Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 436 Traveling South and North
July 21, Guangfeng (now Sanich City).

As the sun sets, it paints the towering chimneys of Guangfeng Steel Plant in a vibrant orange-red hue.

As Mu Shunan walked toward the factory gate, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel. His iron-gray linen overalls were covered with coal dust and iron filings.

He rubbed his aching lower back; at forty-six, his body was no longer as resilient as it had been in his youth.

"Master, the steam engine at furnace number 2 seems to be making a strange noise. There might be a problem," a young apprentice ran over and cautiously reported.

"You knew there was a problem, so why did you only report it to me now?" Mu Shunan glared at him. "Go find the factory's mechanics right now and have him check it thoroughly. If the furnace can't be started tomorrow, and it affects this month's production, I'll break your legs!"

Upon hearing this, the apprentice immediately ran to the workshop in a panic.

"Idiots! None of you have any sense!" Mu Shunan glanced at the gathered workers, cursed a few times, then walked slowly out of the factory with his hands behind his back.

After passing through two stone-paved roads covered with iron filings, turning into a main street lined with pine and cypress trees, and then turning into a bustling alley, Mu Shunan's home is a two-courtyard house.

The aroma of stewed meat wafted from the courtyard, and he twitched his nose, his lips unconsciously curving upwards into a smile.

What a lucky day it is today that my wife actually bought beef?
He was stunned when he pushed open the courtyard gate.

Under the cedar tree in the yard, a familiar figure was squatting beside Lao Liu, carefully guiding him in doing his homework.

"God bless you?"

The young man turned around, a smile spreading across his face: "Dad!...You're back."

"Well, I'm back."

Mu Shunan quickly suppressed his smile, straightened his face again, and slowly walked up to his son.

It had been half a year since I last saw my son. He seemed to have grown taller. He was wearing a navy blue stand-up collar cardigan, which made his young body look particularly upright. However, his face was a little darker than when I last saw him.

"Why did you suddenly come back? Is everything alright at the yamen in Long'an (now Sydney, Vancouver Island)?" Mu Shun'an nodded slightly, trying to suppress his joy, but his voice was a few decibels higher than usual.

"I was just homesick." Mu Tianyou smiled as he took his father's work bag. "The Long'an County government gave me five days off, so I immediately took the horse-drawn carriage back. Hey, Mom said you'd definitely be working overtime again today and would be back a little late, and sure enough."

"Why would the county government give you leave for no reason, when it's neither a holiday nor a festival?" Mu Shunan looked at him suspiciously. "You didn't get into trouble and get fired by the county government, did you?"

"Father, how is that possible!" Mu Tianyou raised an eyebrow. "At the end of last year, I received an award from the county government and was named an outstanding grassroots clerk. How could I have committed a crime and been dismissed?"

Just then, his wife, Yang, poked her head out of the kitchen: "You're back! Perfect timing, time to eat. Second son, help your younger siblings wash their hands and set out the bowls and chopsticks!"

Dinner was much more lavish than usual, with a large pot of stewed beef with potatoes, a plate of steamed salmon, four or five plates of stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and canned fish that Mu Tianyou brought back from Long'an.

Six children sat around a large square table, the youngest sister, who was only six years old, staring longingly at the meat bowl.

"Alright, let's eat!" Yang, the wife, took off her apron, sat down next to her husband, and looked at the whole family with a smile, feeling extremely satisfied.

The last time the whole family gathered was during the Lunar New Year, and we sat together in such a lively atmosphere.

If every day could be like this, how wonderful that would be!

"Look at these kids, they're like wolf cubs, fighting over meat the moment they see it!"

At the large table, the sixth brother stood on tiptoe, gripping his chopsticks and scooping beef from the bowl. The fifth and fourth brothers also stood up and started scooping from the bowl.

The wife, Yang, waved her chopsticks in dissatisfaction, gently tapping the backs of their hands, and then brought over the bowls of her husband and eldest son, placing several large pieces on each of their plates.

