Once Upon in Nanjing-Chapter 4 - 3 Do You Still Have a Mother?

This "Are there any living people?" also left Bai Yang bewildered.

According to the amateur radio shortwave communication rules, the standard response is to indicate that one has received the signal, and then to identify oneself by reporting one's call sign.

What do they mean by such a ghostly reaction?

A few seconds later, the other party spoke again, shouting with excitement: "Is there anyone? Is there anyone? Is there anyone there?"

Bai Yang frowned as he listened.

The last thing anyone wanted when engaging in radio communication was to encounter such people who know nothing about the rules, don't follow procedures, don't report their call sign, don't report signals, don't report location, just barge into channels and babble on. Bai Yang instantly felt repulsed—where did this newbie come from? How did they pass the exam?

Even though he himself was also a novice.

And he hadn't taken any exam.

"This is BG4MXH, QTH Nanjing City, Qinhuai District, I have copied your signal, your signal is 59, OVER."

Look, this is a professional response.

Bai Yang released the button on the hand mic.

The person on the other side spoke again.

"What? Are you a living person? Where are you now? How many people are there with you? Has anyone been injured or killed? What's the situation with the casualties? What supplies are you short of?"

The other party was almost shouting in their excitement.

Bai Yang jumped in fright—holy crap, where did this old lady come from? Do you really not fear the Wireless Committee knocking on your door?

There's a set of customary rules and regulations in radio communication: one must not shout loudly on the channel, not talk nonsense, not utter obscenities, not interrupt others' communications arbitrarily, and should promote civility, beauty, and love, with all within the four seas being friends of the radio.

If you dare to swear in the channel—

Wireless Committee: We'll be at your doorstep immediately!

Bai Yang's instinct was to avoid this strange person, much like how you'd steer clear of someone who suddenly rushes up to spout nonsense at you in the street.

"73! Goodbye! Goodbye!"

In his haste, Bai Yang, the rookie, wanted to make a run for it.

"Wait! Don't go! Don't leave!"

As soon as the other party heard that he was leaving, they immediately became anxious.

"No... sorry, my fellow operator, my mom is calling me to sleep, here's 73 for you."

Bai Yang said.

"Your mom? You still have a mom?"

The other party was greatly shocked.

With a "click," Bai Yang turned off the radio, thinking to himself, what a lunatic.

·

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The next day.

Bai Yang came out of his room, bleary-eyed, his mother was mopping the floor, and the TV on the TV stand was turned on, broadcasting the morning news, while his father sat at the table browsing the headlines of the day.

"Move your feet." His mother nudged Bai Yang's slippers with the mop; she had to wait for Bai Yang to get up so she could mop the room, "What time did you go to sleep last night?"

"Midnight." Bai Yang went into the bathroom to wash up, he took his own light blue tooth mug from the sink, and then freed two fingers to squeeze toothpaste. After squeezing the toothpaste, he turned on the tap--with a "whoosh," a stream of white water rushed into the cup, frothing out in a full mouth of bubbles.

"Go to sleep earlier in the evenings." His mother was dissatisfied with Bai Yang's bedtime, "You don't sleep at night, and then can't get up the next morning, wasting all the good time of the forenoon sleeping away..."

"Fine, fine, I got it!" Bai Yang said with his mouth full of toothpaste foam, "I'll definitely go to bed early, definitely."

"The college entrance exam is almost upon us, only a year left. Set aside that radio for now and focus on your studies. Use the last ten months to review and consolidate what you've learned. There's still room to improve in six months..."

Mom started nagging again.

In one breath, she reduces the time remaining for the college entrance exam from one year to ten months, then to half a year. Rounded up, it might as well be tomorrow.

"That's not a radio!" Bai Yang mumbled unclearly, "That's a ham radio!"

"It's a radio," Mom said. "Does being a bit larger mean it's not a radio?"

"It's a shortwave radio!" Bai Yang spat out all the toothpaste foam, gargled, and amidst the loud splashing of water, he argued loudly, "Ham radios can be life-saving in extreme conditions. If our house were to experience an earthquake, flood, tsunami, or some other natural disaster, even the apocalypse, when cell phone and TV signals are all gone, and everyone's out of contact, then only ham radios can..."

"Only ham radios can connect with the outside world, right?" Mom interjected.

Bai Yang was stunned, "Yeah."

"What's that got to do with your college entrance exam?" Mom said. "If it's the end of the world, would it be your worry? As long as the earth doesn't explode, you'll have to take the exam. Stop talking nonsense."

After finishing his morning routine, Bai Yang came out of the bathroom helplessly. Dad was still sitting there scrolling through the news.

While he was making his case ardently, Dad pretended to be dead the whole time.

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Father and son gave each other a look, both feeling helpless about the stubbornness of middle-aged housewives.

Back in the day, Dad was a big shot in Nanjing's HAM circle. In his own words, there are so many toads in the world, only a few could become spirits, and the only one who could become Ouyang Feng was him.

Bai Yang asked about Uncle Zhao?

Dad said your Uncle Zhao became Ouyang Ke.

Unfortunately, Dad is now a quarter retired, a quarter laid-back, and half ready for the grave. He's long since faded out of the HAM circle. Keeping the radio is just for listening to broadcasts now, no longer the passionate heydays.

Bai Yang lamented their belated meeting.

If only he'd known his dad earlier, they could have entered competitions together.

"Did you make contact last night?"

Bai Yang sat down at the breakfast table to eat, with four soup dumplings on his plate, and Dad whispered his question.

"I made contact with one on 14 megahertz," Bai Yang whispered back, "14255."

"Where from?"

"I don't know," Bai Yang said. "It was an unlicensed station."

"Enemy spies from the other side? Did they offer you US Dollars to defect?" Dad joked, "If so, agree quickly, take the money then call the police. You'll get the US Dollars and an additional reward of five hundred thousand."

"It was a girl," Bai Yang said. "A girl babbling on, I couldn't understand what she was saying."

"A girl? Enemy spies are willing to spend that much now? Might be a femme fatale."

"So what if she's a femme fatale?" Bai Yang devoured the soup dumplings, "Not even using a callsign, no idea about QTH, and Dad, the channels you recommended are all empty."

"What about 14270?"

"No one."

Dad sighed: "Back in the day, it was bustling like a marketplace, but now there are fewer and fewer people in this hobby. Why don't you get a handheld transceiver? There are more people in the UV band. Get a Baofeng UV5R, the legendary model, just a hundred bucks, you can even reach satellites with it."

Bai Yang had personally experienced the decline of amateur radio. Empty channels like deserted streets; he could shout down the avenue, but not a single echo would answer.

"Mr. Liu has posted the math homework in the group chat, Bai, make sure you check it," Mom said as she finished mopping the floor. Bai Yang and Dad snapped shut their conversation. Talking about radios—in Mom's eyes, that's exactly what they were—is dangerous. Mom spared that antique from being sold on second-hand markets, which was already very kind. Father and son Bai couldn't be ungrateful.

"I know," Bai Yang lowered his head and took a big gulp of soy milk, plotting in his mind to try again this evening. He wasn't willing to give up so easily. What if he managed to make contact with the other side of the ocean? Then he could show his mom a legitimate reason—playing with this is actually for learning English! Practicing speaking! It's helpful for the college entrance exam!

Just as long as he doesn't make contact with someone Japanese.

Because Mom doesn't recognize what they speak as English.