Courtyard Houses: The Great Masters of a Nation Hidden Within

These days, anything with even a hint of technology in it, especially anything involving "electricity," is incredibly rare.

The first domestic teletype machine was the BD055 mechanical teletype machine, which was developed in 1955 or 1966. It was produced until the end of the 1980s. Over the course of more than 30 years, a total of more than 34,000 units were produced, averaging about 1,000 units per year.

Nowadays, teletype machines are even more precious, and they are basically all held by telecommunications companies. They never come out of the market, and each one is repaired and used as is.

So Gao Jianguo searched from morning till afternoon, but he couldn't find a teletype machine, let alone a regular typewriter.

Lou Xiao'e, on the other hand, followed Gao Jianguo around with great enthusiasm, showing no impatience whatsoever, and even seemed to find it quite amusing.

Seeing that Gao Jianguo had searched around and around but still hadn't found anything he liked, Lou Xiao'e felt a little guilty and asked, "Jianguo, what exactly are you looking for? Tell me, maybe I'll recognize it. I am, after all, an old Beijinger."

Gao Jianguo mentally organized his thoughts and then told her in the most straightforward way what he was looking for.

Lou Xiao'e thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up: "I've never heard of that teletype machine you mentioned, but my family does have a regular typewriter. It used to be used by my dad's secretary, but after my dad stopped needing a secretary, it just sat at home collecting dust. Do you think you could use it?"

Gao Jianguo's mind raced, and hey, there's a chance!

He could modify that ordinary typewriter, connecting each key to a contact point when pressed, and then add a 3-8 decoder built with transistors and a keyboard scanning circuit familiar from his previous life to assemble his own keyboard.

The keys on a regular typewriter are far fewer than those on a keyboard from the previous life, but they are generally sufficient for typing mainly English letters and numbers.

He can modify the circuitry himself, but he's not good at the mechanical parts. But that's easy. Master Yi Zhonghai in the factory is an eighth-level fitter. His skills are no joke. Just tell him the requirements, and he can handle such simple mechanical modifications in no time.

However, this means that the mechanical linkages for the typing function will have to be completely sacrificed, and the display will have to be handled in a different way.

Thinking of this, Gao Jianguo was overjoyed. He grabbed Lou Xiao'e's hand and shook it vigorously: "Xiao'e, you've really helped me a lot, haha."

Lou Xiao'e blushed slightly, but didn't pull her hand back. Instead, she became concerned about something else: "So you can type the words into that computer you mentioned, but what about the output?"

Gao Jianguo had already thought about this problem. He planned to try to get a television set, convert the output signal of the transistor computer, and connect it directly to the television set.

这个年月，国内已经有电视机了。58年3月17号，就在隔壁城市，712厂造出了820型35厘米黑白电视机。

The resolution of TVs these days isn't great, only around 400 lines, which is roughly equivalent to a 320x240 resolution. But as the old saying goes, if you're just doing pure calculations, this resolution isn't a problem.

But the old problem remains: these things are hard to find. If all else fails, a CRT (cathode ray tube) from a television set would be a viable alternative.

Taking another step back, get an oscilloscope, even just the CRT monitor. In his previous life, Gao Jianguo had tried using an old-fashioned oscilloscope, turning on the XY trigger mode, and controlling the output of simple characters and graphics, which was good enough to make do.

Actually, he already had a TV in his system, from the supermarket where he worked in his previous life, but the old problem remained unsolved—how to explain its origin.

The 712 factory mentioned earlier had incredibly high costs when it first started production, exceeding a thousand yuan, but the selling price was set low, set at 430 yuan regardless of profit or loss. Production continued until 1970, with a total output of just over 39,000 units, averaging only about 3,000 units per year. Just imagine how difficult it was to buy one.

Gao Jianguo pondered in his mind that if all else failed, he would shamelessly ask Old Chen and the teacher if he could get a TV ticket. Only if that was the last resort would he consider getting one from the system.

Gao Jianguo didn't hold back and shared all his thoughts with Lou Xiao'e, just like a casual chat.

Lou Xiao'e listened with great interest. She didn't understand a lot of what he said, but she felt that Gao Jianguo was radiating light when he was talking about these things.

Hearing this, Lou Xiao'e laughed: "Jianguo, my family has a TV!"

Gao Jianguo thought about it again and realized that the Lou family was originally a major shareholder of the No. 3 Rolling Mill. The neighboring city produces this kind of thing, and it has been in production for more than a year. It is not surprising that her family has one, and it is even possible that they have an imported one.

But Gao Jianguo didn't agree to this. This thing was different from that dusty typewriter; it was too valuable and unsuitable.

Seeing that Gao Jianguo didn't respond, Lou Xiao'e's expression changed: "Jianguo, you should know that my family has a high social class background. Is that something you care about?"

These words carried a hint of a showdown. Gao Jianguo laughed, grabbing her hand: "You're overthinking it. I've known about your family's high social class status since day one. How low could someone's social class be, someone who can place the needle so precisely at the beginning of the second movement of Dvořák's 'From the New World'?"

Having found a pretext for his supposed foresight, Gao Jianguo continued, "I don't care about that. Since you've made things clear, Xiao'e, I won't beat around the bush either. If you're willing to be with me, then we'll be together. As for your family's class background, I'll try my best to mediate in a positive direction. I have some ideas and methods, but we'll have to take it one step at a time and see if it works."

Lou Xiao'e looked up: "Then why aren't you interested in my TV? Isn't it very important to you?"

Gao Jianguo patted her hand: "That thing is too valuable. If I just take it casually, the nature of the matter will change. I'll think of another way first, but I promise you, if I really run out of ideas, I'll definitely ask you, okay? Don't worry, business comes first, I'm thick-skinned."

Lou Xiao'e was delighted to hear him say that: "Then it's a deal, it's a promise!"

Gao Jianguo nodded: "It's a deal!"

Lou Xiao'e glanced at her watch with a grin: "Then I'll have someone deliver the typewriter to you tomorrow night. Now that things are done, let's find a place to eat. We just had a quick bite at noon, and we're starving."

The typewriter seemed to grow legs and fly over by itself. This feeling of being a kept man… Gao Jianguo thought to himself, "I love it!"

Gao Jianguo shook his head: "No need, I have plans to eat at a friend's house today. You're coming with me."

This was clearly an invitation to introduce herself to his friend, and Lou Xiao'e was secretly delighted: "It wouldn't be right for me to come empty-handed. Let's go buy something."

Gao Jianguo told her that she didn't need to buy anything, since they were all family and there was no need to be particular about such things.

Lou Xiao'e still wanted to buy it. She felt it was important. Just because Gao Jianguo was close to him didn't mean she could be impolite.

Gao Jianguo understood her thoughts, and seeing her insistence, he let her have her way. The two bought some gifts and headed towards Wang Tiezhu's house.