After the second hand of the old wall clock in the activity center, which could stop working at any moment, creaked and groaned for three and a half circles, lines of text finally appeared on the LCD screen.
Meng Xia and the others quickly searched for their names, then breathed sighs of relief one after another.
Most of them couldn't be described as satisfied or excited, but they weren't unhappy either. For them, this was no different from taking an exam; as long as the result wasn't too bad, it was fine. Anyway, their fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, maternal grandfathers, and maternal grandmothers had all gone through the same thing.
The rest were more puzzled, because they didn't know who their marriage partner was, which floor they came from, or which department their parents belonged to—even though they had all entered university and received higher education, the people they knew were still concentrated among classmates in the same department and "neighbors" on the same floor.
Long Yuehong looked up and down carefully and conscientiously several times, and couldn't help but mutter to himself in a low voice:
"Why isn't my name there?"
"Because your name isn't good enough." Shang Jianyao, who was next to him, didn't have any change in expression.
"..." Long Yuehong wanted to refute, but he tragically found that he actually somewhat agreed with the other party's conclusion.
This time, there were thousands of people who met the requirements and were forced to participate in the unified matchmaking, and there were only two more men than women. If it wasn't for bad luck, a bad name, or bad luck, how could he have become one of the two unlucky ones?
Long Yuehong paused, then said in grief and indignation:
"Your name isn't there either!"
He didn't see Shang Jianyao successfully matched with any woman.
Shang Jianyao slightly raised his right eyebrow and said:
"Didn't I say it before? I've already applied to give up this unified matchmaking."
"This, this, really? How could the company, how could they agree..." Long Yuehong was both stunned and bewildered, with a feeling that his worldview had been subverted.
He had lived for 21 years, and he had indeed heard before that someone who met the requirements hadn't participated in the unified matchmaking, but those were all for good reasons: either the person was lying in bed, likely to die at any moment, or they had participated in the Security Department's external operations and didn't know if they would ever return.
No one who was healthy and met the requirements inside the company dared to violate the regulations.
This was one of the core obligations of being a company employee.
Long Yuehong's sadness was dispersed by this matter, and he looked at Shang Jianyao and said:
"Are you prepared to accept a reduction in your energy ration?
"That's still alright, the most terrifying thing is the deduction of contribution points. You won't be able to eat your fill at all! We can only be rated d1, with only 1800 points per month, and deducting a third of that once a week, do you know what that means?"
"The company agreed, no deduction is needed." Shang Jianyao revealed a slight smile.
"No, impossible, impossible..." Long Yuehong muttered to himself, then suddenly thought of something.
If Shang Jianyao had really applied to give up this unified matchmaking, then it meant that there was only one more man than women participating in this matchmaking.
Only one more person...
I, I am the only unlucky one... Long Yuehong's mouth was half-open, and a strong sense of sadness surged in his heart.
At this time, the screen began to turn pages, briefly introducing the basic information of those who were successfully matched with residents of this floor, so that they could find each other and go to the various "Order Supervision Bureaus" under the "Order Supervision Department" to register for marriage.
"Meng Xia, your husband is an Outsider!" After everyone watched for a while, the women's side took the lead in exclaiming.
Meng Xia's expression was slightly solemn, her eyes flickered, and she whispered:
"Zhang Lei; male; birth: Wasteland Wanderer; age: 25 years old; absorbed by the company 3 years ago, has been performing well; no hidden health problems; residence: 622nd floor, Area A, No. 192; employee level: d4; electronic card number: 0..."
"There really are Outsiders..." Long Yuehong was also attracted by this matter and turned his head to discuss it with his companions.
They all knew that the company would regularly absorb Wasteland Wanderers to replenish the population and improve genes, but because the residents of this floor had never had a colleague who was an Outsider, and no one had married them, everyone mostly regarded this matter as an amusing anecdote.
"Meng Xia, it's actually not bad, although he used to be a Wasteland Wanderer, he's already a d4-level employee now, and he's only 25 years old, that's very impressive!" A girl wearing a green top and blue trousers comforted her friend.
d4 meant that they had gone from ordinary employees to senior employees and advanced employees, and could serve as deputies in small research projects, foremen on factory production lines, deputy leaders of security forces, or order supervisors for a certain area on a certain floor. Their treatment was at least 2000 points higher than d1.
"But the effect of gene modification after adulthood isn't that good..." A young man on the other side of Long Yuehong muttered.
At this time, he saw the information of his marriage partner:
"Zhou Qi; female; birth: Internal Employee; age: 30 years old; previously had one husband, died 5 years ago, currently raising one child; voluntarily applied to participate in this unified matchmaking; no hidden health problems; residence: 569th floor, Area B, No. 27; employee level: d4; electronic card number: 0..."
"Yang Zhenyuan, your wife is 10 years older than you..." Long Yuehong also saw this entry.
Yang Zhenyuan, like most of his peers in the company, had a fair face, a strong body, and a good appearance, but was slightly delicate and looked rather introverted.
Hearing Long Yuehong's words, Yang Zhenyuan's face flushed red, and he wanted to say something, but couldn't.
After a while, everyone finally memorized the corresponding information, and then left the activity center one after another, preparing to find their spouse, or go home and wait for the other party to come.
At this time, in the hall where five or six people were still left, a voice suddenly rang out:
"Who is Yang Zhenyuan?"
"Me, what's the matter?" Yang Zhenyuan, who was chatting with Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao, subconsciously turned his head to look at the door.
A woman entered through the door of the activity center. She had a mature and charming appearance, and although her clothes were simple and plain, they couldn't completely hide her proud figure.
