Genius Playground

A hint of suspicion flashed in Nan Xiuxiu’s eyes.

She took a step back.

”What’s with you? You’re so serious.”

Jiang Ran looked at her.

”For the next little while, I’m going to be very busy. So, I need to take a break.”

Nan Xiuxiu fell silent.

She stood there, arms crossed.

”When you say ’take a break’... you don’t mean that I shouldn’t look for you, shouldn’t contact you, and shouldn’t bother you, do you?”

”That’s right.”

Jiang Ran didn’t mince words.

”I have something very important to do, and I need some time to work on it alone. This matter is highly confidential, so I can’t tell you anything about it. I hope you won’t try to follow or interfere with me.”

”You deleted the romance app. How am I supposed to follow you?”

Nan Xiuxiu huffed.

”I’m your girlfriend, don’t you have even a little trust in me? What is this thing you have to hide from me like this? I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

Jiang Ran shook his head.

”It’s not that I’ll never tell you, I just can’t say anything right now.”

He realized how clingy Nan Xiuxiu really was. ’It’s better to redirect than to block,’ he thought, deciding on a delaying tactic.

”You understand that some things have to be kept secret. Once I’m done with this, I’ll tell you everything.”

Nan Xiuxiu thought for a moment.

”Fine.”

She threw up her hands.

”How long of a break do you need?”

”Ten days.”

”That long?!”

Nan Xiuxiu gritted her teeth.

”Fine! I won’t bother you for ten days! But we have a deal—you have to tell me the truth in ten days!”

”I trust that you’re not the type to go fooling around behind my back, but if you hide everything from me, I’ll be really hurt.”

She lowered her right hand and hooked her pinky with Jiang Ran’s.

”Pinky promise. It’s a deal. Don’t you go back on your word.”

...

Jiang Ran looked at their linked pinkies.

’Honestly, he really didn’t want to make a pinky promise with Nan Xiuxiu about this.’

’But right now, there was no better way to get rid of this clinger.’

’If he left without a word, she’d just search for him everywhere.’

’Breaking up with her would inevitably lead to a drawn-out, dramatic mess, which would be even more trouble.’

’After all, from Nan Xiuxiu’s perspective, they’d been dating for less than half a month. She would never accept a sudden, out-of-the-blue breakup right now.’

’It would just lead to her pestering him relentlessly, dragging Wang Hao into the fray, or getting other friends involved... The very thought gave Jiang Ran a headache.’

He had now mastered the principles behind circuit boards, capacitors, cathode-ray tubes, and Beam Convergers. All he needed was to buy the parts, and he could fix the Positron Cannon.

This was a critical moment; he couldn’t afford any mistakes.

So...

It was better to just lay down some ground rules with Nan Xiuxiu: no contact for ten days, each going their separate ways.

Ten days was definitely enough time to activate the Positron Cannon, send the Time SMS, and complete the Worldline Jump.

”Alright.”

Jiang Ran complied, linking his pinky with Nan Xiuxiu’s.

”Hmph.”

Even so, Nan Xiuxiu still looked displeased, her face in a pout.

”So when does this ’break’ of yours start?”

”Right now,” Jiang Ran replied.

’He didn’t want to waste another second on Nan Xiuxiu.’

”You!”

Nan Xiuxiu’s almond-shaped eyes went wide, and she puffed up with anger.

”Fine! You’ve got some nerve, Jiang Ran!”

With a SMACK, she yanked her hand away, turned, and stormed off, only to spin back around and point an accusing finger at Jiang Ran.

”In ten days, I’ll be waiting for your explanation! If you don’t explain everything clearly, I’m not done with you!”

With that said.

Nan Xiuxiu took off her protective gear, stuffed it into a locker along with her Recurve Bow, and stormed away.

Jiang Ran quietly watched her graceful figure disappear through the doorway, her long pink hair melting into the night.

”There’s nothing to explain,”

he murmured to himself.

’In ten days, the world line will change, and we’ll be strangers.’

’In ten days, Nan Xiuxiu will still be here, at the East Sea College of International Trade and Economics, with that proud, vibrant pink hair, studying for her associate’s degree and living her free life.’

’And in ten days, Jiang Ran will be back at East Sea University, in the Film Club, facing the crowded and massive Rhine Cat Legion.’

’Two completely different lives—that was their proper destiny.’

’There was nothing to regret.’

’Because he and Nan Xiuxiu were never on the same path to begin with.’

’The distance between them was greater than two parallel world lines.’

”In ten days, I won’t be your boyfriend, and you won’t even remember me.”

”In the long river of history, submerged by the coming World Line Correction, we won’t even qualify as passersby.”

Jiang Ran turned off the lights in the archery range.

He walked out the door.

He took one last look at the target at the end of the range, and at the large, framed photo of Nan Xiuxiu on the wall.

CLICK.

He gently closed the door.

”Goodbye.”

...

