In the capital, the heat of August had yet to fade.
Afternoon sunlight spilled through the clouds, bleaching the bluestone streets white.
Inside the Zhiwei Workshop, however, everything was in full swing.
“Slow down!”
“Don’t mix the sand over there yet!”
“Remember, every batch of raw materials must be kept separate!”
Gu Changfeng stood in the middle of the courtyard, his voice booming.
By now, he had gone from an old craftsman who knew only how to work iron to a half-fledged “experimental foreman.”
A notebook hung from his waist.
Its pages were packed with data.
“Quartz sand, Batch A—the clearest.”
“Pure soda ash, Batch B—it melts faster.”
“Limestone, Batch C—the finished product is prone to bubbles.”
Things that had once given him a headache could now roll off his tongue.
And besides the dozen or so craftsmen who had been there from the beginning, more than twenty unfamiliar faces had joined the courtyard.
Some came from blacksmith shops.
Some worked the kilns.
Some made pottery.
There were even two glassmakers who had hurried in from outside the city.
Everyone was learning the same thing.
—How to turn one success into countless successes.
Shen Zhiwei stood before a table.
She had not stopped just because the glass had worked.
On the contrary, she was researching something even more important.
Steam.
A copper kettle sat in front of her.
A thin copper tube was connected to its spout.
Beside it was a crude wooden wheel.
This was the most primitive steam device she could build for now.
She was not trying to verify the steam engine itself.
She wanted to test the most basic principle.
Could steam produce sustained, usable power?
If this step succeeded, at least the road ahead would have direction.
“Miss.”
Gu Changfeng walked over.
“Yes?”
“The copper sheet you wanted is ready.”
“Bring it here.”
Shen Zhiwei took the copper sheet.
She tapped it lightly with one finger.
“Too thick.”
Gu Changfeng froze.
“Too thick?”
“Yes.”
“Make it a little thinner.”
“But if it’s too thin, it’ll break easily.”
“That’s why we test it gradually.”
Shen Zhiwei set down the copper sheet.
“Remember, you don’t make things by guessing.”
“You make them by measuring.”
Gu Changfeng nodded.
“Understood.”
Shen Zhiwei was about to continue when—
A sudden burst of hurried hoofbeats came from outside.
“Move!”
“Get out of the way!”
“Everyone ahead, clear the road!”
The street erupted into chaos.
Shen Zhiwei looked up, her brows drawing together.
“What happened?”
A craftsman came running in.
“Miss!”
“There’s a runaway carriage in the street!”
“It’s charging this way!”
Before he could finish—
BOOM—
A deafening crash rang out.
The workshop gate was violently knocked open.
Splinters flew everywhere.
A runaway black carriage burst through the entrance.
The two fine horses in front screamed wildly.
The wheels tore over the stone paving at an astonishing speed.
Everyone in the courtyard instantly scattered in panic.
“Get out of the way!”
“Run!”
“Don’t stand in the middle of the road!”
Shen Zhiwei whipped around.
The first thing she saw was not the carriage.
It was the young apprentice standing frozen in the middle of the courtyard, paralyzed with fear.
The child was only eleven or twelve.
He was still clutching a wooden bucket filled with glass-making materials.
The carriage was less than thirty yards away.
“Xiaoshi!” Gu Changfeng roared.
The boy snapped back to reality.
But his legs had already gone limp.
He couldn’t run at all.
Without the slightest hesitation, Shen Zhiwei rushed toward him.
“Get down!”
Xiaoshi instinctively crouched.
The next instant, Shen Zhiwei seized him by the collar and yanked him to the side.
The two of them crashed to the ground together.
Boom!
The carriage shot past them, its side grazing their bodies.
The wheels slammed into the stone steps.
The entire carriage suddenly overturned.
Its tremendous momentum sent the carriage body crashing straight toward Shen Zhiwei and Xiaoshi.
“Miss!”
Gu Changfeng’s face changed drastically.
Shen Zhiwei looked up, her pupils contracting.
She had no time to dodge.
At that instant, a dark figure suddenly swept past from the side.
The man seized her wrist and yanked her backward.
Shen Zhiwei slammed into a solid chest.
BOOM—
The carriage body crashed heavily onto the spot where they had just been standing.
Wooden boards shattered.
Dust filled the air.
Shen Zhiwei was shielded in the man’s arms.
All she could hear was his heavy breathing.
She froze for a moment, then looked up.
