Chapter 130: The Bizarre Rhapsody of X

He narrowed his eyes, and his usual amiability vanished completely. She could see that his body and muscles were tensing up.

Clearly, he was angry and preparing for an argument. A sense of secret delight welled up in her heart. Although she had no deep acquaintance with him, in her view, he must rarely lose his composure and calmness. Being able to provoke him brought her a thrill of pleasure.

"Back in my hometown, it generally costs several hundred thousand," Wang Luo did not answer directly, instead talking about matters from his original world that had nothing to do with the space they currently inhabited. "It's a remote place, so the price isn't high. For a man to marry a woman—buying a house, doing renovations, paying the bride price... it comes out to around that much."

"There are also places plagued by poverty and warfare where human trafficking occurs. I don't know much about those—my past life was too ordinary, and I never had the opportunity to get involved in such things."

"Ah, right, there's also marrying into a bride's family as a resident groom. I'm not quite sure about the price for that; does the woman's side give a token amount to the man? In such cases, what you really have to pay with is your dignity, but... given the disparity in resources, it's something that can't be helped."

Then... are the team experience, the mobile team space, plus my subordinates and skills that I've prepared, enough to compensate for the loss of your dignity?

She smiled, wanting to speak, but he interrupted her.

"The deficit of resources determines people's choices. And in this country, there are thirty million more unmarried men of marriageable age than unmarried women of marriageable age." He did not leave her any room to chime in or steer the topic away, speaking on and on fluently. "The price of marriage is generally set at an amount like this: 'an amount that can screen out and eliminate the poor, bleed ordinary people dry, and give the rich an opportunity to show off'—just that kind of amount."

"People distinguish themselves from one another through such behavior—it's tradition. In an era when divorces were rare, marrying a woman educated in the traditional virtues of obedience was worth this price. And now, marrying a woman who might divorce at any moment is also worth this price. But men have no choice, because of the numerical imbalance; some men, no matter how hard they try, are destined never to find a wife."

"You know, self-help and success philosophy might have value for an individual, but for the collective as a whole, it is utterly meaningless. Because when society develops to a certain stage, there are only so many jobs, and many people are destined to be unemployed. And when the ratio of unmarried men to women of marriageable age reaches a deficit of thirty million, love is equally meaningless—there are far too many men who, despite holding the purest and most precious love in their hearts, are destined never to attain a family if external conditions remain unchanged."

"There have been similar situations in history. Generally, when things reach this point, war breaks out, and men slaughter one another until their numbers drop to roughly match the women's, and a balance is struck. Before entering the Space, I had envisioned another, more peaceful method—importing primate females of marriageable age from foreign countries, from places mired in chaos, mired in poverty, places constantly at war where people live from hand to mouth."

This term made her feel somewhat wounded.

She desperately wanted to retort, to explain that she was just making an offhand remark and hadn't meant it that way, to say something that could narrow the distance between them.

Yet in the end, she simply sat there without uttering a word.

"Of course, my compatriots started doing this long ago. On a small scale, restricted, opposed, stealthy, piecemeal... But my plan is open, large-scale, importing thirty million to bring the domestic gender ratio into balance."

"To this end, I referenced a great deal of data. How the Romans abducted the Sabine women, how the Jurchen Jin dynasty abducted the empress dowagers and princesses of the Song dynasty—the women usually cooperated quite well. In this day and age, outright abduction is certainly inappropriate, but certain things can help us win them over—the accumulation of wealth and cultural appeal."

"We have such conditions. We have labored hard and built a powerful country. Our men are willing to make efforts for their families—unlike certain waste who just eat and sleep, and dance upon waking; unlike certain trash who hit it and run, refusing to take responsibility for their wives and children; unlike certain idiots who disregard present life to cultivate some delusional afterlife. We should... no, we have the responsibility to bring happiness to the cute and beautiful girls in those places."

"Making them our wives and the mothers of our children will be the greatest happiness for them."

"So, how does this plan succeed? Just like any other plan."

For the first time, she regarded him with importance from the bottom of her heart, examining him seriously.

In his eyes, she saw the abyss.

"The key to making any plan succeed lies in how much support it can garner. Not verbal support, but support based on interests or philosophy. The government has always imported all sorts of resources from around the world, so we just need to instill the correct philosophy into it—humans are the most precious resource of all."

"And in the absence of women, importing unmarried women of marriageable age from abroad is not only not disgraceful, but necessary, justified, and completely open and aboveboard."

"To make them accept and be willing, what is needed is propaganda and cultural superiority... let's put that aside for now."

"Before importing them, the undesirable elements in their minds need to be stripped away. Make them grateful to us—those who saved them, rather than some inexplicable deities. Those who still wish to believe in gods can just continue suffering under their gods! Then, all the imported women will be assigned to factories. There, they will learn labor while simultaneously learning language, housework, cooking, and similar skills."

"In this way, support can be gained from multiple sides. On one hand, factory owners will undoubtedly welcome cheap labor that can work stably for a period of time. On the other hand, relying on them can also attract unmarried men into the factories. Let them interact with each other and naturally develop mutual attraction—forced arrangements are improper and would instead provoke their... contempt, or even worse consequences."

"Many people refuse to work in factories simply because they feel it beneath their dignity. But by doing this, the most outstanding talent can be introduced into the factories, allowing the nation's entire industry—its most crucial sector—to develop further, creating further glory for the country as a whole."

"Foreign politicians will oppose it, but capitalists will support it; the government will oppose it, but capital will support it."

That icy, ruthless, indifferent demeanor... She couldn't help trembling, deeply captivated, unable even to look away.

"This plan actually has multiple ways of being applied. For instance, if it is fully planned out and then propagated in society, it can trigger panic among many unmarried women—forcing them to lower their standards for a spouse; forcing certain parents to no longer pursue higher interests... In short, the benefits are numerous."

"Previously, when I was cooped up at home and didn't know where to start, I imagined finding the profitable parts of certain links in this plan, and then making them public to spread as a guide to making a fortune—using profit to attract more people to complete certain links of it. But... I always felt that if it were handed over to someone else to execute, it would likely go awry, veer off course, and turn into god knows what." Wang Luo shrugged. "And now that I've entered the Space and grown stronger, perhaps I finally have the opportunity to actually execute this plan?"