Chapter 319: Resignation

“Chief Wen, this is not the time for you to be issuing quotes,” Ran Yao said, interrupting as Chief Wen began to spout another one of his irrelevant “supreme directives.” Outside, the waves of shouting were growing louder and louder. “The masses are at our door!”

“Don’t be nervous,” Wen Desi said, walking out. Ran Yao quickly followed. In the hallway, the key cadres of the Internal Affairs department were all waiting, wearing helmets and holding riot shields made of rattan.

As soon as Wen Desi stepped out of his office, Wu Fo quickly handed him an ‘80-style steel helmet.

“Don’t wear the helmet, it’s bad for our image,” Chief Wen instructed.

The group walked downstairs in silence. On the staircase, they met Ma Qianzhu, who spoke in a low voice with Ran Yao. The word “Dugu” was mentioned, so everyone knew they were discussing Dugu Qiuhun’s attempt to suppress the protest. Judging by Ran Yao’s words and relaxed expression, the situation seemed to be under control.

At that moment, the other Executive Committee members in the compound also appeared. Wu De, Xiao Zishan, Cheng Dong, and the others all showed up. Xiao Zishan even had a steel helmet on his head.

The noise from below grew louder and louder. Someone outside was shouting, “Whoever dares to screw the masses over, the masses will screw them over!”

This was followed by a wave of cheers and jeers. Ran Yao knew that many in the crowd were just there for the spectacle, and few were truly looking to cause trouble. He felt a little more at ease.

“Let’s go.”

Contrary to what one might expect, the entrance to the Executive Committee compound was not heavily guarded. The main gate was wide open. There were no native guards on duty at night, so the crowd surged in and packed the courtyard.

The lights in all the Executive Committee offices were on. Shan Liang and the others hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to storm the building like the Winter Palace to establish a Soviet, or to stop here and call for the leaders to come out and negotiate.

In that moment of hesitation, Ma Jia had already jumped out. “Everyone, please be quiet! We will now elect representatives to go inside and negotiate with the Executive Committee…”

“Negotiate my ass! Let’s rush in and drag them out!” someone shouted from the crowd.

“All maids to the transmigrators!”

“Kick out the Executive Committee, we’ll be the bosses! We can have as many maids as we want!”

“Distribute all the girls from the Normal School and the nurses!”

“Let’s start by communizing the foreign women!” Xiao Bailang leaped out. “All foreign women belong to the public! Long live the public ownership of high-quality breeding material!”

Ding Ding was on the side, taking pictures for the news. He wore an armband that said “Lingao Times” and was bustling about. When Xiao Bailang saw him, he thought about how Ding Ding spent his days taking pictures and writing articles for his crappy Lingao Times, and his nights with his long-legged, shapely foreign girlfriend, getting laid until he was sick of it. Meanwhile, he himself faced a kiln fire and dozens of kiln workers whose skin was like dried cowhide every day, with no room for even a fantasy. Fueled by alcohol, he couldn’t help but raise his arm and shout:

“Lingao Times, full of bullshit!”

Hearing someone targeting foreign women and openly attacking the newspaper he had painstakingly built, Ding Ding flew into a rage. He stopped taking pictures and shouted back, “Down with the counter-revolutionary Xiao Bailang, who hides among the transmigrators and wishes for nothing but chaos! Resolutely support the correct leadership of the Executive Committee!”

From that moment on, everyone began to vent their personal grievances. Slogans of “Down with XX” and “Down with XX” rose and fell. Anyone who had had a past argument or held a slight grudge was now a target. Accusations of “traitor,” “scab,” “sellout,” and “collaborator” flew freely. The gentlemen of the Executive Committee were, of course, “overthrown” countless times.

In the midst of the chaos, Ma Jia jumped onto the steps and shouted, “I firmly oppose this! Some people want to throw the situation into chaos so they can pull their own chestnuts out of the fire for themselves. We will not allow it!”

The members of the Law Club immediately roared in support:

“We want stability, not civil unrest!”

“Those with ulterior motives, get out!”

“Anyone who resorts to vandalism and looting is an enemy of the transmigrators!”

“Follow the law!”

“Resolutely strike down the small handful of people with ulterior motives!”

“Civil unrest is suicide!”

“Whoever tries to mess up the Transmigration Group for a while, the Transmigration Group will mess up their entire life!”

The Law Club members made up a fifth of the crowd, and their combined shouting had a powerful effect. The crowd quieted down a little.

At this point, Mei Lin from the construction company appeared from somewhere, jumped onto the steps, and shouted, “Do you people have any foresight at all? In the future, we will all be part of a dynasty that lasts for ten thousand generations! Never mind a few women; our descendants will be able to pick as many women as they want from all over the world! And you can’t even hold back now…”

He was immediately pelted with rotten vegetables and mud. Ma Jia was alarmed to see this unexpected interruption. While Mei Lin’s words might have sounded reasonable, they were the kind of “grand principles” the masses hated most. At this moment, the onlookers were burning with desire and needed cash in hand. They couldn’t care less about long-term promissory notes like “a dynasty for ten thousand generations” or “distribution according to need.” Angering the crowd would interrupt the “stability maintenance” he had worked so hard to achieve.