Mu Shunan, however, scooped the meat out of his bowl and gave it to the children, saying, "I've already eaten at the factory, I'm still full."

He turned to his eldest son and asked softly, "What's the story behind this sudden decision to give you a few days off?"

Mu Tianyou's chopsticks stopped in mid-air, a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

Mu Shunan noticed this detail keenly and frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing serious." Mu Tianyou picked up a green bean, put it in his mouth, and chewed slowly. "I've been transferred and am going to take up a post in another city."

"Oh, a transfer..." Mu Shunan nodded slightly. "Where are you being transferred to?"

“Yongning Bay (now San Francisco Bay)”.

"Huh?" Mu Shunan's eyes widened immediately. "...What? You've been transferred to the Yongning Bay Colonization Area?"

"Yes." Mu Tianyou took a bite of the cornbread in his hand and said nonchalantly, "The government wants to promote the 'Southward Expansion Plan' and incorporate it into the country's five-year plan. It plans to relocate 5,000 people to Yongning Bay this year, but it lacks a large number of grassroots management cadres, so it has drawn them from various counties and towns in the headquarters."

"You were selected?"

"I volunteered."

Do you know where Yongning Bay is?

“I know, I know,” Mu Tianping, the third son who was in middle school, said loudly. “Yongning Bay is in the south, more than a thousand kilometers away from Qiming Island.”

"What? Tianyou, you're going to such a far place?" His wife, Yang, finally realized what was happening and slammed her bowl and chopsticks down on the table. "If you go there, it will take you several months to get there and back. Tianyou, listen to your mother, let's not go there, okay? Although Long'an County is a dozen or twenty miles away from Guangfeng, it only takes less than two hours to get back by horse-drawn carriage. It will be much more convenient for the whole family to reunite."

“Mother, although Yongning Bay is more than a thousand kilometers away from here, it won’t take several months to make a round trip.” Mu Tianyou said with a smile, “Starting from Shixing Port, we can get there in less than half a month if the wind and sea are smooth. However, it may be a little more difficult to come back, but it won’t take more than a month.”

“But… but that’s a very long way!” His wife, Yang, grabbed her son’s arm, her eyes filled with concern. “When you’re on duty in Long’an County, you can’t come home for months or even half a year at a time. If you go to that place called Yongning, won’t you be unable to come home for two or three years?” “Mother, it’s not that serious. If I want to come back, I can take a boat back to Guangfeng to see you anytime,” Mu Tianyou patted his mother’s hand and said softly.

"It probably won't be easy," Mu Shunan sighed.

“Father…” Mu Tianyou gave him a wink.

The courtyard suddenly fell silent.

The second brother silently ate the rice in his bowl, the third brother glanced at the fourth brother and dared not make a sound, the fifth brother had a lump of meat in his mouth and his eyes were wide open, and the youngest brother, the sixth brother, looked left and right without understanding what was going on, and then, taking advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention, he reached for the meat bowl with his chopsticks.

"Is it true that you're leaving after taking these few days off?" Mu Shunan asked.

"Three days ago, the county government approved my application. We will all board a ship at Shixing Port to go south in five days."

"Okay, let's eat." Mu Shunan picked up his rice bowl, silently picked up a piece of beef, and put it in his son's bowl. "These next few days, stay home and keep your mother company."

"Mmm." Mu Tianyou nodded, put the piece of beef into his mouth, and then turned to look at his mother. "Mom, your cooking is so delicious, I never get tired of it."

"If it's delicious, then eat more!" Yang's nose tingled, but she forced herself to turn her head away.
-
As night deepened, Mu Shunan lit an oil lamp and sat alone in the small workshop in the backyard.

This is where he makes small items during his breaks, repairs stoves and farm tools for his neighbors, and makes toys for the children.