「The next day.」

Jiang Ran took a taxi to Old Electronics Street and found Old Qi’s Home Appliance Repair Shop.

The shop was filled with old home appliances.

Big-screen projection TVs, radios, VCRs, electric fans, cassette players... all sorts of products from the last century, each a testament to the shop’s authority.

At the counter, an old man was smoking a cigarette, holding a soldering iron. The acrid smell of pine resin filled the air.

”Excuse me, do you have...”

”Got it!”

The old man interrupted loudly, a cigarette dangling from his lips, without even looking up.

...

Speechless, Jiang Ran unfolded the note in his hand.

”Can you see if you have what’s written on...”

”Got it!”

the old man yelled.

”You didn’t even look!”

Jiang Ran slammed his hand on the glass counter.

”Could you at least take a look before saying you have...”

”Got it!”

The old man cut Jiang Ran off again, put down his soldering iron, and turned his head.

”Kid, no need to ask. I’ve got everything here. I’ve been in this business for over thirty years. Whatever part you need, I’ve got it!”

”Fine.”

’This old guy certainly had a personality.’

’It seemed he had a reputation to uphold and wouldn’t allow anyone to ask *if* he had something, as if it were a challenge to his authority.’

Jiang Ran handed the note straight to him.

”I want to buy these things. The models and quantities are written on here.”

The old man was very satisfied.

’This unquestioning, take-it-for-granted attitude was the true affirmation of his thirty-plus years of skill and experience.’

He took the note and glanced at it.

”Hmm... this circuit board. Are you fixing a CRT monitor? Or a cathode-ray tube television?”

’Sure enough, an expert was an expert. He guessed it right away.’

”So, do you have it or not?”

”Got it!”

’This old guy was like an NPC, always triggering the same fixed dialogue.’

”I’ve got the capacitors you want, too, but this quantity... fifty?! What do you need fifty for?!”

The old man looked up in surprise, staring at Jiang Ran.

”Did you write this down wrong? Why are you buying so many capacitors?”

”They’re consumables,”

Jiang Ran said evasively.

”They break easily.”

”Are you kidding me?! These things don’t break that easily! What are you doing, conducting nuclear tests or inventing a Time Machine?!”

The old man grumbled as he crouched down to pull capacitors from a cabinet.

Jiang Ran wiped away some sweat.

’I have to admit, this old guy was a real authority. His judgment of people and situations was spot-on.’

”Here, this is all I have of this model of capacitor. You can have them all.”

”Kid, these are Japanese-made capacitors. As long as you don’t mess around with the voltage, they’re built to last.”

The old man counted them out—24 capacitors in total—then took out two power supply module circuit boards, packed them up, and handed them to Jiang Ran.

”That’ll be 360.”

???

”Sir, isn’t that a total rip-off?”

Jiang Ran couldn’t help but protest.

”You’re charging me over 300 for a few junk parts? Is that right?”

”What do you know!”

The old man scoffed.

”Rarity makes things valuable! Don’t just see them as old parts. You won’t find them anywhere else in East Sea if you leave my shop!”

”They stopped making this stuff twenty years ago. Every piece I sell is one less in the world. You think they’re easy to get?”

”Besides, my high price includes after-sales service, so you won’t get ripped off. If the board breaks later, just bring it back. I guarantee I’ll fix it, and if I can’t, you get your money back!”

With that, he pulled a business card from under the glass counter and handed it over.

”From now on, just call me Old Qi. If you have any old things you can’t fix or that can’t be fixed elsewhere, you can bring them to me.”

Jiang Ran took the business card.

The header read ’Old Qi’s Home Appliance Repair Shop’, so this old man had to be Old Qi. There was a phone number on it, too.

”Fine, fine.”

Jiang Ran scanned the code and paid.

’It was a bit pricey, but the premium for after-sales service was acceptable.’

”Right, I need one more thing.”

It was the LCD dial control board for adjusting the Beam Converger’s intensity. Jiang Ran didn’t know the model number, so he hadn’t written it on the note.

”Do you have the one that’s...”

”Got it!”

The old man nearly jumped.

”An LCD dial control board! The kind that connects to a cathode-ray tube’s Beam Converger to adjust the intensity!”

”Got it!”

The old man turned and started rummaging around in his storeroom.

”You really know what you’re looking for, kid. I’d forgotten which machine I even pulled this thing off of. This is the only one; you won’t find a second one for sale.”

THUNK.

A familiar, long-unseen LCD dial control board was placed on the glass counter.

Jiang Ran picked it up carefully.

’That’s right...’

’This was the exact one that Qin Feng had bought on World Line 0 to modify the Positron Cannon. It was also the ”accomplice” he had deliberately rewired to send the Time SMS ten years into the past.’

And with that.

All the components were now acquired.

’All he had to do was go to the Film Club at East Sea University, fix the Positron Cannon...’

’And he could send the Time SMS!’