Genius Playground

”Me, me, me!”

Cheng Mengxue eagerly raised her hand.

Jiang Ran gestured with his hand.

”What’s your dream?”

”Hehe...”

Cheng Mengxue scratched her head, embarrassed.

”Well, you know... I failed two classes last semester...”

”Didn’t you have the make-up exams a week ago?” Qin Feng interjected.

”Ugh! I’m still worried about them!”

Cheng Mengxue looked aggrieved.

”Advanced Math is just too hard! I think I’m fine with the other one, but I have no confidence in my math score. If only I could have answered one more major question correctly!”

”Alright.”

Jiang Ran interlaced his fingers and rested them on his abdomen.

He already understood what Cheng Mengxue meant.

All they needed to do was send the answer to one of the major final questions to her past self, back when she was taking the make-up exam a week ago. That would ensure she passed.

Cheng Mengxue wasn’t an idiot. If they just gave her a hint, told her to look at the examples in a specific Chapter of the textbook, her score would go up.

”When do the make-up exam scores get posted?”

”The day after tomorrow.”

’Hmm, that’s good.’

Jiang Ran calculated in his head.

Changing the result before the final scores were announced was much less risky than trying to fix things after they were public.

”I don’t have a problem with it.”

He looked at Qin Feng.

”What about you?”

”I don’t have a problem with it either.”

Qin Feng spread his hands.

”Could there be anything smaller than this? I even feel like using a Time SMS for something like this... is a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

”But, the make-up exam was a week ago. What exact day was the advanced math one?”

”Uhh...”

Cheng Mengxue took out her phone, calculated on the calendar, and looked up.

”Nine days ago.”

Qin Feng looked at the Positron Cannon on the lab bench, a little worried.

”Nine days ago, huh... That’s definitely a challenge.”

Jiang Ran understood his concern.

So far, using the Positron Cannon and the transformer distribution box, the furthest they had ever sent a message was three days into the past.

If they wanted to send a message nine days back, it would mean operating the Beam Converger to increase the Electron Beam’s density.

’Will that... cause any problems?’

”It will.”

Qin Feng saw Jiang Ran’s concern and nodded.

”Increasing the Electron Beam density means increasing the power output. While it’s not an exponential increase, it will still be much higher than the power we’ve used in any previous experiment.”

”Then what do we do?” Cheng Mengxue asked anxiously.

”We can do the experiment in the early morning, or before dawn.”

Qin Feng suggested.

”The weather’s getting hot, so everyone in the club activities building is running their air conditioners. The building’s electrical load is already high. If we increase the Positron Cannon’s power now, we could easily fry the circuits, or even the Positron Cannon itself.”

”We can wait until after ten or eleven at night, or even after midnight. By then, the building will be empty and the electrical load will be low. Even if we use a bit more power, it should be fine.”

...

No sooner said than done.

That night, the three of them hid out in the club room until after midnight, waiting for the dead of night to conduct their experiment.

Jiang Ran straddled the windowsill.

”5! 4! 3! 2! 1! 0—”

BUZZ!

BUZZ!

BUZZ!

As Qin Feng activated the Positron Cannon and Cheng Mengxue sent the message from in front of the distribution box, Jiang Ran once again felt dizzy and lost his balance. The world spun around him.

Two seconds later, when he recovered, he found his location had changed.

He was now lying in his dorm bed.

Wearing pajamas, tucked under the covers.

Jiang Ran sat up, slipped on his slippers, and happened to see his upper bunkmate pulling up his pants.

”What are you up to?”

”Gotta pee!”

his bunkmate replied.

”Still awake?”

”Yeah, I’m gonna use the bathroom too.”

...

Jiang Ran went to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.

’It’s obvious.’

’A temporal shift occurred, established history has been altered, and a Worldline Jump has taken place. This is a brand new history, a brand new worldline.’

On this worldline, the trio hadn’t sent a Time SMS tonight, so naturally he wouldn’t be in the club room at this time. He’d be sleeping in his dorm.

’I should go back to sleep for now.’

He yawned.

’I’ll sync up our memories when I see Xiaoxue and Qin Feng tomorrow.’

...

The next day, the three of them met in the cafeteria to catch up.

