Chapter 36: Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration

After another week, the other side of the entrance was complete. This time, it was much faster since everyone had a lot more experience.

Xiaoyun was discussing with Yezi at the dining table, waiting for the food to be cooked.

"So if we want to connect the two walls, Jingming said it's going to take at least two months?" Xiaoyun asked.

"Yep, he told me that trees that are in the way are going to take a long time to chop down. Since we don't have a chainsaw or excavator of some sort to dig the root, it might take even longer." Yezi replied.

"Not like we have anything else for them to do. Might as well let them start removing the forest then."

"Yeah, about that... I was thinking of moving some of them away from building the wall. At least half of them..."

Seeing Yezi looking a little hesitant to say it out, Xiaoyun got a little curious.

"Why? Is there something else we need to build?"

"Um, well, everyone wanted their housing. Even if it is a mansion, it's still awkward for multiple families living in one house.

I was thinking of building several wooden houses between the empty gaps of the mansions, like those individual houses in the rural area.

Then we can give incentives to more important workers like Jingming and Qijian by giving them the mansion, as well as the more hard-working ones." Yezi explained his idea.

Xiaoyun thought for a second, then shook his head.

"We should get our defense done first before something like houses. We still don't know when the zombies are going to wonder to hear from the city." Xiaoyun argued.

After thinking for a bit, Yezi backed down and agreed to Xiaoyun's idea, as he had experienced the danger firsthand.

"You're right. Let's continue with the wall... Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you since it's almost the Mid-Autumn Festival in three days.

I'm planning to throw a celebration to cheer everyone up and give them a break since they have been working nonstop for the past two weeks."

"Sure. I can provide whatever you guys need for the celebration... Hey, you guys, do you want to help plan the Mid-Autumn Festival?" Xiaoyun yelled across the kitchen.

"Of course we do!" All of the girls yelled back from inside the kitchen.

"Okay, okay. You guys will talk with Yezi then."

---

Three days have passed.

It was finally the day for the Mid-Autumn Festival, in the middle of what used to be an empty grass field now filled with tables and chairs.

Before all the tables was a small little stage, and behind it was the backstage that had a ton of smoke coming out.

"Sister Mimi, where are we sitting?" Lily asked as she held Nami's hand and walked through the massive crowd at the entrance.

"We are sitting... near the front right there!"

As the two finally settle down at their table, the crowd of people also settles down in their seats.

"Geez, Nami, what took you two so long?" Yueyue curiously asked as she had been sitting there for a while now.

"We just had to go to the restroom," Nami replied.

"Where's mom?" Nami asked.

"She's helping to cook in the back. You can check if you want. It's still a while before it starts." Yuqi answered as she looked a little bored sitting in her seat.

"Okay!"

Nami and Lily quickly got up from their seats and headed over to the backstage, where a ton of people were cooking food on a massive wok.

More importantly, Leyan was in the middle, holding a massive wok in one hand before a propane stove.

"Hey, Mom!" Nami waved toward Leyan.

"Oh hey, Mimi." Leyan waved back.

After standing there for a while, Nami and Lily both ran out of the backstage, their faces blushing red.

All because all the women backstage were chattering with Leyan.

"Miss Leyan, you have such a good son. I wish my son were like yours, able to bring so much food from the city and be such a good leader," one of the women commented.

"Xiaoyun is really smart too." Huayi complimented.

"Yeah... I am so lucky to have him as my s-son." Leyan stuttered as she almost froze for a second.

"Is your son single? He looks so young, so he probably is, right?" the second woman asked curiously.

"Um... I don't know... I-uh, I think he is single." Leyan nervously replied as she swung the wok up.

"What a coincidence, my daughter is also single. I think they will make a great match." The second woman spoke again.

"Hey, my daughter is also single. I think they are an even better match. Also, isn't your daughter still in middle school?" The third women chime in.

"Yeah, so what? We can always betrothal them and marry later," the second woman argued back.

"Ma'am, what do you think about me? Can I marry your son?" The fourth woman asked directly.

"S-sorry, you guys need to ask him directly... I-I can't arrange that." Leyan replied as she tried her best to focus on cooking.

"Come on, you're his mom, right? He has to listen to you for marriage." The first women argued.

Leyan didn't say anything back but only smiled back as she didn't want to reply to any more questions.

---

Meanwhile, Xiaoyun, Yezi, and Renqin were sitting together at one of the tables in the front.

"Wait, why didn't anyone tell me that I was going to have a speech?" Xiaoyun asked in a slightly irritated tone.

"Come on, it's not that hard to say some encouraging words. Yuqi told me that you're used to public speaking, right?" Yezi replied.

"Well, she isn't wrong... But that's beside the point. You can't just tell me to make a speech less than ten minutes to prepare."

