Chapter Text
“It’s good to see you, sir.” Gaoshun greeted Jinshi as he stepped out of the elevator. He had been called in for a meeting with Ka Yoh, Li’s most charismatic politician if the media were to be believed. Whether Jinshi liked it or not, he was also his biological father.
Gaoshun opened the door to Yoh’s office to let Jinshi in. The office exuded old-money elegance. Mahogany desk, richly upholstered furniture, a wall-to-wall bookcase filled with leather-bound books — good for acoustics, Yoh had told him once — and even a fireplace.
“Zui! Come in!” Yoh’s voice called out.
“It's Jinshi.” He said with a sigh as he walked further into the room.
“That's not the name on your birth certificate."
“Yes, it is. It has been for the past 10 years.”
“Well… you’ll always be Zui to me. Have a seat, son. Something’s coming, something good!” He smiled widely as he directed Jinshi to a plush chair.
Jinshi noticed two other men already seated. One in his early fifties, with disheveled hair, and slouched on the office couch as if he were half asleep. On the other end of the couch sat a younger and more alert version of him, adjusting a pair of big round glasses on his nose.
“I’m sure you’re familiar with the La consulting firm?” said Yoh, “Meet Lakan, Li’s unrivaled political strategist, and his nephew Lahan, pollster extraordinaire.”
Lahan, the younger of the two, bounced up and shook Jinshi’s hand enthusiastically. “Pleased to meet you, Jinshi, I’ve heard so much about you.” Lakan reluctantly got up as well to offer a barely-there handshake, then promptly plopped back onto the couch.
They were now seated around the coffee table. Given the looming political crisis, it was a bit strange to see Yoh so energetic and Jinshi wondered why he was called in, especially with the two La men there.
The former president’s state funeral had been a few days ago and the country had just come out of the official mourning period. The man had been struggling with his health over the last few months and like vultures, many politicians had been secretly preparing for possible elections. Everyone expected Shishou, the current Prime Minister and acting President, to announce his candidacy soon. Who would be on the ticket on the left of the spectrum was still the big question. There had been much infighting within the socialist party and attempts to create a center-left bloc had all failed. If they didn’t get their act together within the coming weeks, Shishou wouldn’t even need to campaign.
Yoh was Minister of Economic Development and Trade in the Shishou government. He didn’t have a real allegiance to the Conservative Party, but the appointment had given him the exposure he'd sought to advance his political career. He had created a great number of trade deals and Li’s business leaders loved him. The general public was taken by his charisma and gorgeous beard despite rising unemployment and housing prices that had become a problem for the younger generation.
“Son, you know the presidential elections are coming up, and we are convinced the time is right for a new political party. I’ve been consulting with Lakan here for a while now and Lahan has been running some tracking polls for me the past several months. The findings are in our favor! The middle and working class are complaining about elitism, they’ve had enough of both old conservative men and nepo babies. Meanwhile the left is in shambles, so we could take advantage of that, make the shift from center-right to center. We’ve been working hard behind the scenes already — the official registration has been confirmed this morning and I have secured enough signatures to announce my candidacy as soon as we have the campaign team in place. Lakan has laid out the strategy, Lahan is making sure the numbers are looking good, and you, my son, would be the perfect campaign manager. What do you say? Ready to get this show on the road?”
All three men stared at him intently. Jinshi was momentarily stunned by the proposition, trying to gather his thoughts and figure out Yoh’s angle.
“Wait. Why me?”
“Is that really a question? You graduated top of your class in political sciences — despite being a bit too invested in that music minor — and did wonders cleaning up the mess while interning for the Governor of I-sei province. You also got your hands dirty with that music education program for your mom’s foundation, didn’t you?”
“Don’t tell me you want to bring her into this too?!”
“No, no, I’m not suicidal," Yoh seemed to lose some of his confidence and tugged at his beard. "Don't worry, we’ll manage without her… but you have access to the working class through these projects right? We just need some introductions, shake some hands, show we care.”
“And do you...? Care, I mean?”
“Of course! We need to win this and trust me, it’s going to be great!”
He makes it sound so simple. Does he really have it all figured out with Lakan to be so confident? Jinshi knew how treacherous a game politics was and understood Shishou to be an especially dangerous man, not shying away from stabbing people in the back to advance his own agenda.
“Shishou’s going to kill you, you’re aware of that, right? He’ll see you breaking away as treason. He’s been waiting for the former president to keel over for years so he can take his place. And his wife is even more dangerous. They will do literally anything to win.”
Lakan woke from his slumber at Jinshi’s comment. “Your father told me you’re a sharp one! We've already accounted for this. Those two are so power hungry, they’re quick to lose the bigger picture. It makes them easy to predict.”
