Ye Yaodong had only said it offhand to tease him, but he immediately realized that this was exactly what they needed to do. If everyone said they were busy and wanted to watch the festivities, who would keep order in the village?
The opera performances would last five days. If only those twenty or thirty people patrolled, he wouldn't be able to do anything else during those days. He would be roaming around morning and night without getting to watch any of the fun. Who would want that?
They had to require every household to contribute one man. The village belonged to everyone. Organizing a militia to patrol for a few days would help maintain order, and nobody wanted their own household to suffer any losses.
"All right, all right, keep swatting your flies. I'll go talk to Ade."
"Good, good. Tell him to leave me out."
Ye Yaodong turned and gave him a look, leaving him to figure it out himself.
But when he reached the Village Committee office, they were already discussing the militia. They were also saying that every household needed to contribute one man, or everyone would want to watch the festivities and nobody would want to stand guard or patrol around the village.
Director Ade was saying that he had brought it up a few times while making his rounds delivering invitations that morning, but hardly anyone had been willing. It was only temporary, after all, unlike before. Who would willingly miss such good opera performances?
"What brings you here, A-Dong?" Secretary Chen asked when he saw Ye Yaodong leaning in the doorway.
"Oh, I came to talk about the militia too."
"Hehe, who else do you want to sign up?"
"The whole village. Five days of opera performances-just imagine how lively it'll be. Who