Chapter 8

Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW

Chapter 8: Classless Society

After a while, Lei Ming recalled the information Mo Chuan had sent her yesterday and realized, "Oh, I remember now! Your world still relies on a financial system. Salary refers to the money earned through labor, right? That model has been abolished here."

As she walked, she explained, "Money creates classes, and once classes are formed, they use money to gather supporters and reinforce their power, thus controlling society. This goes against our values. Therefore, as society developed, the old financial system gradually crumbled, allowing us to fundamentally eliminate class differences and resource monopolies, achieving true shared ownership and equality for everyone."

The three of them were stunned by her words, falling silent for a moment. "So, you mean there’s no concept of money here anymore?" Luo Yu asked.

"Correct."

"Then why do people work?"

"For interest, passion, ideals, oh, and of course, social responsibility."

"What about…?" Zhu Huai felt confused. "How do you ensure that people’s basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter are met? Do you distribute food stamps? Do they collect based on citizenship documentation?"

Lei Ming shook her head. "It’s not that complicated. All necessities are supplied in unlimited quantities; everyone gets their share."

"!!!"

Seeing their disbelief, Lei Ming smiled gently, "Once you learn more about this place, you’ll understand how our society operates. I won’t claim it’s perfect, but compared to class-based societies, it’s much better. After all, we came from an old system and fully appreciate how hard-earned everyone’s current freedom is."

After she finished, Lei Ming and Luo Yu continued walking side by side, while Ying Zhao slowed down, tugging Zhu Huai and whispering, "This could be the legendary ideal society, Huai! Do you know what this means?"

"I do!" Zhu Huai said excitedly, trying to keep her voice down. "So those houses really are free! The food is genuinely free! We don’t have to work to pay off debts anymore!"

Ying Zhao looked at her in a mix of amusement and exasperation. "What I meant was that the ancient legends recorded in our history might have deep connections with this place."

At that moment, Luo Yu and Lei Ming, who had walked a bit ahead, turned back when they noticed Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao lagging behind. The two of them paused their conversation and quickly joined the others.

Thinking that the three of them still had a limited understanding of the place, Lei Ming began to formally introduce the environment while they walked. In this timeline, there was no concept of nations; humans were still divided into tribes that generally defined their living areas, without strict borders.

They called this place the Ponsuo Tribe, a large and ancient tribe located on the subtropical continental plate, with highlands to the west and the ocean to the east. There were two major rivers flowing from west to east in the hinterland: the northern one was called Ji Shui, and the southern one was called Jiang Shui. These two rivers nourished the people living on this land, which had a suitable climate, abundant resources, and a stable and prosperous life.

They were currently at the center of the Ponsuo Tribe, known as Di Qiu. It was also one of the locations for the global assembly hall, where tribes from various continents regularly gathered to discuss matters related to the people’s livelihood.

Luo Yu listened attentively and thought to herself that their unexpected landing must have brought them right into the tribe’s living room. No wonder the assembly took immediate action; they called a meeting the very next day after discovering them.

As they crossed a grassy field, they veered toward the hangar, and Luo Yu asked Lei Ming what she meant by "It’s boring to have only one job."

Lei Ming, eager to answer, explained in detail how jobs worked here. After finishing basic education, people explore various fields based on their interests. After their apprenticeship ends, those who qualify receive official credentials to start working.

People here usually possess multiple qualifications, with younger individuals often having a dozen or more. As they grew older and discovered their true passions, they would focus on one direction while still retaining three to five other jobs to avoid boredom from a single occupation.

Since work was no longer tied to survival, people didn’t need to pursue income or social status. Here, job varieties flourished, and repetitive, tedious manual labor was handled by machines. The jobs humans engaged in were more about exploration and creativity.

Many of the job descriptions sounded fascinating to Luo Yu, and here, work hours were generally short—around three hours a day on average—with ample vacation time, resulting in actual working days accounting for only about one-third of the year.

Instead of work, it felt more like a social activity or a fun pastime, or simply an enriching life experience. Regardless of how one looked at it, it differed dramatically from their previous understanding of work in their old world.

As they continued their conversation, Luo Yu suddenly thought of Mo Chuan and curiously asked, "What subject does Professor Mo Chuan teach? Does she have other jobs?"

"Professor Mo Chuan is a neuroscientist. She’s quite unique because she’s so devoted to her research that she hasn’t taken on other jobs. She is known as a workaholic, often spending five to six hours in the laboratory, frequently reminded to take breaks."

"Isn’t she supposed to work one day and rest for three?" Luo Yu recalled how the wristband had urged her to take breaks last night, yet Mo Chuan had looked helpless when discussing her need for a vacation.

Lei Ming shook her head. "No, our vacation arrangements are self-determined. Everyone has a different pace in life and work. Professor Mo Chuan usually chooses to work intensely for three months each year; unless she exceeds her working hours for the day and is required to rest, she doesn’t take vacations. Once she finishes her busy period, she travels the world."

"However, when we say she travels the world…" Lei Ming smiled down, "Every time she reaches a beautiful place, she stops to stay for a few months and inevitably begins studying the local species. So, her world tour has lasted for years, and she has only managed to visit two continents so far, although she has written several books."

Luo Yu contemplated this and was about to ask something else when Lei Ming pointed ahead. "Come on, let’s take the upper cabin stairs."

They had arrived at the elevator entrance where they had come out to see the moon yesterday. The elevator sensed nearby people and stopped; the four of them entered one by one, and the elevator rose slowly.

In less than three minutes, they arrived at the helipad on the mountaintop where they had landed yesterday. In the center of the spacious platform was a runway measuring less than a hundred meters, designated for aircraft to take off and land. On both sides of the runway were four hangars, each equipped with corresponding maintenance areas and operation rooms.

