Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

Chapter 165 Upgrade

"This is also good, it can be put into storage," Han Fei said.

"Hmm," Sun Yue said, looking at her notebook and tapping the armrest of her chair with her pen, avoiding eye contact with Han Fei. "As for Teacher Yecao, he told me a story about a nineteen-year-old girl in the canteen at his old construction site. That girl was bullied by the foreman's nephew, and she was afraid to cry, so she could only laugh. She laughed for everyone to see, and then she went crazy. He's preparing to write this story down, and the title is 'The Sister-in-Law's Laughter.' And... Teacher Yecao has already started influencing the people around him. He's on the construction site now, and his coworkers know he's writing stories, and they all tell him their own stories."

"Oh? That's great."

"However..." Sun Yue looked up, staring into the air, "The problem is, Teacher Wild Grass has been under a lot of pressure lately. He said that before, he wrote for himself, and if it wasn't good, no one would know. Now he has editors, contracts, and readers, and he's afraid of letting everyone down. He dreams about how to write the next chapter."

Han Fei slowly rubbed his chin: "Hmm, this isn't necessarily a bad thing."

Zhang Ruiyi and Sun Yue looked at Han Fei.

"The fact that he can feel the pressure means he no longer sees himself as someone who's just tying steel bars on a construction site and writing a little something on the side. He's starting to see himself as a real writer who's responsible to his readers and his stories. Even those who have been writing for ten or twenty years might not necessarily have this feeling. But we can't let him bear this pressure alone. You can take some time to go and talk to him in person, let him know that he doesn't need to rush to finish his manuscript, and that Qingniao isn't a client waiting for him to submit his work, but a fellow traveler on this path with him."

"Okay, President, I understand," Sun Yue said.

"But I just can't bear to part with them," Wen Jie said. "When Zhou Ming left, he said he hoped to see me leading my team to discuss the architecture with them at the next technical checkup. Don't you think he was just trying to comfort me?"

"Hmm, I guess so," Wen Shuyan said absentmindedly. She sat on the sofa, tilting her head thoughtfully as she looked at Wen Jie. Wen Jie sat cross-legged on the floor, a screwdriver in his hand, fixing the red sight to the bottom of the gun barrel. In front of him was a pile of disassembled parts—circuit boards, coils, capacitors, and battery packs—spread across the living room floor like a miniature mechanical ruin.

"They've helped me so much," Wen Jie said, putting down the screwdriver and picking up the tube already wrapped with copper wire, examining it carefully under the light. Wen Shuyan knew it was the new barrel he was making for the electromagnetic coil gun. "Wang Zhe said that when he first started out, he was just like me, doing everything by himself. Do you know what I was thinking when he said that?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm wondering if I can really handle this. Fei-ge has handed over all the technical work to me. My three classmates are doing okay, but if they hire new people later, I'll have to train them myself. Sis, I'm a little panicked."

Wen Shuyan didn't answer, but just looked at Wen Jie. Wen Jie had the same curly hair as her, a type of hair determined by genes, which would look messy if not styled for even a day. Wen Shuyan thought that Wen Jie probably hadn't styled his hair for many days.

"You'll hang in there," Wen Shuyan said.

Wen Jie gave Wen Shuyan a childlike smile: "That's true. Anyway, with Fei-ge around, I've never seen anything he can't handle. Of course, it's not like I need him to bail me out for everything. The main thing is that with him around, I feel more confident in whatever I do."

"Sister, don't you think so?"

Wen Shuyan smiled slightly and nodded.

"By the way, sis."

"Um?"

Why did you come looking for me so late?

"It's nothing," Wen Shuyan said, avoiding Wen Jie's gaze, "I just... happened to be passing by and came up to see you."

"Just passing by?" Wen Jie said. "Sis, where have you been so late?"

Wen Shuyan took a breath, feeling her cheeks burning with nervousness and shame. She felt ashamed because her mind had been incredibly slow in that situation in the school parking lot. She wasn't sure if she could handle things alone if Chen Zhengyuan did something next. At the same time, she absolutely couldn't bring herself to tell him, and she didn't want her younger brother to know that she was here because she was afraid to go home and had to lie to hide it.

"I just wanted to come see you. It's been so long," Wen Shuyan said.

"Now that you mention it, it's true. I haven't had time to visit you either." Wen Jie scratched his hair, picked up the reassembled electromagnetic coil cannon, and stood up.

