Chapter 22 Because it has to be

'One, two, three, four, five... one hundred and ninety-nine. Just one more, and we'll make the quota!'

Li Yang was shouting in the crowd, 'One, two, three, four, five...one hundred and ninety-nine, as long as there is one more, we can reach the target!' On the court of the Vidda community, Zhou Ming came here to collect signatures after agreeing to the teacher's request for help. After experiencing various tax and fee increases and being driven away and beaten by the police when petitioning at the parliament building, they immediately volunteered to offer their signatures one after the other when they heard that Zhou Ming and his friends were running for parliament and wanted to speak up for them.

Hearing Li Yang's shout, an elderly man in his seventies raised his hand: 'I can still sign one. These Americans have set a lower age limit, but not an upper age limit. I can still help you sign, and become your legal voters!'

While saying this, the old man, with the help of his family, came to Li Yang's table. He picked up a pen and looked at Li Yang and said, 'Young man, you must run for senator! We Chinese have been bullied in the United States all our lives, and we have been afraid for our lives without protection. Now they are targeting us Chinese again, making it impossible for us to live. We can only count on you!'

Li Yang nodded solemnly and said, 'Old man, don't worry. What you said is exactly our original intention for running for senator.'

Hearing Li Yang's reply, the old man was moved to tears. He then wrote his name on the form. As the old man wrote his name, Zhou Ming and the others had collected 200 voter signatures for Huang Yi, and there was an outburst of enthusiastic cheers.

'Teacher is so great, we finally got 200 signatures, Huang Yi won't be rejected, he is eligible to officially run for office, we will soon have our own councilor, we can stop being bullied by those Americans, we can freely pursue our own careers!' Ye Ning excitedly told Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming was helpless. All he could say to Ye Ning's words was that they were naive. They had just collected two hundred signatures, and the election had not even started yet, so how could they think so deeply? What was the difference between this and thinking about how to become the CEO and marry a beautiful rich woman and reach the pinnacle of life as soon as you start working? However, at this time, Zhou Ming didn't want to discourage her, so he just nodded and said yes.

At this time, Yan Shi found Zhou Ming and said, 'Classmate, I have fulfilled my promise and helped you get 200 signatures. Now can you help me save my wife?'

Ye Ning was unhappy at Yan Shi's words: 'I'm saying, why do you talk like this? It's as if we're deliberately using this to get under your skin. We really appreciate you helping us convince these Chinese friends to sign for us, but there were no strings attached. And didn't we all go to the police station yesterday and they said they wouldn't allow bail? You were there at the time, so how can you now...'

Zhou Ming waved his hand to stop Ye Ning, and said to Mr. Yan, 'Mr. Yan, I was just about to look for you. My lawyer has already found several experts in this field and is now collecting evidence. As soon as they have collected the evidence, they will be ready to sue the government on your behalf. I think you know very well that it is unlikely that this matter can be resolved through proper administrative means, and legal proceedings are the only way forward.'

Zhou Ming added, 'This time, my lawyer said that since the case involves the Brighton City Council and the state government, it can be directly prosecuted in the Massachusetts Circuit Court. As long as the court rules that the actions of the Fenway District and Brighton City Council are unconstitutional, not only will all administrative orders be revoked, but your wife will also be released.'

'Do we have to prosecute in the Circuit Court? Will that take a long time?' Yanshi said in surprise.

It is no wonder that Yanshi is surprised, because the full name of the Circuit Court is the United States Federal Court of Appeals for the Massachusetts Circuit. According to the US court system, the Massachusetts Circuit Court ranks second only to the Supreme Court and slightly above the Supreme Court of Massachusetts.

Generally, the circuit court handles difficult cases that are difficult to handle locally but are not qualified to appeal to the Supreme Court. These cases are often complex and representative. They have been appealed from the local area all the way to here. Master Yan has never set foot in the circuit court in his entire life, so how would he know that this time, Zhou Ming is actually suing directly in the circuit court.

'This is very necessary,' Zhou Ming said. 'According to jurisdiction, both the Massachusetts High Court and the Circuit Court have the power to rule, but since it involves racial discrimination and possible unconstitutionality, the Circuit Court's ruling will be more rigorous than the High Court's. That is why my lawyer has chosen this way. As for the time, it will definitely be needed in the Circuit Court, but it is also necessary. Please understand.'

'I understand. As long as it can save my wife and relieve us of the heavy tax and living expenses, the longer it takes, the better. Who says we haven't been politically active?' Yan Shi sighed, then looked up and said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, thank you very much this time...'

Before Yan Shi could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Zhou Ming, who said to him, 'Mr. Yan, don't thank me yet. I have some more news for you. It may not be good news, but the legal fees for this time are conservatively estimated to reach 800,000 US dollars.'

Hearing this figure, Yan Shi let out a gasp. "What? 800,000 US dollars for this lawsuit? Isn't that a bit too much? Classmate Zhou Ming, can you please help?'