Mei Lin dodged and weaved, trying to say more, but Ma Jia pulled him down. As they were struggling, the lights above the main entrance suddenly blazed to life, and the searchlights on the corner towers also switched on. The courtyard, previously dimly lit, was now as bright as day. The noisy crowd was momentarily stunned. Some, sensing trouble, thought the Executive Committee had set an ambush. Perhaps riflemen were hidden in the buildings on either side, with tractors waiting outside, ready to “purge” them at a moment’s notice. Terrified, they turned to flee.

Just then, gentle folk music began to play from the high-powered speakers in the courtyard. Then, Du Wen’s voice came over the speakers: “Everyone, don’t panic, don’t panic! Commissar Ma and Chairman Wen are coming out to meet you!”

The music switched to the majestic “March of the Athletes.” Accompanied by the march, the key members of the Executive Committee appeared one by one on the steps.

Wen Desi cleared his throat, strode forward, and announced loudly, “I’m sorry, comrades, I’m late!”

Before he could finish, a rotten turnip flew straight at him. Chief Wen, with agile reflexes, ducked to avoid it. Ran Yao quickly grabbed a megaphone and shouted, “If you have opinions, state them! If you have ideas, voice them! But the use of violence is absolutely forbidden!”

The members of the Law Club shouted in support:

“Don’t be used by those with ulterior motives!”

“Reason with facts, don’t engage in personal attacks!”

“We want civil debate, not physical struggle!”

Seeing Ran Yao, the head of the security apparatus, had a certain deterrent effect. Coupled with the Law Club’s calls for calm, and the fact that the Executive Committee had come out to face them instead of hiding, the atmosphere eased slightly.

Chief Wen maintained his composure. “Seeing everyone come to the Executive Committee to voice their opinions in this way has pierced my heart.” He put on a pained expression. “Your opinions are absolutely right! It is the Executive Committee that has not done its job well!”

His straightforward admission of fault took everyone by surprise. Shan Liang had expected Chief Wen to make excuses. He had even anticipated what those excuses might be and had prepared his rebuttals. Now, all his ammunition was useless.

“Comrades,” Chief Wen said, gesturing for silence as the crowd quieted down. “Regarding the issue of life-secretaries that you are all most concerned about, I personally have always been very supportive. One life-secretary is definitely not enough. There should be at least seven, one for each day of the week!”

The expressions on the faces of the crowd were extremely complex. They were at a loss as to how to react to Chief Wen’s sudden declaration. Since Chief Wen himself said that distributing maids was a good thing, the movement they had launched seemed to have lost its target.

“But as you all surely know, the Executive Committee is a system of collective leadership,” Wen Desi said eloquently. “My opinion alone does not decide everything. The general opinion of the Executive Committee has been to concentrate all our efforts on production. The calls for distributing maids—no, for assigning secretaries—have not been taken seriously. The issue has been dragged out until now without a resolution. We have failed to provide everyone with a life of dignity. This is our dereliction of duty. It is the result of the Executive Committee failing to consistently put the interests of the masses first. A lesson, a lesson indeed.” His tone shifted. “I bear leadership responsibility. Effective immediately, I resign from my position as Chairman of the Executive Committee.”

The other committee members did not seem surprised by Wen Desi’s announcement, but a commotion ran through the crowd.

At this point, Ma Qianzhu also stepped forward. “According to the resolution of the first general assembly before D-Day, a state of emergency was to be in effect for six months after D-Day, after which a second general assembly would be convened. It has now been a year and a half. Before the second assembly is held, I propose that the entire Executive Committee resign. We will temporarily remain in our posts and form a caretaker cabinet until a new Executive Committee is elected by the general assembly, at which point we will hand over power.”

The committee members present declared their agreement in unison. Thus, the first Executive Committee came to an end. Its last official resolution was to appoint the Director of the Executive Committee Office, Xiao Zishan, as the Prime Minister of the caretaker cabinet.

The crowd’s enthusiasm waned. The vigorous demonstration, which had seemed destined for a dramatic struggle—many had imagined sharp debates, righteous defiance, and fearless courage—had seemingly succeeded in less than half an hour after entering the compound. The revolution was over; the Executive Committee had been dissolved.

Perhaps no revolution had ever succeeded so quickly. From its inception to its conclusion, it had lasted less than four hours. Shan Liang, who had been prepared to debate the Executive Committee and become the first dissident of this new era, had lost his chance to fully showcase himself in front of the masses.

Shan Liang became anxious. If things ended like this, all his efforts in leading the revolution would have been in vain. He stood up and declared, “You committee members can’t just brush aside historical issues! You must give an account for the problems the masses have raised, right now!”

Sun Li also quickly jumped out. “This matter can’t just be glossed over like this! We don’t care if you resign or not, first clarify the maid situation!”