BXBX NOVEL Chapter 56: Introduction of Luoping
After everyone gets off the bus, Yezi finally sees Xiaoyun and Wuli walking out at the end of the line.
"What took you guys so long?"
"Had to go refuel the bus... Has Yuqi already planned where to put them?" Xiaoyun asked.
"Yeah. I already gave them the tour, as Yuqi asked. Anyway, where\'s their luggage?"
Yezi asked after noticing almost all of them standing with barely anything in their hands.
"I told them to throw everything away so we can do it all in one go. You saw that zombie horde earlier."
"I guess... Whatever, I need to go bring them to where Yuqi wanted them to go."
Yezi took out a megaphone out of his backpack before stepping up to a small hill.
"Hello everyone! Please follow me. I will be your tour guide today! I will explain everything and all the rules of the town."
The crowd followed Yezi after noticing all of the soldiers seemed to circle them in the middle, giving them only one path down.
Xiaoyun, who has nothing else to do, decided to follow along as well.
"This is the first mansion. You might wonder how I can live in it. Well, it\'s for soldiers only since it\'s the closest to the entrance.
If you join to be a soldier today, you will be able to live in one as well." Yezi explained as he pointed at 301.
As the crowds continued to walk down the path, they could see a number of wooden cabins that had already been built.
"Those wood cabins you just saw are houses that some of you are going to live in temporarily.
It only has a bed inside and a light for now. But it\'s enough to have a roof over your head at night."
The crowd started to chatter among themselves as soon as soon as Yezi mentioned the furniture inside.
"But before you complain, it\'s better than sleeping on the outside in the city outskirts.
Think about it: Do you want to sleep knowing that there\'s always a risk of zombies or strangers attacking you while you\'re asleep?"
After Yezi\'s answer, the crowd instantly fell into silence, with no one complaining, at least out loud.
"This wood cabin is perfect for a single family. It offers all the privacy you need for the low price of ten food stamps per month.
But of course, since you guys don\'t have any food stamps yet, you will be allowed to live inside for free for one week."
After a short walk, Yezi finally arrived at 302.
"This is a grocery store where you can buy food with food stamps. The cheapest food is canned food, while the most expensive food is freshly grown on the farm."
The crowd seemed extremely excited just to hear Yezi mention food, especially freshly grown food.
"Please do not enter the store right now. You guys will have the chance to see inside it later."
Yezi warned after seeing several of them want to check it out themselves.
After another short walk that had more wooden cabins between the mansions, another mansion labeled 303 appeared.
"This is the Luoping mayor\'s house. There is nothing else to talk about. Moving on."
After walking for another five minutes, they finally arrived at the administrative building.
"This is where the civilian management is located. The second floor is management, which you don\'t need to worry about.
What matters to you is the five booths below it. You will get your salary here every three days for your work. "
The crowds immediately looked over to the booth, only to see that it was closed for now.
"Next to this is a general goods store, where you can get basic items such as clothes, spoons, and other necessities.
It also has a grocery section like the one at 302, and they both sell the same kind of food."
Yezi continued guiding the group as they walked past even more wooden cabins down the road.
"You might be tired from walking this much, but don\'t worry. Every day, a bus will drive down the road to pick up and drop people off."
After introducing the rest of town, they finally arrived at the training camp at the back entrance.
The first three groups that had already toured the town were already there, sitting on the left side of the field.
"Congratulations! You guys have just toured the whole town. Now, it\'s time for the co-mayor to talk about the town\'s rules and work.
Everyone, please take a seat. You can now take a break."
As Yezi walked backstage, several people who were standing by started passing out water bottles to each of them.
Meanwhile, Xiaoyun quickly took a seat in the front as Yuqi stepped up to the stage and picked up the microphone.
After everyone had settled down, she tapped the mic for a second to check if it worked.
"Hello, everyone. I\'m the co-mayor of the town. My name is Yuqi."
Yuqi\'s face looked a little nervous, but she stood firmly behind the podium, taking a short glance at the paper she made this morning.
