Genius Playground

”I disagree.”

Qin Feng immediately shot it down.

”Two things don’t add up.”

”First, if a future version of us sent the warning text, why be so cryptic? Why not be clearer? Sending a string of numbers just makes things difficult for us, doesn’t it?”

”Second, if they had more advanced technology that let them send texts further back in time, why would they pick this exact moment, overlapping with your test message?”

”No matter how you look at it, a future us would obviously have better, more efficient, and more reliable ways to warn us than this vague message.”

...

Jiang Ran didn’t speak.

He didn’t know how to explain it either.

Ultimately, the second text and the mysterious number had appeared so bizarrely that he couldn’t help but be cautious.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Suddenly, the sound of many people running erupted from the hallway outside, a chaotic clamor.

”What’s going on?”

Jiang Ran looked toward the wooden door of the clubroom.

”Why are so many people running? Is it an earthquake?”

The three of them curiously opened the door and saw members of the Film Club chasing after one another in a frantic rush.

”What happened?”

Jiang Ran stopped one of the female students.

’Why is everyone from the Film Club so worked up? Did they win an award at the film festival?’

’But the timing is wrong... The preliminary rounds haven’t even started yet.’

”Something happened to our senior, Xu Yan!”

Tears streamed down the girl’s face.

”She... she jumped into the river to save two drowning children, but... but they couldn’t revive her at the hospital...”

”What!?”

The three of them cried out in shock and immediately bolted out the door, following the crowd.

...

At East Sea City People’s Hospital, the main hall was a sea of people.

Aside from the usual patients, over a hundred students from East Sea University were gathered in front of the emergency room.

Xu Yan had always been warm, kind, and ready to help others, so she was very popular. When news of her accident spread, many classmates rushed over, their faces etched with deep worry.

Cheng Mengxue was especially frightened, her face pale as she stood trembling in front of Jiang Ran and Qin Feng. She was digging her nails into her palms so hard they were turning blue.

A few minutes later, the emergency room door opened, and a doctor in a surgical mask walked out with his head lowered.

Cheng Mengxue’s aunt and uncle rushed forward, but after a brief exchange... the woman let out a wail and fainted on the spot. The man dropped to his knees with a THUD, his eyes vacant.

An immense sorrow spread through the crowd, punctuated by the scattered sobs of female students.

Another few minutes passed, and a gurney covered by a white sheet was wheeled out... The crowd parted slowly, almost viscously, to clear a path for it.

”Big Sis...”

Cheng Mengxue’s legs gave way, and she collapsed against Jiang Ran.

Her tears finally broke through, and she began sobbing uncontrollably.

The gurney clattered past them. Jiang Ran stared at the silhouette under the white sheet, his lips pressed tight, unable to speak.

This was the girl he had watched grow up, year by year, throughout his youth.

Just like that...

Dead.

According to the reports, Xu Yan had died at the scene.

She knew how to swim, but the river current was swift. After saving the two children, she was exhausted, and her foot got tangled in some debris in the riverbed. In the end, she drowned.

The ambulance arrived immediately to resuscitate her, put her on life support, and rushed her back to the hospital, but in the end... they couldn’t save her vibrant life.

...

「By the Huangpu River.」

The three of them sat side-by-side on the steps, watching the glistening surface of the river.

”She was only twenty...”

Cheng Mengxue said, tears clinging to the corners of her eyes.

”Our big sis Xu Yan was such a good person. She never did anything wrong... And she died saving two kids. This world is so unfair.”

Jiang Ran lowered his head.

He was also deeply saddened by Xu Yan’s unexpected death.

Especially since Xu Yan had just helped them solve such a huge problem.

Without her help, they wouldn’t have been able to save the Film Club, nor would they have gotten the Positron Cannon back.

Twenty years old.

At their age, they were young and free, with a world of infinite possibilities ahead. They thought death was something distant, very distant.

But they never imagined... that a girl their own age, right beside them, would have her short life end so abruptly.

Death.

It was always so sudden, and so very close.

”Jiang Ran...”

Cheng Mengxue, her voice choked with sobs, tugged on the corner of Jiang Ran’s shirt and looked up into his eyes.

”Do you think...”

He knew what Cheng Mengxue was going to say.

”If we used the Positron Cannon to send a message to our past selves...”

’He couldn’t help but wrestle with the same idea himself.’

”If we told our past selves that our senior Xu Yan was going to die today...”

But that mysterious, incomprehensible text message always stood in the way, looming in his mind.

”Could we change history and save our big sis Xu Yan?”

...

...

Cheng Mengxue’s small hand, clutching the hem of her clothes, tightened into a fist.

Qin Feng turned his head, glanced at Jiang Ran, then looked away.

The river wind blew past.

It lifted Cheng Mengxue’s beautiful hair, brushing it across Jiang Ran’s face and obscuring his vision.

As the strands of hair danced before his eyes, it was as if the Huangpu River itself was flowing backward, carrying all its boats, big and small, back to their starting points to journey once more.

”Maybe. Maybe we can.”

He said softly.

’Or maybe... it would be worse,’

he thought to himself.

...

「Evening.」

The three returned to the clubroom.

They hadn’t eaten, nor did they have the appetite to. They sat scattered in three different corners of the room.

Although no one spoke, they all knew what they were waiting for.

Jiang Ran looked up at the small blackboard.

289269426494642. The string of numbers he already knew by heart shimmered under the incandescent light.

A password.

A warning.

A secret code.

A malfunction.

It was the greatest source of unease, the greatest conflict, the greatest culprit in this clubroom.

”Let’s [vote].”

Finally, it was Qin Feng who spoke.

He stood up, leaned against a bookshelf, and crossed his arms.

”Ever since we met in high school, isn’t this how the three of us have always solved problems?”

He looked from one to the other.

”Whenever the three of us have a disagreement, can’t come to a consensus, or can’t convince each other, we take a vote. Majority rules.”

”Come to think of it, we’ve been inseparable for five years now. We’ve had plenty of disagreements like this, even times when we fought so badly we were about to go our separate ways... but in the end, didn’t we always settle it with a vote?”

Jiang Ran looked up and glanced at Cheng Mengxue.

She was hugging a blue Rhine Cat plushie and staring right back at him.

Just as Qin Feng said.

Their inseparable trio had their fair share of conflicts and arguments, and they had even broken up a few times back in high school.

So later, they established a rule: whenever a dispute arose from a disagreement, they would take a vote, and the minority would defer to the majority.

When in doubt, take a vote.

Especially now, facing such a complex and deadlocked situation, voting seemed to be the most effective way to solve the problem.

”Alright then, let’s begin.”

Qin Feng stood up straight, walked over to the lab bench, and patted the casing of the Positron Cannon.

”Facts have proven that we can indeed rewrite history by sending a [Time SMS].”

”That means we can send a text to our past selves, to prevent this drowning accident from happening and thereby save Xu Yan.”

”That’s the situation. So let’s vote now. On the matter of using the Time SMS to save Xu Yan...”

”Who is in favor, and who is opposed?”