Yoh beamed. “You see, son? We have this all under control. So, are you on board?”
Jinshi sighed. Yoh wasn't the type to take no for an answer and he had to admit that it was a somewhat tempting prospect. Revelation, the music education and outreach program he managed, had been running smoothly for quite some time now — he could probably use a new challenge.
Yoh knew this too. But Jinshi wasn't about to give in so easily.
“Give me a few days to think about it. I’ll call you before the end of the week.”
He stood up to leave. The three other men stood up as well — Yoh and Lakan moved over to a small table where a chess board had been set up.
“Lakan and I will continue discussing strategies. Let’s meet again on Thursday. I’ll message you the time.”
The man never listens, does he? I told him I would call him…
Lahan and Jinshi stepped out of the office, saying goodbye to Gaoshun on their way out. While Lahan prattled on about numbers —apparently they were all beautiful or easily made so — Jinshi, who felt a headache coming on, was eager to get some fresh air.
“Can I drop you off anywhere Jinshi?” Lahan asked, about to get into his car.
“No thank you, I’m going to walk for a bit.”
He turned in the direction of the city’s former imperial gardens. Entering through the ornate south entrance, he started out on the main path, past the curated ponds and neatly kept flower beds, before coming to a bend where a more rustic trail snailed out to the left. Its subdued quiet beckoned him, and Jinshi stepped from paved stone onto tamped down earth, following the winding trail past the gingko trees. The bustle of the main path was gone, there were no little kids feeding ducks, no elderly couples on their daily stroll or joggers on their lunch break run — just him and a few century-old trees, their leaves rustling softly in the wind, filtering the midday sun. The city and its problems fell away as he felt his body relax.
Suddenly a cackle broke through the quiet. Jinshi looked around but didn’t see anyone. He continued along the path, following the sounds as he scanned his surroundings, when he noticed a small figure crouched down next to the remnants of a tree that had been felled. A young woman, clearly the source of the earlier cackling, was humming happily while collecting what seemed to be mushrooms in her tiny basket. As Jinshi moved closer, she stood up, and when he was able to glimpse her face, she looked vaguely familiar. However she paid him absolutely no mind, muttering something about medicinal benefits, as she walked past him.
Jinshi shook his head, still not able to place her face, so he dropped it and continued along the winding path. He had reached the other end of the park and stepped onto the paved stones again as the afternoon sunlight reflecting off the gilded gate of the northern entrance guided him to the thoroughfare bordering a residential area. He continued his walk aimlessly, but his feet seemed to follow a familiar path and before he knew it, he was standing in front of his grandmother place. His childhood home. It was almost lunch time — maybe she’d let him enjoy some of her delicious cooking. He walked up the steps towards the front door and rang the bell.
“Well, well, young master, what a nice surprise!” Suiren welcomed him into a warm hug. “Please don’t call me that Suiren, and apologies for arriving unannounced.”
“You know you can come here anytime, it will always be your home. Is something on your mind, my boy?”
Suiren could read him like a book. She had helped raise him since he was a baby after all. He was the result of a teenage pregnancy discovered too late. But it had not deterred his mother, Ah-Duo, from living out her dreams of getting a degree, starting a business and seeing the world. Yoh had tried to do what he thought was the right thing, proposing marriage and a family life. She had just scoffed at him, saying he could be in the child’s life, even name him if he wanted, but other than that she had no intention to start a family with him. Suiren had stepped in as the baby’s caretaker while Ah-duo finished school and started her career.
Yoh tried to pay off his guilt by having his family provide financial support. It had bought them the house Suiren still lived in, and Zuigetsu’s education, as well as expensive birthday presents that never managed to give the same comfort as one of Suiren’s hugs.
Zuigetsu didn’t consider himself gifted but he worked hard, always wanting to earn his parents’ praise, show them he mattered. His father was constantly urging him to follow in his footsteps — school, academic subjects and extracurricular activities were more a given than a choice. In an attempt to gain some control over who he was, he started to call himself Jinshi when he was 13 and the nickname stuck. When he turned 18, he decided to officially rid himself of the weight that was the name Zuigetsu. His father had been unwilling to accept his wishes and thus still called him Zui to this day. His mother had never warmed up to the name Zuigetsu and kept calling him Yue, like she did from the moment he was born. Suiren somehow preferred calling him ‘Young Master’. It seemed no-one wanted to see him for who he longed to be.
Jinshi followed Suiren into the kitchen, leaning against the counter while she started making lunch. “Yoh wants to run for president and has asked me to be his campaign manager. And I’m again torn between feeling flattered and wanting to run away. He always does that to me. I hate it.” Suiren put a cup of tea in front of him. “He does know how to pull your strings, doesn’t he? But you’re also the only one who keeps him humble. I think it would be a great opportunity for you.”
