Chapter 1646: “My Property”
The opening scene of the movie was a long shot.
Under the warm sunlight, the two children were happily playing on the b.u.mpy gra.s.s.
They laughed and joked around, their faces br.i.m.m.i.n.g with innocent smiles.
This was the backyard of a certain country house. The gra.s.s in the yard, children’s toys, and the structure of the entire house were all standard Western backgrounds. The characters inside were all foreigners.
Two kind fathers were leaning against the wooden fence in the backyard, watching the two children play happily and drinking cold beer.
The two benevolent mothers were holding dinner in the kitchen.
Obviously, this was a very harmonious and harmonious neighborhood. The two families were getting along very well.
The two fathers chatted about their work. One was a worker in the factory, and the other was a vendor who opened his own shop.
They might have different jobs but they could feel that business had been bad recently. They were all thinking of other ways to earn some extra money to subsidize their families. Otherwise, they might not be able to bear the high school fees for their children.
At that moment, a piece of news was broadcasting on the television next to him.
“The ‘Oxygen Guard System’ has been officially activated today. It will be like oxygen, scattered in the environment of our lives. It is everywhere and indispensable.”
“The Oxygen Guard System will protect the private property of every citizen. It is sacred and inviolable. It will maintain the justice of the law and no criminal can hide.”
“The Oxygen Guard System will not lean towards any cla.s.s, any group or person. It will faithfully provide the most perfect protection for every citizen according to the highest principle that is sacred to law and private property…”
“One of the members said that the official activation of the Oxygen guard system means that human history has developed to a new era. That’s because, under the protection of the Oxygen guard system, the free adjustment function of the market will be completely released. It can play the greatest role without being artificially supervised. The complete release of the free market will definitely create more wealth for human society and bring greater happiness…”
At that point, a mother in the kitchen shouted. “Children, it’s time to eat.”
“Sigh!” The two children replied, but they were still fighting for the last goal.
The two fathers looked at each other and smiled. One of the fathers waved his hand and switched off the television. He went to the kitchen to help clean the table.
The sky gradually darkened, and the lights came on. The two families were having a pleasant gathering.
It was a quiet and harmonious night.
The pace of the movie was very fast. The two children slowly grew up, and their backgrounds began to change.
One child entered the factory like his father and became an ordinary worker. The other child was determined to do business and made a small business.
Both of them worked hard, waking up early and working late at night.
However, as businessmen grew up, they began to use the money they earned to buy the latest educational chips, learn various knowledge, and gradually earn more money to move out of this community.
From then on, the two children gradually distanced and stopped contacting each other.
At that moment, the camera was focused on the poor man’s child.
He originally had a stable job at the factory.
However, one day, the supervisor of the factory informed them that everyone had lost their jobs. That was because the factory had a batch of the most advanced machines. The entire production line could be controlled through machinery. There was no need for any workers anymore.
Many workers could not accept this reality. They were so angry that they wanted to destroy these machines. However, they were immediately knocked out by the ubiquitous law enforcement units with high pressure electricity. Some died on the spot, and some became homeless because they destroyed expensive items. They carried heavy debts and became completely bankrupt.
The poor protagonist had no choice but to continue working in other factories. However, other factories were also constantly firing employees. New machines were constantly replacing these workers.
This poor protagonist could only work on odd jobs. His income was getting lower and lower, and his standard of living was getting worse.
Finally, one day, these large companies began to reach out to the necessary supplies that they needed daily. Food, water, air, and even s.p.a.ce for activities were divided up by these large companies.
At first, these large companies were very generous to allow the poor to have their own houses, gra.s.s and old cars. However, the plethora of maintenance fees soon overwhelmed the poor protagonist. He had no choice but to sell his old house at a high price and live in the small cubicles with the life cycle system arranged by these large companies.
According to the amount of money they spent on selling old houses, the poor could live a carefree life.
However, all sorts of problems soon arose. The poor man had no income. He realized that the resources he needed were becoming more and more expensive, and he was spending money faster and faster.
He wanted to sell his own labor, but in a world where machines had replaced people, his labor was as worthless as his own. Perhaps the only valuable thing he had was his attention and time. However, he could only obtain a small income by watching advertis.e.m.e.nts day after day and survive as a person.
His parents pa.s.sed away one after another as they aged. Their remains did not exchange for much. Apart from the recyclable water resources and a certain amount of free air, the mineral content in the body and other elements could only exchange for a piece of delicious beef.
This piece of beef was very extravagant for the protagonist because the cycle system would only provide him with living resources that he could barely survive. However, the protagonist was almost forgetting the taste of meat.
He ate the beef carefully with tears in his eyes. He muttered, “Thank you, Mom and Dad.”
The protagonist’s living s.p.a.ce became smaller and smaller. When he first moved into the small cubicle, he could often go out to take a walk and bask in the sun. However, more and more land was gradually surrounded by large companies, and the s.p.a.ce he could move became smaller and smaller.
