Reborn 92's Business Tycoon - Chapter 616: Group photo in front of Huaren Hall

Chapter 616: Chapter 616: Group photo in front of Huaren Hall

At the beginning of the second May Golden Week holiday, the family did not go out to join the crowds. Not only was it overcrowded, but they really had no desire to go out and play.

Although he had received notification late last month that he had become the recipient of the Fifth China Youth May 4th Medal, the information had not been disclosed through official channels before then.

Worried and anxious, his grandfather, parents and he would often take out the notice, stamped with the official seals of the Communist Youth League Central Committee and All-China Youth Federation, to make sure it was real.

Yesterday afternoon, Feng Yiping received a notice from the university that his and the other nine awardees’ stories had been officially published on the People’s Network.

This was the first time Grandpa, Mum and Dad had gone online. Of the ten introductions, Feng Yiping’s had the longest title. Grandpa, who was wearing reading glasses, read the title of the open webpage word by word, ‘Feng Yiping, internationally renowned business management scholar, young and accomplished young entrepreneur,’

and he didn’t even bother to read the smaller text below, ‘Haha, this is my grandson,’

Feng Yiping, who was always a little insecure, finally straightened up after reading the exploits of the other nine winners. The school leaders were right, he fully deserved it!

On the morning of 2 May, several CCTV news programmes broadcast the list of winners of the 5th Youth May 4th Medal, and the evening news broadcast also reported the news.

At this time, Feng Yiping had already been arranged with the other winners to stay in a hotel, waiting to attend the award ceremony to be held in the Great Hall of the People the next day.

He had already met with the others at the lunch meeting, but as he was not originally concerned about such a high-profile event, he really had no idea who he had displaced to take his place.

Sorry about that. But I really deserve this award, so you’ll just have to wait for the next one!

He was the one who received the most attention at the scene. There was no way around it. The other youngest one was also born in 1971, nearly ten years older than him, and the oldest one was already forty, which was a full twenty years older than him, who was still less than twenty-one years old, a whole generation apart.

However, no one dares to underestimate this young man who doesn’t say much and has always been a bit shy. Not only can he engage in theoretical discussions, his written monographs are widely popular, but he also gets things done without equivocation. His businesses have spread all over the country.

‘Yiping, I’d like to propose a toast to you, but you can just have some juice,’ said the oldest one, the one the Prime Minister had jokingly called a “national treasure” when he visited last year. “I feel ashamed to be sitting here with you, not only because you are the real youth, but also because you have already done so many extraordinary things at such a young age,’

said another farmer entrepreneur, a woman from the black soil of the northeast. “Young man, I’d also like to toast you. I admire what you have done for your hometown,’

Others followed suit and raised their glasses, ‘Yes, we toast to you,’

Feng Yiping had been pestering the PLA uncle next to him to ask questions, because he was in the missile force, and how could he usually meet someone like this?

But the PLA uncle was very tight-lipped, keeping everything from the unit number to the weapon model a secret. Feng Yiping was trying hard to get something new out of him, like squeezing toothpaste, not knowing that something like this would happen.

He dared not be negligent, and quickly stood up. He was too embarrassed to drink his juice so he poured himself a glass of wine. ‘I am truly humbled by everyone’s praise. If I have achieved anything, it is thanks to this era and its good policies. I have a limited drinking capacity, so I cannot toast everyone, but I will drink this glass of wine first,’

At 8:20 a.m. on the 3rd, in front of the solemn Great Hall of the People, the children of the CCTV Galaxy Youth TV Art Choir, carrying bags containing their performance costumes, waited to enter. They would perform at the awards ceremony.

At 9:00, the audience attending the awards ceremony, mainly students from the National Youth Political College, also entered in an orderly manner.

At 9:30, led by officials from the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and the All-China Youth Federation, Feng Yiping and the award winners arrived at the Great Hall of the People and waited for the awards ceremony to begin.

This was a place he had visited only once before, and of course he had paid to enter and take photos in the Great Hall of the People.

But there was a world of difference between visiting as a tourist and receiving an award as a recipient of a national honour. He was both excited and moved.

The award ceremony was not grand and was very simple.

The hall was quite large, but the people who gave them the award were just the leaders of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the first secretary of the Secretariat, and the other four secretaries of the Secretariat.

