Hearing this, Zhang Hao was speechless for a moment.
Wang Zhijie continued: "If you want to blame it, it's this damn world. It's so fucking difficult. Anyway, I have no hope in this life. I just feel comfortable doing whatever I want, just living one day at a time."
"Young people, don't be discouraged..."
Zhang Hao subconsciously advised him.
"I really want to strive for success, but unfortunately I couldn't pass the official employee exam. My physical condition for serving as a soldier is not up to standard, and I can't even find a slightly better job. Apart from lying flat, what other options do you think I have?"
Wang Zhijie couldn't help but complain.
"If you were given a satisfying job, would you be willing to get married and have children?"
Zhang Hao follows the path of good guidance.
Wang Zhijie nodded first, then shook his head: "You can consider getting married, but forget about having children. When the sun comes up, I will consider having children again, otherwise I will suffer the consequences of giving birth."
"What if the official is willing to help you raise your children? Wouldn't they consider it?" Zhang Hao asked further.
"How to raise him?" Wang Zhijie was slightly startled.
"It's a bit like a children's welfare home. From birth to adulthood at the age of 18, from daily meals to medical education, the government covers everything."
"So good? Is it true?"
Wang Zhijie was slightly surprised.
Chu Dehan couldn't help but interjected: "Of course it's true. This is called socialized parenting. If you often watch the news, you will find that it is already being piloted in the capital."
"Really, I don't give birth either."
Wang Zhijie still shook his head.
"Why?" Zhang Hao quickly asked.
"Because I don't worry, the children's welfare home is not a good place. Who knows whether abuse will occur there, or whether it is safest not to give birth."
Wang Zhijie explained casually.
Zhang Hao suddenly felt a little proud: "Don't be discouraged. I admit that there are indeed some bad phenomena in the welfare home. We need to be vigilant, but we can't stop eating because of choking."
“Are you wary of massive cases?”
Wang Zhijie's mouth twitched, and then he joked.
Zhang Hao didn't know how to refute. After all, there are loopholes in any management system, which is inevitable. He paused and continued to ask:
"Brother Wang, from your personal perspective, how do you think we should solve the problem of unmarried and childless young people today?"
Wang Zhijie chuckled and said half-seriously, "This is simple, just collect the single tax."
"Single tax?"
Wang Zhijie quickly waved his hand: "Haha, I'm joking, don't take it seriously."
Zhang Hao was noncommittal and then changed the subject: "Brother Wang, how many years have you been in New York?"
"It should be almost five years ago. If I remember correctly, our family immigrated here in 1985. Due to the economic crisis that year, we really couldn't stay in our country anymore, so we had to go overseas to try our luck."
"Are you still used to living here?"
Wang Zhijie nodded without hesitation: "No matter how bad New York is, it's still better than the mainland. At least people won't starve to death. It's too hard back home. I can only barely keep food and clothing while working hard. It's really stressful."
"Uh..." Zhang Hao saw that the other party had misunderstood, so he quickly corrected him: "I'm asking if you are used to living underground? Do you feel depressed?"
"It's depressing. It's more or less stressful, but just get used to it. To be honest, compared to being hungry and cold, this kind of depression is nothing to me."
Wang Zhijie didn't think so.
"If you were asked to live underground for the rest of your life, would you be willing?"
"As long as there is no shortage of food and drink, it doesn't matter where you live." Wang Zhijie shrugged.
Zhang Hao nodded: "Finally, I want to ask an unrelated question. A New Year's Eve party is being held outside. As a young man, why don't you join in the fun?"
Wang Zhijie flashed the worn-out mobile phone in his hand: "I've been obsessed with an online novel in the past two days. I'm currently reading the climax. I don't want to go out and waste time."
"Oh? What novel? So exciting?"
Zhang Hao took advantage of the situation and asked.
""My Siheyuan Shelter" is a post-apocalyptic rebirth novel. It is very similar to the real-life background and has a strong sense of immersion. I really hope that one day I will have the opportunity to be reborn before the eruption of the Yellowstone volcano."
Wang Zhijie looked longingly.
Zhang Hao asked enthusiastically: "If you were asked to go back to before the Yellowstone volcano erupted, what would you do?"
"Have you ever heard of the 816 underground nuclear project?"
Wang Zhijie became interested instantly.
Zhang Hao thought for a moment and shook his head: "I've never heard of it."
