Another day passed. By the third day, everything was finally ready. Ao Fei's camera had been prepared, the mechanical group's manual stamping equipment was ready as well, and of the hundreds of copper cards that had been stamped and cut, a hundred had finished the silver-plating and polishing processes.
Luo Chong gave everything one last brief inspection before ordering them to begin the experiment.
Luo Chong directly designated Ao Fei as the model for the Identity Card sample. Qu Bing was responsible for taking the photograph and developing the negative—he had the most experience with this, so Luo Chong was completely at ease.
They were still in that bright Optical Laboratory from before. Ao Fei sat upright on a chair, with the windows and door wide open to increase the light inside. On the side closer to the interior, a silvery sheet of metal had been hung to reflect light, illuminating his entire upper body in the finest detail.
Qu Bing secured the box camera, first using the Ground Glass to find a suitable focal length, adjust the negative's position, and frame the shot. Only after everything was aligned did he pull out the Ground Glass and head into the darkroom in the adjoining room to prepare the negative.
In less than a minute, the boy hurried out, pinching the negative that had been moistened with chemicals. He quickly inserted it into the camera, pulled out the Shutter, and called out to Ao Fei to sit properly and look at the lens. Only then did Qu Bing lift the lens cap and begin the exposure.
Thanks to his previous experience taking photographs, he got the exposure time exactly right this time. The exposure lasted eight seconds in total—roughly four breaths. Qu Bing then replaced the lens cap, returned the negative's