An Era's Gift for a Country Bumpkin Who Wanted to Take It Easy
The year is 2518 AD. Earth, in the countryside of Hui Zhou Qi An.
The morning sunlight, slightly drier than usual, streamed through the old wooden windows, casting dappled patterns of light on the concrete floor.
Wang Teng rolled over and sat up on the hard bed, his head still feeling heavy as if it were filled with lead, completely dazed. He had stayed up late last night in the virtual community, and his temples were still throbbing.
The iron pot in the kitchen was ice cold. He took out half a bag of expired nutritional paste and chewed it dryly with cold water.
The Smart Bracelet vibrated gently on his wrist, automatically bringing up the Douyin) interface that he hadn't closed the night before. This software, which allows users to "immerse" themselves in other people's lives from a first-person perspective, is now his only source of emotional support.
With a flick of the finger, one second it's a scene of an interstellar tycoon enjoying alien meat on gilded tableware in the celestial palace of a circular space station; the next second it cuts to a live stream from a slum, where someone is crying to the camera about not being able to snag any free nutritional supplements for three days.
The comments section is like a river with two distinct sides: on one side, there are boasts of "one meal is enough to feed a small country," and on the other side, there are pleadings of "not even being able to afford synthetic meat."
Lang Feng Luo Ye: "To earn more labor for land redistribution, my parents gave birth to me in a leaky mud-brick house. I'm 32 years old, I've never held a girl's hand, never left the county town, and live like a weed that no one cares for."
Wang Teng chuckled and tapped the screen rapidly, "Brother, don't be discouraged. I dropped out of high school at 20 and came to the city. I first worked as a technician in a foot massage parlor, then dabbled in small businesses. After ten years of hard work, I was recently blacklisted by the China Securities Regulatory Commission and underwent two years of enforcement. The debt I owe is enough to buy half a street's worth of nutritional paste."
Now I can go back to the village, lie down, and live a carefree life.
The comment had barely been posted when I received a reply from "My Little Carp": "Haha, a reverse inspiration to reach the ceiling!"
He pursed his lips, about to argue again, when a trending post popped up. "The book 'The Three-Body Problem' is quite popular recently. If Ye Wenjie had the opportunity, would you bring the Three-Body to us?"
Wang Teng said, "I will send the Three-Body daily reports to urge them to act, make them hold morning and evening meetings every day, weekly reports, and monthly reports, making them report on the progress of the invasion, making them work overtime to speed up the journey to the Solar System, and telling them that if they are late, they will have no chance. There are so many civilizations in the universe that if you don't do it, there will be plenty of others who will."
Likes popped up one after another, such as "666, the successor of the contemporary King of Volumes" and "Even the Three-Body have to sign KPIs first," but Wang Teng suddenly lost interest.
He pushed open the creaking wooden door and looked towards the village entrance.
The distant horizon is cut off by towering eco-tall buildings that pierce the clouds. Silver-gray Flying Shuttle trail pale blue flames as they shuttle through the low sky. At the southeastern horizon, Space Elevator, like a crystal pillar of light, connects directly from the ground to the synchronous orbit.
Occasionally, a spaceship larger than the moon would slowly pass by, casting a shadow that could cover half the county town.
This planet is no longer what his parents remembered; scenes from science fiction movies have become the most common scenery today.
Artificial intelligence has taken over more than 90% of the work; as long as you're willing to lift a finger, no one will go hungry. Those who don't want to work can buy a high-end Smart Bracelet and live like royalty in the virtual world.
But Wang Teng refused to do it. He tried to work as an apprentice in a factory, but was squeezed out by fully automated robotic arms; he tried to open an online store to sell local specialties, but all the traffic was snatched up by Xingji Chain Supermarket; in the end, he could only return to his village and live off his parents, relying on the basic subsidies issued by the Luo Family.
He had no worries about food or drink, yet he was unhappy, but he couldn't explain why.
Is it because the dream of "making a lot of money" hasn't been realized? Or is it because efforts seem like a joke in the face of the times? Or is it simply because, looking at those living in space cities and shopping in interstellar malls, one suddenly realizes that the distance between them is farther than that between Earth and Three-Body?
He even imagined that a hundred years from now, when he turned to ashes, he wouldn't even leave behind a name. Human history books would only record the death statistics for a certain year and month, and he would be nothing more than an insignificant "1" among them.
