Chapter 219: Chance Encounter

What can 500 Jin yuan buy you in Hongsawaddy?

You could buy 60 kilograms of chicken thighs, 500 liters of raw milk, or 2,500 eggs. And that's before any discounts. When purchasing specialty foods for pregnant women during maternity leave, the price is usually 50% off.

A comprehensive prenatal check-up doesn't cost much either, after reimbursements from medical insurance and maternity leave subsidies.

Over millions of years of evolution, the natural environment has long since developed a complete "self-regulating mechanism."

For instance, the lemmings on the vast tundra of the Arctic Circle are a classic example.

The Homo Sapiens Company, the entity behind the Qingye Group, has simulated a model of human societal operation using supercomputers.

They discovered many interesting things, but these are all internal company secrets, not to be shared with outsiders.

Still, the company's think tank researchers submitted a special report to Li Qingye.

It urged the Homo Sapiens Company to make good use of the special window of opportunity before them, a period of about 20 years—the "renewal phase" during the system's organic advancement.

This so-called "renewal phase" refers to a brief transition period that exists before the system becomes one of highly advanced technology and material wealth.

During this special window, the population segment still holding traditional values is, for the most part, still within their physiological reproductive years.

Meanwhile, new mindsets have not yet fully formed, and the new generation of employees is either still impressionable or not yet born. This transitional group provides a buffer period of about 20 years.

Therefore, the Homo Sapiens Company can implement a comprehensive set of guidance programs to slow the decline of the company's ability to replenish its workforce.

This window is extremely important. Once it's missed, changing the mindset of the new generation of employees will become exponentially more difficult, and the cost will be far greater than it is now.

The Homo Sapiens Company aims to become a megacorporation. Before artificial womb and human cloning technologies can be mass-produced, natural reproduction is the only means of increasing the size of its workforce.

Ensuring employees maintain a relatively high rate of self-reproduction is to protect the company's fundamental interests.

Lai Xiaoni and Fang Xinxin were unaware of these underlying machinations; they only felt that the "Three Great Groups" were very humane.

"It seems like a lot of people here use Chinese, doesn't it? I haven't had to speak English or anything since I arrived."

Fang Xinxin smiled, poured her husband a cup of black tea, and continued, "You probably haven't looked into it that deeply. But actually, when you enter a restaurant, shop, station, or airport, you can tell just by looking at the pin on a staff member's uniform."

"They even have details like that?" Lai Xiaoni had thought that many people in Hongsawaddy spoke Mandarin, based on her journey so far.

Fang Xinxin explained, "Those wearing an emerald pin speak Burmese; a ruby pin means they speak Chinese; a sapphire pin means they speak English; an amethyst pin means they speak Thai; and those with an obsidian pin usually speak multiple languages."

"Oh, I see." It dawned on Lai Xiaoni. She looked at the waiters in the tea restaurant.

Sure enough, some were wearing ruby pins, while others wore sapphire and emerald pins.

"Also, when you use public transportation, your identification is already entered into the internal system," Fang Xinxin added. "The system automatically sends a notification to the service provider so they can arrange for an appropriate staff member. That's based on my work experience at the airport."

Now Lai Xiaoni finally understood. It wasn't that she was lucky enough to run into Chinese-speaking staff; they had been specifically assigned to her.

No wonder so many people who had recently traveled to Hongsawaddy were full of praise for the service.

After all, the biggest worry when traveling abroad is the language barrier.

As they talked, the conversation shifted to tourism.

"Xiaoni, if you're planning to travel around Dongzhi, I recommend you go to Yanzi Mountain. It's the largest nature reserve in the Dongzhi area."

Then Fang Xinxin added, "If you're not into pure mountain rainforests, you could also visit Red Rock Farm. It's home to the largest low-salt ham production base in Shan State. I heard the ham variety was introduced from Xuanwei in Yunnan."

Then Fang Xinxin recommended several other good places to visit.

"Looks like Sister Xin Xin travels a lot!" Lai Xiaoni quickly took out a small notebook and started writing.

"The company gives us at least five days off each month. When you add in public holidays, it's pretty easy to string together a week-long vacation. My husband and I travel often. If it weren't for this big belly making things inconvenient, I'd have planned a trip to Siam."

Mao Shuihe suddenly spoke up, "Once the baby is born, you'll still have over eight months of leave. It won't be too late to go then."

"I wonder how Brother Xinwu is doing lately?" Fang Xinxin said, a little concerned.

Mao Shuihe shrugged. "When he contacted me a while ago, he said he was going to Kachin to deal with some jade. A few jewelers from Xiangjiang were heading there to talk business."

"Jade? Wasn't mining banned?" Fang Xinxin was a bit surprised.

Knowing some of the inside details, Mao Shuihe gave a dry laugh and said, "It's banned for private mining. The Development Group still has three mines operating on a small scale."

Lai Xiaoni, who had heard of Hongsawaddy's famous jade, asked curiously, "So, is there no jade for sale here in Dongzhi?"

"No. The local specialties here are medicine and agricultural products," Mao Shuihe answered simply and clearly.

Speaking of medicine, Fang Xinxin eagerly started recommending things to Lai Xiaoni again. "Xiaoni, it's very cheap to buy medicine in Dongzhi. Plus, the hospitals here are excellent. Scar removal, plastic surgery, body odor removal surgery, color blindness correction surgery... not only is the technology good, but the prices are also quite reasonable."

"Color blindness correction surgery? Color blindness can be corrected?" Lai Xiaoni was very surprised.

A former classmate of hers from Kangaroo Country was red-green colorblind, so she had specifically looked into the condition before.

Fang Xinxin nodded. "It was developed by Dr. Li Qingye."

"Li Qingye? The scientist who invented the new antibiotics? The founder of the Qingye Group?"

"Yes, that's him."

"Is there any detailed information?" Lai Xiaoni asked quickly.

"The Qingye Medical official website should have an introduction."

Lai Xiaoni opened her laptop, connected to the tea restaurant's Wi-Fi, and soon found the relevant information on the Qingye Medical official website.

It was a special technology that allowed patients to see normal colors by implanting an Artificial Cornea and a bionic nerve into the eyeball.

Currently, this surgery could only be performed at Qingye Hospital. The price was 50,000 Jin yuan for both eyes or 30,000 Jin yuan for a single eye. Additionally, the Artificial Cornea had a limited lifespan, lasting only about five years on average.

After the initial correction surgery, subsequent replacements of the Artificial Cornea at Qingye Medical would only cost 10,000 Jin yuan for both eyes.

This technology was also applicable for conjunctival diseases, as well as detached or damaged corneas.

In fact, this technology was originally developed by Li Qingye for his own genetic red-green color blindness. However, the version currently in commercial use was an adjusted, simplified one. The Artificial Cornea that Li Qingye used for himself was permanent.