Chapter 1259: Conferring Titles and Discussion

"... After the conferring ceremony ends, you will also have a consultation with the heads of the four countries of Xiang Yalan regarding trade and aid."

"These will probably last until 12:30 at noon. At noon, you will have lunch together at the Presidential Palace, and then you will have an hour of rest time."

"At 2:30 in the afternoon, the Secretary of State..."

President Potter raised his hand. "Tell me the rest after 2:30. I'll handle the things in front of me first."

He turned to look at his wife. "Does my tie need to be adjusted?"

President Potter's wife was more than ten years younger than him. Although she didn't look young anymore, she wasn't too old either.

She reached out and simply adjusted the tie that didn't need adjusting. "You look great now!"

A satisfied expression appeared on President Potter's face. Accompanied by the double doors in front being pushed open by two soldiers, the light from behind the door shone on his face. At this very moment, a very approachable smile appeared on his face.

His wife also tidied up her expression and followed closely by his side.

Today was the day to confer titles on the newly promoted generals of the Defense Force. President Potter valued this activity very much. He needed to express his stance to the Defense Force and the military—we are friends, we are family, not enemies, and we don't engage in confrontation!

So he personally attended this conferring ceremony.

Being President was not a completely happy thing, because he would become very busy and wouldn't have so much time to enjoy his own life.

But to say that he wasn't happy because of this problem, that wasn't necessarily true.

The happiness of being President was something ordinary people couldn't feel. The sense of satisfaction and security brought by this power that held special privileges was something that, except for when he was in his mother's womb, he would never have again.

If he could, he would be willing to be President forever!

He walked into the Defense Force auditorium with his head held high and his chest out. Accompanied by his entry, all the people watching the ceremony stood up and applauded his arrival. President Potter was in a good mood now and was very interested. He walked to the middle of the high platform in the auditorium, stood behind the podium, and raised his hand, signaling people to be quiet.

Accompanied by the stopping of applause, people also sat back down one after another.

"This is my first time coming here, in the capacity of Federal President."

His hands were on the podium, his body slightly turned. "I have had a dream of becoming a soldier since I was a child. Soldiers surround our people and also surround our country. Every soldier is a great person!"

"Including my grandson, who is also serving in the military now, serving this country and the people."

"And I, am very honored, today, to confer titles on some people who have silently paid for this country. Your outstanding performance in your work has allowed us to win everything in front of the world."

"I will, with everyone..." His gaze fell on those watching the ceremony in the first row. Originally, a very natural and approachable smile was on his face, until he saw a face he hadn't expected.

His expression underwent a subtle change, and his eyes were filled with a look of having seen a ghost. He even glanced at his aide.

The President's aide's face was full of confusion, but soon he also noticed the person sitting in the first row, the person President Potter was staring at: Lans.

Lans White.

President Potter's aide was also involved in many of his decisions, not just decisions about this country, but also some decisions in daily life.

He knew that this guy, Lans White, was like a fly on a steak for the current Potter family. It was just that with bare hands, it was hard to deal with him, and there was no way not to eat the steak, so one could only be constantly disgusted.

He looked at President Potter with some worry, fearing that President Potter's emotions would fluctuate too much and affect the subsequent conferring ceremony.

This conferring ceremony was very important, for President Potter, and for the entire Liberal Party.

Fortunately, President Potter was a politician with enough political literacy after all. He pursed his lips and quickly withdrew his gaze from Lans. He continued to speak, following what he hadn't finished saying before. "... Together witness this important moment!"

There was a pause of about three or four seconds here. Some people thought this was a way of his expression, to emphasize the connection between "him and everyone present."

But some people seemed to realize something and cast probing gazes toward the first row.

The Defense Force officials here immediately started arranging for people to go on stage to confer titles. Chief Bulu was ranked second.

After the first Lieutenant General finished conferring the title, Chief Bulu, wearing a military uniform, walked up the steps and walked to President Potter's side.

