The city of Ayr where Annick's parents are located is a small town south of Eggsburg. Although the city has a small population, it is mainly engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry.

There is a steam train running from Eggsburg to Eyre every day, and the journey takes about 2 hours. On Earth, it is probably the longest journey from the center of a big city to the suburbs.

The train is divided into three classes. The common first-class carriage has a small box with a single bed, a desk and a sofa. The second-class seat is similar to the green leather car on earth, with a long small table separating each other.

There are benches, and everyone has a seat according to their ticket.

The third-class carriage is similar to a bus, with a few long seats and a vertical iron post in the middle that serves as an armrest. The price is also divided into 1 pound, 5 shillings and 2 shillings according to grade.

Annick packed up a change of shirts and jackets and stuffed them into a small leather suitcase. The newly received 30-pound note was wrapped in a piece of paper and placed in the compartment of the suitcase.

Putting on his formal clothes and bowler hat, Annick took a public carriage. The Eggsburg Passenger Railway Station is located in the city center. It is a rare building with an all-steel structure as its frame.

There is a tall clock tower in the station, with huge dials inlaid on the four walls of the tower. Every hour, the mechanical device will drive the mechanical device to ring the huge copper bell on the top floor.

I successfully purchased a second-class seat at 10 a.m., and after waiting for about half an hour, I successfully boarded the train. The huge black iron locomotive sprayed steam and drove a dozen wooden carriages.

Woo... After the whistle made a loud sound, accompanied by a creaking sound, the train bound for Ayr started.

After two hours of turbulence, Annick set foot on his hometown. The main urban area of ​​Ayr revolves around two cross streets running north-south and east-west.

My family's farm is in the suburbs ten kilometers east of the city. There is no such thing as a bus or carriage in a small town like Al. If you want to go home, you either happen to meet an acquaintance in the city and ask them to help you, or you hire a carriage and talk to them.

Bargaining can bring the price down by about a shilling.

Annick suddenly remembered that today was Tuesday, and his two younger sisters should still be studying at the Church School of Love and Mother Goddess today.

Her mother, Linda, is a devout believer in the Mother Goddess, and her two younger sisters are also light believers due to her mother's influence.

In addition to teaching basic doctrines, church schools are also responsible for general education such as literacy, and also arrange classes for grammar and arithmetic.

Although the quality of education cannot be compared with private schools, and the tuition fees of relatively private grammar schools are much cheaper.

My two younger sisters used to go to and from school together. Last year, a female student encountered a misfortune on the way home from school in the urban area.

The eldest brother, Johnny, used the excuse of stocking his mother's grocery store to drive his two younger sisters to school in a four-wheel caravan. It was better to wait for them to finish class and then go home.

The Church of the Mother Goddess is located on North Street in Ayr. A white church looks elegant and holy.

After having a casual lunch at a nearby restaurant, and exchanging pleasantries with acquaintances he met in the restaurant, Annick walked into the main hall of the church, where there were two rows of wooden benches placed horizontally.

Opposite the door is the altar of the church. On the wall behind the altar is carved the holy emblem of the Mother Goddess, with a heart and a horizontal line below it.

The circular vault is covered with various oil paintings, including various religious oil paintings of various saints who believe in the Mother Goddess preaching doctrines to defeat devils and devils.

The sunlight shines through the colored glass into the hall, showing sanctity and solemnity.

Annick took out a shilling note and put it into the donation wooden box, and then drew the Holy Emblem of the Mother Goddess on his chest with his finger.

"Thank you for your generosity. May the Mother Goddess protect you." The priest in white said kindly.

"This is what I should do. May the Mother Goddess be with you." Annick replied.

If there is a god who is paying attention to me now, a Marxist like me who has no faith may have been condemned by God when he entered the church, Annick complained in his heart.

The fatigue of traveling made Annick quickly fall into sleep, until the bell from the bell tower woke him up.

The mission school is in a bungalow next to the church. After putting on my makeup and wiping the saliva from the corner of my mouth.

Annick took off his hat to express his gratitude to the priest and walked out of the church. He waited at the school gate for his two younger sisters to finish class.

By five o'clock in the afternoon, students were coming out of the school intermittently. Looking at the smiling young people, I could only feel envious if I was fifty years old in these two lifetimes.

"Second brother, why are you here? Sister, second brother is here."

The voice was made by a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, wearing a long black cloth dress, thin but with a rosy complexion, short black hair that reached her neck, round brown eyes that seemed to speak, and the aura of a lively girl exuding freely.

"Long time no see, Irina, your sister?" Annick tried to act like an older brother.

"Sister, you must be asking me a question. Why are you here?"

"Oh, I'm about to graduate and have to work soon. While I'm still free, I'll go home and enjoy my last student time. By the way, what time will my brother usually pick you up?"

