034 Sun City
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Yellow Leaf looked at Lin Yan with a cheerful smile. “What brings you to my house today? You must have something to discuss.”
She knew that Lin Yan was always busy and rarely wandered around the tribe. Unless she had something important to say, she would not come knocking.
Lin Yan nodded her little head. “I do have something to discuss with you, Granny. Now that the tribe has been built and everyone is living together, trouble is bound to arise when so many people are gathered in one place. Friction is inevitable, so I think we need a way to manage the tribe.”
In the past, everyone had lived underground, struggling simply to survive. Each family had minded its own affairs, and there had been little cause for conflict. But now that everyone lived so close together, and supplies were plentiful, people’s hearts were bound to change.
Even when the houses had first been assigned, disputes had already broken out. Only Yellow Leaf and A-Lan had been able to suppress them by force of authority.
Yellow Leaf pondered for a moment. “That is indeed a problem. Have you thought of a solution?”
“There are more than fourteen hundred households in the tribe. When it was built, the settlement was divided into fifteen districts. Each district contains five streets and roughly a hundred households, with a population of about three hundred people. We can have each district choose one person to serve as its leader.”
“Granny Huang and A-Lan, along with one other person, can serve as the tribe’s three arbiters. The district leaders will manage their own areas. If they encounter a problem they cannot solve, or if conflicts arise between districts, the arbiters and the district leaders can discuss and resolve them together. What do you think?”
When the tribe had been planned, it had been built lengthwise from south to north, following the course of the Sun River, and divided into fifteen districts in succession.
In addition, a ten-meter-wide road had been built running from south to north through the settlement, passing through the middle of every street. On either side stood the twenty households belonging to that street, ten on each side.
Lin Yan continued, “The main road in the middle should have a name, otherwise it will be difficult to refer to. Let’s call it Central Avenue. Our tribe is called the Sun Tribe, and now that everyone is living together, the settlement should have a name as well. Let’s call it Sun City. From now on, whenever people mention Sun City, everyone will know they mean the place where the Sun Tribe lives. What do you think?”
Yellow Leaf had not yet finished considering Lin Yan’s previous proposal, and now the girl had put forward even more ideas. She did not answer at once. Instead, she said, “This concerns the entire tribe. We should call A-Lan and the others here and discuss it together before making a decision.”
Lin Yan immediately nodded. “That’s how it should be. I only wanted to mention it to you first, so you would have some idea of what I’m thinking. There is one more matter I’d like to bring up.”
“Granny, the settlement isn’t right beside the Sun River, so fetching water is inconvenient. Why don’t we divert a stream here? We could also dig several large pits to store water. That would make things much easier for everyone.”
Yellow Leaf’s eyes lit up. It was an excellent idea. With the cold season approaching, fetching water from such a distance would indeed be troublesome. She could no longer sit still.
“I’ll call everyone over right now. We can discuss it together.”
Lin Yan nodded in agreement.
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This was a major change for the tribe, and it truly ought to be discussed and decided collectively.
After waiting for more than an hour, everyone else had arrived.
Lin Yan suggested that Black Earth be included as well. He was the tribe’s foremost warrior, and he ought to take part in such an important matter. The tribe would need him to protect it in the future.
Black Earth had apparently gone hunting and would not return until evening, but there was no need to wait much longer, so everyone decided to wait for him.
Seventeen people had come in all. They were the heads of the largest families in the tribe, each with more than twenty members. Yellow Leaf’s family was among them.
Those who had come were all heads of household, and all were women over forty.
Half an hour later, Black Earth hurried in. Seeing so many heads of household gathered together, he was utterly confused. What was going on?
Yellow Leaf did not keep everyone waiting. She said at once, “I called you all here today to discuss several important matters. Now that the tribe has built permanent houses, we probably won’t migrate again. We will be living here for a long time, so we should give this place a name. Lin Yan suggested calling it Sun City. What do you think?”
Some of the heads of household knew what a city was, and they immediately explained it to the others. In the end, everyone unanimously agreed to the name Sun City.
From that moment on, the place where they lived had a name. Whenever it was mentioned in the future, they would call it Sun City—the home of the Sun Tribe. Everyone was delighted.
Yellow Leaf continued, “The main road running from south to north through Sun City has also been given a name by Lin Yan: Central Avenue. It will be more convenient to refer to it that way.”
Black Earth was the first to praise the idea. “It should have a name. People have always just called it the main road, but Central Avenue sounds far more impressive.”
No one objected to this either. Yellow Leaf glanced at Lin Yan before continuing, “The tribe now has seventy-five streets, as everyone knows. With people living so close together, disputes will naturally increase. Lin Yan suggests that every five streets choose one person to serve as a district leader and manage all matters concerning those five streets. If the district leader cannot resolve something, it will be brought before the tribe’s arbiters, who will discuss it together with the district leader.”
“District leader—I understand what that means. But what exactly is an arbiter?” A-Lan asked at once.
Water Granny was among those present as well. She asked, “An arbiter is a person, then?”
Yellow Leaf turned to Lin Yan. “You proposed this. Explain it to everyone.”
“All right.” Lin Yan was small, so she rose and stood in the middle of the gathering before speaking. “The arbiters will be the most respected people in the tribe. I think we should choose three of them. Granny Huang and A-Lan are currently the most respected people in the tribe, so they can serve as two of the arbiters. Everyone else can choose the third. The three arbiters and the fifteen district leaders will manage Sun City together and help resolve the people’s problems.”
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“So the district leaders handle minor matters, while the arbiters only deal with major ones?” Water Granny asked.
Lin Yan nodded. “In principle, yes. The district leaders will handle problems within their own areas. If they cannot resolve something, they will report it to the arbiters. If conflicts arise between district leaders or between the areas they manage—conflicts they cannot settle privately—those matters will also be reported to the arbiters. If something affects the entire city, the arbiters and the district leaders will discuss and resolve it together. We can put this system into practice for now and revise or supplement it if problems arise.”
“I think I understand,” Water Granny said, her thoughts turning quickly. “But how will the district leaders and arbiters be chosen?”
“The people in each group will choose their own district leader, while all the adults in the tribe will choose the arbiters. Whoever receives the most votes will take the position. However, one person cannot serve as both a district leader and an arbiter. If the same person is chosen for both, that person must decide which position to accept, and the other position will be chosen again.”
Black Earth’s eyes lit up. “Can anyone be chosen? Regardless of whether they’re male or female?”
“Yes. Gender doesn’t matter. Anyone with the ability can serve.”
Lin Yan had thought about this for a very long time before making the proposal. Although the heads of household were all women for the time being, the advantages of men had never been put to use.
It would be better to begin now, and let the people of the tribe understand that men and women were equal and could possess the same rights.
The eighteen heads of household wore solemn expressions. Until now, women had always held the highest status and made the decisions within their families.
Lin Yan understood their concerns and explained, “The arbiters will be chosen based on prestige, while the district leaders will be responsible for managing people and must be capable of handling problems. Anyone can serve in either position. This will not affect the authority each of you holds over your own household.”
“Think it over carefully. We can decide by a show of hands. If you believe the proposal is workable, raise your hand to show your agreement. It will pass if more than half approve.”
“There are nineteen of us if we include Black Earth. With Lin Yan added, twenty people will vote together. The proposal will pass if more than twelve people support it.”
Once Yellow Leaf had explained this, everyone agreed.
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