Rich, Rhine Metal; poor, Rhine Steel. 67

Chapter 67: Still Too Young! (Second Update!)

June 4, 2024

Chapter 67: Still Too Young! (Second Update!)

With a shout, footsteps sounded from behind. Xia Jianjun belatedly looked at Lin Yu, who returned a confident smile before uttering a single number.

“7!”

By the time “6” left Lin Yu’s lips, Jialimu had reached them. The anger on his face had vanished, replaced by utter confusion.

The young man stopped before them, bending at the waist, hands on his knees, gasping for breath.

After a dozen seconds, he raised his head, his face a mask of bewilderment. He launched into a rapid-fire series of questions: “You mean the de-dollarization of oil?”

“You also think the president’s current efforts towards de-dollarization are untimely?”

“You also think we should avoid war at this time?”

“No, war is inevitable! Now what we need to do is figure out how to win this war!”

“You know how to achieve victory?”

Having voiced his inner thoughts, Jialimu’s expression shifted again, settling into self-deprecation.

He shook his head, muttering to himself, “I was reckless. If you have a way to achieve victory, you should be going straight to our president, not me.”

Beside him, Xia Jianjun listened to Jialimu, his eyes growing brighter.

The look he directed at the student held a hint of admiration.

Lin Yu, however, remained calm. He pointed at Jialimu, his gaze fixed on him, praising, “Not bad. Your studies weren’t in vain. You were able to analyze the current situation based on a few key points.”

“A truly excellent graduate.”

He walked up to Jialimu, staring impassively at the Iraqi man, his thumb raised in continued praise:

“In this aspect, you’re far superior to many of your peers—a significant leap ahead.”

“Since you want to know, let’s find a place to sit and talk.”

As the host, Xia Jianjun naturally gestured towards the outside of the training ground, “Come, let’s find an office. We can chat comfortably with the air conditioning on.”

…………

In a quiet office, Lin Yu picked up a blank sheet of paper from the desk and with a few quick strokes, sketched out a map of several countries in the Middle East.

Then, he drew a circle encompassing these maps, extending northwards.

Xia Jianjun estimated that, based on the scale, the circle reached Russia.

Tap, tap.

He tapped his finger lightly on the paper, pointing to the circle:

“In 1971, the American president officially severed the link between the US dollar and gold. This was exacerbated in February 1973, officially ending the Bretton Woods system that had lasted for decades.”

“Their anchor was oil.”

“Stable oil meant a stable dollar.”

“This is the region with the richest concentration of high-quality oil globally. Eight of the world’s ten largest oil fields are located here.”

“The ‘stans’ are Russia’s backyard, and just a few days ago, they signed a CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) military cooperation agreement. If one party faces a crisis, the others can immediately intervene.”

“Therefore, the only place left to intervene is the Middle East.”

“Among the stronger countries in the Middle East, there are only Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan.”

“They’ve already interfered in Afghanistan.”

“Who do you think the next target will be? Iran? Or you?”

“Before, America might have considered Iran. But your president, unfortunately, started de-dollarizing oil last year.”

“And he did it with the EU, which I didn’t expect.”

“So the next target must be you, and it has to be you.”

“And in this war, America will show the world their new anchor for the dollar: military hegemony.”

“On this planet, any non-nuclear nation is a target.”

“Backward nations aren’t necessarily attacked because the attackers simply choose not to attack them today!”

“Maybe this year, maybe next year, you will have to live a life of displacement and uncertainty.”

“Of course, this is all predicated on your resistance. If you choose to submit to the Americans, the sun will still rise as usual!”

His gaze fixed on the circle on the desk, Jialimu licked his lips. War had always been present in the Middle East, never leaving.

His family held some influence locally, but even so, he had witnessed many corpses in his childhood.

Relatives, strangers.

To protect their wealth, his family used connections to send him to Baghdad, to the army.

A gun in hand brought peace of mind.

But…not this kind of peace.

He slowly lost focus, his head drooping as he murmured, “Your analysis is very reasonable, but we are Iraq. We have allies. The de-dollarization of oil also involves the EU; they won’t stand idly by.”

“If they ignore it, it won’t benefit them either.”

The last sentence seemed to give him confidence. Jialimu suddenly lifted his head, his eyes fixed on Lin Yu. He exclaimed,

“Right! We have allies!”

Lin Yu saw his reaction. His body instinctively leaned forward, his head tilted, as if he had heard something unbelievable.

“Huh?”

After a moment of surprise, he turned to Xia Jianjun, speaking earnestly and sincerely, “This is your fault. How can your students still believe in the Europeans?”

“Still too young, haven’t been beaten by society enough.”

“This needs to be changed! We need to add some courses to their curriculum.”

After offering Xia Jianjun his suggestion, Lin Yu turned back to Jialimu: “So, my dear and young Jialimu, please give me one example that proves the reliability of your European allies.”

He raised his right hand, gesturing for the other to continue.

However, the question stumped Jialimu.

His limited historical knowledge indicated that Europe had never disappointed anyone in its capacity to disappoint.

As for reliability…

There was some, but not much, only applicable locally. At the national level, one needed to add a question mark.

And that question mark should be written in red!

While he was contemplating, Lin Yu slowly stood up, walking behind him, placing his hand on his shoulder, a playful tone in his voice:

“See! You don’t even believe the Europeans will help when you are in danger.”

“If you don’t believe me, we can let time bear witness.”

“Then you will know what it means to ‘associate with a tiger’ (yǔ hǔ móu pí – a metaphor for associating with dangerous people), what it means to be a ‘child carrying gold through a busy market’ (xiǎo ér chí jīn guò nào shì – a metaphor for being vulnerable and easily targeted), and finally what it means to be ‘abandoned by everyone’ (zhòng pàn qīn lí), ‘to make an example of someone’ (shā jī jǐng hóu), ‘to usurp a nest’ (què cáo jiū zhàn), ‘to have misfortune after misfortune’ (wū lòu piān féng lián yè yǔ), ‘to strike someone when they are down’ (luò jǐng xià shí), and ‘people suffering greatly’ (mín bù liáo shēng).”

“Actually, you can use the simplest way to verify it. Just call your family and ask them about the foreigners who have recently appeared near your hometown.”

“Or if there has been an increase in strangers, using tourism and industrial development as an excuse, but actually conducting military reconnaissance.”

“This is a classic case of ‘building a bridge openly while secretly crossing a stream’ (míng xiū zhàn dào àn dù chén cāng)!”

(The end)

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