Genius Playground

Wang Hao was furious.

It was an anger that had clearly been suppressed for a long time, and now it was finally erupting.

”Of course I hope Xiaoxue is real.”

Jiang Ran was just as conflicted and confused.

”I want Xiaoxue to be real more than anyone. I want her to be alive more than anyone!”

”But don’t you think this whole thing is weird? Zhou Xiong used his phone to get that omnipotent Lilith to grant our classmates’ wishes, and every single one of them came true.”

”The last wish Zhou Xiong made to Lilith was to resurrect Xiaoxue, and then Xiaoxue actually appeared right in front of us after the class reunion... Don’t you find that coincidence a little too strange?”

Wang Hao sighed.

”Dude! That was all fake! Zhou Xiong was just drunk and talking nonsense! You can’t seriously believe Zhou Xiong could bring Xiaoxue back with a phone call, can you? Is your head on straight right now?”

”Everyone could see that when Zhou Xiong was helping our classmates, he was just using his money and connections, definitely not some supernatural power.”

”When Zhou Xiong asked Lilith to resurrect Xiaoxue on the phone, Lilith obviously refused or said something about it being impossible. Otherwise, why would Zhou Xiong have had such a big reaction and thrown a fit?”

”I remember after hearing Lilith’s refusal, Zhou Xiong even said something like, ’What’s all this nonsense? Just cut the crap!’ It’s obvious the person on the other end, Lilith, never agreed to it.”

”As for why Xiaoxue showed up right after the reunion, it’s a total coincidence! She saw the reunion notice in the QQ group, rushed all the way back from the United States, and just happened to get to the restaurant at that exact time. It’s purely a *coincidence*!”

...

Jiang Ran listened to Wang Hao’s roaring and watched him quietly.

He was silent for several seconds.

Then, in a deep voice, he asked, ”You think the connection between these two events is purely a *coincidence*?”

”What else could it be?”

Wang Hao spread his hands.

”You don’t actually believe in some omnipotent god, or that there’s really a way to bring the dead back to life, do you?”

”Fine.”

Jiang Ran nodded and straightened up.

”Then let me tell you about an even bigger *coincidence*.”

”You probably remember that back in middle school, I wrote a super cringey and delusional ’Setting Collection,’ right? You even read it.”

”Yeah, I remember,” Wang Hao replied instantly.

”Wasn’t it called ’Genius Playground’? I remember the name.”

”Do you remember the content?”

”Nah, I don’t remember that,” Wang Hao said, shaking his head.

”It’s been seven or eight years. My memory isn’t that good.”

Jiang Ran smiled.

”It’s fine if you don’t remember. I’ll tell you what was in it... Although I’ve forgotten most of it myself, I do remember a few of the settings. I even adapted it into a screenplay, the one for that ’micro-movie’ Xu Yan filmed.”

”In the world I created in that Setting Collection, there was indeed an ’omnipotent Lilith.’ As long as you contacted her through a special phone and made a wish, she could grant you anything you wanted.”

”Any wish, and I mean literally any wish. Whether it’s making the sky suddenly go dark, turning night into day, or even bringing the dead back to life... The omnipotent Lilith was the god of that world; she could grant any wish.”

”Of course, it was all just the cringey fantasy of a teenager. The whole setting was just a bunch of random, nonsensical stuff I made up. But wouldn’t you know it? A setting as absurd as that was replicated down to the smallest detail at our class reunion.”

”So tell me, would you call that a *coincidence*?”

...

This was the first time Wang Hao had heard about this.

He was completely stunned, his eyes wide as he stared blankly for a long moment.

”For real? A coincidence that perfect?”

”Mhm.”

”It... it was really just like the Setting Collection you wrote in middle school?”

”Exactly the same.”

”This Lilith character, the name is the same too? And you contact this god with a phone?”

”A perfect match.”

”I don’t believe you,” Wang Hao said, shaking his head.

He held his hand out to Jiang Ran.

”This is too ridiculous. I don’t believe it. Show me the screenplay you wrote, or the finished micro-movie.”

”Sigh... I deleted all of it.”

Jiang Ran regretted being so quick to delete all those files. But suddenly, he remembered the Setting Collection!

’Right.’

’The original manuscript for the Setting Collection I wrote in middle school is most likely still in my basement!’

”However, the original manuscript of the Setting Collection I wrote in middle school should still be in my basement.”

