If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

South China Sea.

Marine steam engines are currently under construction at a rapid pace.

Zhou Wu's first step was to equip all naval ships with steam engines and then gradually apply them to civilian use.

Meanwhile, construction of the locomotive and railway tracks began simultaneously on the train side.

This experimental track runs through the entire South China Sea island. In addition to the experiment, it will also play a significant role in north-south transportation on the island in the future. Moreover, given the topography of the South China Sea, one railway is sufficient for the entire island.

The workers who participated in the construction of Nanhai City were worried that the construction of Nanhai City was nearing completion and they would soon have no work to do. But to their surprise, the government started recruiting a large number of workers to repair the railway tracks, which made everyone very happy.

In a large courtyard in Nanhai, the main residents are migrant workers who come to Nanhai. Their income in Nanhai is much higher than inland, but these workers, used to being frugal, still prefer to live in this kind of warm and welcoming courtyard.

"Hey, Erzi, you're finishing work so early today?"

Third Aunt was hanging up the washed clothes to dry when she saw Erzi after work and casually said something.

There's less and less work in Nanhai City lately, and everyone's been finishing work earlier and earlier.

"Well, I'm lucky. At least I found work today. I saw a lot of people who spent the whole day on the street without finding any work."

Erzi took out a towel, dusted off the dust, and said contentedly.

"Hey buddy, what's for dinner tonight?"

Sitting to the side was Uncle De, the oldest person in the courtyard. His whole family had moved to Nanhai, but unlike the others, Uncle De bought his house, while the others rented it.

"Uncle De, please don't make fun of me. What else can I eat? Just a big steamed bun with pickled vegetables, it's delicious."

"I'm telling you, you make a lot of money, but you're too stingy."

Ed's words drew laughter from the crowd.

However, what Uncle De said wasn't entirely unfounded. Erzi was the strongest young man in the courtyard. He had been out making a living for a long time, so he knew a little bit about everything. Such people were very popular in the South China Sea, so Erzi had indeed made a lot of money.

Logically speaking, it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to eat meat at every meal, but Erzi basically eats steamed buns and pickled vegetables every day, and only buys some pork head meat from street vendors every ten days or half a month to treat himself to a meaty meal.

"Uncle De, you have everything, you should be enjoying your retirement. I still need to save money to get married."

"Haha, Erzi is right. Saving money to get married is the most important thing. I'll find you a good girl someday."

As they were talking, Mr. De's son returned.

"Hey you little rascal, what's with that long face? Lost your money?"

When Mr. De saw his son with a long face, it affected his mood.

"Brother Lin, why are you unhappy?"

Everyone in the courtyard felt a strong bond with each other. Seeing that Brother Lin seemed to be in a bad mood, Erzi quickly comforted him.

"Nothing much, I just didn't get any work all day."

No wonder he looked so downcast. Now, the whole De family is relying on Lin to make money. Although De and Lin's mother occasionally take on some odd jobs, that's not their main source of income; it's just a supplement to their household expenses.

"Sigh, there are more and more people in South China Sea City, but less and less work. What are we going to do in the future?"

Auntie San couldn't help but sigh, because her husband hadn't been doing much work lately.

"Hey everyone, don't be discouraged. If you don't believe me, we can still go out to sea. The wages for going out to sea are not low."

"Stop it now. Forget about going to sea. Your mother will definitely not agree."

Master De rejected Brother Lin's idea first. Brother Lin had initially thought that the wages for going to sea were high, but his mother said that going to sea was too dangerous and the family would not see each other for a month or two.

The courtyard fell silent again for a moment.

"I said, why is everyone so unhappy today?"

Just then, Auntie's husband returned.

"The head of the household is back."

Third Aunt quickly took out a feather duster and swept the dust off the head of the household, while taking the eating utensils from his hands.

"Brother Liu, we're worried that we'll run out of work soon, and then what will we do?"

"Haha, I'm telling you, the money you've made in the South China Sea these days is equivalent to several years' worth of income on the mainland. Even if you're out of work, you won't starve if you stay idle for a while."

Upon hearing Erzi's words, Brother Liu replied with a joking expression.

"Brother Liu, what are you saying? I'm still saving up to get married."

"Haha, just kidding. Didn't any of you check the notice board when you went out today?"

"Notice board? Why would you go there if you have nothing to do? You might as well wait for some work."

Notice boards are set up at the South China Sea city gate, as well as in other major areas of the South China Sea, where the latest official events and developments in the South China Sea are published.

However, it is clear that ordinary people like Erzi don't usually pay much attention to these things.

"Second son, I told you to pay more attention to the government's movements, but you just wouldn't listen."

"I'm just an ordinary citizen, how could I possibly worry about that?"

The two sons seemed somewhat unconvinced.

Do you know what was posted on the bulletin board today?

Brother Liu deliberately kept everyone in suspense, and Erzi looked puzzled. Was Brother Liu deliberately going after the notice board today?

"do not know."

"We're going to build a railway in the South China Sea."

"Building a railway?"

What kind of road is a railway?

"A road paved with iron? That's so extravagant!"

It seems no one has gotten to the point, and Brother Liu is still having a bit of a headache.

"Railway, rails, the tracks for trains, something our Lord Zhou just invented. It's said that this train can carry both people and goods, and can carry a lot at once, and it's very fast and smooth."

Brother Liu was talking animatedly, but the people around him still didn't catch the main point.

"and then?"

"The government is now recruiting people on a large scale to repair roads, and the amount of work involved in this road project is considerable. We will build bridges over rivers and level mountains."

"so smart?"

Just when everyone was saying they had no work to do, this railway project came out. Judging from what Brother Liu said, the project is indeed quite large. It seems that everyone won't have to worry about not having work for a while.

"Great! Now I don't have to worry about not having any work. I'll go sign up right now."

"I'll go as well."

Lin Zi and Er Zi were full of excitement and immediately wanted to go to the government office to register, but they were stopped by Brother Liu.

"Wait a minute, you two. What time is it now? The government offices have been closed for a long time."

"Oh, haha, that's true."

"Since we're all so happy today, why don't we have a proper get-together in the courtyard?"

"Great! Our courtyard hasn't been lively in ages."

Whenever there's something to celebrate, the neighbors in the courtyard get together for a meal. They eat home-cooked dishes that each family has prepared. Although they're not anything fancy, it helps to strengthen the bonds between neighbors.

"Erzi, what dishes are you cooking tonight? How about we go buy some pig's head?"

Third Aunt naturally wouldn't miss the chance to tease Erzi.

"Ah~ well, steamed buns are actually quite expensive."

Sure enough, when Erzi heard that they were going to buy meat, he felt like his soul had been sucked out.

"Haha, Third Aunt, stop teasing Erzi. Erzi, go and get some of your family's pickled vegetables."

"Eh."

Fortunately, Uncle De came to their rescue, and the two sons happily went inside to get some pickled vegetables.