Genius Playground

He couldn’t help but smack his lips.

”I get the feeling that East Sea University is a lot safer than the outside world.”

...

He then tore the page with his written ideas from his notebook, lit it with a lighter, and tossed it into the hallway to be destroyed.

Since he had a growing suspicion he was in danger, it was best to be extra careful about things.

He then turned off the basement light, closed the door, and returned to the house.

Wang Hao was just coming out of the bathroom.

”Done searching?”

”I’m done.”

Jiang Ran shook his head.

”Let’s get some sleep. We have to take Cheng Mengxue to Qiandao Lake tomorrow. You can sleep in the study; there’s a folding bed in there.”

”OK.”

Wang Hao let out a huge yawn, waved goodnight to Jiang Ran, and, with practiced ease, went into the study, unfolded the bed, turned off the light, and started snoring.

...

The next day, Jiang Ran woke up very early.

With so much on his mind, he hadn’t slept well.

He could clearly hear Wang Hao’s thunderous snores from the next room. They were so piercing that Jiang Ran gave up on trying to go back to sleep. He got up, dressed, and headed downstairs to a small, nearby park.

The park was filled with elderly people doing their morning exercises, and nearby breakfast stalls added to the lively, bustling atmosphere.

But Jiang Ran wasn’t there to eat.

He took out his phone and dialed Xu Yan’s number, planning to give her a heads-up about Cheng Mengxue.

To his surprise, Xu Yan took the news remarkably well. After her initial shock, she was filled with excitement and joy.

”That’s wonderful! I never would have guessed! So that’s what happened to Xiaoxue’s family!”

”But what matters is that everything worked out. I was always so worried about how Uncle and Auntie were doing in the United States. I couldn’t reach them for the past two years, and I couldn’t help but fear the worst.”

”Now I finally understand. So they had their reasons! Ah, as long as the family is together and safe, that’s all that matters. You all should come over early tomorrow! I’ll have my parents cook a big meal for you!”

Jiang Ran was surprised that Xu Yan, just like Wang Hao, had so quickly accepted the fact that Cheng Mengxue had ”come back from the dead”—or rather, that she had never died at all.

”You... accepted that really quickly.”

He found a bench and sat down.

”I thought you wouldn’t believe me, or that... well, that something like this would be hard to accept.”

”What’s the big deal?”

Xu Yan laughed over the phone.

”The story’s a little wild, but you explained everything, right? There’s nothing unacceptable about it. In fact, it’s the kind of good news anyone would be thrilled to hear.”

”You’re not suspicious at all? You don’t think this Xiaoxue might be a fake?” Jiang Ran asked.

”Hahaha, what are you talking about!”

Xu Yan burst out laughing.

”Xiaoxue is a living, breathing person. How could she be a fake? I’m like a sister to her! You think I wouldn’t be able to recognize her? That’s hilarious... If she were really a fake, would she dare come to my house?”

Xu Yan’s laughter was completely unforced, as if mocking Jiang Ran for being so absurd.

’That’s true.’

’A normal person would never entertain such a ridiculous idea.’

”By the way, there’s a favor I need to ask.”

Jiang Ran switched the phone to his other hand.

”You remember those two glass bottles I showed you when I came over before, right?”

”Of course I do.”

Xu Yan replied,

”They’re the time capsules Xiaoxue and I buried in elementary school, right? The letters we wrote to our future selves, 20 years later. What about them?”

Jiang Ran took a deep breath and said slowly,

”I hope... you won’t tell Xiaoxue about this. I’m talking about me digging up that rusty metal box. Just act like it never happened.”

”If you really want to say something, feel free to talk about what was in your letter. But I need you to keep the contents of Xiaoxue’s letter a secret from her. Please don’t tell her what it said.”

Ohh...

On the other end of the line, Xu Yan understood.

”So that’s what this is about.”

”Then you can rest completely assured. Even if you hadn’t told me, I would never have revealed what was in Xiaoxue’s letter.”

?

”Why?”

Jiang Ran was confused.

He hadn’t expected this at all.

Xu Yan and Cheng Mengxue were as close as blood sisters, inseparable since they were little, telling each other everything. Why was Xu Yan being so secretive now when it came to a letter written to their future selves?

”And you’re asking why...”

Xu Yan sighed.

”Jiang Ran, are you serious? Ugh... you’re so dense.”

”I was even going to ask Wang Hao if you’d gotten a girlfriend at college, wondering if being in a relationship was what made you change so much.”

”But now I see... there’s absolutely no need.”

