Once Upon in Nanjing-Chapter 18 - 5: The One in a Hundred Quintillion Possibility

Last night it rained heavily all night. It was even more intense than the day Yiping asked her father for money. The entire city today is damp and muggy. After finishing a day of classes and evening study, Bai Yang got home, took a shower first, then sat at his desk with his hair still damp, turned on the air conditioner, and then the radio.

According to the agreement, he needs to continue going online tonight.

And the other party should provide him with evidence.

"BG4MSR, this is BG4MXH, I'm waiting for you to provide evidence, OVER."

"BG4MXH, this is BG4MSR, I... I didn't find any evidence, OVER."

As expected.

Bai Yang is increasingly convinced the other person is suffering from severe delusional symptoms, fantasizing about living in a Doomsday World twenty years later.

"BG4MSR, I am BG4MXH, it's normal not to find evidence because you couldn't possibly have any... This year is clearly 2019, you're searching for proof of the year 2040, how could that be possible? OVER."

"BG4MXH, this is BG4MSR. Today I went to Nanjing Library, thinking that the Nanjing Library would have all the documents and materials from the past decades, which could prove this year is 2040... But for some reason, the Nanjing Library was emptied out, all the materials are gone, I didn't find anything..."

Nanjing Library?

Emptied out Nanjing Library?

Bai Yang was shocked, thinking that the world in this girl's imagination is getting more and more absurd. How much manpower and resources would it take to empty such a large library?

"It's still raining cats and dogs in Nanjing today, the rain is so heavy. I fell into a storm drain on my way to the Nanjing Library, I got completely soaked..."

Bai Yang froze.

The girl on the channel continued talking, getting more and more aggrieved.

"I almost drowned in the manhole, struggled to climb out, and then monkeys stole my umbrella. They tore it apart; it was an umbrella given to me by my teacher."

"BG4MSR, this is BG4MXH, are there monkeys in Nanjing City? OVER."

"BG4MXH, yes, several groups. They occupy the street along Zhongshan Gate to Zhongshan East Road, often fighting in groups. Some die from falls after getting injured in fights. Half a month ago, I even picked up one and ate it, OVER."

Bai Yang scratched his head. Several groups of monkeys from Zhongshan Gate to Zhongshan East Road?

What sort of animal kingdom is this?

"BG4MSR, continue please, OVER."

"I walked in the storm for two hours to get to the library, people went crazy from the wind, my clothes and backpack were all soaked, but the library had nothing, I found nothing. Why? Why is it like this? Why can't I find evidence to prove I live in the year 2040?"

Bai Yang was listening, thinking to himself because, big sister, you're living in 2019, of course, you can't find evidence that this year is 2040.

But he didn't say it out loud because she sounded so aggrieved and sad.

She's genuinely saddened, despite being deeply delusional. She is still caught up in and unable to escape the sorrow and pain of her imagined world.

"I am really in 2040..."

At this moment, Bai Yang felt like a doctor listening to the lament of a psychiatric patient, who cries that as a mushroom, they can't release spores. What to do if they can't reproduce, they will be the last of their line. All the doctor can do at this time is pat their shoulder and comfort them saying it's okay, you're just not of age and not sexually mature yet; once you go bald like me, you'll be able to produce spores. Sooner or later, your offspring will be everywhere.

On the other hand, Bai Yang also felt guilty. After all, she got into this sad and disheveled state to satisfy his request – whether it's true dishevelment or not, her plea in the channel sounded truly helpless and pitiful.

"I really am in 2040, I guarantee with all that I have, I swear on my integrity..."

The girl couldn't find any strong evidence, she could only repeat and emphasize in the channel over and over again, but her voice grew lower and lower.

"BG4MXH, can you believe me? OVER."

"BG4MSR, uh..."

Bai Yang was in a bind now.

How should he respond?

Say he believes?

Obviously, it's impossible to believe. To say he believes would upset his physics teacher from beyond the grave.

The physics teacher banging on the coffin lid: I'm freaking alive and well!

Nor could he placate the spirits of Maxwell and Einstein.

Any high school student with a normal IQ who has gone through nine years of compulsory education wouldn't believe that a shortwave radio could communicate through time, connecting to someone twenty years in the future. None of the known physical laws support the occurrence of such an event. This is not a fictional world—how could such a thing happen in real life?

If there were a quintillion parallel worlds and a quintillion Bai Yangs in those worlds, then nine hundred ninety-nine quadrillion nine hundred ninety-nine trillion nine hundred ninety-nine billion nine hundred ninety-nine million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine of those Bai Yangs would choose not to believe.

Say he doesn't believe?

Then the other party would certainly try all sorts of ways to prove her claim. Today, he struggled at the Nanjing Library fighting wits with manhole covers and monkeys, and tomorrow, who knows what kind of arduous ordeal he would have to endure; Bai Yang didn't want to go through all this trouble anymore.

To say that he should just turn off the radio and ignore it, Bai Yang couldn't bring himself to do it. With such a strange girl, who knows what might happen if no one keeps an eye on her? He might have been fine not knowing her, but now that he does, he feels he can't just ignore her troubles.

Sigh... What a pain.

"BG4MXH, if you don't believe me, I'll go look for other methods. Apart from the Nanjing Library, there must be evidence elsewhere too. Give me some time, and I'll find it for you, okay? I'll search again tomorrow, and you come online and wait for me tomorrow evening, how does that sound? OVER."

"BG4MSR, this is BG4MXH. You don't have to look for it, if it's not in the Nanjing Library, it's unlikely you'll find anything anywhere else, OVER."

"I..."

The other party fell silent.

"BG4MSR, did you say you stake your integrity on what you told me being true? OVER."

"I stake my integrity on it."

"BG4MSR, I have an idea. How about this: if you can't find any proof that you are in 2040, then I'll help you. I'll assist you in finding evidence. What do you think? OVER."

Bai Yang decided to play along with the act.

He couldn't just stand by and watch the show.

There's a 999 quadrillion 999 trillion 999 billion 999 million 999 thousand 999 to one quintillion chance that this girl is just a little bit off in the head, and the whole thing from start to finish is nothing but a farce, but that doesn't prevent a daring high school student from validating the one in a quintillion possibility.

In a quintillion parallel worlds, there's always one Bai Yang who makes a different choice.

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

"BG4MXH, this is BG4MSR, what did you say? You can help me find evidence? OVER."

Bai Yang nailed down his physics teacher's coffin lid first, then he replied:

"BG4MSR, this is BG4MXH, that's right, I can try and see whether I can prove that you really are in 2040, OVER."

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Communication ended.

Bai Yang took out his phone, opened Taobao, and started searching.

The page refreshed a split second later.

Thanks to the powerful search, e-commerce, and logistics capabilities of modern society, Bai Yang found what he was looking for in just one minute.