I painted an aircraft carrier on the courtyard house for Dongda University.

One month later, at the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill.

Old Qin got out of the car with an excited expression, and Zhou Weiguo hurriedly went forward to greet him.

The two walked into his private workshop office and then took their seats.

"You really know how to enjoy life, kid. Your office is way more impressive than mine!" Old Qin looked around and joked with a smile.

Zhou Weiguo, however, was not in the mood to respond and shook his head repeatedly: "Old Qin, please stop teasing me and tell me the situation quickly! I'm so anxious. This meeting of yours has been going on for a week, it's driving me crazy."

Old Qin rolled his eyes at him, a hint of reproach in his voice: "Look at you, always in such a hurry. I've told you before, this kind of important matter can't be rushed. Hey, hey, why did you leave? I told you, okay? You're so easily amused."

Seeing Zhou Weiguo sit down again with a displeased expression, Old Qin chuckled and then got down to business.

"Alright, alright, I'll stop teasing you. Let me tell you straight, the US is really frustrated this time. I never expected them to agree to so many of our demands so readily. To be honest, it's because of the pressure from the US that they've made so many concessions."

Old Qin paused for a moment, then continued, "At this meeting, the first issue raised by the United States was to restore diplomatic relations with our country in order to exchange goods and resources in the future."

"When they made this proposal, we were a little hesitant. Their attitude was so strange, as if they were certain that we would never agree. This proposal seemed more like a stepping stone for their next demand."

Hearing this, Zhou Weiguo roughly understood the situation and frowned, asking, "Old Qin, we're so deeply tied to Canada now. If we publicly establish diplomatic relations with the US, wouldn't it have too much of an impact? Won't they think we don't dare to directly break free from Canada's support, and are just mentioning it?"

"You're thinking the same thing as me and Old Long, but Old Long doesn't think as much as you and I do. He made a phone call to that guy from Big Goose and then started bluffing. I was dumbfounded. In the end, the other guy laughed and said that Big Goose is invincible now, and even the United States is afraid of them, which is why our Xia Kingdom has benefited."

Looking at Zhou Weiguo's strange expression, Old Qin said, "Don't overthink it, kid. This isn't about backing down to the goose. You may be very capable, but you need to understand that there aren't just a few dozen or a hundred goose experts in China right now, but more than ten thousand senior engineers and technical personnel. These are the kinds of people we can't afford to lose."

"By the way, after Elder Long finished his phone call with the goose, he pondered for a long time, nodded in agreement to establish diplomatic relations, and also put forward three requirements."

"First, now that diplomatic relations have been established, we can no longer continue with the policy of completely banning trade with China;"

"Secondly, any future embassies established must be set up in our country according to the standards of a major power."

"Third, to help our country rejoin the League of Nations and restore its legitimate rights and interests within the League."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Weiguo's eyes lit up. Good heavens, could this little butterfly of his really have caused such a big change in the current situation just by flapping its wings a few times?

But Old Qin slowly took out a cigarette, lit it, and showed no intention of continuing to speak. This made Zhou Weiguo extremely anxious.

"Mr. Qin, please continue!"

He couldn't help but urge, "And what about that matter I mentioned to you both? Did you bring it up at this meeting?"

"Hehe, I was just teasing you, kid."

Old Qin laughed out loud, "Don't worry, we definitely brought up the Diaoyu Islands and surrounding islands. But the United States doesn't take the sovereignty of those two islands seriously at all. I just don't understand why you're so anxious about uninhabited islands that can't even build a small port."

He added, "The Americans were stunned when they heard that we had agreed to establish diplomatic relations. They were overjoyed and agreed to our request without much consideration."

"Half a month ago?" Zhou Weiguo was taken aback. "What have you been doing for the past two weeks?"

Old Qin noticed his confusion and smiled, "Don't make wild guesses, kid. The first meeting in the first half of the month mainly discussed the establishment of diplomatic relations; it was only in the second half of the month that the United States finally presented their conditions."

"First, we hope that Xia Kingdom will remain neutral in the dispute between the Great Goose and the Beautiful Country, and absolutely not allow the Great Goose to station or deploy intercontinental missiles in Xia Kingdom;"

"Secondly, we hope that Xia State will not open its airspace to Taiwan, especially in the military field, and will not allow Taiwan's military aircraft to use our airspace;"

"Third, we hope that Xia will not open its sea areas to the Great Goose, will remain neutral, will not form a joint fleet with the Great Goose, and will not allow the Great Goose to establish military bases on our coast or land."

"Fourth, we hope that Xia Kingdom will remain neutral and not jointly build a joint ocean radio station with the Great Goose."

"As long as Xia Kingdom can do these four things..."

Hearing this, Zhou Weiguo couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. He was joking; Xia Guo would never have agreed to these four requests anyway.

"Old Qin, tell me quickly, what are our demands?" he pressed.

"What are your requirements? Why are you asking me?"

Old Qin countered, "Didn't you already discuss this with Old Long? The first point in our proposal was based on your wishes."

Zhou Weiguo was utterly shocked: "Elder Qin, are you saying that you and Elder Long mentioned all the things I brought up? How could the United States possibly agree to that? I was just saying that we should take advantage of this special period to find a way to resolve the territorial issues of all the islands in the sea, but the United States wouldn't be so generous, would it?"

"Tell me quickly, which regions were mentioned? Did the United States agree?"

But as soon as he finished speaking, he saw Old Qin looking at him like he was an idiot.

"You think this is child's play? You think people have to agree just because you ask?"

Old Qin said irritably, "Do you know how big that area is? The entire archipelago, the southern sea area, more than two hundred islands and reefs, involving several countries. If it weren't for the fact that the United States was driven almost crazy by the US, they would have immediately lost their temper with us as soon as such a demand was made. It's only because it's the United States that we are negotiating with us; if it were anyone else, they simply wouldn't have been able to handle this mess."

Zhou Weiguo was still somewhat dazed as he listened, and pressed on, "Old Qin, I'm just curious, when you made these demands, didn't the US get angry directly at the meeting?"

Old Qin rolled his eyes at him: "Do you think we're stupid? We're not demanding the transfer of sovereignty, we're only asking the United States and related countries to nominally recognize our sovereignty over these islands."

He explained, "As long as we have a legitimate claim, we'll have the moral high ground. Once our military is strong enough, these problems will naturally be easier to solve."

Zhou Weiguo stared at Old Qin in disbelief: "So you led a large group of people through a month of trouble, and in the end, all we did was seek a reputation?"

P.S.: There are some things I really can't write, please forgive me. I'm going back to my courtyard house to bury myself in research, and maybe even build a honey badger country overseas, and cause trouble for the US around the world. If you have any ideas, please feel free to offer your opinions.