Chapter 1008: Monopolized Items
Dong Jingxuan retorted, "At least I'm not kicked out at mealtime like you!"
Dong Yanqiong giggled and plopped down beside him, "I want to eat the leg meat."
"Cut it yourself." Dong Jingxuan handed the meat to her.
Dong Yanqiong played with the knife, glancing lightly at Xu Huo, "Where did you find this guy? Messing with Qifeng-ge, aren't you afraid he'll cause you trouble?"
Dong Jingxuan shrugged it off, "What, is he going to kill me?"
"He can't kill you, but he can kill others." Dong Yanqiong sighed, "Look, even though you're Third Uncle's biological son, when it comes to important business deals, he takes Qifeng instead of you. If you stir up trouble, he might badmouth you to Third Uncle later, and then you'll definitely get scolded."
"Nobody gossips better than you, cut it out." Dong Jingxuan shoved her away.
"Oh, I'm just telling the truth, and here I am trying to look out for you, but you don't appreciate it." Dong Yanqiong hung on his arm, grabbed a piece of freshly grilled meat, took a bite, then spat it out with a disgusted look, "Even your leisure activities are so outdated, no wonder the elders in the family look down on you."
"You're so avant-garde, why aren't they putting you on a pedestal?" Dong Jingxuan mocked.
"That's not what I mean," Dong Yanqiong wasn't angry, cupping her face in her hands, "You can't even accept the popular pastimes among the big families, how could Third Uncle and the others trust you with business? Look at Qifeng-ge, he's a master at playing dirty behind the scenes, and the elders from other families all think highly of him."
"I don't care." Dong Jingxuan snorted, "There are plenty of people in the family who want to stand out, let them make the money. I'll just lie back and collect my share."
Dong Yanqiong shook her head, "Do you think Qifeng-ge will share the money with you later? Someone like me, who's going to marry out, might get a lump sum and leave, but you're not so sure. You might end up working like a dog for the family without getting a cent."
Dong Jingxuan turned to look at her, his expression serious, "Family matters are not for you to meddle in."
"If you don't want to marry that playboy, find a man to marry into the family as soon as possible. Let the kids take the Dong surname. Or else, go for Evolver modification. Once you become a player, no one in the family can ignore you."
Dong Yanqiong's face also turned cold, and she said darkly, "Treating the women in the family like they're nothing—you'll regret it sooner or later!"
With that, she threw the knife to the ground and stormed off.
"What a piece of work!" Dong Jingxuan kicked the knife away, then turned to call Xu Huo over.
Xu Huo was eating the roasted tiger leg meat and casually asked, "Is marrying into the family popular around here?"
Dong Jingxuan seemed unwilling to discuss the topic and simply said, "People are the foundation of the family."
Xu Huo nodded slightly. District 002 encouraged childbirth. Although women had the right to decide whether to have children, the government gave high rewards for each child born, and the bonuses doubled as the number of children increased.
When he was researching Bai Xueji's villa earlier, he had come across several news reports about multiple births—District 002's government rewarded multiple births based on the number of children as well, the more children, the higher the reward, so news of multiple births was common.
Contrary to the current level of technology, District 002 advocated natural conception.
That's right, District 002 had already achieved in vitro gestation and had relatively mature experience, but this technology was strictly controlled. Even couples with legitimate needs might not pass the review.
The restrictions on this technology contradicted District 002's pro-natal policies because, overall, District 002 bore a huge burden of childbirth. There were even cases of women giving birth every year after marriage until they lost the ability to bear children, and the numbers were not small.
Whether they were voluntary or forced, natural conception was more time-consuming and labor-intensive, far less convenient than in vitro gestation. But why District 002 controlled this technology while implicitly oppressing women was anyone's guess.
By evening in District 002, the guests from the main building were leaving. A middle-aged man who looked somewhat like Dong Jingxuan, along with Dong Qifeng, saw off three outsiders wearing clothing marked with the Game Government insignia. They chatted and laughed at the entrance, both sides appearing satisfied.
"Young Master Xuan, the master wants you in the study." Brother Lei appeared out of nowhere in the courtyard.
"I knew it." Dong Jingxuan grumbled and followed him.
Xu Huo checked the time and walked along the corridor outside the estate to the side of the botanical garden.
The door was slightly ajar, revealing fluctuating spatial power and a breath of greenery.
Xu Huo pushed the door open and found it was a genuine green plant garden. The plants inside were rare and difficult to cultivate even in other districts. Their purifying ability brought great comfort both to the sense of smell and touch. The sound of flowing water surrounded the garden, and a thin mist had just risen, casting a faint golden glow under the morning sun.
He looked up. Above the botanical garden was a large spatial channel that remained open. It was unclear where it connected, but since it was nearly evening in District 002, the sun was just rising behind the spatial channel—like an ordinary morning in another district.
Someone was in the botanical garden.
Xu Huo walked down a path and saw a fair-skinned girl sitting by a stream with her back to him. Her white hair was loose, falling behind her head and trailing to the ground.
She was washing her feet in the stream. When she heard his deliberately made noise, she paused, glanced back at him, then turned away again.
A beautiful face with purple eyes—this was the girl Xu Huo had seen in the magazine, the one with the highest preliminary votes in the beauty contest.
The photo in the magazine had been somewhat veiled, but in person, she wasn't as stunning.
Still, she was very beautiful.
Xu Huo didn't disturb her. Instead, he took another path to roughly survey the plants in the garden.
The plants here were similar to those in other districts, with flowers of all colors. He even saw patches of Wormhole Flowers.
Wormhole Flowers were plants that could roughly indicate the evolution level of a district. The more red parts on the flower, the deeper the district's evolution. Over two-thirds of the flowers here were red, indicating that District 002 had been game-ified for a very long time.
The Game Government had established a base here, and the two sides had a good relationship. The "Small Tunnel" Dong Jingxuan had won might have been sold to District 002 by the Game Government. If items for short-distance spatial movement for a single person could be purchased, did that mean cross-district spatial teleportation items might also be on the trading list?
But since players had come to snatch them, it meant such instruments were monopolized by the big families... Xu Huo turned to look at the main building:
He wondered if he could get his hands on one.