Wen Shuyan noticed that the electromagnetic coil gun had completely changed; it was a whole size bigger than before. She took the opportunity to distract herself from what had happened in the school parking lot.

"You changed it again?"

"Major overhaul!" Wen Jie exclaimed excitedly, as if he had been waiting for Wen Shuyan to notice this and for the opportunity to demonstrate it. He held the electromagnetic coil gun up to Wen Shuyan, "Sis, take a look."

Wen Shuyan's first noticeable feature was the gleaming metal barrel, with several graduation lines drawn on its surface in oil-based pen, resembling some kind of calibration mark. Behind the barrel was a square wooden box, about the size of a shoebox. The surface was coated with a layer of varnish, but due to uneven application, the wood color appeared inconsistent. A small window on the side of the box revealed a graduated voltmeter. On the front of the box were two red boat-shaped switches mounted side-by-side, next to a rotary potentiometer.

From the top of the wooden crate, a row of capacitors held together by copper wire and electrical tape can be seen, clearly salvaged from various pieces of equipment. Each capacitor has a different label; some say "400V 1000uF," while others are illegible due to blurred lettering. The positive and negative terminals of the capacitors are connected by thick copper wires, which are covered with heat-shrink tubing of various colors, indicating they were collected from different places.

The electromagnetic gun's aiming device has also been upgraded to a professional laser pointer, secured to the underside of the barrel with cable ties and electrical tape. The laser pointer's button is held down by a wire, the other end of which is connected to a button switch that looks like it was taken from a doorbell, with two thin wires extending from it.

"How's it going, sis?" Wen Jie squatted down and placed the electromagnetic coil gun on the ground. "This has been completely upgraded. The number of capacitors has increased from two to sixteen. The original one was a flash capacitor salvaged from a disposable camera; it was too small. Now, this whole row is made from capacitors salvaged from old power amplifiers and industrial power supplies—400 volts, 1000 microfarads, sixteen in parallel. The barrel has been replaced with stainless steel. And the bullets aren't nails anymore."

He pulled a metal bullet from his pocket, held it up in front of Wen Shuyan, and waved it: "Bearing steel, ground by myself. High density, not easily deformed."

Wen Shuyan took the bullet and felt its considerable weight. Although the surface was smooth, traces of handcrafting were still visible. Several fine sandpaper marks could be seen on the side of the bullet, and the tip was slightly off-center, making it somewhat asymmetrical.

"There are some minor flaws." Wen Jie smiled. "After all, it was hand-ground. Without a lathe, it can't be perfectly concentric."

But the accuracy is sufficient; within ten meters, the spread is no more than the size of a fist.

Wen Shuyan nodded and handed the bullet back to him: "What level do you plan to go?"

"I just want to see how far we can go," Wen Jie said. "Sis, move over a little and watch from the doorway."

Wen Shuyan did as instructed.

Wen Jie went into the bedroom and dragged out a tin box. The box looked like an old-fashioned industrial tin box, with rusted edges, and was about forty centimeters square. The words "Caution: Heavy" were written on the lid in black paint. Wen Shuyan knew from Wen Jie's movements that the box was extremely heavy.

"What is this?"

"Sandbox," Wen Jie said breathlessly. "I got this metal box from someone's construction site, and it's filled with thirty pounds of sand."

He dragged the tin box to the farthest point on the living room balcony, opened the lid, and revealed the tightly packed yellow sand inside.

Inside the box lid was a welded iron plate with dents. Wen Shuyan knew without guessing that those were from the impact of the electromagnetic cannon's projectile.

"With the current power of the electromagnetic cannon, the back panel of the wardrobe can no longer withstand it." Wen Jie patted the side of the sandbox, making a dull sound. "This is made of sand and iron plates, guaranteed to absorb all the kinetic energy, so there won't be any safety hazards."

"The wardrobe back panel couldn't withstand the force?" Wen Shuyan asked in surprise. "Is it really that powerful?"

"Sis, just watch." Wen Jie placed a modified camera tripod in the center of the living room, put the electromagnetic coil gun on it, then stepped back behind the tripod, squatted down, and began operating the switches on the wooden box. He flipped the two red boat-shaped switches in turn, and the pointer of the voltmeter began to move to the right.

"The highest I've ever reached in charging voltage is 600 volts," Wen Jie said, his eyes fixed on the dial. "Normally, 450 volts is enough for testing."