Although the post of First Secretary of the Secretariat of the Communist Youth League has produced many senior leaders—including the top leaders of the party and government, and the current one was also a deputy national leader at a later stage—at present, he is still just a senior leader. It seems that at every subsequent award ceremony, a vice chairman of the National People’s Congress was present.

However, the country is doing things in a down-to-earth manner. Before the awards were presented, a film about the deeds of the award winners was shown on the big screen, and surprisingly, there was a scene of him donating money to Liangjiahe Middle School in 1998.

When the first secretary pinned the medal on him and handed him the award certificate, Feng Yiping, who had lived two lives, was still too emotional to speak. In any case, this was the highest honour the state could bestow on a young person, and to a certain extent, it represented the state’s greatest recognition of a young person.

Looking at the heavy, golden medal on his chest, he couldn’t help but touch it several times, and even thought very seriously, ‘Could this be pure gold?’

In other words, the timing and occasion were not right, otherwise, he really wanted to test it with his teeth.

After they had taken a group photo, ten of them, with gold medals around their necks, red certificates in their hands, and a bouquet of flowers, two People’s Daily Online reporters, who were live-streaming the event, approached Feng Yiping at the same time. Although the other winners were smiling at him, Feng Yiping did not dare to hog the limelight. After a brief exchange, he ran off to take a group photo with the leaders and let the reporters go to others.

It didn’t end there, though. The main event was in the afternoon.

In the morning, Feng Yiping entered the Great Hall of the People for the first time in his life. In the afternoon, Feng Yiping went to Zhongnanhai for the first time in both his lives.

It was the first time he had seen the ‘Serve the People’ wall in person, which he had seen many times online. Feng Yiping could not contain his excitement, and finally entered the heart of the country!

The meeting was held in the Huiren Hall, and the person who received them and presided over the discussion was also very familiar to Feng Yiping: the next chairman of the Communist Party of China, the current vice-president and president of the People’s Republic of China.

He was accompanied by senior officials of the capital city, and future senior officials.

What was rare was that this time, after listening to the important speeches of the leaders, the award winners were also given the opportunity to speak.

Feng Yiping was the last to speak. The Chairman, with a gentle tone and a slow pace, asked him with a smile, ‘Oh, classmate Yiping, we all know that your writings have convinced many international friends. Today, we are all looking forward to hearing your suggestions on the work of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and on youth work.’

‘Hello Chairman, hello leaders,’ the deep breaths he took earlier had been very effective, and now he was speaking without any tremor at all, “I personally have a somewhat immature opinion, so I can’t really talk about suggestions,’

The chairman looked at him and nodded, actually taking a pen to take notes, which made him feel a lot of pressure, “Since I was young, I have longed to grow up to be someone useful to the country, to do my bit for the country’s prosperity. As a young person at school, many of my classmates also longed to start their own businesses and become a new force in the country’s economic development.

However, our lack of experience, lack of access to policies and information, and funding problems are the biggest constraints. So I was wondering if the Communist Youth League could give play to our social mobilisation capabilities and organisational advantages to provide some support for young entrepreneurs?’

‘Tell me more,’ the chairman said.

‘I was wondering if we could set up a public foundation to provide young entrepreneurs with financial support, skills training, information services, policy coordination and social advocacy?’ Feng Yiping said.

‘The three generations of leaders of our party have always engaged in matters of strategic importance to the future and destiny of the country and the nation, attaching importance to, caring about, and loving the youth. They have placed their hopes for the development of the socialist cause in the youth,’ the chairman said.

‘With the expansion of university enrolment, the employment situation for college students is expected to become increasingly severe. Encouraging and supporting youth entrepreneurship is a major event that benefits the country and the people. Classmate Yiping’s question is not a bad idea. Could the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League conduct some research in this area?’

He actually took my suggestion on board! Is this for real? Feng Yiping couldn’t quite believe it until the photo shoot.

Although the location was special and the people in the photo were even more special, there was nothing different about it from the graduation photo he took at school.

On the lawn in front of Huai’rentang, in front of the green trees, the leaders stood on the ground in front of them. There were ten of them, standing on the steel frame behind the leaders. Behind them, there was a higher row, and those were also some leaders.

Wearing a custom-made Mandarin collar suit, the vigorous Feng Yiping stood right between the vice-chairman and the future high-ranking official, and beamed like a child.

This scene also appeared on the evening news that night, and quickly caused a sensation among those who knew Feng Yiping.