novelraw Chapter 50 Worldline Zero
Chapter 50 Worldline Zero
Jiang Ran picked up a screwdriver, preparing to dismantle the Positron Cannon.
Before the worldline changed, Qin Feng had been tinkering with this thing every day—constantly taking it apart and modifying it.
Bored, Jiang Ran often stood nearby watching. Whenever something puzzled him, he would ask directly, and Qin Feng would patiently explain.
Now, Jiang Ran felt incomparably grateful for that earlier curiosity… otherwise, facing this situation alone, he truly wouldn’t know where to begin.
The Positron Cannon’s structure was roughly divided into two parts: internal and external.
Internally, the main component was the core CRT picture tube. In theory, it was an integrated vacuum unit—something that couldn’t be opened and absolutely shouldn’t be opened. It was best not to touch it at all.
Externally, things were much simpler: power-supply modules and control circuits. Qin Feng had always been working on this part, and the related components were all purchased from […Old Qi’s Home Appliance Repair Shop].
Of course.
Circuit control sounded and looked simple, but in actual operation it still carried a certain level of difficulty.
Cautious as he was, Jiang Ran had no intention of jumping straight in.He planned to spend this period systematically studying the basics of picture tubes, circuit boards, and capacitors first. Only after fully understanding everything would he begin repairing the Positron Cannon.
This thing was far too precious. He didn’t want a moment of carelessness to make it explode… because then there would truly be no place left to cry, and no medicine for regret.
Following his memory.
He carefully dismantled the Positron Cannon’s outer casing.
Worthy of being a twenty-year-old relic, the components were all large, and the space utilization was extremely low.
“Here—this is the burned power-supply module.”
Jiang Ran took out a circuit board that carried a scorched smell. On it was a lump of blackened, hardened residue. There was no need to say it—this was a burned capacitor.
Solving this part wouldn’t be difficult.
He only needed to remove the circuit board and take it to Old Qi’s Home Appliance Repair Shop, where the owner could provide a same-spec replacement.
According to Qin Feng, this owner—known as “Old Qi”—was extremely skilled. He had focused on repairing old appliances for over thirty years. In this field that society was gradually phasing out, he was practically a living fossil-level expert.
“The hardest part is tuning the […]focusing unit.”
By default, the Positron Cannon could only send information back to three days ago;
only by increasing the focusing unit’s intensity could it send spacetime information further into the past.
Cheng Mengxue had died two years ago.
To save her, he had to send spacetime information back two years.
So knowledge related to the focusing unit would be Jiang Ran’s main study focus in the coming period.
As for the LCD rotary control board, that too could be purchased from Old Qi’s Home Appliance Repair Shop.
Thanks to Old Qi—and his persistence in the old home-appliance trade—Jiang Ran could achieve true one-stop purchasing.
Finally.
It was time to remove the Positron Cannon’s top cover.
This was the part Jiang Ran was most worried about.
That obvious dent—please don’t let it have smashed the core component inside…
Bless it. Please.
Carefully—heart pounding—he unscrewed the bolts, removed the top cover, and looked inside at the CRT picture tube.
He examined it twice.
“It seems… there aren’t any external injuries.”
Jiang Ran wasn’t completely sure, but at least from the outside, the core picture tube showed no signs of damage.
“Hoo…”
He let out a breath.
The huge weight in his heart finally lifted. The accumulated exhaustion of the past few days surged up, and Jiang Ran lay back on the sofa.
Quiet.
Even though there were scattered voices of laughter in the corridor outside.
He still felt that this activity room was far too quiet.
How he missed the noisy bickering and play of the former trio here…
He suddenly felt a deep resonance with a sentence he had once read:
[…We cannot foresee the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.]
“They’ll come back.”
Jiang Ran opened his eyes.
“I’ll retrieve everything that was lost.”
Including Cheng Mengxue.
Including Qin Feng.
And including everything beautiful that once existed here.
He sat up and returned to the small blackboard, using chalk to sort out the next steps—
1. Repair the Positron Cannon as soon as possible, resend spacetime information, and save Cheng Mengxue.
2. After saving Cheng Mengxue, then go search for Qin Feng, figure out what happened to him, and uncover the secrets he’s hiding.