Xiaoyun thought back to the speeches he had given at the yearly company meeting and public relationship with Songming, but it was a completely different situation.

"Hey, Xiaoyun, have you thought about making yourself the mayor? This would be the perfect time to announce it." Renqin suggested out of nowhere.

"What? Mayor?" Xiaoyun asked in a surprised tone.

"Yeah, what's wrong? Somebody has got to lead, and you're already leading, so you might as well make it official." Rinqin stated.

"I think Renqin's idea is genius. I never thought of that at all. You should be the mayor." Yezi backed Renqin up.

"Yezi, don't you want to do it? I don't really want to do this. I just want to relax at home and enjoy life."

Seeing Xiaoyun with a strong refusal on his face, the two looked at each other for a second, then turned back to Xiaoyun.

"People want a young, strong leader. I'm too old and chubby. I look more like a villain than a hero.

Besides, all the food is from you. Everyone here knows what you have done for this town. There is no other option other than you.

If you are worried that I'm jealous, brother, I am not jealous of it at all. Trust me, you don't want me to be the leader."

Yezi patted Xiaoyun on the shoulder, showing genuine support on his face towards him. But Xiaoyun was still a little hesitant.

"Renqin. Aren't you the elected leader of your group? You don't want to be a leader?" Xiaoyun asked, as Renqin was now his last hope.

"Of course not. The group has already disbanded a long time ago. They all live by themselves, so I'm just a free man.

Also, I literally just said to let you be the leader. Why would I say yes to that now?" Renqin laughed as he languished Xiaoyun's last hope.

With no other choices, Xiaoyun slowly came to acceptance as the burden of responsibility was now on his shoulders.

"Fine... I guess I will be the mayor then." Xiaoyun sighed.

---

It was finally time, as the clock hit seven.

The food was now served on each table, with everyone seated in their assigned seat as Xiaoyun and Yezi stood on the stage.

"Hello, is this working? Okay, hello, everyone! Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! " Yezi said on the microphone.

The crowd started clapping.

"I hope everyone can enjoy the food today. Can we get a round of applause for the chefs?" Yezi stated as he pointed toward the chef, who just started sitting down.

The crowd clapped again.

"Besides the celebration of this holiday, I want to announce something. Let's give a round of applause for our leader, Xiaoyun!"

After Yezi handed the microphone over to Xiaoyun, he quickly ran back down to his table.

"Good evening, everyone. I just want to say thank you for everyone's hard work. The wall and all the improvement to this town couldn't done without you all.

You all should be proud of it. Let's give applause to all the hard workers!"

The crowd clapped louder and louder until Xiaoyun signaled everyone to calm down.

"Ahem, I assume everyone knows me, but I am going to introduce myself again. Hello, my name is Chen Xiaoyun.

I was just a university student before this outbreak. I was all alone in this world, being an orphan ever since I could remember."

The crowd below the stage felt a little bad, as none of them knew about Xiaoyun's background at all.

"But luckily, just a day before the outbreak, I was able to meet my loved ones. Without them, I probably would have never been here."

As Xiaoyun waved at Leyan's table, the crowd showed a slight sign of relief, as it appeared to be a happy ending.

"I'm really thankful for them. But more importantly, I'm thankful for Brother Yezi. If it weren't for him helping me, I wouldn't even be here at this stage.

I would probably be back at home, rotting on the sofa all day, not wanting to go out and help people."

Yezi smiled back at Xiaoyun, feeling honored to be mentioned in the speech, especially since several people were yelling 'Me too' after mentioning his name.

"Let's talk about something more important for now. I know some of you might be worrying about things like if we have enough food since we are clearly using a lot of food just for this festival.

But I just want to announce that we have an entire inventory full of food. As proof, I'll now show you all a video."

Xiaoyun clicked a few buttons on a remote, which turned on the projector to in front of the stage.

After waiting for a few seconds, a video finally appeared.

Yuqi was in the 302 mansion, where a massive freezer was full of food and cans stacked on top of each other.

"Hello everyone! I'm Yuqi. Today is Monday, just two days before the mid-autumn festival! As you can see, we have enough food.

I counted the inventory three times. If we keep at the same pace, it is enough for us to last at least several months straight."

As Yuqi finished talking, she stood still until Yuqi spoke up again.

"Nami, Yueyue, video done?"

"Sorry." Both of their voices came out as the video cuts to an end.

"Ahem, now is everyone assured now that we have enough food?" Xiaoyun asked out loud.

"Yes!" Everyone yelled back and cheered in excitement.

"That's good... I'm also happy to announce that we made a food stamp that can directly trade food at 302 every morning and afternoon!

