Seven-year-old Nangong Wentian crouched in the corner of the back kitchen, all his "assets" accumulated over the past six months laid out before him.
A few circuit boards scavenged from the junkyard, a pile of salvaged chips, a roll of wires bought from the flea market, and a soldering iron, already rusted, dug out of a trash heap.
The most precious item was a small roll of solder wire—he had spent a full fifty yuan to buy it from an old repairman. The old man had looked at him strangely at the time. What did a seven-year-old child want with solder wire?
But he hadn't asked anything. Payment, goods, departure. Most people in this world wouldn't meddle in others' business.
"Wentian," Xiao Guang crouched beside him, eyes fixed on the pile of components. "Are we really going to start soldering today?"
"Mm."
"But..." Xiao Guang hesitated. "Do you know how?"
Nangong Wentian didn't answer. Did he know? In his previous life, he had watched countless soldering videos; theoretically, he understood it perfectly. But theory was theory, and manual skill was manual skill. The hands of a seven-year-old child—whether they were steady or not, he himself didn't know.
"We'll find out by trying."
He picked up the rusted soldering iron and examined it carefully. The soldering tip was already oxidized and blackened, needing cleaning. He pulled a small piece of sandpaper from his pocket—prepared in advance—and began carefully sanding it.
The rasping sound echoed in the back kitchen. Xiao Guang watched quietly, not daring to breathe loudly.
After sanding for over ten minutes, the soldering tip finally revealed a metallic sheen. Nangong Wentian then checked the iron's power cord—he had scavenged it from the junkyard a month ago, rewired it himself, and wrapped it with several layers of electrical tape. Whether it would work or not, he wasn't entirely confident.
"Step back a bit," he said to Xiao Guang.
Xiao Guang obediently shuffled back half a step.
Nangong Wentian took a deep breath and plugged the soldering iron into the wall socket.
No sparks, no short circuit. The iron began to slowly heat up.
He let out a sigh of relief. At least the first step was a success.
While waiting for the iron to reach temperature, he selected the most intact circuit board from the pile of components, along with a few chips and resistors to solder onto it. These were the essence of his collection over the past few months—a CPU salvaged from an industrial control board, two memory chips, several capacitors and resistors, and a crystal oscillator.
If the soldering succeeded, this would be the first Core Module of the "Star Core."
The iron was about the right temperature. He tested the air near the tip with his finger—hot, very hot, but not yet at soldering temperature. After waiting a few more minutes, the tip began to change color slightly.
Ready.
He picked up the solder wire with his left hand, gripped the iron with his right, and aimed at the first solder pad on the circuit board.
Xiao Guang held his breath.
The moment the soldering tip touched the pad, the solder wire melted, flowed, and covered the pad. Then Nangong Wentian quickly withdrew the iron, and the solder solidified into a smooth, small dome.
The first solder joint, successful.
Nangong Wentian's hands were steady. A seven-year-old's body lacked the control of an adult's, but he had memories from a past life and countless simulations in his mind. He knew when to heat, when to apply solder, and when to lift the soldering iron.
The second solder joint, the third, the fourth...
Xiao Guang watched with wide eyes. He didn't understand soldering, but he could see Nangong Wentian's movements were fluid, nothing like a first-timer.
"Wentian," he couldn't help but whisper, "have you soldered before?"
"No."
"Then how..."
"I read about it." Nangong Wentian didn't look up. "There were diagrams in the book."
Xiao Guang believed him. In his eyes, Wentian was already a "weirdo who could do anything." Learning from a book didn't seem strange at all.
When he reached the tenth solder joint, an accident happened.
Nangong Wentian's hand suddenly trembled. The soldering iron tip slipped and scalded his left index finger.
"Hiss—" He sucked in a sharp breath, instinctively pulling his hand back.
Xiao Guang jumped in fright. "What happened?!"
"It's nothing." Nangong Wentian gritted his teeth, looking at the blister rapidly forming on his finger. It hurt, a piercing pain, but he couldn't cry out. If someone heard, it would be trouble.
He pressed his right hand over his left, took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.
"Wentian..." Xiao Guang stared at the blister, his face pale. "Does it hurt?"
"It does." Nangong Wentian admitted honestly. "But I can bear it."
He looked down at the half-soldered circuit board. There were still over twenty joints left. If he stopped now and waited until next time, the contact surfaces might oxidize, affecting the quality.
He couldn't stop.
