Japan dared not publish news regarding the Lushun-Dalian region, but China had no such scruples. On September 30th, newspapers all over the country published the news that the Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army had expelled the Japanese troops entrenched in the Lushun-Dalian region and recaptured the national territory. This news added a tremendous atmosphere of celebration to National Day. The anger aroused a few days earlier by Japan's attack on the Chinese disaster relief teams completely dissipated in the face of this news.

Zhengzhou had long been ready for the National Day military parade. Chen Ke got up before dawn to attend the flag-raising ceremony. People's Square was packed with people and heavily guarded. In the late first decade of the 21st century, Chen Ke had finally realized through Obama's showmanship that a national leader's "man of the people" actions were also a labor-intensive and costly affair. So he never liked engaging in this kind of meaningless showmanship. The Republic had just been established, and there were plenty of enemies both inside and out. For example, nearly ten thousand troops were deployed to People's Square to prevent any incidents. Chen Ke himself might not fear death, but the problem was that if he died an unnatural death, it would affect the country's work.

However, one had to appear when one was supposed to appear, such as attending the flag-raising ceremony. Even if he wasn't a nationalist, Chen Ke still believed that the early state paid insufficient attention to the national flag and that the operation of cultural soft power was far less scientific than that of the United States. Chen Ke had to advocate a new atmosphere through a series of actions.

But no matter what he thought in his heart, when watching the flag-raising ceremony, Chen Ke still felt that he was not as calm as he had imagined. Under the protection of a team of tall and straight flag guards, the Five-Star Red Flag finally appeared at the edge of the square. It wasn't solemn and chilling, but a kind of genuine pride.

When the *March of the Volunteers* began to play, Chen Ke almost instinctively placed his left hand on his left chest, watching the Republic's flag rise slowly. In the crisp autumn air of October, the morning breeze blew the flag, fully unfurling the bright red banner. Everyone present sang the national anthem simultaneously. Although the voices were uneven, the feeling was the same. Looking up at the flag representing the country, everyone couldn't help but feel moved—whether it was joy, touched emotion, melancholy, or unfamiliarity. But watching the flag-raising ceremony itself was reinforcing everyone's relationship with the country.

However, Chen Ke didn't expect that many onlookers saw Chen Ke pressing his right hand (sic - text says left hand on left chest earlier, then right hand on chest here, likely author error or description of salute. Standard civilian salute is right hand over heart. Text says "left hand on left chest" then "right hand according to left chest" then "right hand on chest". I will assume Right Hand over Heart is the intended visual) to his chest from afar. From then on, the gesture of pressing the right hand to the chest became the standard posture for citizens other than military personnel to salute the national flag.

After watching the flag ceremony, Chen Ke ran to the government cafeteria in the Pentagon to eat breakfast. His wife and child were already waiting for him. Chen Qianru, who had just started high school, pulled hard on Chen Ke's arm. Chen Ke bent down and, like an ordinary dad from the 21st century, smiled and said to his daughter, "What's up?"

Chen Qianru whispered, "Dad, I want to go up to the gate tower to watch the parade too."

"That's definitely not allowed. There are regulations for people going up to the gate tower; it was arranged long ago," Chen Ke said with a smile but a serious attitude.

Now Chen Qianru wasn't happy. The little girl's eyebrows and eyes resembled Chen Ke, but her delicate face shape came from her mother. Added to her tender skin, in her father's eyes, she was deadly beautiful even when angry. He Ying, on the other hand, had been battling wits and courage with her daughter for over a decade. Seeing her daughter act coquettishly towards her father, her face immediately darkened. "Qianru, listen to your father. You can't go up there right now."

"Qianru, do you want to go up there to watch the National Day parade?" Shang Yuan walked over at this moment carrying a bowl of corn porridge, a small saucer of pickled vegetables, and two fried dough sticks.

The aggrieved look on Chen Qianru's face was immediately swept away. She said very seriously to Shang Yuan, "Hello, Uncle Shang Yuan."

Shang Yuan laughed, "Chairman Chen, my family just can't seem to raise a delicate little daughter like yours no matter what. Comrade He Ying has contributed to this!"

He Ying also laughed, "It's almost annoying to death; the girl has too many little schemes. Premier Shang, your sons are very presentable."

"Daughters naturally have to be spoiled; my wife just couldn't give birth to one," Shang Yuan sat down next to Chen Ke. It was known among the high-level officials that Chen Ke doted on his daughter, but Shang Yuan noticed that when outsiders were present, Chen Qianru always stayed by her parents' side without saying a word. Don't look at the little girl's young age; she could always find her position very accurately. Shang Yuan felt that Chen Ke really hadn't spoiled this daughter in vain.

After breakfast, work continued. The families of officials and military personnel attending the ceremony were not arranged on the reviewing stand, but watched from the glass corridor on a lower floor. When the country was founded last year, Chen Ke had already plagiarized Chairman Mao's famous words in Wuhan, "The Chinese people have stood up!"

