The Ancestral Legacy Begins in the Wild West

Chapter 89 Information on Oil Production Area: Hokkaido

Sakamoto calmly raised his head and waved his hand at Okita, saying, "It's alright. This isn't the first time I've dealt with the Shinsengumi. I understand Hijikata-san's personality, and I won't blame him."

Okita then gave a slight bow as an apology, before turning to Zhang Chang'an: "Good morning, Mr. Tiezhou."

Zhang Chang'an nodded, greeted him, and then casually asked, "Mr. Okita, is there anything you need me for this time?"

"No, no," Okita shook his head with a smile. "I just saw someone I knew and said hello. I have to go on patrol, so I won't stay any longer."

"Okay." Zhang Chang'an nodded to Okita and Okita Sakamoto, then turned and left.

He walked slowly, but quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Zhang Chang'an held the bowl, his gaze following the figure until it completely disappeared, only then did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Okita Souji didn't do much here, but his gaze just now was very obvious, clearly focused on those very important parts.

"Shoulder, thigh—that's where I was injured. How did he know all this? Can an on-site investigation reach this level?" Zhang Chang'an shook his head, slightly shaken.

Fortunately, his injury had already healed.

The hot knife disinfected his wounds. The changes brought about by his physical transformation during his advancement, along with the ancient herbs produced by a Native American tribe in the west, had completely healed his injuries.

After all, the scratches were just surface damage from the cutting and dragging. After a night, it's impossible to say that there were no traces left.

But not to mention her thighs being completely covered, most of her shoulders were also tucked into her sleeves. Unless there was any inconvenience in her movements, Okita wouldn't be able to tell.

Zhang Chang'an finally felt relieved and continued eating his noodles.

While Kyoto may not have the same level of modernity as London, it's not entirely inferior either.

After all, although it's not as great as China, especially since Zhang Chang'an came from Guangdong, Japan is still part of East Asia. Although the food is generally milder, it's still better than what we eat in Britain.

But as he focused on eating his noodles, he forgot one thing.

There was another person by his side, Ryoma Sakamoto.

Look at Sakamoto, he really just sat down in the empty seat next to the two of them so casually, waved to the stall owner, and ordered a set meal.

When Okita first arrived, he hadn't ordered any food yet. Now that he and Hijikata Toshizo had both left, Sakamoto actually chose to sit down and eat.

The light then fell back on Zhang Chang'an: "Mr. Zhang? Are you from Qing China? I saw you greeting Okita-san earlier, do you know each other?"

Zhang Chang'an nodded: "He's my regular customer; he often comes to me to fix things."

"Fix things?" Sakamoto raised an eyebrow. "Are you a craftsman?"

"I only know some basic skills," Zhang Chang'an said simply.

On the contrary, Xiao Ju suddenly perked up and said, "His name is Zhang Tiezhou. He is the only steam-powered machinery craftsman in our area. He is very skilled and often helps people in the neighborhood. Many people in the Shinsengumi also seek him out."

Xiao Ju pointed to herself with her chopsticks, as if it were her right to introduce herself: "And I am Ju Qinglan, an information broker and errand runner. If you need anything, you can contact me. My prices are fair and honest."

Sakamoto clearly noticed this as well. He smiled and was about to say something.

Xiaoju interrupted, "You don't need to introduce yourself. You're Sakamoto Ryoma, right? Everyone knows you, Shito."

Sakamoto paused for a moment, then smiled again, a smile that was even more genuine than before.

"No wonder you work in the intelligence industry, you know me very well?" he said, as the boss had already brought out a set meal with saury and miso soup. He decisively broke off his chopsticks and started eating.

Zhang Chang'an was quite moved by this. This was the first time he had had normal daytime contact with this patriot who had been preparing to pull him into the ranks of reformers as soon as he arrived.

Let's just sit here and eat together.

"Speaking of which, what was going on between Mr. Sakamoto and Vice-Commander Hijikata just now? We were watching from the side and thought they were going to fight." Kotachibana was also eating, but with his personality, it was hard for him to stay still while eating.

Sakamoto smiled and calmly stated, "There won't be a fight. He's just upset and looking for someone to vent his anger on. I just happened to be there."

"Because of the layoffs?"

"Hmm?" Sakamoto turned to look at Kotachibana with some surprise. He knew about this through his reformist friends, but he didn't expect that people in the general public would find out so quickly.

However, he still nodded and glanced at the stall across the street: "Of course, it's partly because of me, but this isn't the first time Mr. Hijikata and I have clashed, and I do occasionally think about retaliating."

What I just said was a lie. That oil was residue and waste from the research institute and factory. It was originally going to be dumped, but I had someone get it out and distribute it to these people. Of course, this didn't require working through the night.”

As he spoke, he bent down, picked up a plum, and mixed it into his bowl, his tone casual.

"Residual material?" Xiao Ju nodded, indicating that she understood.

Sakamoto continued, "Well, it's basically just the residue after burning, not worth much, but it can actually be burned again. However, I don't really know much about it."

Sakamoto smiled and turned his gaze to Zhang Chang'an beside him: "Mr. Tiezhou is a craftsman, so he should know more about these things than I do, right? I only know that those oils come from whales, but I don't know the specific differences."

Zhang Chang'an's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained calm: "Actually, no. In the end, I'm just a craftsman, and a Han Chinese."

Although I could get to know the Shinsengumi members and help them fix things, I couldn't get into places like the research institute, so I didn't get access to any real technology.

He paused for a moment, then said, "To this day, I don't even know which whale the oil was extracted from or where it was transported from."

Upon hearing this, Sakamoto immediately laughed: "It seems that living in Kyoto isn't all that great."

As he spoke, he unconsciously looked up into the distance: "Those whales are all caught in Hokkaido or the Seto Inland Sea. They are transported to Yokohama Port by large ships. Even the children in our Choshu Domain know this."

He paused, then looked into the distance, a hint of emotion in his voice: "Hokkaido has become much more lively than before because of this."

Many people went there to make a living, whaling, oil refining, and transportation—earning hard-earned money. Although we in Changzhou don't rely on these industries, we often hear about them.

Zhang Chang'an listened silently, but in his mind he had already memorized all the information: "Yokohama Port, it really should be there."

Indeed, his purpose in this casual conversation was clear: it wasn't to build rapport with this reformer or to help his ancestor establish connections for the future. He simply wanted to learn about these matters.

This seems quite ordinary, but in fact, it is difficult for anyone other than Ryoma, who has a certain status and was born in the coastal Choshu tribe, to understand this.

Most importantly, aside from casual conversation, it's difficult to ask such a question naturally.

Now that we understand this, we have a direction for our next steps.

Having finished his noodles, he quickly put down the coins, greeted everyone, and calmly left.

Little did he know that after he and Ryoma left, Xiaoju remained seated, sipping tea slowly, and casually remarked, "Tetsuzuru-san, your method of gathering information is far too obvious, isn't it?"