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On June 28, 1997, Xiao Qiang received a call. After that, no one spoke on the phone for a long time.

He fed twice, but neither of them made any sound.

Xiao Qiang was about to hang up the phone, and a completely changed voice came from the microphone: "Xiao Qiang, do you know... what day it will be... the day after tomorrow?"

The speaker is obviously trying to endure it and control his emotions.

His tone was distorted, his voice trembled, and in a short sentence, he said it very hard, as if something was choked in his throat.

The day after tomorrow, midnight on June 30th, early morning on July 1st.

Of course, Xiao Qiang knew what day it was. His breath suddenly became thicker. He grabbed the phone's hand and suddenly clenched the microphone, pinching the microphone so that it made a rattle.

Since the Opium War, this land has endured too much suffering and suffered too much misfortune!

Countless Chinese people sprinkled blood and continued to strive for self-improvement, finally leaving the concession of foreigners in the land of China, and humiliating treaties imposed on foreign countries on China were abolished one by one.

Starting from July 1, 1997, the unyielding struggle of the Chinese nation over a century of years will show that the last scene of the final colonialists retreating from our territory is reaching its climax!

Hong Kong in 1997! Macau in 1999!

These two hot lands representing the microcosm of China's suffering experience, and are about to return to the embrace of the motherland!

Xiao Qiang doesn’t remember what era he lived in in his previous life.

He only knew that in that era, China had completely risen among the world's nations and became a world power with a prosperous country and strong people. When he just returned to this era, he was still experiencing the old era with a sense of surprise and looking at everything in this era.

But as his participation level continued to increase, he slowly integrated into this era.

His bloodline began to be beating with this era, feeling the changes of this country bit by bit.

He is no longer a bystander, but is using his own strength to participate in the process of forging history! He is part of this history! He has never felt that he is so closely connected with this country!

Xiao Qiang's throat was constantly stretching and stretching, trying hard to squeeze out two words from his teeth: "I know!"

"Can you take off that day and go to witness history in person?" Director Zhou's voice was already crying, and at this historical moment, no Chinese cried for it.

Because from this day on, the humiliation that has been imposed on us by the West will become the past!

Xiao Qiang did not hesitate for a second and immediately replied: "This is the glory of my life!"

"At 8 o'clock in the morning of the 29th, I'll pick you up and fly directly from Beijing to Guangzhou!" A beeping sound came from the microphone, and the phone opposite hung up.

Xiao Qiang clamped the phone and it took him a long time to remember to put the phone back.

He had been waiting for this day long ago.

Even if Director Zhou did not send him an invitation, he would go there with Lin Yi. However, without invitations, they could not enter the scene of the regime handover ceremony and witnessed the moment when history was built. At this moment, all his regrets no longer exist.

He gently put his hands on his shoulders and asked gently, "What's the matter that makes you so excited?"

Xiao Qiang put his hand on, raised his head. Looking at Lin Yi's concerned eyes, he said with mixed feelings: "In the early morning of July 1st, we will watch the ceremony at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center!"

Director Zhou arrived on time at 8 o'clock on the 29th, picked up Xiao Qiang and his wife and headed straight to the Capital Airport.

They will take a chartered flight to Guangzhou directly, then transfer to the vehicle, and enter Hong Kong from Luohu Port. This special plane transports gifts from provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

These gifts include sculptures, tapestries, embroidery, ceramics, lacquer products, etc. They are all special products from all over the country.

This includes the sculpture "Bauhinia that blooms forever". This is a copper sculpture more than six meters high, with gold foil on the surface. Its base is a warm red "Sichuan Red" granite, composed of square circles, meaning the square circles of Jiuzhou and the pattern of the Great Wall. The sculpture is named as the eternal Bauhinia, which is also the future of Hong Kong's prosperity.

Others include "Full Heaven Celebration" cloisonné bottles in Beijing, "Fujian Hong Kong Love" lacquered screens in Fujian, "Yu Xiang Sending Treasures" in Henan, and "Smooth Sail" jade carvings in Guangdong, and other local gifts with local characteristics.

The people on the same plane were all happy and had an unhidden smile on their faces.

Infected by this atmosphere, Xiao Qiang and others also smiled, full of pride for a strong motherland and strong confidence in a bright future.

On the plane, Director Zhou talked about some anecdotes about the negotiations between China and the UK. When talking about the British's unwillingness to give up, he couldn't help but shake his head.

