Unscrewed the screw lift water valve, the clear spring water with a slight residual temperature gurgled out, the hands stained with engine oil stretched forward to wet slightly, and took out a piece of fish fat soap that had been used by countless people and had gray-black marks everywhere from the sink, and applied a thin layer on the back of the palm. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Carefully place the slippery soap back in place, then scrub your hands vigorously against each other and rinse off with tap water. Lowering your head and sniffing gently, there is still a faint fishy smell that is difficult to hide, which is much better than the disgusting inferior engine oil.

This is a shipyard worker who has just stayed up late to get off work, only about twenty-seven years old, fine wrinkles have come to the corners of his eyes in advance, and his face is pale and a little ugly, perhaps because he has not eaten a night meal.

As the last worker to leave the shipyard, he deliberately avoided the rush hour of the morning shift, otherwise in the face of the crowd of colleagues, staying up late to work would lead to lack of physical strength, and it would be more tiring to walk in the opposite direction, and he did not want to waste extra energy on trivial things.

When passing through the wide doorway, there are only a few young people who oversleep and are late, eating a simple early trot and hurrying, and the workers who get off work take heavy steps, from time to time to sideways to avoid the newcomers who have just entered the factory and do not understand the rules.

The doorman was like the eyes of an eagle's falcon, staring at any worker who dared to try to leave the factory with parts without permission, and when they saw the old employee who had worked for more than a year, he gently raised the unopened paper bag in his hand, which contained last night's night dinner, and gently bowed his forehead.

"Tuke, save the night meal and take it home for the children to eat after work! Your body will not be able to bear it, don't do anything stupid. ”

On his tired face, he barely managed to squeeze out a smile, "It's okay, I'm still young." ”

After speaking, his right foot that stepped forward was a little weak, his body shook and was about to fall, the doorman who was watching coldly looked at it but did not step forward to help, Tuke skillfully spread his hands to keep his center of gravity balanced, barely standing firmly, but a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

With the eyes that can see through people's hearts, they don't see anything unusual, and the bell for the shipyard to close is about to ring, and the guards don't want to have nothing to do, so they wait until the last off-duty worker crosses the factory gate, and the iron thorn fence is slowly lowered.

The three-man wall, topped with sharp blades, turned the 2,700-strong Obest shipyard into a huge prison.

Tuke's home is a long way from the shipyard, and he has been preparing to move for a long time, but he plans to move farther away for the sake of his children's schooling, which means that the journey from work will be longer.

Avoiding the rush hour of people going to work, the wide road was empty and there were few people, and a cold cold wind blew from the corner of the street, and he couldn't help but shiver, looking at the paper bag in his hand, he really wanted to eat the night food inside, but for the sake of the child, he licked his dry lips and forcibly resisted the temptation.

The hungry stomach kept protesting, and twelve hours before yesterday's dinner, the pain in his abdomen forced Tuke to bend slightly.

Suddenly, a bell rings behind him, and Tuke tilts his head to see his neighbor who is also off work, the promising young mechanic Melly.

He sat between two side-by-side wheels, stepped on the crank rocker with both feet, grasped the steering handle with his right hand, pressed his thumb on the bell, took off his crumpled hat with his left hand to say hello, and then landed on the emergency brake with both feet.

"Tuke, you're finally off work! Get in the car, I'll give you a ride. ”

Melly moved forward slightly, revealing half of his body, and Tuke wanted to refuse, but his exhausted body, his legs as heavy as lead, faintly protested to him.

With the idea of saving effort as much effort as possible, Tuke accepted Merry's favor, and after a little effort, finally got into the young mechanic's two-wheeled car.

At first, the two exchanged a few words, and after getting on the road smoothly, Tuke tilted his head very uncompetitively, leaned against Merry's thick back, and fell asleep with a quiet snoring.

The young mechanic frowned, and originally wanted to ask Tuke for advice on the structure of the unbreakable bell, but unfortunately the good intentions of waiting for it were all wasted.

In order to avoid waking up the sleeping neighbor, Merry deliberately slowed down, stuck in time to go back to the bungalow rental house in the next block, and then gently woke Tuke awake.

Opening his sleepy eyes, the shipyard worker who got off the night shift wiped the saliva from the corners of his mouth, and got out of the car directly with the backrest behind the two-wheeled vehicle.

"Only canoes that sell vegetables and fruits in inland waterways are not equipped with rudders to control the direction, and your two-wheeled vehicle should have a steering wheel in front. ”

Riding home on a two-wheeled vehicle, Tuke kindly reminded the young mechanic Melly's eyes lit up when he heard this.

