Area C, Floor 495, the activity center with gray-green exterior walls covered in various graffiti, six or seven girls walked inside, their expressions ranging from excitement to anticipation to nervousness.
Their clothes were simple in style and monotonous in color, mainly blue, black, white, and green, but each of them had delicate features and was in the prime of youth.
Glancing at the only LCD screen on the entire floor, the girl in the lead couldn't help but whisper:
"I wonder what kind of husband the company will assign me?"
"The main thing is what kind of personality he has." The girl beside her, wearing a green top and blue trousers, bit her lip and said.
As the second generation to benefit from the widespread use of gene-modifying drugs, they weren't worried about their future husbands' looks and height, as they would all be above average.
The girl in the lead glanced at her companion:
"Have you forgotten? Besides people our age, those participating in the unified matchmaking also include those whose wives have passed away. Some of them are in their forties or fifties, and haven't undergone gene modification in the embryonic stage, so they have many defects."
To ensure a sufficient number of newborns, the company they worked for stipulated: "Anyone who reaches the age of 20 or graduates from higher education, and has not freely married, will be assigned a spouse by the company. Those who refuse will be uniformly punished by the 'Order Supervision Department'. The first violation will result in a reduction of energy rations and deduction of corresponding contribution points. The second violation will result in banishment from the company, left to fend for themselves in the gray earth."
Similarly, widowers who have not raised offspring are forced to participate in the unified distribution three years after becoming widowed and before the age of 60.
"Besides, even if it's not those people, aren't you expecting your future husbands to be from m-level families?" Another girl joined the discussion, making a joke.
The company was internally divided into three levels: first, d-level employees, from d1 to d9; second, m-level management, from m1 representing the director level to m3 corresponding to board members and chief scientists; and third, without a letter designation, only a title, which was "The Big Boss," a mysterious woman.
The girl in the green top and blue trousers pouted:
"When have you ever heard of people from ordinary floors being assigned spouses from floors 346, 347, 348, or 349?"
346 to 349 were the floors where m-level managers lived, with abundant energy supplies and a per capita housing area more than ten times that of ordinary employees' residential floors. Moreover, these four floors had their own independent elevator, water purification, ventilation, sewage, and education systems. Their children normally wouldn't have contact with ordinary employees.
The only exception was during higher education, because the entire company only had one university, on the 350th floor.
Ordinary employees' children had to pass exams to determine whether to start working or enter university, while management's children could receive higher education without taking exams.
Within the company, no one didn't want to become management, and no one didn't want to get involved with management.
As for "The Big Boss," ordinary employees couldn't even get close to her, let alone know what she looked like. Only at the end of the year, the beginning of the year, or when major events occurred, could they hear her voice through the radio. Therefore, few people fantasized about being appreciated by "The Big Boss" and suddenly rising to the management level.
Of course, "few" meant there were some, just not many.
The girl in the lead smiled upon hearing this:
"That's why I've always told you to find free love in school. Look at Chen Bei, her husband was reserved by the 'Materials Management Department' as soon as he graduated. His family must have a background!"
"Meng Xia, how dare you say that? Why didn't you find free love?" The other girls mocked at the same time.
"Don't you know me? I'm best at talking about it." Meng Xia admitted without any shame that she didn't have the courage.
After laughing and joking about this for a while, the girl in the green top and blue trousers asked curiously:
"Meng Xia, do you know what level Chen Bei's husband's family is? You've always been close."
Meng Xia looked left and right, and lowered her voice:
"They say he's the action cluster director of the Security Department."
"Wow..." As the girls exclaimed, a group of young men walked in through the door of the activity center.
The two groups sized each other up for a few seconds, then shifted their gaze slightly shyly, after all, no one could be sure whether their future husband (wife) was among the opposite group.
A man who was about 1.75 meters tall with a clean buzz cut glanced at the few old tables and the long benches and chairs around the tables in the activity center, and said somewhat忐忑to his companion beside him:
"Shang Jianyao, what kind of wife do you think the company will assign me?"
His companion was about 1.85 meters tall, with straight eyebrows, bright brown eyes, a face with deep lines, and slightly messy black hair that covered half of his forehead.
This young man named Shang Jianyao glanced at his companion sideways and said:
"First of all, you have to be assigned one before you can talk about what kind."
He was wearing a dark blue two-piece suit, and his arm muscles bulged, outlining some lines through the fabric, looking both masculine and powerful.
"Haha, it can't be that unlucky, right? There are only two more men than women this time in total." The man who was 1.75 meters tall with relatively ordinary features laughed.
His expression gradually沉淀, and he絮絮叨叨said:
"Will they look down on me? I'm only 1.75 meters tall after gene modification, and I'm not handsome, and my grades in all subjects are only average..."
Shang Jianyao said with a serious expression:
"That's not the key. The key is your name."
"Name? What's wrong with the name Long Yuehong? My dad's surname is Long, and my mom's name has the character for red in it. It's very meaningful." Long Yuehong said to himself疑惑, "That's right, the company's unified assignment won't look at my height or what I look like. It's said that it's all random, excluding blood relations... Ah, will they mistake me for a woman because of my name, and then assign me a husband? What should I do then?"
Shang Jianyao looked Long Yuehong up and down and said:
"Biological organ transplantation, nerve reconstruction, artificial uterus, perfect solution to the problem."
Long Yuehong laughed awkwardly twice:
"Haha, how is that possible? I mean, how could they make a mistake? All my information says I'm male!
"Your way of thinking is really strange. Shouldn't a normal person think about appealing?"
Without waiting for Shang Jianyao to respond, he said again:
"So, why is my name the key?"
"A name represents a person's destiny, and random assignment is all about fate." Shang Jianyao replied in all seriousness.
Long Yuehong's expression凝固for two seconds and said:
"I knew you couldn't give me any constructive ideas!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and asked:
"Shang Jianyao, what kind of wife do you want to be assigned?"
Shang Jianyao raised his chin and said:
"I don't need one.
"The company's resources are insufficient, and humanity above the gray earth is in deep water. The shadows of famine, infection,畸变, and兽化still loom over the entire world. How can I get married?"
"..." Long Yuehong "ha"ed and said, "You're getting better and better at joking."
Shang Jianyao looked at him without a smile and said:
"I've already applied to give up this unified assignment."
"Are you serious? Impossible, how could the company agree to let you give up this unified assignment! Haha, I almost believed you!" Long Yuehong was startled at first, then breathed a sigh of relief.
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Xianyu, the director of the 495th floor activity center, left his position, walked to the LCD screen, and began to make adjustments.
This old man with gray hair and slightly蹒跚steps used to be an employee belonging to the Security Department, responsible for external operations. He worked his way up to d7 group leader level, and later, due to age, left the Security Department, was promoted to d8 manager level, and was responsible for this floor's activity center.
Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong were very curious about this old grandpa's past experiences and always liked to come to the activity center to play and ask questions, but Chen Xianyu strictly abided by the confidentiality regulations and only picked some well-known anecdotes to tell, just like an ordinary employee who was born, grew up, studied, worked, grew old, and had never left the underground building or seen the real sky in the "Inner Ecological Zone."
"Okay, it's about to start." Chen Xianyu held a remote control and pressed it heavily.
The display screen flickered a few times and emitted a dim light.
Long Yuehong, Meng Xia, and others immediately held their breath, waiting for the results of the assignment to come out.
They weren't worried that the entries would scroll too quickly, causing them to be unable to see clearly, because the activity center on each floor only displayed the part of the results related to the residents of that floor.