Rise of the Argentine Empire

Upon hearing this, Saint Hesser gasped, making a small contribution to global warming. He had only spent two days with his girlfriend during the entire summer vacation, feeling he had been quite remiss.

“Ilena, I’m really sorry. I’ve been too busy lately. How about we go out for dinner tomorrow afternoon and then catch a movie? I heard there’s a new movie that’s supposed to be good.”

Saint Hesser said apologetically, his voice low and sounding a bit hoarse. He really did look miserable. He had attended a gathering with the design bureau that evening and only realized he was driving after taking a sip of wine, which he quickly spat out.

“Oh? What movie is it? Is it good? It’s not about soccer, is it?”

Ilena’s anger dissipated for the most part. After all, Saint Hesser was indeed busy every day, and she had seen it for herself. He wasn’t lying; he was a man who worked hard.

“Definitely not about soccer.”

Saint Hesser emphasized again, guaranteeing it.

“It’s a bit late tonight, and it’s not safe on the main road. Let me take you back. Oh, right, look what I brought you today. This is a gift I kept from my time in the military. It’s very precious.”

Saint Hesser carefully took out a full copper 7.92mm short bullet from his pocket and solemnly handed it to Ilena. It still retained his body heat. If she hadn’t noticed the inscription “LEIEN1952” on the bottom of the bullet, Ilena might have almost believed him.

“Oh, I really like it. This is the first time you’ve given me a gift.”

Only a fool like Saint Hesser would think of giving a girl a bullet. Ilena looked at her boyfriend with some helplessness.

“Haha, actually, this is the first time I’ve given a gift to a girl.”

If the girls his past self had dated didn’t count, along with a few ambiguous relationships, Saint Hesser pretended to be simple and honest, scratching his head. He drove Ilena home, secretly relieved.

Luckily, he had been bored today and grabbed a bullet. He needed to prepare a gift for Ilena tomorrow. He didn’t know what to give. Perhaps a necklace would be good, or a ring. His memory was still good, but unfortunately, most of the shops in the city were closed. He should still have time tomorrow afternoon.

To be honest, he also wanted to have a serious relationship like a normal college student, but as an Argentine, he couldn’t watch his country slowly decline and let those upstarts gain fame.

Back at home, he reviewed some telegram information sent by the Falcon Bureau. There was nothing that needed special attention. He had been busy non-stop for the past half-month and was indeed quite tired.

Saint Hesser made careful annotations and recalled some of the important events of the day, finding no major oversights.

… …

The next morning, Saint Hesser carefully shaved his beard, took a shower, changed into casual clothes, and put on a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, looking gentle and refined.

He made a simple plate of spaghetti, ate while reading the newspaper, and washed the dishes and pot. Saint Hesser washed his hands.

Afterward, he looked at himself in the mirror seriously for a while, noticing that he did look a bit haggard. He was also somewhat pleased with his handsome appearance, smiling foolishly at himself. Then, he stood up straight and, as if addressing Commander Thompson, solemnly saluted the man in the mirror before slowly walking downstairs.

He walked to school today. The security in the inner city was quite good now. The people on the road were full of vitality. They should still be full of hope for the future.

It was already autumn, and there weren’t many pedestrians on the road, hurrying along the streets. The autumn wind blew through Buenos Aires, bringing a slight chill. People didn’t have time to stop and thank God for this blessing.

After entering the school, there were quite a few freshmen in small groups. The older students had already graduated and scattered to their respective destinations, most of them staying in Buenos Aires to work. This was Argentina’s first-tier city, and some continued their studies.

Saint Hesser also felt much more relaxed. He arrived in class, where the same group of lovely classmates were. They were at the prime of their youth, carefree.

“Hey, President, you’re really amazing. You took a week off as soon as the semester started. Impressive, impressive.”

Powell, who was chatting and laughing with a female classmate, quickly came forward. He hadn’t seen this busy president in a long time.

“Hey, it’s just that being handsome is unavoidable. Even the teacher gave me leave.”

Saint Hesser pretended to be narcissistic.

“President, that’s not right. No matter how handsome you are, you’re not as handsome as me, hahaha.”

