Twenty Seven Years

  Chapter 408 Making a plan is like a debate contest

"Then I will also mention my thoughts." Even the Oscars have been recognized, Stuart decided to talk about his own, "I think we should find a way to unite the people on Peace Street. We don't understand Let them gradually acquire the power of self-defense. In this way, if the inspectors want to take advantage of it, or if they want to hurt anyone, they have to weigh whether they are determined to make an enemy of the entire Heping Street."

   "Not bad." Quentin boasted routinely.

"In the final analysis, the settlers in the block must be united. This is the key." Clark didn't have any detailed ideas, but he felt that no matter what he wanted to do, unity was the foundation. "The settlers themselves have no background. If we don't support each other at the bottom, there is really nothing we can do."

   Quentin asked: "Then how can we unite everyone?"

  No one spoke easily this time.

  In the past five days, they have met many residents of Heping Street. They know the selfishness of these people. If they could unite, they would have united earlier.

Seeing that no one spoke, Connie tried to express her own opinion: "I don't think it's that complicated, just let everyone know the importance of unity. Their selfishness is driven by their interests, so if unity benefits more, they will naturally take the initiative to form a group .”

   "Unity is sure to maximize the benefits, but it may not be manifested in the short term. This is a test of whether everyone has a long-term vision." Clark is not very optimistic.

  Unity is something that is easy to say but difficult to do.

  Because that means that sometimes it is necessary to tolerate the sacrifice of the ego. If the ego is unwilling to sacrifice, the so-called whole will collapse in an instant.

   "Comrade Quentin, tell me what you think." Stuart said in a slightly urging tone. He knew that Quentin must have an idea, and now he just wanted to test them.

"My idea...is simpler than yours." Seeing that everyone was at an impasse, Quentin no longer wasted time, and confided his plan, "I want to support a backbone in the peace relay, and this person will unite everyone and lead Everyone."

   "That's true..." Stuart's eyes lit up.

"Now the people in charge of Heping Street are all Bash people. They have a close relationship with the patrol team. The reason why the patrol team can do such mischief here is because of their connivance." Quentin said in detail, "So we have to support, we can only Find candidates from among the settlers."

  Clark followed Quentin's thoughts and thought downwards: "Why can't this person be you? As the owner of the tavern, you are very suitable to be the backbone."

   "I have thought about it, but we are new to everyone and we are not familiar with everyone. It is not possible to get everyone together within ten days." Quentin himself denied the feasibility of this earlier.

   "My point of view is exactly the opposite of yours. Familiar faces know the bottom line, and it is not so easy to change. On the contrary, we are strangers to everyone, and it is easier to establish an image of daring to resist in their hearts." Clark said.

Quentin still didn't quite agree: "If it were us, first, we would be noticed by the inspection team, and there would be a risk of exposure. Second, we would only stay here for ten days, even if we were successful within ten days. What about ten days later? Let’s go, and this place will return to its original state?”

"That's not necessarily the case. What we should basically do is push them to unite and let them taste the sweetness of unity. As long as they deeply understand that unity is the only way out, it won't matter if we leave .” Clark’s point of view collided with Quentin’s.

   "You overestimate them."

"Is it possible that you think other backbones can continue to be the backbone? What if we set up someone else as the backbone, and he collapsed as soon as we left? Does that mean that all our previous efforts have been wasted? The backbone is not fundamental, let everyone try Seeing the sweetness is the root, and it is the key to unite against the inspection team."

"I agree with your thinking. What I disagree with you is that there is a risk of exposure if we come forward, and we are newcomers. Compared with the old people here, it is more difficult to obtain the approval of the residents. Ten days, it is necessary to obtain their approval. Recognition, but also let them taste the sweetness of unity, this is too tight."

  Stuart, Connie, and Oscar silently watched the two discuss.

   "Boom boom boom."

  Suddenly, a knock on the compartment door interrupted them.

