A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

The old man hesitated for a moment, then got up and went into the inner room. Yes, the always frugal old man worked and rested together.

After a long while, the old man finally took out a hat.

It was quite ordinary, just a yellow military cap with a red five-pointed star on the front. The star looked a bit old, but its surface had a thick patina, clearly indicating that it had been handled frequently.

"Here, give this to the young comrade. I hope he won't mind. This hat has been sitting here for quite a while. If he doesn't wear it soon, it'll fall apart."

Seeing what the old man took out, the others didn't think much of it. They often gave altered clothes to their comrades' children; it wasn't a big deal. But they overlooked the hint of reluctance in the old man's eyes.

After the old man finished speaking, he stood up and walked to the window.

A red sun was slowly rising, and a few rays of light shone on the old man, giving him an inexplicable air of authority.

"Little Zhao" looked at the old man with admiration for a while, and then began to write furiously.

……

To the north, there was still that same magnificent office.

"Comrade Petrov!"

Seeing Sergeyev hurrying over, Petrov slowly picked up his coffee: "Dear Comrade Davari, I think I would be even happier if you called me 'Comrade Minister'!"

"Relax, we are the victorious nation, a great power among the world's two poles. Nothing should make us so anxious. However, I still hope to hear some good news. Have those lobster soldiers started deploying nuclear weapons in that port city? Or has something new happened on the bald eagle's side?"

Sergeyev frowned. "Neither, but regarding the lobster soldiers' actions, I don't think it's good news at all, even though those lobster soldiers weren't targeting us, Minister!"

"Although it's not us, maybe we can bring some disobedient country back into the embrace of the alliance!" Petrov muttered a few times in dissatisfaction.

Pick up your coffee and take a slow sip.

"I'm ready. Tell me that message that will make you lose all sense of decorum!"

"It's news related to our comrades in the south!"

"Of course, of course, our comrades in the south, those comrades in the south who went against the line. I don't know what the leaders above were thinking, actually giving them the blueprints for the MiG fighter jet. But we didn't lose out, we got a good price. Tell me, what else could it be? I'm the minister in charge of Far Eastern affairs, aren't I?" Petrov shrugged and took another sip of coffee.

"They shot down an RF-101! It was a jet fighter they produced themselves, but that's not the point. The point is they used air-to-air missiles! Although the reports didn't specify the type, based on our assessment, they used infrared air-to-air missiles, and both hit their targets!"

Sergeyev picked up the news briefing and read it aloud, word by word.

"what!"

The minister slammed the coffee cup onto the table and snatched the briefing from Sergeyev's hand to read it.

"Alright! This is a common practice among Easterners, isn't it? What's it called? Holding back a secret, huh? They discovered that intact missile a long time ago, studied it thoroughly, and then handed it over to us, right!"

"No, they can't keep up with the time! With their outdated scientific research capabilities, I now strongly suspect that they obtained that missile a long time ago, not recently!"

After reading the briefing, the minister loosened his tie to make it easier for him to breathe.

"Forget it, it's just a missile, it doesn't matter. After all, the aircraft that launched the missile is our MiG-19!"

"They will ultimately have to rely on our technology. After all, missiles alone cannot shoot down an aircraft!"

After thinking about it, the minister became happy again.

"In any case, this is a victory for our alliance! Come, dear Comrade, let us drink to this!"

As he spoke, the minister walked over to his small liquor cabinet, took out two shot glasses, and gestured to his colleagues.

Unexpectedly, Sergeyev stubbornly shook his head.

"No, Minister, I think we should discuss this air-to-air missile issue with them. After all, what we're using now is seriously outdated compared to theirs! And that RF-101 seems to have some differences! The reaction from the U.S. is also strange; they haven't issued any statement on this matter?"

"Ha. Worrying unnecessarily! Aren't our researchers studying that projectile? Trust their expertise! The Bald Eagles? Those cowards were terrified back then. Besides, they're currently undergoing elections; they probably don't have the energy for this. And what do we need? Do we need to beg for it?"

"Tell me, Sergeyev, where are you standing?"

“Lubyanka!” (Come on, expert, introduce this place!) Sergeyev stood at attention, and sunlight streamed in through the window cracks, illuminating his peaked cap and obscuring his face in shadow.

"Then let's do it our way and take action first! Let's see what the situation is!"

"Yes!"

"No, that's not it. What I mean is to pay more attention to those countries in the west. Don't go and bother our comrades in the south. Especially over there in the United States, it seems they're going to choose someone influential to be their leader..."

Sergeyev lowered his head and thought for a moment before reluctantly nodding in agreement.

"By the way, did they say in Vladivostok that two guys with immigration certificates smuggled themselves in to seek political asylum?"

"Yes, a man and a woman. We have their files, but the files indicate they should be from the Tianshan region. We don't know how they ended up there. They also said they had some documents that we would definitely find interesting!"

"Stop being so mysterious~~ Go and handle it yourself. Do you really think I, the minister, am their babysitter? Besides, children who lie will never get bread and milk!"

"Yes, Minister!"

Sergeyev raised his head and saluted, still stubbornly asking, "Comrade Minister, I still think we should pay more attention to the countries to the south..."

The minister finally grew impatient: "Don't worry about that. With the changing world order, that place might just turn into scorched earth. The Lobster Soldiers are clamoring to use nuclear bombs to clean up the land."

“Just intimidation,” Sergeyev scoffed, looking up as he walked out of the minister’s office.

However, he left a message before he left.

"We should value them!"

The minister raised his eyebrows, not bothering to consider whether "they" referred to the man and woman or the comrades from the south.

Instead, I started thinking:

"Have the lobster soldiers actually started deploying nuclear weapons yet?"

"This intelligence needs to be confirmed. I wonder what kind of expressions our friends in the south will have after we give them the confirmed information?"

Thinking of how devastated his comrades in the south would be upon hearing the news, the minister laughed again.

"Extortion, go ahead! Extortion is good. That way our territory can expand even further!"