"He usually goes to the market to buy some goods first, and will pick us up at about 5:30. What's the difference between the second big city Eggersberg and Ayr? When will you take us to live in Eggersburg? In addition to reading every day

, it’s too small and boring here.”

Irina thought of a doll begging for candy and tried to act well-behaved.

"As long as your parents agree, but you also have to study." Annick had no choice but to use his parents to talk about this weird little sister.

"We will be very good. We won't tell your parents if you go out drinking all night or even find a wife."

"I have no plans to find a wife for the time being. As for drinking, can I take you with me when you are an adult? Anyway, after your birthday this year, you will be an adult."

Annick didn't believe its guarantee and could only drag her into the water.

"Okay, don't go back on your word." Irina made a face.

"Don't pester me, brother. My father only hopes that we will be good ladies in the future and find a wealthy businessman to marry and become rich wives."

A resentful voice came from the school gate. A man was wearing a brown dress and had long black hair in a single ponytail.

The same brown eyes as Irina, with a thinner and fairer complexion. The twin sister's sister, Irena, stood there.

"It's been a long time since I last saw Irena. How good it has been lately." Memory Annick often felt that he couldn't show off his brother's majesty when faced with this girl who was nominally his sister but acted more mature than him.

"Long time no see, brother. If you want to wait for brother Johnny, I think he will be here soon. Although his hair has become thinner recently, and he often stares at the dressing mirror in a daze, he only takes care of his lovely sisters.

It was impeccably punctual. I thought the next second I would see him driving his two old horses and pulling the truck at the corner of the street."

As if prophesied, two local pony horses appeared on the corner of North Street pulling a wooden four-wheeled wagon. The man driving the car was wearing a leather vest and a raw linen shirt.

His skin is bronzed by the sun, and he inherited his father's brown hair and mother's brown pupils. His hairline recedes to the top of his forehead, and he looks like a middle-aged man in his thirties.

It was Annick's brother Johnny. In fact, this brother was actually four years older than him, and he had just turned twenty-five this year.

"I heard at the market that you were back. I plan to stay home for a few days this time. It will be difficult to stay at home for a long time." Johnny asked Annick while parking the carriage.

"About ten days, I have to go back to attend the graduation ceremony and move." Annick said to Johnny while helping the two sisters get on the back of the carriage.

"Give me a hand so I can get up." Annick extended his hand to Johnny, and the two of them sat side by side on the long wooden board driven in front of the carriage.

"How's the job hunt going?" Johnny asked pretending not to care as he drove up the carriage.

"You have to call me sergeant next time we meet, hahaha. My mentor introduced me to a police station position with a decent salary." Annick chuckled.

"Well, the old man may not be happy when he hears this. He would rather you become a government clerk, or even a lawyer." Johnny shook his head and smiled.

"Why don't police officers count as government employees? I'm just responsible for writing paperwork. I'm not going to fight with illegal gangs with guns. There are no such powerful criminals or bandits in Eggsburg who dare to challenge the authority of the government."

Annick shrugged his shoulders.

"I hope the old man can accept your statement." Johnny replied.

"No problem, after all, they offer an annual salary of 200 pounds, and generally the police station will provide lunch, so the actual annual salary should be more than 220 pounds," Annick argued.

"Well, it seems that knowledge can really make people rich, so Linda doesn't have to worry about your marriage. A woman who proposes marriage for her daughter can break the threshold of our family." Johnny teased.

"I think Linda is eager to sell you now. Although you are willing to work hard, you are too honest and boring. My brother, is our neighbor's daughter Fleur still waiting for you to take the initiative to confess your love? Do you want to

If you don’t make an effort, ask her out for a drink and watch a drama. Do you want a lady to take the initiative to ask you out? This is not a gentleman’s behavior.”

Annick naturally turned his anger on his elder brother.

"Well... let me try. Mom will definitely cook a lot of food when you come back. We won't be able to eat her most famous fruit pie if you are not at home."

Johnny smoothed his thinning hair and said.

"Is the harvest at home okay? What's father's plan to add a small workshop?" Seeing that Johnny was finally determined to take a step forward, Annick brought the topic to other places.

"Since those gentlemen in Congress raised tariffs, the purchase price of wheat produced at home has also been raised to 4 pence a pound, and the price of live cattle has also increased. Old John plans to build another steam mill so that our wheat can be processed.

If you sell it as flour, the price can be increased by at least 50%. In your spare time, you can also help the farmers nearby process wheat and charge some processing fees." Johnny replied.

"Aren't you short of money? A steam engine isn't cheap, right?" Annick continued to ask.

"It's okay. The old man still has some savings. He still has some old connections and can get the steam engines that were scrapped from the early steam boats that were retired in the Navy."
Chapter completed!