Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 26 You call this a computer?

Northwestern Polytechnical University, Department of Mathematics.

"Our computer science program in the Department of Mathematics at Northwestern Polytechnical University has a long history. It was established in 1958, making it one of the first in the country! Even now, in the entire Northwest, Northwestern Polytechnical University's computer science program is still number one!" On the way, Director Meng of the Department of Mathematics was full of pride as he led Qin Liang and Professor Liu to the computer lab, introducing the program to Qin Liang.

"Everyone says the future era will be the computer age," Director Meng said with a smile. "Qin Liang, would you be interested in studying in our mathematics department?"

Although it has only been a week since the start of the semester, Qin Liang's name has already spread throughout Northwestern Polytechnical University. The mathematics department is even considering recruiting him. It is rare for a provincial top scorer to come to Northwestern Polytechnical University!

Qin Liang smiled and said, "Director Meng, I've already enrolled, it wouldn't be good to change my major now..."

"What's wrong with that? As long as you submit an application to the aircraft department..."

Qin Liang looked at Professor Liu with some curiosity. Something was wrong. Before, he and Professor Sha were fighting fiercely for him, but it was still an internal matter within the Department of Aeronautics. Now, the Department of Mathematics is trying to take him away, so why doesn't Professor Liu have any objections?

Is she still upset about what happened last night? I'm really exhausted!

In later generations, people thought 996 was miserable enough, but after coming here, they realized that 996 was actually a blessing. This place is definitely 007! It is said that they don't even rest during the New Year, working until the 29th of the lunar month, starting work right after eating dumplings! They don't stop on New Year's Eve, and they go out to work again on New Year's Day!
Creak! The door to the computer room was pushed open.

"Here, let's put on shoe covers." Director Meng warmly took out shoe covers and handed them to the two of them.

"Qin Liang, Qin Liang..."

Qin Liang did not hear Director Meng's greeting. He looked into the computer room and widened his eyes.

Three server racks stood in the most conspicuous position in the server room. The paint on the surface of the racks was somewhat mottled, obviously having withstood the test of time. Upon closer inspection, the words DJS-1 could be seen on them.

Behind the server rack is a row of windows, through which you can see the reflection of the back of the rack. Inside, there are countless densely packed cables, enough to make anyone with trypophobia's scalp crawl...

Next to the server rack, there was a table with a large disc that was slowly rotating. Long strips of white paper on the disc were continuously entering the reading device.

With no keyboard, mouse, or monitor in sight, if Director Meng hadn't said it was a computer lab, Qin Liang would have thought it was some small factory building... As for the senior students who were excitedly practicing on the computers, Qin Liang had completely ignored them.

A whooshing sound came from the corner. When Qin Liang looked over, he was surprised to find an air vent blowing out cool air. It was an air conditioner! This was the first time he had seen an air conditioner since arriving in this era, and it chilled him to the bone.

"Qin Liang, aren't you amazed to see our computer?" Director Meng said with a proud look on his face, "This is high technology from Northwestern Polytechnical University!"

"Director Meng, you're saying this is a computer?"

“That’s right, the 103 machine!” Director Meng said, “There are only forty-nine of them in the whole country, and our Northwestern Polytechnical University’s computer science department has one. Isn’t that amazing?”

Machine 103! Qin Liang had heard that name somewhere before... Right, he'd seen it in a museum in his later years. The description said it was the first electronic computer in New China...

"Where was this computer made, and how old is it?" "It was made by the Capital Cable Factory. It's hard to say exactly when. The control cabinet in the middle was made in 1960, the memory cabinet on the left was made in 1964, and I don't know when the power supply cabinet on the right was made. This machine originally belonged to a research institute under the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry. In 1974, through our efforts, they finally transferred this computer to us! We computer science students finally had the opportunity to use it!"

"What about before?"

"I used to only be able to perform calculations in my head..."

When the Soviet Union popularized computer education, because there were no machines, students had to perform calculations in their brains. It must be said that this really cultivated a group of elites. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the Russians' hacking skills were still top-notch!

Qin Liang never expected that his side would have such an experience!

"Don't let the size of this computer fool you. It may be small, but it's fully functional. The arithmetic logic unit, control unit, memory, power supply, and input/output are all clearly visible. In the past, we could only talk about it theoretically, but now that we've finished teaching courses like 'Computer Principles' and 'Boolean Algebra,' we'll let the students come and see it for themselves. They can get a direct impression! Come on, Qin Liang, put on your shoe covers!"

You call this small?

Are you comparing yourself to ENIAC, who occupies an entire building? Qin Liang's feelings were incredibly complicated.

"Actually, we're quite busy using it for teaching tasks, but the school said your aircraft department has a major project that might become a national key project, so we have no choice but to give it to you first!"

Professor Liu, standing to the side, looked at Qin Liang's expression and seemed to have guessed what he was thinking: How does it feel to have your illusions shattered?
"Qin Liang, didn't you say last night that you were very knowledgeable about computers? We're counting on you for the big amount of computing work coming up!"

"Professor Liu, I..."

Qin Liang was on the verge of tears. "I can program, I can use all kinds of 3D software, and I'm really good at typing. But I can't use paper tape. This thing doesn't even require a computer language; it's just communication between 0s and 1s!"
"Our machine is very fast; it only takes half an hour to input a roll of paper tape," Director Meng explained. "The output device is a telex machine..."

Just then, a student suddenly spoke up: "Teacher, one of the light bulbs inside is not working!"

"Don't rush, input a standby command onto the paper tape, then replace the vacuum tube!"

Okay, this thing is still made of vacuum tubes, the kind that can withstand a nuclear blast pulse, but so what if it can withstand it? Its computing power is still inferior to a scientific calculator from later generations!

Director Meng personally went up and taught the students how to operate the equipment step by step. Professor Liu looked at Qin Liang again.

"Qin Liang, do you think this thing can complete our massive calculations for modifying the aircraft?"

Qin Liang took a deep breath: "It's going to be tough."

You little rascal, where did you get that confident look from last night? I was thinking about your new tricks all night long! Look at my bloodshot eyes, they're from all that thinking about you!

"Students, after completing this procedure, you can log off. For the next period of time, our computers will be handed over to the students from the Department of Aircraft Engineering. They have an important task..." At this moment, Director Meng began to convey the school's arrangements to the students.

Upon hearing this, the students immediately erupted in anger!
(End of this chapter)