This time, what was plagiarized was another passage from Chairman Mao:

"Eternal glory to the people's heroes who sacrificed their lives in the People's War of Liberation and the People's Revolution in the past six years!

Eternal glory to the people's heroes who sacrificed their lives in the People's War of Liberation and the People's Revolution in the past twenty-two years!

Eternal glory to the people's heroes who, from 1840, sacrificed their lives in the various struggles against domestic and foreign enemies for national independence and the freedom and well-being of the people!"

All the soldiers below cheered first. It was the bloody battles of the Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army that had created this country. Naturally, the majority of the people's heroes were soldiers. And the founding of the state was in 1922, recognizing the Boxer Movement of twenty-two years ago, and regarding this movement as the vanguard of the People's War of Liberation. Generals of the Republic like Wu Xingchen, Chai Qingguo, and Pang Zi who had participated in the Boxer Movement, especially those who had participated in the Jing Tingbin and Zhao Sanduo peasant uprisings that were jointly suppressed by the Manchu Qing court and foreign invaders, couldn't help but fill their eyes with tears. Although they already knew the content of the inscription on the Monument to the People's Heroes, hearing it read aloud personally by the founder of the Republic on National Day, Pang Zi and the others felt that their elders and brothers in the uprising army in the netherworld could finally close their eyes in peace.

At 9:30 AM, the military parade began. Following the plagiarized procedure, Chen Ke first rode in a special military jeep past the phalanxes of troops.

"Comrades, hello!"

"Hello, Commander!"

"Comrades, you have worked hard!"

"Serve the people!"

For Chen Ke, this was the most common standard procedure, but for the officers and soldiers of the various units participating in this parade, being personally reviewed by the creator of the Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army was indeed a supreme glory.

Infantry, cavalry, light troop carriers, and armored vehicles—the phalanxes lined up for several *li*. This was the military power of the New China.

After the review by car, the phalanx march began. At the very front, amidst the honor guards of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, a tall Army flag-bearer held the military flag as they passed through the square. He waved the military flag fluidly, tilting the flagpole forward just as a gust of wind blew over, smoothly unfurling the August 1st military flag. Amidst the *March of the Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army*, the sound of footsteps, neat as if made by a single person, rang out loudly.

The Army, Navy, and Air Force honor guards passed first, followed by the cavalry and artillery towed by military trucks. This equipment was all domestically produced, which made Chen Ke extremely satisfied. Then, formations composed of reconnaissance planes, fighter jets, and bombers flew across the sky. When the massive figures of the heavy bombers that had participated in the Battle of Lushun a few days ago flew across the sky, everyone looked up high. Many citizens who had come to watch the parade were seeing objects flying in the sky for the first time.

After watching the parade, Chen Ke's gaze fell on the camera positions in the square. Even though Chen Ke had participated in organizing talent shows, he didn't actually understand filming much. However, thanks to the "blessing" of that young female director of the National Day parade, where a large number of netizens across the country criticized the parade filming, Chen Ke had roughly remembered a few terms like long shot and forty-five-degree high angle. The benefit of modern Chinese lay in this: even if one completely didn't know what operations lay behind these terms, knowing a few terms was enough to make professionals suddenly see the light. Several test shoots had achieved quite good results, which made some people who knew the inside story suspect even more just how wealthy Chen Ke's family was to be able to afford to play with movie cameras.

Looking at the leaders high above, those who didn't know better always felt they were very majestic. Only after really standing in this position did one know that, apart from those bored fellows, people who really did things didn't feel there was anything very special about standing on the gate tower at all.

Just as the parade ended, the state banquet to host envoys from various countries began. Chen Ke didn't like social engagements; he only made a symbolic appearance, ate a few mouthfuls of food, and left the banquet hall. The Soviet representative, Comrade Belkov, was already waiting for Chen Ke in the conference room.

"Congratulations on the National Day birthday of the great People's Republic of China," Comrade Belkov said very politely, and judging by his attitude, it was indeed a heartfelt congratulation. After all, in this world, China was the only one willing to be friendly with the Soviet Union.

"Comrade Belkov, our recapture of the Lushun region received great help from the Soviet comrades. We express our gratitude for this," Chen Ke said with a calm attitude, as if the Russians had never occupied China's Lushun-Dalian region. "And our supplies can be transported directly to Lushun and sent to the Soviet Union via railway."

The Soviet Union was officially established in 1922, and the situation at this time was not very optimistic. The cruel civil war had beaten Russia, which was already relatively backward in Europe, into a state of devastation. At this time, the one truly giving aid to the Soviet Union was China. The aid supplies were *Erdaoniang*, tobacco, tea, sugar, edible oil, edible spices, towels, and various civilian products. The Chinese government also didn't insist that the Soviet Union tighten its belt to trade with real gold and silver; Sino-Soviet trade could adopt a barter model, or even be bought on credit. It would be fine to trade after the Soviet Union's production capacity recovered.

