At 5:30 in the morning, just as the workshop lights came on, Chen Hao pushed open the door and came in, half a compressed biscuit dangling from his mouth and a still-uncleaned measuring tape in his hand. He rushed to the workbench with a brisk pace, put the biscuit aside, and the grease immediately spread out in a circle on the wood.
"It's started!" He slammed his hand on the table, making Nana's terminal screen flicker. "How did you sleep last night?"
"I'm not going to sleep." Without looking up, she slid her finger across the screen to bring up the 3D structure diagram. "The model assembly process is ready."
“Oh right, you don’t need to sleep.” He scratched his head and picked up the chainsaw. “Then I’ll have to put in a lot more effort for you.”
The two had a clear division of labor: he was in charge of rough processing, while Nana controlled the precision. The lightweight hardwood was cut into standard fan blades, the edges were polished smooth, the bracket was reinforced with metal brackets, and some grease was applied when the axle was inserted into the bearing. For two whole hours, sawdust flew everywhere, and Chen Hao's forehead was covered in sweat, his t-shirt soaked through.
"This thing took more effort than my first love." He panted as he straightened the last leaf. "If it doesn't spin, can we sue the water flow for fraud?"
“No.” Nana tightened the fixing bolts. “But it can be attributed to deviations in design parameters.”
"You're talking like a court verdict." He muttered, taking a few steps back, hands on his hips, staring at the finished product. "Alright, let's see what our first waterwheel ancestor looks like."
The model, forty centimeters in diameter, has eight blades arranged radially, resembling a miniature Ferris wheel when mounted on the test rack. The water pump is connected, the water tank is filled with clean water, and everything is ready.
“Start it,” he said, a hint of nervousness in his voice.
Nana pressed the switch.
The water flowed slowly, gently hitting the bottom of the blades. The wheel wobbled, turning half a circle crookedly with a "clunk" sound, like a bone dislocating. Then, the shaft vibrated violently, the blades rubbed against the edge of the support, and a screeching sound rang out. In less than three seconds, it came to a complete stop.
"...Hmm?" Chen Hao leaned closer. "Try again?"
The second time, they increased the water flow speed. The wheel turned a little faster, barely completing a full rotation, but on the second rotation it suddenly shifted, the blades got stuck in the gap of the guide plate, and it locked up completely.
The third time, the flow rate was reduced, and the impact angle was slowed down. The result was even worse—it barely moved, only trembling slightly in place, like a fish suffocating from lack of oxygen.
"We're doomed." Chen Hao plopped down on a small stool, picked up a marker and scribbled on his knee. "All three plans have failed. It's worse than my family's college entrance exam results."
Nana has already turned on the slow-motion replay. In the video, the water flow hits the blades at different points each time; sometimes it hits the base, sometimes it slides towards the tip, resulting in extremely uneven force. The wheel's sway gradually increases with rotation, eventually leading to structural imbalance.
“The problem isn’t with the assembly,” she said. “It’s with the unstable water flow distribution.”
“But we built it according to a simulation,” he frowned. “Didn’t you say this river could power 3.5 kilowatts?”
“That’s data from a real river.” She clicked on the report generated last night. “We’re currently using an artificial pumping system, which has large pressure fluctuations and inconsistent flow rates, making it impossible to simulate natural flow. In other words—”
"In other words, are we taking a tap and pretending it's the Yangtze or Yellow River?"
"The accuracy rate is about 61%."
"They're actually being quite accommodating." He leaned back against the wall, staring at the cracks in the ceiling. "So what do we do now? Do we have to wait for a downpour so we can both jump into the river and collect the data?"
“No need.” She tapped her finger lightly on the table. “We need measuring tools, devices that can collect flow velocity, pressure, and disturbance frequency in real time. Only with real input can we correct the model.”
"Such a thing exists?"
"Inventory records show that a multi-functional hydrological sensor was once registered in the warehouse."
"Then hurry up and take it out!"
"The last maintenance was three years ago. The current status is unknown and the location is not marked."
Chen Hao was silent for a few seconds, then looked down at the scattered pieces of wood at his feet. He picked up a piece of scrap, drew a crooked square on it, wrote "Water Measuring Artifact" on it, drew an arrow pointing to the waterwheel model, and crossed it out.
"I shouldn't have rushed into this," he said with a self-deprecating laugh. "I thought I could finally be an inventor, but I can't even manage to make a wheel work."
“Failure is a process of eliminating wrong options,” she said. “We have now confirmed that the existing simulation environment is insufficient to support effective testing.”
"You really know how to comfort people." He stood up and brushed the sawdust off his pants. "Alright, even instant noodles need to be cooked properly, and waterwheels need to be made with 'water quality' in mind."
He walked to the terminal and stared at the warning messages that kept flashing on the screen: [Input parameters missing] [Torque output abnormal] [Suggestion to supplement with actual measurement data].
"So the most important thing right now is to find that measuring instrument you mentioned?"
"yes."
"What does it look like? Does it have a screen? Does it have a battery?"
"It features a touch interface, a built-in energy module, and a waterproof alloy casing."
"Sounds like a prop from a sci-fi movie." He stroked his chin. "The base is so big, where do we even begin?"
"Historical logs show that high-precision scientific research equipment is mostly stored in closed storage areas." She pulled up a regional distribution map, "B7 is the most likely location."
“B7?” He squinted at it. “Isn’t that where scrap parts are piled up? I went there last month and almost got chased and bitten by rats.”
"If the device is in a dormant state, it may look no different from an ordinary metal box."
"So, we have to find a box in a pile of scrap metal that we don't even know if it will light up?"
"The logic holds true."
Chen Hao sighed, bent down to pick up the last fallen leaf, and gently placed it back on the workbench. He looked at the model that hadn't turned, and suddenly chuckled.
"Don't you think I'm a real troublemaker?" he said in a low voice. "Yesterday I was thinking of using this thing to install a fan in my dorm, and today I haven't even seen the fan's father yet."
“You’re trying more often than average,” she said. “Three months ago you couldn’t even hold a screwdriver.”
"Now I can cut wood myself." He waved the measuring tape in his hand. "It's a small improvement, but at least I haven't regressed."
She did not respond, but simply packaged and archived all the data from this test, labeling it as: 【V1.0-Test Failure-Reason to be Investigated】.
The workshop fell silent. The water pump stopped running, and the water in the tank gradually calmed, reflecting the ceiling lights and the two people's blurry shadows. Chen Hao stood beside the testing rack, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the crossbeam of the rack, the rhythm sometimes fast and sometimes slow.
“Actually,” he suddenly said, “I always thought that invention was just about drawing a diagram, making a prototype, and then ‘whoosh,’ it was done. But now I realize that even getting water to properly propel a wheel requires first understanding its temperament.”
"The essence of engineering is to constantly approach reality."
"That sounds exhausting."
"But it's more reliable than wishful thinking."
He grinned, turned around, grabbed a marker, and wrote four words on the side of the model's base: "Waiting for you to come back."
Then he straightened up and looked at Nana: "That measuring instrument you mentioned...shouldn't we do a thorough search of the old warehouse?"
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