"Xiao Guang," he said, "keep watch at the door for me. Cough if someone comes."
Xiao Guang opened his mouth, wanting to urge him to rest, but seeing the determination in Nangong Wentian's eyes, he swallowed his words. He stood up, walked to the back kitchen door, and peeked out, keeping an eye on the outside.
Nangong Wentian lowered his head and continued soldering.
The blister hurt at the slightest touch, and the heat from the iron intensified the pain. But he clenched his teeth and kept going, joint by joint.
Twenty, twenty-five, thirty...
By the time the last solder joint was finished, he was drenched in sweat.
"Done." He set down the soldering iron and let out a long sigh.
Xiao Guang immediately ran back, staring at the circuit board. "Is it finished?"
"It's finished." Nangong Wentian pointed at the chips on it. "This is the CPU, this is the memory, this is the crystal oscillator... If I didn't solder anything wrong, it should light up when powered on."
Xiao Guang didn't understand those terms, but he understood the last part. "Light up? Like a lamp?"
"Like a lamp." A faint smile touched Nangong Wentian's lips. "But more complicated than a lamp."
He rummaged through a nearby bag and pulled out an old power supply—salvaged from the scrapyard earlier and tested to output 5V and 12V normally. He connected the power cable to the circuit board's power port, then took a deep breath.
Success or failure hinged on this moment.
He pressed the power switch.
An LED indicator on the circuit board lit up.
Faint, but definitely glowing.
"It's lit!" Xiao Guang almost jumped, then quickly covered his mouth, whispering excitedly, "It's lit! It's lit! Wentian, look, it's lit!"
Nangong Wentian stared at that tiny indicator light, his eyes growing slightly warm.
It was lit.
The circuit board he had soldered with his own hands was lit.
What did this mean? It meant that the technical knowledge in his mind could become reality in this world. It meant that the "Star Core" system could move from conception to practice. It meant that his seven years of lying low, waiting, and accumulating had not been in vain.
"Xiao Guang," he said softly, "do you know what this is?"
Xiao Guang shook his head.
"This is the future."
Xiao Guang was stunned for a moment, then grinned: "I don't understand, but it sounds amazing!"
Nangong Wentian also smiled.
He looked down at his left hand. The blister on his index finger had burst, revealing raw, red flesh that throbbed with pain. But he didn't feel the slightest bit troubled.
It was worth it.
So worth it.
"Wentian, your hand..." Xiao Guang finally noticed the wound, his expression changing again, "You need to treat it, or it'll get infected."
Nangong Wentian nodded, pulling a piece of cloth from his pocket—he had prepared it in advance, originally for wiping sweat, but now it was perfect for wrapping the wound.
Xiao Guang snatched the cloth and clumsily helped him bandage it. As he wrapped, he muttered, "How could you be so careless? Getting burned like this and still continuing to solder... are you stupid or what..."
Listening to his incessant chatter, a warmth welled up in Nangong Wentian's heart.
In this world, he was not alone.
There was someone who would worry about him, someone who would bandage his wounds, someone who would accompany him in rummaging through the trash for those "treasures" others had discarded.
"Xiao Guang," he suddenly said, "thank you."
Xiao Guang was taken aback, his face flushing slightly: "For what? I haven't done anything..."
"Thank you for always being with me."
Xiao Guang fell silent for a moment, then lowered his head and continued bandaging, his voice muffled: "Because... because you're the most amazing person I've ever met. Following you, good things always happen."
Nangong Wentian looked at him and suddenly remembered something.
Xiao Guang was twelve this year. According to the original trajectory, he would have stayed in the orphanage until adulthood, then worked in some small factory, living an obscure life.
But now, he was helping him solder circuit boards. He was learning knowledge that his peers would never touch in their entire lives. He was participating in something big enough to change the world.
"Xiao Guang," Nangong Wentian said, "from now on, I'll teach you how to solder."
Xiao Guang looked up sharply, his eyes shining brightly: "Really?"
"Really. And circuit design, programming, mechanical principles... whatever you want to learn, I'll teach you."
Xiao Guang opened his mouth, speechless for a long moment. Then he nodded vigorously, as if trying to nod his head off: "I'll learn! I'll learn everything!"
Outside the window, the sun was setting, casting golden rays into the back kitchen, falling on the freshly soldered circuit board.
The tiny LED indicator light was still on, like a faint star, stubbornly flickering in the darkness.
It was the first star of the "Star Core."