"The 816 Nuclear Project is located deep in a mountain in Yucheng. It was a nuclear raw material industrial base specially built for the development of nuclear weapons during the civil war.
It has a total length of more than 20 kilometers, the main cave is 80 meters high, and there are 18 large caves in the cave. The architectural layout is like a maze, with holes in the cave, making it an excellent refuge." Wang Zhijie introduced in detail.
"You want to contract it?" Zhang Hao said with great enlightenment.
Wang Zhijie nodded excitedly: "Yes, this cave is big enough and can be transformed into a fully functional shelter. To be honest with you, I am planning to write a novel recently and want to use this as the background."
"Not bad, good idea." Zhang Hao pulled the mask on his face and complimented casually, "Have you thought about the title of the novel? I am very interested in this plot. I must read it later."
"I write for fun, but it may not produce results."
Wang Zhijie said modestly.
"It doesn't matter, let's add a WeChat message. When you publish the book, remember to let me know."
Zhang Hao took out his cell phone and suggested.
The person in front of him is very common among contemporary young people. He wants to understand what the younger generation is thinking through him.
"Okay then! You add my WeChat account first, and I will go to the government affairs hall of the city government tomorrow to check the Internet, and then I will click through." Wang Zhijie had a hint of embarrassment on his face.
The mobile phone bill is too expensive and he can't afford it.
Zhang Hao opened a personal hotspot on the spot, and after adding friends, he immediately sent the other party a big red envelope worth RMB 666, which was considered as payment for the questionnaire.
When Wang Zhijie saw the red envelope, his face flushed with excitement. Although more than six hundred yuan was not much, it was enough for him to live for a month if he saved a little money.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!...
After leaving the slums of Dharavi, the group came to a middle-class community with neat one-story villas and even gardens.
Chu Dehan said: "The residents here are mainly employees of major state-owned enterprises, and their annual income is basically between 60,000 and 100,000 yuan."
"Come on, let's sit down at someone's house."
Zhang Hao waved his hand and took the lead into the community.
Soon, they found a family who was willing to take the questionnaire.
Through conversation, we learned that the male owner of this household is 35 years old and works in a plant factory, while the female owner is an employee of a water company. The two have been married for six years and currently have two children, a son and a daughter.
Zhang Hao picked up the water cup and took a sip of tea: "Mr. Hong, first of all, the first question is, are you and your wife satisfied with your current life?"
"Satisfied, I can still live with it."
The male host smiled and nodded.
"What do you think of underground life?"
The hostess Michelle replied: "Except for being a little depressed, everything else is fine. After all, there are not only extreme cold, but also sandstorms on the ground, and there is no sun. Seriously speaking, it is safer underground."
"I don't think there's much difference either."
The male host agreed.
Zhang Hao continued to ask: "A casual question, do you two have any plans to continue having children?"
"It's gone. I can't afford to take care of it even if I give birth."
The male host shook his head repeatedly.
"Mr. Hong, can you tell me your main expenses for raising children?" Zhang Hao asked.
Michelle took the initiative to take over: "Actually, the biggest expense is food. In order to ensure nutrition, the two children need two eggs every day. Most of our wages are spent on this."
"Eggs? What's the price of eggs here?"
"You can't buy them at supply and marketing cooperatives, so you can only buy them at flea markets. Each egg costs about 100 yuan, which works out to 6,000 to 7,000 yuan a month."
Michelle said with pain.
The combined salary of the couple is only 13,400 yuan per month. After excluding the money to buy food and water and electricity bills, there is really not much money left.
"Where did these eggs come from?" Zhang Hao asked curiously.
The male host rushed to answer: "Imported from the south. We don't have the conditions to set up a chicken farm here, but there are no restrictions in the south. Although the egg production is low, the supply is relatively stable."
"Where to the south? Cuba? Venezuela? Or the far south, Brazil and Argentina?"
Zhang Hao tried to guess.
"None of them, the three places you mentioned are all too far away." The male host shook his head, "It's the Bahamas Islands, which is isolated overseas. As long as you are willing to spend money, not to mention chicken farms, even wagyu cattle can be produced.
out."
"Hmph, those people are quite courageous. They actually dare to openly violate federal laws and regulations."
Zhang Hao couldn't help but snorted coldly.