??

”Why?” Jiang Ran asked again, like a broken record.

”YOU’RE SO DENSE! LIKE A BLOCK OF WOOD! WHAT KIND OF GIRL WOULD EVER LIKE YOU?!”

Her voice was so loud it felt like Xu Yan was about to jump out of the phone and punch him.

”Do you really not see it? What’s the difference between that letter Xiaoxue wrote to her future self and a confession letter written to you?!”

”That letter! It might as well have just said, ’I like Jiang Ran, and you have to marry him when you grow up’!”

Xu Yan’s shouting was so fierce it made the phone’s speaker crackle.

”Sigh...”

Xu Yan sighed again, her voice turning exasperated.

”In that letter, she called you both a big dummy and a great hero.”

”When we were seven or eight, saying stuff like that was no big deal. We were just little girls, you know? Kids say whatever. It was perfectly normal to write such childish, mushy things, and nobody thought twice about it.”

”Back then, even at seven or eight, neither of us thought anything of it. I clearly remember we even swapped letters and read each other’s... but honestly, I’d completely forgotten all about it until you came to me.”

”Come on, man... Think about it. We’re twenty years old now. Wouldn’t you feel embarrassed reading all that mushy ’big dummy’ and ’great hero’ stuff from when you were a kid?”

”SO, FORGET YOU TELLING ME NOT TO SAY ANYTHING. EVEN IF I TOLD XIAOXUE EXACTLY WHAT WAS IN THAT LETTER, SHE WOULD TURN BEET RED AND DENY IT TO HER DYING BREATH.”

”Unless, of course, you wave that glass bottle right in her face. With hard evidence like that, she’d have no choice but to admit she wrote those mushy things. But I’m telling you, don’t you dare do that. A girl’s pride is a fragile thing, and forcing her to admit something like that... it’s a despicable, terrible thing to do.”

”I would never do that!” Jiang Ran quickly denied.

”I wouldn’t stoop to that... uh... probably.”

He thought about the steak and red wine from last night, about what happened at her door, and wiped his forehead.

”’Probably?’” Xu Yan’s voice was sharp.

”Probably.”

”’Probably?’” she repeated.

”Probably.”

”Sigh, Jiang Ran, you really need to learn something about women. Even though you and Xiaoxue grew up together, you can’t always treat her like one of the guys.”

Xu Yan found Jiang Ran’s denseness genuinely disappointing.

”Whatever, whatever. I’ll remember what you said. Let’s not waste any more time on the phone. Go get Xiaoxue, drive to Qiandao Lake, and get here early. I want to see her as soon as possible.”

”Alright.”

After hanging up, Jiang Ran bought two breakfast sets and headed home.

He opened the door.

Walked to the study.

And found that Wang Hao was actually awake!

Wang Hao was sitting at the computer desk in the study, staring at a webpage on the monitor, his chin propped in his hand as he thought.

”What are you looking at?” Jiang Ran asked, leaning over curiously.

”Jiang Ran.”

Wang Hao swiveled his computer chair to face him.

”I’ve come up with some ironclad proof that will put your mind at ease and prove, once and for all, that Cheng Mengxue is Cheng Mengxue!”

”What is it?”

”D! N! F!”

Wang Hao said, each syllable firm and resolute.

”Ah, crap, crap... sorry, force of habit. Let me start over.”

He looked up again, his expression serious.

”Jiang Ran, I’ve come up with a—” ”You don’t have to start all the way from the beginning!”

Jiang Ran cut him off and looked at the computer screen.

”It’s fine, I already see what you’ve been looking up.”

”Exactly.”

Wang Hao swiveled the chair back around, grabbed the mouse, and pointed the cursor at a search result on the webpage.

”You’re always worried she’s some kind of secret agent or spy disguised as Xiaoxue, or that she had plastic surgery to get her face, right? Well then, let’s just do a [DNA test]!”

”Appearances can be deceiving, words can be lies, and personality and mannerisms can all be faked... But! DNA never lies! Just like a paternity test, DNA tells you everything!”

”So... we just need to find a sample of the old Xiaoxue’s DNA, then pluck a hair from the new Xiaoxue, and send them to a lab for testing.”

Wang Hao declared, his tone once again firm and resolute.

”AS LONG AS THE DNA DATA FROM BOTH SAMPLES IS A PERFECT MATCH, THEN THAT MEANS...”

”XIAOXUE IS XIAOXUE! THE ONE, THE ONLY, THE GENUINE ARTICLE!”