Chapter 115 A revolutionary movement called "Cooling Down" was launched by workers in the midst of fierce fighting...

The workers were sweating profusely under the scorching sun, and soon felt dizzy, lightheaded, and weak all over.

As Li Ge was directing everyone to lift a huge ironwood beam onto the foundation, a young worker suddenly blacked out and fell straight down from the scaffolding.

“A-Yong.”

The crowd gasped and rushed over. They saw that the young man named A Yong was deathly pale, his lips were purple, and his body was burning hot. He had already lost consciousness.

"Quick! Quickly carry him to a shady place, fill him with water, and fan him." Li Ge was sweating profusely with anxiety.

This wasn't the first worker to suffer from heatstroke. The recent high temperatures had drastically reduced the project's efficiency, and even though they avoided working during the hottest hours of midday and the afternoon, workplace accidents were still frequent. Old Hermann and his apprentices were running around the city, helping patients who were dehydrated and exhausted from heatstroke.

The city's nobles and wealthy merchants, hiding in their cool, sturdy mansions with doors and windows tightly shut, remained restless. Commercial activity throughout the city had thus come to a near standstill.

"It's so hot! It's so hot!" A fat merchant in a silk robe roared at his steward while wiping the sweat from his forehead with a damp cloth. "This awful weather! Even the wind is hot! The ice in the wine cellar is almost melted. Go get me some more ice, no matter the price."

“Master, please bear with it,” the steward said with a bitter face. “The ice cellars in the whole city are empty now. I heard that even the ice in the city lord’s mansion is almost gone. People outside the city are dying of heatstroke every day on construction sites and in the fields. We are already lucky to be able to stay indoors.”

In the study on the second floor of Hope Trading Company, Lin Yue was deep in thought.

Cooling down...cooling down...

How do you cool down in this godforsaken place where there's no air conditioning, no fans, and not even a piece of ice?

ice?

Wait… ice!

"Saltpeter dissolves in water and absorbs heat... How could I forget such basic chemistry knowledge?" Lin Yue slapped his forehead in frustration. "I was so busy I lost my mind."

Hopefully, a new notice will be posted at the entrance of the cafeteria soon.

[Joint Announcement from Hope Trading Company and the City Lord's Mansion: To combat the sweltering heat and ensure the well-being of the people, starting today, Hope Trading Company will offer a limited supply of the summer-cooling item—'Ice Stone'—at a fair price. Simultaneously, Hope Trading Company will launch a 'Cooling Plan' to comprehensively improve the working conditions for its workers!]

ice? !

In this season when even drinking water is scarce, how could the mysterious Hope Trading Company conjure ice out of thin air? This is no simple technology; it's a feat that only alien races possess.

Could he be an elf? No, no, elves should be much better looking, and he doesn't have pointed ears. A dwarf? He's a bit too tall… Never mind, let's see what's going on with the ice first.

Upon hearing the news, countless nobles and wealthy merchants immediately dispatched their most capable managers, who, carrying heavy bags of money, rushed madly towards Hope No. 1 Store.

Lin Yue, on the other hand, devoted his main energy to the "Cooling Plan".

“Simply delivering ice is too costly and doesn’t solve the fundamental problem.” Lin Yue showed his latest design drawings to Li Lige, Lao Heli, and others, “We want to use a more scientific, cheaper, and more sustainable way to overcome the scorching heat.”

The first system introduced was a simple wet curtain cooling system called "Cool Breeze Wall".

The principle behind this invention is simple and crude, yet exceptionally effective. Lin Yue directed a group of meticulous craftsmen, led by El, to carry out a rapid renovation of the windward windows of several key buildings, including the construction site rest shed, the Hope Canteen, and the textile factory.

They first fired porous ceramic bricks with a loose texture and countless tiny pores, and used them to build a wall that resembled a perforated screen. Then they installed a wooden trough at the top of the wall that slowly dripped water.

We encountered many problems at the beginning. The varying pore sizes of the terracotta bricks caused uneven water penetration; some areas dried quickly, while others leaked continuously. The wooden grooves at the top also constantly leaked, turning the area below the wall into a vast expanse of water.

However, under Lin Yue's theoretical guidance and through repeated experiments by the craftsmen, they quickly found a solution. Adding a certain proportion of wood fibers, which leave pores after burning, to the ceramic brick formula ensured the uniformity of the pores. An old carpenter suggested using a mixture of beeswax and resin to seal the gaps in the wooden grooves.

Once the problems were solved one by one, a miracle happened.

Clear water slowly and evenly seeped down the wooden trough, soaking the entire terracotta brick wall. Li Ge directed several men to pull the huge fan blades made of wooden planks and canvas to create a continuous breeze.

As the sweltering air passes through this porous terracotta brick wall, which is moistened with water and has a lower temperature, the moisture evaporates rapidly, carrying away a large amount of heat. From the other side of the wall, gusts of cool, moist, and refreshing breezes, carrying the fresh scent of earth, blow out.

While it doesn't achieve the bone-chilling effect of modern air conditioning, it's enough to lower the indoor temperature by several levels compared to the outside. You can even add ice water to the sink periodically for an even better cooling effect.

When the workers dragged their tired bodies into the rest shed equipped with the "Cool Breeze Wall," they were all stunned by the coolness that hit them.

