engineering at Huadu National Higher Mining Institute.

"Xiaomei" refers to Zhou Xiaomei, 22 years old, the only Chinese female student in the Department of Metallurgy at the School of Mining, and also Wu Xinjue's junior.

Although these four people had different majors—two were physicists and two were metallurgists—they became a close-knit group because they were all government-sponsored students from Southeast Asia and were in a foreign land.

Lin Zhenhua glanced at his pocket watch; it was 2:40.

"Go now?"

"Let's go." Chen Siyuan quickly packed up his notebooks and journals. "I guess there might be some new policy in China, or... checking our study progress?"

The two paid for their coffee and left the cafe.

The air in Huadu was already cool in September, and Lin Zhenhua tightened the collar of his trench coat.

He felt a little uneasy; being a government-sponsored student studying abroad was both an honor and a responsibility.

Their monthly allowance was three times the wage of an ordinary worker in Southeast Asia, their apartments were arranged by the embassy, ​​and even their books were purchased with money from China.

The country has invested heavily in them, naturally expecting them to return home after completing their studies and become pillars of the nation's development.

What if they think we're not moving fast enough? This thought made Lin Zhenhua's palms sweat slightly.

-----

At 3:40 PM, Huadu District 8, Embassy of the United States of Southeast Asia in Gaul.

This is a four-story Ottoman-style building with light beige stone exterior walls and black wrought iron balconies. It originally belonged to a wealthy Turkish businessman, and now a bilingual plaque with the Nanyang flag and Gaulish words hangs at the entrance.

Compared to the imposing White Eagle and John's Embassy around it, it appeared simple, but neat and tidy.

Wu Xinjue and Zhou Xiaomei were already waiting at the door.

Wu Xinjue is 1.85 meters tall, with broad shoulders and a thick back, and he is wearing a simple work jacket.

This is his work uniform from when he was an intern at the steel mill. It's faded a bit from washing, but it's clean and crisp.

He was holding a stainless steel water glass in his hand, observing the crystal patterns on the glass wall in the sunlight.

"Old Wu, you're here again." Chen Siyuan walked over with a smile. "You have to examine every metal you see."

"Occupational hazard," Wu Xinjue said with a simple, honest smile as he put away his cup.

"This cup is made of 304 austenitic stainless steel. The rolling process of the French is indeed excellent, and the grain uniformity can reach ASTM standard level 8."

However, the White Eagle electric arc furnace that our Nanyang Steel Plant introduced last year can also achieve level 7, so the gap is narrowing.

Zhou Xiaomei stood beside him, wearing a light gray women's suit skirt, with short hair reaching her ears, looking capable and intelligent.

She was holding a leather notebook with a fountain pen clipped to the cover.

"Zhenhua, Siyuan." She nodded in greeting, her tone calm, but a hint of doubt flickered in her eyes. "The embassy suddenly summoned the four of us, could it be...?"

"Don't scare yourself." Lin Zhenhua pushed up his glasses. "You'll find out when you get inside."

The four students showed their student IDs and notification letters to the Nanyang guards standing at the entrance.

After carefully checking their identities, the guard saluted and let them through: "Ambassador Huang is waiting for you in his office on the second floor. Please go straight up."

Upon entering the embassy lobby, you are greeted by a huge map of Southeast Asia, marking major cities, mineral distribution areas, and industrial zones.

A large photograph of President Zhang Chi inspecting Penang Port is hanging next to it.

In the photo, Zhang Chi is wearing a simple white shirt and a safety helmet, standing under the gantry crane talking to the workers.

“Every time I see this photo, I feel…” Chen Siyuan said softly.

"What do you think?" Zhou Xiaomei asked.

“It feels like our country’s leaders are not far from us,” Chen Siyuan said with a smile. “Unlike some countries where the head of state’s photo has to be hung on an altar.”

The stairs were covered with a deep red carpet, making no sound when you stepped on them.

In the second-floor corridor, several embassy clerks carrying documents walked briskly by, nodding amicably when they saw them.

The ambassador's office door was open.

A man in his fifties, dressed in a dark Zhongshan suit, was standing by the window making a phone call, speaking fluent Gaul: "...Yes, we have arranged for the projection equipment to be shipped by sea...Yes, two copies, one as a spare...Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Cartier-Bresson."

He hung up the phone and turned around.

This is Huang Mingxuan, the Nanyang Ambassador to France. He is a Chinese from Borneo, with a refined appearance and his hair is neatly combed.

"Four students, please come in." Ambassador Huang smiled and gestured for them to sit on the sofa in the reception area. "Was the journey smooth? Would you like to have a cup of tea first? Our Nanyang-produced black tea is no worse than Darjeeling's."

A secretary brought in a tea set.

Ambassador Huang personally poured the amber-colored tea into an exquisite white porcelain cup.

The aroma of tea immediately filled the air.

“This is spring tea from Kuching,” Ambassador Huang said. “The tea is grown at an altitude of 1,200 meters, where there is a large temperature difference between day and night, resulting in a particularly high content of amino acids in the tea leaves. Please have a taste.”

The four of them picked up their teacups.

Lin Zhenhua took a sip; it was indeed fragrant, mellow, and had a long-lasting aftertaste.

But he was more concerned about the important matter at hand: "Ambassador, you wanted to see us..."

“Oh, right, right, business.” Ambassador Huang put down his teacup, picked up an elegant hardcover folder from his desk, opened it, took out four cards with gold-embossed French text, and pushed them in front of them.

"This is the official invitation to the inaugural Cannes International Film Festival, to be held on September 20th, for the VIP section," Ambassador Huang said in a relaxed tone.

“And this too—” He took out four more train tickets, “round-trip train tickets from Huadu to Cannes. I’ve also had my secretary arrange the accommodations. It’s a clean little hotel by the sea in Cannes, close to the venue.”