A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

The outer coal department building was brightly lit.

"Report! Minister, representatives from France wish to visit you as soon as possible. It is said that it concerns matters related to our transistor computers!"

"Report! Minister, the guests from Yangon will arrive in half an hour, along with our representatives, including the Hai Zi Li representative... Please proceed to the assembly hall as soon as possible!"

"Report! A former leader has turned himself in. Based on his confession, our overseas colleagues have begun investigating his assets abroad!"

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs straightened his Zhongshan suit, he walked out, listening to his comrades' reports and nodding from time to time. Even the fact that the important border document was about to take effect did not stop him from walking briskly.

but,

When he heard the last item, the old man finally stopped and closed his eyes in pain.

"These veterans who have weathered countless storms and battles, how could they be so easily swayed by sweet-coated bullets..."

"His assets..."

"Preliminary investigation reveals two vineyards, three shops on a bustling main street, and countless amounts of gold and silver..." The confidential secretary approached slightly and answered softly.

"Hmph! Huge rat! Huge rat!"

The old man shouted a couple of times, a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"That damned French bastard uses such despicable methods to corrupt our comrades, what do he want to talk to us about! Talk about selling his mother's cunt!"

"Tell them I'm too busy right now! If they still cross our bottom line and try to be fence-sitters, I'd like to see if my 100,000 banners are faster than their surrender!"

After saying that, the old man straightened his collar, reached into the guard's arms and snatched a large revolver, which he then tucked into his waistband.

The confidential secretary's eyes twitched as he looked at the murder weapon.

"Boss, you went to sign a contract today... carrying a weapon..."

"Hmph! We earned our place through force! Are those French bastards going to the ceremony too? If I don't bring a big gun, I'm afraid I'll scare those bastards to death!"

The head of the outer section looked fierce and menacing; perhaps this was a concrete manifestation of the old man having a grievance and a debtor to settle.

As for the foreigner who corrupted his old comrade-in-arms, if it weren't for his ministerial title, he probably would have just "beaten him up, beat him to a pulp."

"Uh, boss, that old leader was instigated by the US. The French showed no involvement in this incident..."

"Fairy board!"

The old man was silent for a moment, then continued walking briskly forward: "They're all the same kind! Not a single one of them is any good!"

"Hurry up, don't drive later, we'll just walk there."

"Boss! This is unbecoming!"

"Screw this! The warehouse's practically overflowing with mice, what's the point of shoveling? Every little bit helps!"

"Let's run quickly and stand over there, then no one will know we went for a run!"

Meanwhile, the lamp in the flower hall, which was always on, was turned off by another elderly person early on.

Good morning, boss!

"Haha, it's getting late! Let's hurry up and set off. This is the first time our border agreement will officially take effect, so we should get to the Great Hall of the People as soon as possible."

"Boss! It's alright, it's only 5 o'clock. We can leave in an hour! Why don't you rest for a bit?"

"It's getting late, it's getting late. Let's take this as exercise! Let's go for a bike ride!" The old man stretched out his arms and did a chest-expanding exercise, saying with a smile.

"Boss! The weather today..."

"Hey... this is nothing. There's that old guy who's gone winter swimming! Do you think my body is any worse than his?"

The secretary was speechless; that was a difficult question to answer. "But speaking of which," she said, "your health really isn't as good as his, after all, your hands..."

"Alright, I'm going to shave. You get two steamed buns, let's get going as soon as possible!"

"Yes!"

The secretary reluctantly headed to the small kitchen, where a woman was already busy at work.

The older sister smiled broadly as she watched the secretary enter.

"See? I told you not to try to persuade him! Don't you know him?"

As she spoke, the older sister stuffed two leftover steamed buns from yesterday into the air fryer, pressed the button, and warmed her hands with the heat of the fryer.

"Big sister! Those steamed buns are all hard! I'll knead some dough and make some fresh ones!"

