Chapter 1

"Your luck is pretty good, to survive when so many people died..."

Despite the slight disdain in his eyes, the Frenchman in uniform still handed a backpack to Yan Shao without any difficulty. Yan Shao, with a bitter smile, took back what belonged to 'himself' from the other person's hand...

"Thank you..."

After retrieving his belongings, Yan Shao thanked the Frenchman in broken English. The Frenchman did not respond to Yan Shao's gratitude but instead called out loudly behind Yan Shao.

"Next!"

Scratching his head, Yan Shao left through the window and walked outside.

Yan Shao is a穿越者 (穿越者 means "time traveler" or "穿越者" in this context, but I will use "time traveler" for clarity), and there's no doubt about that. However, as a time traveler, Yan Shao's luck wasn't very good. Other time travelers, even if they didn't end up in wealthy families, at least didn't face life-threatening situations. But Yan Shao, shortly after arriving in this world, encountered a maritime disaster...

That's right, a maritime disaster...

Yan Shao, who had just been woken up by the sailors on a cruise ship, immediately faced the misfortune of a boiler explosion. The outcome was predictable: after Yan Shao barely managed to挤上 (挤上 means "squeeze onto" or "挤上" in this context, but I will use "squeeze onto" for clarity) a lifeboat, the cruise ship sank into the sea faster than the Titanic...

In fact, maritime disasters are not very rare, even in the 21st century. They still occur from time to time, mostly due to running aground or collisions. Boiler explosions, however, are relatively rare. In Yan Shao's memory, the only such maritime disaster was the Sultana incident on the Mississippi River on April 28, 1865.

Strictly speaking, the Sultana incident should not be considered a maritime disaster but rather a river disaster or a ship disaster, as it occurred on the Mississippi River.

Although the incident happened on the Mississippi River, the consequences were severe. According to statistics, 1,547 to 1,700 passengers died, a number comparable to the casualties of a small-scale war...

This maritime disaster was similar. If it weren't for the sufficient number of lifeboats and Yan Shao's physical strength, he might not have had the chance to squeeze onto a lifeboat—there was no principle of "women and children first" in this era. Surveys in later years showed that there was no such thing as women and children going first; in various maritime disasters, the survival rate was highest among the crew, followed by male passengers. The events in the movie Titanic were more of an artistic embellishment...

Squeezing onto a lifeboat was just the first step; the most important part was being rescued. Fortunately, not long after the disaster, rescue ships arrived in response to the distress signals. Due to the timely rescue, the death toll from this disaster was only a few hundred—despite the fact that the entire cruise ship had fewer than a thousand people.

Most of these people were trapped in the ship's lower decks when the boiler exploded and the seawater flooded in. Compared to them, Yan Shao, who had been directly transported to the deck, was quite lucky.

After being rescued by a ship, Yan Shao and the other survivors were taken to the nearest French port, Marseille. This was originally the destination of the cruise ship, but the disaster had delayed their arrival by a few days.

Upon arriving in Marseille, French government officials questioned Yan Shao and the other survivors. While on the lifeboat, Yan Shao had already used his broken English to ask other survivors many questions and learned that he was now in the Mediterranean Sea in 1903. When the French officials questioned him, Yan Shao lied, claiming that his documents had sunk with the ship. The French officials did not suspect anything, as no one would think that a maritime disaster survivor could be an illegal immigrant, especially one from 2013...

Racial discrimination existed in early 20th century Europe, but perhaps because Yan Shao was a survivor, he did not face much difficulty during the questioning, though it was only to that extent...

————————————————————

"Unfamiliar place, and even the language is a problem, but with these, I should be able to live for a while..."

Looking at the items in the backpack that belonged to 'himself,' Yan Shao's expression improved.

The backpack and its contents, of course, did not belong to him. He couldn't have brought anything with him when he time-traveled. In fact, these were items lost by passengers during the escape. Most of them had no value, but the few pounds and some francs were not insignificant. According to the exchange rate at the time, 1 pound was equivalent to about 10.5 silver dollars, and 1 silver dollar was equivalent to a bit more than 2 francs, meaning 1 pound was equivalent to about 20 francs. At the time, a new army soldier in the Qing Dynasty received a monthly salary of only 7 silver dollars, not including food and war expenses, which were separately allocated. Therefore, 7 silver dollars were already considered a high salary.

