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

Zhou Weiguo was dumbfounded. "What's the use of that thing? What about Taiwan and Hong Kong? Didn't you mention them? Even if it's just nominal agreement, it would be a good thing!"

"Get lost, you little brat, what are you thinking!"

Old Qin laughed and scolded, "These islands alone have already made the United States a little anxious. If it weren't for the pressure from the US, they wouldn't even consider them."

He then changed the subject: "However, regarding Taiwan and Hong Kong, the United States has made some conditions. If China can get all the Hong Kong experts to withdraw, refuse the assistance of the Hong Kong nuclear physics team, sever ties with Hong Kong on the grounds, and even diplomatically break with Hong Kong, they will not only agree to our demands, but it is even possible that these people can actually go home. Furthermore, they have also expressed their willingness to provide us with large-scale assistance in areas such as people's livelihood and technology, and even to form deep cooperative partnerships."

After hearing this, Zhou Weiguo couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Good heavens, those foreigners are really cunning! They're clearly trying to pull us into their camp to suppress the Goose together."

He said firmly, "We absolutely cannot do this! Right now, we should stay in the middle, accepting the sweet talk from both sides, letting them hurl their bullets at each other. Otherwise, how will we have time to develop peacefully?"

"That's right, you and Elder Long have the same idea."

Old Qin nodded solemnly, "What we should do most right now is to minimize our presence and focus on developing our own strength. This is more important than anything else."

Zhou Weiguo suddenly remembered Xiao Rizi and hurriedly asked, "By the way, Elder Qin, what's been going on with Xiao Rizi lately? Even if our Qiuqiu Islands only want to reclaim nominal sovereignty, those beasts probably won't agree, right?"

Upon hearing this, Old Qin couldn't help but burst out laughing: "You have the nerve to say that? Do you know how frantically these guys have been digging air-raid shelters for the past month? Why would they send a fleet to raid someone's sea cucumber base if they had nothing better to do?"

Looking at Old Qin's ambiguous smile, Zhou Weiguo couldn't help but feel speechless.

He had initially only tasked Salt with dealing with the Japanese forces in the space, as well as the twenty relatively low-tech gunboats, torpedo boats, and transport ships. Who knew this girl would gather a whole crew, load the warships with bombs, and storm the sea cucumber base? This really annoyed him, and he gave Salt, this "crazy girl," a good scolding afterward.

However, this mistake, ironically, exacerbated the conflict between Xiao Rizi and Da'e.

The small group now believes that the big goose deliberately launched the mushroom egg attack against them, and even claims that their fleet decided to retaliate and attack the enemy naval base because they witnessed the attack on the country.

What baffled Zhou Weiguo the most was that after launching the mushroom egg attack on Xiao Rizi, Da'e actually admitted to all the "blames" he had initially framed for. This move truly left him dumbfounded.

Looking at Old Qin's ambiguous smile, he began to wonder: Had Old Qin seen through his disguise? This commotion had indeed been quite significant, and there were many things he hadn't dared to tell Old Qin and Old Long directly, for fear that the two elders would find out the truth and he would suffer the consequences.

Thinking of this, he quickly changed the subject: "Um, Mr. Qin, do you think the United States will agree to our demands this time?"

……

On the other side, the Black House in the United States.

A white-haired man stared in astonishment at his serious-looking subordinate and asked in a deep voice, "You're saying that Xia Kingdom's demand is for us and our neighboring countries to nominally recognize their sovereignty over the Qiuqiu Islands and the South China Sea Islands in the international arena? But they don't require us and these countries to return actual control?"

The subordinate quickly nodded in confirmation.

The white-haired man pondered for a moment, then sighed disdainfully, "I thought the Xia Kingdom had changed somewhat, but it seems it's exactly the same as it was a hundred years ago. Such a good opportunity for negotiation, and they only offer these nominal demands. Are you sure the Xia Kingdom has no other conditions besides this?"

After a long silence, the subordinate replied, "Sir, in the final stage of the meeting, the leader of the Xia side stated that Xia should enjoy the treatment and international status that a victorious nation in World War II deserves, as well as the respect that a defeated nation should have."

Upon hearing this, the white-haired man's eyes lit up: "That's more like it! If Xia Kingdom only focuses on these nominal things, I would think there's something wrong with it. In that case, things aren't so complicated."

"Sir, do you mean that Xia Kingdom is implying something?" the subordinate hurriedly asked.

The white-haired man rolled his eyes at his subordinate: "Nonsense! Those bastards still owe Xia Country 216 billion US dollars in war reparations. I saw it coming a long time ago; the Xia Country people have never truly forgiven them. But that's fine, that bastard dog has been quite a handful lately. I heard they even launched a surprise attack on Da'e's sea cucumber base? Are they thinking life is too comfortable?"

The subordinate's expression changed slightly: "Oh? Sir, you don't mean to ask Xia Guo to compensate for the 216 billion, do you? You should know that Xia Guo's annual GDP is only 300 billion now. Their new prime minister would never agree to this request."

The white-haired man glared at his subordinate: "If one dog misbehaves, just kill it and bring in another. Since Xia Kingdom wants a good reputation and also wants to improve its situation, these things won't cost us anything, so why not?"

"Mr. Ke, don't forget, if we really give over 20 billion to Xia Country, and they use it to develop weapons, it could pose a significant threat to us in the future." The subordinate was still somewhat worried.

The white-haired man shook his head, saying confidently, "Don't worry, we won't do something so unwise. Here's the arrangement: let Xiao Rizi spend five years converting the $216 billion war reparations into food, daily necessities, and even light industrial goods to pay to Xia Guo. Remember, absolutely no technology should be paid out directly; just give them goods."

He paused, then continued, "We must find a way to raise the living standards of the Xia people. With the material support of these five years of 'Xiao Ri' (a local term referring to a period of prosperity and prosperity), it will be enough to raise the cost of living and the standard of living of the Xia people. After five years, when the Xia people are accustomed to abundant food, daily necessities, and light industrial products, the reparations from 'Xiao Ri' will have been paid off. At that time, this country with 700 million people will inevitably strengthen its ties with us in order to have enough to eat and drink, and we will gain access to an incredibly large market."

Upon hearing this, the subordinate was initially shocked, but after a long pause, he bowed respectfully and said, "Sir, your plan is indeed far-sighted. However, this means that the lives of ordinary citizens for the next five years will likely be very difficult."

"Whether life is hard or not, what does that have to do with us?"

The white-haired man didn't seem to care, and changed the subject, "By the way, tell me, what other practices do these days make Xia Guo feel disrespected?"