Beiping Mayor Han Haitao looked at his fingers; they were slender and very flexible, without any calluses. but turning them over, the skin on the back of his hands was already somewhat loose, no longer the smooth skin of Boss Han of the small teahouse more than ten years ago.

Feeling that he was already old, two impulses intertwined and collided in the heart of the fifty-something Han Haitao. Beiping was a big city. Although Han Haitao could still complete his work, his spirit and energy were really not as strong as more than ten years ago. Should he continue to use all his strength to work, or just retreat to the second line and undertake some work in the Parliament or the Political Consultative Conference? Han Haitao felt both held great attraction for him.

Can I continue to work, but without so much trouble? Such thoughts also popped up from time to time, but Han Haitao knew this was impossible. There was no lack of young, vigorous, and courageous young cadres in the current government; they would not be content with the status quo and all wanted to display their talents.

At this time, the door opened, and He Rui walked in. Han Haitao immediately stood up and greeted the leader he had followed for more than ten years. He Rui went straight to the subject as before, "Mayor Han, the organization evaluates your ability in politics very highly, so I want to know how you view the work in the Upper Burma region."

Han Haitao was stunned, then pondered the characteristics of the Upper Burma region. As a northerner, Han Haitao didn't like the southern climate very much, especially the tropical climate like Burma. However, with so many troops demobilized, many northern officers and soldiers had fought in Burma without any problems. Han Haitao no longer viewed Upper Burma as a terrifying region where miasma prevailed.

After thinking for a moment, Han Haitao answered, "As a tropical agricultural product supply base that China can now fully construct, the Upper Burma region is very important. Can the social environment of the Upper Burma region support the complete industrialization of agriculture in this region?"

He Rui described it more clearly, "Turning the 3-4 million local population of Upper Burma to industrialized agriculture can be done. Now we must determine whether, 10 years later when Upper Burma becomes independent, the social system of Burma can enter the industrialized mode."

Han Haitao thought for a while longer and laughed, "Isn't this just Northeast construction?"

"Northeast construction was to provide a foundation for the whole country. The construction of Upper Burma and the Assam region is to provide a model for South Asia and Southeast Asia. Old Han, we will build many revolutionary study camps in the border areas. Revolutionaries from Southeast Asia, India, and Lower Burma will come here to learn future nation-building. Just like a large number of revolutionary youth came to the Northeast back then. Moreover, I think the appeal of these regions will exceed that of the Northeast."

Han Haitao recalled his work starting from Siping. A large number of revolutionary youth from all over the country entered the Northeast after the war between the Northeast and Japan broke out. Before the outbreak, most of those who went to the Northeast were refugees and poor people from the northern regions. After the end of the Sino-British War, the number of international students coming to China skyrocketed. As the Mayor of Beiping, Han Haitao noticed that the number of foreign youths on the streets of Beiping had increased.

He Rui added, "I estimate that 3-5 million people from China will immigrate to Upper Burma within these few years, becoming the first force of industrialized farms. How to coordinate the relationship between the two requires considerable political ability."

Han Haitao was still somewhat puzzled by He Rui's political arrangement. "With Burma's population of 3 million, it's not impossible for us to swallow it completely." But after speaking, Han Haitao still thought He Rui's idea was not unreasonable. "However, the power of example is great. If we swallow Burma in one bite, it will make the colonial people worry about us."

"The key now lies in how to eliminate the feudal separatist thinking in the Burma region. We will not control Burma's internal affairs and diplomacy, but we require Burma to develop its domestic economy according to common values and improve the lives of the Burmese people. Pull the Burmese people into a more civilized era."

Inadvertently, Han Haitao began to rub his hands, showing signs of gearing up. "If so, our comrades must be carefully selected."

Seeing Han Haitao had spirit, He Rui laughed, "Hehe, I already have a candidate for deputy, very young!"

"Good, good, good!" Han Haitao praised repeatedly. He had great confidence in the young cadres selected by He Rui.

The two talked for a while longer. Han Haitao felt his thinking had opened up, able to cover the economic work of the future 9 million people in the Upper Burma region. Relaxed, he couldn't help cracking a joke, "Chairman He, before you arrived in Siping, I was just a small teahouse owner scraping a living. Unexpectedly, more than ten years later, I will probably retire in the position of a high-ranking border official. Chairman He, I can not only do something for the country but also do something for foreign people; this life was not lived in vain. Thanks."

"Retiring so early?" He Rui laughed.

Han Haitao answered seriously, "That's right. I was originally considering when to retire. If I am really arranged to go to Burma this time, when the term ends, I will reach the retirement age of 55, and I plan to retire. After all, there is nothing else I want to do in this life, so I shouldn't occupy the position and delay the young comrades."

He Rui had always appreciated Han Haitao's state of mind. In terms of ability, Han Haitao was definitely not the strongest, but this rather tranquil state of mind was rare. In a sense, Han Haitao belonged to the kind of person whose virtue matched his position. Status was not a burden for Han Haitao, so he would not be backlashed by obtaining status.

After finishing the talk here, He Rui returned to the central government side and found the comrades already arguing.

"According to this analysis, the United States will have an economic crisis in '28 or '29?"

"If the European and American economies are not hit hard, after we remove the gold standard, what will be the exchange rate anchor?"

"Under the fiat currency monetary policy, how to calculate the exchange rate?"

"And import and export issues! We can keep accounts with the Soviet Union, and possibly with Japan in the future, but for imports and exports to Europe and America, should we return to the accounting mode of pounds and francs? We finally stabilized the gold and silver standard currency; it's equivalent to dismantling it again!"

