Everyone chatted and laughed, and the atmosphere seemed pleasant enough. Still, Liao Xiaoyi decided to hold a vote on whether they were willing to raise little Melissa. The first vote would be anonymous. If most people were unwilling to bear the cost of raising a child, she would send little Melissa to another sub-district.
If most people agreed, little Melissa would stay. As for which Safe Zone she would stay in, given the child's physical condition, they would hold a second vote to choose from several relatively strong Safe Zones. The sub-district responsible for caring for her would then have to accept regular visits and inspections from the others.
Liao Xiaoyi had taken most people's concerns into account with this arrangement, and the players present had no objections. For the sake of fairness, she had also contacted the Safe Zones that weren't represented. They could vote at the same time, then report the exact numbers of votes for and against.
The vote began. One by one, the players placed their ballots in the box in the middle of the room. Throughout this, Chang Shoujie held little Melissa, who watched them with curiosity.
Some people turned around and secretly smiled at her. She smiled back.
Liao Xiaoyi and several other Safe Zone leaders counted the votes. In the end, more than four-fifths of the players agreed to raise little Melissa.
Next, they voted on which Safe Zone would take Melissa in. For this vote, Liao Xiaoyi also gave Xu Huo and the others voting rights. After all, they had found the child, so they had that right.
Naturally, quite a few people were unhappy about this. Xu Huo and the others had two votes, enough to represent an entire Safe Zone, while only a dozen or so Safe Zones in District