Chapter 120: Turn-Based Communication

Black screen.

Black screen.

Black screen.

Bai Yang slowly approached the screen and raised his hand to pat the computer monitor.

"No signal?"

Suddenly, a face in black and white emerged in the darkness, like a pale dead person immersed in thick black water. Bai Yang was so scared that he almost knocked over the chair.

"Wow!"

What kind of death lighting is this? She actually used a flashlight to shine upwards from under the chin, and dark shadows were cast on the philtrum, the center of the eyebrows and the forehead. The center of the brow was black and the face was pale, just like a freshly-made Black and White Impermanence. Bai Yang never thought that this girl would be a female ghost when she first appeared.

Fortunately, she quickly changed the direction of the light. As the light changed, the face on the screen came alive. Bai Yang could see that it was a pretty girl with fair skin. Her sweaty hair was draped over her smooth forehead. Her eyes were particularly black and white. She opened her eyes wide and used her left eye to look closely at the camera. It was unclear what she was looking at. She then moved her right eye closer, rolled her eyeballs, took a step back, squatted down, and held up a piece of cardboard. On the board were several bold black characters:

"Can you see me?"

During video transmission, the two parties cannot communicate in real time or speak. It is just like watching TV. People outside the TV cannot communicate with people inside the TV and can only hold up signs to each other.

The girl held the cardboard in front of the camera for half a minute, and thinking that the other party should be able to see the words clearly, she squatted down again, disappearing from the camera's field of view for a moment, and when she reappeared, she was holding up another sentence.

“The photos were beautiful!”

Then she disappeared from the camera again, stood up, holding a sign and a flashlight.

"Thank you!"

Bai Yang thought that it was really hard to speak, but it was worth the effort to be able to see the real person.

Didn't they spend so much time, thought and energy just to see each other? People are animals that look at faces. Only when you see the face can you say you know someone.

"Yo——" Two hands suddenly rested on Bai Yang's shoulders, and then a heavy pressure fell on his back, causing Bai Yang to stagger. Lian Qiao appeared behind him at some point, half of her body pressed on him, and she tilted her head to look at the screen, "Why can't I see her face? I can only see her chin. Ask her to squat down a little."

"I can't talk to her now... Move your hand, move your hand, you're crushing me, sister." Bai Yang patted Lian Qiao's wrist, "This is a one-way video transmission, we are watching a silent movie now."

The girl on the screen changed another piece of paper. This time she took a little longer to write. The following was written in a messy manner:

"We still switch in five minutes (crossed out)"

"Can you see clearly over there? This camera doesn't seem to be very good (crossed out)"

"Is the light a little dim here (crossed out)"

"Can you see clearly from your end? This camera doesn't seem to be working properly, and I changed to a thick pair of curtains, so the room is very dark."

"It's very dark." Lian Qiao said, "It would be great if it could be connected during the day. It's a pity that the beautiful sister can only see it at night. But fortunately, there is no big eye to disturb us this time. Where is that thing now?"

"Maybe he's still wandering around Nanjing city," Bai Yang said.

"This thing is so troublesome... Hey, hey, hey, what is this silly girl going to do?" Lian Qiao's face suddenly changed.

Bai Yang turned his head and looked.

"I'll show you a backflip!"

Those few big words frightened the two of them to death.

"Stop her, stop her!" Lian Qiao patted Bai Yang's shoulder hard.

"This... How do we stop this?" Bai Yang was in a panic. "I told her that she can't hear me. It takes five minutes to switch the transmission direction! There's nothing we can do now..."

As Bai Yang was speaking, the person on the screen had already climbed onto the bed. She stood on the edge of the bed, and only a section of her slender calf could be seen in the camera.

"Oh my god, what if he falls down by accident? What if he gets bumped into something?" Lian Qiao was anxious and sweating, like a parent worried about his own child. "Nonsense, why are you doing somersaults in such a small room?"

Bai Yang held his hands nervously over the table. He wanted to find something to solve the problem, but after looking around, he found nothing useful.

“I, I, I, I, I’m going to call for help…I…”

He was suddenly stunned.

The slender figure on the screen leaped up, rose into the air, flipped backwards, and landed steadily. The camera's refresh speed could not keep up with her movements. Bai Yang and Lian Qiao only saw a flash before the girl stood gracefully on the floor, falling precisely into the aperture of the flashlight.

She was wearing a black turtleneck sweater and dark jeans. The girl's face was still not visible in the camera's field of view. She could only be seen with her arms outstretched and bowing slowly.

Forsythia and Poplar were silent for a long time.

After a long time, Lian Qiao said:

"She must have been practicing for a long time."

She must have practiced for a long time. That set of smooth movements, somersaults in the small and cramped bedroom, leaping lightly and landing accurately, as gracefully and smoothly as a dancer. She must have practiced for a long time, for many years, and today she finally found an audience.

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Five minutes later, the data link switched, and then Baiyang transmitted the video signal and the other party received the signal.

Bai Yang had a stack of A4 paper in his hand. He wrote on the paper with a marker and answered the questions one by one.

"We can see you."

"If you think the photos are good, I'll go take more for you tomorrow."

"The light is a little dim, but the camera is still working properly. There is no need to change the camera. We can see clearly. Also, please stop doing backflips. It's too dangerous. What if you fall?"

Bai Yang unfolded the white paper and hung it in front of the camera.

He also didn't know whether the other party really saw these words, because there was no prompt or feedback. To get feedback, he had to switch the sender and receiver of the data link again after five minutes. After the switch, Bai Yang would receive the image data, and he would get feedback from the girl. Everything Bai Yang did at this time was like talking to a computer.

This is a very inefficient way of communication. You take five minutes and I take five minutes, and it's a round-based system. Modern people who are used to real-time communication may find it unbearable. These days, if someone doesn't reply to a WeChat or QQ message within five minutes, you'll think the other person has gone to take a shit, and if someone doesn't reply to a message within ten minutes, you'll think the other person has drowned in the toilet.

When Bai Yang put the pen on the paper, he felt like he was writing a letter.

He had never written a letter. People of his father's generation might have sent letters when they were young. Writing letters is an ancient way of communicating, but he was using radio waves that travel at the speed of light to transmit paper letters.

It's a bit sci-fi retro, isn't it?

"Yang Yang! Are you guys chatting?" Zhao Bowen pushed open the door. "Remind her that we are about to launch the second phase of Operation Dongfanghong..."

"Okay." Bai Yang said.

"Well, tell her that we are arranging the specific plan... I'll take a call later." The phone in Lao Zhao's pocket suddenly rang. He closed the door and walked out. "Hello? It's me... Um, um, what? Brussels? What meeting? I don't have time to go out now. Gentlemen, every minute is precious here, do you understand? The situation is urgent. Every minute of delay will cause the world to slide towards the brink of destruction. We don't have time to argue with foreigners. So, you can ask Mr. Wu and the general. One of them is the deputy commander-in-chief and the other is the commander of the base. They are just suitable to go there."

After ending the call, Zhao Bowen pushed the door open again and saw Bai Yang and Lian Qiao with their heads turned away with serious expressions.

"It's okay, it's okay, we have plenty of time." Lao Zhao waved his hands, "I'm just trying to scare them. You know, these people would like to let you take all the blame so that you don't have to bear the responsibility. If you are in the arena, you must have good football skills. If the ball is kicked to your feet, you must also learn to kick it away..."

Zhao Bowen spoke with the tone of a veteran.

"This is the life wisdom that has enabled me, your uncle Zhao, to remain standing in the workplace for many years."

(End of this chapter)