Chapter 196: The Feiyun Society Club

It was decided that Zheng Shangjie would go to Guangzhou to work and get the Zhiming Tower up and running as soon as possible. As for Qian Shuixie, everyone agreed that instead of being a “redneck” in the basic labor force in Lingao, it would be better for him to join the army. With his physical fitness and weapon skills, he was much stronger than many of the elder officers in the army.

Qian Shuiting began to lay out the plan: “Brother, you should find a way to get into the military system. I reckon that any elder who is an officer in the military system now will be at least a major general in three to five years, and they will all be leading troops, which will give them a solid foundation.”

“Okay,” Qian Shuixie nodded.

“Master, you need to help Miss Mendoza learn Chinese. Miss Mendoza is also an elder now. We need to let her play a bigger role, not just be a housewife at home…”

“You look down on housewives?” Miss Mendoza said resentfully. “My career ambition is to be a housewife…” She looked at the boat with complicated emotions.

Qian Shuiting knew that quite a few foreign women aspired to be housewives, so he just laughed it off. However, Miss Mendoza herself also thought it was necessary to learn Chinese—after all, she was now surrounded by Chinese people.

As for Zhou Weisen, everyone thought his “technical expert” label was too strong, and it would be difficult for him to transition immediately. At this stage, he could only, like Ai Beibei, speak more in the Senate as a standing committee member and engage in political activities.

“Master, your skills with guns and diving are among the best of the elders. You should give more training to everyone. You can win over a large number of people. And the army and those law enforcement agencies will come to you for training. By then, you will have students all over the world… hahaha…” Qian Shuiting found his idea more and more brilliant.

When it came to diving, Zhou Weisen was probably the only one in the transmigrator group with a professional diving instructor license—not to mention that he had also brought a large amount of specialized equipment.

Zhou Weisen nodded. “Let’s not talk about other things, but when it comes to playing with guns and sailing, there are few among the five hundred elders who are better than us. This is our strong suit. We should put more effort into this. I think we should start a diving and firearms club, and then team up with Huang Zhaozhi and the others to organize camping training, BBQs, and other activities. Most elders will definitely be interested—the Executive Committee won’t have any objections either. It’s skills training, after all. They won’t oppose it.”

“Let’s use this club as an interactive platform!” Qian Shuiting became interested. “We can use colorful outdoor activities to attract the bystander elders and subtly convey our ideas to everyone!”

To avoid making the group seem too exclusive, they decided to give it a name, preferably one that was not too political. The final name chosen was the Otaku Club—or the Otaku Party for short. Since the group’s development direction was mainly the vast number of otaku, removing the “male” character could attract some ladies.

“When our influence grows, Master, you can run for the Speaker of the Senate and get this supreme authority in your hands!” Qian Shuiting said. “This position is currently vacant, and it doesn’t seem like anyone is willing to run for it.”

“Okay! I’m willing to do it.” Zhou Weisen rubbed his hands together.

The Otaku Party’s working principle was to attract the majority of elders with rich and colorful interactive activities and to promote their political ideas. In terms of implementation, they would be strategic, only making relatively realistic and specific demands each time, rather than proposing comprehensive system reforms. The targets of reform would be specific policies, not specific people.

The ultimate goal of the Otaku Party was to establish a system of separation of powers, checks and balances, mobility, and transparency within the group, to protect the interests of the vast number of elders, especially those who did not hold power under the existing system. The most important task at present was to establish extensive contacts with other transmigrators and, within the scope of the basic rights of elders clearly stipulated in the new common program, to encourage free speech.

They would fully discuss the problems within the current system. As a specific measure, Qian Shuiting proposed to use their private assets, including servers, routers, and software, to set up an independent website not directly under the jurisdiction of the Executive Committee.

“There’s no point in doing that. First, some people will think you’re wasting resources. Although the things are our own, someone will definitely think it’s a waste of limited computer hardware. A forum used by only five hundred IDs doesn’t take up much server resources. If you set up a second one, the intention of competing for the public opinion front is too obvious,” Zhou Weisen said. “Second, in terms of content, the official forum is quite free in its atmosphere. You can find all sorts of arguments there. There are plenty of posts cursing the Executive Committee, the executive committee members, and administrative officials, and they are all kept as long as they don’t involve personal attacks. We can’t use slogans like ‘greater discussion scope’ or ‘freedom of speech’ to attract the otaku to move their discussions. You have to know that a large part of their discussions is for the ruling faction of the Executive Committee to see. Venting on a private forum is useless to them.”

Qian Shuiting thought about it and agreed. He was unwilling to let this plan to seize the public opinion front fail, so he said, “We can use providing resources to attract the otaku…”

“We are no match for the official website then,” Ai Beibei interjected with a frown. “Last time I wanted to find some cartoons for Duo Duo that she hadn’t seen, I didn’t expect that under the cartoon category for video on demand and download, there were thousands of gigabytes of 18X and 21X content, even things that wouldn’t be openly distributed in the United States!”

