Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia
His hundredth year was a mostly a blur. But he remembered when he had turned 100, he had vowed to the elder nations that he would be as strong as any of them. Someday, he said, they would respect him as one of the greatest nations on Earth.
They laughed at him, Egypt and Chosŏnwith derision, Văn Lang with ironic amusement. The young nation did not understand. What was so funny? He could be a powerful nation! He could grow! It wasn't until old and wise Sumer took him aside and said:
"Child, you have aspirations and that is good. But the world is not getting any bigger. We older nations cannot die like you little ones, swallowed up by our neighbors. We will last unto eternity, immortal and growing until there is no where to grow. But you will not have room to grow, smothered between the giants who have lived for millennia. My son, put away such foolishness and be content with what you are."
He had been 100 years old then; young, naive, hard-headed. That had been a blow to his spirit. Was he really doomed to stay small and weak, or be destroyed by a greater neighbor?
No. He would not accept that. He would work hard and show them all!
Small nations like him really did come and go. No sooner were some of them born were they killed or brought under the heel of their neighbors. He had to be careful. Be strong and be smart. So he was. And he lived while others disappeared.
As the young nation aged, things changed. Egypt and Văn Lang died, little Egypt and Vietnam replacing them. Chosŏndied and his grandbrats took his land. Even old Sumer disappeared.
The nation that was once young and small was no longer either. He was a sage among children, the only one to remember the old days. He remembered the words of the ancients as he watched their descendents be born and grow. Inevitably, those who grew to be 100 would loudly announce to the rest of the world that they would be a great and powerful nation.
China would smile fondly and say, "Maybe you will."
Notes:
China's bio says he's 4000 years old, which would mark his birth at around the foundation of the Xia Dynasty. He's old compared to today's nations, but at the time of his hundredth birthday there were plenty of other nations that had been around longer than him. Shown above are:
Ancient Egypt: Lasting roughly from 3100 BC to 30 BC. Egypt's mom
Văn Lang: Lasting from about 3000 BC to 300 BC. Vietnam's mom or dad, I guess.
Chosŏn: Also called Gojoseon or Joseon, lasting from about 2333 BC to100 BC. The first nation on Korea, this would make him/her the current two Koreas' grandparent (hence China's 'grandbrats' comment).
Sumer: Roughly 5500 BC to 1700 BC. The cradle of humanity. This guy was to China what China is to everyone else today (except he doesn't say 'aru').