Zhou Xue glanced at him for a moment, then took out a novel and started reading by herself.

The vehicle soon started moving.

This car was obviously somewhat old, and the engine sounded like an asthmatic patient gasping for breath, making a "ku-tong ku-tong" noise, which made Chen Shouyi worry if the car might break down halfway.

Fortunately, that didn't happen.

After lying down for about half an hour, he opened his eyes and looked out the window.

Outside was an industrial area, lined with chimneys belching large amounts of white smoke.

Pingqiu City is not far from Ningzhou, and this area is already considered the outskirts of Ningzhou.

Compared to the still-depressed Pingqiu City, traffic on the roads here had somewhat recovered, though still far less than before.

"Hey boss, I heard some factories here are still using steam engines?" someone in the car asked the driver.

"The ones that are smoking, mostly are!

Currently, the electricity in Ningzhou can only supply residential areas and a portion of the industrial zones. Most factories have to generate their own power or switch to steam engines, modifying their machinery. I hear there's government subsidies in this area, and interest-free loans are available too," the driver said.

"This really is…" The passenger didn't know how to express their feelings, "I thought it was fake."

"Actually, steam engines aren't so bad. You see, thermal power plants and nuclear power plants still use steam turbines to generate electricity, and modern factory steam engines aren't like the old ones.

At least they're subcritical steam engines; one steam engine can drive hundreds or even thousands of heavy machine tools. Much more cost-effective than generating your own power!"

Having been a high school senior, Chen Shouyi had a rough understanding of what subcritical steam engines were.

During the heating and vaporization process, with the increase of pressure inside the boiler, the saturation temperature of water also increases, causing vaporization efficiency to decrease. When the pressure rises to a certain level, steam becomes saturated and no longer vaporizes, which results in steam and water having the same density, reaching a critical state.

If the pressure and temperature continue to rise, water fully vaporizes into steam, with no distinction between steam and water — water is steam and steam is water, reaching a supercritical state.

Subcritical means approaching the critical state; this is already considered a highly mature technology in modern times.

As for current thermal and nuclear power plants, they mostly use more advanced supercritical units, or even ultra-supercritical ones.

However, even the thermal efficiency of subcritical steam engines is already extremely high, far beyond the steam engines of a hundred years ago.

Though understanding it is one thing, looking at the chimneys outside, Chen Shouyi still felt a heaviness in his heart.

This is human civilization slowly declining.

Electricity is ultimately humanity's most convenient and cleanest energy source.

If the power from the other world continues to invade, and electricity becomes completely unusable, not only will the prosperous and convenient era of information electrification become history, but all industries, including metallurgy and chemistry, will also suffer serious decline.

The entire world will become dark.

Looking at the chimneys belching white smoke outside the window, Chen Shouyi felt as if he were seeing the twilight of a civilization on the verge of downfall.

An inexplicable feeling of melancholy arose in Chen Shouyi's heart.

...

The car continued for half an hour and finally arrived at the station.

Chen Shouyi and Zhou Xue got off together; stepping out of the station, they saw quite a few taxis outside:

"Want to share a ride?" Chen Shouyi asked.

Zhou Xue nodded, saying, "Yeah, let's share a ride to save money!"

After all, she was a fifteen-year-old girl who probably hadn't been to Ningzhou.

Of course, he hadn't either, but he was much bolder. He put his backpack in the trunk and got into the driver's seat:

"Boss, take us to the Martial Arts Assessment Center."

The taxi quickly started moving, "I've taken several rides today, all heading to the Martial Arts Assessment Center."

"Are there a lot of people?" Chen Shouyi asked.

"Lots! Most are coming from other places. I heard they'll lower the assessment standards this time!" The driver, seemingly well-informed, said.

"Really?" Zhou Xue immediately perked up upon hearing this, and quickly asked.

"Definitely. Think about it, with so many people coming, how long would it take to test them all one by one? They'll surely relax the standards then."

Having no confidence about the assessment, Zhou Xue couldn't help showing a hint of joy at hearing this good news.

Chen Shouyi paid no attention to whether this time would be difficult or easy, and then asked:

"Are there any hotels nearby?"

"There are quite a few, but I'd guess they're all full by now!"

"Let's check it out over there. We'll decide then."

They soon arrived at the destination.

"That building up ahead is the Martial Arts Assessment Center, a total of one hundred and twenty-five."

"So pricey!" Zhou Xue exclaimed from the back.

"What do you expect? Fuel costs have doubled, and driving consumes more fuel now. Look, I even used the meter." The driver said defensively.

Chen Shouyi didn't argue, he directly took out his wallet and paid.

After receiving the change, he took out their luggage from the trunk for her to get off.

"Way too expensive! I should've taken the bus instead." Zhou Xue murmured as she picked up her luggage, her face looking a bit distressed. She then took out a wallet, "Here's seventy yuan. You owe me eight yuan and fifty cents."

Chen Shouyi took it and put it in his wallet, saying:

"I don't have change, so I'll owe you first."

"You just took five yuan in change from the driver, give it to me first."

Chen Shouyi opened his wallet again, indeed finding a five yuan note mixed in, and handed it over, "Here you go!"

"Then you still owe me three yuan and fifty cents," Zhou Xue said seriously.

This girl is a bit exacting.

Chen Shouyi was speechless inside, "Don't worry, I'll definitely pay you back once I break this change."

...

The two then started looking for a hotel nearby, but they were either full or too expensive.

Chen Shouyi was indifferent since life had been quite comfortable after acquiring gold, splurging a bit more on spending.

But Zhou Xue remained unsatisfied.

"This one is even costlier than the last, three hundred for a single room, and we have to stay for two days."

"We've been at it for over two hours, why don't I pay for it, no need to reimburse me?" Chen Shouyi couldn't help but suggest.

"Who needs your kindness? If you're annoyed, just leave; I never asked you to keep me company," Zhou Xue's face instantly turned cold.

Having grown up in a well-off family, Chen Shouyi never worried about money; it was hard to realize the pressure a regular, possibly single-parent family might face in nurturing a Martial Artist Apprentice, and how it might make them more sensitive about money.

Realizing his mistake, Chen Shouyi quickly apologized:

"Okay, it was my fault for saying that. Let's continue looking!"

Neither spoke again, silently walking along, the slowly warming atmosphere, once again turned cool.

After searching for nearly half an hour, they finally found a hotel at a reasonable price.

Seeing their age, a pretty receptionist showed no surprise at all, "Would you two like a couple's room?"

A couple's room!?

The young girl clearly hadn't faced such situations before, her eyes widened slightly, her fair face quickly flushing a rosy pink, like a startled rabbit. She stammered, "We... we're not together, single room, I'll stay two days."

"Please present your ID, a deposit of one hundred, room charge of two hundred, totaling three hundred yuan."

After completing the formalities, Zhou Xue took her room card without waiting for Chen Shouyi and briskly carried her luggage towards the elevator, as though desperate to prove to the receptionist that they weren't related.

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