The man wore a black half-mask.
His features were cold and severe.
His deep-set eyes were nearly devoid of emotion.
“Are you all right?”
His voice was low.
Shen Zhiwei blinked.
“…I’m fine.”
The man released her.
“Good.”
He turned and walked away.
Shen Zhiwei frowned.
For some reason, that retreating figure seemed strangely familiar.
“Wait.”
The man stopped.
“You saved me.”
“It was nothing.”
“I should at least know my savior’s name.”
The man was silent for a moment.
“Xiao Xuan.”
With that, he turned and left.
Shen Zhiwei watched his back, thoughtful.
“Miss!”
Qinghe ran in from outside and grabbed Shen Zhiwei’s hand.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“You scared this servant to death!”
Qinghe’s eyes were already red.
“That carriage nearly—”
“I’m fine.”
Shen Zhiwei soothed her, but her gaze fell on the distance.
The man called Xiao Xuan had already vanished into the crowd.
She drew her gaze back.
“Gu Changfeng.”
“Yes.”
“Look into that carriage.”
“All right.”
“And that man.”
“Xiao Xuan?”
“Yes.”
Gu Changfeng nodded.
“I’ll get right on it.”
Shen Zhiwei added, “Be careful.”
Gu Changfeng paused.
“Miss?”
“There’s something wrong with this.”
She looked at the wheel tracks on the ground, her expression gradually turning grim.
“A runaway carriage doesn’t necessarily mean someone did it on purpose.”
“But the timing is too perfect.”
“It just happened to charge into our workshop.”
“Just when we were at our busiest.”
“And…”
She crouched and picked up a small broken piece of wood from the ground.
“This axle.”
She examined it for a few moments.
“It doesn’t look naturally broken.”
Gu Changfeng’s expression changed.
“Someone tampered with it?”
“I’m not sure.”
Shen Zhiwei stood.
“That’s why we need to investigate.”
Half an hour later, at the street corner.
Xiao Xuan stopped at the back entrance of a teahouse.
A young guard followed behind him.
“Master.”
“Hmm.”
“You saved Miss Shen just now?”
Xiao Xuan did not answer.
The guard lowered his head.
“I just thought…”
“You talk too much.”
The guard immediately shut his mouth.
After a moment, Xiao Xuan asked, “Have you finished investigating the carriage?”
“We have.”
“Report.”
“The carriage originally belonged to the Shunfeng Carriage Company in the southern part of the city.”
“Someone rented it this morning.”
“The person was wearing a bamboo hat.”
“Their identity is unknown for now.”
“What about the axle?”
“Someone shaved it with a knife.”
Xiao Xuan’s eyes darkened.
As expected.
It was no accident.
“Investigate.”
“Yes.”
“Find the person behind it.”
“Understood.”
The guard hesitated.
“Master.”
“Speak.”
“That Miss Shen…”
Xiao Xuan looked up.
The guard immediately lowered his head.
“Nothing.”
Xiao Xuan looked away.
Yet the scene from earlier involuntarily resurfaced in his mind.
That woman.
Confronted with a runaway carriage, her first reaction had not been to flee.
It had been to save a young apprentice.
Even when the carriage body came crashing down on her, there had been little fear in her eyes.
She was nothing like a sheltered young lady.
And even less like the timid, weak-willed legitimate daughter of the Shen family described in the rumors.
He suddenly recalled the information he had uncovered recently.
Papermaking.
Glass.
A workshop.
Publicly shared techniques.
And the strange machinery she had been researching lately.
Xiao Xuan’s gaze grew profound.
“What kind of person are you, really?”
Shen Zhiwei had no idea that she had already attracted someone’s attention.
She was busy dealing with the workshop’s disorder.
“Everyone, leave first.”
“Don’t touch the broken glass.”
“Use wooden boards to cordon off the area.”
“Gu Changfeng, take the injured to the clinic.”
“Everyone else, count the materials.”
She issued her orders one by one.
Before long, the chaos was under control.
A craftsman came over.
“Miss.”
“Yes?”
“Xiaoshi keeps saying that you saved him.”
Shen Zhiwei looked toward the child.
Xiaoshi lowered his head, his eyes rimmed red.
“Miss…”
“What is it?”
“Thank you.”
Shen Zhiwei crouched and patted his head.
“You shouldn’t thank me.”
“You should thank yourself.”
