Once Upon in Nanjing-Chapter 19 - 6 Time Slow Delivery

time capsule.

Bai Yang had wanted to buy this for a long time.

His plan is obvious, BG4MSR claimed to live in 2040, so as long as Bai Yang sends a slow delivery spanning twenty years, if the other party receives it, it would prove that what she said is true.

It sounds straightforward and simple, but upon closer inspection, actual implementation is fraught with difficulties, such as preventing cheating, forgery, lying, loss, and still being within the capabilities of an ordinary high school student.

Place the order!

Bai Yang bought a small time capsule, made of stainless steel, also including two wrenches and a shovel, costing sixty-eight yuan each.

So expensive, it's going to hurt for a while.

What should he send?

What should be placed inside the time capsule?

Food? Medicines? Souvenirs? A letter?

No, these are not important.

What's important is the timer, a clock, Bai Yang needs a timekeeping clock, so when the time capsule is dug up from underground, that clock can tell people exactly how much time has passed.

There is no clock that can sit idle inside a time capsule for twenty years and still function normally, electronic quartz watches have a battery life of only five to ten years, automatic mechanical watches don't use batteries, they wind the mainspring using a flywheel, but rely on external vibrations for energy, and will stop moving if left static for too long.

What to do?

With today's advanced technology, creating a timer that can work continuously for twenty years would be a matter of minutes, but Bai Yang can't do it, he is just an ordinary high school student, with limited abilities and financial resources, his main reliance is shopping websites like Taobao and JD.

Bai Yang tried searching for "timer" on Taobao, but most of the results are ordinary electronic clocks, and by logic, they couldn't possibly last twenty years inside a time capsule, Bai Yang's needs sound simple but are tricky to fulfill, he just needs a clock, no fancy features, just timing—listen, how simple is that, isn't timing a basic job of a clock?

But how long should it last?

At least twenty years.

That's not simple, even the simplest function is not easy to perfect, and Bai Yang couldn't find a suitable target in a short time.

He sat in his chair, staring at the phone screen, deep in thought.

Twenty years is too long, in everyday life, apart from the houses we live in and the furniture we use, few things are designed with a twenty-year lifespan in mind.

"Twenty years..."

Bai Yang muttered with a frown, fidgeting with a coin in his hand.

It was a Morse code practice coin, which Bai Yang had bought when he was practicing amplitude modulation; it's the size of an ordinary one-yuan coin, but both sides are engraved with Morse code and corresponding letters, looking golden and shiny, but actually made of stainless steel and copper-plated.

However, Bai Yang never managed to master sending messages, his dad said that he would definitely ruin it by practicing on his own, bad habits learned could not be corrected, Bai Yang didn't believe it, and indeed, he ended up ruining it, but Bai Yang did not admit it was his fault, he blamed it on the Changshu K4 key he bought from Idle Fish being a counterfeit.

"Twenty years, how can one endure these twenty years?"

The problem doesn't seem so complicated at first glance.

Give it a deep thought, and you realize, the challenge is sky-high.

When time itself becomes a barrier in front of you, you are facing the most powerful force in this world.

Since man-made objects are unreliable, one can only hope for the physical laws of this world itself—changes in nature are always measured in millions of years; a mere twenty years is but a flick of a finger.

Bai Yang's first thought was oxidation.

"Oxidation?"

Iron oxidizes into ferric oxide, colored red, or copper into copper oxide, colored green.

If Bai Yang could utilize the color change caused by metal oxidation, for instance, when BG4MSR digs up the time capsule, she would see the metal time markers placed inside.

At that moment, Bai Yang only needed to ask the other person the color of that marker—this thing can't be faked, and since the other side does not know the significance of the color, they can't lie about it—then he could know whether that girl was telling the truth.

"Could this method work?"

"It won't work."

Bai Yang shook his head.

It wouldn't work.

The time capsule was hermetically sealed, completely airtight, with no oxygen available.

Bai Yang's second thought was evaporation.

He thought of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, rumored to be filled with mercury, with mercury rivers and lakes upon which boats could sail—even with mercury's terrifying density, where anyone who wasn't afraid of death could float on water like Iron Palm, mercury evaporates very slowly. If he placed 0.5 grams of mercury inside the time capsule, it could take over a decade for it to evaporate completely...

After twenty years, when BG4MSR opens the time capsule, she would see—high concentrations of mercury vapor.

That wouldn't work.

That would be harmful.

Bai Yang scratched his head.

This wouldn't work, that wouldn't work, what to do?

Regrettably, there wasn't a second person present to discuss this problem with him; two brains would definitely be better than one. Sitting alone on a chair, lost in deep thought, it was a pity he was a primate and not a large reptile, otherwise, he could have grown an extra brain on his buttocks to help him think. In the silent stillness, the small desk clock tick-tocked, the night grew deep, and the rain outside seemed to continue.

That night, Bai Yang lay in bed unable to sleep, eyes wide open, staring at the dark ceiling, his mind relentlessly pondering the problem.

He hoped to find a method, a method that couldn't be falsified, unaffected by any external forces, untampered by anyone, controlled only by the iron rules of this world, like trees turning into coal upon death, rocks eroded to form caves—allow the world itself to act as a timer, only then could it be deemed ironclad evidence.

Easier said than done.

As a high school student, it was too difficult to find such a method, Bai Yang thought silently; perhaps if someone else tried, someone older, with more life experience, they might think of a solution instantly. In the end, he was just too young and inexperienced... Could Yan's brother think of a better way? Could He Leqin think of a better way?

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He Leqin, worldly and well-traveled from a young age, traveling abroad more often than Bai Yang traveled out of province, might possibly have a good idea?

Better not, Bai Yang shook his head. He Leqin consistently failed Physics exams, scored even lower in Chemistry, relied on Bai Yang and Yan's brother to save his daily homework and was addicted to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Overwatch, Total War, Assassin's Creed, Dark Souls, European Truck, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Half-Life... Half-Life was really a terrible translation, ranked among the top ten worst Chinese game translations... Who was it that translated it into Half-Life... What was the original name of Half-Life?

Bai Yang's mind wandered aimlessly.

Half-Life's original name?

Seems like it was Half...

Half-Life?

Bai Yang startled, shocked into sitting up as if revived from near death.

Half-Life!