Once Upon in Nanjing-Chapter 27 - 13 The Mouth of a Woman

Starting from the second day, it was a lengthy Golden Week holiday. Bai Yang didn't participate in the fox hunting competition his dad had mentioned, not because he wasn't interested, but because running to the mountains to bask in the sun on such a scorching day is not about becoming a ham, it's more like becoming a hot dog, assuming your life is too long to care.

Nanjing is a furnace every year; dogs are dying from the heat.

Then they become hot dogs.

During lunch today, dad mentioned to Bai Yang that he ran into your Uncle Wang while driving yesterday afternoon.

"You guys didn't drink, did you?" Mom asked sharply.

"No, no." Dad hurriedly denied it. "I'm driving; how could I dare to drink?"

Dad actually loves drinking, but he dares not indulge.

Because his character when drunk is terrible, and he inevitably blacks out. After drinking, he wakes up completely oblivious of his actions. According to mom, shortly after they got married, gripped by the influence of alcohol, he even dismantled the Changhong TV at home—oddly enough, drunk dad couldn't remember anything else, but he remembered clearly how to dismantle a TV.

When sober, he reported a burglary at home.

The burglar had dismantled the TV.

"Your Uncle Wang told me he heard you babbling on the frequency the other day," said dad. "He said you haven't got your license yet, so put the radio aside for now and focus on the college entrance exams."

"Oh." Bai Yang bowed his head and kept eating.

Uncle Wang dad mentioned was naturally Wang Ning.

Back in the day, dad, Wang Ning, and Zhao Bowen were known as the Iron Triangle of Southern Jiangsu; famous in the HAM circles. Afterward, Zhao Bowen went on to study physics at university and now teaches at Nanjing University, while dad failed the college entrance exams, thus enlisted in the military, serving as a communications technician in the navy. After demobilizing, he didn't get a job placement and stayed in the city driving for DiDi.

As for Wang Ning, he worked at the Nanjing City Wireless Committee, doing nothing much. The committee is a very relaxed workplace; one cigarette pack, one cup of tea, and a newspaper are enough to last one through the day. As a child, Bai Yang was often taken there to play by his dad. Their office was located at the Wireless Management Committee on Longpan Middle Road in Xuanwu District, housed within an inconspicuous grey concrete building.

Theoretically speaking, the committee had the capability to monitor all radio communications within the city, whether amateur channels or not. They were the official radio monitoring agency tasked with maintaining the electromagnetic environment and order of communication in Nanjing City. But as amateur radio becomes increasingly unpopular, the committee began neglecting their duties, rendering their arsenal ineffective, and letting things slide, focusing mainly on broadcast and police channels.

But do they still monitor amateur channels? They do, but they don't listen to them.

At most, they investigate recordings if someone files a complaint.

As long as you don't blast at high power or curse indiscriminately on the amateur channels, they pretty much leave you alone.

In Wang Ning's words, who would want to spend all day listening to a bunch of greasy middle-aged men yapping?

"Also, the call sign you mentioned last time, BG4MSR, was it?" dad continued.

Bai Yang nodded.

"That call sign doesn't exist." Dad said.

Bai Yang looked stunned.

"The guy just made up a call sign to fool you," said dad. "Who are these people you're encountering? It's like a woman's mouth..."

"A woman's mouth?" Mom's eyebrows lifted.

"...is gentle as water."

Bai Yang nodded; his mind was elsewhere. Call signs don't matter; if it's made up, so be it.

At this moment, Bai Yang was not in the mood to worry about call signs. He only hoped to receive the girl's reply soon. He wanted to know if the time capsule had been successfully received.

If she dug up the time capsule, Bai Yang was confident he could determine the era the girl was living in. The tritium tube inside the photo frame was a concealed yet absolutely reliable time indicator.

But Bai Yang couldn't get in touch with BG4MSR during the day; he tried calling on 14255 with his radio in the morning, but no one responded, possibly not online yet.

They usually communicated after 10 p.m., so Bai Yang could only wait until after 10 tonight to find out the results.

Thinking that he would have to wait until 10 p.m. for the outcome, Bai Yang wished he was having dinner right now.

But this afternoon, he had already made plans to watch "The Captain".

Bai Yang sighed. On the rare occasion he had some free time to watch a movie, he was simply not in the mood. Before the 10 pm check-in tonight, he couldn't get excited about any activity. Bai Yang was so preoccupied with the time capsule that it was all he could think about. The next time something could possibly occupy his mind and worries to this extent would probably be the scores from next year's college entrance exam.

Perhaps even the scores from the college entrance exam wouldn't make him feel so anxious.

After all, if you don't do well, you won't get into South Airline High School.

He went downstairs, turned a corner, and saw two figures waving at him from afar, riding bicycles at the entrance of the residential compound; shared bicycles weren't allowed inside, so Yan Zhihan and He Leqin were waiting for him at the entrance.

"Bai Yang, hurry up!"

It's a 3 pm show; what's the rush?

Bai Yang thought to himself.

He Leqin was wearing a blue Li-Ning T-shirt and black capri pants, sitting on the bicycle seat with one foot on the pedal and the other on the ground, looking down at his phone. Yan Zhihan wore a white short-sleeved shirt and denim shorts, her slender and fair legs matched with white sneakers, and on her head was a wide-brimmed straw hat. She was holding two bottles of frozen Nongfu Spring water, both taking shelter under the shade of a tree to avoid the scorching sun. When they saw Bai Yang approaching, the girl leaned her bike against the compound's fence and ran over to stuff the bottle of water into his hand.

"You're so slow," Yan Zhihan said.

"We had a late lunch at my place," Bai Yang shrugged helplessly, "you know how it is, bear with me, will ya?"

"Bai Yang, go scan a bike for us to use," He Leqin looked up and said.

"Damn, we're biking there?" Bai Yang was startled. "Is Wanda in Xinjiekou?"

"We're biking to the subway station, dumbass," He Leqin replied. "With the sun this hot, you wanna walk to the subway station?"

Bai Yang scanned a Hello Bike, and the three of them squeezed onto the bike lane, heading towards the subway station and chatting sporadically.

"When will the movie end?"

"Around 5 o'clock?"

"What should we have for dinner? Hey hey hey... Yan bro, don't squeeze me, you're gonna make me fall."

"Why are you riding so slow then? Make way, I'll go upfront."

"How about we find a place in Xinbai for dinner, what about frog? Haven't had frog legs in a while, I am the world's number one frog killer! Known as the 'frogs' bane'."

"Stone pot frog legs?"

"Hey you two, Bai Yang, He Leqin, there's a cat café in Xinbai! I want to go pet some cats."

"What's the fun in petting cats? I'm telling you, those cat cafés stink because they can't open the doors and windows, so the smell is strong and awful."

"Is 'The Captain' any good?"

"It has a good rating on Meituan."

"That rating on Meituan is reliable?"

"I actually want to see 'Climber.' 'Climber' has Wu Jing, who can punch to death a treacherous traitor! Ha!"

"Yan bro, 'My People, My Country' also has Wu Jing."

"Then let's go see 'My People, My Country'! My country—!"

"Yan bro, the tickets are already bought, and the show is about to start."

"Pedal faster! Pedal faster! There are ten seconds left on the green light ahead! Go for it! Quick quick quick!"

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"Ouch, you in a rush to be reincarnated?"

"Charge—!"