2: Chapter 2: These are ancient coins.

The beauty packed a roasted chicken and said, "Sir, our shop supports any payment method. You can pay using iris, fingerprint, or brainwaves!"

Iris, fingerprint, brainwaves?

Gao Yuan was stunned. No matter what world this was, he certainly couldn't have the currency here. He rummaged through his pockets to see if he had anything to pay for the bill.

A red banknote, half a pack of chocolate, half a pack of cigarettes, and a lighter!

Gao Yuan was a bit embarrassed; none of these things were valuable!

"Um, sorry, I suddenly don't want it anymore!"

After saying that, he prepared to leave...

...only to hear someone behind him exclaim, "Is that an ancient banknote? I wonder if it's real!"

Ancient banknote?

Gao Yuan understood instantly. This should be the Future World, he just didn't know which year...

Gao Yuan turned around and saw a middle-aged man.

"Brother, are you selling that banknote?"

The middle-aged man asked, looking at the banknote in Gao Yuan's hand!

Gao Yuan remained calm, looking at the middle-aged man with a steady expression. "You want to buy it?"

"Yes. Brother, looking at your clothes, I can tell you're a wealthy man. Poor people all wear Constant Temperature Clothing; only the rich wear pure plant fiber clothes. Your outfit is worth a fortune. Although things brought out by you rich folks shouldn't be fake, I still need to check it!"

The middle-aged man said as he sized up Gao Yuan.

"Oh? How do you check?"

Gao Yuan asked.

"Hehe, that banknote in your hand is an ancient coin. Its collectible value is extremely high, and it's in perfect condition. However, there are many counterfeits nowadays, so I naturally have my own testing methods!"

Saying that, the middle-aged man pulled out a small banknote detector.

"This is my treasure. Ancient notes are very popular in the collecting world, provided they are genuine!"

Gao Yuan was a bit confused when he saw the banknote detector, but he returned to normal in an instant.

"Which era do you think this ancient note is from?"

Hearing this, the middle-aged man's interest was piqued.

"Hehe, you've asked the right person. There are too many types of ancient notes because there were many countries in ancient times, each with its own currency. But the value and appraisal methods for each are different. The one in your hand has Han characters on it, and there's a year at the bottom: 2018! It's clearly a Xia Country banknote from 1,006 years ago!"

Gao Yuan clicked his tongue inwardly. 1,006 years ago? Calculating backward, the current year should be 3024...

Isn't this a thousand years later?

Why, after a thousand years, has the world not achieved true Great Unity?

Gao Yuan wanted to find a place to learn about this world. "Big brother, how much do you think this banknote is worth?"

The middle-aged man checked it and soon beamed with joy. As expected, he hadn't misjudged; it was genuine.

"Brother, I won't lie to you. If you sell this note in Longjing, only I can offer the highest price. I won't beat around the bush with you. Flat price: 10 million!"

Ten million?

Gao Yuan calculated inwardly. Based on the price of a roasted chicken just now being one hundred, then this single banknote was worth 100,000 chickens. Excluding inflation, according to Gao Yuan's era, a roasted chicken cost about fifty yuan, so 100,000 chickens would be five million...

It was equivalent to winning the lottery's top prize...

"Deal. Do you take anything else?"

Gao Yuan asked.

"Other things? Brother, do you have something good? Let's talk somewhere else!"

Soon, the two were sitting in a restaurant.

A table full of dishes was already set before them.

The middle-aged man looked proud. "Brother, I'm really splurging today. I ordered a real roasted chicken for you, not a synthetic one, and definitely not Nutritional Paste. This roasted chicken cost me 50,000... and this plate of greens is also real greens, priced at 20,000..."

"How—how much? Is a meal this expensive?"

Gao Yuan was dumbfounded. 50,000 for a roasted chicken? 20,000 for a plate of greens?

"It really is expensive. I wouldn't bear to eat it myself; I'm only treating you! Usually, I just eat Nutritional Paste for a few dozen yuan. I eat synthetic dishes too, but I can't bring myself to spend on this kind of natural food!"

"Brother, how should I address you?"

"Gao Yuan..."

"Brother Gao, my name is Qin Mugutan. You can just call me Brother Tan! As I thought, you really are a wealthy man. A two-character name, tsk tsk... a person of wealth and status. Unlike me, born to toil, though I'm okay with a four-character name. Those with eight-character names have it the worst; they eat free Nutritional Paste all year round, wear free Constant Temperature Clothing, and can only play free trashy helmet VR games..."

"Brother Tan, does a name have something to do with being wealthy or not?"

Gao Yuan asked.

Qin Mugutan raised an eyebrow. "Naturally. Brother, have you not been out much on your own? You should know that the world's population of 50 billion all use Han character names. Think about it: there are fewer than 2,000 surnames and only 3,000 commonly used Han characters. Even including rare ones, there are only about 10,000! If everyone took two-character names, it would be impossible, as names can't be duplicated..."

The whole world uses Han characters? Gao Yuan was a bit stunned! This world seemed different from what he had imagined. Did Xia Country rule the world a thousand years later?

"So, names are assigned according to social status. The highest status gets two-character names, followed by three characters, then four... the lowest level has eight characters!"

Gao Yuan looked astonished...

In the eyes of a modern person, the world a thousand years later should be one of Great Unity, a communist society with distribution according to need. Why did it sound like the world a thousand years later was even more polarized?

From names to food to clothing, everything represented different social classes...

"Brother Tan, wouldn't the people at the bottom be dissatisfied?"

Qin Mugutan gave a sarcastic smile. "Dissatisfied? What would they be dissatisfied about? They don't go hungry, they don't freeze, they have food and shelter, plus free games and free transportation. Why on earth would they be dissatisfied?"

Gao Yuan nodded. If that was the case, there really wasn't much to be dissatisfied about.

"Then Brother Tan, if that's so, why do you do business? Isn't it more comfortable to just stay at home?"

Qin Mugutan waved his hand. "Brother Gao, that's not right. I also want to wear Natural Plant Fiber clothes. I also want to eat real roasted chicken every day instead of Synthetic Chicken and Nutritional Paste. I also want to give my son a two or three-character name..."

Gao Yuan understood...

In the world a thousand years later, even the lowest people could live very comfortably, provided they had no ambition and were content with the status quo.

But the human heart is never satisfied. During the Great Famine era centuries ago, having a mouthful of food and not having to eat dirt was happiness. In the modern era, having a house without a mortgage and a wife and children was happiness. And in the world a thousand years later, being able to take a two-character name, eat a real chicken, and wear pure cotton clothes was happiness.

"Alright, Brother Gao, let's not say more. Let's eat first, let's eat..."

Gao Yuan was also starving and had been waiting for a while.

Hearing this, he immediately picked up his chopsticks and began to eat. He didn't touch the expensive chicken and greens for now; he ate the Synthetic Chicken and Synthetic Fish...

Taking a mouthful, Gao Yuan's brow furrowed.

The taste was indeed very similar, but the texture... how to describe it? It was like many threads had been added into wax...

After chewing a few times, he really couldn't swallow it; it got stuck in his throat, making Gao Yuan feel very embarrassed...