Once We Lived in Nanjing

After three failures, the genius trio finally started to take Bai Yang's suggestions seriously.

On the evening of October 13, 2019, they held the second Amateur Radio Phenomena and Technology Seminar in room 8**5 of Meihua Villa Zhongqin Garden.

The guests in attendance were:

Director Wang Ning, representing the Nanjing City Radio Administration Committee.

Associate Professor Zhao Bowen, representing the Physics College of Nanjing University.

Bai Zhen, representing the Nanjing City rideshare drivers.

High school senior Bai Yang, representing the South Airline attached school in Nanjing City.

The meeting was chaired by high school senior Bai Yang from the South Airline attached school in Nanjing City, an unlicensed and illegal HAM representative.

"When the number of time capsules increases, adhering to the double-blind principle becomes somewhat difficult; after all, those things are quite substantial. It's manageable with one or two, but if you're carrying five or eight, people can't help but get curious," Zhao Bowen sank into the sofa, holding a thermos cup, "And the more there are, the more difficult it becomes to bury them discreetly. Here lies a contradictory fact: the things we send back should be as inconspicuous as possible; too many, too big, or too peculiar won't do."

"Where did you hide it before, Yangyang?" Wang Ning asked.

"At Crescent Lake," Bai Yang answered.

"Who did you arrange to bury the time capsule for you?" Wang Ning asked again.

"I forgot," Bai Yang spread his hands, "On the night the time capsule was buried, I deliberately caused a concussion by hitting my head and led to memory loss, I can't remember who I asked to handle it."

Of course, Bai Yang wouldn't reveal it to anyone.

This was curious; subjectively, he would never reveal the information to anyone, without doubt it was Bai Yang's free will, his proactive choice.

But he knew days ago that the time capsule had been picked up by a girl. The fact that the capsule was found presaged that Bai Yang would inevitably do so in the future.

Thus, the decision Bai Yang made at this moment, was it really his free will, or was it an inexplicable destiny?

Bai Yang pondered in his mind. He found it hard to imagine that a future completely unknown to him is already pre-established history for BG4MSR. Were his decisions, which he considered proactive, actually a corner of the dust-settled history books? Was it a coincidence? Was it that his subjective choices just happened to line up with the course of history, or was he being controlled by some unknown force, pushing him along a predetermined path?

Bai Yang raised his hand and waved it through the air.

As if to brush away the invisible puppet strings hanging from his limbs.

"What's wrong, Yangyang?" Zhao Bowen asked from across the table.

"There's a mosquito," Bai Yang said.

Bai Yang indeed considered the possibility that if he went to find Yan Zhihan now and had her reveal the exact location of the time capsule to him, and then leaked that information, what would happen—What changes would BG4MSR, having found the time capsule, undergo?

But it was nothing more than a thought, and he wouldn't act on it.

It was precisely because he wouldn't act that BG4MSR was able to find the time capsule. If he were someone to take action, then BG4MSR would not have found the capsule in the first place, and the plan would still have failed.

Bai Yang silently thought to himself.

This was part of history.

Including his idea of "going to Brother Yan to find out the exact location of the capsule" but not acting on it, this too was part of history.

With that realization, Bai Yang grew deeply worried.

If everything he did was a part of history, didn't that mean the future was unchangeable? That the Black Moon would definitely descend? That the doomsday was inevitable?

"How many time capsules are we going to send in this batch?" Zhao Bowen asked.

"We need to keep it covert, so let's not send too many. Cut it in half," Wang Ning pondered, "I think sending five should be about right; this time, let's try out Yangyang's method from before."

Wang Ning admitted defeat.

He had to admit that Bai Yang's damned time capsules were indeed different from the ones he used to play with.

It's so hard to understand, why is delivering a time capsule so difficult?

"Yangyang's method still has room for improvement. To ensure a double-blind operation, the person preparing the capsule and the person burying it must not know each other," Zhao Bowen pointed out the flaw in Bai Yang's plan, "If the two of them know each other, there's still a chance they could collude to divulge the exact location of the capsule. The most ideal scenario is that the two people are strangers to each other, having no contact and relationship whatsoever."

It sounds simple, but when the four people present think it over carefully, it becomes a huge operational challenge. To ensure that there is no contact between the two people is almost impossible.

They laid out the entire operation plan in detail on paper:

First, Wang Ning's party prepares the time capsules and dispatches someone with the capsules to meet with a second person at a designated location.

The second person is sent by Zhao Bowen's party, responsible for receiving the capsules and hiding them in Crescent Lake.

Since the two individuals do not know each other, the plan must be meticulous, with the rendezvous location, time, and passcode agreed upon in advance.

After hiding the time capsule, the person in charge will use the method proposed by Bai Yang, sending the location through a voice message on WeChat.

The first part of the plan must interlock with the second like gears, extremely precise. It is hard to imagine that such a meticulously arranged plan, akin to spy organizations exchanging intelligence, is actually for delivery services. Each side's personnel are selected by Wang Ning and Zhao Bowen respectively, and they also need to solve their own problems. Wang Ning's person must not secretly open the capsule to peek, while Zhao Bowen's person must not mention this matter to anyone, including Zhao Bowen, in the days to follow.

At the same time, it should be noted that the two people involved in sending and hiding the capsules are not entirely unrelated.

If Wang Ning arranges for the person delivering the capsules, then this person naturally knows Wang Ning.

If Zhao Bowen arranges for the person burying the capsules, then this person naturally knows Zhao Bowen.

And Wang Ning and Zhao Bowen are old acquaintances.

Thus, a chain of relationships is established.

Theoretically, it's possible for the two people to get to know each other through Wang Ning and Zhao Bowen.

But this is already the best they can do.

During the discussion, Bai Zhen offered another plan: hire a complete stranger, someone no one knows, online or on the street to bury the capsule.

However, the four of them quickly ruled out this option.

Sure, grabbing someone from the street would satisfy the condition of being a complete stranger, but complete unfamiliarity also brings a high degree of uncontrollability and instability. To think extreme, what if this person simply ran off with the time capsule? Besides, finding a secure location to bury the capsule is not an easy task; it requires time and careful selection. Randomly selecting someone for the task may result in a slipshod job, leading to the failure of the plan.

They realized that it was impossible to satisfy all conditions; it was impossible to cut ties and reduce relationships while ensuring the controllability and stability of the plan. These were mutually exclusive conditions.

"I'll find someone to help out. I'll prepare the capsule first, and after packaging it, I'll hand it over to him," Wang Ning said, "He will then be responsible for passing it to the second person."

"I'll find the second person," Zhao Bowen followed, "We need to set a time and place for the rendezvous."

"One more thing to keep in mind, Old Wang, the person you find, Old Zhao must not know who it is; the person Old Zhao finds, you must not know who it is," Bai Zhen said, "You two are two parts of the plan; you must both keep complete confidentiality from each side, with the only common knowledge being the location, time, and passcode of the rendezvous."

"Okay," Wang Ning nodded and stood up with Zhao Bowen, "Let's go back and get ready, the new time capsules should also be arriving soon."

"Uncle Wang, remember to put in rat poison!" Bai Yang reminded.

"Got it," Wang Ning muttered, "This is really the most troublesome time capsule I've ever been involved with in my life."