Why it never ends

Chapter 1262 Exhibition
Faced with Stella's unequivocal denial, Hester was somewhat at a loss, but she soon realized that perhaps excessive fatigue had made her too lazy to use any rhetoric, thus completely ruining her sense of humor.

“Let’s not talk about your qualifications,” Stella said in a hoarse voice. The commotion last night had left her throat feeling a little sore, and she silently prayed that she wouldn’t get a fever. “Remember that Welsh Interest Party vice-chairman named Tom An? He was thirty-four when he was appointed last year, and everyone was saying he would win the next election and become the youngest prime minister in District 12 at the age of thirty-seven. Come on, Jane, do some simple math. When do you think the next election will be?”

Hester blinked—Stella's slightly sarcastic tone was back—and she shrugged: "I thought you were going to just say to me, 'What do you take me for, a genie lamp, who only knows how to make wishes?'"

Stella let out a dry laugh, stopped, turned around, and put her hands on her hips: "What do you take me for! A genie lamp! Making wishes on me—"

“Why don’t you ask me why I want to be prime minister?” Hester was too lazy to use another shocking question to pique Stella’s interest. She followed Stella upstairs. “What’s so great about being the prime minister of District 12?”

Stella was amused again. She sighed and then couldn't help but yawn.

"Well, my friend, what makes you suddenly want to be prime minister?"

“I feel it’s necessary for me to exert some…influence on Emmanuela’s city center,” Hester said. “I need to have administrative control of the city for a period of time—well, not necessarily the entire city, but I need to control key areas. This control includes necessary construction, defense, and even some troop movements. I need to understand some of the city’s important facilities and how they operate—”

“So you actually want to be mayor,” Stella interrupted her at the opportune moment. “How have you become so cunning? You’re throwing out a smokescreen of being prime minister first, so I’ll think your later demands are easy to fulfill, right?”

Hester made a gesture of surrender with his hands: "I just wanted to add a little humor to my repertoire..."

"Where's the humor! Do you think it's that simple? Do you think I'll give you a whole list of 'one, two, three, four' to do just because you say 'I want to be mayor'?!"

"May I?"

"Of course not!" Stella retorted. "Where did you get that expectation from? If I had that ability, I'd be the one doing it myself!"

“Your ambitions lie elsewhere,” Hersta responded cheerfully to Stella, seemingly unconcerned about the dissatisfaction and anxiety in her words. “If you really wanted to be one, you might be able to achieve it.”

Stella was both amused and annoyed by Hesta's reaction—but strangely, she felt her anger and dissatisfaction disappear as Hesta continued to pester her, and she looked at Hesta with a scrutinizing expression.

What do you want the authority to manage the city for?

"I can't disclose that at the moment."

How long will it take?

Hesta pondered for a moment: "...It would be best if it lasted a few weeks, but not too long; anything over two months would be a bit annoying."

"When you say mobilizing troops, do you mean mobilizing the local forces of Emmania or something else?" "Yes, including police forces, and if necessary, completely wiping out an area," Hesta said. "It might require some heavy weapons, but not necessarily controlled by local forces. It could be handed over to some Mercury Needles. Well, I mean, if I can bring in some more people from other regions later—I'll probably want them."

Hersta made these demands slowly, and Stella watched her, clearly these weren't well-thought-out plans—she was thinking, and then slowly making some scenarios concrete.

“…A very interesting idea,” Stella said casually, “but wait, let me get some sleep.”

Hester nodded: "Then I'll come find you this afternoon?"

Stella agreed.

Stella opened the bedroom door to find the entire room completely dark. She had forgotten to open the blackout curtains before leaving, and there was no ventilation. But she was too tired at the moment, so she collapsed onto the bed.

In the darkness, Stella pressed her arm against her eye sockets; her eyes were closed, but thoughts were rapidly forming in her mind. Only then did she belatedly grasp Hester's humor. This young man had presented several impossible options in a wildly imaginative way, each one hilariously absurd—who would suddenly walk up to you and say, "Hey, can I be prime minister?"
Stella laughed so hard her shoulders shook, and she rolled over on the bed.

But what she really needed was city management power for a period of time. Compared to her previous request to become prime minister, this request was indeed much more pragmatic and achievable—regardless of whether Jane intended to make this analogy, she did achieve the effect she wanted.

Stella suddenly remembered Arevalo. This card hadn't been played much so far. Hesta had used him as a trial run at the last charity gala, and the celebrities at the gala seemed to like it.

It might be easier to accomplish this than Hershta thought.

……

That evening, Hershta suddenly summoned everyone and said he had important news to announce.

Gabrielle was still absent, and Eunice sat on the edge of the crowd with a somber face. The injury on her face was already serious, and it was healing even more slowly because of her intentional or unintentional neglect.

However, Hershta did not appear at all. After most of the people had arrived, Xia Yixue took the lead in the meeting. She said that the Aschia Freedom Front would be applying to host a medium-sized trade fair to be held eight months from now. The location was still uncertain, only that it would be held in the city of Emmania. This decision required the approval of more than two-thirds of the internal members before the application could be submitted to the outside world. Everyone could ask questions, and she would collect them and post them along with the answers on the farm within two days.

Almost no one questioned it. Upon hearing the word "trade fair," everyone naturally assumed it was a project to make money. What everyone was more concerned about was what they needed to do next. However, Xia Yixue seemed to have no clue about it either. She simply noted down everyone's questions and repeatedly mentioned that these questions would eventually be answered, so everyone didn't need to rush.

Once the crowd had dispersed, Eunice walked up to Xia Yixue alone.

“Eunice,” Xia Yixue greeted her first, “do you have any questions for me?”

Eunice coughed, her gaze fixed elsewhere, her expression one of resistance and indifference: "I just want to ask, why hold an exhibition out of the blue?"