Preface: Marginal Characters
In early September, the long-missed call from his rural mother came, and she issued an order to Li Aozi: the family was poor, and after finishing vocational school, he must work to pay off debts and then provide for his sister's high school education.
Li Aozi hung up the phone feeling neither sad nor happy, aware that in the Frost Plated Republic, being a man eligible for university entrance exams was one in a million. Simply completing vocational school with part-time work and study already made him luckier than eighty percent of the boys from Fertile Village.
A few days ago, several families had been wiped out by a Spirit Monster, a fact his mother used over the phone to express her anxiety and fear, mentioning she wanted to send his younger sister to a city high school for safety in numbers.
After all, her real purpose was to stop Li Aozi from continuing his preparatory classes and to enter the university entrance exams next year.
His mother was suffering from a lung disease with not much time left, and as death approached, one tends to speak kindly; her worries were not unreasonable.
Three days ago, His Excellency the President had approved agents enforcing the Fourth Rule to enter universities and arrest a group of male students who were "Patriarchy Advocates."
Unless something unexpected happened, these students' relatives and descendants would be labeled as criminals, unable to test for public positions or work in major companies.
Li Aozi was neither sad nor happy; he trusted his mother.
He believed it was the shock of his father's previous disappearance, the massacre by the Spirit Monster, and the recent arrest of male students that had rendered his normally gentle and loving mother unable to bear the pressure.
She feared that his knowledge-thirsty personality might be led astray by these "progressive males" at the university.
While university could provide good job opportunities and a chance to stand out, the family, already supporting an older sister, simply could not afford a boy in college.
He did not inquire about his younger sister's situation, packed his things, and despite the retention efforts of his preparatory class teacher, left with just 230 Derby to the county town.
The shabby bus traveled on the road, the cold light from the artificial sun shining through the window, reflecting glaringly off Li Aozi's pallid skin.
He had good hearing. Originally, two women in the back were chatting and laughing, but as soon as they saw his skin color, they started whispering to each other:
"An outsider's ghost..."
"Just a naturalized citizen."
Li Aozi didn't react angrily, although he wasn't a naturalized citizen from the Outer World, he did have a quarter of Outer World lineage, and discrimination was to be expected.
They rosy-cheeked their faces, smeared with sunbathing makeup, putting on fake sweet smiles like zinc-coated apples, and then began boasting about their jobs, or jobs they heard from others.
"Honestly, the counter job at GTB branch is so boring, hardly a customer half the day; I feel like my implanted emotion control chip was a waste of money."
"You still work? I just spend my husband's money—ah, I thought this guy was fairly honest. He earned a bit from recycling prosthetics but then I found out he had saved 2000 Derby secretly. Can you believe that?"
"Men, those backward creatures, still dare to have private property after marriage, why didn't you have the Fourth Rule teach him a lesson?"
"I wish I could, but he still has to go to the bank to work tomorrow, can only swallow the anger…"
"So pathetic—by the way, so gross, there's a man in front, just the thought of sharing space with a man makes me want to vomit."
Li Aozi paid them no mind and noted carefully: the bank was a good place to earn money.
Upon reaching Jianlin County Town, a ride full of bumps and jerks left him weak with hunger. He paced in front of a small restaurant, staring at the starter packs for quick-cook meals priced from 10 Derby upwards, enticed by the synthetic sauce's fragrance and spiciness.
When the order-placing robot asked what he wanted, he quickly fled like a defeated soldier.
He wandered for a long time and found an old lady selling buns near a construction site. Li Aozi, seeing her as a lifesaver, fetched a pot of tap water from a public restroom, and devoured three buns.
He lay down by the pillars under the flyover, Li Aozi had only intended to rest for a while but dozed off inadvertently.
Unable to discern the time under the artificial sun, he glanced at his personal terminal, immediately jumped up, and raced to the bank for his scheduled job interview.
He sprinted, racing through densely packed honeycomb-style apartment buildings, where people were gathering the bodies of a family of three, doctors muttering, "Killed by Spirit Monster again... now the prosthetics and chips are all tainted with resentment, who would want to recycle them?"
Li Aozi covered his nose and ran away quickly.
The broadcaster relayed in a gentle and melodious voice:
"Good afternoon, Frost Plated. Today's heroic figure is Judge Alcie Rodomuller. For ten years, Judge Alcie has diligently not spared a single male criminal, truly protecting the rights of women in Frost Plated…"
"Recently, His Excellency the President visited Washington, The Capital of Red Arrow Empire, and dined with Emperor Kaiser II. The two heads of state had extensive discussions on ecological civilization construction and the previous issue of discrimination against foreign students; His Excellency the President emphasized: maintaining the status of Frost Plated women is a reflection of Frost Plated's progressive system…"
"Experts have discovered that men become overly vain and more likely to commit violent crimes after prosthetic implants. Legislation should restrict the number of male prosthetic implants to prevent harm to women. However, investigations also show that female brains cannot withstand the burden of prosthetics—wait, who wrote this? Cut out that last part immediately…"
"Breaking news—due to the persistent problem of workplace gender bullying, the House of Representatives is considering further reductions in male employment opportunities. This is undoubtedly excellent, preferring women with vocational diplomas over men with doctoral degrees to enter spaces for women only."