The Shan Hai Jing was currently parked in the first hangar on the left. Lei Ming led the three of them straight to that hangar, where a hangar robot had already come out to welcome them.

After verifying their identities at the entrance, they walked into the hangar and saw the Shan Hai Jing sitting in the middle. In the vastness of the hangar, it looked somewhat lonely and appeared even more pitiful than when it had been tilting on the riverbank yesterday.

The hangar was quiet, with only the four of them present. As they walked, the hangar robot introduced, "The unknown aircraft was scanned and stored yesterday without any anomalies. A control panel was moved into the operation room, and drying treatment has been done." It then reported the temperature and humidity of both the hangar and operation room.

Luo Yu walked around the Shan Hai Jing, noticing that its underside had cracks, so it hadn’t been cleaned after being moved into the hangar yesterday. The ashes on its exterior were still present. She carefully examined it from top to bottom and finally approached the hatch, gently patting the dusty aircraft.

Zhu Huai also came over, opened the hatch, and took out a toolbox from the equipment room. The group followed the hangar robot to the operation room on the left.

Once inside the operation room, they saw a massive maintenance station in the center, with the Shan Hai Jing’s control panel placed on top. There was also a real-time temperature and humidity detector nearby. It had previously displayed the standard values provided by Zhu Huai yesterday, but now, as the door opened, the values began to fluctuate due to the flow of outside air.

Zhu Huai approached the control panel and first examined the bottom circuit board, noting that the drying treatment from the previous night had worked quite well. At that moment, the hangar robot activated the engineering assistant robot in the operation room, allowing it to assist Zhu Huai with the inspection.

They formed a circle around Zhu Huai as she put on protective goggles to check the control panel. Remembering Mo Chuan’s advice, Lei Ming asked with concern, "How is it? The sky curtain won’t malfunction, will it?"

"I can only say it hasn’t malfunctioned yet," Zhu Huai replied cautiously. "I’ll need to take it apart to see the specific situation." Just as she finished speaking and was about to turn around to grab tools, the engineering assistant robot conveniently opened the toolbox and presented it to her.

"Wow," Zhu Huai said, examining the robot. "This little thing has some skills."

Afterward, she picked three different types of wire cutters and showed them to the robot. She returned them to the box and said, "Please hand me the U-shaped wire cutter." The robot quickly found the wire cutter among the tools and handed it to Zhu Huai, making her extremely pleased, and she praised it several times.

"Um…" Luo Yu interrupted the lively exchange between Zhu Huai and the robot, "Is there anything Ying Zhao and I can help with?"

"I was thinking of having you assist, but it’s not needed anymore," Zhu Huai said, patting the robot. "You two together can’t match one of it. There are too many people here, which affects my thought process. Please step outside."

Luo Yu understood and turned to Lei Ming, saying, "We’d better not add to the confusion here. It seems the issue shouldn’t be serious."

Lei Ming thought for a moment and nodded, "Alright, I’ll take you two to get familiar with the surroundings nearby." She then looked back at Zhu Huai, saying, "If you need anything, just let the hangar robot contact me."

After that, the three of them left the operation room. Lei Ming exchanged a few words with the hangar robot outside, asking it to arrange some drinks and snacks for Zhu Huai in the operation room, before taking Luo Yu and Ying Zhao away from the hangar.

Since the cliffs surrounded the helipad, there wasn’t much to explore, so they walked back the way they had come, reaching the foot of the mountain. At that moment, the sun shone brightly, and a warm breeze flowed gently. To the east lay their ninth cliff dwelling, while to the west was a dense forest, with a stream flowing gracefully among the mountains not far ahead.

Lei Ming took the two of them into the western forest to observe a gathering of woodcarving enthusiasts, then headed south to the stream to watch people frolicking in the water. Surprisingly, in the distance, the area around the cliff dwelling appeared to be bustling.

However, after wandering for half a day, Luo Yu realized that, as Ying Zhao had said yesterday, there were indeed no men around—none at all.

When they returned to the hangar operation room in the afternoon, Zhu Huai had already finished cleaning the control panel’s circuit board and had started rewiring it. Upon seeing them return, her tone was much lighter, "The recovery panel isn’t a big problem; it’s just the deployment that’s a bit unstable. I’ll fine-tune it again later; it won’t malfunction anymore."

Hearing this, Lei Ming also became cheerful, "That’s great! I’ll send a message to Professor Mo Chuan." After saying that, she turned and left.

After Luo Yu waited for her to exit, she walked over to examine the control panel and noticed the engineering assistant robot standing still beside it, its screen displaying a message: "Work has exceeded three hours; please take a break."

Luo Yu saw that the robot seemed immobilized and asked, "What’s wrong with it?"

Zhu Huai was still checking the welding situation and didn’t turn around, "Oh, I put it on silent; it kept reminding me to take a break, which was annoying."

Ying Zhao, standing nearby, chuckled and said, "We should also adapt to local customs." She stepped over and patted Zhu Huai on the shoulder, "Huai, let’s call it a day."

Just then, Lei Ming came back inside, saying she had some business to attend to and was preparing to leave. She asked if they wanted to go down the mountain together.

Zhu Huai had also just finished her inspection, standing up and stretching, "I’m done here too; we can leave the rest for tomorrow."

With that, the four of them exited the hangar together. At the foot of the mountain, they bid farewell to Lei Ming before Luo Yu and the others headed east back to the ninth cliff dwelling.

On the way back, Zhu Huai remained unusually silent. As soon as they entered the house and the stone door closed behind them, she turned to Luo Yu and said, "You were right. This incident wasn’t an accident."