"What do you mean, Mr. Ren?"
"Literally."
The other party was stunned for a long time, savoring his attitude.
The manager of the supply and marketing cooperative asked somewhat hesitantly, "Are you trying to expel us?"
Ren Zhong continued to smile brightly, spreading his hands, "Expulsion sounds unpleasant; itās just that youāre not particularly welcome here. Besides, havenāt you all already packed up and moved away? Youāre having a pretty good time in the Satellite Town of Mengdu City, arenāt you? Why cling to the remote Starfire Town?"
The canteen manager jumped up, "Thatās our business! Ren Zhong, you donāt have that authority! No one in Starfire Town has that authority! Our household registration is still in Starfire Town; we are legal citizens here!"
The supply and marketing cooperative manager turned to Ma Dafu, "Mayor Ma, we understand Mr. Renās attitude. What about you?"
Ma Dafu shrugged and replied frankly, "Thereās nothing I can do; Iāve been sidelined. Now, itās Mr. Ren who calls the shots in town."
The supply and marketing cooperative manager angrily said, "Nonsense, only citizens can sideline you; the outcasts donāt even have voting rights."
The canteen manager also angrily said, "Anyway, according to Source Star laws, we have the right to return to our place of registration, and we have the right to enjoy the tax revenue here."
Clap, clap, clap!
Ren Zhong clapped his hands and nodded, "Your performance is quite impressive. I feel like giving you a thumbs up. Yes, I canāt kill you, nor can I truly stop you from enjoying your legal rights. But donāt you remember? Back then, you promised Yang Bingzhong to turn twenty thousand Starfire Town outcasts into commodities in the voting. I have the recorded conversation from Yang Bingzhong."
The canteen manager said, "So what? Itās a legal right granted by the Association; weāre just exercising our power. Do the outcasts have the right to say anything?"
Ren Zhong nodded, "Their mouths may not qualify, but Iām afraid the guns in their hands do."
"Ren Zhong... are you threatening citizens?"
The canteen manager widened his eyes, seemingly in disbelief.
Ren Zhong shrugged, "Iām just analyzing some potential accident scenarios, thatās all."
Over there, the supply and marketing cooperative manager calmed down a bit, "In the beginning, we didnāt really hide this matter from the outcasts. As the census was approaching, the outcasts had an idea. But they didnāt dare..."
Ren Zhong: "Things are different now. Back then, they didnāt dare, nor could they do anything to you because you were Yang Bingzhongās lackeys. Yang Bingzhong was covering for you. But now, youāre not qualified to be my dogs. I wonāt instigate others to deal with you behind your backs, nor am I threatening you. Iām just not interested in going the extra mile to protect your safety. I still abide by the law. However, I suspect that if you do return, the outcome wonāt be pleasant. Right?"
The supply and marketing cooperative manager took a deep breath and added, "Mayor Ma. Starfire Town cannot lack citizens. There are many institutions in town that need management. Most importantly, even though Starfire Town is still a First Level town, it only requires a base of one hundred citizens to exercise voting rights. But there must be a hundred people. Otherwise, the town cannot operate."
Ma Dafu smiled and waved his fingers, and an electronic document appeared in front of the five citizen representatives.
It was the special permit issued by the Source Star Business Association to Starfire Town.
Ma Dafu pointed to the clauses inside and explained, "As you can see. The eighteen thousand outcasts in Starfire Town have received a special permanent residence permit from the Associationās higher-ups. Additionally, the town includes myself, Ma Xiaoling, Mr. Ren, Wang Zhaofu, Sun Miao, Ju Qingmeng, and seven citizen scriveners. We will also be awarding citizenship to the outcasts based on their contributions in the war, with a quota of one hundred. So, the town currently has one hundred and seven citizens. You need not worry about voting and management positions."
"This..."
Just ten minutes later, this negotiation, which was completely unequal in power, ended in a harmonious atmosphere.
After seeing off these harbingers of doom, Ren Zhong and Ma Dafu selected the citizenship list together.
In fact, he felt rather complex.
He was not worried that outcasts entering the citizen class would get out of control.
He would have to, according to the unwritten rules of Source Star, require each person accepting citizenship to sign a twenty-year maximum-level long-term contract with him.
This was his authority.
Not using such power would be too abnormal, unnecessarily raising suspicion.
At the same time, Ren Zhong also thought that once these people entered the citizen class, it meant they would completely sever ties with their past lives, invisibly drifting apart from the outcasts in the town, going from comrades-in-arms to strangers.