Chapter 6: The Middle Game Squeeze (Part 1)

  One

  Beijing at 4 am, this modern ancient city far from the flames of war is now a dream or reality? On Chang'an Street, military police in autumn's cold wind stood upright like statues as they flashed by the car window of Li Hanwen, Vice Premier and Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China. Coming out of Zhongnanhai, Premier Li was accustomed to taking a look at Chang'an Street because only here could he truly feel the strength and greatness of his motherland.

  The motorcade was moving very quickly, and the dazzlingly bright exterior wall of the Chinese Foreign Ministry at the southeast corner of Chaoyangmen Overpass on Beijing's East Second Ring Road soon appeared before Premier Li Hanwen's eyes.

  "My battlefield has arrived!" Seeing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff coming up to open the car door for him, Li Hanwen turned his head and said lightly to Wu Hui, the Deputy Minister of National Defense who was traveling with him.

  "Lan Bo said 'Once in the forest, I am the king.' It's the same! At the negotiating table, Premier Li is indeed a true General of Invincibility!" Knowing that today's opponent was not difficult to deal with, General Wu Hui also replied lightly.

  "The key is that our young soldiers are fighting well!" Getting off his special train, Li Hanwen did not deliberately tidy up his clothes, because today's guest was not worth paying such attention to.

  The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs covers an area of 61,000 square meters and started construction in 1993. It was completed in 1997. The entire building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs looks like a gray arc-shaped structure from the outside, perhaps this is the essence of diplomacy: gray and smooth. Today's guests are arranged in Room 215 of the 11 conference rooms in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When entering the conference room, Premier Li Hanwen subconsciously took a look at the natural marble mosaic mural "Wind and Clouds" on the east wall facing the Japanese delegation, using this painting to reflect the current Sino-Japanese relations may be more appropriate.

  The Japanese delegation was still led by the Japanese ambassador to China, Nobuo Odaira. In his memory, Li Hanwen had always thought that this diplomat, who had a unique understanding of Japanese tea ceremony, had never been interested in Chinese tea, but today his teacup was open. Noticing this detail, Li Hanwen smiled confidently, feeling that he had already won the game.

  When Li Hanwen led the Chinese delegation into the negotiating room, the Japanese delegation, which had always been particular about etiquette, stood up and bowed in unison. The Chinese delegation naturally responded with the same courtesy, but Li Hanwen yawned at this moment and dodged this tedious ritual.

  "Minister Ono's sudden visit today is likely due to the recent intense clashes between China and Japan in Southeast Asia."

  As soon as Premier Li Hanwen took his seat, he went straight into the topic.

  "Yes! Recently, a large-scale military conflict broke out between Japan and China due to differences over the civil war in the Republic of Indonesia. This is not what the peace-loving and friendly peoples of Japan and China want to see. Therefore, with the aim of calming down the conflict and maintaining regional peace, I, on behalf of my government and Prime Minister Shunji, hereby submit to the Chinese government and Chairman Hu a draft Memorandum of Understanding between Japan and China on the peaceful settlement of the South Seas issue, hoping that the two countries' militaries currently engaged in fierce clashes in the South Seas can achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible."

  Ono Nobuhiro stood up and handed over a rather thin memo with both hands.

  Li Hanwen smiled slightly, slowly opened the memo, and carefully turned page by page, occasionally nodding his head in apparent approval. Li Hanwen read very slowly, and it took him a full hour to finish the 300-page memo. The Chinese delegation looked calm and natural, but the Japanese delegates' anxious faces could no longer be hidden.

  As he finished the last page and Premier Li Hanwen put down the notes in his hand, Ono Nobuhiro could no longer hold back and immediately asked: "Do you personally think this plan is feasible?"

  The Premier Li Hanwen's response was a non-committal smile, then he picked up his teacup and moistened his throat before speaking: "Your side has put forward the above suggestions out of consideration for maintaining regional peace, which I personally welcome. Some individual clauses also basically coincide with our views on the civil war in the Republic of Indonesia. However, in principle, I cannot accept this memorandum. It is believed that there is no operability in military terms to achieve a ceasefire within the deadline proposed by your side for China and Japan, who are in intense conflict. Moreover, the most important thing is that the memorandum completely ignores our country's military advantage in the region and requires China and Japan to withdraw troops together, which is even more unacceptable to us."

  As soon as Premier Li Hanwen finished speaking, a Japanese military officer in uniform from the Japanese delegation immediately said: "We have 40,000 ground troops on Java Island, 150 advanced fighter jets, and thousands of combat vehicles. Moreover, if the conflict continues, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces will not hesitate to go to war."

  Prime Minister Li Hanwen turned his face and looked at the Japanese military officer with an appreciative gaze, then said: "Is that Lieutenant General Maeda? A military expert from Japan's Ministry of Defense! So please listen to our country's military expert analyze the current military situation between our two countries in the South Seas region."

  The topic turned to the military, and General Wu Hui cleared his throat and said succinctly: "In the Western Roman Empire era, someone once said 'the denser the grass, the better it is to mow'. If your army is not afraid of a war, then the Chinese People's Liberation Army is willing to accompany you at any time."

