Xu An and her mother came out of Cabin 3 and walked to the elevator door. She swiped her ID card into the card slot and stepped inside.
Several people were already inside. Upon seeing Xu An enter, they merely glanced at her expressionlessly.
"What's going on? Why isn't this elevator door closing?"
Xu Yan pressed the buttons on the control panel but found the elevator door wouldn't budge.
"This is your first time taking the elevator by yourselves, isn't it?" a kind-faced elderly man said with a smile as he walked in, explaining to them.
"The elevators here are tiered. These economy elevators have a minimum passenger requirement, needing at least 100 people to activate. We're still a bit short of that number, so we might have to wait."
Xu An recalled that when Xu Can brought them over yesterday, he had mentioned that the elevators here could hold a maximum of five hundred people.
But she hadn't expected there to be a minimum passenger requirement.
Was it to save energy?
"Big brother, you mentioned this is an economy elevator. Does that mean there are other types of elevators?"
"That's right. You must be new here, aren't you? Only the basement level of the lighthouse uses these large elevators. It's likely for the convenience of transporting resources, and we all call them cargo lifts. However, there are also normal passenger elevators, which are a bit more expensive than cargo lifts, costing two trade coins per ride."
"Ah, aren't you from the relief shelters?"
"Oh dear, I've long passed my new arrival assistance period, hahaha... This old man doesn't have much ability, so I can only squeeze into a small single room with my wife and son and make do with life."
Xu An and her mother exchanged a look. These "cargo lifts" were probably specially set up for the situation on the basement level.
It was also a way to indirectly reduce "living costs."
The "single room" the man mentioned was likely the housing rented after the three-day assistance period.
Xu An was a little curious and asked repeatedly, "How much is the single room you rent per month?"
As more people entered, Xu An and her mother were squeezed into a corner. Fortunately, the elderly man seemed to want to chat, so he moved towards the corner with Xu An and her mother.
"A single room costs 500 trade coins a month. The price varies depending on the layout, and some rooms with furniture are even more expensive."
"How big is your single room?"
"Alas... only 15 square meters."
What Xu An didn't know was that even a small 15-square-meter "single room" wasn't affordable for everyone. Those with average conditions could only squeeze together as a family. Some with poor conditions couldn't even afford a single room and had to rent a bed, sleeping in a communal dormitory like the relief shelters.
Xu Yan continued to ask the elderly man about the situation within the lighthouse.
Xu An noticed that many people around were eavesdropping on the elderly man's conversation. She guessed that these people, like her, were "newcomers."
After hearing the elderly man finish, Xu An realized that the relief shelters weren't just for "newcomers." More than half of the people living there had passed their assistance period but couldn't afford to rent housing, so they could only rent a bed and live there.
No wonder there were so many relief shelters here.
Xu An had previously wondered what would happen to these built relief shelters when the lighthouse reached its population capacity and stopped accepting new inhabitants, if they were merely temporary assistance stations.
Now, it seemed these so-called relief shelters were initially built to solve the "minimum guarantee." Otherwise, if the population saturated and the lighthouse ascended, the lighthouse wouldn't really throw people out if someone couldn't afford housing.
In other words, class distinction was the inherent attribute of the nation, and the lighthouse was re-establishing "social order." Because the lighthouse was limited by population and resources, it had to change its system. Whether it was establishing rules or manipulating prices, it needed a "bottoming out" capacity; it couldn't truly push people to a dead end. Riots often occurred when a "social system" lost its credibility and was challenged.
...
When enough people had boarded, the elevator began to ascend slowly. Upon reaching the first floor, everyone stepped out of the elevator and went their separate ways, dispersing into the crowd.
Xu An, holding the lighthouse's complimentary manual, led her mother to the trading hall. The trading hall was easy to find, located to the left of the garden fountain. Among the ring-shaped streets, it was the largest building.
Xu An walked and looked. It was no different from the commercial areas before the apocalypse. There were restaurants, cafes, grain and oil shops, fruit and vegetable stores, daily necessities shops, housing rental centers, and even supermarkets and clothing stores... The only difference was that weapons could be sold here.
The lighthouse was so overwhelmingly impressive that Xu An had become somewhat numb to everything she saw. Her only curiosity was about the suspended trains flying overhead. From her conversation with the elderly man, Xu An learned that those trains were very expensive, costing 10 trade coins per ride. And what they saw now was just the tip of the iceberg of the lighthouse.
After passing through the central plaza and the "light curtain," the true first floor of the lighthouse lay beyond. Upon reaching the entrance of the trading hall, a considerable crowd had already gathered. Xu An and her mother joined the back of the queue. Liu Can had previously reminded them that newcomers could receive three days of rations for free, and this was also at the trading hall.
Before long, it was their turn.
"Hello, please show your ID."
Xu An handed her ID card to the staff. The staff member swiped it on a square transparent machine, and Xu An's information appeared on the small screen above. After verifying the information, the staff member registered it and gave Xu An her rations.
"Thank you."
After saying thank you, Xu An stood aside waiting for her mother. Once Xu Yan also received her rations, the two left the queue and turned towards the trading hall. The entrance was bustling with hurried pedestrians; some wore the joy of winning the lottery, while others looked dejected.
Upon entering, Xu An found that it was no different from a stock trading hall before the apocalypse. In the center of the hall was a circular information desk. Above them, countless large screens continuously displayed price lists, and around the perimeter were many trading windows. Xu An was particularly interested in a line of small text on the large screens.
"Today's Prices."
She turned to Xu Yan, "Mom, what does that line of text on the price list mean?"
Xu Yan looked at these "routines," finding them all too familiar. She quietly leaned into Xu An's ear and quickly said.
"The lighthouse is using the law of price regulation to influence supply and demand. For example, fresh fruits and vegetables, due to insufficient reserves or low yields, are intentionally priced high by the lighthouse. This way, many people are deterred by the price."
Hearing this, Xu An's mind spun. In a daze, she felt as if she had returned to high school, and those "dead" politics lessons were suddenly "attacking" her. (╥﹏╥)o
However, she understood the lighthouse's approach: want to eat? Then spend money to buy it! You say you can't afford it? Then don't eat fresh fruits and vegetables; eating rice and potatoes will still keep you from starving. In this way, the lighthouse solved the problem of insufficient supply for the middle class while ensuring the basic food and accommodation for the lower class.