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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
I followed the beam of his flashlight and saw a house leaning against the stone wall, its color closely resembling that of the wall. Initially, as we walked along the riverbank, it was normal not to notice this house.
As we approached, I realized that this house was a modern structure, only one story high, made of brick and tile. There was a door in the middle and a window on each side, with glass in the windows.
The door was unlocked and opened with a push. Without considering the danger, the two of us began to look around. The layout of this room was traditional, with a central living room and two rooms on each side. Three of these were bedrooms, while the other was a study.
Inside the living room was a square table and four long benches; nothing else was present. The three bedrooms were quite simple, each containing a bed with bedding that had decayed beyond recognition due to age. Additionally, each bedroom had a five-drawer cabinet, likely used for storing clothes.
When I reached the study, I found a large desk made of solid wood, typical of the fifties and sixties style. A piece of red velvet cloth covered the center of the desk, under which lay a sheet of glass. Beneath the glass were several photographs that had become blurry due to dampness. Next to the desk was a bookshelf filled with books that had also rotted away due to moisture and age.
I shone my flashlight around and surprisingly discovered that there was a light bulb on the ceiling. What on earth is going on here? I quickly waved my flashlight at the doorway and indeed found a rope hanging down; this was the pull cord for the light bulb, which had been commonly used before the nineties.
I pulled on the rope, and instantly the room was filled with light. I couldn't help but squint my eyes and burst into laughter.
Seeing this, Fatty asked suspiciously, "Ghost Brother, what’s up? Did you get hit in the head or something? Why are you laughing like an idiot all of a sudden?"
"You have no idea! If there’s a light bulb here, then there must be a power cord leading in. And this house indicates that it connects to the outside world; otherwise, how would they have brought in bricks and tiles to build it?" I said cheerfully.
Fatty scratched his head and replied, "That makes sense!"
We were too lazy to rummage through the room any further; honestly, even if there were big secrets inside this room, they had nothing to do with us. What we wanted most at this moment was to find an exit.
Stepping outside, I waved my flashlight wildly above me until I found the power cord. Following it upward with my light revealed that it was directly embedded in the rock wall above us. Yes, we found the passage for the power cord! But damn it, this hole for the power cord was only as big as a sea bowl—how could anyone possibly squeeze through? Not to mention Fatty's large frame.
Fatty swallowed hard, making a gurgling sound in his throat. "Ghost Brother, have you heard of the Shrinking Skill? I'm afraid we can only use that kind of Kung Fu to get out."
I felt extremely frustrated. Just when I had a glimmer of hope, it was crushed by a big foot that came down with a thud, and to make matters worse, that foot even stomped twice!
The drop from such a height to the ground was incredibly unpleasant. I stood there, shining my flashlight into the hole of the Power Cord, hoping to spot something unusual.
"Ghost Brother, you mentioned earlier that the bricks and tiles of this house must have been brought in from above. So there must be other exits around here. Let's keep looking," Fatty said, glancing around.
"Yeah, that's true!" I forced a smile. After some discussion, we continued to walk around the lake along the cliff.
When we returned to the front of the house again, it had already been over an hour, and we hadn’t discovered anything.
The two of us stood at the door of the room, staring blankly at each other, unsure of what to do next. After a while, I said hesitantly, "Right, let's go into the room and move all the beds and desks out. We can find a couple of old books to burn and create a fire to get rid of the dampness."
Fatty pulled out a lighter from his pocket and clicked it several times. Sparks flickered out faintly. After a few more attempts, a flame finally sprang up. I quickly took out my lighter and brought it closer; with a click, my lighter ignited as well.
The two of us used the lighters for about seven or eight seconds before releasing them to extinguish the flames. If we kept burning them any longer, the plastic tip would melt; our goal was simply to dry them out.
With the lighter ready, the first thing we did was light a cigarette. Taking a deep drag made me feel instantly refreshed. Yes, I know smoking is harmful to health, but there's no denying that it really helps with alertness.
After finishing one cigarette, I moved out a pile of moldy books from the study while Fatty was dismantling a bed in one of the bedrooms. The sounds of cracking wood echoed as Fatty kicked and punched until the bed was in ruins. I asked him why he didn’t dismantle the tables and benches in the living room instead. His answer left me speechless; he couldn’t stand seeing a bed because it reminded him of Health Treatment.
Carrying the broken bed frame outside, Fatty complained, "This bed is so sturdy; my hands are numb."
First, I stacked the wood into a structure resembling a pyramid, then found two relatively dry wooden boards. Using a dagger, I shaved off a few thin wooden pieces and placed them inside the structure. Next, I searched through the pile of moldy pages and found a few sheets of paper that weren't too damp. I ignited them with a lighter and stuffed them under the wooden pieces. Before long, flames shot up.
