Chapter 241: Seeing Da Shi Again_1

Jiang Yu's last visit to Beijing to tend to graves hadn't left him with a profound impression of desertification, since he couldn't quite remember what the cemetery used to look like anyway.

It wasn't until he entered the urban area of Beijing that he saw the dilapidated state left in the wake of desertification.

In this part of the city, only the old elevated roads were still maintained by people, though they looked damaged, at least there was no dust on the road surface, and it was clean.

On both sides of the viaduct, the walls of the high-rise buildings were filled with dust. They had long been abandoned, with many buildings collapsed. Rooms where doors or windows had been broken were almost buried in sand, hiding what little remained of the decrepit furniture.

The roads that once teemed with traffic were now covered in overgrown grass, as if they hadn't been inhabited for several centuries.

Jiang Yu lamented, "Such a great city, discarded just like that."

You Ze had worked in foreign affairs on Earth for a few years and was very clear about the situation. He explained, "The underground city was built a long time ago, initially for military use.

"Desertification became severe around the time of the Great Rift Valley, especially during spring and autumn when it was almost a daily routine to eat sand and breathe dust, that's why the underground city began to expand on a large scale.

"In just over a decade, tens of millions of people had moved underground.

"Many people were reluctant to move, but then all sorts of brainless rumors started spreading, such as Trisolarans' weapons not being able to reach underground, or that even if the Trisolarans occupied Earth, due to their strategic shortcomings, they wouldn't know to look underground.

"I suspect these rumors were spread by real estate developers. When the underground city first opened for civilian use, they made a lot of money.

"Later on, when the government started distributing housing, they didn't have much of a profit margin."

Jiang Yu sighed, "No matter what, they have abandoned the land that nourished generations upon generations.

"Didn't anyone think to buy 'Climate Air Conditioning' to improve the environment?"

You Ze replied, "There were some. Back then, when Kong Fangcheng was in power, he demanded the Earth Government issue a statement to apologize to the late Qi Guanglu and others.

"If the apology was sincere, they could also offer the technology for 'Climate Air Conditioning' at a low price."

"But the relevant government believed that the wrongful case against Qi Guanglu was the fault of their predecessors, and they couldn't admit to it, so they were reluctant to apologize, and the introduction of the 'Climate Air Conditioning' technology just fell through."

Jiang Yu laughed, "Then they deserve to live like moles."

The group quickly came to the entrance of the underground city, and as they had reservations, they soon entered the huge elevators.

These elevators were like large warehouses, with a convoy of four vehicles driving straight in, taking up only half the space in one of the elevators.

It was said that these elevators could accommodate a large truck!

As the elevator descended, a burst of electronic sound reminded everyone to close the windows, then numerous intelligent nozzles washed the vehicles with water, followed by a blast of air drying them, leaving the dirt-covered vehicles immediately clean.

Although the underground city had a large number of shared cars, there were still many wealthy people with luxurious private cars who liked to drive above ground.

That's why the descending elevators offered an automatic car wash service.

After entering the underground city, Jiang Yu had to look up to see the tops of buildings as tall as Big Trees.

Without strong winds or convective weather underground, as long as the architecture complied with structural mechanics, each 'Big Tree' could be built to over a hundred floors.

Many high-rises were connected by roads, seemingly dividing the entire underground city into two layers.

However, there were not many places where a second layer of roads was laid, and it seemed quite deserted up there, with few people seen moving about.

Moreover, this underground city was so vast, one couldn't see its limits at a glance; it was hard to imagine that humanity had actually built such a massive city beneath the surface.

You Ze pointed to the area with a second-level road, "These places generally belong to the rich, the properties on both sides are theirs, and that's why they built roads in the middle."

"It is said that the rich find it fashionable to turn the space in the middle into gardens."

Jiang Yu furrowed his brow and asked, "How big are the houses allocated to ordinary people?"

You Ze replied, "About twenty-plus square meters for singles, and over fifty for couples. However, there aren't many couples these days, and women are reluctant to have children."

"Most people who want children won't get married; they'll just rent an artificial womb in a hospital and use a fertilized egg from the two individuals to cultivate a child."

"That way, they can receive government child care subsidies, and they don't have to worry that in case of a divorce, the house will be directly confiscated, and property divided."

Speaking of which, You Ze shook his head, "Without the process of pregnancy, parents hardly feel any affection for their children."

"Because of this, the government set up special nurseries to take in children that couples no longer wished to look after."

"At first, these nurseries often broke out with scandals; abuse incidents were not rare. Later, most caretakers were replaced with robots, and such scandals became less frequent."

Hearing this, Jiang Yu was taken aback, "Isn't it said that modern people have high quality? How could such things happen?"

You Ze replied with disdain, "Yeah, they're all very kind and easy to get along with. They'll give way to the elderly they meet on the road, they'll take care of any children they meet outside."

"But when it comes to their own family's elderly and children, they don't care at all."

"Ask them why, and they'll say their freedom can't be interfered with by anyone, that it's the government's responsibility to look after the elderly and children."

Jiang Yu understood, "Outwardly kind, but inherently unwilling to take any responsibility."

You Ze nodded, "Right, and many people are sick in the head. Their own children are being abused in the nursery, yet they are fighting for living space for the Trisolarans!"

"Challenge them, and they'll say you lack compassion, that you don't respect the Trisolarans' right to life."

He sighed, "The people of Earth are seriously ill!"

Jiang Yu looked at the streets outside with few pedestrians, "The Earth Government has completely ignored sorting out the conflicts of the lower classes, focusing only on superficial harmony."

"Technology is advancing, the times are developing, but human nature is marking time in the same spot."

As they spoke, they arrived at the entrance of the hospital. Prepared in advance, You Ze led Jiang Yu to a ward, "This is the place."

Jiang Yu stood at the doorway; the automatic door to the ward opened, and he saw a middle-aged man in a leather jacket, packing up his personal belongings.

Jiang Yu laughed, "Da Shi, tell me the truth, have you become a spirit in a leather jacket?

"The first time I met you, you were wearing this thing. You've just woken up from hibernation, and you're wearing it again?"

As they talked, the two approached each other, the joy of reunion making them tightly grasp each other's hands.

For Da Shi, it had only been a few days since he and Jiang Yu had parted, but the unfamiliarity of everything around him in those days made it clear that the outside world had changed dramatically.

Now encountering an old friend, how could he not be delighted, "I knew it, lad, as long as you're still breathing, I was sure you'd come to pick me up from the hospital!"