Powell regained the mood he had when they first met, clearly much more mature.

“It’s okay, study hard. After all, you got one of the lowest scores last semester. Didn’t Professor Pukins scold you to death?”

Saint Hesser knew that Powell’s grades weren’t bad, but he had gotten the sixth-lowest score last semester. Apparently, he had left one exam blank and slept through a class.

“Who knew I could fall asleep in the exam room? Sigh, don’t mention it.”

The end-of-semester grades were still very important. Powell couldn’t help but feel a little sad when he thought about this.

He casually chatted with the other classmates. Soon it was time for class. Saint Hesser flipped through his books, which Powell had helped him collect.

In the morning, it was Professor Pukins’ class. He did some in-depth research on legal theory. Saint Hesser seriously studied it and directly engraved the knowledge from the textbook into his brain.

Professor Pukins cited classics, lecturing vividly and excellently.

After class, Pukins looked at Saint Hesser, who had run to his office, somewhat speechless.

“Cohen, you rascal, you come to me with this as soon as the semester starts.”

Pukins stood up and tugged at Saint Hesser’s ear, saying with some disappointment.

“Hehe, it’s mainly because I’ve been a bit busy with some things lately, but I’ve been seriously studying the textbook knowledge. You can listen to me recite it if you don’t believe me.”

Saint Hesser scratched his head, intending to show off his memory and recite a passage.

“Alright, you’ve indeed done well this time, at least in the matter of customs and tax reform, you’ve done very well, and the steel factory is also doing well. What you said makes a lot of sense.”

Obviously, Professor Pukins was also paying close attention to this matter and had helped a lot.

“I really appreciate your help, Professor Pukins. I was originally doing it for myself, just doing a little something.”

Saint Hesser bowed seriously. To be honest, if it weren’t for Professor Pukins, he might have only been able to become an ordinary member of the Radical Party, let alone the propaganda department, or knowing big figures like Vice President Frondizi.

“It’s just a small matter, no need to thank me too much. It still depends on your own ability.”

Professor Pukins said seriously:

"By the way, Cohen, I'm going to Harvard University in the United States for an inspection in June this year. Are you interested in going with me? It's a publicly funded trip abroad, and you don't even have to attend classes."

"Going to the United States? I might need to consider it. Actually, I quite like attending classes."

Since arriving in Argentina, Saint-Hesse hadn't been abroad. He always sent his team to help, not even leaving for nearby Brazil. Maybe he could give it a try.

"Okay, take your time. Just remember to write your thesis for me."

Professor Perkins shook his head, unsure how to teach this student who skipped class every other day but had excellent grades and talent.

"Understood, Professor."

Saint-Hesse thought seriously for a moment. He estimated that a trip would take several months to half a year, which was indeed a bit long, but he also wanted to see the world of Americans.

After saying goodbye to the professor, it was noon. He treated Powell and some key members of the New Youth League to lunch and busied himself with recruiting new members for the new year.

"President, this time we must work hard and strive to make the New Youth League the largest student organization."

Powell said excitedly. The stronger the New Youth League became, the happier he was.

"Okay, I'll leave the work of recruiting new members to you. This time, we must recruit more promising members."

"Understood, President."

"By the way, are there people at the University of Buenos Aires participating in urban guerrilla activities?"

"Yes, there are a few students who have participated, but they can probably be sentenced."

Powell looked at Saint-Hesse and replied with a smile.

Saint-Hesse arranged things and then instructed Powell:

"The New Youth League can cooperate with the Radical Civic Union Youth. You can give it a try."

There was another class in the afternoon, Scarlett's class. She wore a white shirt and a light blue long skirt, which showed off her slender figure, making Powell and the others' eyes light up.

Lecturing on the history of law and the continental law system was quite interesting, and Saint-Hesse also raised his hand to ask questions several times.

To be honest, he was very interested in legislation. Argentina's legislation was not perfect enough, leading to insufficient centralism and too much local power. He had always been thinking about whether there was a way to solve these problems.

