Chapter Thirty-Three: The Iron Age

  Yan Xiuwu gazed at his wife with appreciation, her intelligence shining like ice and snow: "Hehe, it's been a long time since you've returned to the Qin family, has it? Escaping like this isn't a solution either. Moreover, if we want to expand outward, we naturally need information from various places. The Qin family has branches everywhere, and in the eyes of the enemy, they still have great value for recruitment. We can use this opportunity to establish an intelligence gathering system, which will be very beneficial for our expansion."

  "Hmph, I knew you weren't up to any good. You actually let your own wife do something so dangerous. Aren't you afraid that I'll be bullied by the Japanese devils?" Qin Wanjun said with a pout.

  "How can I bear to do that, hehe, actually you don't need to show up yourself, just find a few reliable people to show up and organize it, and also don't have any relationship with the Qin family's business, this way even if something happens, it won't be caught by the devils." Yan Xiawu explained.

  "I knew you wouldn't let me go, I, Qin Da Xiaojie, naturally won't be blind, to fall for a guy who sells out his wife, haha"

  "Alright, you actually dared to frame your own husband, let's see how I'll punish you..." Yan Xiu Wu made a move to take action.

  Qin Wanjun smiled and walked up to him, "Hehe, I've already started working on it, but I didn't mention it to you because I thought you were too busy. Now that you asked, how could this humble wife not do her best to repay her husband's kindness?"

  Haha... Yan Xi Wu burst out laughing, with a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for!

  At this time, it was the peak of summer, and the scorching heat in the mountains was unbearable. However, the steel factory workers didn't feel the heat at all. A huge iron furnace stood tall in the valley, which was built by the workers over a week ago using materials that were carefully gathered. After all, there wasn't much iron ore around here, and the village blacksmiths only occasionally smelted a few pieces of ore to make some iron ingots. Who would have thought that an iron furnace could be built so massive? The blacksmith uncle stared at this giant monster in awe, exclaiming: "My goodness, if we can smelt iron out of this, how many iron pots can we cast?"

  A few days ago, I experimented several times, and today is the day to try production. People all came together spontaneously, wanting to see how this huge furnace smelts iron. Lin Ye Water looked at his masterpiece with satisfaction, which was built by himself and his fellow workers after shedding countless sweat. Although it's not the most advanced, it's the best under current circumstances. Lin Ye Water is a technician from an iron factory in Beidu. Since the devils occupied Beidu, he couldn't bear to see his factory being taken over, so he fled south with his wife and children. Coincidentally, he met Qin's recruitment of workers and came to work at this mountain valley iron factory. As he gradually got in touch with the place, he deeply recognized the land and its people, who were enthusiastic and hospitable, without the superficiality and petty-mindedness of city dwellers. He felt like he had entered a paradise on earth, where he could play to his strengths and was not disturbed by others, which was his greatest happiness.

  As the Tongmenghui's propaganda efforts deepened, Lin Ye-shui also came to realize that the Japanese invaders were the source of all disasters, and that only by driving out the devils could their nation avoid becoming slaves, and live a good life. He burst forth with his greatest enthusiasm for work. With wholehearted dedication, he threw himself into the task of building the ironworks. What delighted him most was that Qin Wan-jun, the leader of the Tongmenghui here, treated him with great courtesy. This Miss Qin was not at all arrogant or overbearing, but always tried her best to make life better for the workers, and whenever problems arose, she would quickly find a solution. He felt deeply moved that he had been appointed as the chief engineer of the ironworks as soon as he arrived, so he worked with extra vigor.

  Today, we can finally start smelting iron. This is the result of several hundred workers' hard work over the past few days. Lin Ye Shui looked at the surrounding workers and mountain villagers who had gathered to watch, his heart filled with excitement. He asked Qin, the head of the department: "Can we begin now?"

  Qin Wanjun was quite pleased with this title, and since she took office as the General Affairs Department Director of the Anti-Japanese Alliance Union, she preferred this title, which sounded much more comfortable than "Ms. Qin". She smiled slightly and made a gesture to Yan Xiufu and his son Yan Jufan, saying: "Let's still have Comrade Yan Xiufu, the Chairman of the Anti-Japanese Alliance Union, preside over this instead. This is indeed a grand celebration for the Anti-Japanese Alliance Union." After speaking, she smiled slightly and nodded at Yan Xiufu.

  Yan Xi Wu scanned everyone with a glance, nodded and loudly announced: "Now ignite, test the furnace!" Upon hearing his order, Lin Ye Shui shouted: "Ignite the test furnace!" Soon a flame shot up into the sky, casting a huge fiery glow on the faces around, gradually becoming scorching hot as the blower rotated.

  Yan Jufan gazed at the spinning drum wind machines, his heart filled with satisfaction. These drum wind machines also contained his wisdom. The mountains had no electricity, and solving this problem was a real headache for everyone. Without electricity, it would be impossible to operate the iron furnace and subsequent machinery equipment. Fortunately, he had cleverly thought of an idea - from a distant mountain stream, a creek flowed down from the top of the cliff with great force. He had Rain Nong design ten leaf wheels that spun rapidly under the impact of the water flow, driving a small generator. Although the power was insufficient, it was enough to drive the current drum wind machines. When the secretly purchased steam engine arrived in the mountains, they could use coal to generate electricity, and many tasks could begin. Yan Jufan happily gazed at everything before him, feeling a sense of accomplishment as if he had created a new world.

  Yu Nong and Qin Si Jiao stood on either side of the little boy, excitedly watching the large furnace in front of them spewing black smoke and flames. It was so shocking! When had they ever seen such a scene? However, they also wanted to let the naughty boy experience their excitement together. The two girls exchanged a glance and simultaneously kissed the little boy's face, startling him as he was intently watching the iron being smelted. The people around them smiled kindly, looking at the several flushed-faced children with envy. How enviable!

  As people expected, the fire in the furnace gradually turned white, and the temperature was enough. Lin Ye water kept observing the change of color, it's time. He ordered: "Prepare to take out the iron, everyone step back."

  The molten iron quickly flowed out of the outlet at the bottom of the furnace and poured into the mud mold next to it. "Success!" A loud cheer erupted, a round of applause thundered through the ground, and the mountain people excitedly clapped their hands red. This is the ironworks of the mountain people themselves! So much iron filled people's hearts with excitement. They can also smelt iron now, which is something that people have never thought of before. How can they not be excited? How can they not be thrilled?