Chapter Forty-Six: A Misunderstanding

"One minute!"

The crowd exclaimed in astonishment.

"We’ve spent more than a minute just listening to you talk here. How could only a minute have passed? Are you sure you weren’t seeing things?"

Qian Zhongshu shook his head. "Impossible. I checked the time deliberately when I came out. There’s absolutely no mistake."

"What happened afterward?" Zhang Mingyang asked.

"Afterward," Qian Zhongshu gazed up at the rocks on the ceiling of the cave, his face lost in confusion, "when dawn broke, the base conducted an inspection and found that all the books stored in the archive room written by Wang Huairen had vanished without a trace."

"That can’t be right," Hui Jun pondered, "weren’t there still some books left by Wang Huairen in the archive room?"

"Hmph!" Qian Zhongshu snorted coldly. "Those books appeared only on that day. All the design drawings and technical plans Wang Huairen had left before are gone."

"Ah!" The crowd cried out in shock.

"Grandpa Wang, I’ve read the books by Wang Huairen in the archive room. Most of them are concept weapon design materials. Why take the spaceship blueprints, but leave behind weapon designs?"

Wang Huairen shook his head. "I have no idea why. Back then, we also wondered why the weapon designs were left for us. Was it meant for us to 'dominate the world'?"

"I think that’s possible. Geniuses like that do things we ordinary people could never understand," someone nearby sighed.

Zhang Mingyang didn’t see it that way. The sudden appearance and disappearance of a genius must have its own purpose—just one that ordinary people don’t grasp. But why did he do it?

"Alright, the story’s over. Everyone, hurry up and get back to work. Tomorrow we begin the second retrieval."

"Tomorrow already?" Hui Jun glanced at the equipment behind him and asked, "Minister Qian, shouldn’t we wait a few days? The equipment inspection and maintenance aren’t finished. If we restart hastily, won’t there be problems?"

Qian Zhongshu sighed. "You think I want to? The espionage incident dragged on for so long, the base can’t wait, and neither can the Ocean Voyager. We have no choice but to start early. Now it’s not the energy waiting for the equipment, but the equipment waiting for the energy. The design drawings from the Power Department are already done."

"Alright, everyone disperse. Each group leader, take your team and do a full check again. We start at eight sharp tomorrow morning."

"But—"

"Enough, get moving," Qian Zhongshu cut off the rest.

Seeing there was no room for argument, the others began to slowly disperse. Zhang Mingyang led his own team to the inspection point.

...

By nine in the evening, Zhang Mingyang’s team had nearly finished their inspection. All faulty equipment had been replaced, and every area had been thoroughly checked.

Stepping out of the lab, Zhang Mingyang wore an exhausted look as he stretched toward the moon, his joints crackling. He’d spent the past few days curled up in the warehouse, leaving his whole body sore. Their workplace never saw the sun, and if things kept up, he’d probably end up with rheumatism in old age.

He swung his arms and legs, then wandered toward the dormitory.

"Zhang Mingyang."

A sweet, gentle voice called from behind.

Zhang Mingyang didn’t turn around or stop; from the voice alone, he knew Bai Muqing was coming.

"What is it?"

Seeing Zhang Mingyang hadn’t stopped, Bai Muqing hurried her steps to catch up, her face fierce as she shouted, "Didn’t you hear me calling?"

Zhang Mingyang was so tired he didn’t want to turn around. He simply looked at her askew and asked, "Miss, what do you want with me?"

Seeing Zhang Mingyang’s exhausted face, Bai Muqing dropped her fierce expression and asked with concern, "What’s wrong? Why do you look so burdened?"

"Do I?" Zhang Mingyang forced a smile. "Try walking over eighty kilometers in a day. I bet you’d feel just like me."

"You’re so young, yet you’re always saying such gloomy things," Bai Muqing said with disdain.

"It’s easy for you to say. If you never pull the cart, you don’t know how tired the ox feels."

"What does that mean?" Bai Muqing looked puzzled.

"Nothing."

He kept walking toward the dormitory.

"Hey!"

Seeing Zhang Mingyang ignore her, Bai Muqing chased after him again.

Now a little impatient, Zhang Mingyang asked, "Miss, what do you really want?"

"Nothing much, just wanted to ask if you need anything brought back."

"Need something brought back?"

"Are you going somewhere tomorrow?"

Bai Muqing nodded. "Tomorrow I’m heading out to purchase supplies for logistics. If you need anything, just let me know."

Zhang Mingyang thought for a moment. "Actually, there is something I need."

"What is it?" Bai Muqing’s face was almost touching Zhang Mingyang’s.

He quickly pushed her away. For some reason, he’d been seeing her a lot lately, and every time she insisted on chatting with him. While he wasn’t as intimidated by her as when he first arrived, it still felt strange.

"I need... writing paper."

"Writing paper?" Bai Muqing hadn’t expected that. She replied, "What do you need that for? Nobody uses writing paper anymore. Are you planning to write someone a letter?"

"How did you know?"

Zhang Mingyang was indeed planning to write a letter.

"Some things you could just say out loud, no need to write," Bai Muqing said, blushing shyly.

Zhang Mingyang looked at her with confusion. "Say it out loud? Some things can’t be said directly!"

"Why not? If you want to say something, just speak up, and it will be clear enough."

Zhang Mingyang was even more puzzled. "No, I’m writing to Uncle Wang back home. He’s not here—how could I possibly say it directly?"

Seeing Zhang Mingyang so dense, Bai Muqing huffed and ran off.

As she left, she called back, "When you see him, just tell him face to face. That’s saying it directly!"

Hearing her words and watching her run farther away, Zhang Mingyang shouted back, "He’s not here! How am I supposed to say it directly?"

"Some people!"

He muttered, and continued leisurely toward the dormitory.

...

Back at the dormitory, Zhang Mingyang took out last night’s leftovers. He hadn’t gone to the cafeteria today because there was too much food left from the night before, and it wouldn’t be right to waste it. His grandmother had taught him from childhood to be frugal. Every grain of rice, every bowl of food, was the result of hard labor, and shouldn’t be wasted.

Eating as he reviewed tomorrow’s operation procedures, Zhang Mingyang noticed that the Energy Department had revised the plan after the problems in the previous experiment, preparing for a new scheme.

"Why does it seem so much simpler than last time?"

Looking over the plan, he saw that the number of steps had dropped from 2,450 to 745—a reduction by two-thirds.

The biggest change was in the operation of the proton accelerator. Previously, protons were first injected into a smaller accelerator, but now they were to be injected directly into the larger one, eliminating the pre-acceleration process.