Chapter 72

  The chairman sat down on the sofa, and I saw that they were busy signaling them to clean up and leave. After shouting at Chase to finish pouring tea and go out, the entire hall was left with only the chairman and me. The chairman kept looking at me, his face slowly becoming serious, while I sat there busily tearing off the note. After I finished tearing it off, the chairman said in a condensed voice: "Little Tang, I want to ask you how do you see me?"

  I was heartbroken when I heard it, and after thinking for a moment, I replied: "Mr. Chairman, I think you are a great man, your achievements are enough to surpass all the kings in history."

  The chairman listened and smiled, shaking his head: "Speak realistically, speak quickly."

  I straightened my face and said: "I'm not flattering you, who can unify the country and defeat the world's powers? Who can make the people of the whole nation remember your kindness and achievements? I think there is no one now who can replace you or compare to you."

  The chairman looked at me deeply and said: "So you think everything I've done is right? I mean now!"

  "I took a deep breath and said: 'You are the chairman, but also the leader! I can't say much more, but I resolutely support you. As long as you give the order, I will execute it immediately.'"

  The chairman listened calmly and stood up saying: "You take a rest yourself, tomorrow come with me to attend the National Day activities."

  "Yes."

  "Remember, you are a soldier, not a parent."

  "Yes." I saw the chairman was about to leave, so I hastily called out to him and said: "Chairman, there's something I'd like to say."

  The chairman stopped in his tracks and said, "Speak, what is it?"

  I hastily said: "It's like this, the indigenous people of Xizang Province are all from one ethnic group, they are all Zangzu, I want them to join our national family too, what do you think?"

  The chairman burst out laughing and said: "We've already discussed and passed this, the Sutes will be our 57th ethnic group."

  "That's great!" I exclaimed in surprise.

  "After this representative conference is over, cadres will be sent to your place to establish a local government and also to unite the Sutan people closely!"

  "Alright, too good."

  "Well, I'm leaving."

  "Goodbye, Chairman." I saw the Chairman off to his car and watched as it drove away. Only then did I go back inside, wipe the sweat from my brow, and say to Chase: "From now on, we should also send representatives of the Stan ethnic group to attend meetings." As soon as Chase heard this, he immediately asked me what the Chairman meant. I explained it to him, and Chase happily said: "Ah, that way we'll feel like we have a goal to strive for."

  I was stunned and said: "You're something else, even mentioning a running start."

  "He replied: 'That's good for leadership education.'"

  I was speechless and after a while I said: "Let's all take a rest."

  "Yes."

  The next morning, I arrived at the August 1st Building of the Central Military Commission in a car arranged by the Chairman's office. After going through layers of checks, I finally came to a rest room where there were forty or fifty-year-old high-ranking officials sitting inside. As soon as I entered, everyone looked at me with a glance, and I felt a little nervous but also proud that I was the youngest one. I found an empty seat and sat down. A staff member poured me a cup of tea, and just after I took a few sips, a man wearing glasses walked over and politely asked: "Comrade, hello, you look familiar, which high position are you in?"

  It was the first time someone spoke to me in such a tone, and I replied politely: "Hello, I'm working for the army unit, please sit down!"

  "Good, polite, polite." After the man sat down in the seat next to me, he asked again: "I've never seen a young and promising comrade like you participating in an activity before!"

  "Haha, where, where! What work do you do?"

  "Oh, I work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, just back from Africa."

  "Oh, really?! How about in Africa?" I chatted with him like this, and the more we talked, the more interesting it became. After chatting for over half an hour, he asked: "May I ask your surname and full name?"

  "Don't be so polite, my name is Tang Ning." I replied with a smile. At the same time, I noticed that after I answered, several others who heard it were surprised and stared at me intentionally. He also exclaimed: "Ah, you're Tang Ning!" As soon as he finished speaking, he realized that he was a bit rude, and hurriedly greeted: "Sorry, I mean I'm very surprised, haha! But only you and Director Tian are so young, ah. I forgot to introduce myself, my surname is Gong, named Gong Ziqing, please take care of me in the future, Commander Tang!"

  "It doesn't matter! We're all comrades and should help each other out."

  "Commander Tang, you've really helped us save face! In just a few battles, we've taken down several tens of millions of Western Chu's territory and captured so many people. Our words have become much more forceful, you don't know how happy we were during the negotiations, it was a great release of pent-up anger!"

  "This isn't my credit, it's because the Chairman and Vice-Chairman Lin led us properly, the soldiers fought hard, without them I wouldn't have been able to do anything!"

  "Yes, Chairman and Vice-Chairman Lin are wise indeed!"

  "Ah, yes!"

  "Hello, are you Commander Tang?" a man in his fifties walked over and politely asked.

  I was taken aback and looked at him in surprise. He smiled and said: "Sorry, I am Li Yang, the chief editor of Xinhua News Agency."

  "I replied, 'Hello!' After shaking hands with him and sitting down, Editor Li asked, 'I've never met Commander Tang before, I'd only heard of his name but not seen the person. Today, I see that he's indeed a young and promising talent!'"

  I hurriedly modestly said: "Polite polite, I'm not as good as you say?"

  Editor Li shook his head and said, "Just based on the things you've done, not just fighting, I'm very impressed. Now how many people dare to do it?" After finishing speaking, he asked this and that, and I was almost unable to keep up with answering. After answering a few questions, I smiled bitterly and said, "Reporters are indeed reporters, Editor Li, you're formidable!"

  Editor Li heard this and laughed together with Gong Ziqing, saying: "Normally I have reported several times to interview, but the top did not agree, the chairman regards you as a treasure, saying that it is confidential. This time I met you, can I let you go? Haha!"

  I too was delighted and couldn't help but laugh. From them, I also learned that I am now a celebrity, known to the common people who haven't seen me in person, they all say I'm a hero who has brought honor to our nation, and many young people want to follow my example and serve the country. Even foreigners are going out of their way to gather information about me. Of course, I am very pleased and have even more goodwill towards them.

  At this time, a young man walked in, and I stared blankly, thinking that this young man was probably about the same age as me. Gong Ziqing whispered to me: "He is the Director Tian that I just mentioned, the director of the Chairman's office, Director Tian Wentian." After hearing this, I deliberately took a closer look at him, and he looked very handsome, but not as good-looking as me, with a weak appearance. All I heard was Director Tian saying: "Everyone! The time has arrived, let's all follow me!"

  So everyone followed him out, and when we arrived at the Wu Men, Chairman Mao and other big shots had already arrived. I saw my grandfather standing next to Chairman Mao, on the other side was Vice-Chairman Lin, and Premier Zhou, etc. When Chairman Mao saw us coming, he shook hands with each of us one by one. When it was my turn, I walked forward respectfully and said: "Chairman." Chairman Mao happily said: "Ah, you little devil has arrived!" Most people were shocked to hear Chairman Mao's warm response, and when they saw Vice-Chairman Lin, Premier Zhou, and the Premier all speaking to me in a friendly manner, they were stunned. They deeply realized my abilities and knew why I could become an alternate member of the Military Commission at the age of 23.