Traveling Back to the 1960s: The Entire Internet Teaches Me How to Build Missiles

Ejina Banner, in the northwest inland region.

Deep in the Badain Jaran Desert, at the No. 10 base of the Dongfeng Missile Base, lies a dormitory building.

In the morning, 25-year-old Zhou Yunxiao was woken up by hunger in his dormitory again.

He slowly opened his eyes. The tattered quilt covering him emitted a faint musty smell, which made him sneeze.

Looking around at the surroundings again, it's even more heartwarming.

The room had mottled mud walls and a thatched roof, with a spittoon placed under the bed against the wall.

Not far away, there was a two-drawer table with a thermos, pots and pans, a winnowing basket, a bucket and other miscellaneous items on it.

The simple furnishings in this small thatched hut are immediately apparent.

The calendar hanging above the leaky window had a page torn off that morning.

Date—Sunday, May 1, 1960!

Although he had been in this world for some time, Zhou Yunxiao still found it difficult to adapt to the hardships of life in the 60s.

Especially given the limited local conditions, white flour steamed buns, which were once looked down upon, have become an unattainable rarity.

The researchers at the base are in better condition; they can occasionally eat cornbread or sweet potato flour buns.

People in the guard regiment, engineering regiment, and cultural troupe rarely had access to coarse grains.

The original owner was a researcher at the No. 10 base, who had been sent to study at the Moscow Aviation Institute on a government scholarship, majoring in rocket and missile engineering.

After the original owner returned to China from the Soviet Union, the "596 Project" was launched, which urgently needed highly educated talents.

He was selected and assigned to work at the Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense, and later sent to the Dongfeng Base as a technical advisor for the First Test Department.

Even with the special treatment, the original owner still couldn't make it through due to overwork.

When he opened his eyes again, his soul had been replaced by another Zhou Yunxiao with the same name, who had been brought here by a dump truck from a parallel world.

He dragged his tired body out of bed.

Just then, a head popped out of the doorway and shouted:

"Yunxiao's awake? Perfect timing! Quickly wash your hands and eat. I made you some reed root and corn soup. It's a new recipe the cooks in the logistics department came up with; they say it tastes pretty good!"

The speaker was Jiang Weimin, his roommate, who belonged to the First Launch Test Brigade.

The other person was thin and small, wearing a work uniform full of patches, and had some sunburn on his face.

Zhou Yunxiao thanked him, then washed his face and sat down at the small dining table.

Jiang Weimin brought over a large, rough earthenware bowl and said with a smile:

"Drink it while it's hot, I'll give you a special treat tonight. Ye Ling specially approved two loaves of bread, two sausages, and a packet of pickled vegetables, all to supplement your nutrition!"

Zhou Yunxiao glanced at it.

The bowl was steaming hot. The porridge was made from powdered reed roots, with a small amount of corn added and cooked into a paste. A few drops of sesame oil were also added.

The presentation was... well, let's just say it wasn't great.

But it's already considered top-quality food these days.

He picked up the bowl and gulped it down, feeling a warm sensation in his stomach.

I only felt a little full after drinking it all in one gulp.

Setting down the large bowl, Zhou Yunxiao couldn't help but sigh.

"These days, even time travelers have to endure hunger and thirst. After all, no matter how strong a person is, can they be stronger than natural disasters?"

Fortunately, he brought a "cheat code".

Today marks exactly one week since I transmigrated, and the progress bar for the "cheat" has been fully loaded.

[Ding! The Time-Traveling Livestream is now open!]

[Anchoring the target time and space—2026!]

[WARNING: Do not reveal the existence of this system to anyone, or you will be immediately eliminated!]

Upon seeing this, Zhou Yunxiao was stunned for a moment.

A live stream connecting 1960 and 2026?

What's the point of this thing other than attracting a bunch of viewers to watch the show?

It would be better to give him a time portal so he can go to 2026 and bring back some rice and pork!

However, before he could think further, a large number of viewers quickly flooded into the newly opened live stream room, chattering away in the comments.

[Holy crap, this streamer's camera is amazing! Even higher resolution than 4K? How many fans does he have to produce such high-definition footage?]

[Is this some kind of period-themed murder mystery game? The NPCs' patches and the sunburn on their cheeks are so detailed! Give the makeup artist a bonus!]

[This location is so retro! If you didn't know better, you'd think it was the filming location for the Red Coast Base in the second season of "The Three-Body Problem"! Is Professor Ye Wenjie here?]

[Wait a minute... look at the sunlight and the surrounding sandstorm. The lighting and physics engine are really impressive. Is this Sora 4.0 beta version?]