"My God... what kind of magic is this?" A man stretched out his hand in disbelief, feeling the cool breeze. "The summer wind... the wind is actually cool."

They marveled at the wet terracotta brick wall as if they had witnessed a miracle.

"That's great, I can finally get a good nap at noon."

"I feel like I can lay another hundred bricks this afternoon."

The workers' faces lit up with genuine, ecstatic smiles. They looked at the young advisor smiling down at them from a distance, their eyes filled with unparalleled admiration and gratitude.

Hope Cafeteria and Yihaodian have taken this invention to its extreme. They installed the largest "Cool Breeze Wall" at the entrance, forming a truly refreshing gateway. Any customer who walks into the store from the sweltering street outside will be instantly captivated by the refreshing coolness, as if stepping into another world.

"The Land of Hope has a magical 'Cool Breeze Barrier'!" This rumor quickly spread throughout Blackrock City.

In the textile factory, Aunt Leah took this idea to a whole new level. She led the female workers to replace the clay bricks with tightly woven reed mats, creating a simpler version of wet curtains that was cheaper and easier to install.

"Oh, Anna, come and try it!" A young female worker stood in front of the wet curtain, enjoying the cool breeze, and said happily to her companion, "This is so comfortable. Look at those sisters working in other workshops outside, they're all so hot, like they've been pulled out of the water. This place is simply heaven."

Anna smiled and nodded. While skillfully operating the loom, she took a sip of the chilled thorn juice that the logistics team had just delivered, feeling all her fatigue disappear.

“Yes,” she said softly. “I used to think that these good days…would they be temporary? But now I just want to work hard and keep doing this job.”

Of course, for those nobles who truly stand at the top of the pyramid, a cool breeze is far from enough. What they need is a more direct and status-displaying enjoyment.

Lin Yue prepared an irresistible "luxury-exclusive refreshing meal" for them.

A batch of heavy wooden boxes with double-layered structures were made, with the interior inlaid with waterproof linings of animal hide or tin. The interlayer of the wooden boxes was tightly filled with cotton, sawdust, and dry straw as insulation.

When using it, simply place a ceramic jar filled with low-temperature saltpeter solution or ice cubes directly into the interlayer at the bottom of the box to maintain the low temperature inside the box for a long time.

This is the first generation of "Cold Stone Box" in Blackrock City—a primitive refrigerator.

Large "cold stone boxes" were used in the kitchen of the Hope Canteen to store perishable fresh meat and animal milk, which greatly ensured the freshness of the ingredients.

When the elegantly dressed stewards carefully carried the "Froststone Boxes" filled with crystal-clear ice from Hope One back to their respective mansions, the entire Blackrock City high society was in an uproar.

They no longer have to endure the rapid melting of ice during transportation, no longer have to put in only a small piece to feel the coolness every time they want to drink chilled ale, and no longer have to go to other cities to escape the heat.

They can enjoy the luxurious coolness of summer anytime, anywhere in their study or bedroom.

Lin Yue has ingeniously launched a more portable personal cooling product full of oriental aesthetics – the "Cooling Stone".

Select the smoothest, cool-to-the-touch pebbles from the stream. After washing them clean, soak them for a long time in ice water mixed with saltpeter until their core becomes icy cold.

Then wrap it in the softest silk and drizzle it with a few drops of essential oil extracted from calming flowers and peppermint leaves, which has a cool aroma.

This small, portable cooling device, which feels like holding a piece of ancient jade and exudes a faint fragrance, immediately became a fashionable and sought-after luxury item among the wealthy women of Blackrock City upon its release.

"Have you heard? The Baroness of the West District spent a fortune yesterday to buy a piece of Moonstone from Hope Trading Company, which is said to have beauty and skin-nourishing effects."

"Not only that, I heard that Young Master Ryan of the City Lord's Mansion ordered a whole set of luxurious gift boxes consisting of twelve different scented cooling stones in order to curry favor with the special envoy from the capital."

The desire to compare and flaunt is a major driving force behind consumption.

The popularity of the "Cold Stone Box" and the "Cooling Stone" quickly filled the vault of the Hope Trading Company.

Of course, Lin Yue did not forget the workers who were still toiling under the scorching sun.

He had the largest "Cold Stone Box" made, and every day a special person would fill it with chilled sour thorn juice with salt and sugar and deliver it to various construction sites.

When men soaked in sweat take a break and drink a large bowl of truly ice-cold, sweet and sour beverage to cool them down, the extreme pleasure that runs from their throats to the soles of their feet is enough to make them forget all their fatigue and unleash even greater enthusiasm for work.

On the barren land in the suburbs, the construction of the Hope New District did not stop because of the sweltering heat; on the contrary, it became even more enthusiastic because of this series of ingenious and refreshing revolutions.

Ryan gazed into the distance at the new urban area that was rising at a visible speed.

Looking at the workers, who were simply dressed but had an exceptionally high spirit, and listening to the shouts full of strength and laughter that faintly came from the construction site.

He turned to Renault, who had remained silent beside him, and asked softly:

"Renault, tell me... what was my father pursuing all his life? Was it greater power? Or a wider territory?"

"Perhaps... he never knew that a lord's true wealth actually... is these things."

Renault did not answer, but instead turned his gaze to that land full of hope, his eyes deep.