   "Boss, there are guests coming to see you." The bartender's voice came from outside the door.

guest?

  The current cubicle is not convenient for guests to come in, but the bartender comrades know that Stuart and the others have come here to meet Quentin, so they should not bring the guests directly.

   "Where are the guests?" Quentin asked through the door.

   "The customer is by my side." Comrade bartender said.

   "...Come in." Quentin was silent for two seconds before allowing the guests to come in.

  Stuart, Clark and others immediately became nervous.

   "Don't be nervous." Quentin reassured.

  If it is not his own, it is impossible for the bartender comrade to bring the guests over when he knows that other comrades are with Quentin.

  The door opened.

   As expected, the person who came was one of his own—Verak.

   "Why are you here?!"

   "Comrade Verac!"

   "Scared us, why didn't you say a word outside the door..." Oscar said with lingering fear as he made room for Veraker.

   "Look, Comrade Quentin is not nervous at all, don't you want to know why?" Verak sat down with a smile.

"Let me introduce to you again, this is Victor, a comrade disguised as a bartender." Quentin looked at Victor the bartender, "The reason why I am not worried is because Victor knows you are here, so he will not Possibly leading strangers to the door of the cubicle and denying us access."

   "Yes." Stuart nodded, as if he had thought of it himself.

  The bartender Victor kept smiling: "Do you need me to prepare some drinks for you?"

   "Kvass." Verak was the first to say.

  Before he came, he had heard many people say that the kvass in Bash was delicious.

   "We are the same." Quentin said on behalf of others.

   "Okay, wait a minute." Victor closed the door and left.

   "Why did you come here?" Oscar, who was sitting next to Veraker, asked.

"Our place is a bit too boring. I heard that you are going to have the second part of the exercise here, so I thought of coming over to see it." It's just that we haven't seen each other for five days, but when Verak sees a few people again, he feels very kind, "Yes Quentin, shouldn't they arrive tomorrow? Why are they here now, didn't they work hard?"

   "Listen to them." Quentin didn't say much.

  The 'mastermind' Stuart, who arrived early on purpose, coughed a few times: "We finished our work at night, thinking that since the first part of the exercise has been completed, there is no need to wait another night to reunite, so we came together."

   "Is that so." Veraker looked at the four of them with interest, "How do you feel these five days?"

   "Some." Clark, who almost caused big trouble, first talked about his gains, and then the other three also roughly talked about their experiences.

"It's very good. You always have to come to the bottom to live and live by yourself, so that you can really find out what is trapping them from their perspective, and then formulate a precise solution. I think if you think about things now, it will definitely be different from before. It's the same..." Verac guided everyone, "Quentin reported to us immediately about Clark's matter that day. I was a little scared when I heard it, but these dangers will always be with us in the future. You should Clearly, I should experience the experience, so I thought about it again.”

   Stuart joked: "You're overthinking it. I had several nightmares that night. Either Comrade Clark had an accident, or I went up to help, and we both had an accident."

Veraker affirmed Stuart's performance that day: "You did a good job that day. Although it is not a wise choice to rush forward to help, I admire you for knowing the danger and going forward to help your companions. You can be so desperate I don’t think many difficulties in the future will be regarded as obstacles.”

   "If it were me, I'd go straight up and beat those patrolmen to the ground, and escape with Comrade Clark." Connie was itching her hands, looking for a chance to stretch her muscles and bones.

"It's a good thing it wasn't you, otherwise Comrade Quentin's arrangements would have been disrupted." Stuart laughed, and quickly changed his words under Connie's gaze, "But if you were here, Comrade Clark would definitely have nothing to do. Life is in danger..."

   "Boom boom boom."

   "Come in."

  The bartender, Comrade Victor, carried a plate and put six glasses of kvass on the table: "I'm going to do my work first, you can call me anytime if you need anything."

   "Thanks for your hard work, Comrade Victor." Verac helped the departing Victor close the door of the compartment.