Tonight, he held a piece of scrap steel billet in his hand, examining it repeatedly under the light.

Soft footsteps approached.

Mu Tianyou was wearing a thin shirt and carrying two bowls of cold boiled water.

"Dad, why aren't you asleep yet?"

Mu Shunan snorted and took the bowl: "I'm old, I can't sleep."

Mu Tianyou sat down opposite his father, his gaze falling on the steel billet: "What's this for? Is it for Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu toy pieces?"

"A dagger," Mu Shunan replied briefly, glancing at his son out of the corner of his eye.

Silence spread between father and son, with the distant sound of owls and the occasional bark of a dog.

“Father…” Mu Tianyou finally spoke, “Actually, there is no danger at Yongning Bay.”

"I also went to night school, I'm not some ignorant craftsman." Mu Shunan didn't look up, continuing to polish the steel billet.

“But… but this is really a great opportunity.” Mu Tianyou’s voice was filled with suppressed excitement. “All cadres and clerks who go to the Yongning Bay colonization area will be promoted one rank.”

"In other words, once I get there, I can rise from a junior clerk to a section-level colonization official. You know, for someone like me who isn't very well-educated, this is such a rare opportunity."

"What if this is a suicide mission?" Mu Shunan raised his head. "Yongning Bay is not far from the Spanish. If they attack, you will be the first to be hit!"

"The Spanish are no match for Xinhua!" Mu Tianyou proudly raised his head.

"Arrogant!... Foolish!" Mu Shunan suddenly slammed the steel billet heavily onto the table. "Do you even know..."

“I know!” Mu Tianyou interrupted his father. “I know it will be dangerous in Yongning Bay, and I know I will face many difficulties. But Dad, have you thought about what I will do every day in Long’an County? As a junior clerk, all I will do is organize household registers, transcribe official documents, and deliver paperwork… What will I be like in ten or twenty years?”

"I don't want to live such an ordinary life!"

Mu Shunan was stunned.

He had never heard his son speak like that, nor had he ever heard him so agitated.

Isn't it better to live a peaceful and stable life?
This is something that's extremely rare and hard to come by in the Ming Dynasty!

“Dad, you always say the steel mill is tough, but there’s always a light in your eyes.” Mu Tianyou’s voice lowered. “Every time you talk about the newly built blast furnace, the improved processes, and all the new equipment, that pride, that sense of accomplishment… I’ve never felt that way in Long’an County.”

Mu Shunan listened in silence.

"No matter how dangerous the Yongning Bay colonization area is, at least I can do something practical. Reclaiming wasteland, building a city, bringing peace to the people, establishing a great career… that's what a fine man should do!" Mu Tianyou's eyes gleamed under the oil lamp. "Father, please let me go."

"If I leave after you've left, how will your mother take care of your younger siblings?" Mu Shunan sighed.

"Father..." Mu Tianyou looked at him in surprise, "You...you're leaving too, why?"

"The Guangfeng Iron Mine is nearing depletion, and most of the ore needed is now imported from Jinshi Island (Texas Island). The factory manager says that the extra transportation layer increases refining costs, and they intend to expand the steel plant in the prefecture (present-day Nanaimo) to make full use of the abundant local coal and convenient transportation. The higher-ups want your father to go north to provide support for a year or two..."

"Father, this means the higher-ups value you!" Mu Tianyou looked at his father with reverence.

"But suddenly there are two fewer men in the house, your mother..."

"Isn't Second Sister still at home?" Mu Tianyou said with a smile. "Second and Third Brothers are all grown up and can take care of themselves. Even though Sixth Brother is still in elementary school, he has several older brothers and sisters to help take care of him, so Mother can manage everything at home."

"But, now that you've gone to Yongning Bay, when will you be able to return to Guangfeng?"

"It should be two or three years..."

Upon hearing this, Mu Shunan fell silent again.

The flame of the oil lamp danced in his eyes.
-
(End of this chapter)