Chapter 3

VIP Author: Grandpa Cat

Yang Youxing's secretary had only been back at the agricultural office from Shigang Village for a couple of days when his colleagues and the people of Ming knew about his "engagement." For several days, people came to congratulate him, and even on the internal BBS, someone started a thread titled "How to Foster a Good Marriage with the People of Ming," discussing various issues such as whether to have multiple wives or a monogamous marriage, with deep, teasing, intentional, and entertaining discussions. Even the two young teachers at Chikan Elementary School discussed this issue during their free time.

"Hey, why are you men all like this? Do you feel suffocated if you don't have multiple wives?" Jiang Xue, while engaging in a debate on the BBS, teased the teacher beside her, Fan Weiye, who was pretending to prepare for class.

"Please don't generalize," Teacher Fan said disdainfully. "Are you trying to tar us all with the same brush? Besides, do I look like that kind of person?!"

"Tsk, not saying it out loud doesn't mean you don't think it," Jiang Xue was unimpressed by Fan Weiye's response. She knew very well, "You men are all animals driven by your lower halves."

This time, it was Teacher Fan's turn to be unhappy. "Teacher Jiang Xue, how old are you? Acting like you've seen it all. Besides, you're still a young girl, why are you so fixated on men?"

"Who's fixated? I'm just stating the facts," Jiang Xue was debating with someone who posted a thread titled "Polygamy is a Genetic Choice." "The poster even used a pseudonym, what a coward, wanting a harem but not daring to say it openly."

"Everyone has the right to express their views, even if they don't align with others' values," Teacher Fan rarely used a serious tone to discuss with Jiang Xue. "Besides, he might be afraid of offending the ladies and girls of the Han-Tang Group." Teacher Fan shrugged, not caring whether Jiang Xue could see his action.

"Hypocrite," Jiang Xue typed the last word and glanced at Fan Weiye, then turned around and silently stared at him from head to toe, making Teacher Fan's skin crawl. Then she slowly said something that left Fan Weiye utterly confused, "Too young, too simple, sometimes naive."

The debate between the two young people had come to a temporary end, but the discussion on the BBS continued to heat up, with over 2,000 posts. Even the usually quiet Chairman Wu Dapeng had to post a thread to address the issue, but he skirted around the topic, mentioning that a marriage law should be established to solve family issues—marriage law being the first civil law in that world—to address various issues of the Han-Tang Group with humane legal regulations, in short, everything should be done according to the rules.

Thus, the thread naturally veered towards discussing how to build a legal Han-Tang Group, covering constitutions, civil laws, and criminal laws. However, the fundamental issue of where the law comes from, where it goes, and what it is, was consciously ignored as the discussion became more intense.

The news that Miss Park July was to be Yang Youxing's fiancée spread throughout Chikan Elementary School in just a couple of days. Gossip, you know. Some said the Park family wanted to be related to the穿越集团 (穿越集团 translates to "穿越 Group," but in this context, it refers to the "Han-Tang Group"), some said Yang Youxing had long been interested in Miss Park, and others said he had originally been interested in both the Wang and Park families' daughters, but unfortunately, the Wang family's daughter had already married last year, so Yang Youxing couldn't enjoy the happiness of having both.

At first, Secretary Yang still tried to argue with the people of the Han-Tang Group online, and everyone said, "We understand, no need to explain." He explained a few times to the security guards around him, and these people of Ming mostly had the expression of "Great job, Yang Youxing, that's how men should be." After a few rounds, Secretary Yang evolved to the point where he was unbothered by hot water. He not only stopped explaining but also began to face the fact of his "engagement" to Miss Park, or rather, he always happened to meet Miss Park when she was returning from school. Chikan City was small, he went to work, Miss Park went to school, he finished work, Miss Park finished school, they walked the same road, and the timing was perfectly synchronized.

Later, when Miss Park, who became Mrs. Yang, recalled, they initially talked mostly about their family histories. Secretary Yang always started with official rhetoric about the great city of Antarctica and how women were not suitable for certain roles. But Miss Park was very interested in her family history and shared the Park family's struggle in Taiwan and their connection with the Wang family, which all began at that time.

It is said that Miss Park's grandfather, Mr. Park Six, was saved by a merchant ship of the Wang family when his small boat was in trouble. To repay the favor and earn a living, Mr. Park Six devoted himself to serving the Wang family's merchant fleet. However, as a former official slave, Mr. Park Six's language skills were limited to understanding Korean and a bit of Chinese. King Sejong created the Korean language to make it easier for the people to learn, but this alternative approach meant that Koreans had to learn both Chinese and Korean. Not knowing Chinese was clearly a problem: all government documents and books were written in Chinese, and all interactions with the Ming Dynasty were conducted in Chinese and Chinese characters. Not knowing Korean, on the other hand, violated the ancestral teachings and made it difficult to understand the language of slaves and commoners, leading to communication issues that couldn't always be resolved with a whip, a real dilemma.

Mr. Park Six, with his illiterate level, finally managed to secure a job through gestures and words, his old trade, fishing. Taiwan's coastal waters were rich in fishing grounds, and although fishing was hard work, it provided a basic living. One day, luck smiled upon Mr. Park Six again. It was a rainy day, and the catch was not good, so Mr. Park Six's boat decided to reel in the nets and return to port. However, they hauled up a grayish-white wax block about two feet long and as thick as a thigh. This strange wax block was slightly hard to the touch and emitted a sweet, fishy odor when scratched with a fingernail. This peculiar smell made Mr. Park Six and his crew hesitant to throw the "wax" away.

"Ambergris!" The master of the Wang family indeed had a keen eye. When Mr. Park Six, holding the "wax" block, was escorted by other crew members to the master, the master was astounded. Ambergris is primarily found in the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, and is occasionally found along the Chinese coast, but in very small quantities. It has been a precious fragrance since ancient times. Finding such a large piece of ambergris near the Taiwan Strait was indeed rare. The master of the Wang family, while surprised, was uncertain about the origin of the ambergris. After all, the ports of Fujian, Zhangzhou, and Quanzhou were nearby, and there was frequent trade and smuggling of fragrances at sea. If a merchant ship carrying fragrances was attacked by pirates or sank in a storm, the fragrances could end up in the sea.

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