The British tried every means to keep Hong Kong under their control.

Even in the end, they agreed to return the Hong Kong regime in helplessness, but they did not give up and wanted to set up a High Commissioner's Office in Hong Kong instead of a consulate.

Under British law, they are only entitled to establish a High Commissioner only in Commonwealth countries.

The hidden meaning is that it still regards Hong Kong as their colony and never let go.

The glory of the empire never sets. Although after World War II, with the awakening of national consciousness from various countries, the colonies were independent and no longer existed. However, as old empires, they still refused to give up their last arrogance and continued to retain their rule over Hong Kong.

Xiao Qiang and Lin Yi talked with Director Zhou along the way, and talked about the reform and opening up over the years, and sighed from time to time.

At 10 a.m., a special plane arrived at Guangzhou Baiyunshan Airport.

The transportation places on the special plane are all centrally distributed. Some of the gifts given by provinces and cities are huge in size and easy to break. All the gifts are packed in wooden boxes and filled with soft foam to prevent damage.

When loading and unloading, the staff were also careful and loaded them one by one on specially prepared large load trucks and fixed them with ropes.

When the convoy drove to Luohu Port, it was almost noon.

The vehicles in front showed special passes to the border guards on both sides of the port and the Hong Kong police. The vehicles slowly passed through the port. With the British military salute of the Hong Kong police, they set foot onto Hong Kong land.

Xiao Qiang looked at the floor buildings in the distance through the car window. Suddenly, his heart was surging and it was difficult to calm down.

The scenery outside the car was not much different from the time he came in a hurry a few years ago. It was vaguely overlapping with the impressions in his memory.

However, the state of mind at this time is already two different states.

When I came last time, this land was still a British colony and was under the jurisdiction of the British Empire. When the bell rang at 0:00 tonight, this land would no longer be affected by foreigners. At this time, Xiao Qiang really felt like he had set foot on his own territory.

The convoy was driving on the streets of Hong Kong.

What Xiao Qiang saw was that Hong Kong was still so busy.

Seeing the arrival of the convoy with red color, many Hong Kong people cheered and waved to the convoy. Some people stopped to look at each other, and some people showed a blank look in their eyes.

Some Hong Kong people who have no confidence in the government immigrate overseas early.

Even the people who stayed are not all full of confidence in the future.

Colonial rule education, they already have the identity of their Chinese

Only as time goes by will they slowly change their ideas and identify more with their Chinese identity.

But at this moment, they were still a little confused and confused...

The convoy came to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, which was the venue for the regime handover ceremony tonight.

With the assistance of Hong Kong staff, all the gifts were safely unloaded from the cart. Smaller wooden boxes were loaded onto carts and transported to the exhibition hall on a freight elevator.

Some large items are only left in the car for the time being. After the gift, they will be sent to the museum for citizens and tourists to visit.

Only the sculpture "Bauhinia that will bloom forever" presented by the central government was hung directly to the fifth floor with a crane and moved into the exhibition hall bit by bit from the open floor-to-ceiling balcony.

Mainland staff carefully unpacked the wooden boxes in other places, took out the fillings, and exposed the gifts inside.

When I saw exquisite works of art displayed in front of them, the staff of the exhibition hall who were curiously watching all exclaimed. These are exquisite works of art. Each piece, either quaint or exquisite, fully demonstrates China's profound cultural heritage and the exquisite skills of the craftsmen.

Unlike the glitz-like spirit of Hong Kong, which is known as a cultural desert, when these artworks are presented, they immediately conquered the exhibition hall staff present in Hong Kong with their elegant and calm cultural and artistic values.

For mainlanders who are used to seeing cultural relics and historical sites in China, they may only see the exquisiteness of these gifts.

But for Hong Kong people who are used to modern high-rise buildings, sports cars and electrical appliances, the gifts given by the mainland are what they want most.

"Haha! Old Zhou, Lao Zhou, you came so late, I'm waiting for your gift, I'm so eager to see you!" Amid the laughter, a middle-aged man in his forties strode to Director Zhou and shook hands with him tightly.

"Let me introduce you. This is Director He of the Concierge Department. This is..." Director Zhou introduced Xiao Qiang to Xiao Qiang.