3. As much as possible, make up for everything that was lost, and let the worldline jump back to its original form.
“The original form.”
He murmured the last few words while staring at them.
Since a worldline could transition from A to B, then logically, it should also be able to transition from B back to A.
There would always be a way.
As long as the historical trajectory could be corrected.
The original worldline…
Jiang Ran narrowed his eyes.
That was the worldline where the trio were inseparable, joyful and beautiful;
even if there were arguments and frequent frictions, it was still the worldline Jiang Ran most wanted to return to.
[…Worldline Zero.]
As he spoke, he wrote those words on the small blackboard.
That’s right.
The three-step strategy he had just written, and all efforts up to this point, shared the same ending and purpose—
[…Return to Worldline Zero!]
Since the original worldline was called Worldline Zero,
Then this unsatisfactory worldline at present was naturally… Worldline One.
The description was clear and intuitive.
Jiang Ran drew an arrow on the small blackboard, pointing from Worldline One to Worldline Zero.
This kind of purposeful, precisely directed, artificial worldline transition would certainly not be easy—but that didn’t matter. He would definitely fulfill his promise to the two of them and bring them all back, without leaving anyone behind.
“Alright, that’s it.”
He stood up, put the Positron Cannon back into the cardboard box, sealed it, and pushed it into the corner.
Then he used the blackboard eraser to wipe everything off the small blackboard, to prevent Chi Xiaoguo from seeing it—this would be very hard to explain.
He brushed the chalk dust from his hands.
And finally took one last look at the activity room.
Locked the door and left.
……
“Treat me to dinner!”
Just after returning to Donghai Foreign Economic and Trade Vocational College, Wang Hao slammed into him like a human cannonball.
“Hurry up already!”
“Why?” Jiang Ran asked back.
“You’ve got the nerve to ask!”
Wang Hao scoffed.
“Do you know how hard it’s been for me to cover for Xiuxiu these past two days?”
“You’re living it up—not answering calls, not replying on WeChat. Xiuxiu calls me every day asking what you’re up to.”
“I’ve practically burned through my brain cells coming up with excuses to cover for you! Don’t you think you owe me a proper meal?”
That was true.
Jiang Ran of course knew—his phone had several missed calls and unread messages, all from Nan Xiuxiu. He hadn’t replied to any of them.
He truly didn’t know how to respond.
Maybe Nan Xiuxiu was very familiar with him—had, as Wang Hao said, accompanied him through two years of depression;
but from Jiang Ran’s perspective, he really wasn’t familiar with Nan Xiuxiu at all. She was no different from a stranger.
And even…
As far as the plan Jiang Ran was carrying out was concerned, a girlfriend like Nan Xiuxiu was a complete burden.
“Fine. Where are we eating?”
He understood Wang Hao’s difficulty. Having taken favors from someone, he couldn’t refuse—this meal had to be on him.
“The old place.”
Jiang Ran was helpless.
“What old place?”
This wasn’t his fault. He genuinely had no idea which “old place” Wang Hao was talking about.
“Ugh, stop dragging your feet! I’ll call a ride.”
As he spoke, Wang Hao took out his phone and started hailing a ride.
“Oh, right.”
He looked up.
“The day after tomorrow is the May Day holiday. Want to go back to our hometown with me?”
“Back to Hang City? I won’t go.”
Jiang Ran shook his head.
He wanted to fix the Positron Cannon as soon as possible. Over the next few days, he planned to go to the library, borrow a few books, and seriously study picture tubes and the focusing unit.
“Isn’t summer vacation coming in a couple of months anyway? Why go back for May Day?”
Wang Hao didn’t say anything.
He took out a cigarette.
Lit it.
Exhaled curling smoke.
“We didn’t go back in April for Qingming;
in June there are exams and a ton of things, so we won’t have time to go home either. That leaves only the May Day holiday.”
“At this time, going back—what do you think I could be doing?”
Wang Hao turned his head, his gaze heavy as it landed on Jiang Ran.
“…Going to sweep Cheng Mengxue’s grave.”