“Humble?” Jinshi huffed a laugh. “Not the first word I associate with Yoh. Also, probably not the best word to describe someone running for president.” Suiren looked at him, before adding noodles to a delicious smelling broth. “Maybe not, but every great politician needs some humility to keep them real. He truly loves you, you know — he always has. Your mother hasn’t made it very easy for him to have a normal relationship with you either. He still loves her too, in a somewhat convoluted way. Have you never noticed he will do whatever she asks? But he listens to you too, even though it might not seem like it. You have a certain power over him that not many people do. I’m sure you two will make a winning combo. Just don’t let your parents keep playing tug of war over you. Now let’s eat.”
Lunch with Suiren was comforting, as always. After some idle chatter, he left the house feeling better, heading towards his own apartment. For a few hours, he worked on some projects for Revelation. A famous conductor had expressed interest in a collaboration, and some business hotshot had promised a substantial donation. It seemed politicians were not the only ones trying to reach out to the working class to improve their image. He would have to talk to Ah-Duo before he agreed to anything — he couldn’t keep both parents happy at the same time.
A few text messages later and they were confirmed for 6 pm at the Palace Wall bar — it was Ah-Duo’s favorite hangout, both for the city views and the high-quality liquor. She was already seated at her usual table when Jinshi arrived.
“What’s up Yue?” She greeted him. “I could read the anxiety in your messages. Have a seat, I've already ordered your regular.” How she managed to see through him, always baffled him. He sat down and took a sip from his drink. The alcohol took the edge off but he had to make sure Ah-Duo wasn’t going to keep refilling his glass.
“You can’t tell anyone this yet, but Yoh is going to announce his presidential run, and he wants me to work on his campaign with him.”
He saw the glint in his mother’s eyes. “Ah, the pull of politics. Your father does know how to lure you back in, doesn’t he? And what role does he have in mind for you? No, let me guess… campaign manager?”
"You guessed it. Suiren says I should do it, I could keep him humble.”
"Haha, she’s not wrong, you know? What makes you hesitant? Afraid to let your mother down by leaving Revelation? We’ll be fine, Yue! You’ve created such a solid team, and besides, the door will always be open if you decide you want to come back once the campaign is over.” Ah-Duo chuckled and took another sip of her drink.
Jinshi smiled. She always seemed so carefree, although he knew it could be a facade too. “It’s Yoh himself. It the fact that I will be working really closely with him. I don’t know if that’s a good idea. The more I try to break free from him, the more he seems to pull me back in, it’s frustrating.”
Ah-Duo looked at him. “He loves you, you know?”
“That’s what Suiren said too.”
"It’s the truth. And look at it this way, it’s a campaign, which has an end. Who knows, it might be a cathartic experience.”
Maybe she was right. Maybe he should just go for it and see what happened. Like she said, it did have a fixed end date — the presidential elections were only three months from now. He should be able to survive that.
They finished their drinks in silence. Then Jinshi got up, kissed his mother goodbye and headed home. He would sleep on it, for forms sake — he couldn’t let Yoh be too smug.
I’m in
That was all he had sent to Yoh the next morning.
Ten minutes later he had received details for the meeting on Thursday.
Another hour after, Jinshi was scanning the list of names of the campaign team Yoh had sent together with the election program. Most of them were people from Yoh's and his wife Gyokuyou’s inner circle.
Gaoshun’s daughter Maamei for press relations and his wife Taomei for all the team’s travel arrangements. Both ruthlessly efficient.
Jade Media Group for advertising and social media, consisting of Hongniang, Ailan, Yinghua & Guiyuan — all close friends of Gyokuyou’s. Killer team. He had worked with them for the foundation’s projects too.
Gyokuyou herself for fundraising. Of course, together with her father that woman had all the captains of industry in her pocket.
Ma Security, headed by Gaoshun and seconded by his son —and Jinshi’s childhood friend— Basen. Reliable would be an understatement.
And now, Jinshi as the campaign manager was tasked with translating Lakan’s strategy into a feasible three-month plan and making sure everyone would be working smoothly together, along with the volunteers they’d be recruiting.
He spent the next hours studying the election program. It was solid but nothing earth shattering. It would surely keep his business friends happy. The propositions to placate the frustrated middle and lower class were strategically sound but lacked something — audacity maybe — clearly counting on the fact the left would not be able to provide a serious contender.
Thursday morning, 9:25 am.
Everyone had arrived at Yoh’s mansion on time. After initial introductions — hardly necessary as everyone seemed to know each other already — Yoh and Lakan started presenting the main strategy. Everyone was taking notes for their own specialties, to bring to the brainstorming session later. Jinshi had to admit, he loved the energy of the room.
