The film opened with a long shot.

Under warm sunshine, two children were happily kicking a ball on an uneven lawn.

They laughed and played, their faces radiating childlike innocence.

This was the backyard of a suburban house. The lawn, children’s toys, and the entire structure of the house had a standard Western background, and all the characters were foreigners.

Two kind-hearted fathers were leaning against the wooden fence of the backyard, watching the children happily playing soccer and drinking cold beer.

Meanwhile, two gentle mothers were preparing dinner in the kitchen.

Clearly, this portrayed a very harmonious and pleasant neighborly relationship, with the two families getting along wonderfully.

The two fathers chatted casually about their work—one was a factory worker, while the other ran his own small shop.

Although their jobs were different, they both felt that business had been slow recently. Both were looking for ways to earn extra money to support their families, otherwise they might not be able to afford the high tuition fees when their children started school.

At this moment, a news report played on the nearby television.

“The ‘Oxygen Guardian System’ has been officially activated as of today. Like oxygen, it will spread throughout our living environment, omnipresent and indispensable.”

“The Oxygen Guardian System will protect every citizen’s private property, which is sacred and inviolable. It will maintain the justice of the law, ensuring that no criminal can escape.”

“The Oxygen Guardian System will not favor any class, group, or individual. It will faithfully provide the most complete protection for every citizen according to the highest principles of law and the sacred inviolability of private property…”

“A senator stated that the official launch of the Oxygen Guardian System represents a new era in human history. Under the protection of the Oxygen Guardian System, the free regulation function of the market will be fully released. Without human regulation, it can still play its maximum role, and the complete opening of the free market will inevitably create more wealth for human society and bring greater happiness…”

Just as the news was reaching this point, one of the mothers called loudly from the kitchen, “Children, dinner’s ready.”

“Coming!” The two children responded, but they were still fighting for one last goal.

The two fathers smiled at each other. One of them waved his hand, turned off the television, and went to the kitchen to help set the table.

As darkness fell, the lights came on, and the two families enjoyed a pleasant dinner together.

A quiet and peaceful evening.

The film’s pace was quick. The two children gradually grew up, and their lives began to change.

One child followed his father’s footsteps and became an ordinary factory worker, while the other was determined to go into business and started a small enterprise.

Both young men worked diligently, rising early and staying up late, putting tremendous effort into their work.

But as the business-minded young man grew older, he began using the money he earned to purchase the latest educational chips, learning various knowledge, gradually earning more money, and eventually moving away from the community.

From then on, the two childhood friends grew increasingly distant and never contacted each other again.

At this point, the camera focused on the poor young man.

He originally had a stable job at the factory.

But suddenly one day, the factory supervisor informed everyone that they were all unemployed because the factory had acquired the most advanced machinery. The entire production line could be controlled through machines, and no workers were needed anymore.

Many workers couldn’t accept this reality. They angrily tried to destroy the machines but were immediately stunned by high-voltage electricity from the omnipresent enforcement units. Some died on the spot, while others, for destroying valuable property, shouldered heavy debts, went completely bankrupt, and became homeless.

The poor protagonist had no choice but to seek work at other factories, but those factories were also constantly laying off workers as new machines replaced them.

He could only take on odd jobs, his income decreasing and his standard of living deteriorating.

Finally, one day, these large corporations began to extend their reach to essential daily necessities: food, water, air, and even living space were all divided up by these corporations.

Initially, these corporations were very generous in allowing the poor to keep their houses, lawns, and old cars. But soon, a variety of maintenance fees became unbearable for the poor protagonist, who had to sell his old house at a high price and move into a small compartment with a life-cycle system arranged by these corporations.

With the money from selling his old house, the poor man should have been able to live comfortably for the rest of his life.

But soon various problems emerged. Without income, he found that the prices of necessities were becoming increasingly expensive, and he was spending money faster each day.

He wanted to sell his labor, but in a world where machines had replaced humans, his labor, like himself, was worthless. Perhaps the only valuable things he had were his attention and time. But he could only earn a meager income to barely survive by watching advertisements day after day.

His parents passed away due to old age, and their remains didn’t bring much in return. Apart from recyclable water resources and a certain free air quota, the minerals and other elements contained in the human body could only be exchanged for a delicious piece of beef.

This piece of beef was extremely luxurious for the protagonist because the recycling system only provided resources barely enough for survival, and the protagonist had almost forgotten what meat tasted like.

He carefully ate the beef, tears in his eyes, whispering, “Thank you, Mom and Dad.”

The protagonist’s living space became smaller and smaller. When he first moved into the small compartment, he could still often go out for walks and sunbathe, but gradually more and more land was enclosed by large enterprises, and the space he could move around in became increasingly limited.

Finally, he could only look through the glass at the environment outside, watching it change day by day. An empty space would be built into buildings, then demolished, turned into a square, demolished again, and replanted as a lawn.