In the nine days since Cheng Mengxue received the Time SMS with the advanced math answer, history hadn’t changed much. You could even say it had barely changed at all.

This was because at the end of the message they had composed for Cheng Mengxue, they specifically added a line telling her not to mention the message to Jiang Ran or Qin Feng, to just focus on studying, and to only tell them about it nine days later.

Therefore, the temporal Butterfly Effect caused by this Time SMS was minuscule. Other than letting Cheng Mengxue score a dozen or so extra points in advanced math, it had no effect on the rest of established history.

Another day passed. It was the day the make-up exam scores were released.

Cheng Mengxue, nervous and excited, repeatedly refreshed the page on her phone.

”Yes!! I passed Advanced Math! I got a 65!”

Jiang Ran and Qin Feng wiped the sweat from their brows.

That score was a real nail-biter. If she hadn’t gotten that last major question right, Cheng Mengxue’s make-up exam would have been a tragedy.

Afterward.

The three of them gathered in the club room once more.

”The unfortunate thing is, we still only received one Time SMS this time.”

Jiang Ran said, looking through Cheng Mengxue’s phone.

”I really don’t know when we’ll get the next mysterious message. Without more information, this current grammatically broken sentence, ’Don’t believe Ha,’ is impossible to understand.”

Qin Feng was at the lab bench, modifying the Positron Cannon.

”Let’s take it slow. We’re making progress one step at a time.”

He took a step aside and waved the other two over.

”Look. A few days ago, I went to an old appliance market and found an LCD knob control panel that’s compatible with this old piece of equipment. I modified it a bit.”

Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue walked over.

They saw that an old LCD knob control panel was now attached to the casing of the Positron Cannon.

The control panel had four knobs, each corresponding to four red LCD screens that could display numbers. Next to them were labels for Year, Month, Day, and Hour.

Turning the corresponding knobs could increase or decrease the numbers on the LCD screens.

The two of them had a sudden realization.

It was a visual control interface!

A foolproof way to precisely control the time destination of the Time SMS!

”Tony Stark!”

Jiang Ran exclaimed in admiration.

”You’re basically Iron Man, Qin Feng! With such a straightforward control panel, even the two of us can operate the Positron Cannon now.”

”It’s alright.”

Qin Feng wasn’t the least bit arrogant.

”I could have made it look nicer, but this is all twenty-year-old junk. The parts were really hard to find.”

”Operating the Positron Cannon will be simple from now on. You just need to aim it at the distribution box outside the window, then use the knobs to set the destination for the Time SMS—like nine days ago, one month ago, one year ago, and so on... then just press the activation button. It’s very simple.”

”Excellent.”

Jiang Ran sat on the sofa and leaned back.

”According to our ’Time SMS Phase Two Plan,’ all three of us get to use a Time SMS to fulfill one wish, taking turns.”

”Now that Xiaoxue’s wish has been granted, it’s your turn, Qin Feng...”

”What wish do you want to fulfill, what regret do you want to fix, using a Time SMS?”

...

A light breeze lifted the curtains, rustling through the room.

The entire club room fell silent.

The mournful chirping of cicadas rose and fell, willow branches with tender buds danced in the spring breeze, and the world outside the window was bursting with life.

”Qin Feng?”

Jiang Ran blinked, looking at the silent Qin Feng by the window.

Finally.

Amidst the incessant chirping of the cicadas, Qin Feng turned around.

”I want... to bring my dead father back to life.”

The chirping of the cicadas stopped in an instant.

As if he had a premonition, Jiang Ran’s heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t hear a thing anymore.

Only the sound of their two faint yet heavy breaths intertwined, a silent, mutual understanding passing between them.

Jiang Ran swallowed and lowered his head.

”When did your father pass away?”

He asked, already knowing the answer.

’They were such good friends.’

’How could he not know?’

’And how could he not have seen this coming?’

Cheng Mengxue hugged the Rhine Cat in her arms tightly, staring straight ahead, not making eye contact with anyone.

Sunlight pierced through the clouds, through the screen window, through everything, and shone into the room.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes from the hundred Rhine Cats reflected the sunlight, bright and intense, staring at the two who were now so close, yet so distant.

Qin Feng raised his head and looked at Jiang Ran.

”Ten years ago.”