“If you hadn’t listened when I told you to get down, you might already be hurt.”
Xiaoshi nodded hard.
“Yeah!”
Shen Zhiwei smiled.
“Remember this.”
“When you’re in danger, the first thing you do isn’t show off your courage.”
“It’s protect yourself.”
“Stay alive.”
“Only then will you have the chance to accomplish more.”
Xiaoshi seemed to understand, though not completely.
But he still nodded firmly.
That evening, Shen Zhiwei sat alone at the table.
She went over the day’s events again.
The runaway carriage.
The shaved axle.
The strange man.
And…
Someone seemed to be targeting her.
She wasn’t surprised.
From the moment she had publicly revealed the glassmaking process, she had known that her path could not remain peaceful forever.
But she had not expected her opponent to strike so directly.
Shen Zhiwei picked up her pen and wrote on the paper:
“Safety: highest priority.”
She then drew a simple framework.
The workshop.
Guards.
Entry and exit records.
The materials warehouse.
The experimental area.
“Looks like…” she murmured.
“Before I can focus on scientific research, I need to establish a safety-management system.”
She suddenly thought of the modern laboratory.
Access control.
Surveillance.
Hard hats.
Safety goggles.
Fire-protection systems.
Hazardous-materials management.
And now, she had none of it.
“One step at a time.”
She said it to herself again.
That night, at the marquis’s residence.
Shen Zhiwei was looking over documents in the study when Qinghe suddenly knocked on the door.
“Miss.”
“Come in.”
Qinghe entered with tea.
“The Marquis sent someone to deliver a message.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he already knows what happened at the workshop today.”
“And…”
Qinghe paused.
“The Marquis wants you not to go out alone for the time being.”
Shen Zhiwei fell silent.
“Anything else?”
“No.”
“Got it.”
Qinghe set down the tea and was about to leave.
Shen Zhiwei suddenly asked, “Qinghe.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know someone in the capital named Xiao Xuan?”
Qinghe blinked.
“Xiao Xuan?”
“Yes.”
She thought carefully for a moment, then her expression changed.
“Miss!”
“What is it?”
“This servant thinks she may have heard that name.”
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know if it’s the same person.”
Qinghe lowered her voice.
“I heard there’s a mysterious caravan leader in the capital who always wears a black mask.”
“People call him…”
“Master Xuan.”
Shen Zhiwei’s gaze shifted slightly.
“Master Xuan?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know where he comes from?”
Qinghe shook her head.
“No.”
“Some say he’s a merchant from the north.”
“Some say he’s a wealthy businessman from Jiangnan.”
“And others say…”
“Say what?”
“That he’s secretly connected to some powerful noble.”
Shen Zhiwei did not ask anything else.
She lowered her head and looked at the blueprints on the table.
Who exactly was that man?
The next day, Shen Zhiwei returned to the workshop.
But she found someone standing at the entrance.
It was Xiao Xuan, the man who had saved her the day before.
Today he had changed into a dark-gray robe.
He was not wearing a mask.
His features were even clearer than they had been yesterday.
His expression was cold and severe, his bearing steady.
“Miss Shen.”
“Mr. Xiao.”
Shen Zhiwei looked at him.
“You came to see me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To deliver something.”
The guard behind him carried a wooden chest.
He set it on the ground.
Shen Zhiwei opened it.
Inside was an exquisite set of metal tools.
A small hammer.
Pliers.
Fine files.
And several precision instruments she had never seen before.
Shen Zhiwei’s eyes lit up.
“What are these?”
“A gift.”
Xiao Xuan answered.
“A gift?”
“For saving someone yesterday.”
Shen Zhiwei looked at him.
“You were the one who saved me.”
“That’s why I’m giving you something.”
“But I didn’t save you.”
“I know.”
“Then why give me anything?”
Xiao Xuan fell silent.
After a moment, he said, “Because I thought you could use them.”
Shen Zhiwei looked down at the chest.
She had to admit, it was a perfectly chosen gift.
She picked up a pair of fine pliers.
“I can definitely use these.”
Xiao Xuan watched her.
“Do you like them?”
“I do.”
“Good.”
Shen Zhiwei set down the tools.
“I owe you a favor.”
“No need.”
“A life-saving favor isn’t something you can simply dismiss.”
“Then how do you want to repay it?”
Shen Zhiwei thought for a moment.
“If you ever need something, you can come to me.”
Xiao Xuan raised an eyebrow.