Just as a long sigh escaped his throat, a bold, blood-red headline suddenly flashed on his retina, stinging his eyes.
This is the highest level of forced push notification; you can't block it even if you close your eyes.
[Earth Lord Decree]
[Ordering Parties: Luo Family, Virtual Universe Company, and Cosmic Galaxy Bank (joint venture)]
[Core Content: The "Genius Breeding Center" will be established, and a comprehensive transformation project will be launched in the former Australia, America, and half of the ocean areas. Starting at 10:18 AM in 2518 AD, all land ownership transactions on Earth will immediately cease.]
[Property Rights Disposal Plan:]
1. Property owners may choose to retain ownership and be allocated housing of no less than the original size after renovation; however, the compensation amount will only be one-tenth of the original amount. 2. For those who choose cash compensation, the funds will be directly transferred to their personal accounts.
Property disputes will not be accepted at this time; compensation will only be paid to the registered owner; if the property owner is deceased, it will be distributed according to the will or estate law.
[Special Announcement: Intelligent monitoring has been activated across the entire Solar System. Any form of fighting or crime is strictly prohibited. Violators will be immediately expelled from the Solar System and subjected to the most severe punishment.]
Applicable to: Earthling, extraterrestrials, and members of the Luo Family.
[Signature: Luo Feng]
"Demolition?" Wang Teng was stunned for two seconds, but his heart was not stirred at all.
A few years ago, the neighboring village was demolished, and the compensation was just enough to buy a small apartment in the county town. This time, the notoriously domineering Luo Family is leading the effort, and he estimates that they can only give him a little more, enough to buy a house with a balcony.
He casually opened the personal property compensation interface, but his pupils contracted sharply the moment his eyes swept over the numbers.
Assets under his name: 140 self-built houses in rural areas and 1 mu of cultivated land.
Compensation amount: 2,000,000,000 Silver Blue Coin.
Wang Teng counted the zeros three times, his mouth opening wider and wider until he finally squatted down and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.
You read that right, it's two billion!
He jumped up and rushed back into the house, his fingers trembling as he tapped on the interstellar network.
The top ten trending topics were all dominated by "demolition and relocation," with the hashtag #DemolitionCompensation100,000TimesPremium# followed by the glaring "hot" word.
Lang Feng Luo Ye: "You didn't just demolish a house, you demolished half a lifetime's worth of troubles! Now I declare that I'm also qualified to urge the Three-Body to hurry up and come! Hahahaha!"
Qi Mi Xuan Jun: "Tear down a house, and you get a Panamera; spray-paint the 'demolition' slogan, and you get a Mercedes-Benz. I'm already looking at interstellar spaceship models!"
Qu Di: "The only way to relieve worries is to get rich quick; how to get rich quick? Demolition and relocation to every household!"
"Zhi Tian Di" posted a family photo with the caption. "The last meal in the old house. My parents said they couldn't bear to leave the place they'd lived in for decades [sad]. From now on, our warm home has become a string of cold numbers. My dad's sadness is overwhelming, and his hair turned much darker overnight."
In the photo, the elderly couple's mouths are practically stretched to their ears in a wide grin, and the suitcase behind them bears the logo of "Mars Resort Hotel".
Wang Teng was scrolling through the comments when he suddenly burst out laughing. As he laughed, his eyes became a little wet.
He recalled how he was worried about how to spend his basic allowance next month just a few days ago, but now he had two billion in his account, enough to buy a small interstellar yacht, enough to buy a view house at the lunar base, enough to allow him to go to places he had only seen on Douyin before without having to look after anyone's face.
On the other end of the internet, those who sold their houses and moved their families to explore other planets a few years ago are now in tears. Some people left messages on the Luo Family website demanding an explanation, questioning why the demolition hadn't happened sooner, and they wanted to unite to demonstrate and sit in front of the Luo Family's house.
Luo Family Enforcement Team: "Welcome!"
Wang Teng closed the interface and walked to the door again.
The Flying Shuttle still shuttles through the low sky, and the Space Elevator still shines brightly, but this time, those once unattainable landscapes seem to have suddenly gained warmth.
He took out his Smart Bracelet and edited a new status update. "I used to think of myself as a speck of dust in history, but now I realize that even dust can be blown into different shapes by the winds of time."
Long live the Luo Family!