"This stuff is really delicious. It tastes like beer and has a sense of bubbles. It's cold and refreshing." Stuart came to drink it a few days ago, and he commented before drinking it this time. One sentence.

  Verak picked up the cup curiously and took a big sip, then frowned slightly, and let out an indescribable hum: "Hmm..."

Clark once came to Winterhold to study and is no stranger to Kvass: "It is fermented with dry bread. In the past, the owners of some small restaurants in Bash would collect the bread crumbs left by diners and put them in bottles. Fermentation. Within a few days, the bread crumbs in the bottle will ferment into a liquid with a special flavor. This drink was very popular at that time, and as time passed, it spread under the name of 'Kvass' and became a Bash's most distinctive drink."

   "It doesn't feel right for me..." Veraker was a little uncomfortable with drinking.

   Others who drank kvass for the first time gave different evaluations.

   "Okay, let's get down to business." Verak brought the topic back to the business, "Since you came early, there should be a discussion about the second part of the exercise, right?"

   "Comrade Veraker, this is our exercise, you can't interfere." Stuart said solemnly.

  Verak's expression froze. He really planned to get involved just now: "Of course I won't intervene. This is your exercise."

Quentin took a sip of kvass and put down the cup: "The second part of the exercise is to help the residents of Peace Street avoid being oppressed by the patrol team. For the sake of safety, we set up some conditions, such as not revealing our identities , the people cannot be harmed, and then we reached a consensus that the only way to change the status quo is to unite the immigrants.”

   "Well, it's good." Verak was very satisfied.

"Then, Comrade Clark and I had a disagreement. He suggested that we be the backbone of the settlers and unite everyone. After everyone tastes the sweetness of unity, even if we leave, they will still remain united. I think If we come forward, it will increase the risk of revealing our identities, and we are all new faces, so it is more difficult to gain everyone’s recognition and trust than the local elders, and our time is tight, and we are basically not allowed to overcome these.” Quentin said.

   "I think the old immigrants know each other well, and it is not easy to change them. In fact, in comparison, it is not as easy as us new faces to establish an image and break the previous rules here." Clark added his point of view.

  Verak was not in a hurry to express his thoughts, and learned to train these young comrades like Keating trained him: "Go ahead, I want to see what results you can discuss if I don't come."

"Comrade Quentin and I have two main objections. One is that Comrade Quentin believes that there is a risk of exposure for us to come forward; The idea is difficult, so time is too late. If we can reduce the risk and ensure that this road is faster than cultivating local immigrants as the backbone, will Comrade Quentin still object?" Clark immediately continued with Quentin Interrupted discussion.

   "Then I don't need to object. Similarly, if you can ensure that the training of local immigrants as the backbone is faster and the effect is better, will you still object to my solution?" Quentin asked.

   "No objection." Clark said.

  The two reached a consensus and determined the direction to persuade each other.

   Next, either Clark proves that they can gain recognition and trust faster by coming forward, and gather the settlers while ensuring that they are not exposed, or Quentin proves that it is more efficient and effective to train the old settlers.

   Faintly, their proof became the last step in finalizing the plan.

   "Then how do you prove it?" Veraker glanced at them each.

"Time is running out, we'd better establish the direction of the plan as soon as possible. I suggest that Comrade Clark and I collect materials separately, have a final discussion tomorrow night, and then state our respective views with the materials. Finally, five people vote to implement the plan proposed by the person with the most votes." ’ said Quentin, “like a debate, how about it?”

   "Yes." Clark readily agreed.

   "Then let's start." Quentin was rarely serious, stood up and walked out.

  Clark couldn't sit still anymore, and walked outside.

  Verak looked at the three people who were still in the cubicle: "What about you?"

   "Shall we take a day off?" Stuart made an unrealistic fantasy.

   "Of course you are going to help the person you like to collect information." Verak also drove the three of them out, and tasted kvass leisurely and leisurely alone.

  (end of this chapter)