President Potter first shook hands with Major General Chief Bulu and said a few very nutritious-less scene words, then he took off Major General Chief Bulu's major general rank and placed it on the tray held by the officer beside him.

Then he changed the rank for Major General Chief Bulu to Lieutenant General. By this time, Major General Chief Bulu was officially a Lieutenant General of the Federal Defense Force.

Of course, when introducing his rank, it must be specified that it is a Defense Force Lieutenant General, not a military Lieutenant General. There was still a big difference in this.

Although these things were already determined and were results known long ago, at this moment, Major General Chief Bulu was still a bit excited.

He raised his hand to salute, and then President Potter also returned a very brief salute. "I hope you can continue to play your important and unique role in your work position!"

"Thank you!" Lieutenant General Chief Bulu breathed a sigh of relief, then stood to the side, making way for the officers waiting to confer titles behind him.

The conferring ceremony proceeded normally, but some people had already noticed that President Potter's mood was no longer as high as it was at the beginning. It seemed that something unpleasant had happened to him.

The gazes of some high-ranking generals all looked at Lans. If there was anyone here who had some "competitive" relationship with President Potter, then it was undoubtedly Lans.

Regarding the fact that Lieutenant General Chief Bulu invited Lans to attend the conferring ceremony, they didn't object. Many of Lans's interests were also bound with the Defense Force. In other words, Lans was not only a big donor for the Social Party, but also a big donor for the Defense Force.

Not to mention the tens of millions of funds flowing in every year, he also provided solutions to many problems and gave very perfect solutions to the matter of resettling retired soldiers.

As for the squabbles between him and the President?

This was not a problem at all for the Defense Force. The President was just the President. He could appoint the Minister of Defense, but he couldn't control the operation of the entire Defense Force.

Under the situation of achieving unprecedented victory in the war, the actual power of the military and the Defense Force had been greatly improved. It would be very difficult to move the Defense Force!

The conferring ceremony was still continuing, and Lans also participated in the entire conferring ceremony with a smile on his face.

After everyone finished conferring titles, there was a simple social activity. President Potter's mood had recovered, and he performed very "online" throughout the whole process.

He treated Lans as air, and Lans didn't take the initiative to go over and stimulate him. After all, the current President Potter was the President of the Federation after all.

After the activity ended, President Potter smiled and left with his wife and entourage. The moment he turned around and left the auditorium, the smile on his face was immediately put away.

His wife asked in a low voice, "Your mood hasn't been right."

The two were in a political marriage. Even now, they could be considered an old married couple, but actually, they each lived their own lives.

They wouldn't interfere with each other's lives. Except for when they needed to appear in public, they would be together. In the Presidential Palace, they also slept in separate beds.

And this First Lady often wouldn't be in the Presidential Palace. She also had her own work and social life, and it didn't overlap with President Potter's.

So she didn't know much about the conflict between President Potter and Lans. This was very normal.

President Potter didn't want to discuss too much on this issue. He shook his head. "Saw someone I didn't expect. We have some differences."

Hearing this, his wife didn't ask anymore. As a wife, she had shown enough concern for her husband. Any more would be meaningless.

The President looked like he had returned to a normal state of mind, but only he himself knew that he was very unhappy now.

After the activity ended, Major General Chief Bulu invited Lans to have lunch together, along with two other generals from the Defense Force.

At the dining table, everyone didn't talk about anything. It was just a very ordinary reception.

After lunch, Lans returned to the villa to rest for an afternoon. During this time, he met two visitors, and then before dinner, he took a car to meet with Senator Cleveland.

Lans's car hadn't arrived at the gate of the manor house yet. Just as he entered the internal road of the manor, he saw Senator Cleveland standing outside the gate.

This made him feel a bit funny, and also a bit... other thoughts.

Every year, he was conquering new peaks and reaching new heights, year after year, never stopping.

