Industry began in 1937

The days passed by amidst the clanging of forging, the whistling of the blower, and the ear-piercing friction of the grinding wheel.

This winter in Gouzi Village is quite different from previous years because of the blacksmith shop on the back mountain that never closes.

The cold and the usual bleakness were largely dispelled by a busy, sweaty, and hopeful heat.

The most direct change is in the village's public granary.

This was newly established after the blacksmith shop opened, and it is considered a collective reserve for the village.

In one corner of the communal granary, there are piles of miscellaneous grains, millet, corn, and even a few bags of wheat flour, which were exchanged from other villages; several rough earthenware jars contain brownish-yellow coarse salt, enough for the whole village to eat for a while.

In another corner, there were even more miscellaneous items: tanned leather, various dried mountain products, and even a few small packets of dark, homemade gunpowder carefully sealed with oil paper, as well as a few dark-colored lead ingots and tin blocks.

These were all "wages" and "profits" for "Chen the Blacksmith".

According to Chen Yuanding's rules, those who help operate the machines or are represented by the village in business negotiations will have "work points" recorded from the goods they receive in exchange. At the end of the year or when there is an urgent need, Third Master and Wen Shizhou will preside over the distribution of these points to each household based on the amount of effort they have put in.

These rules are simple, direct, and tangible, which motivates the young men who take turns doing heavy work in the back mountains, and their families are also happy about it.

After all, pedaling a bicycle all day and sweating a lot can earn an extra half liter of grain and a handful of salt for the family, which is a great thing in these times.

This method not only appeased the people but also provided the village with a sum of "public property" that could be used flexibly, giving them more confidence in dealing with potential demands from the "Red Spear Society" or in preventing unforeseen events.

Wen Shizhou privately remarked to Third Master, "Brother Chen's method, though seemingly a concession, is actually a way to solidify the foundation. When everyone benefits, the blacksmith shop and the village protection team truly become a community for everyone, no longer just the business of one person or a few. This is... a good thing that unites people's hearts."

Third Master agreed wholeheartedly and valued Chen Yuan even more, feeling that this down-on-his-luck young man not only possessed extraordinary skills but also displayed great wisdom in his conduct.

Chen Yuan himself, deep inside the mine, was quietly taking stock of another set of "belongings".

Through a steady stream of transactions, especially the "miscellaneous" items he deliberately collected by increasing the exchange rate, the material inventory of the "Flint" platform quietly increased.

Iron is naturally the most abundant material, totaling over two hundred kilograms.

The accumulation of copper materials delighted him even more. Those inconspicuous copper coins, copper locks, copper ornaments, and even copper ore that he had occasionally received, added up to nearly five kilograms!

Several kilograms of metals such as lead and tin have also been stockpiled.

In addition, saltpeter, sulfur, charcoal, and various available mineral samples are also stored in different categories.

Energy reserves have steadily increased to 18.3% thanks to the addition of new grinding machine "positions" and more regular shift work.

While it is still far from meeting the needs of some of his bolder plans, such as building more efficient power generation equipment or trying out some basic industrial machine tools, it is at least much more than sufficient for general manufacturing and maintaining the platform's operation.

He was considering building a steam engine to provide power for generating electricity.

It will replace the current pedal generator.

However, this still requires too much iron and also a large amount of electricity.

We still need to accumulate experience for a while longer.

Everything seems to be moving in a positive direction.

With a warm fire and plenty of food, the village was armed, which brought in supplies and even allowed it to begin accumulating wealth.

Chen Yuan sometimes had a fleeting illusion that he could just stay in this deep mountain mine, relying on "flint" and his "blacksmith" skin, slowly building his business and waiting for the situation to change.

However, this fragile peace was quietly broken on a seemingly ordinary afternoon by a soft ringing of a bell and a coded message.

That day, a peddler carrying goods on a shoulder pole and shaking a rattle drum arrived at Gouzi Village along the mountain path. He was in his forties, with a dark and rough face, wearing a patched cotton-padded jacket, and looked no different from the countless peddlers who traveled from village to village in the Taihang Mountains.

The load contained needles, thread, thimbles, buttons, cheap hair ties, and low-quality candy.

He rested under the old locust tree at the village entrance and was soon surrounded by curious children and women who needed to buy small items.

The village has no shortage of ironware, but it lacks other things.

The peddler cheerfully accepted the business, but his eyes subtly scanned the village.

When he saw Wen Shizhou organizing accounts in an empty room next to the ancestral hall, his eyes flickered slightly.

During a break in his business, the peddler casually strolled over to the vicinity of the ancestral hall and, speaking in a low but clear voice to Wen Shizhou, who was deep in thought under the eaves, asked, "Sir, I have a question. Is there anyone in our village with the surname 'Yuan'? I'm a distant cousin of his, and I'm just passing on a message."

Wen Shizhou's body trembled almost imperceptibly. He raised his head and his eyes met the peddler's calm gaze.

His face remained expressionless. He put down his charcoal pencil and slowly said, "A person surnamed Yuan? I don't think there is one in this village. But there is a person surnamed 'Yuan' in the next village, the 'Yuan' of 'fields.' I wonder if that's the one you're looking for?"

A bright glint flashed in the peddler's eyes, which he quickly concealed, waving his hand. "Oh, that might not be it. It's a relative from my great-aunt's side of the family, surnamed Yuan, like Yuan Shikai. Perhaps I've misremembered. Sorry to bother you, sir." With that, he turned as if to leave.

Just as he turned around, he uttered in a very low, very fast voice, almost in a breath: "Someone from 'home' has come. They're waiting under the crooked pine tree on the slope behind the village's earth god temple at the west end. 'The shopkeeper' is sick and asked me to pass on a message."