  On September 14, 2007, after 34 hours of positive confrontation between China and Japan around Indonesia, the first peaceful negotiation between the two countries ended in disagreement.

  As the night wore on, Ren slowly pulled over to the side of the road in his brand new BMW, its headlights attracting the attention of passersby. The melancholic music echoing within the cramped space accentuated the sorrowful atmosphere of their farewell. "How long will you be gone this time? A year? Two years? Or is it just another April Fool's joke like last time?" The girl, heavily made up, lit a More cigarette and skillfully blew out smoke rings, her colorful eye shadow glinting with an eerie light under the lamp.

  "Hah!"

  "This time, the place I'm going to may require a very long period of time. Perhaps I will stay there forever, as a lonely Chinese wandering soul in a foreign land..."

  "Don't you dare say that. Even if I become a ghost, I'll make sure you come back to die." The girl said, her long eyelashes casting a faint shadow on her lovely face as tears left two faint streaks of sorrow.

  "Look at you! Stop crying! Who knows, I might receive an order tomorrow: Ren Shengping, the organization suspects your ability, from today on, you can retire ahead of schedule." The well-maintained fingers gently wiped away the tears on the girl's face. At this moment, the girl's phone suddenly rang.

  "Hey! Qin Xiaojie! Where are you? You're not home all night. Please, I'm still relying on this job to make a living! OK! OK! This is your private time, I have no right to ask! But remember, the company announcement at 9 am this morning, you must come!" The voice of the girl's record company agent came over the phone, sounding pleading.

  "It's been so many years of hardship for you. Alright, I'll send you back."

  Ren Shengping lowered his head to start the car, but the girl's hand tightly grasped his. "Forget it! Accompany me till dawn, okay?! I'll take a taxi back to the company myself. I'm really afraid of seeing your back view driving away."

  "Alright!"

  Ren Shengping loosened his grip on the gearshift. "Unconsciously, we've been together for 4 years now, right?!" The girl suddenly asked.

  "To be exact, it's 1491 days and 15 hours."

  Ren Shengping glanced at the "Citizen" on his wrist and smiled. "I didn't expect your memory to be so good!"

  The girl said with some surprise. "It's okay! How can people remember the happiest moments of their lives? Promise me, Si Rong, two years from now, when I come back, we'll get married, okay?"

  Ren Shengping gazed deeply at the beautiful eyes of the girl beside him and said.

  "Alright then! I'll wait for you for 2 years! If you don't come back after 2 years, I'll automatically marry someone else!" The girl said jokingly, but tears flowed down again. "Silly girl."

  Ren Shengping tightly wrapped his arms around the girl beside him. The whole world seemed to belong only to the two of them.

  Clang! Clang! A motorcycle policeman with a national emblem on his helmet was violently knocking on the car window glass. "Sorry, please show your driver's license and ID card." The motorcycle policeman said after saluting by lowering the car window. The car had been stopped here for too long! Ren Shengping didn't have much resentment towards the well-intentioned traffic police officer. He reached into his pocket and handed over his National Security Bureau work permit to the other party.

  "Sorry! I've disturbed your work."

  The motorcycle cop saluted again and handed his work ID back to Ren Shengping. "No problem! I'm not on duty now!"

  Ren Shengping took the work permit with both hands and put it back in his pocket.

  "Oh! Isn't this Miss Qin Si Rong, the songstress 'Little Heavenly Queen'? Can I get your autograph? My son is a huge fan of yours!" The motorcycle cop took a closer look at the girl beside Ren Sheng under the light in the car and hastily handed over his notebook and pen. Qin Si Rong smiled and fulfilled his request.

  On the highway to Beijing's Western Suburbs International Airport, Ren Shengping turned on the radio. China International Airlines' international flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina, which was under military government at the time, was about to take off in an hour.

  Colleagues from the National Security Bureau must have been waiting impatiently, right? Ren Shengping thought to himself when suddenly a familiar tune rang in his ears. "Today, a listener who goes by the name of Rongrong requested through our radio station a song that Qin Siyuan recently covered in her new album, an oldie called 'Loving You Is Not Just For Two or Three Days' as a blessing for her boyfriend who is traveling far away today..."

  "This silly girl."

  Ren Shengping stepped on the accelerator, speeding forward. Although he had made many vows, in the face of his country's interests, Ren Shengping would still choose to leave, and a new front line was rapidly forming in Argentina to tie down the Republic's most powerful enemy.

  The capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires, has two geographical concepts: one is just the city of Buenos Aires itself and the other is Greater Buenos Aires which includes the city of Buenos Aires and its 22 surrounding satellite cities. The population of Greater Buenos Aires is over 13 million people, with each of the 22 satellite cities having different functions.

  Matanza and others are industrial areas, San

  The MORON is a defense area, others are mainly residential areas and airport special zones. When the plane that Ren Shengping was riding on landed, the Argentine military government's motorcade had already been waiting.