With the continuous expansion of cities, fast-paced life and extended distances have given rise to a need for innovation in transportation vehicles.

Based on the four-wheeled carriage, among the "invented" bicycles, there are young mechanics Melich's whimsical idea of cutting the waist in half of the two-wheeled parallel type, and there is also a senior engineer who cut the carriage base in half, and the front and rear wheels are straight.

For the sake of balance, Mélier O. Blaine made a more reasonable design, and after ostentatious discussions in private steam salons, he was supported by some aristocratic friends who had a good way.

In terms of funding, the first tranche has been raised, a total of 12 gold oumars. Although relatively small, it's a good place to start, after all, it comes from the Triss family in Eastwood City.

"Steering! hmm...... It is necessary that not every road is straight, and navigating through the streets and alleys requires flexible steering. The bell on the handlebar is nice, Tuke, how did you come up with it? ”

The shipyard worker could not hide his tiredness, and he was in a hurry to go home, so he casually responded: "It's not a big deal! A return spring, a soft bell hammer, and a copper sheet that makes a sound...... Well, iron pieces will do too. ”

There are enough clues to prompt that the young mechanic can make a simple model based on the fuzzy structure he guesses, even without violently dismantling it.

More important is the steering, more flexible braking. The leather embedded in the outer edge of the steel rim, which is not easy to deform, even the tough crocodile leather, wears out quickly, perhaps because the road surface is paved with crushed gravel.

Changing the road conditions is the quickest, but unfortunately it is the most difficult, copying the asphalt road in Eastwood City, spending the money of the City Hall Engineering and Construction Department, and the budget approval in the House of Representatives is not easy.

You can only rely on yourself to find a way to improve, but where to start?

The off-duty worker walked to the door, took out the key and stuffed it into the door lock, turned it slightly, heard a clatter, the latch quietly popped open, pushed open the iron-clad wooden door with a little force, and Tuke grabbed the paper bag and walked into the dimly lit home.

The children were there, sitting at the table waiting, squeezing out a smile as hard as they could, and walked over quickly, tearing open the seal of the paper bag and taking out the night meal inside, two large toasted loaves of brown bread, a thick layer of butter inside, and a few pieces of fried bacon meat.

Although the bread saved by other colleagues was frozen hard after a long night, he kept it close to his chest and kept it soft with his body heat.

"Eat quickly! Go to school after eating, remember to be obedient. ”

He deliberately washed his hands, put them on his youngest son's head, and gently rubbed them a few times, and his millet hair was messed up, and he carefully combed it neatly.

The eldest son ate a few bites, left most of the bread, got up and grabbed his satchel, and Tuke hurriedly asked, "What's the matter?

He nodded slightly, "I'm tired of butter bread." ”

Tuke's brow furrowed deeply, then slowly stretched, and he sighed tiredly, "I'll figure it out." ”

"Let's go!" only the eldest son, who was ten years old, left the table, and the younger son's mouth was fast, and he was almost finished with a few bites, and the plate in front of him was only some unbuttered bread crusts.

Seeing that the ignorant younger brother didn't get up, the eldest son pulled hard, which made the reluctant younger brother leave.

Seeing his two sons go out, Tuke put the two plates together, and ate the rest of the "breakfast" with warm boiled water, and he didn't want to waste the butter on the plate, so he took it up and licked it clean.

A figure on the windowsill swayed, and the tired Tuke didn't pay attention, didn't have the strength to clean up the dining table, and went straight to the corner that served as the bedroom, and lay on the wooden bed covered with a worn blanket, without even taking off his sweat-soaked clothes, and soon fell asleep.

The eldest son saw that his father had eaten breakfast, wiped the wet corners of his eyes with the back of his hand, and stared fiercely at his brother, who was only seven years old, and he was fighting back with an innocent expression, and finally continued on his way helplessly.

City Hall prohibits child labor in factories, but with a majority vote of the House of Representatives, school-age children can learn skills to earn a living while working and studying.

Tuke wanted to get his two sons out of the low-level civilian life of selling their labor, and ruthlessly sent them to the factory school run by the shipyard owner.

The eldest son learns carpentry from retired veteran sailors, weaving and mending fishing nets. The youngest son learns to paint and spends most of his time decorating and maintaining apartment buildings owned by the shipyard owner.

It wasn't until noon that Tuke's wife, who worked as a maid in a fruit merchant, came home with a woven basket and saw that her husband was still sleeping and felt that the sky was still good, so she began to wash her family's clothes.

