The sun wheeled across the sky, and the light gradually dimmed.
Chen Wu had been reading for so long that he only then realized it was already late outside.
All of a sudden, the street outside lit up, the glow shining in through the window. Chen Wu set down the booklet and leaned out to look, only to discover that the streetlights lining the road were slowly being lit one by one.
Only then did Chen Wu understand: the Capital City of Great Shun actually had streetlights!
Before this, Chen Wu had always been in the barren lands of the northwest, where he had seen nothing but the oil lamps used by individual households. He had rushed about all day since arriving in the Capital City, with no mind to admire the roadside scenery, and had never noticed the streetlights.
The lamps stood a little over eight feet tall, made of steel and glass. The lanterns themselves were in a traditional octagonal style. Men carrying long poles reached into them and lit the streetlights one by one.
The Capital City truly was different!
Chen Wu hurried downstairs. After asking the waiter where he could get something to eat, he asked about the streetlights outside.
"Ah, these?" Seeing Chen Wu ask about them, the waiter's tone instantly took on the condescending air of a Capital City native. "You came at just the right time! Thanks to His Majesty's boundless blessings, our district was among the first to have gas streetlights installed. Other places don't have them yet."
"Gas?" Chen Wu understood. These streetlights had only recently begun to be installed in the Capital City—no wonder he had not seen any around Yongqingxing.
"That's right! The lamp posts are hollow, with gas pipes running directly from the gasworks below. These lights burn