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To Found a Nation (Hiatus, sorry)
Volume 2: Chapter 30 - A Benevolent Smile

Volume 2: Chapter 30 - A Benevolent Smile

Xu Xiaomeng still wore her peasant clothing, and her hair was still tied in a simple bun, though the room she was in was quite different than moments ago.

The room appeared rather absent of anything, aside from a single metal table, a single metal chair, and two wooden frames, while the window was covered by a rather used curtain.

It appeared to be built in haste and with a lack of funding, as the paint alongside the wall has begun to dry, despite the rather modernity of the building itself. Evidently, the quality used to build the house was quite terrible, built quickly to accommodate the expansion of public housing.

Perhaps the only interesting aspect of this room would be the single teapot on the metal table, alongside two cups of still boiling tea. Though one cannot tell why there are two sets of cups if there were only one chair.

Xu Xiaomeng gave off a rather peculiar sound, before sitting down on the table and beginning to sip the boiling tea.

It was quite hot, furthermore, it tasted extremely cheap.

However, Xu Xiaomeng kept her emotionless expression and continued nevertheless.

After an unknown period of time, the door opened, bringing along with it a loud creaking sound, causing the brows person opening the door to slightly frown, though somehow, the smile never faded.

The smile too was rather interesting, as it appeared extremely welcoming, causing anyone observing the smile to instinctively trust the individual.

The person herself appeared similar to Xu Xiaomeng, the clothing was far more elegant than the one Xu Xiaomeng was wearing, while the hair was simply let down.

It appeared identical to the appearance Xu Xiaomeng had bear when Li Ming had first met her, only the roles were reversed this time.

Xu Xiaomeng gave off a prolonged gaze, before tapping her fingers along the table, indicating that she had finished her cup of tea.

Her counterpart raised her smile slightly higher and poured the tea for Xu Xiaomeng, not caring that a loose tea leaf had entered Xu Xiaomeng’s cup.

Naturally, she was Li Ming, though bearing the body of Xu Xiaomeng, causing the two individuals to look disturbingly similar.

“It has been seven months since we have met, sir,” it has not been long, thus there were still quite familiar with each other, still, Xu Xiaomeng felt a hint of sentiment as she spoke.

Li Ming’s face showed an expression of shock, though it soon recovered.

Li Ming gave off a light chuckle, sounding like silver bells before she sat on the table, beginning to slip the cheap tea in a similar manner as Xu Xiaomeng.

“Is sir dead?” Xu Xiaomeng questioned, staring at her counterpart.

Li Ming shook her head, before taking another sip of tea.

“Will sir come back as the president?” Xu Xiaomeng asked, placing down her cup.

Li Ming shook her head once more, before standing up from the table, taking the cup of tea along with her, before proceeding to open the worn curtains, revealing the scenery of a city.

Naturally, it is the capital of nation x, though it appeared vastly different to the city Li Ming had left behind upon her death. The presidential palace had been all but blown to pieces, leaving only the concrete structure, while the rest of the inhabitants of the city appeared to be hastily evacuated, and the sight of the abandoned structure could still be seen.

It truly is a wonder then, how this room appeared to be completely intact, save for the damage it has sustained over time.

Li Ming gave off a light sigh, causing the delicate face to appear rather fatigued, though Xu Xiaomeng, who was not familiar with the city, showed no emotion.

“Four years to bring peace, three years to stabilise, yet one day for it all to end,” the first words Li Ming had said was with a long sigh, though the benevolent smile did not fade.

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“Does sir mean that this is your original world?” Xu Xiaomeng asked, understandably confused.

Li Ming shook her head, before taking another sip of tea,” This world appears to be unchanging, where time is stagnant, though I am not aware of how I came to be here.”

Li Ming herself was quite confused, though she was rather calm in accepting this peculiar situation, aside from a few grievances, she did not think much of it.

“How would I leave?” Xu Xiaomeng than asked?

Li Ming shook her head, indicating that she herself was not aware.

Xu Xiaomeng gave off a sigh, before once more sitting down at the metal table, once more sipping her tea.

Li Ming gave off a slight chuckle, before returning to her former position,

They continued this for quite some time, it appeared that neither of them sees much meaning in talking, though occasionally, Li Ming would stare out the window.

“Did it occur to sir that this could be completely fictional, and did not truly occur?” Xu Xiaomeng asked after a long time.

Sudden, a burst of laughing, though not of mockery, but of an unknown reason, could be seem emitted from Li Ming mouth, before she once more calms down.

“I truly did not expect to die after three years, I did not appoint a successor, nor did I implement a proper parliamentary system, the majority of the elected officials in villagers are semi-literate, while the other officials are leftovers from the previous government, not loyal to the current regime. After I had been killed, they could easily replace my system with another, and the people, though unsatisfied that the majority of the reforms I had made were regressed, may revolt but that would also bring the nation into another civil war,” Li Ming said, placing down the tea that had gone cold.

“Though I managed to remove the prostitutes, beggars and criminals from the street, remove private corporation privileges, stamp down corruption, repair infrastructure and spread literacy, I did not even draft a constitution, nor did I ensure the loyalty of the bureaucrats and generals,” Li Ming said with a sigh as she trimmed the edge of the cup.