The pounds and francs in the backpack added up to nearly 100 silver dollars, which, even with the higher prices in Marseille, would be enough for Yan Shao to live comfortably for a while.

"1903 in France, no matter what, the first priority is to find a place to stay. I'll think about the next steps after I find a place to stay..."

Although Paris is the largest city and capital of France, Marseille is the second-largest city and the largest port. Many people from other countries arrived here by ship before entering France, making the city quite prosperous. However, finding a place to stay was not easy, as Yan Shao, who spoke broken English and no French, could not communicate with the hotel receptionists.

Fortunately, Marseille, being the second-largest city in France, had some hotels that catered to foreigners. Yan Shao eventually found one where he could stay. A middle-aged woman at the reception desk seemed surprised to see a person of Asian descent walk in, but her professional attitude quickly returned to normal.

After getting a standard room from the receptionist, Yan Shao, who had been at sea for several days, collapsed on the bed and began to think about his next steps.

A few pounds and some francs, though not a large sum for a true wealthy person, were enough for Yan Shao to live for a while in a city like Marseille. However, he dared not waste any money, as the situation was simple: if he had time-traveled to China during the Qing Dynasty, life would not have been easy, but at least he wouldn't have had to worry about the language barrier.

If he had time-traveled to the United States, despite the severe racial discrimination, at least there would have been Chinatown. Unfortunately, he time-traveled to France, where there was no Chinatown at the time.

Historically, a large number of Chinese people appeared in France after World War I. During the war, over 140,000 Chinese laborers worked in France, and nearly 10,000 of them lost their lives. After the war, some of these laborers stayed in France, and the Chinatown in Paris, particularly in the 13th arrondissement, emerged during this time. However, it was 1903, and World War I was still over a decade away, so there was no Chinatown...

In other words, Yan Shao couldn't seek help from local Chinese people.

————————————————————

After spending some time at sea and being delayed at customs, even though Yan Shao was physically strong, he still felt very tired. He fell asleep shortly after lying down on the bed. When he woke up, it was already the afternoon of the next day.

Although he still felt a bit dizzy, Yan Shao went out for a walk and to get something to eat. When he returned to the hotel, he began to consider his next steps.

"No matter what, I need to find a way out soon..."

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Yan Shao thought...

For Yan Shao, the most important thing was to find a way out, as money would eventually run out. The problem was that much of what he learned in school was long forgotten, and school certainly didn't teach him how to survive in the early 20th century.

"Since this is a port city, should I go to the docks and work as a laborer? It would provide a living, but who would hire a laborer who doesn't speak French..."

"Teach Chinese? Maybe it would be a good idea a hundred years later, but who would learn Chinese now..."

"Join the military? In France, probably only the Foreign Legion would take me, but like a laborer, who would take a soldier who doesn't speak the language..."

"I don't know anything else, what should I do..."

Yan Shao scratched his head, his face crumpled in frustration.

If he had time-traveled a few hundred years earlier, he might have been able to make glass or mirrors—though he had no idea how to make them.

Now it was the 20th century, and most things he understood had already been invented. The remaining things that hadn't been invented were likely beyond his comprehension.

"Why couldn't I have time-traveled a few hundred years earlier..."

Thinking this, Yan Shao picked up a newspaper from the table.

In 1903, there were no entertainment programs, let alone computers, televisions, the internet, or even radio broadcasts, which would appear three years later. In a foreign country where he knew no one and spoke a different language, Yan Shao couldn't go out to play cards with the French, so reading the newspaper became his only form of entertainment.

Fortunately, although Yan Shao's English was broken, he could still read it. English was a somewhat universal language in this world, and even in France, which prided itself on its language, there were English newspapers. So, he didn't have to worry about not understanding the content.

1903 was a relatively peaceful year, and no major events had occurred. Although the Wright brothers completed the first human flight in December of that year, it was only the beginning of the year, so this event had not yet happened. Additionally, communication in this era was not very convenient, so the newspaper did not report on any major events, mostly just local trivial matters in Marseille and the surrounding areas. Despite this, with no other entertainment, Yan Shao read the newspaper with great interest.

Then...

After flipping to the last page, Yan Shao's eyes suddenly lit up as he read the content. He had thought of a way out.

"If it works, this could be a way out..."

翻页上AD开始

翻页上AD结束