Once We Lived in Nanjing

Wang Ning made a phone call asking Xiao Zhu to buy a case of Jiang Xiaobai.

Bai Zhen was furious: "Is this how you test an official?"

He was heartbroken, sacrificing his own health for the future of all humanity, the survival of the entire world hinged on him, and yet they fobbed him off with industrial alcohol? Don't I even deserve two bottles of Flying Moutai?

Old Wang pulled out a bottle of 75% medical alcohol from his bag and placed it on the coffee table, "Pick one."

Bai Zhen said, then I'll choose the industrial alcohol.

He hugged the bottle of Jiang Xiaobai to his chest, then kicked Old Wang out, chasing him all the way out of Meihua Villa.

"Do I need to be this far away?" Wang Ning was pushed out of the gate of Meihua Villa's residential complex, a bit surprised, "Old Bai, what exactly do you want to do?"

"I need to send the secret key over." Bai Zhen turned and went back, casually pulling out a glass bottle of Jiang Xiaobai from his coat pocket, unscrewing the cap, and taking a swig.

"What about me?" Wang Ning shouted at his back.

"Do whatever you want!" Bai Zhen belched and waved his arm, "No coming back before 8 p.m. tonight, and tell Old Zhao and my son the same thing. From now until 8 p.m., have someone lock down the entrances and exits of Meihua Villa, no one is allowed in or out!"

Wang Ning watched his figure disappear into the greenery and scratched his head, what kind of trick is this guy playing?

Bai Zhen got home, plopped down onto the sofa, propped up his legs, and faced the empty, cluttered living room without moving. It had been a long time since the house was this quiet; ever since the Nanjing Command Center was established, Old Bai's house had practically become a public venue – Zhao Bowen and Wang Ning were often here, not to mention the leaders of various project teams, administrative staff, and the military often visited, resulting in piles of documents in the living room growing taller and more telephones appearing on the dining table, surrounded by colorful, messy cables on the floor that you had to watch your step to avoid tripping.

The living room was suddenly empty, and Bai Zhen felt a sense of strangeness.

Was this his home, or was it the Nanjing Command Center?

After a day's work, when the staff of the command center went home, Bai Zhen would also subconsciously stand up, as if he was there for work, aside from that there was another home in Nanjing City waiting for him.

Old Bai sat there silently, taking another sip of liquor.

So rare.

It seems only when the world is ending, does he get the chance to drink.

But what does the destruction of the world count for?

As the saying goes, nothing is difficult for a willing heart, and when we focus our efforts on major tasks, Nanjing Command Center focuses its efforts on major tasks, the potential of humanity is unlimited, the subjective initiative of humanity can determine the course of history, the people! The people are the only factor that determines the course of history! What are big-eyed creatures?

Reactionaries! They also dare to attempt to block the progress of the masses!

—The alcohol kicked in.

Bai Zhen figured the time was about right, stood up, pulled open the drawer of the TV cabinet, took out a toolbox, and turned into Bai Yang's bedroom.

The legendary Icom725 amateur shortwave radio was there on the bookshelf, amidst a tangle of wires. Over the past few months, they designed enough peripherals for this old relic to meet the requirements of various data transmissions, Old Bai unplugged them all, and carefully carried the radio out.

The first law of Time Slow Delivery states that from the perspective of the sender, the sequence of sending and receiving two events can't be reversed, meaning letting the girl receive the secret key before Bai Zhen sends it is impossible, no one can guarantee the hundred percent success of the key delivery, and using any method from Nanjing in 2019 cannot create the established fact "the other party received the secret key".

But there is another established fact that can be used.

That is "the other party received the Icom725 amateur shortwave radio".

This is an established fact, nailed firmly to the axis of time by fate. The Icom725 is a communication tool for now and the future, the foundational condition for the three laws of Time Slow Delivery to be established, also the only thing that ensures it can be delivered to that girl's hands. If you want to tailor the questions to the answer, then it is the only angle you can work with.

The three laws of Time Slow Delivery are not just norms and frameworks; they are also methods and means.

Learn to harness time.

Bai Zhen took out a screwdriver from the toolbox.

His brain was lucid and clear, a symptom of having drunk too much. Alcohol was a lubricant for the nerves, gears in his brain were well lubricated and spinning wildly, almost sparking, the drunken Bai Zhen could easily dismantle an old TV set, and the vintage shortwave radio was a piece of cake.

He wasn't worried about breaking it; this thing had been dismantled twice already, and 20 years later this radio was still in normal operation, which indicates that his actions at this moment wouldn't cause any damage.