In the end, the outside world seemed to return to the beautiful pastoral age—fresh air, birds flying, and grass growing. But people were all isolated behind glass, only able to look but unable to breathe the fresh air outside.

The glass in front of the poor protagonist was ordinary glass, but he couldn’t break it. If he did, he would have to compensate not just for the glass but also for the fresh air outside.

The fragrant air with its floral scent was incomparably more expensive than the polluted air in the recycling system; he simply couldn’t afford it.

Because of the presence of enforcement units, there was no need to purchase tempered glass. There was no need to spend extra costs.

The poor protagonist could only gaze at the distant green area, imagining that it was once the backyard of his house, once an uneven lawn, where he and a childhood friend once happily played soccer.

Just then, he saw a handsome, tall young man showcasing his skilled soccer techniques on the lawn. His movements were very graceful, like those of a top-tier soccer player.

After staring for a while, the poor protagonist suddenly noticed that this young man’s face seemed somewhat similar to his childhood friend.

In this world, through educational chips, advanced knowledge from scientists and athletic skills from athletes could all be input into people’s brains. Advanced genetic technology could keep people youthful, extending their lives many times over.

So while the poor protagonist had become a man in his fifties, looking even older than his actual age, his childhood friend still maintained the appearance of a young man.

The poor protagonist’s emotions seemed to explode at this moment. It was hard to describe—was it excitement and agitation, or anger and despair?

Regardless, he broke the glass and rushed toward that figure, calling out his childhood friend’s name.

The omnipresent enforcement units didn’t kill him on the spot because his friend tacitly allowed him to breathe the fresh air that belonged to him and step on the expensive lawn that belonged to him to speak with him.

He even had his personal robot butler bring over two chairs, and the two sat on the lawn looking into the distance and chatting, just like their fathers had done.

The poor protagonist first reminisced about those unforgettable days in the past, but his childhood friend only responded politely and perfunctorily, without any emotional ripples being stirred.

The educational chips had filled the rich protagonist’s brain with only useful things, while the useless content had been silently deleted.

When discussing his life, the poor protagonist’s anger erupted. He questioned this unfair world, asked why air, which was everywhere, could not be freely obtained.

The rich protagonist replied with some puzzlement: “Air is a resource. Since it’s a resource, it’s scarce. Why should it be freely available?”

“Wealth is the same. Wealth in this world is not scarce either, but people are still eagerly pursuing it, seeking wealth at all costs.”

“For this society, there will always be many people without value, and we, the rich, out of pity and mercy, bear the burden for this society, providing the most basic living security for those without value. We are the contributors to this society.”

“Everything you see, including the lawn beneath your feet and the air you breathe, is my personal property. If I wanted, you could also become my personal property. And my personal property is protected by enforcement units as sacred and inviolable.”

“I have never done anything against the law. I built everything from scratch, growing from a small business to the scale I have today. In this process, I’ve put in efforts beyond your imagination, solving one problem after another with my wisdom.”

The light in the poor protagonist’s eyes gradually dimmed. He couldn’t possibly refute his childhood friend, who could cite all kinds of legal provisions and was extremely eloquent—the poor protagonist was no match for him.

The poor protagonist also had no power to resist. The omnipresent enforcement units would have killed him instantly if he had tried to perish together with the rich protagonist.

As he was about to leave, disheartened, the rich protagonist called him back.

“You’re lucky. I’m not a heartless rich person; I’m the biggest philanthropist in today’s society.”

“Although you all constantly violate my private property, causing me great trouble, I’ve always maintained maximum tolerance and restraint, saving quite a few people from the hands of the enforcement units. To solve this problem forever, I’ve decided to be generous and create the biggest charity plan of my life, providing you with spaceships and fuel. This will give you the opportunity to explore a new world.”

“Of course, this expedition is full of dangers. You have the right to choose freely. Whether you go or stay, I will respect your decision, but I also hope you will respect the law and respect my personal property.”

In the film’s finale, countless people like the poor protagonist boarded a spaceship bound for another planet.

Before the spaceship ignited and took off, the poor protagonist saw the rich protagonist on the display screen in front of him. They gazed deeply at each other across the screen.

But no matter what kind of look or language they used, they could never understand each other. The poor and the rich had become two completely different species.

Finally, the spaceship ignited and took off, streaking across the sky into the vast expanse of space.

The rich protagonist, satisfied, sat down in a rocking chair on the lawn, patted his pet dog, and continued reading his book.

Although he had already mastered too much knowledge, reading still gave him a feeling of happiness.

“How nice. All problems have been solved in a win-win way.”

As the last rays of the sunset gradually faded, the rich protagonist leaned back in his rocking chair, smiling. He fell asleep peacefully, like a baby.