Faced with Yan Shi's request, Ye Ning was unhappy at the time: "Help? What do you mean by that, Mr Yan? Do you expect us to pay for your treatment? You should understand that we are trying to help you save your wife and help you all abolish that fee that you cannot afford, and you are still asking for money? Do you think our money just falls from the sky and we just give it to you?'

Teacher Yan was embarrassed and shrunk his neck, but he did not give up. He looked at Zhou Ming with longing eyes. He knew that among these people, Zhou Ming was the one in charge.

Zhou Ming could see what he was planning, and said to him, 'Mr. Yan, I advise you not to pursue this idea. I won't pay a single cent. After all, it's your wife who needs saving, not mine; you're the ones being bullied, not me. And I'm not running a charity, and you're not beggars who can't afford to eat. If you're not even willing to pay this, then you might as well just go to bed.'

'The $800,000 is actually not much, and it is already a discount from my lawyer. I think Mr. Yan, you should discuss with other Chinese compatriots in the VD community to raise the money. Here are two hundred signatures, and each person contributing 4,000 will be enough. Otherwise, as you know, an American lawyer will definitely not help you do anything without money.' Zhou Ming said, "Or maybe Mr. Yan you have other ways, you can change a lawyer.'

'Mr. Zhou Ming, is there really no other way?" Yan Shi still asked with no hope.

'Of course there is,' Zhou Ming replied, "Mr. Yan, you might try petitioning the White House. Perhaps the President can issue you a special pardon.'

Yan Shi paused for a moment, wanting to say something else, but Zhou Ming pulled a face and spoke first, "Mr. Yan, I think we have done everything we can. If you continue to be so unreasonable, I think I will have to say goodbye. You know you don't have any bargaining chips.'

The smile on the teacher's face stiffened, and in the end he had no choice but to say helplessly, 'Okay, I understand. Thank you very much, Mr. Zhou Ming.'

After saying that, the teacher retreated. Ye Ning said angrily, 'This teacher is really taking advantage of the situation. We have obviously helped him so much, and now he actually wants to take advantage of our money. He really thinks we're a bank. I really don't want to deal with him!'

Zhou Ming laughed and said, 'Even if we really did have the money to open a bank, we wouldn't take it like this. But no matter what Mr. Yan's attitude is, we still have to deal with him.'

'Why is that?' Ye Ning asked in surprise.

'Because we have to!' Zhou Ming said. 'Ye Ning, you have to understand that whether we are running for office or doing business, the most important thing is to deal with people. But not everyone will be to our taste, so at this time we have to learn to deal with anyone, whether you like it or not.'

Ye Ning nodded silently, then said, 'Just like now, if we can't get along well with this Mr. Yan, then we won't be able to get the signatures we need.'

'Smart, that's the point,' Zhou Ming said.

...

Meanwhile, on Council Hill in the centre of Brighton, Old Brook and Anthony were taking a stroll.

'Speaker, what happened to those Chinese people who gathered in front of the Fenway District Council building? After being driven away that day, they haven't come back, have they?' Old Brook asked.

Anthony shook his head and said, 'My dear Brook, although I voted for you on this matter and helped steer the media coverage in your favour, I never thought it was a good strategy. As I found out later, the Chinese were not on good terms with each other, and the Chinese in the Veda community might not necessarily rally to the support of that Chinese man.'

'Then this strategy will even more warn them not to get too close to that Zhou Ming, otherwise they will have disaster,' Lao Brooker continued, 'and this adjustment of taxes and other fees for the Chinese community, doesn't it also happen to alleviate the state government's fiscal deficit? It also indirectly supports Speaker Anthony's newly proposed budget.'

Anthony nodded in silence and said, 'Since you, Brother Brook, support me so much, then I think I should tell you something as well.'

Anthony then took out his pager and gave it to Elder Brook. Elder Brook picked it up doubtfully and looked at it. His face immediately changed, and he looked up and asked, 'Speaker, is this news true?'

Anthony took back his pager without any panic and then said, 'This is a message sent to me by the current member of the Vidda community. I think there is competition between him and the Chinese, and there is no reason for him to provide me with false information. So I think the Chinese really used this to help him unite the Chinese in the Vidda community, so today he quickly gathered 200 signatures.'

Hearing this news, Old Brook jumped up: 'This is really terrible news. I can't let that Chinese guy get his way. I will definitely stop him!'

Old Brook said he was leaving, but after taking two steps, he stopped because he knew Anthony very well. What he did was basically very purposeful and he would not do anything useless. So this time, it was also unlikely that he would tell him such news for no reason. No matter what his relationship with him was, he was not a generous person.

So after a moment's thought, Old Brook turned back to Anthony and said, 'Speaker, you know that I have always supported your motions, and this time is no different. I know that your new motion is to speed up the internal reform of the government and parliament, which is very necessary.'

Anthony smiled and nodded, saying, 'I have no doubt about that. As for the Chinese, I can remind you that he has made a very serious mistake.'

This made Old Brook's eyes light up: this is what I've been waiting for!