No longer will you need to rely on only having one can of food or just being the hardest three working worker." Xiaoyun announced.

"How do we get the food stamps?" One of the people in the crowd asked.

"Through work! Before you guys want to have one minimum food guarantee back, would you be happy if someone gets food by barely working?"

Seeing the crowd fall into silence, Xiaoyun knew the plan he and Yezi had made the past few days had the people's support.

"From now on, all work will pay an equivalent amount of food stamps. For example, Mr. Jingming and Mr.Qijian will receive twelve food stamps per day——"

"How much is each food stamp worth?" Another person in the crowd interrupted.

"Each food stamp can be traded in a can of vegetable, two food stamps for one can of meat—three food stamps for food in the freezer.

Two people working is enough to feed at least five people in the family. Considering everyone here is two parents with a kid, only one person working would still be enough.

Although I encourage everyone to work, and for the elderly who are alone, you can go to 302 to discuss about your situation." Xiaoyun added.

"Thank you, sir!"

As the crowd started clapping again, Xiaoyun was happy with his idea, which was working as expected.

As the crowd finished clapping, Xiaoyun could see Yezi giving him an eye signal as if signaling him to make the next announcement.

Xiaoyun sighed for a second before picking up the microphone again, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"I want to ask everyone a question. Is everyone happy with where they are right now?" Xiaoyun suddenly asked.

"Yes! Without you, sir, we would have been dead!" Lingang yelled out in support.

"Yeah! Without you, we all would be dead!"

The six that Xiaoyun had rescued in the mansion all yell in support, their face filled with happiness.

"Thank you. But I want to ask everyone here: Are you happy with me? I know we have only known each other for three weeks.

Here, let me ask you this: Have I mistreated anyone here or forced anyone to work?" Xiaoyun asked as he put down the microphone.

"No, sir. You have been the most generous person I have seen!" an elderly man yelled in the crowd.

"Yeah!" The crowd started cheering for Xiaoyun.

"Thank you, thank you." Xiaoyun bowed down in gratitude.

After the crowd calmed back down, Xiaoyun continued.

"Can we have a moment of silence for people who have fallen? I know some of you have lost family members from this outbreak.

I'm not even sure if any of my classmates or friends are alive out there. We may not see them again, but they will always be in our hearts."

The crowd fell dead silent until the minute had passed.

"But let's not drown in sadness. They wouldn't want us to be sad if they were here. We must continue to carry on with hope."

As Xiaoyun raised his hand, the crowd clapped and cheered louder than ever before.

Before Xiaoyun could put down the microphone, he could see Yezi giving him the eye signal again.

"I have one last question for everyone. Would you guys support me becoming the mayor and leader of this small town?"

Xiaoyun said it out loud all at once, then put the mic back down and waited for their response.

But the crowd fell into complete silence until somebody spoke up.

"Sir, you had been the leader the whole time... isn't it a bit late to ask that?"

The entire crowd nodded in agreement, with people murmuring among each other, all showing a confused face towards Xiaoyun's question.

"Oh... Well then. Thank you everyone!"

As Xiaoyun scratched his head in awkwardness, the entire crowd burst into laughter.

"Have a happy Mid-Autumn Festival. Please enjoy yourself!"

Xiaoyun quickly put down the microphone and ran down the stage to his table as the crowd burst into laughter and cheers.

"Ha! Looks like there was no reason even to say that out loud." Yezi joked as Xiaoyun's face was full of embarrassment.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

As Xiaoyun turned his attention to the food on the table, the girls' attention was completely different.

"Xiaoyun! That was amazing!" Nami said, her eyes glazing with hearts.

"Thank you."

"I'm glad you went with the food stamp. I was getting worried that people would refuse it." Yuqi raised her concern as she picked up a shrimp with her chopstick.

"Well, people wanted to work and be able to earn more than others. The fact that they work extra hard when Qijian selected three people showed they are willing to work harder." Xiaoyun replied.

"You're right. It's human nature to want to improve their lives..." Yuqi murmured as she dug into the rice.

"But how about the elderly and the young? What if they don't have a family that can support them?" Yueyue suddenly brought it up.

"Yueyue, do you think they can survive in this environment? Have you not noticed all the elderly and younger kids that made it here are with healthy adults?" Leyan reminded.

"Oh, right... But then what's the point of saying that last part?" Yueyue murmured as he thought back to what Xiaoyun mentioned about going to 302.

"Ahem, let's stop talking about business. It's a day to celebrate!" Xiaoyun interrupted the two from talking about it any further.

"Let's cheer!" Huayi lifted her wine glass in excitement.

"Cheers!"

Everyone on the table lifted the wine glass as well, except for Nami and Lily, who cheered with soda in their glass as they were still a little too young to drink.