Returning to 1949, I decided to hand it over to the state.

On the other end of the phone, his mother was still nagging him with questions. Jiang Fan rubbed his temples listlessly and replied perfunctorily:

"It's nothing, Mom. It's just that... I suddenly dreamed about my grandpa and wanted to know something about my family."

"Oh, just cover your belly button when you sleep at night. If you really want to know, just go back to your hometown in Northeast China."

"Your grandfather still has an old family genealogy book in his room. You can look it up yourself."

"But I'm telling you, Jiang Fan, you're not getting any younger, it's time you found someone. All you do is mess around with those videos, and those girls are so nice..."

"Mom, okay, okay, I'm rushing to finish my manuscript, I'll talk to you later!"

Jiang Fan quickly hung up the phone, sprawled out in his gaming chair, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Grandpa moved to Shenyang...

He did know about this.

He entered the machinery factory and worked there methodically for decades, living a plain and uneventful life.

This was no different from the millions of ordinary working-class families in Northeast China during that era.

In other words, he risked his life for three whole days in 1949, and the only change he made was that the Daqing Oilfield was brought back to life ten years ahead of schedule, giving the new China a super boost.

But when it comes down to Jiang Fan personally...

Aside from adding a line to his Baidu Baike entry, his real life remained completely undisturbed.

"I've worked for nothing these past three days!"

This is the most accurate reflection of Jiang Fan's state of mind at this moment.

Although finding an oil field by leaving behind his technology gave him a great sense of accomplishment, the resentment of missing out on a chance to get rich so close still lingered in his heart like a cat's claws.

No!

We have to go back, we absolutely have to go back!

Jiang Fan sat up straight in his chair and grabbed the watch face on the table.

The countdown is still ticking on the ground.

【19:12:45】

In other words, around 2 PM tomorrow, this watch will restart, throwing itself back into the torrent of 1949.

Since the decision to go back has been made, deciding what to bring becomes the most important thing.

"You may bring one item, with a volume not exceeding one cubic meter..."

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Jiang Fan's mind, but he rejected them one by one.

Fortunately, he is a science popularization blogger with 30,000 followers and understands the truth that "when in doubt, ask netizens".

He immediately accessed his account backend.

As a science popularization blogger, it's normal for me to post some imaginative time-travel topics from time to time, and my fans love to read them.

So he typed out a very direct title:

[Brainstorming: If you could travel back to 1949 and could only bring one item with a volume not exceeding one cubic meter, what would you bring?]

Within ten minutes of the post being published, the comment section was flooded with witty and humorous replies.

The most liked comments are quite varied:

[Top Comment]: Of course, I'd bring a phone full of data, Baidu Encyclopedia, and offline downloads of various blueprints. In the past, I would have become a modern-day prophet, and wherever I went, I would be a guest of honor for high-ranking officials.

[Reply below]: What's the point of using a cell phone to check? Did they even have base stations in 1949? Did they have internet? Would the battery last three days? Wake up!

[Second Hot Comment]: Bring a cubic meter of gold. In 1949, when everything was in ruins and gold was the only hard currency, it would make you richer than a country.

[Reply below]: Gold is too heavy, nearly 20 tons per cubic meter, how are you going to carry it? You might as well bring a whole box of penicillin, that's the real hard currency, it can save countless lives.

[Third Hot Comment]: The person upstairs has a good perspective, but if it were me, I would bring a detailed "History of Modern Chinese Industrial Technology" and basic machine tool blueprints, and make the key machines ahead of time according to the timeline in the book, so that the country could take off directly.

[Reply below]: This is just theoretical. In 1949, Anshan Iron and Steel Group couldn't even properly refine high-speed steel. Even if you gave them the blueprints for fully automatic CNC machine tools, without materials and an upstream and downstream supply chain, how could they possibly hammer it out?

Looking at these comments, Jiang Fan couldn't help but smile wryly.

Netizens certainly have wild imaginations, but most of them are impractical.

He must simultaneously meet several extremely demanding conditions:

First, it meets the requirement of one item and one cubic meter.

Second, it is lightweight and practical.

Third, in the backward industrial environment of 1949, it could be put to use immediately without requiring a high level of prior technology.

Gold was valuable, but in those days it was less useful than grain. Blueprints were good, but the industrial base in 1949 simply couldn't produce precision parts.

Just as Jiang Fan was scrolling through the comments, a very long comment slowly appeared, and the number of likes was skyrocketing at a visible speed.

[@Hardcore Geological Prospector]: I'm an engineer. If I go back, I'll bring a modern version of the [Multi-functional Folding Encryption Shovel], along with its complete set of stamping die drawings.

Don't laugh, I'm serious. In 1950, just before the war to protect the nation, our logistics and engineering units were all issued old-fashioned wooden-handled, dead-handled shovels. They were heavy, easy to break, and cumbersome to carry around.

If we could bring the folding entrenching tools from later generations with us in advance, and have the Anshan Iron and Steel Group's arsenal quickly replicate a batch, just imagine how much faster we could dig air-raid shelters and trenches, how much less physical exertion we would have, and how much logistical pressure we would have instantly reduced.

Moreover, this thing doesn't require any chemical equipment or CNC machine tools. It only requires the most basic rolling, stamping, bending, and welding. Ansteel's existing equipment can definitely do it. How many volunteer soldiers could be saved from dying on the battlefield?

Jiang Fan stared at the comment and pondered for a moment.

An entrenching tool?!

Yup!

This thing is simple, straightforward, and extremely easy to use.

If, in the autumn and winter of 1950, before the Chinese People's Volunteer Army crossed the Yalu River, hundreds of thousands of soldiers could have been equipped with a lightweight, durable, multi-functional folding entrenching shovel...

That's an absolute game-changer for individual soldiers, capable of delivering a devastating blow.

More importantly, the manufacturing threshold for this thing is even lower than that for a gas cylinder.

It doesn't require any ethane removal tower or chemical cracking; all you need are steel plates and a stamping machine to mass-produce it.

This is the right approach to maximizing the strategic value of an item!

Jiang Fan liked the comment but remained skeptical.

Keep scrolling down.

Soon, another comment also caught his attention.

[@Agricultural University Watcher]: If it were me, I would buy one cubic meter of [hybrid rice cold-resistant, drought-resistant, high-yield seeds].

I'm not making this up; everyone knows what happened next. If we could have promoted high-yield grain crops in 1949 and solved the problem of food and clothing for hundreds of millions of people, it would have been a million times more meaningful than bringing gold, jewelry, or machine tool blueprints.

Jiang Fan was greatly shocked.

Yes... food.

For the first thirty years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, grain was of paramount importance.

However, reason told him that the time it takes for a seed to take effect is much longer than that of an entrenching tool.

The promotion of seeds takes time, requires seedling experimental fields, and the coordination of fertilizer and pesticide systems; it cannot be formed into combat capability immediately.

But if successful, its long-term strategic value will be far greater than that of an entrenching tool.

A shovel saved soldiers on the front lines.

A bag of seeds can save the lives of people all over the world.

Looking at these two comments, Jiang Fan wished he could take both of these things with him.

But the countdown dial on my wrist clearly states:

You may only bring one item.