In order to avoid wasting food, all federal breeding farms need to apply to relevant departments. Only those who pass the application are eligible to apply for breeding farms.
In addition, strict supervision is required.
The male host waved his hand helplessly: "Where there is demand, there is a market. This kind of thing cannot be prohibited. I hope the authorities can relax it appropriately, lest those capitalists drive up prices and dare to sell an egg for a hundred yuan."
"There are also concerns from above. After all, the annual grain output is fixed. As long as a hole is opened, a torrent will soon form."
Zhang Hao quickly explained.
Michelle was a little unimpressed: "The bosses are obviously over-concerned. This is a market economy behavior. It is because the government has too much control that it causes food shortages every year, and it does not get better at all."
"What you said is wrong." Chu Dehan couldn't bear it any longer and retorted: "Grain production capacity has nothing to do with state-owned enterprises. Electricity, fertilizers, nutrient solutions, and other aspects are also the real limiting factors."
"I don't agree. As long as private companies are completely relaxed, electricity, fertilizers and nutrient solutions are not a problem. As long as the profits are huge, I believe they will fight tooth and nail."
Michelle spoke eloquently.
The male host pulled his wife's arm and said with a wry smile: "Michelle, you think things are too simple. I work in a plant factory and know more than you. Some difficulties cannot be solved by private enterprises."
To solve it, we need to mobilize the resources of the entire federation."
Zhang Hao saw that the hostess's face was not very good, so he quickly brought the topic back: "Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's get back to the topic. If I give you a salary increase, are you willing to do it again?"
"How much do you think it will rise? If it rises twice, we will definitely be willing to have another one; if it only doubles, or less, then we will most likely not have another one."
Michelle put it bluntly.
The reason why they gave birth to two children was not only because they really liked children, but also because they had the original intention of getting fertility rewards, otherwise having one child would be enough.
Doubled?
Zhang Hao felt that the other party was telling a fantasy.
The public has long been filled with grievances about the welfare benefits of official employees. If they raise their salary levels, this will be tantamount to adding fuel to the fire.
He did not dare to arouse public anger.
"If the government implements socialized upbringing and provides full coverage of food, drink, toilet, medical care and education, will you be willing to give birth?"
"This..." Michelle hesitated.
The recent topic of socialized parenting has caused a great stir among the small circle of official employees, and she has also heard about it.
The male owner clearly expressed his opposition: "Raising a child is not like raising a cat or a dog, and everything will be fine after birth. I personally have reservations about this obviously irresponsible behavior."
If it weren't for the fact that the other party was also a "colleague", he would definitely curse him. The "socialized parenting" plan was simply harboring evil intentions.
To put it bluntly, once "socialized parenting" succeeds, it means the disintegration of the marriage system. As we all know, the essence of marriage is to jointly raise offspring.
Whether it is Eastern culture or Western culture, it is a huge challenge for both.
"But the fertility rate is too low right now. If we don't implement socialized parenting, how can we save the fertility rate?"
Zhang Hao shook his head with a bitter look on his face.
The male host thought for a while and then gave a suggestion: "I heard that local public rental housing is in short supply. You can try to tie having children with the public rental housing quota. I think most young people will be interested."
"It's not that simple. Taking Huicheng as an example, many fertility incentive measures have been introduced before, including ration subsidies, maternity subsidies, and priority in public rental housing. However, the results still failed to save the increasingly sluggish birth rate."
Zhang Hao explained patiently.
"There are always more solutions than difficulties, and I believe we will be able to find a solution."
The male host can't think of a good solution for the time being.
Zhang Hao shrugged and then changed the topic: "Mr. Hong, I want to know if you and your wife have any thoughts of taking root in New York?"
"Can I tell the truth?"
The male host asked through gritted teeth.
"Of course, this questionnaire survey is not a formality, and we will keep the identities of the respondents strictly confidential."
Zhang Hao nodded solemnly.
The male host pursed his lips and spoke directly from his heart: "If we have the chance, we will definitely leave New York. There are only a few hundred thousand people in New York. The population is too small, which is not conducive to the growth of the next generation."
"180,000 is still less? It's equivalent to the population of a small county town." Zhang Hao shook his head.
"One hundred and eighty thousand is only temporary, and it is expected that there will be fewer and fewer in the future. The population in America is already small, let alone New York. It is located too far north and there are no decent pillar industries. The future prospects are worrying."