Zhou Weisen continued to be pessimistic: “The official website’s approach to food and sex is much more open and liberal than the Saturn community. It’s almost completely laissez-faire—even encouraging, trying to use this to wear down the thoughts and will of the bystander masses. We are unlikely to be able to compete with them in terms of resources. The official website’s server has the entire collection of five hundred otaku. Think about it, you can find all sorts of strange and wonderful things there.”

At the same time, there were questions about the specific implementation details, such as who had jurisdiction over the network, and the right to dispose of private property and time within the group. In the end, they decided to adopt a compromise: to promote the opening of more speech systems on the official website, not only to have flame wars on the BBS, but also to allow everyone to express their opinions through personal blogs, microblogs, and other forms.

With the discussion settled, they each returned to their cabins to rest. Qian Shuiting privately gave his brother special instructions: work hard in the army, maintain good relationships with colleagues, and establish your own prestige among your subordinates. Get along well with everyone, have a good grasp of the army, and have a sufficient understanding of the ideological trends within the army, but do not form cliques. On political topics, you can state your position, but do not participate in debates or try to persuade others to agree with your views.

“The people in the Executive Committee have already established a secret service—who knows if they are compiling black files. The General Political Security Bureau is a dark den,” Qian Shuiting said. “We don’t have the ability to expose their dark secrets yet. You must pay attention to your words and actions in daily life, and don’t let anyone compile a black file on you.” Qian Shuiting’s generation was quite sensitive to such things.

“Don’t worry, I know the limits! This is not the old timeline, after all. No one can cover the sky with one hand.”

In the following days, the North American branch actively carried out its activities according to the established policy. Zheng Shangjie entered the Guangzhou station and quickly took control of the back-end operations of the Zhiming Tower. Qian Shuixie, by playing guns with Xue Ziliang, not only successfully established a personal relationship with Bei Wei but also, on Xue Ziliang’s recommendation, successfully entered the Special Reconnaissance Team and became the captain of the Sanya sub-detachment.

Zhou Weisen, in preparation for his future campaign for the Speaker of the Senate, began to cultivate a “pro-people” image and moved to the farm. The biological laboratory was located at the Nanhai Farm, and those engaged in biological research, regardless of their field, basically lived there. First, it was close to work. Second, it facilitated communication. Third, the environment and food supply at the farm were better than in the collective dormitories in Bairen City. For this reason, Zhou Weisen went to great lengths to persuade Mendoza to move, even having to promise that she could return to the boat for a few days whenever she wanted.

Qian Shuiting was secretly pleased to see everything progressing so smoothly. He had originally wanted to move his family to Bairen City and hand over the yacht, but he was met with firm opposition from Ai Beibei. She was fine with it herself, but she resolutely disagreed with letting Duo Duo live in a prefab house. Furthermore, Qian Shuixie and his wife had not agreed to move either. The yacht’s very complete kitchen and bathroom facilities were what she was most reluctant to part with. In her view, handing it over would just be a waste of resources.

“Besides, aren’t you going to use this yacht for a club? Mendoza also needs to come back to stay sometimes. The club needs someone to manage it anyway. We can just be the managers. We only occupy a few bedrooms, it’s not a big deal.”

Qian Shuiting couldn’t win against his wife and had to agree to keep the boat for club use only. He would turn the upper part of the boat, the recreational community, into a public space for all transmigrators. The configuration of this yacht was a luxury that only a few wealthy people could access even in the timeline the transmigrators had left. If it were opened, it should be more popular than the current cafes in the city.

Qian Shuiting went to see Xiao Zishan and expressed his hope to use the boat to open a non-profit clubhouse on the bank of the Wenlan River outside Bairen City. Their excuse to Xiao Zishan was: since the transmigrators were now allowed to form clubs, they would turn the boat into a clubhouse called the “Feiyun Society.” It would be given priority for club activities and could also be used as a private gathering and leisure place for the transmigrators—reservations would be accepted. To give everyone a chance to use it, any association or individual would be limited from continuously booking the venue.

The boat would still be managed and maintained by Qian Shuiting and the others. He stated that he would not turn it into a for-profit venue, and it would be managed by him, his wife, and Mendoza. Besides the club’s own activities, other associations and individuals could use it for a reasonable fee.

As for the consumer goods, the elders would pay for them out of their own pockets. These goods would be purchased by the Feiyun Society at cost, with a small charge for wear and tear, but no markup for profit.

The North American group’s calculation was: by partially ceding the right to use the Feiyun, they could shed the burden of being seen as detached from the masses without losing ownership and use of the boat. Providing more recreational and leisure spaces for everyone and attracting elders to gather there would make it a platform for expressing opinions and communication, an auxiliary tool for mobilizing the masses and carrying out parliamentary reform.

In addition, Qian Shuiting also hoped that through this public space, he could better understand the ideological dynamics within the group.

With his plan complete, Qian Shuiting went to the Executive Committee’s compound. He was prepared to talk to Xiao Zishan face-to-face about this matter. He believed Xiao Zishan would not reject the proposal—he had no reason to. It was beneficial to all elders. If he opposed it, he would first expose the matter on the BBS and question the General Office’s level of service to the elders.

After registering and waiting in line, he successfully met with Xiao Zishan.

“I am Xiao Zishan. You are—Qian… Qian Shui… Do you have something to discuss with me?”