In the end, he could only look at the environment outside through the gla.s.s. It changed day by day. A piece of empty land was built by buildings and dismantled into a square and a gra.s.sland.
In the end, the world outside seemed to have returned to the beautiful past time. The air was fresh and the gra.s.s was long. However, people were all cut off behind the gla.s.s. They could only watch helplessly but could not take a breath of fresh air outside.
In front of the poor protagonist was ordinary gla.s.s, but he could not break it. Once he did that, he would not only have to compensate the gla.s.s, but also the fresh air outside.
The fragrant air with flowery fragrance was worlds apart from the foul air in the circulation system. He could not afford it at all.
There was no need to purchase tempered gla.s.s because of the existence of the law enforcement unit. There was no need to spend additional costs.
The poor protagonist could only look at the green land in the distance and imagine that he used to be the backyard of his house. There was once a b.u.mpy gra.s.sland and a childhood playmate who played happily with him on it.
At that moment, he saw a handsome and tall young man showing off his skill on the gra.s.s. His movements were very beautiful, just like the top football player.
The poor protagonist stared at it for a while in a daze. Suddenly, he noticed that the young man’s face looked similar to his childhood playmate.
In this world, the advanced knowledge of scientists and athletes’ sports skills could be input into people’s brains through the education chip. Advanced genetic technology could allow people to remain young and live many times longer.
Thus, even though the poor protagonist had become an old man who looked older than his actual age, his childhood playmate still maintained the image of a young man.
The poor protagonist’s emotions seemed to have exploded at this moment. It was hard to describe his emotions. Was he excited, angry, or despair?
He broke the gla.s.s and rushed towards the figure while shouting the name of his childhood playmate.
The ubiquitous law enforcement unit did not kill him on the spot because his playmate tacitly allowed him to. The poor protagonist breathed the fresh air that belonged to him and stepped on the expensive gra.s.s to talk to him.
He even asked his personal robot to serve him to move two chairs over. The two of them looked at the distance and chatted like their father.
The poor protagonist first recalled those unforgettable days with him, but this childhood playmate only responded politely and perfunctorily, without causing any emotional ripples.
The educational chip made the rich protagonist’s brain filled with useful things. Those useless content had been quietly deleted.
The poor protagonist’s anger exploded when they discussed his life. He questioned this unfair world and why he could not obtain it freely even though it was air everywhere.
The rich protagonist asked strangely, “Air is resources. Since resources are rare, why can they be obtained freely?”
“It’s the same for wealth. Wealth is not rare in this world, but people are still scrambling for it, desperately pursuing wealth.”
“In this society, there will always be many people with no value, and rich people like us are out of pity and kindness. We will bear the burden of this society and provide the most basic security for these people with no value. We are the contributors of this society.”
“Everything you see, including the gra.s.s under your feet, the air you breathe is my Personal Wealth. If I want to, you can also become my Personal Wealth. My Personal Wealth is sacred under the protection of the law enforcement unit.”
“I have never done anything that goes against the law. I started from scratch and have been doing business from a young age to the current scale. During this process, I put in unimaginable efforts of yours and solved problems one by one with my own wisdom.”
The light in the eyes of the poor protagonist gradually dimmed. It was impossible for him to refute this childhood playmate because the other party could invoke all the laws and regulations by citing scriptures. What’s more, he was very eloquent. The poor protagonist was no match for him no matter what.
The poor protagonist was helpless. The ubiquitous law enforcement unit would kill him the moment he wanted to perish together with the rich protagonist.
Just as he was about to leave in low spirits, the rich protagonist stopped him.
“You’re very lucky. I’m not someone who cares about money. I’m still the biggest philanthropist in the society.”
“Everyone has been invading my private property and causing me a lot of trouble, but I have always maintained maximum tolerance and restraint and saved many people from the law enforcement unit. In order to solve this problem forever, I have decided to be generous and do the biggest charity plan in my life to provide s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps and fuel for you. I will give you the opportunity to develop a new world.”
“Of course, this expedition is filled with danger. You have the right to choose freely. I will respect your decisions whether you go or stay. However, I hope that you can respect the law and my personal wealth.”
At the end of the film, countless people like the poor protagonist boarded the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p to another planet.
The poor protagonist saw the rich protagonist on the screen in front of him before the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p lit up. They looked at each other deeply through the screen.
However, no matter how they looked or spoke, they could not understand each other. The poor and the rich had become two completely different species.
Finally, the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p lit up, soared into the sky, and flew into the vast universe.
The rich protagonist sat down on the swing chair on the gra.s.s, satisfied. He touched his pet dog and continued reading.
He might have grasped too much knowledge but reading still gave him a sense of happiness.
“That’s great. All the problems have been solved in a perfect way.”
The afterglow of the sun gradually dimmed. The rich protagonist leaned back in his chair, smiling. He fell asleep like a baby.