“Anything?”
“Anything within my capabilities.”
“All right.”
He agreed far too quickly.
Shen Zhiwei was the one who froze.
She had a feeling she had just dug herself a hole without meaning to.
“There’s something else.”
Xiao Xuan suddenly spoke.
“The carriage yesterday was not an accident.”
Shen Zhiwei’s expression turned alert.
“You found something?”
“Someone tampered with the axle.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“But we can be certain of one thing.”
Xiao Xuan looked at her.
“They weren’t trying to kill anyone.”
Shen Zhiwei paused.
“They weren’t trying to kill anyone?”
“If they truly wanted you dead, yesterday’s arrangement would not have been so crude.”
Shen Zhiwei fell silent.
It made sense.
“Then what were they trying to do?”
“A warning.”
Xiao Xuan uttered the two words.
Shen Zhiwei’s eyes slowly turned cold.
“The glass.”
“Yes.”
“Someone wants to force me to hand over the process.”
“Most likely.”
She suddenly smiled.
“Then let them come.”
Xiao Xuan frowned.
“You’re not afraid?”
“I am.”
“But fear won’t solve the problem.”
She turned and looked at the busy people inside the workshop.
“Besides…”
“The more they want to stop me…”
“The more determined I am to keep going.”
Xiao Xuan looked at her.
For the first time, a trace of genuine admiration rose in his eyes.
“You remind me of someone.”
Shen Zhiwei turned back.
“Who?”
“Someone I know.”
“He wasn’t afraid of dying either?”
Xiao Xuan was silent for a moment.
“He was.”
“But he was even more afraid of doing nothing.”
Shen Zhiwei froze.
For some reason, those words sent a faint tremor through her heart.
“What about him now?”
“I don’t know.”
Xiao Xuan looked into the distance.
“Perhaps he’s already dead.”
Shen Zhiwei did not ask anything else.
She simply stood there in silence.
After a moment, Xiao Xuan turned and left.
He had taken only a few steps when he suddenly stopped.
“Miss Shen.”
“Yes?”
“About what happened yesterday…”
“Thank you.”
Shen Zhiwei paused, then smiled.
“You’re welcome.”
The man walked away.
Shen Zhiwei watched his back for a long time before finally looking away.
She did not know that Xiao Xuan was also looking back at her.
The woman standing at the entrance of the workshop.
Behind her was a noisy crowd.
Before her was machinery that had yet to be completed.
She was like a light utterly out of place in this era.
She looked delicate, yet her stubbornness made her impossible to ignore.
Xiao Xuan suddenly remembered a line he had once seen.
A true strong person is not someone who never feels fear.
It is someone who knows the road ahead is dangerous and is still willing to keep walking.
He did not know how far Shen Zhiwei would ultimately go.
But for the first time, a thought occurred to him.
Perhaps he could accompany her for part of the journey.
After nightfall, Shen Zhiwei sat back down at the worktable.
The tools Xiao Xuan had given her were arranged neatly across the surface.
She picked up one of the fine files and smiled softly.
“He’s an interesting man.”
Then she opened her experiment notebook.
She wrote the first line of the day:
“New item today: one set of precision tools.”
The second line:
“Rescued unexpectedly once.”
The third line:
“Confirmed that someone is trying to stop the workshop from developing.”
She paused for a moment, then wrote:
“Enemies are not frightening.”
“What’s frightening is letting them keep you from moving forward.”
Finally, she turned to the next page.
At the top, she wrote a new experimental project:
Steam Power Experiment—First Trial.
Outside the window, moonlight flowed like water.
And in another residence, a secret letter was quietly delivered into the darkness.
It contained only one sentence:
“Shen Zhiwei did not hand over the glass formula.”
Someone else replied coldly:
“Then make her understand.”
“There are some things in this world she cannot do simply because she wants to.”
Candlelight flickered.
Deep in the darkness, a true storm aimed at Shen Zhiwei began to take shape.
And no one knew that the unexpected life-saving favor would become the first turning point where the fates of two people began to intertwine.
Even fewer knew that years later, when Shen Zhiwei stood at the pinnacle of the world’s technology, she would still remember that sweltering afternoon.
She would remember the runaway carriage.
She would remember the hand reaching toward her.
And she would remember even more clearly the man’s low voice:
“Are you all right?”
Those were the first words in their story.
They were also the voice she would never forget throughout the long years that followed.