Learning from history can reveal a lot. Saint-Hesse went to the library as usual to study for a while before remembering his afternoon appointment and hurrying to the store to buy a necklace.

… …

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Saint-Hesse rushed to the physics department's laboratory. Elena was not doing experiments and was already waiting for Saint-Hesse.

"I'm really sorry, I just forgot and went to the library. Let's go get some food first."

"Okay."

Elena was wearing a light yellow shirt and a white dress today, with black-rimmed glasses, and a shallow dimple when she smiled, looking very gentle.

Saint-Hesse naturally took Elena's hand and walked towards the restaurant together, chatting and joking along the way, talking about some interesting things.

The Orange Peel Restaurant was as crowded as ever. Saint-Hesse found a seat by the window, where he could see the scenery of the street outside, and the two chatted and laughed.

Saint-Hesse looked out the window and felt very relaxed, with a warm feeling.

The dishes were very rich, and Saint-Hesse picked up a ice cream cone and started eating.

Elena shook her chair, stood up, and wiped the cream from the corner of Saint-Hesse's mouth with a paper towel. Saint-Hesse's face suddenly turned red.

"Elena, I have a gift for you."

Saint-Hesse took out a small box from his pocket and placed it in Elena's palm.

"Thank you, Cohen, please put it on for me."

Saint-Hesse walked behind Elena and helped her put on the necklace.

"This necklace suits you very well."

Saint-Hesse said seriously, thinking that her fair neck looked very beautiful.

Elena smiled and nodded without saying a word. She sat elegantly on the soft chair and took a small sip of ice-cold sweet soda.

The two continued to chat and laugh, planning to go to the movies later, but at six o'clock,

The weather outside the window suddenly changed. Sand and stones suddenly flew in the sky, and it suddenly turned from dusk to pitch black. Raindrops the size of soybeans hit the glass outside the window, and huge thunder rumbled in the distance, one after another, like cannons firing on the battlefield.

"Elena, it looks like we won't be able to see a movie today."

Saint-Hesse said, looking at the heavy rain outside the window.

"It seems so." Elena's tone was a little regretful.

"How about next time? When the rain is lighter, I'll take you home. This kind of heavy rain is really rare, and there's so much thunder."

After more than half an hour, the rain finally stopped.

The two left the restaurant. Saint-Hesse then made a little joke, propped up his arm, and put his hands on his waist.

Elena was a little stunned, and then naturally put her hand into Saint-Hesse's arm, leaning on Saint-Hesse's shoulder. The two looked at each other and smiled, tacitly not saying anything.

At the entrance of the restaurant were two tall palm trees, with straight trunks extending to the third floor, with broad leaves. It was still raining, and Saint-Hesse stopped a taxi, said Elena's home address, and sent Elena home safely before leaving by taxi.

Saint-Hesse went home, took a shower, and went to the study, thinking about writing an article for the propaganda department's newspaper to be published the day after tomorrow, but hesitated and muttered to himself,

"Tonight, my thoughts are not very concentrated. Tomorrow morning will definitely not be like this. Besides, I am a little excited today. How can I write a good article in this situation?"

He climbed into bed, turned off the lights, and fell asleep almost immediately.

The next day, he woke up early, as he often did, with the manuscript unfinished.

Saint-Hesse jumped out of bed, went to open the window, and took a deep breath of fresh air.

"I wonder if the air will be much worse in two years. Several small and medium-sized steel plants have been arranged in Bucharest, but it's better than unemployment during a future economic crisis."

Saint-Hesse looked into the distance. The morning fog was not heavy, and he could see the outside of the academy area. There were only one or two street cleaners on the street, and a sprinkler truck passed by.

The entire city of Bucharest was bathed in the brilliant morning light, and the houses on the street seemed to be painted with a layer of light yellow filter.

Saint-Hesse opened the old typewriter and quickly typed on the machine, one word at a time.

《Encircle and Suppress the Mafia, We Must Mobilize the Power of the People of Bucharest》

After carefully finishing the article, Saint-Hesse washed up. Today was Saturday, and he went to see the specific construction of the tractor factory.

To be honest, it was the first time he had seen Japanese people, and they were also here to help.