Comrade Belkov was very clear about how these aids and "trade" helped the Soviet Union. Farming in high-cold regions was not easy to begin with. Russian cuisine consisted of black bread, borscht, cabbage, pork sausage, lard, and beef. Strong liquor was not a luxury item, but a necessity. The Chinese comrades didn't pit the Soviet Union like foreign countries did. Guangxi, Northern Vietnam, Laos Province, and places like Cambodia that China already actually controlled grew sugarcane extensively. After the sugarcane was made into sugar, the bagasse was used to produce alcohol. The alcohol produced was then brewed again after being mixed with potato-fermented liquor, resulting in a strong liquor that very much suited the taste of the Russian nation. The alcohol content was as high as 55 degrees. Of course, the *Erguotou* produced in China was considered a supreme delicacy by the Russian ethnicity.

Over the past year or so, China had already provided 6 million tons of supplies to the Soviet Union, greatly alleviating the difficulties encountered by the Soviet Union. Communism indeed required ideals and spirit, but if the workers and farmers on the collective farms could get 500 grams of *Erdaoniang* every week, it would exceptionally stimulate their enthusiasm for socialist construction. Not to mention the soft towels, comfortable underwear, thermos bottles that greatly improved heat retention performance, meat sausages with added edible spices, and the colorful pickles from China.

Belkov said, "This time Comrade Stalin sent me here to agree to the matter of renting land near Moscow proposed by your country."

Chen Ke felt that "helping people to the end, sending the Buddha to the West" was an excellent tradition of China, which also contained great wisdom. With the Soviet Union's messy civilian industry, if trade between China and the Soviet Union adopted barter trade, there was great potential. The Soviet Union was implementing the New Economic Policy. Chen Ke felt that the Soviet method of tightening their belts to exchange for foreign exchange had too many side effects. Transporting *Erdaoniang* and supplies for which the Soviet Union had no source of raw materials could still be said to be a matter of no choice. But transporting pickles and soybean paste by train was a bit too ridiculous. Based on the confidence in the Chinese race's farming, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked if they could rent land west of the Ural Mountains in Russia to grow vegetables.

The Chinese side naturally couldn't bluntly say "You Russians are no good at farming," so the reason was to research planting techniques in high-cold regions.

Comrade Belkov brought the news that Comrade Stalin, who was presiding over the work of the Soviet Union, agreed to provide 100,000 *desiatinas* of land south of Moscow as a test zone. The lease term was twenty-five years, with a three-year construction period. After three years, half of the output would be handed over to the Soviet government as rent, and the other half would be purchased by the Soviet government.

One *desiatina* is approximately one hectare (approx. 1.09 hectares). Comrade Stalin was bold enough to allocate one thousand square kilometers to the Chinese comrades for farming in one go. This was 0.005% of Russia's land.

Chen Ke's impression of Uncle Steel wasn't bad. Although this future "Father of the Soviet Nationalities" had ruthless methods, he was the true builder of the Soviet Union. Without Uncle Steel, the Soviet Union probably wouldn't have been able to beat Germany in World War II.

But as a politician, Chen Ke felt the huge pressure Uncle Steel was bearing. To build such a massive country as the Soviet Union, there had to be a model. Chen Ke knew that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had originally only proposed getting a piece of land for China to plant, thinking that a hundred or so square kilometers would be enough. But he didn't expect Uncle Steel to expand it by ten times. It seemed Uncle Steel really needed a model project and needed to maximize the Soviet Union's industrial and agricultural production capacity. He wouldn't even let go of this request from China, which hadn't even taken shape yet.

Belkov was afraid Chen Ke might misunderstand, so he added, "This matter received instructions from Comrade Dzerzhinsky."

Dzerzhinsky and Trotsky were the two who came to China to "extort" the most aid. They not only "extorted" supplies but also "extorted" personnel. China sent sixty to seventy thousand medical personnel to help the Soviet Union establish a nationwide medical system, but these two still felt it wasn't enough. They asked for whatever they could catch. Of course, such contributions were not without return; at least Sino-Soviet relations quickly got rid of the tense state after China reclaimed its lost territories.

Obviously, Comrade Belkov was more obedient to the commands of Comrade Dzerzhinsky and Comrade Trotsky. He took out a long "trade" list for Chen Ke to look over. After reading it, Chen Ke was frightened by the total weight reaching as high as 12 million tons. "Does the railway have such large transport capacity?"

"So we hope the Chinese comrades can provide ships and transport via sea routes," Comrade Belkov replied.

"The Soviet comrades really don't treat themselves as outsiders!" Chen Ke thought to himself. He knew the straightforward nature of the "Hairy Bears" and also knew the great achievements of the Soviet people in working hard to build their country. With the Soviet Union's current population of over one hundred million, theoretically, each person receiving 100 kilograms of supplies could indeed help the Soviet Union tide over the difficulties as soon as possible. The problem was that China really didn't have such large maritime transport capacity, even using the summer Arctic route. But for the sake of the vast trade space in the future, Chen Ke said sincerely, "We can only do our best."