"I'm Zhou Qi." This woman glanced at Yang Zhenyuan and nodded with satisfaction. "Should we go to your place to chat first?"
Yang Zhenyuan was first startled, then nodded repeatedly:
"Okay, okay."
"Then let's go now?" Zhou Qi said with a radiant smile.
"Okay, okay." Yang Zhenyuan said as he quickly walked over.
Long Yuehong stared blankly as the pair left the activity center, and couldn't help but lament:
"What should I do next?"
Shang Jianyao tilted his head and looked at him with a serious expression:
"A great cause awaits you."
"..." The muscles on Long Yuehong's face twitched. "Speak human language!"
Shang Jianyao smiled and said:
"Wait for next year's unified matchmaking."
"That's true." Long Yuehong sighed. "Ah, I don't want to think about this. I hope I can be assigned to a good position tomorrow. Also, Shang Jianyao, I always feel that you're becoming more and more abnormal, I mean, your brain."
As he spoke, he pointed to his temple.
Their most important thing next was to wait for job assignments, which would directly determine their future lives—except for those who had special skills in certain areas and had been pre-booked by the corresponding departments, the remaining higher education graduates had to wait for assignments.
Before Shang Jianyao could respond, Long Yuehong saw Chen Xianyu, the director of the activity center, turn off the display screen and slowly walk over with a cylindrical metal cup excavated from an Old World relic. So, he tentatively asked:
"Grandpa Chen, what department do you think we'll be assigned to?"
Chen Xianyu coughed and said:
"As far as I know, those who have just gotten married and are about to start having children will be assigned to relatively safe internal positions. Those who haven't been assigned a partner and don't need to have children for the time being may have slightly more dangerous positions."
Long Yuehong's expression immediately collapsed:
"I, I have to go back and tell my parents about the matchmaking result."
Without waiting for Shang Jianyao to respond, he walked out of the activity center with a mournful face.
"Your parents aren't off work yet..." Shang Jianyao muttered and followed him out, arriving on the outer corridor.
This was the 495th floor of the underground building. There was no sky, only a 4-meter-high ceiling, with uniform long tube lights embedded in it, scattering fairly bright light.
For internal employees of the company, when the street lights were on, it was daytime, and when the street lights were off, it was nighttime.
Shang Jianyao looked up at the street lights in front of him and turned towards another place in Area C.
On both sides of the road, the rooms were closely adjacent to each other, only about two meters wide, as if the beehives in the textbook had been unfolded on the same plane.
Compared to them, the activity center seemed as spacious as a square.
After walking through two "streets," Shang Jianyao came to a relatively open area where twelve elevators were located.
These were the elevators that directly led to the "Research Area."
In this underground building originating from the Old World, in order to prevent congestion and accidents, the elevators from the "Living Area" to the "Factory Area," "Research Area," and the narrow sense of "Inner Ecological Area" were separated and located in different areas of the floor.
The "Management Area" and "Energy Area" were merged with the "Research Area," but it was necessary to swipe an electronic card to confirm permissions before arriving.
Shang Jianyao waited for a while, entered the middle elevator, and casually pressed the number "21."
Because it was during working hours, the elevator did not stop midway and continued to descend steadily.
During this process, Shang Jianyao suddenly took out his electronic card and swiped it in the corresponding area.
Then, he lit up the metal button representing the 3rd floor.
The elevator continued to descend and stopped after a long while.
Shang Jianyao exited the elevator, turned to the left, and saw a tightly closed double large metal door, guarded outside by four armed security personnel wearing bionic armor that resembled upright lizards.
Shang Jianyao did not try to approach the metal door, but walked along the corridor outside the door to the right.
Several rooms were arranged at the end of the corridor, but none of them had nameplates.
Under the illumination of the ceiling fluorescent lights, Shang Jianyao knocked on the door in the far corner.
"Please come in." A gentle female voice came out.
Shang Jianyao twisted the handle and opened the door, seeing a lady wearing a white coat.
This lady was sitting behind a wooden-colored table, appearing to be in her thirties, with gold-rimmed glasses on her nose.
Her hair was neatly coiled, with only a few strands hanging down.
"It's you." This lady glanced at Shang Jianyao, smiled, and pointed to the backrest chair opposite the table. "Sit."
Shang Jianyao sat down and said with a smile as if he were at home:
"Good afternoon, Dr. Lin."
"Good afternoon, Little Shang." Dr. Lin brushed her hair and took a folder from the side, unfolding it in front of her.
Then, she played with the black fountain pen and asked seemingly casually:
"How have you been feeling lately?"
"My appetite has gotten a little bigger, my sleep is normal, and my body is very healthy." As Shang Jianyao spoke, he made a movement to highlight his biceps.
Dr. Lin nodded:
"I've already helped you apply to give up the unified matchmaking, you saw the result, right?"
"Yeah, thank you." Shang Jianyao said with a smile. "Can I sing a song to thank you?"
"No need." Dr. Lin shook her head without hesitation.
She then poked the fountain pen:
"Actually, I'm very curious, why do you insist on giving up the unified matchmaking? Your situation isn't considered serious."
Shang Jianyao's expression became serious, and he said in a deep voice:
"To save all of humanity."
"..." Dr. Lin picked up the fountain pen and heavily drew a circle in a certain place on the document in front of her.
A line of words was written in that circle:
"Moderate mental abnormality (suspected delusion, to be observed)."
ps: The new book has been released, please vote for recommendations~ This is free, everyone vote for me.
ps2: Thanks to Tian Ze Law and Person Under the Chinese Parasol Tree for the Silver Alliance, and thanks to passerby fork, Xie Leinier and all the old friends for the rewards.