Qian Shuiting, of course, knew Xiao Zishan, but it was clear the other man was not very familiar with him. He quickly introduced himself: “I am Qian Shuiting from the Planning Committee, ah, now called the Planning Commission. Executive Committee Member Xiao, there’s something I’d like to ask for your instruction on…”

“Just call me Xiao Zishan,” the man said with a gentle smile, quickly standing up to greet him. “Sit, sit, or you can call me comrade.”

“Alright, Comrade Xiao…” Qian Shuiting found it awkward to say. He was already used to the changed meaning of “comrade” in the Chinese-speaking world. He then explained the matter of turning the Feiyun into a club.

“…It’s not good for our three families to occupy this boat all the time. It’s better to share the joy than to enjoy it alone! It can also enrich the masses’ leisure and cultural life…”

Xiao Zishan was silent for a moment, as if waiting for him to add something, before he spoke: “The Feiyun, it was stated from the beginning that it is the confirmed property of your three North American families. It seems inappropriate to make it for public use.”

“We are voluntarily making it a public entertainment venue. The ownership is still ours.” Qian Shuiting had anticipated that Xiao Zishan would use the protection of private property as an argument and had prepared his response.

Xiao Zishan finally agreed to his request, but the location could not be on the Wenlan River.

“A boat of over 100 tons can’t reach the Bairen Tan pier,” Xiao Zishan said. “And the Wenlan River is currently undergoing sectional water conservancy projects, making navigation inconvenient. I think the Feiyun should be moved to Lingao Cape.”

So the Feiyun was moved to the vicinity of Wu De’s villa at Lingao Cape. Wu De had immediately handed over the villa to the General Office for use in the atmosphere of “liquidating privileges” during the Second General Assembly. Xiao Zishan knew that the area around Wu De’s villa had a beautiful environment and was relatively safe, so he decided to make it the core of a leisure and entertainment area for the elders.

Now that the Feiyun was also going to be a club, Xiao Zishan didn’t think much about it and decided on a public-private partnership, having the Feiyun anchor in the bay in front of Wu De’s villa. A jetty and a waterfront platform had already been built there, and there were plans to build some holiday cabins around the villa.

Just as the preparations for the opening of the Feiyun Society were in full swing, news of the government forces’ encirclement campaign reached Lingao. This was followed by a partial mobilization, the suspension of all non-essential construction projects, and then centralized military training for the elders and large-scale militarization. With Zheng Shangjie’s withdrawal from the Guangzhou station, trade between the mainland and Lingao was completely cut off. The Qian brothers and Zhou Weisen could no longer get the necessary supplies to open the Feiyun Society.

After experiencing the trade blockade, the Battle of Chengmai, and the victory celebrations, although Qian Shuiting, Zheng Shangjie, and others had gone through Li Mei and Fang Fei’s channels and passed a resolution to hold an “annual meeting,” the problem of material shortages after the victory and the interruption of trade was still not resolved. This was followed by the “Pearl River Campaign,” and the matter was delayed once again.

Finally, the Pearl River Campaign secured the reopening of trade and a series of other rights. From the Executive Committee down to the ordinary elders, everyone was finally in a celebratory mood. With Qian Shuiting’s lobbying, the resolution to continue with the annual meeting was passed in the Senate. Not only would many elders from Guangzhou and Leizhou return to Lingao for the annual meeting, but even some from Sanya would also return. Qian Shuiting felt that there was no time to lose. He had to seize this opportunity to make a name for the Feiyun!

He immediately became active. His wife had little time—the health department was the busiest department in the transmigrator group. He himself was not much better off; the Planning Commission was extremely busy after the war, with a flood of statistical reports and all sorts of numbers piling up on their desks. Almost everyone had to work late into the night to process the day’s reports. But his sister-in-law had been idle since returning from Guangzhou, apart from attending debriefings and hearings. This fighting force could be effectively utilized.

Zheng Shangjie did not disappoint him. During her idle time in Lingao, she became very close to Li Mei. The two had much to discuss about how to do business, especially on the issue of the Lingao version of the Zhiming Tower, which Li Mei had high hopes for. They had in-depth discussions.

Li Mei’s interest in business had not diminished since the cooperative was nationalized—it was probably a hobby of hers. She felt that the transmigrator group’s trend of full nationalization would not last long. Sooner or later, there would be “system reform.” Even if there was no “dividing the state-owned enterprise pie,” it was always possible to allow elders to run their own businesses. It wouldn’t be difficult to raise some capital and start an industry then. Zheng Shangjie promised to have Qian Shuiting propose this matter at a future Senate meeting, which greatly increased Li Mei’s favorable impression of her. And Li Mei was also very interested in holding the annual meeting. She promised to strongly support the Feiyun Society’s activities at the annual meeting.

Zheng Shangjie then went to persuade Fang Fei, expressing the Feiyun Society’s willingness to fully undertake the annual meeting activities, including full planning, providing some venues, and providing some entertainment activities. Fang Fei was feeling overwhelmed with work and was naturally happy to have someone willing to sponsor. The two sides hit it off immediately and established a cooperative relationship.