Lakan had shed his sleepy persona and was in full strategist mode. “Depending on the support we already have, or where our opponents are strongest, we have different strategies to target different regions.”
“Do we know who else is running, besides Shishou? I’ve heard rumors of a feminist candidate.” Hongniang interrupted.
“Yes, we expect two more candidates to join the race. There is indeed talk of a prominent feminist think tank member joining. Word is she hates men.” Lakan responded.
“Don't they all?” Someone responded, followed by a general chuckle among those present.
“You can laugh now, but she is not to be underestimated. And she can make Yoh’s life hell if she wants, so we have to be prepared. We’re also expecting a center-left candidate, but to be honest, we have no idea who they will push to the front — or who remains standing after all the infighting. Time is running out though. If they don’t announce someone soon, their chances will be next to zero. Their only advantage of announcing a late candidate is that we cannot do much strategizing. But let’s focus on the different regions for now.”
“The capital and the central region. We have a good chance here as long as we know how to keep our business friends happy without underestimating the unrest among the younger generation. They have been complaining about the difficult job market and increasing housing costs, and are blaming the rich — nepo kids in particular. If we ignore them, they might start protesting for real. If we give in too much, we will lose our financial backers. We need to find a way to placate them. These youngsters understand bullshit. So we have to establish something: no bullshit. Meet them where they are. Yoh is good with people, he has natural charisma, we need to capitalize on that. We want to start with community programs and then we can start talking welfare reform, focus on everyone doing their fair share, rich and poor. The use of value words is crucial here. We need to walk the talk.” Jinshi noticed Lakan looking at the Jade Media women, who got the message.
Yoh took over from Lakan, “Shihoku province — Shishou’s stronghold. We won’t be spending too much campaign money on it for all the obvious reasons. But, Lakan deems it important to have a plan B ready in case something goes south with Shishou’s campaign. We suspect he has a few skeletons that might come tumbling out of the closet if someone is willing to dig deep enough. We also should keep a close tab on foreign interference, with Shaoh and Hokuaren so close by.”
“Do you have someone in mind who will handle this? Seems like a full-time job to me.” Jinshi already knew this would land on his plate —Yoh always told him he was good in solving mysteries.
“Yes, I have a possible lead with an investigative journalist I’m acquainted with.” Maamei responded.
“Let’s move on to I-sei province.” Lakan continued. “Should be easy with how much leverage we have with our personal connections within the Gyoku business empire. We expect most of the donations to come from there as well. They’ll be organizing fundraising dinners for Yoh to attend. We can take the opportunity to talk healthcare and education as well, which are the biggest issues the left can take from us. We’re not afraid of Shishou in I-sei, he has no alliances there.”
Yoh took over again. “The southern region is the trickiest. It has been ignored for a long time by the government and recently there have been several protests by disgruntled factory workers. It is historically left leaning, and it will be very hard to get their vote, especially since they regard us as being tied too closely with the business establishment, which is not wrong of course. Focusing on community outreach programs, meeting the people where they are, seems like a good start. Does the music program have a satellite there, Zui?”
“Yes. Several in fact, both youth and adult programs. It’s pretty popular. We’re building two new music schools there with backing from a well-known corporation through the foundation.” Jinshi answered.
“Trying to keep its workers happy? Not a bad strategy. Something we can do too — reaching out to both sides. It can be very effective if done well.” Lakan commented.
“Yes, but… will you just be using these programs to meet the people where they are or does it also mean you will advocate for these types of programs to be government-funded? I’m sure you are well aware that cultural programs have been completely abandoned in the past ten years, just like everything else that didn’t turn a profit. I know I was only hired to manage the campaign, but I really do hope you’re not just running on some empty words. As you say, people can smell the bullshit.”
The room had gone eerily quiet. Jinshi didn’t really know what had possessed him to say that. But he needed some confirmation that he could at least get behind Yoh’s ideas.
Yoh cleared his throat. “We might not always agree on the best way forward but I am not a man of empty promises, I thought you already knew that, Jinshi. I do realize that culture, education and healthcare have been neglected by the previous government and I do plan to change that.”
The next few hours were spent brainstorming and organizing. When an idea was presented, Lahan had numbers and stats ready to show what would work and what wouldn’t. The Jade Media women had come up with an initial plan around some catchy value words. Everyone was in full campaign mode.
“Zui!”
“Yes?”
“Where do you think we should go first in the capital?”
“Well, the annual Revelation performance is next month. I can arrange for a visit during the dress rehearsal and of course get us all tickets to the show. But if we want to do something sooner, I know there is a women’s health clinic in a pretty sketchy part of town that apparently does amazing work. I could inquire if they’d be open for a visit? I should be able to charm them into cooperating.”
Lakan looked up from the chess board he was rearranging some pieces on. “What clinic is this?”