Courtyard House: A Major Power's Heavy Industry, Hand-Crafted Nuclear Fusion

Summer 1981, Beijing.

A downpour had just stopped, and the air was filled with the smell of earth.

In the courtyard of the Red Star Software Research Institute, a mud-covered jeep had just come to a stop. The driver jumped out, clutching a waterproof aluminum alloy box tightly in his arms, and ran into the office building.

"We've arrived! Minister Su! The data disk from Base 001 has arrived!"

The driver, panting, placed the box on Su Zheng's desk.

Su Zheng opened the box, took out several 8-inch floppy disks, and inserted them into the computer.

Read, verify, decompress.

Ten minutes later, the report on the results of the "Loongson-2" chip fabrication finally appeared on the screen.

"92% yield rate, clock speed increased to 20MHz..."

Su Zheng looked at the data, but instead of a smile, he sighed.

"When was this data released?" he asked the driver.

"Reporting to the commander, it was... three days ago."

The driver wiped his sweat. "As soon as the results came out over there, I drove here. I encountered a torrential downpour, landslides blocked the road, and I had to detour 200 kilometers to get here..."

"Three days."

Su Zheng tapped his fingers lightly on the table. "In the era of Moore's Law, three days is enough time for competitors to iterate through a microcode iteration."

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the telephone line that stretched across the yard.

"We have the fastest chips and the best systems, yet we're still transmitting data in the most primitive way."

"It's like driving a Ferrari to deliver a package, but the road is a muddy one."

"No, this road needs to be repaired."

……

The next day, at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.

When Su Zheng proposed to rent a "military-grade dedicated line" that ran directly from Beijing to the Northwest 001 Base, the section chief who received him thought he was crazy.

"Minister Su, that's a telephone line!"

The section chief earnestly advised, "Telephone lines are for transmitting sound, which is an analog signal. Your computer uses digital signals, 0s and 1s. It's like trying to make a train run on wires—they're completely different things!"

"Therefore, we need a 'translator'."

Su Zheng took a black box out of his bag.

This thing is only the size of a brick, with a telephone line connected to the back and a computer serial port connected to the front.

"This is called a 'data machine'."

Su Zheng explained, "It can 'modulate' the computer's digital signal into an audio signal and send it out through the telephone line. At the other end, it 'demodulates' the audio signal back into a digital signal."

"This...can it really work?" The section chief asked doubtfully.

"Whether it works or not, we'll find out by trying."

Su Zheng smiled and said, "Give me three days, and... give me access to that frequency band."

……

Three days later, Red Star Software Research Institute, Computer Room 0.

This place has once again become a witness to history.

Although it wasn't as noisy as a press conference, the atmosphere at the scene was even more tense.

Ye Xinyi sat in front of the control panel, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she debugged the communication protocol called "CN-TCP/IP".

This is a heavily modified version of the original TCP/IP protocol, optimized for the poor network quality in China. It incorporates significant error correction redundancy, ensuring data packet integrity even with only 50% network connectivity.

"Northwest Base, can you hear me?"

Su Zheng picked up the phone receiver.

"Yes, Minister Su," came Old Chen's excited voice from the other end of the phone. "We're ready on our end, the modem's red light is on."

"Okay, hang up the phone and switch to data mode."

"yes!"

Sizzle—sizzle—drip—

As soon as the receiver was put down, a piercing electronic noise, like an alien scream, came from the black modem.

What sounded like noise to an ordinary person was heavenly music to Su Zheng's ears.

This is the pulse of numbers.

Two silicon-based life forms, separated by 2,000 kilometers, are having their first "handshake" through a thin copper wire.

On the screen, lines of green characters began to jump.

Handshake... OK.

Carrier Detect... OK.

Link Established. Speed: 9600 bps.

"Connected!"

Ye Xinyi suddenly raised her head, her eyes shining brightly, "9.6K bandwidth, stable!"

Although it's only 9.6K, not even enough to transmit a single high-resolution image in later generations, it was already an unprecedented highway in this era.

"Try sending an email."

Su Zheng walked to the keyboard.

He opened the email client called "Bluebird".

recipient:

Subject: First Message

text:

Su Zheng's fingers hovered over the keyboard as he pondered for a moment.

Then, he typed a line:

By crossing the Great Wall, we can reach every corner of the world.

send.

A small envelope icon appeared on the screen and flew into the void.

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

Ding!

Just as Su Zheng was about to take a sip of water, the screen lit up again.

The reply is here!

Source: 001_Base

Contents:

[Received! Minister Su! We saw it! The text is clear! No need for decryption!]

Although separated by a screen, Su Zheng could almost hear Old Chen's excited roar from two thousand kilometers away.

"It's a success."

Su Zheng breathed a long sigh of relief.

From this moment on, Base 001 was no longer an isolated island.

