Work Prophet-Chapter 914: Debate in the Snowstorm

"How much longer until we reach the target location?" Corinne asked.

"Let me see." Song Dayang pulled out a crumpled city map and a 2019 Shanghai travel guide from his backpack.

The wind had lessened a bit by now, but it still rustled the pages noisily and tiny ice shards pelted his goggles.

Song Dayang glanced around, seeing the towering, oddly shaped skyscrapers in the distance.

He turned his back to the direction of the wind and opened the travel guide in his hands, with Corinne peering in curiously.

"Here." She pointed at a promotional page, speaking in standard Mandarin, "That's the Shanghai Global Financial Center, located in... the Lujiazui Financial Trade Zone. What's a financial trade zone?"

"I don't know either." Song Dayang shook his head, "The apocalypse had already been around for ten years by the time I was born, but my mom used to say that this place was once a major metropolis home to over 25 million people."

"Twenty-five million? That's too exaggerated," Corinne said, "That's 2,500 times the population of our settlement, but I've also heard my dad say that Paris had more than ten million people. It must have been bustling before the apocalypse came."

Song Dayang spread out the city map again, finding the financial trade zone and the Global Financial Center to get his bearings.

He then put the map and travel guide back into his backpack and glanced at his wristwatch, "Let's go. We need to reach the library before noon, just in time for lunch."

"Yay, I love books the most," Corinne cheered, "They not only bring us knowledge but also keep us warm."

After a brief pause, the two young people continued their walk forward.

Their figures appeared rather lonely amidst the wind and snow.

"Why did you apply to be an investigator?" Perhaps out of boredom, Corinne asked again, "It's the most dangerous and highest mortality job." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Because it pays double," Song Dayang said, "And there's a bonus for bringing back valuable items."

"Are you short on money?" Corinne seemed surprised, "Our food, healthcare, and accommodation are free. What do you need so much money for, to buy electricity and play games?"

Song Dayang didn't answer Corinne's question but instead asked back, "What about you? Why do you want to be an investigator? Aren't you afraid of death?"

"I am, but I also want to see the world outside," Corinne said. "My dad always tells me how beautiful the city was before the cold waves came, about those football matches, endless concerts, fashion weeks... I want to see the traces left by the former civilization with my own eyes."

Song Dayang snorted.

"Why, do you seem to have a different opinion?"

"No, it's just that my nose was feeling itchy," Song Dayang said.

At this moment, Corinne suddenly let out a gasp, prompting Song Dayang to become alert and grab the ice axe at his waist, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I think I saw a café," Corinne exclaimed excitedly. She crouched down and tried to sweep away the snow beneath her to reveal the ice surface.

Through the ice, she saw an antler sign and the English words "Lukin Coffee" below it.

Song Dayang breathed a sigh of relief and let go of the ice axe, unable to resist saying, "It's just a café, after all."

"What's just a café? Have you ever had freshly ground coffee?"

"No."

"Neither have I, but my dad said he used to drink it every day when he was young, and not just one cup; he wouldn't feel right without it for a day."

"Your dad must have been lying to you. Humans can live perfectly fine without coffee, or else the settlement wouldn't have gone without growing coffee all this time."

"That's because our food has always been tight, and there's no surplus for greenhouse-grown cash crops that can improve life."

"Hmph."

"Here we go again. I can probably guess why you became an investigator."

"Why?"

"Because you can't communicate with others well, you'd surely be alienated by your coworkers at the settlement job."

Corinne made a face, but her face was wrapped tightly in a thick scarf, making it hard for Song Dayang to clearly see her expression.

"I just don't understand why you always long for the past," Song Dayang said, "I don't think there's anything wrong with the present."

"Oh, you mean the present where we trek over 800 kilometers to Shanghai in the freezing cold, risking losing warmth and food, and then can't even enter a café just thirty meters away?"

"Coffee, like luxury cars, is just a non-essential item. In the past society, they were used to distinguish between classes."

"Oh, so are you teaching me politics now?"

"No, I'm just stating facts," Song Dayang said, "The Prophet set the income gap at the settlement to a maximum of six times, and all transactions are done with traceable electronic currency, greatly reducing the chance of corruption in administrative bodies.

"Do you know how many times richer the wealthiest people in the world you yearn for were compared to the poorest?"

"I don't know, ten times, twenty times? It couldn't be a hundred times, right?"

"Trillions of times, that's what my mother, a worker, told me."

Corinne's mouth dropped open, "Trillions of times, how is that possible? I mean, I accept that people have natural differences in intelligence, emotional intelligence, and background, and their work's importance varies.

"But the value created by their labor... can't be exaggerated by trillions of times."

"That's where the problem lies," Song Dayang said, "And those at the bottom of the labor force were even stripped of their right to two-day weekends. I don't think there's anything desirable about that world.

"Even if they created countless good things like coffee, luxury cars, yachts. But...

"But the more wealth the worker produces, the more powerful and numerous his product becomes, the poorer he becomes. As the number of objects increases, the world of things appreciates in value while the human world depreciates in value."

Corinne responded, "That's Karl Marx's original quote from the 'Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844.' I told you, I love reading too.

"But you have to admit that, in terms of material civilization, people in that era were very happy."

Song Dayang frowned.

"Okay, there's that expression again. Just say what you want to say," Corinne said wearily.

"No scientific study has ever proven that the more advanced material civilization is, the happier humans become. People in the Tang Dynasty weren't necessarily less happy than those in the 21st century. Likewise, I don't think our current life is worse than before.

"Even if our civilization has stagnated or even regressed."

"Fine, you win, great debater. I just hope we can find some canned fruit for lunch..." Corinne licked her lips, concluding the brief debate.

In the snowy field, the two figures continued to walk slowly towards the distant tall buildings.