"I am here to explain the rules of the town. Please remain silent until I finish explaining. I will take questions at the end."
Yuqi flipped to the next page before resuming her talk.
"First rule, no harming in any shape or form against another. Any violation of this would be immediately kicked out of the town."
"Second rule, all land and property are leased. This means both the mansions and wood cabins cannot be owned.
Renting it is the only option at the moment. This may be expanded upon in the future."
The crowd seemed to be slightly disappointed but didn\'t vocally disagree with it.
"Third rule, everyone above the age of sixteen is required for a mandatory one-hour training every day until a month pass.
Then, it will be only on the weekend. This training will include physical fitness and learning how to use a firearm.
Everyone is responsible for the defense of the town. Every able adult is required to defend the town when the time comes."
As soon as Yuqi mentioned the firearm part, the crowd seemed a little excited, not expecting to be allowed to have something so valuable.
"Fourth rule, intentionally committing fraud against someone or theft of public property will result in banishment from the town."
Seeing the crowd seemingly accepting most of the rules, Yuqi was a little relieved.
"Fifth rule, during martial law, which is declared during a zombie attack, everyone must obey their superior\'s command.
Refusing to do so will allow your superior to execute you on sight. This is depending on the severity of the result from disobeying the order."
As soon as Yuqi read this out, the crowd started chatting. Almost as if they didn\'t want to be forced to fight.
"Please be quiet."
The crowd didn\'t seem to listen to Yuqi at all, as they kept talking to each other nonstop.
Yuqi quickly signaled to Yueyue as she led the militia up to the stage, which was fully equipped with their guns.
Everyone immediately fell into dead silence, with the only sound being the wind blowing the leaves.
"Thank you. Now, the sixth and last rule, the highest authority, which is the mayor, has the final say on all rules."
"When did we ever add that rule?"
Xiaoyun was caught off guard. He only remembered that he and Yuqi had made five rules together in the past.
The crowd immediately went ballistic, and as soon as Yuqi finished speaking, all of them chattered among themselves.
"Isn\'t this just a dictatorship? Having absolute power over everyone?" One of the people yelled from the crowd.
"Is he really trying to be a king in this small town? Nepotism? Cronyism? Where\'s democracy?"
Another person yelled from the crowd as if he wanted to stroke up people within the crowd.
"Why should he be the leader? How can we be sure he isn\'t going to abuse his power?"
Seeing the crowd starting to get rowdy, Yuqi looked over to Yueyue again.
"Everyone, please be quiet," Yuqi asked again, but the crowd didn\'t go into silence.
Within seconds, Yueyue pulled out her pistol before firing a blank shot into the air.
All the voices instantly died down again, with all of the militias raising their rifle in position.
"Thank you. Please remain seated. Now, we will talk about food stamps and work.
Jingming will explain the biggest work department of the town, the construction department."
Yuqi passed the microphone to Jingming, who looked extremely nervous with his hand shaking as he walked to the podium.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Jingming. I am the head of the construction department.
We offer two food stamps for a day of work and bonuses at the end of the week for the hardest workers.
We accept everyone who\'s looking for work. Thank you."
Jingming quickly finished his line before rushing back down to the backstage, letting Yuqi go back up to the podium.
"The next department is the office department. We are currently hiring people with experience in accounting and management.
The starting salary is four food stamps. However, we do not offer bonuses."
Yuqi paused for a second, then continued.
"Now, let\'s welcome the third department, the agriculture department. Mrs.Huayi will explain the next part."
Yuqi handed the microphone to Huayi, who looked a little nervous as she walked to the podium.
"Um, hello, everyone... I-I——"
Huayi froze as she forgot what she was supposed to say, but Yezi quickly rushed upstage before grabbing the microphone.
"I\'m sorry, but my wife is a little nervous in front of the crowd. She hasn\'t spoken to so many people at once.
Anyway, she\'s the head of the agricultural department. Currently, it\'s full, and we have no plan to expand.
However, we have set up for future expansion. So if you have the skill, please mention it."