Fatty kicked apart the remaining two beds inside, piling all the wooden boards beside us. This stack of wood should be enough for several hours of burning.
Although it was summer, the temperature underground was not high, and we could sit comfortably in front of the fire. Even with the fire, we could only nibble on some snacks. Grilled fish? Forget it; that Monster Fish might contain deadly poison.
Sitting in front of the fire with a cigarette in my mouth, I held a book and occasionally tore out a couple of pages to throw into the flames since we had nothing else to do.
After tearing up one book, I casually picked up another one. Huh? This book actually had a plastic cover?
I opened the cover and discovered that it wasn't a book but rather a notebook wrapped in plastic. Spitting out my cigarette butt into the fire, I quickly tore off the plastic: "Fatty, come over and check this out!"
Fatty responded with an "Oh!" and came over, looking curiously at the notebook in my hand.
This was an old notebook; despite being wrapped in plastic, it had still been affected by moisture and appeared quite worn. On the cover was an image of Old Man Mao with his head pressed against a sun radiating beams of light. Below it were illustrations of a worker and a farmer, along with three characters spelling "Notebook." Strangely, this notebook only had the front half; the back half had been torn away by someone.
I opened the notebook and was relieved to find that the handwriting was still somewhat legible. The first page read: "To Comrade Li Yunfan, wishing you greater achievements!" The signature was surprisingly from Shen Xueqian.
Shen Xueqian—our country's most famous scientist, the Father of Chinese Missiles.
Wow, the owner of this notebook was quite impressive to know Shen Lao.
Continuing to flip through it, I found that it resembled a draft filled with random terms related to biotechnology. Although I had done well in biology, what was written here was far too profound for me to understand.
Flipping quickly to the back, I found that the notes began there, resembling a diary. The language used in the notes was a mix between classical and modern Chinese, making it difficult for me to grasp the full meaning. I couldn't decipher the mundane details about daily necessities, so I only selected a few pages that I deemed important.
August 9, Overcast.
Today I applied for gold again, but was rejected once more. Director Chen has all the national funds allocated to Two Bombs, One Satellite, and is not considering anything else for now. Gold, being such a precious material, is of utmost importance; he advised me not to pursue this idea during this period. He offered me three options: first, abandon this project; second, raise funds independently; third, continue waiting.
Abandoning this project is not an option. Our team has invested countless efforts into it. Zhang Hanlong and Yoshinaka have both endured great hardships to return to the country. Moreover, we have already spent over ten years on this project, and the effort we’ve put in is incalculable.
How long do we have to keep waiting? Raise funds independently? The three of us have already exhausted our resources; where else can we find money? The entire country is facing economic strain; who has spare cash to lend us?
Two Bombs, One Satellite is a major topic; does that mean our topic isn’t significant? If our project succeeds, it will usher in a brand new era and bring about a transformative change in the entire human world.
October 6, Rain.
The project cannot continue any longer; we can't even obtain the most basic experimental materials, let alone the gold we need. The three of us can only eat when there’s food available; we can’t do anything else.
Although having food to eat in this era is already quite good, did we return to our country just to scrape by on three meals a day? We aim to serve our nation; why is our project so undervalued?
November 18.
Our project has been terminated.
November (date missing).
Today we got drunk again. In our sorrowful state, the three of us suddenly felt bold and cut off our left fingers, declaring that we would never mention our project again as long as we live. Unfortunately, after sobering up, even with one less finger, we still found ourselves discussing our project.
January 9, Sunny.
Today, after getting drunk, I met a strange person. I shared my project with him, and to my surprise, he could help me gather gold to continue our project, but there was one condition. Honestly, my mind is so focused on keeping this project going that I didn't fully understand his condition and agreed without hesitation.
January 5
The three of us arrived at a mysterious place. I had never seen so much gold before; it was overwhelming! I swore that if we moved all this gold out, the price of gold in the entire world would drop by twenty percent. After my initial shock, I immediately questioned this strange person about why he didn't donate it to the country. He simply replied, "Do you want to continue developing your project? If you do, then don't ask so many questions."
I chose to continue the project.
January 17
Our laboratory has been completed. No one would have thought that our lab is actually underground. I also don't know how that strange person managed the construction; in less than twenty hours, he created such an impressive laboratory for us and provided us with a large sum of money. With money in hand, things became easier. After procuring the necessary materials, we began our frantic work.
The strange person warned us that we must go outside to live for a day or two each week, get some sunlight, and breathe the air from the surface; otherwise, we would develop mold and rot away.
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