Wen Shizhou's fingers clenched tightly around the hem of his clothes, his knuckles turning white.

But he remained calm, even nodding slightly apologetically to the peddler: "It's alright, take care, fellow villager."

The peddler picked up his load, shook his rattle-drum, and walked away, as if he were just an ordinary merchant who had asked for the wrong directions.

Wen Shizhou stood there for a moment, took a deep breath of the crisp winter air, told Han Shitou who was helping out in the house, "I'm going out for a walk to get some fresh air," and then walked slowly toward the west end of the village with his hands behind his back.

His steps appeared relaxed, but upon closer inspection, one could see that his stride was slightly longer than usual, and his back was ramrod straight.

The earth god temple at the west end of the village has long been dilapidated. Behind the temple is a slope overgrown with weeds and shrubs, with an old pine tree growing crookedly at the top of the slope.

Wen Shizhou came to the tree. All around was quiet, except for the whistling of the wind through the withered branches.

"Mr. Wen." A deep voice came from behind the tree.

The peddler who had been there earlier suddenly appeared, his previous smug smile gone, his eyes sharp as an eagle's. He warily scanned his surroundings, making sure no one was around.

"Old Xing? It's you!" Wen Shizhou stepped forward, tightly grasping the peddler's hand, his voice trembling slightly with suppressed excitement. "You just said... someone came to 'the house'? 'The shopkeeper'... him?"

The peddler, Old Xing, nodded emphatically, his face flushed with barely suppressed excitement: "Mr. Wen, it's true! Our men, our main force, have arrived!"

"What?!" Although Wen Shizhou had a premonition, hearing it with his own ears still sent a rush of heat to his head, instantly making his eyes burn. "Quick, tell me carefully!"

"It's the Eighth Route Army! The vanguard of the 129th Division! Led by Comrade Zhang Xianyue, they've come from southeastern Shanxi and arrived in the mountainous area west of Xingtai!" Old Xing spoke quickly and clearly.

"The mission is to mobilize the masses, organize anti-Japanese armed forces, and establish an anti-Japanese base area in the Taihang Mountains! The higher-ups have been searching for lost comrades and re-establishing contact. I came here this time on orders to contact comrades who may be hiding in this area, convey instructions, and gather information!"

"Eighth Route Army... 129th Division... base area..." Wen Shizhou murmured these words repeatedly, each word like a heavy hammer hitting his heart, or like a burning ember, making his blood boil.

Since the county town fell and he lost contact with the organization, he drifted like a kite with a broken string into this mountain valley. He appeared calm on the surface, but how could he not be anxious and lonely inside?

His persistence in propaganda, covert observation, and helping Gouzi Village organize armed forces was, in itself, a way of continuing the struggle and waiting for the dawn.

And now, the dawn has truly arrived! It's not those mixed-up "Red Spear Society" members, nor undisciplined routs, but a genuine, people's army! It's the Eighth Route Army, led by the Party, here to establish a base area!

"That's wonderful...wonderful!" Wen Shizhou said twice, his voice choked with emotion. He blinked hard to wipe the tears from his eyes and gripped Lao Xing's hand tightly. "Lao Xing, I...I've been here all along. I have a general understanding of the situation in Gouzi Village. There's a village protection team of over thirty people, armed with spears, broadswords, and several muskets and rifles. They're united and courageous; a few days ago, they even repelled a group of fleeing soldiers and captured their weapons! The leader is a hunter named Zhao Dachui, honest and reliable. The village head, Third Master, is sensible and clear-headed. More importantly..."

He paused, his eyes gleaming, and lowered his voice: "There's an extremely important place here! There's a blacksmith shop on the back mountain, run by a young man named Chen Yuan, a somewhat mysterious figure, but his craftsmanship is excellent! He can not only forge fine swords and spears, but I suspect... he has even greater abilities, just very well hidden. His shop produces a continuous supply of high-quality ironware, which can be exchanged for grain, salt, and even copper and iron. If we can win him over, and his blacksmith shop, it will be a tremendous help to our troops' equipment supply!"

"Oh? Such a capable person?" Old Xing's eyes narrowed. "Is he reliable?"

Wen Shizhou pondered, "This man's background is unclear, but so far, everything he has done has been beneficial to the villagers' self-protection. He is neither greedy nor corrupt, and his actions are quite methodical. He seems to have some awareness of me as well, but hasn't pointed it out; rather, there's a tacit understanding between us. I think we can and must try to win him over! The village protection team of Gouzi Village, along with this blacksmith shop, are valuable foundations for us to establish ourselves and make progress here!"

"Good!" Old Xing slapped his thigh loudly. "Mr. Wen, you've done a solid job here! I'll go back and report to Comrade Zhang Xianyue immediately. You stay here, keep Gouzi Village under control, especially that blacksmith Chen. The advance team will send cadres over soon to make contact. Remember the code and the rendezvous point..."

Under the crooked-necked pine tree, braving the biting mountain wind, the two quickly and quietly exchanged information, contact details, and initial opinions on the work in Gouzi Village.

As Lao Xing's figure disappeared again at the end of the mountain path, Wen Shizhou stood alone on the hilltop, gazing at the vast mountains in the twilight, feeling a surge of emotion in his chest that he could not calm down for a long time.

It's here, it's finally here.

No longer fighting alone, no longer groping in the dark. The power of the Party, the people's army, has arrived in this land.

Gouzi Village, the small mountain village where he lived and worked for a month, along with the mine in the back mountain that held countless secrets, may truly be drawn into that magnificent torrent that will determine the fate of the nation, starting tonight.

He straightened his clothes and turned to walk towards the village.

His steps remained steady, but the somber worry between his brows had been replaced by an unprecedented determination and hope.