Chapter 498 First Step
The day's work is over.
Xu Ting left her job restlessly and walked towards home following her muscle memory.
Artificial womb...
Social nurturing...
Words from her colleagues kept circling in her mind, constantly stimulating her nerves.
Could this be true?
If it was true, would she try it?
Questions kept popping up in her mind one after another.
Unknowingly, she had arrived at her door.
The camera in front of the door turned on automatically, and the home smart housekeeper started the recognition program.
After a short wait.
"Welcome home."
A familiar and stiff electronic synthesized voice sounded in Xu Ting's ears, and the door in front of her opened.
"Are you back?" A deep male voice came from it, "I'm so tired. I don't know what the Academy of Sciences is doing recently. They have been transporting materials to the synchronous orbit these days."
The speaker is unintentional, but the listener is attentive.
Xu Ting was slightly stunned, and the "rumors" mentioned by her colleagues appeared in her mind again.
"Artificial womb..."
She stood at the door of her house in a daze, muttering to herself.
Qi Yang, who had not heard his wife's response for a long time, walked out of the inner room with a frown.
Seeing his wife standing at the door of her house, mumbling to herself, a trace of doubt flashed in his eyes: "What's wrong with you?"
Hearing her husband's question, Xu Ting suddenly came back to her senses.
She raised her head and looked at the man standing in front of her. She calmed down and talked about what she saw and heard at work today.
...
More than ten minutes later.
In the living room.
Qi Yang sat on the sofa and looked at his wife beside him thoughtfully: "Do you mean that the Human Union wants to release the technology of artificial womb?"
"No wonder the transport ships have been transporting resources to the three large space stations in synchronous orbit during this period..."
"It seems that there will be related reports in the next few days."
"Then...should we try it?" Xu Ting looked at her husband and said hesitantly, "With the nature of our work, we can definitely pass the qualification review."
Hearing this, Qi Yang also fell into deep thought.
Even though both of them were born in the new generation of Proxima b, it was still difficult for them to make up their minds about such an advanced concept of fertility.
After a long silence, Qi Yang nodded silently.
"If..."
"Let's give it a try."
...
One month later.
Human Union Academy of Sciences, Sociology Division.
Today is the first day of the official start of the reform of the social public care system, and it is also the most important day.
Therefore, in addition to Lv Yongchang, even Fang Xu and others came to the Sociology Division.
In order to reduce the turmoil and adverse effects caused by the reform process as much as possible, the entire reform is divided into several stages, and the reform time is extended to hundreds of years.
The first step in the reform of the social public care system is naturally to introduce artificial wombs and surrogate care systems.
And what impact will this move bring?
I'm afraid that no one present can give an accurate conclusion.
Therefore, even Lv Yongchang's eyes are a little uneasy.
"Professor!"
"Someone signed up!"
A joyful voice came from the side.
The next second, a detailed registration form appeared in the holographic projection in front of everyone.
"Qi Yang, Xu Ting..."
Lv Yongchang looked at the names of the couple at the top of the registration form and muttered to himself.
He quickly swept his eyes downwards, skipping all the information in the middle.
At the bottom of the registration form, there was a line of fluorescent green text.
[Qualifications have passed the review]
This is a comment from Zero.
In order to ensure that there are no loopholes in the qualification review process, at the moment the registration form is uploaded, Zero will mobilize all relevant data and conduct a comprehensive inspection of the applicants' past experience.
Only after passing Zero's review can the registered couples get the opportunity to use artificial wombs.
Lv Yongchang looked at the lower right corner of the registration form.
There was an option that was marked.
[Do you need social foster care services?]
In a sense, social foster care services are the real test of the social public care system by the Sociology Branch of the Academy of Sciences.
On this registration form, an extremely obvious check mark was made in front of the option [Yes].
Lv Yongchang's eyes showed some joy.
Although this is the first sample and the only one so far, this option still brings some peace of mind to everyone.
At least, some people have accepted the concept of social foster care.
"Second application!"
"Third..."
Voices came one after another from all around.
On the huge holographic projection in front of him, the number of application forms began to increase rapidly.
...
"Professor, there are no more places!"
A researcher in a white coat hurried over and said anxiously: "At present, many citizens have left messages on the official website, hoping to release more trial places."
"Ten thousand places, all gone?"
Before Lv Yongchang could speak, Fang Xu on the side had already shouted in surprise: "How much time is it?"
"2 hours, 36 minutes and 43 seconds." The electronic synthesized voice sounded just right on the side.
When hearing this string of numbers, even Lv Yongchang had a little surprise in his eyes.
"How much demand is there at present?" Lv Yongchang asked after a moment's silence.
"There are still 36,410 unreviewed application forms. Conservatively estimated, the number of potential interested people will be more than 100,000." The researcher in a white coat said hurriedly.
"100,000..."
Lv Yongchang frowned and thought carefully for a while.
Then,
he shook his head slowly and firmly.
"No, there are only 10,000 people in the first batch."
"No more."
"Why?" Fang Xu hesitated, and after struggling back and forth several times, he asked, "Isn't it a good thing to have more people?"
"They can quickly promote the reform of the social public care system!"
"Why limit the number of places?"
Lv Yongchang sighed slightly: "Of course I also want to quickly promote the reform of the social public care system."
"But... the lesson of Proxima b is right in front of us."
"Haste makes waste."
"On the basis of uncertainty whether it will cause resentment among other citizens, we can only move forward step by step."
"In the next few years, release fixed quotas one by one."
"Remember, the number of artificial wombs and surrogate care must not exceed the number of deaths in the human union."
"Okay." The head of the sociology department nodded seriously, "In addition to the lack of quotas, there is another phenomenon that you should be interested in, professor."
As he said, the head stretched out his hand and dragged a holographic picture.
"Statistics show."
"Among the people who passed the qualification review, 93.16% of them chose social surrogate care services."