“The Li corporation could easily bribe the workers to stop working, the generals to stage a coup, and the former ruling elites to once more rule the nation,” Li Ming predicted, giving a rather brief stare at Xu Xiaomeng.

“I only hope that the new regime does not enjoy popular rule so that the people would once more rise up,” Li Ming said with a rather desolate tone, before sighing once more.

Xu Xiaomeng was truly surprised, as Li Ming rarely sigh, and never to this degree of melancholy.

“If lady manages to return, please ensure that you have plenty of supporters among the bureaucrats, along with more time building up your bases, so that these matters would not occur,” Li Ming said, before sipping the tea within the cup once more.

“Sir, have you forgotten that I am immortal?” Xu Xiaomeng asked.

“Naturally I have not, but does lady intend to remain in power forever?” Li Ming asked.

Xu Xiaomeng shook her head this time, before returning to silence.

After a long time passed, Xu Xiaomeng suddenly stood up and walked toward the door.

Li Ming, realising her intentions, gave off a benevolent smile, encouraging the silver-haired girl.

Placing her hands onto the rusty handle, Xu Xiaomeng glanced at Li Ming.

The smile was truly warm, giving a person a sense of ease, while also causing Xu Xiaomeng to be rather reluctant to leave Li Ming within this room once more.

Li Ming tapped the table using her index finger, before glaring at Xu Xiaomeng.

Afterwards, the sound of a loud creek could be heard once more, and Xu Xiaomeng had left the room.

Li Ming gave off a peculiar glance, before sighing once more.

Recalling something, she suddenly opened her mouth, singing a heroic melody, though the silver bell-like voice reduced much of the spirit it carried.

It appeared that Li Ming was quite bored, thus she had sung the melody in a slow manner.

Xu Xiaomeng, after leaving the door, was greeted with the scene of Xiao Xi in a rather bewildered state.

It appeared that the meeting had taken place in a rather short amount of time.

Xiao Xi, upon noticing Xu Xiaomeng had woken up, gave off a sigh of relief, before once more disappearing.

Xu Xiaomeng after a moment of contemplation took a knife that was nearby and begun to cut open her chest, revealing her beating heart.

The peasant’s clothing was sliced along with her skin, though no blood had managed to drip onto its surface.

Compared to the one within the box, it appeared to be completely normal. No traces of silver could be seen among her veins like those of the heart within the wooden box.

In the next moment, Xu Xiaomeng ripped her heart out in a ruthless manner, before forcibly inserting the heart within the wooden box into its former location.

Unfortunately, it did not have the desired effects and the silver heart was forcibly ejected from her inside.

Afterwards, Xu Xiaomeng requested for the body of a corpse, causing a look of disbelief from Xiao Xi, though it does still delivered in the end.

Once more, the silver heart was placed within the body, though it was not ejected, no reaction could be seen from the corpse.

Xu Xiaomeng ultimately resigned her attempts, and once more placed the silver heart within the wooden box.

Afterwards, Xu Xiaomeng did leave for the study like she typically would, instead, Xu Xiaomeng remained within her bedroom.

Xiao Xi, who had been observing this, gained a suspicion that Xu Xiaomeng had gone mad.

“Lady Xu, do you need a vacation?” Xiao Xi asked as she appeared from the rooftop.

Xu Xiaomeng shook her head, before asking for a cup of tea, before getting up to change from her peasant clothing, changing into an elegant set of robes, rather similar to the one Li Ming had worn.

This spontaneous set of behaviours further confirmed Xiao Xi’s suspicion, though she still followed Xu Xiaomeng’s request, bring a rather complicated tea set into the bedroom.

Pouring the tea into the small cup, Xiao Xi avoided staring into Xu Xiaomeng’s eyes.

Xu Xiaomeng disregarded this and drank the tea in a hasty fashion. Before Xiao Xi could pour Xu Xiaomeng another cup, Xu Xiaomeng abruptly took the pot into her hands and poured it herself.

Once more, Xu Xiaomeng drank the tea in a swift manner, before repeating the process once more.

When the pot ran out of contents, Xu Xiaomeng finally stopped.

Xiao Xi is now seriously contemplating forcibly removing Xu Xiaomeng from the palace and sending her to tour Jianghu to bring peace to Xu Xiaomeng’s mind.

“Bring me Chen Ju, Hong Wang, Galina Ivanov and summon Hu Caochang back to the capital,” Xu Xiaomeng abruptly said, thinking to herself that Ling Ping, the Liu brothers and Ma Wen had all came from humble origins, and should not be too dangerous.

Xiao Xi thought for some time, before disappearing once more, leaving the tea set behind with Xu Xiaomeng.

Xu Xiaomeng returned to the bed and began to sleep.

Her position was natural, unlike the posture she had been sleeping as on the day after Li Ming’s assassination.

Unknowingly, at some point, the bun that tied up her hair came loose, causing the silver hair to spill through the bedsheet.

The heart in the wooden box was faintly glowing, though it was impossible to understand why.