"Oh, it's nothing. Your old boss really likes this kind of food, saying that the steamed buns baked in this pan are the most fragrant..."

The secretary fell silent. How fragrant could it be? It was just a mixture of cornmeal and flour.

"Speaking of which, this pot must have earned us a lot of foreign exchange. The young man who invented it is really capable!"

As the older sister talked about the young man who made the pots, Secretary Zhao's mind drifted back to the youthful face she had once seen at the steel rolling mill. Hmm, what did he look like? She only remembered that he had bright eyes and a few tufts of hair sticking up on his head...

"Haha, big sister, you don't know, this young man recently came up with an upgraded version of the pot, each one is 100 rubles more expensive than the current ones!"

"Hey kid! With the price so high, will it even sell?"

"Hey, you know what, the Russians are totally buying it. Now they don't want the regular pots anymore, they only want the upgraded version. And let me tell you a secret, that upgraded version only adds 5 cents to our cost!"

The older sister shook her head and patted Secretary Zhao's arm.

"Nonsense! The cost can't be calculated so simply. This young man must have put in a lot of hard work! Don't you think the Russians are really stupid? It must be that someone else's modifications have some merit, and this advanced thinking is also a manifestation of value!"

"Hey! You're right, big sister! I admit my mistake!"

"Communication between comrades doesn't need to be so formal! Go check on your leader, why hasn't he arrived yet? He kept saying he wanted to leave early, but he hasn't shown up for ages!"

Secretary Zhao responded and quickly walked towards the old man's bedroom.

"Leader? Chief?"

Entering the washroom, I saw the leader leaning against the wall, his beard only half shaved, his right hand still holding a razor, and his eyes slightly closed.

Secretary Zhao's voice was choked with emotion.

"Boss, boss?" Secretary Zhao stretched out his arm and leaned against the wall, making a gesture of support.

I really wanted this old man to rest more, but...

The old man was a light sleeper, and Secretary Zhao's soft calls quickly woke him up.

I chuckled to myself: "Haha, thank goodness you woke me up, otherwise, going out with a half-shaved beard would have been quite a laughing stock!"

"Boss! Let's take the car today! That way you can rest a bit in the car!"

"Hey... once a decision is made, you can't go back on your word!"

As he spoke, the old man quickly stroked his beard a few times and then wiped his face with a towel.

"Let's go! Let's go!"

……

Jingle Bell……

The crisp sound of the bell rang out on the long street, and some comrades who were sweeping the road early in the morning looked up.

"lead?"

"Leader! Leader!..."

"Haha, good morning, comrades!"

Seeing the cleaners excitedly gather around, the elderly man in the black coat slowed down his car and then stepped out with a graceful stride.

He grabbed an elderly comrade's hand and shook it tightly: "Comrade, you've worked hard. The people thank you."

"Boss! You've worked hard too..."

"Haha, it's no trouble at all. Have you had breakfast yet? Let me tell you, we traded a lot of corn kernels with the Russians, and we'll distribute them to everyone as needed..."

More and more people gathered around the leader. Secretary Zhao waved to the figures behind him and then squeezed his way to the old man's side.

"Everyone, please move aside. The leader has very important things to do. Please make way..."

The crowd quickly lined up along both sides of the road, clearing a wide avenue.

The old man didn't get on the bus; he just pushed his bicycle and walked briskly.

"These are our people! They trust us so much, how can we let them down!"

"We should not let them down; we can and must do so!"

The old man spoke in a low voice, then raised his head and looked into the distance. Beneath his sword-like eyebrows, his eyes sparkled with starlight.

……

Meanwhile, inside the famous city gate tower, Jiang Xia carried a red flag, with Jiang Qiu and Jiang Dong standing behind him.

Old Wang, somewhat helplessly, held his camera and casually snapped several pictures of the three siblings.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready!"

"Ready! Go!"

"The five-star red flag flutters in the wind..."