Those not of our people must have different loyalties-that holds true in other countries too

Liu Shanmin's return to China surprised Li Long a little. And he could tell that this man, who seemed to wield such influence in the neighboring country, looked rather bedraggled.

Li Long made Liu Shanmin some tea, and Liang Shuangcheng brought him watermelon.

Then Li Long called everyone else outside. He intended to have a proper talk with Liu Shanmin alone.

Before Li Long could ask, Liu Shanmin explained why he had come.

He sighed and said with a bitter smile, "I was still a little careless. I thought I'd gained some power over there, and my relationship with Old Nursultan was pretty good, so I felt as though I could do more.

"But in fact, they'd been watching me from beginning to end. It was fine to do a few little things at the lower and middle levels. The moment I touched certain people's interests, people immediately started ganging up on me."

Li Long asked in some confusion, "You brought them so many everyday supplies, and this time you even brought over cement production equipment. Wasn't that enough to dispel their suspicions about you?"

Liu Shanmin shook his head. "It's not that easy. After breaking away from the Soviet Union, national consciousness began awakening in Kazakhstan, and xenophobia became severe.

"They gradually established their own historical narrative, treating the Golden Horde as their ancestor. As you know, in our country's history, the Golden Horde was founded by Genghis Khan's descendants.

"According to our historical narrative, they were a portion of the Mongolians who went abroad back then, or a tribe, you could say. But they don't accept that. They don't believe their ethnic group has any connection to us.

"So, to emphasize their national identity, they have to come up with their own version of things. And their education