Design plans from Beijing can be transmitted to workshops in the Northwest in a minute. Experimental data from the Northwest can be transmitted back to laboratories in Beijing in a minute.

Time and space have been folded.

"It's not over yet."

Su Zheng was not satisfied with this.

He pointed to another icon in the corner of the screen—two hands clasped together.

"If you like it, open 'Red Star Pass'."

"What is this?" Ye Xinyi asked curiously.

"This is...for chatting."

Su Zheng smiled and said, "Sending emails is too slow; we need real-time updates."

Double-click to open.

The interface is very simple, with a contact list on the left and a dialog box on the right.

Su Zheng saw that there was only one name in the list: Ye_Xinyi.

He walked over and typed a line on another computer:

Su Zheng: What do you want to eat tonight?

Instantly, these words appeared on the screen in front of Ye Xinyi.

Ye Xinyi was stunned for a moment.

She turned her head to look at Su Zheng, who was sitting three meters away, and then looked at the screen.

A strange feeling welled up inside me.

They were right next to each other, yet they communicated through radio waves. This interplay of distance and intimacy made her feel...somewhat romantic?

She smiled slightly and replied:

Ye Xinyi: Hot pot with mutton.

Su Zheng: Okay, I'll go after get off work.

"This is called 'instant messaging'."

Looking at the stunned onlookers, Su Zheng said, "From now on, we can not only talk to people in the same room, but also to people in Shanghai, people in Guangzhou, and even... people in the United States."

"As long as there is an internet connection, the ends of the earth are as close as neighbors."

……

End of 1981.

The first phase of the "China.com" project has been officially completed.

This was not the vast Internet of later generations, but a wide area network based on the Red Star proprietary protocol.

It connects the Red Star headquarters in Beijing, the 001 base in the Northwest, the chip foundry in Shanghai, and the computer science departments of ten top universities, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, and the University of Science and Technology of China.

When the old professor from Tsinghua University first sat in his laboratory and looked up the catalog of Peking University Library's collection online, he was so excited that he smashed his glasses.

"A scholar, without stepping out of his door, knows all that happens in the world!"

"This is true knowledge sharing!"

The involvement of universities instantly enlivened China.com.

The young students quickly discovered the fun of "Red Star Pass" and "BBS".

They discussed technology, shared code, and even... fell in love on it.

One by one, IDs became active online.

L (Lei Jun): Help! Does anyone know how to write the decision logic for Snake in Cangjie language?

Pony (Ma Huateng): Upstairs, I've finished writing it and sent the source code to your email. Remember to treat me to a meal!

Ding (丁磊): I think this Red Star Pass can be improved. How about adding an emoji function?

Looking at the active data in the backend logs, Su Zheng knew that the ecosystem had taken shape.

These young people are the first native inhabitants of the Chinese Internet.

Through each byte on "China.com", they are weaving dreams for the future.

……

Late at night, on the top floor of the Red Star Research Institute.

Su Zheng stood in the server room, listening to the humming of the rows of fans.

Those flashing indicator lights are like stars in the night sky.

"What are you thinking about?"

Ye Xinyi walked in and draped a coat over his shoulders.

"I'm thinking... this net is still too small."

Su Zheng looked at the lights. "Right now, we've only connected the interior. Next, we'll connect the world."

"You mean...access to the international internet?"

"right."

Su Zheng nodded, "Although the international internet is currently only ARPANET owned by the US military, it will be opened to the public sooner or later. We must make our 'China.com' bigger and stronger before that day comes."

"We want the world to see that different codes and different cultures flow on the internet in the East."

Suddenly, the server's alarm light flashed.

red light.

Ye Xinyi's expression changed instantly.

She strode to the control panel, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

"Someone is scanning our port."

Ye Xinyi's voice turned cold. "The IP address shows... it's from across the ocean. It came through our dedicated line in Silicon Valley."

"American?"

"I'm not sure. But the technique... is very professional."

Ye Xinyi stared at the strings of code on the screen attempting to exploit the firewall via an overflow vulnerability. "This guy's an expert. He's looking for our backdoor."

Su Zheng squinted his eyes.

What was bound to happen has finally happened.

The internet connects everything, and it also exposes everything.

When the door opened, not only a gentle breeze came in, but also flies, and even... hungry wolves.

"Can it stop it?" Su Zheng asked.

"able."

Ye Xinyi pressed the Enter key, starting the prototype of the "Great Wall" firewall she had just written. "But he will come again. And next time he might bring even more people."

"Then let them come."

Su Zheng sneered, "I was just worried that our 'Red Hackers' team wouldn't have any real combat experience."

Let me issue a challenge.

Su Zheng pointed to the pinned post on the BBS, "Tell those kids to stop fighting amongst themselves. There's an external enemy invading."

"Let's prepare a grand welcome for these uninvited guests."

The next chapter will begin the cyber warfare.

That was a preview of The Matrix, and also Ye Xinyi's... battle to become a legend.

……