He looked up at Wang Hao.

”If you don’t believe me, you want to go look for it right now?”

”Fine!”

Wang Hao threw the menu in his hand onto the table.

”We haven’t ordered yet anyway. We can eat anytime. I refuse to believe such a crazy coincidence exists in this world!”

”You’re telling me some nonsense novel setting you made up years ago actually came true? That’s just too absurd! I have to see the proof with my own eyes!”

Jiang Ran grabbed his car keys and got up to leave.

But he realized Wang Hao hadn’t followed him.

He turned back and saw Wang Hao still sitting on the small stool, having lit a cigarette and smoking it in silence.

”...”

Looking at that dejected figure, Jiang Ran naturally guessed what Wang Hao was thinking.

So, he walked over and patted his good friend on the shoulder.

”Wang Hao, don’t be upset. I understand how you feel.”

Jiang Ran said softly,

”It’s not that I’m deliberately doubting Cheng Mengxue. I said it from the beginning, if Cheng Mengxue really was in the United States for two years, or if she really did come back from the dead... as long as she’s real, I’d be happier than anyone.”

”You might think I’m being cold-hearted, that I don’t trust Xiaoxue. But it’s precisely because I value our history, our friendship, that I can’t allow a fake Xiaoxue to take the real one’s place in our trio.”

”I admit, this Xiaoxue seems very real. At the time, I was 99.99% convinced she was the real deal.”

”A probability as high as 99.99% isn’t enough?” Wang Hao turned back to him.

Jiang Ran gave a helpless smile.

”It is a high probability, but it’s not 100%, after all. A lot of bizarre, strange, and utterly surreal things have been happening around me lately.”

”So... if the probability of this Xiaoxue being real isn’t 100%—even if it’s off by just a tiny, tiny fraction—I can’t bring myself to fully trust her.”

”You should come with me to the basement first to look for the Setting Collection I wrote back then. I think once you see what’s inside, you’ll understand why I’m so worried and hesitant.”

Sigh.

Wang Hao stood up.

”Fine, fine. Let’s go to your basement first.”

With that, he shook his head and gave a wry smile.

”Heheheh, man... what goes around, comes around.”

”What do you mean?” Jiang Ran asked, confused.

”Hahahahaha, Jiang Ran, you’re just getting what you deserve!”

Wang Hao suddenly burst out laughing like a madman.

”It’s true what they say, the wicked get their comeuppance. Now the same thing is happening to you. How does it feel!”

”What are you talking about?”

Completely baffled, Jiang Ran gave Wang Hao a light punch.

”What’s gotten into you? Are you crazy?”

”*I’m talking about how you treated Xiuxiu!*”

Wang Hao looked as if a great weight had been lifted off his chest, completely vindicated.

”Back then, in Xiuxiu’s eyes, you were like a completely different person. It made her lose all her confidence. When you were ignoring her, she even came to me to complain, asking if you didn’t like her anymore.”

”Well, look at you now! You treated Xiuxiu so badly back then, and now you’re getting your karma! Serves you right! Now you get to meet someone you can’t tell is real or fake, someone who might not even be your childhood friend. Let’s see how you like it!”

...

Wang Hao’s words sent Jiang Ran into deep thought.

Although the two situations were completely unrelated, now that Wang Hao had made the comparison... they did seem somewhat similar.

In Nan Xiuxiu’s eyes, he had become like a different person.

In his own eyes, Cheng Mengxue seemed like a fake.

”Heh.”

Jiang Ran gave another helpless smile.

”It’s just as you said. They are a bit similar.”

Wang Hao took a final drag from his cigarette, blowing a swirling cloud of smoke into the air.

”But... when faced with the same situation, Xiuxiu wasn’t like you at all.”

”How so?”

Wang Hao tossed the cigarette butt to the ground.

”You’re faced with a Xiaoxue who seems so real, yet you spend all day doubting and suspecting, always trying to find a flaw to prove she’s a fake.”

”But in Xiuxiu’s eyes, you were you. No matter how much you changed, Jiang Ran was still Jiang Ran, the one and only Jiang Ran in the world.”

”Xiuxiu’s thoughts are simple and pure. In short, she’s just not like you. To Xiuxiu...”

He crushed the cigarette butt under his foot and looked up at the starry night sky.

”*No matter what you become, she will still love you.*”