From not being able to see the mayor, to now where a Social Party Senator representative needed to wait for him outside the gate, this change in status was fascinating!

It wasn't something that could be seen or touched, but it made people more addicted than those things that could be seen and touched!

After the car stopped steadily, Lans got out of the car. Senator Cleveland immediately walked over, and the two shook hands. "Heard you made Potter almost forget his lines at noon?"

Some things had no secrets in this circle, and the speed of spreading was also very fast.

Others might not know why President Potter had a pause of a few seconds, but people in the political arena knew a little bit, because of Lans.

Lans couldn't help but laugh when he heard him say this. "I like the way he hates me very much, but can't finish me off, and even knocked out two of his own teeth!"

The two let go of their hands, and then walked toward the inside of the room together.

They weren't dining outside today. How could dining outside be as convenient as dining in the manor?

If they wanted any chef, they would just have someone invite them. In New Jincheng, many high-end restaurants would prepare multiple chefs, just to prevent some masters from suddenly wanting to eat the dishes of their restaurant, inviting their chefs over, to avoid no one cooking at the restaurant side.

Of course, there were also some big shots who would hire some chefs themselves. A few years ago, when the situation in the Empire wasn't very good, quite a few chefs working for nobles fled here.

During that time, hiring refugees serving nobles became the thing that federal masters liked the most and often showed off.

Everyone was proud of having a few craftsmen serving nobles or even the royal family. For federal people, anything that had anything to do with nobles or emperors was what they pursued.

It wasn't until the war broke out and the war ended that this emotion gradually cooled down. Perhaps quite a few of them discovered that they themselves were quite remarkable and didn't need to use these things to raise their own status.

However, there were still some people who were obsessed with this, and craftsmen serving the royal family were still very marketable.

"Tonight, besides me, there are several guests. They all really want to chat with you."

Lans walked side by side with him toward the inside. "Who are they?"

"Social Party Committee Chairman, and two high-level party members."

While speaking, the two had already entered the reception hall. The three people who were chatting on the sofa stood up one after another the moment Senator Cleveland pushed the door open to let Lans in.

These people might not be famous. They rarely appeared in newspapers. Perhaps ninety-five percent of the public didn't know who they were or what they had done.

But they were influencing the development of this country's future in places people couldn't see.

"No need for me to introduce. Lans White."

Senator Cleveland then introduced these three people to Lans. "This is our Chairman, you can call him Faling, Faling Thomason."

Faling was an old man in his sixties, but from his figure and appearance, one couldn't tell. The feeling he gave was only in his fifties.

This was also the most common in the upper class. Everyone performed as being younger than their actual age.

He shook hands with Lans very enthusiastically. "I have been telling Jiefu that I should introduce you to more of our people, but he is always stingy about sharing this friendship."

"But this time he seems to have opened up. Very happy to meet you, Lans."

Lans also responded with a smile. "Maybe the timing wasn't mature before. I am also very happy to meet you, Mr. Thomason."

"Call me Faling!"

"My friends all call me that!"

Then Senator Cleveland introduced two other high-level party members to Lans, but their weight was obviously not as noble as this Committee Chairman Faling.

"The chefs are almost ready. Why don't we go to the dining room to eat and chat?", Senator Cleveland suggested. No one objected, and then they came to the dining room.

This wasn't Lans's first time coming here to eat, but it looked like they had redecorated it, and there was some obvious difference and change from the last time he came.

"I invited two chefs from... over there. They are very good at royal dishes."

"That bastard was bragging to me all day about how delicious their dishes were made. This time, it just so happens we can all taste it."

Lans hadn't heard of the person he mentioned, but another high-level party member introduced him simply. He was also an old guy from the Social Party, a political family.

For these people, including those in this room, including Lans.

In this world, besides themselves, other things were materialized resources. In their eyes, people and things actually didn't have much difference. ===== CHAPTER 1260 =====