Tuke, who hadn't slept enough, suddenly heard movement around him and knew that the only woman in the family had come home, so he struggled to get up and go to prepare lunch.

There were leftovers from the merchant's kitchen in the woven basket, all sliced fruit and vegetable salad, and a large piece of raw corned beef underneath.

"What's going on? Chunks of raw beef, you're not going to do something stupid again, are you?"

Fiona's hands that scrubbed the clothes instantly stiffened, and soon returned to normal, "The money earned from washing clothes was brought by the kind cook when she went to the market to buy vegetables, and she was very profitable to lower the price." ”

"Rosie, I heard that her hands and feet are not clean, and she was kicked out by the Night Watchman, and someone else will hire her? ”

Knowing the truth, Tuke was relieved, and he was most worried that he would be caught again and thrown into a dark prison again.

"Tomorrow is the holy day of the King of the Reindeer, so don't go to work tonight, stay at home and have a good meal. ”

Fiona's tone was not a request, but an order that people couldn't refuse, and Tuke helplessly squeezed out a smile, "If you don't go to work in the shipyard, how can you afford to pay the high rent." Alas...... It's already gone up twice this year, and it's terrible. ”

"Wouldn't we all stay at home and have a good holiday?"

The proximity to the factory area, the large number of hired workers to rent rooms, and the need for a shortage of rooms have forced the emergence of cubicles, and the increase in rents has become a reason for property owners to make a statement.

"In the past, there were two silver delaves rent, and the one bedroom and one living room were still very spacious. Now it's good, there is only one room, but it costs four silver Dele. ”

Tuke made up his mind to move, and the next block, Best, was also a civilian neighborhood, with rents rising to only three silver dele, but bedrooms and vestibules, and closer to the school where the children attended.

After whispering his complaints, he told his wife what he thought, and Fiona thought for a moment, "There aren't many valuable belongings at home, it's just that it's easy to move." But the neighbors who got along well were all lost in a blink of an eye, and they were a little reluctant. ”

"For the sake of the child, it is nothing to suffer a little loss. ”

After cooking a pot of wheat rice and fried dried salted fish, the two of them had a simple lunch. After a short break, Tuke went out to work as a day laborer, and Fiona returned to the merchant's house to help prepare dinner.

It was a little late in the day, and the two of them went home together, and Tuke had the good fortune to help out with the delivery of goods at a bakery with a whole wheat sign, bringing back some leftover bread in the morning in return.

Fiona was empty-handed, but she had raw beef to take home in the morning, and it was not in vain. Before the children went home, the two began to prepare a sumptuous dinner.

The black pudding made of flour and beaten into an egg tastes good. The beef is served in a frying pan, placed in the fireplace, and carefully turned a few times, and soon the enticing aroma is revealed. The sliced fruit and vegetable salad, after a long time, began to taste bad, but it was not wasted, spread on top of the dough, dug a large spoonful of fat in the oil can, coated the surface with a thin layer, baked and cooked thoroughly, while it was hot, cut into neat four slices.

The children came home smelling the fragrance and saw that their father was there, strange and at the same time a little happy, just like a festival.

Holding hands with each other to bring food to the table, the mother's explanation made the two suddenly understand that it was tomorrow's holy day of the reindeer king.

"I have heard that if you make a wish sincerely, His Royal Highness the Reindeer King will give a blessed gift. ”

The eldest son has more knowledge than the ignorant younger brother, and after the family sat down, he put his hands and ten fingers together, put them in front of him, closed his eyes and began to make a wish: "I hope that my father and mother will be in good health, and my younger brother will grow up soon." ”

Tuke laughed in surprise, "I really don't remember, how did you leave yourself out?"

The family laughed, and the joyful atmosphere seemed a little out of place in the civilian area shrouded in night. However, a faint light of firewood, the conversation at the table about tomorrow being the holy day of the king of reindeer, spread invisibly.

After a few generations, the commoners, who had long forgotten the gods, were gradually rumored to be popular in Eastwood, and even in the entire cities of the Western Earth Customs Union, due to the secret promotion of some people.

On Holiday Island, the core area of the secret realm in the forest, Aldrich Tris quietly appeared on his throne, and countless mortal prayers sounded around him, gathering into a river bit by bit.

The king of the reindeer gently bowed to the promoter behind the scenes, and took over this expensive pan-belief casually, and the long-lost divine power appeared, but it was not directly injected into the secret realm, but transformed into divine magic and fed back to some mortals.