The comrades of the central government did not restrain themselves because He Rui returned; instead, they raised questions more fiercely, obviously wanting to hear He Rui's opinion. He Rui was not in a hurry either; this currency reform itself was actually not urgent. As long as the thinking was unified internally, the specific work was actually not complicated.

Letting the comrades discuss it themselves first was equivalent to 'previewing', letting everyone deduce according to their own thinking. Formal discussion later would be more effective.

Moreover, He Rui prepared to judge the candidates for the next Chief of General Staff first. If he explained all his thoughts now, Hu Xiushan and Zhong Yifu would inevitably follow He Rui's thinking. That would make it hard to judge their strategic levels.

Premier Wu Youping, who was in charge of hosting this meeting, listened to the comrades' speeches with great self-restraint, saying nothing. He just looked at He Rui occasionally. The speaking comrades also looked at He Rui unconsciously. Finally, He Rui said, "Everyone is here for vacation this time. The purpose of holding such a meeting is also to communicate in advance. So everyone doesn't need to look at me; I won't say anything."

With He Rui speaking like this, the comrades' impatient emotions also subsided a lot.

Two days later, the secretary of He Rui's office received a letter forwarded by Zhang Xiluan. Since it was a letter forwarded by Zhang Xiluan, the secretary felt the priority should be relatively high, so he put it at the top of the private letters and delivered it to He Rui along with other letters. He Rui already knew Zhang Xiluan's purpose, so he didn't read it. Waiting until the afternoon after finishing official duties, he finally opened the letter. Lu Yueying's handwriting was quite beautiful, obviously practiced seriously.

'Mr. He, please open...

Listening to Mr. He discuss philosophical ideas the day before yesterday, my horizons were greatly broadened, but I felt unable to organize the knowledge learned according to Mr. He's ideas. In confusion, I would like to ask Mr. He a few questions...'

He Rui had been in love in another timeline, but had never been on a blind date. Being in love is simple. When attention has to be focused on a specific member of the opposite sex, there will be resistance initially. Amidst resistance, one's own feelings become stronger. When one can't let go, it will affect actions, wanting to stay with the other person for a while longer.

So being in love itself is not very complicated, and one thinks less. As long as they are clingy together, the heart is happy; why think so much?

As for blind dates, He Rui heard they rely on eye affinity. If after looking, one feels the other is okay, they will contact and slowly cultivate feelings. He Rui didn't think there was anything wrong with blind dates, just that He Rui knew his own personality; for things he was interested in, the drive of endogenous motivation would be very strong.

If it's something of no interest, the endogenous motivation is minimal. Blind dates belong to things He Rui is not interested in. He Rui always felt that blind dates are a social activity where one must consider the other party and accommodate the other party. This is vastly different from revolution or academic research. In revolution or academic research, one can actually determine the other party's needs; if compatible, gather; if not, scatter. Living together is an equal long-term relationship, practically a lifetime matter.

Thinking of this, He Rui didn't know how to respond to this letter. After pondering for a moment, He Rui could only think according to common parlance, 'Just treat it as making a friend.'

Although He Rui was also a very picky guy in another timeline and very picky about making friends. At least friends don't need to be very intimate in daily life, and the sense of constraint is much less.

With such a mood, He Rui replied to the questions raised by Lu Yueying from the perspective of an ordinary acquaintance. Since they were friends, He Rui didn't need to expound on any content, just answer the questions. He Rui wrote more and more relaxed. If he treated the other party as a young comrade, there was no pressure. Young people have weak systematic thinking and weak grasp of the overall situation. At the end of the writing, He Rui added, 'Judging from the questions you raised, the application scenario is a university graduation thesis. In this scenario, what needs to be achieved is not good or bad, but completion. Being able to complete the thesis project according to the knowledge and ideas learned is already very valuable. As for the profundity of the content expounded in the thesis, it is actually not the key point considered by the school.

Even so, it is not easy to complete a thesis with a unified logical train of thought and methodology in different scenarios. This is my personal view; please correct me.'

After finishing the content, He Rui filled in the address on the envelope, stuffed the letter paper in, and put it in the box for outgoing mail. After getting it done according to the process, He Rui completely forgot about this matter.

Three days later, as soon as Lu Yueying returned home, she saw her parents sitting in the living room with serious expressions. This made the tired Lu Yueying feel very strange, but she didn't want to ask too much. Recently, she had been reading He Rui's works a bit addictively; not only books were roughly finished, but even various papers had been read.

He Rui's papers were basically politics, economics, and military. In the latest papers, economics and military were the main ones. For example, "Efficiency of Time and Space Conversion in Narrow Campaign Spaces" written based on the Sino-British War made Lu Yueying feel it was awesome even though she didn't understand it (bu ming jue li).

In military papers, a large amount of advanced mathematics knowledge was used, and the exposition revolved around equations one after another.

What really made Lu Yueying's heart surge were "Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society", "On Contradiction", and "On Practice". Although the content of the articles was too cold, they had extremely strong practicality.

So, even seeing her parents' expressions, Lu Yueying just greeted them and prepared to go to the bedroom to lie down for a while.

"Yuanyuan. Wait a moment." Mrs. Lu stopped Lu Yueying, hesitated for a moment, and took out a letter.

Lu Yueying took it and looked; the signature was actually the Central General Office, and she was already startled. Then Lu Yueying discovered the letter had been opened. A burst of anger surged up. Lu Yueying didn't answer either, just took the letter and left. Even though her parents called her from behind, she pretended not to hear!