"What the hell? What kind of Eastern power is it?"
.
Li Ye's jab had truly come from the bottom of his heart.
But the moment he finished speaking, he immediately sensed something was wrong. The colleagues around him were all looking at him with strange expressions, and Deputy Director Liang's gaze had turned somewhat unfriendly as well.
Li Ye immediately understood that if there had not been outsiders present, Deputy Director Liang would have berated him without question.
The people from Kamaz across from them also began whispering among themselves. After a moment, Zelyushenko asked Li Ye, "Comrade, do you not consider White Elephant a major power?"
Li Ye immediately felt the pressure, especially with the colleagues from the delegation all looking somewhat worried about him.
Li Ye spoke too bluntly. If he said the wrong thing, it could become an incident that was either minor or major.
Yet Li Ye replied neither servile nor overbearing, "White Elephant ranks seventh in the world by land area, so it certainly meets the standard of a major power. We used to treat it as one as well."
"But later, we discovered some strange things. One of my elders was a soldier and had several rounds of in-depth sparring and exchange with the White Elephant people on the southwestern border.
"He believed White Elephant lacked the bearing of a major power. They liked to boast, claiming they were third in the world. But if they were third in the world, then what rank were we?
"They also liked to go back on their word. What they said today might no longer count tomorrow. So if they said they were willing to give you one million dollars, you had better make sure you actually got that one million dollars."
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After Li Ye