As he watched the barrage of sarcastic comments flash across the screen, Zhou Yunxiao felt a mix of amusement and satisfaction.

I was relieved that "people from my hometown finally came," and I was no longer alone.

Zhou Yunxiao calmed himself down a bit, tried reciting the command in his mind, and sure enough, the text appeared in the live stream:

Good morning, everyone!

"This is not a murder mystery game, nor is it an AI live stream; it is a real, live video feed."

"To be honest, I've traveled through time, and I've ended up at the Dongfeng Missile Base in 1960. I'm not sure if this world is parallel to the original one, but I can't go back..."

The live stream chat became lively again as soon as the host posted the comments.

[Time travel? Does the streamer think viewers are idiots?!]

[Time-travel novels are becoming reality? Hey streamer, do you have an attribute panel on you?]

[Fellow family members, who understands this? Stepping into the live stream takes you straight to the Gobi Desert in Northwest China. The host's immersive sales approach is truly extravagant.]

[The wind-up animation is too long, streamer, just show the link! What are you selling today? A Dongfeng missile model or 1960s military rations? I'll buy it, okay?]

Military rations, my ass!

Now even tree bark and wild vegetables are almost gone, and people are starving to death. Where would we get food to sell you?

Zhou Yunxiao rolled his eyes, too lazy to argue with these netizens anymore.

Just then, Jiang Weimin nudged his dazed roommate and asked:

"Yunxiao, what's wrong? You've been spacing out for so long. If you're still not feeling well, you should cancel today's translation work. I'll go ask Ye Ling for leave..."

Zhou Yunxiao pulled his attention away from the live stream, shook his head and smiled:

"No problem, I can overcome it. We intellectuals aren't so easily defeated by difficulties."

Jiang Weimin cleared away the dishes and smiled approvingly: "Wow, you've got a high level of awareness, kid. I'll definitely vote for you this year when it comes to selecting activists!"

Afterwards, the two parted ways in the dormitory.

Zhou Yunxiao soon arrived at the Dongfeng Base's test range headquarters, which was the general command center for missile testing.

Captain Mu of the launch test brigade and Political Commissar Sun from the headquarters were talking in the courtyard. When they saw someone walk in, Captain Mu greeted them with a smile:

"Xiao Zhou's here? Have you rested enough? You've got a tough battle to fight today!"

Zhou Yunxiao nodded, "No problem, Captain, we definitely won't let Dongguo down."

Political Commissar Sun also came over and said tactfully, "Thank you for your hard work, Xiao Zhou. If it weren't for the fact that Translator Xu caught a cold and had a persistent high fever the other night, we wouldn't have needed you to be the Soviet translator."

But as you know, technical translation is no small matter. Even a slight misunderstanding of a technical term can lead to completely different results. So, we're looking for someone who understands both technology and Russian, and you, the Soviet student at the base, are the perfect fit..."

Captain Mu shouted from the side:

"Political Commissar, if you really feel guilty, hurry up and get the engineering corps to finish building our new houses. When you came to the Northwest, you told us about upstairs and downstairs houses, electricity and telephones, and one room per person. And what happened? You're dumbfounded now."

Zhou Yunxiao said, "It's drafty from all sides and stinks."

Upon hearing this, even Political Commissar Sun couldn't help but laugh awkwardly a few times.

After laughing, he waved to the two of them, "Alright, hurry up and go inside, the Soviet experts should be here soon."

Inside the conference room of the headquarters, the heads of the launch test teams from the first, second, third, and fourth departments of the Dongfeng Base, as well as several important technical experts, were all in place.

Zhou Yunxiao, acting as a temporary translator, was seated behind Ye Siling.

He couldn't join in the conversations of the leaders, so he quietly opened the live stream chat to see what the netizens were saying.

[That guy on the right using the abacus, his hand speed is ridiculously fast! AI is most likely to give itself away in the interaction between its fingers and the abacus beads, everyone look at his hands! Wait, how come the physical collision of his hands doesn't give it away? Is this a real person?]

[The special effects are really well done! The subtle facial expressions of each character are so detailed, and none of them look the same. Which company did this? How many 6090 graphics cards must they have used?]

[I haven't seen this kind of old-fashioned enamel mug in years, and it doesn't look aged at all... Where did the props department get this old item? They really went to great lengths!]

Zhou Yunxiao silently recited:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I want to reiterate one last time that this is not an act, not AI, these people are all real, and we are about to negotiate with Soviet experts."

"If you have any insightful opinions during the negotiations, please feel free to share them!"