After he was done teasing the foreigner, Zhang Yuan found it pretty fun!
The stuff about him being in the Animal Protection Association was pure nonsense that he cooked up for the sake of escaping that situation.
Zhang Yuan munched on the roasted octopus and sighed deep down. "Sigh, I won't be able to eat this anymore soon. It's such a pity…"
Using cells to cultivate synthetic meat and replace real meat was commonplace ages ago. Moreover, synthetic meat had become a lot cheaper than natural meat after long periods of research and development. It was also more environmentally friendly and was rather popular in third-world countries.
However, the texture of synthetic meat was very soft, making it rather similar to meat pies. The elasticity of muscles and chewiness of soft bones was absent and the texture was not as good.
While Zhang Yuan ate, he pondered about the conversation he had with Professor Wang Zhong.
Both of them had chatted for quite some time. They did not only talk about academics but also some relevant information about Earth Age, which includes its working system and economic system.
For undergraduates like him who had good grades but lack any special achievements would be categorized as 2nd to 3rd grade workers, with only a monthly salary of 1100.
If he could publish a few good theses and prove his academic value, he might be able to take on higher-tier jobs, increasing his salary to an astonishing 1300 a month…
That was how brutal the competition there was.
"If I follow a good mentor and produce good experimental results, I can also get a pay raise."
"If I can complete some high-quality patents and bring certain revenue to the Deep Space Foundation on Earth, my pay can rise too…"
"So this is the new economic system they came up with? Erm it feels weird, but sounds effective."
Ideals could only inspire momentarily and not forever. Earth Age was an independent society on its own and it would naturally require its own set of economic systems to stimulate the enthusiasm of its internal staff.
The money they used was not the common federal currency on Earth, but the currency used on the spaceship, which was also known as new currency.
As long as they did not commit any huge mistake, their salary would be issued monthly based on their work grade for every month they remained awake.
New currency could also be used to purchase food, clothing, entertainment, other on-board services or finance trade between individuals.
Of course, their salaries could not be too high as the resources were rather limited. This way, the income gap between the rich and poor would not be too wide…
Other than this economic policy, there was another policy. That was the conversion between federal currency and new currency.
The Deep Space Foundation, who would have to financially support its own projects in the subsequent years, might possibly lack funds. So, in order to raise funds as quickly as possible, the foundation had called upon the astronauts to "donate", be it personal property or intellectual property rights.
Assets donation was not compulsory and they could donate based on their capability.
The currency on Earth would then be converted into new currency to a certain extent. But the conversion plan was still under discussion. They would inform everyone once it was confirmed.
"Sigh… even though their methods are strange, everyone should be able to understand helping the foundation would mean helping ourselves."
There were half a million people on board and there would naturally be some who were idealists. Starting a new human civilization on an unknown planet requires hardship, patience and sometimes lives. All the difficulties they had to undergo were already mentioned in advance and everyone was already mentally prepared.
They couldn't possibly expect to enjoy a better life compared to Earth, right?
If they had wanted to enjoy life, they would have remained on Earth instead.
In any case, Zhang Yuan had already donated all his assets so he was at ease.
There was another aspect he was concerned about, which was his worker grade on the spaceship. High grades meant more authority, a higher position and higher salary on the spaceship.
Humans would always find a goal for themselves, and Zhang Yuan did not wish to remain as a marginal figure.
Of course, worker grades could not be increased through donation. It was only calculated based on personal achievements, abilities and a series of impact factor algorithms.
The highest position available was the captain which there were only several people who possessed it and they were hard to replace.
Zhang Yuan was deeply aware how difficult it was to steer a spaceship to travel to a planet 20 light years away.
Even if Earth's civilization had already prepared as much as possible, the entire journey would still be arduous.
The captains not only had to concern themselves with the overall plan, but also resource allocation. Additionally, they also had to nurture the next generation of successors. Moreover, they had to undertake huge psychological pressure.
Other than captains, mid-level authorities would include heads of various departments, expert professors of universities, project auditors, members of the community organization, so on and so forth.
The lowest grade workers would naturally be those spaceship maintenance workers and workers in the production room. Their numbers were the most saturated and to be blunt, they were important but due to their mass numbers, there would not be a great impact on the operation of the spaceship even if their numbers were cut in half.
When he thought of that, Zhang Yuan had already planned out his future.
His undergraduate grades were pretty good, but it would only be average among the group. To this point, it would be best for him to write several good theses to raise his social status.
'Knowledge is king in the new civilization and the social atmosphere there is also good. As long as I can write a good thesis, it will be a lot more convenient for me to find a mentor. Additionally, with a solid thesis, I can prove my knowledge and gain a higher social status,' Zhang Yuan thought
'However, what should I write about… What thesis can I write?'
Zhang Yuan thought about it hard and racked his brain for an idea, but he could not think of any particularly good idea for the time being.
It would not be beneficial if he casually wrote a thesis. He would even get scolded by Professor Wang Zhong—something he really did not want.
While he pondered, Zhang Yuan ran for ten minutes before finally arriving at his temporary dormitory while panting heavily.
The room lights were on. Apparently, he was told that he had a roommate which was another astronaut who arrived earlier like him.
*Knock knock* Zhang Yuan knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
Zhang Yuan was shocked when he walked in.
The floor was littered with all sorts of mechanical parts. There were so many different types of weird shaped robots across the room.
There were even some robots that were dashing about like a four-wheeled vehicle which soon crashed against the wall in a bang.
"Be careful, don't step on them."
An unprepossessing young man was squatting in a corner. There were some traces of oil on his face.
Zhang Yuan quickly dodged away from the robot, causing the robot to hit against the table legs, leaving behind a few parts in his wake of destruction.
He carefully avoided those robots and put down the seafood noodles before he curiously asked, "Hey bro, are you building robots?"
"No, I'm currently choosing… These are all my favourite works. I'm choosing which one shall follow me up to space. It's such a headache!"
The young man said with a troubled look.
At the same time, he was a little proud and his eyes would turn to observe Zhang Yuan's expression from time to time.
Zhang Yuan chuckled and nodded in understanding. "There are three thousand beautiful ladies in your harem but you can only bring one with you. It must be very hard for you."
Everyone was allocated only 20kg of luggage and they were not allowed to exceed the quota—no exceptions.
Those robots were all made of metal, so any two of them added up together would already exceed 20kg.
"That's right! I've already been in this dilemma for several hours!" the young man seated opposite of him said in distress.
Zhang Yuan did not intend to comment on his behavior as everyone had their own hobbies and quirks. Moreover, for a guy who could build his own robot, he was definitely someone who was on the formidable side.