'Large' juice

"Happy New Year!"

Chu Xuan arrived at his major advisor's office.

Since the holiday was approaching, it was natural to pay a visit. The teacher-student relationship nowadays was relatively purer.

After the catastrophe, utilitarian pursuits like securing research funding and blindly launching projects had been banned.

Resources were limited and could not be wasted.

Making money through projects?

It didn't mean much.

Paper currency had disappeared, replaced entirely by credit points. But what use were even more credit points?

Housing was allocated.

Cars—even if you had one, could you race through the already narrow Underground City tunnels?

Food was scarce.

Goods...

People's pursuit of money was no longer so intense.

The teacher-student relationship gradually returned to normal.

Teaching was done with dedication.

Learning was done with dedication.

At least in the fields of teaching and research, some negative phenomena had almost disappeared.

"Chu Xuan, how's it going? How's your project progressing?"

"Very smoothly."

"That's good. By the way, here, this is..."

The advisor directly handed over three lychees, another item rarely seen outside.

"Thank you!"

Chu Xuan couldn't take advantage for nothing, so he pulled a Crispy Shark from his pocket.

It was in transparent vacuum packaging with no other information.

"What's this?"

"Food."

Chu Xuan didn't explain further. The advisor understood immediately and didn't stand on ceremony.

Only after Chu Xuan left did he open it, take a small bite, and quickly put it in the refrigerator.

He planned to savor it slowly.

Fruits could be grown under the pretext of vitamin extraction experiments.

But non-essential cash crops like cocoa, along with tea, were not allowed to be cultivated at all, making them extremely scarce.

...

He went upstairs again.

"Advisor He!"

Chu Xuan knocked and entered. The elderly man before him was his astrophysics advisor, highly influential in the field.

This person had also been the advisor for the original owner's parents' courses.

Therefore, he was quite considerate toward him.

"Xiao Xuan, how's your thesis coming along?"

"I'm working on it."

"Good. Do you have a first draft yet?"

"Not yet."

These days he had been reading books.

Even at the fastest pace, it would take several weeks before he could fill in the template.

"Hurry up. This year is the first year of the new thesis review mechanism. To get a high score, I can't help you much."

"Okay."

Chu Xuan nodded.

Before, it was fine—if the school said you passed, you passed, and the advisor's opinion carried significant weight.

Starting this year, things had changed.

The United Government's Advanced Talent Management Committee had become involved.

They would rate undergraduate theses for effectiveness and practicality.

Useless theses simply couldn't be faked.

The data upload from his lab was also a preparation for this new regulation.

Everything served the Wandering Earth Project.

Therefore,

the difficulty had increased.

And this,

for Chu Xuan, was also a good thing.

As long as the thesis was solid enough, there was a chance it could attract attention immediately.

"Could you give me a copy of the Earth's current orbit data?" Chu Xuan asked. This was one of his reasons for coming.

"For my thesis."

Chu Xuan added another sentence.

Hearing this,

He Shuli readily agreed. It wasn't classified, just not accessible through ordinary channels.

Then, he copied a copy for Chu Xuan.

After a few more words, Chu Xuan left.

He also left behind two lychees and a Crispy Shark.

He only had three lychees, and taking them back wouldn't be enough to share. Eating one himself counted as a gift.

As for the source, they both understood tacitly.

...

On the way home, he passed the commercial district.

With the Spring Festival approaching, it was quite lively.

Credit point exchange counter.

Medicine sales window.

Mahjong parlor.

Barbecue stall.

...

Business was all very good.

"Handsome guy, take a look."

At that moment, someone came up to him and handed him a flyer.

On the front were two simple big characters.

---Bathing!

That's right.

The Underground City had such service industries.

As for whether they were legitimate, that wasn't certain.

This was also reflected in the movie.

"Here, take this. Contact me if you need anything."

Seeing Chu Xuan's expression, the person knew he wasn't interested, so he handed over another one.

Document forging.

Outings.

Equipment.

Just find Yi Ge.

"..."

Chu Xuan smiled. This Yi Ge had quite a wide range of business.

Distributing flyers so openly in public.

In fact, almost no one cared.

As long as it wasn't arms dealing or going too far, the Underground City turned a blind eye.

3.5 billion people had come underground.

The composition was complex.

Expecting everyone to behave honestly was unrealistic.

...