Yezi handed the microphone back to Yuqi before walking Huayi back down to backstage.
"The next department is the last department of the civilian government. It is still in formation and has yet to be completed."
Yeqi quickly handed the microphone to Leyan as she walked up to the podium.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Leyan. I\'m just the temporary head nurse. We are currently building a hospital and looking for doctors and nurses.
The starting salary is six food stamps with bonuses. However, night shift and overtime may be required in this job."
As soon as Leyan finished, two people within the crowd suddenly stood up.
"Leyan! Is that you!" Wuli and Shuli yelled as they both waved toward her.
"Oh, hey!"
Leyan handed Yuqi back the microphone as she waved back at the two before walking backstage.
"Now for the two departments of the military branch of the town. We have Mr.Yezi, who leads Foreign Affairs.
This department focuses on outside exploration and trades with the outside. Currently, you cannot join it directly."
Yuqi spoke up for Yezi, as he was still busy calming down Huayi, who seemed to calm back down mostly.
"To join that department, you must be a part of the military department, which Major Yiming will explain."
As soon as Yuqi handed the microphone to Yiming, she could feel the crowd going much quieter than ever.
There was complete dead silence as three people in soldier\'s uniform walked up with their Type 95.
"Hello, everyone. I am a former officer. As you heard, I used to be a Major, but I hope everyone just calls me Mr.Yiming.
I am the head of the town\'s army force. I will let my two assistants explain." Yiming handed the microphone to Jixi.
"Hello, I\'m Corporal Jixi."
"And I\'m Private Gantian."
"As you know, the town has a one-hour mandatory training you will be going through.
There is also a three-hour version for people who want to be militia, which pays one food stamp per day in addition to your normal work.
Jixi handed the microphone to Gantian.
"There\'s also the option to be a soldier, which requires full time and following orders at any time.
After being a soldier, you have the option to either become on duty to patrol the wall or join Yezi\'s exploration team.
The salary is ten food stamps a day, with five food stamps on off-duty days."
Gantian passed back the microphone to Yuqi as all three of them stepped back downstage.
"Now for the final person to talk to, the mayor. Would you mind getting up here?"
Yuqi looked a little annoyed, as she was planning to have Xiaoyun as the host the whole time.
But he was sitting among the crowds, making it difficult for her to call him up until now.
As Xiaoyun got up from his seat and began walking towards the stage, the crowd was a little shocked.
They didn\'t expect the person who saved them and looked so young to be the leader of the town.
After Yuqi passed the microphone to Xiaoyun, she silently stepped onto his foot behind the podium.
Xiaoyun held a straight face, hiding his pain as Yuqi walked over to the backstage.
"Hello, everyone. I assume everyone had already seen me when we were still in the city.
Some may have seen me when we were at the hotel fighting that casino ring.
Or maybe you saw me throwing explosives out of a bus. I know I\'m not your traditional mayor.
I look way too young to be a mayor, and I don\'t look like those who just sit in the office all day with wrinkles on their face."
Xiaoyun\'s made-up speech on the spot intrigued the crowd because it didn\'t use typical bureaucratic language.
"I know you guys are upset about some of the rules, particularly me having the final say.
To be honest, I didn\'t even know that rule existed. But I can promise all of you that if I break any of the rules, I will leave my position."
The crowd was caught off guard by Xiaoyun\'s announcement, as they didn\'t expect him to make that level of promise.
"I\'m fine with our hero being the mayor!" One person yelled, and all of them cheered in agreement.
Seeing everyone seem to be full of support, an idea suddenly popped up in his head.
"Thank you everyone. Also, I want to add one last rule to this. I will have Miss Wuli to be the judge of the town.
She will have the authority to start a vote that can remove me from power if I break any rules or abuse my power."
Wuli was a little shocked by the announcement, but the crowd was ecstatic.
They felt represented by Wuli in a position of power, despite Xiaoyun not mentioning who would take his spot if he ever broke his promise.
Not to mention, he already had a solid base that was already fully supportive of his rules.