The middle-aged man laughed without waiting for Director Zhou to say it, "You need to introduce this? If I don't even know the president of Huanyu Company, Xiao Qiang and Boss Xiao, then I will be blind." He narrowed his eyes, looked at Lin Yi, and smiled, "This is Miss Lin. It's true that beautiful and Boss Xiao are indeed a pair of people!"

Lin Yi smiled, stretched out her hand generously, and shook hands with him.

Xiao Qiang also smiled and stretched out his hand: "I came with Director Zhou to watch the ceremony. I came here to take the liberty and wouldn't I drive us out, right?"

"Just kidding! Even if I drive me out, I won't dare to drive you out! If I dare to do this, the veterans of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission and the military will tear me away!" Director He glared at him and pretended to be exaggerated, which made everyone laugh.

Director Zhou laughed for a while and said, "Director He, this floor is the main venue for the handover ceremony tonight. You are half a host. Can you take us around to visit?"

Xiao Qiang and others walked along the way and listened to his introduction.

The venue is very large. I heard that there are more than 4,000 guests from all walks of life in Hong Kong, as well as domestic and foreign media and foreign media tonight. Only here can they accommodate so many guests.

On the rostrum laid on the red carpet, there are two podiums for the heads of state to speak.

On both sides of the podium, there are two flagpoles of different heights, which are used to hang the national flag and the Hong Kong flag. Directly behind the podium, the national flags of China and Britain are hung side by side.

According to Director He, there are several rows of seats behind the rostrum, which are exclusively for the Chinese, British and Hong Kong political circles to be viewed.

Generally, guests took their seats under the rostrum.

Director Zhou listened silently and said, "I heard that you and the British have a lot of disputes over the handover ceremony? Are they still unwilling to put down the British Empire?"

Director He pondered for a moment and said helplessly: "They used to be an empire that the sun never sets. I felt a little sour when I returned to my hometown in shame from Hong Kong. It was understandable. However, some of their disputes with us were not entirely for face, and there were differences in our East and West cultures."

"Oh? You have to say that, we native buns really don't understand?" Director Zhou urged him to introduce it with interest.

Director He said readily, "Okay! I'll introduce it to you. According to regulations, our two countries started at 23:59, and the British military band first played the British national anthem, then ended at 24:00 on time, and lowered the British national flag on time. And we will play the national anthem on time at 0:00 on July 1st and start raising the flag.

The UK may want to save face and ask us to postpone the flag raising and playing the national anthem for one second, so that the British flag will still be hung on the flagpole at 0:00 on July 1st.

If it is other times, it is nothing to let a second. But this second is related to our national character and represents a second when we officially exercise our sovereignty in Hong Kong. Of course, we will not let it go. After a long time of argument, they reluctantly agreed to lower the British flag before June 30th."

Xiao Qiang interrupted: "Those John Bulls are the most stubborn. Did they give up so easily?"

"It's not that easy!" Director He shook his head repeatedly, probably remembering the difficult negotiations with the UK, and sneered, "Later we became popular, tell them. No matter whether they finished playing the national anthem and lowered the British flag within June 30, we will play our Chinese national anthem on time and raise the flag at the same time! Even if the national anthem of both sides is mixed together, they will never give up! They have no choice but to agree. You haven't seen their face at that time. Oh, I won't say it anymore!"

Lin Yi was fascinated by the sound of hearing and asked, "Is there any other dispute?"

"When it comes to disputes, don't look at a ceremony that only twenty minutes, but for these twenty minutes, we quarreled with the British for a long time. These things can't be finished in three days and three nights!" Director He smiled, "Just like the leaders of our countries appear. According to the Eastern tradition, leaders are in front and other personnel are following behind. But what the British are used to is that the ministers are in front and the head of state finally appears. Then, both of us have no disputes for the order of the leaders' appearance. In the end, the Deputy Prime Minister said that we should just follow our own conventions and maintain our own characteristics, which is what calms the dispute between the two sides."

“Is there any more?”

"Yes, why don't you? Let me tell you one more. Let's talk about the whole process of the handover ceremony, there are many links in the middle. For example, the leaders came to the stage, and so on. The British side said that they would blow the trumpet in the middle of each link! It was royal etiquette. We said, "Can you not play the trumpet, they said it was not possible. Later, after consideration, we simply played the trumpet too. Everyone agreed that some links, the British played the trumpet, and some links, and everyone played their own, which solved the problem." Director He explained very kindly.
Chapter completed!