America 1982

"Mr. Damm, I received a message that sounded like a joke. St. Vincent has appointed an American high school student as a plenipotentiary to attend the regular weekly meetings of the Organization of American Cooperation." Deputy Secretary of State Kenneth Damm just said in a document After signing his name, he heard the assistant come in and speak.

Kenneth laughed and took a sip of coffee: "American Cooperation Organization? What? Those small countries in South America or Central America can't even find representatives who understand English? So they hired American high school students to translate for them?"

"No, there is a children's program with high ratings recently. A group of high school students use their methods to manage the country of St. Vincent. It is a summer camp. Now they find that the United States has not fulfilled its promise three years ago. Maybe the program team is trying to attract attention, maybe It’s the young people who want to be in the limelight. In short, they want to stand up for the small country of St. Vincent and get the money back.”

"What happens if the promise is not fulfilled?" Kenneth frowned slightly: "I just took this position, what kind of promise?"

"The United States has previously invited St. Vincent to join the Organization of American Cooperation and is willing to provide St. Vincent with US$20 million in aid for this purpose, provided that the country allows American companies to build local factories and exclusively operate the sugar industry," the assistant said.

Deputy Secretary of State Kenneth sighed dejectedly: "Is it the previous Deputy Secretary of State, Mr. Stossel, who did it again?"

The assistant nodded.

"Whatever I say, Stossel should always be his ambassador to the Soviet Union. Professional diplomats will just make empty words without considering the consequences." Kenneth complained in an unhappy tone.

The U.S. Under Secretary of State needs to hold the title of many councils or committees. For example, the deputy secretary of state is the director of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American Cooperation as mentioned by the assistant at the moment, because the president and the secretary of state are not interested in such committees, but they cannot completely ignore them. , only the Under Secretary of State can hold the power.

But he didn’t know much about this organization because he had just served as Deputy Secretary of State for two weeks. The previous Deputy Secretary of State Stossel was diagnosed with terminal leukemia, so he was invited by President Reagan to come out again and replace Stossel as Deputy Secretary of State. .

"The news I received is that the high school student named Stephen Bean came prepared. If we don't respond, I'm afraid all American viewers will know about it through that program. This is not good for the government's image, and The high school student seems to be very wealthy, and the family behind him is a major financial backer of the Democratic Party. Before he even came to Washington, he was already arranging press conferences, media meetings and other activities, and he only waited for the press conference to be held after attending the conference."

"But he chose to inform us in advance." Kenneth rubbed his eyebrows: "This is a sensible child, or in other words, his elders taught him to do well."

"Do we have to pay? If we have to pay, as far as I know, there are still four or five small countries that have not yet delivered their aid. If other small countries are making trouble like this..."

"Those small countries will not have the opportunity to make trouble, but those who have already made trouble must be appeased first and put the problem on the British. They evacuated the colonies too hastily and did not do a good handover at all, which resulted in the inefficiency of St. Vincent's work. The United States has already We have prepared the funds, but there are always some problems with their communication channels, so we set the tone based on this idea. Without the efficient working methods of American high school students to help them smooth out their ideas, they will not be able to get the money in another ten years. , these are all evils made by the British. The audience likes to watch comedies, so it is a comedy. The United States is not at fault, and American high school students are not at fault either. We are all serious about helping that country. It is a beautiful solution." Kenneth turned his hands. With the pen in his hand, he said clearly:

"The 20 million will be paid through the Inter-American Development Bank, so even if it is paid to them, the money is still in our hands and we can monitor their expenditures."

…

Washington, Pan-American Building, Headquarters of the Organization for American Cooperation.

Stephen glanced at Zoe, who was ordered by her parents to be taken back to her home country for custody because she assaulted an embassy employee in Barbados, and Zoe gave him a smile in response.

"How does it feel when the whole of America sees your determination to be a bitch?" Stephen asked.

"It's great. I like to see those friends and family around me who are obviously very angry because of my rude behavior, but they still try to squeeze out a smile and say that I did a good job and that I worked hard to solve the problem for a country. I hope they understand that there is duplicity. How does it feel? She always likes to teach me to be a lady that I don’t like to be, that’s it.” Zoe said with a smile.

Stephen looked at Zoe: “But this is America, are you sure you won’t hit anyone again, right?”

"I went to the summer camp so far away because I didn't want to hit anyone in the United States." Zoe shrugged cutely.

Stephen talked about the arrangements he had made: "OK, I'll go inside for the meeting. Now you go to the press conference for an interview. Show off your ladylike appearance and tell everyone that you are so angry that you transformed. It happened for a reason. Wait for me. Get rid of those people inside, and then go back to join everyone."

"Mr. Stephen Binn, I'm Brad from the Inter-American Development Bank." After parting with Zoe, Stephen walked towards the main entrance of the building. An old white man blocked his way with a smile and said hello proactively: "We can talk. Let’s talk about the speech you are going to give later?”

Stephen smiled at the old man: "Of course, sir, the Prime Minister told me before departure that as long as the aid is delivered, everything can be discussed."

…

Tommy hung up the call from Stephen, looked at the eyes looking at him in the conference room, and shrugged: "It's done, the promised aid has been deposited into St. Vincent's national account at the Inter-American Development Bank."

Letting the students cheer happily, Tommy walked out of the government building and came to the beach. Maduf was still fishing as before.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I just received the news that the money has arrived. Everything is the fault of the British. If they had not been in such a hurry before leaving, this situation would not have happened. The United States promised to have more necessary exchanges between the two sides in the future. Tommy looked at Maduff and said.

Madoff put down the fishing rod, slowly turned to look at Tommy, and said in surprise: "You did it? I knew it. If you could do it, I knew it! American high school students are more useful than me, the prime minister."

"So, I don't have to share the money I earn with you, right?" Tommy asked, squatting in front of Maduff.

Maduf shook his head: "Of course not. Even if you don't help, we have never thought of making money from you. You have done a lot, raised a lot of books and equipment, and now you have helped us get funds. We can build a hospital." , schools, road construction... this country owes each and every one of you."

"Remember what I said that day? Americans are very vindictive. They will know that you used American high school students to do this." Tommy reminded Madoff: "I think you should consider the method I said..."

"Tommy, there's no need to teach me. I understand your good intentions. Listen to me. Although I'm not the smartest person in this country, I'm not an idiot either. I will prevent what you said from happening." Madoff said with a smile. "Thank you for everything you and your friends have done for this country, Tommy," Tommy said.

Tommy shrugged and looked into the distance: "Nothing. By the way, we will return to China tomorrow. If we don't go back, we won't have time to add the words "Princeton" to his resume. The parents of the students paid for those four words. For us, playing house is just a pastime.”

Madoff smiled and patted Tommy on the shoulder: "Believe me, the Princeton professor will definitely be waiting for you. He is a smart man."

Then, he slowly stood up and walked along the path towards the city, tapping his lower back gently as he walked: "I'm going to tell the governor, tell Colin, tell Susan, tell everyone this good news." A St. Vincent national, this is news they, like me, have waited too long for."

Facts have proved that when the author himself cannot laugh, he cannot write absurd comedy. When the child has a high fever, the mood is not at all about writing. I want to end this story as soon as possible. I hope I can adjust my mentality and write it tomorrow.