Just as he was looking at the flyer,

a group of over twenty people walked by.

Many held signs with writing on both sides.

"The sun won't helium flash!"

"Oppose the Wandering!"

"Dismantle the engines!"

"..."

Various slogans.

That's right.

In the Underground City, many people didn't believe in the sun's helium flash.

They often took to the streets to protest.

This was just internal ideological inconsistency.

Outside the Underground City, there were also many 'refugee' factions.

Don't forget.

Seven billion people drew lots.

Whether poor or rich,

everyone had an equal one-half probability.

The remaining 3.5 billion people—were they just supposed to wait to die? Obviously not.

Unable to enter official Underground Cities, they banded together to build their own.

The United Government didn't stop them.

Why?

For fear of triggering a full-scale war. If war broke out,

it wouldn't be small-scale, but a war of 3.5 billion against 3.5 billion.

It wasn't hard to imagine that the side without hope would definitely fight desperately.

So what should be done? Eliminate the other 3.5 billion?

Naturally, that was impossible!

No one dared to give that order, nor could they bring themselves to do it.

Therefore, the United Government tacitly allowed some self-built shelters.

Because of this,

in the movie, Han Ziang said the outside was dangerous.

Various rescue teams were fully armed.

When Li Yiyi first saw Han Duoduo, his first reaction was panic, and he even took her hostage.

And when he learned that Liu Qi's vehicle credentials didn't match, he became very emotional. [As seen in the extended cut]

He thought they were from an outside Underground City coming to steal the Fireball.

Fireball.

Engine ignition device.

Light nuclear fusion, like a hydrogen bomb, requires an atomic bomb to detonate.

Heavy fusion conditions are even more stringent, requiring higher temperatures.

So, in simple terms, a Fireball is a hydrogen bomb.

It couldn't be placed near an Underground City.

Instead, it was stored in various combat readiness bases.

The movie also said: 'Maximum mobilization. Order all global combat readiness forces to depart immediately to transport Fireballs for rescue.'

Yi Ge could even get unqualified people out of the Underground City.

Obviously, getting unqualified people into the Underground City wasn't very difficult.

Placing a hydrogen bomb inside an Underground City—

if resistance forces infiltrated and took everyone out in one go—the risk was too great!

Not to mention that the United Government wouldn't dare take the risk,

even if it did, the Underground City residents would oppose it with all their might.

It was also because the outside was unstable

that privileged personnel like Liu Qi were prohibited from military service and from going to the surface.

Otherwise, if captured, the Seed Plan could turn into a Fireball Plan—not impossible.

...

In the field of mechanical equipment, there were also some measures.

Such as equipment.

Such as gear.

Minimizing automation and remote control.

Autonomous driving existed decades ago; decades later, the technology would certainly be more mature.

So why still use humans to drive transport vehicles?

It was because the more intelligent the technology, the greater the cost of losing control.

Once cracked,

things would get lively—a complete wipeout.

Therefore, besides employment, safety was also a reason for reducing the use of intelligent devices.

For example, operating a transport vehicle.

It took years to get on the road, which many in the cinema criticized and looked down upon.

They thought it was unreasonable: a steering wheel, power, and brakes—did it really take years to learn?

Why make it more and more complicated?

In fact,

like military equipment, raising the operational threshold was to prevent outsiders from easily seizing and using it.

If anyone could drive a tank and shoot everywhere,

that would be very dangerous.

...

Chu Xuan had no prejudice against those holding signs.

Good people?

Bad people?

It wasn't judged that way.

They just had different stances.

Some cared about the world, others only about themselves. The latter couldn't be said to be less noble.

Dying standing and living kneeling—neither was wrong.

He didn't want to think too much. First, get through the Jupiter Crisis. He arrived at a small shop.

"A large cup of juice, please."

"Coming right up!"

A moment later, it was served.

The small oral liquid bottle in his hand was their 'large cup.' There were also medium and small cups. Chu Xuan could only say they were clever.

It was called juice,

but it wasn't freshly squeezed; it was a synthetic beverage.

Even synthetic beverages couldn't give people drink freedom.

The dense ingredient list was dizzying, and the output of some components was not high.

They also had wide uses.

Just one shortfall could directly limit the production of synthetic beverages.

...

Soon, he returned home.

He continued reading.

This time, he focused on mathematics. Although the symbols seemed like spells, if he put his mind to it, he could learn.