Wen Shuyan stood at the door, her eyes fixed on the pointer on the voltmeter, which was slowly swinging to the right, listening to the high-pitched buzzing sound of the current.

Wen Jie picked up the button that looked like a doorbell switch: "Ready, sis?"

"Um.

""

Wen Jie pressed the button.

The sound didn't sound like a gun.

In Wen Shuyan's memory, the sound of a gun was sharp and crisp. But this thing's sound was muffled, as if someone had smashed an overturned pot with a hammer. She felt as if the air had been suddenly compressed, even the balcony glass vibrated, and then the air slowly unfolded like a napkin that had been crumpled into a ball.

Wen Shuyan then heard a sound coming from the sandbox. She had expected a bullet to make a "plop" sound when it hit the sand, but instead she heard a "whoosh." Immediately afterward, she heard the sound of metal clashing.

Wen Jie cheered, walked to the sandbox, and opened the lid. Wen Shuyan followed.

A fist-sized crater had appeared on the surface of the sand, its center black, and the sand around the crater's edges scorched into a glassy state. Wen Jie poked around in the sand with a screwdriver and pulled the bullet from the bottom of the crater. The bullet was completely mangled; the tip was flattened, and the sides were grooved by the sand.

"Forty centimeters of sand, three millimeters of iron plate," Wen Jie said excitedly. "This only took four hundred and fifty volts to penetrate two-thirds of the way. If it had been six hundred volts...—" He clicked his tongue, "this iron plate wouldn't have been able to stop it at all."

Wen Shuyan stared in surprise at the deformed metal, gasping, "Xiao Jie, why did you make something so dangerous? What if you missed or accidentally..."

'

"It's okay, sis," Wen Jie said. "It's fun. Don't you think it's interesting in itself to start with the laws of physics, from Faraday's electromagnetic induction and Maxwell's equations, to circuit design, electromagnetic field calculations, and mechanics of materials... step by step, turning the formulas in your head into blueprints, the blueprints into parts, and the parts into something that can actually be made?"

Wen Shuyan looked helpless and sighed, "Could you reinforce this sandbox next time? It's too dangerous for you."

Wen Jie grinned, "Don't worry, sis, I've calculated it all carefully. Even if it pierces through the iron plate, the remaining kinetic energy won't be enough to penetrate the outer wall, let alone bounce back and hurt anyone. When I first met Fei Ge, he told me that the code I write can't just be functional; it has to be like a Suzhou garden—how the artificial hills are built, how the water flows, how the window views are framed—all have a set pattern, and it has to withstand a hundred years of wind and rain. That's how I made this. Besides, someone like me, who's weak as a chicken, needs this to better protect you. Anyone who dares to bully my sister, I'll shoot them on the head!" As he spoke, he held up two fingers, made a shooting gesture towards his forehead, and laughed heartily.

Wen Shuyan's heart skipped a beat, her body stiffening, frozen in place. The air in the living room suddenly became heavy and suffocating, like a thin layer of oil covering her skin and mouth. She tried not to think about the images that were about to appear in her mind, but those images were already lurking around the corner, about to surface. It was the image of Wen Jie shooting Chen Zhengyuan, and Wen Jie being taken away in a police car. It was just a joke. Yes, it might just be a joke. But her brother was too pure, so pure that he was willing to protect her in such a clumsy yet sincere way. She had no doubt about that. Her brother was still that innocent and simple little boy, wasn't he? She felt an indescribable sorrow washing over her.

"Sis, what's wrong?" Wen Jie blinked in confusion.

"It's nothing," Wen Shuyan said, trying to keep her voice calm, "I'm just a little sleepy."

"Oh, it's so late, shall I take you home? Or you could stay here for the night?"

Wen Shuyan shook her head. "No need, I'll go back myself," she said, smiling. "Xiao Jie, you... can you promise me something?"

"What is it?"

"Never actually use it on a person. Never."

Wen Jie paused for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Sis, you're taking this too seriously! This is just a physics toy, like taking apart a radio when I was a kid. Besides, you're a teacher now, everyone respects you, who would dare bully you? And I'm not really weak, if I really run into someone who doesn't know what's good for them, I don't need to bring out my coilgun, I..." Wen Jie imitated a wrestling neck-strangling motion.

Wen Shuyan chuckled a few times, put on her coat and shoes in the entryway, and said, "Get some rest after you're done. I'm leaving."

"Call me when you get home, sis."