Never before had Old Bai felt the presence of time so clearly, knowing where it comes from and where it goes. He knew what he was doing, he was enacting a story that was meant to happen.

Everything he saw and thought, everything he did, was history.

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At 8 o'clock that evening, a group of people gathered at the gates of Meihua Villa was finally given the clearance to enter. Old Zhao, Wang Ning, and others climbed up to the eighth floor, barged through the door, and found Bai Zhen sprawled on the sofa vomiting violently, with every glass bottle on the coffee table empty.

"Holy shit!" Zhao Bowen was startled, "Drinking like this, he's asking for death!"

Bai Zhen was immediately taken to the hospital and diagnosed with alcohol poisoning.

Inside the hospital, they induced vomiting, washed the stomach, and hung IV drips; a large crowd was there to keep watch throughout. The doctor treated them all like drinking buddies, saying that every year during the New Year's holidays, there's always someone with alcohol poisoning rushed to the hospital. With the way you drink, if it's not fatal, it could still cause liver damage.

Bai found some clarity in his mind and saw a large circle of people surrounding the hospital bed from left to right.

"Did it work?" Wang Ning sat at the head of the bed and asked, "Is it taken care of?"

"What?" Bai, half-reclining on the bed receiving an IV drip, was groggy, "What worked?"

Wang Ning turned his head to nod at Zhao Bowen: "It's done."

Old Zhao came over and patted Bai's shoulder, "We'll take it from here, you get some rest."

The latter, subconsciously grabbing his wrist, blurted out: "Hurry."

After saying it, he himself looked bewildered, not knowing where the words had sprung from. Zhao Bowen looked at him deeply, nodded, and left with his group. The ward emptied out, leaving only his mother twisting a towel at his side.

"You drank too fiercely and too quickly, almost suffering from severe alcohol poisoning." His mother tossed the towel onto the head of the bed, sighing, "I leave you alone for one day and you pull something like this."

"Driven by circumstances, I had no choice," Bai laughed uneasily, his courage shaken.

"Confess honestly, leniency for those who do, severity for those who resist." His mother brought over a chair, sat down with an automatic, commanding presence.

"I can't confess, I've blanked out. It gives me a terrible headache just to remember." Bai held his forehead, frowning as he sucked in a breath of cold air, "You know I have this problem. I black out when I drink; the more I drink, the worse the blackouts."

"Is it something very important?"

"Extremely important," said Bai, "of great significance."

He wasn't lying; Bai truly couldn't remember what he had done that afternoon.

He still vaguely remembered the idea and plan, where he had hidden the key, but the specific details were no longer recallable, nor did he remember if he actually followed through. This was the curious experience of blackout: it was as if someone else was acting during the amnesia, and this afternoon, that Bai, risking his life to ensure a double-blind situation, ended up drinking himself into alcohol poisoning.

Bai had a splitting headache and silently cursed himself from two hours prior as an idiot.

Bai certainly couldn't remember what he and Ban Xia had talked about.

He guessed that he had merely reported a location briefly when in fact, he had been pulling on the girl's hand and slurring out of tune for an entire hour.

"Ah, back then they were still enforcing the family planning, eating the government's grain. Of course, you had to set an example. Otherwise, I would have liked to have a daughter too, heh heh."

"It's good to just have one, just one is good."

"Am I an old driver, huh? Driving around the city every day. If you come, I'll take you on a tour every day, continuously, no lies. I know every alleyway in Nanjing City, from Pukou to Drum Tower to Jianye to Jiangning. Say the word, and we'll be there, no need for GPS."

"You just go ahead and swagger around! You go right ahead; we've got you covered!"

"Ah? The key? Yes yes yes, the key! I almost forgot if you hadn't mentioned it. The key has been sent off already, now I'll tell you where to find the key..."

Ban Xia dazedly took off her headset.

In the darkness, she took a deep breath, then bit her lip. Holding two sides of the radio with her hands, she lifted it slightly off the tabletop, giving it a gentle shake.

A vague, barely-there "ding ding dang dang."

Ban Xia leaned in closer and shook it again.

Ding ding dang dang.

She was familiar with this sound; it had been there ever since she got this radio. She thought it was from aging parts coming loose, which is why she refrained from moving it haphazardly.

The girl shook it again.

Ding ding dang dang.

Ding ding dang dang.

So clear and crisp.

Ban Xia raised her hand to wipe the tears off her face; she slowly bowed her head, resting her forehead gently on the radio, and closed her eyes.

So you've been here all along.

So long.

So hard.

So good.