Genius Playground

”So over time, you see, things have gotten a lot more comfortable, right? I usually eat and live at the school, so I can save up all my money. It’s good to have something for a rainy day.”

Jiang Ran nodded.

’That’s true.’

As the old industrial heartland of the Dragon Country, the Northeast really hadn’t kept up with the economic transformations in recent years, so its development wasn’t great.

To make money, many people from the Northeast had gone to Hainan, the coastal regions, or even abroad, all over the world...

You could say that at this point, the whole world was just an oversized Northeast.

”Your daughter...”

Jiang Ran straightened up, but hesitated to speak.

”Her health... is it okay?”

Old Tian sighed.

”Sigh, what can you do? She’s in rehabilitation.”

The other man didn’t elaborate, and Jiang Ran didn’t feel it was right to press for details.

There was a very clear difference between southerners and northerners: their attitude toward privacy.

Northerners could be completely unabashed, asking about your family size, your job, your salary, whether you’re married, if you have kids, or if you’re planning a second child, all as if it were just casual chit-chat.

But in the eyes of a southerner, these intensely private questions were very difficult to ask.

On World Line 0, Jiang Ran had a roommate from the Northeast who, within the first two days of school, had rattled on and on, explaining every last detail about his family. The sheer level of his extroversion had been a real lesson for Jiang Ran’s outlook on life.

A few days ago in the cafeteria, Jiang Ran had actually run into this roommate.

At the time, Jiang Ran greeted him out of reflex, but the other guy just looked completely baffled, not recognizing him at all.

’Of course, there was no way he would recognize him.’

Because on this World Line 1, the two of them had never crossed paths and had never been roommates. This emotional displacement, a product of the intersecting timelines, often made Jiang Ran sigh with regret.

However, although Old Tian didn’t go into detail, Jiang Ran could roughly guess from their chats over the past few days that Old Tian’s parents and wife had probably all passed away.

That’s why he had come to East Sea alone with his daughter—on one hand, so she could benefit from better medical and rehabilitation resources, and on the other, so he could earn more money.

You couldn’t really call his situation pitiful. After all, countless people struggled just like this for their lives and families.

But since their meeting was fate, Jiang Ran felt a desire to help Old Tian out.

It’s just that he didn’t know what would be the most appropriate way to help Old Tian.

’Even though I have nearly 12 million in my bank account, I can’t just throw money at him without a second thought, can I? With Old Tian’s personality, he definitely wouldn’t accept it.’

’I’ll just wait for an opportunity in the future.’

When Old Tian ran into trouble, Jiang Ran wouldn’t mind lending him a hand.

...

For the next two days, Jiang Ran followed his routine every morning: cleaning up on time, activating the Positron Cannon, and traveling to the year 2045.

In the activity room, Chi Xiaoguo was preparing more and more materials, but Jiang Ran’s own journey to the future had stalled.

At the execution ground, there was really no way to ask Qin Feng for more clues.

Time was just too tight.

Even if he shot the executioner with his pistol, the snipers lying in ambush around them would only allow Qin Feng to say a couple of sentences.

And Qin Feng... no matter what, he had to emphasize those two phrases: ”42 is correct” and ”Follow 42.”

Whenever Jiang Ran demanded to know why *he* was 42, Qin Feng never had time to answer before they were both killed in a hail of sniper fire.

’I suppose the question of why I am 42 isn’t something that can be explained in just a few words.’

Jiang Ran shook his head.

The question, and by extension the answer, was far too abstract.

So, he decided to cut his losses for now and stop wasting time at the execution ground. He planned to shift his focus and try to make progress on the Assassin front.

After that, another three days passed with no progress.

No matter what he tried, the automatic alarm on the prison guard’s chest would always activate. He just couldn’t get past that point.

Both sides, both paths, were stalled. He couldn’t make any effective progress, and it left Jiang Ran feeling utterly exhausted.

Fortunately, he received a piece of good news on WeChat today.

”Dingdang Cat! Your teacher can get out of bed and move around now!”

It was from Teacher Zhang Yang.

’He really is unwilling to call me Doraemon, just as I thought.’

’Sigh.’

’Is this the useless stubbornness of a middle-aged man?’

But in any case, Teacher Zhang Yang being able to walk was good news. Jiang Ran decided to visit him in the hospital personally and, while he was at it, pass on Cheng Mengxue’s and Fang Ze’s well wishes.

...

「Afternoon. Inpatient Department, East Sea University First Affiliated Hospital.」

”Oh, don’t you let those two foreigners come over here.”

Zhang Yang quickly stopped him.

”I’ll be back at the university on crutches soon enough. Let’s just see each other at school then.”

”They’re not foreigners,” Jiang Ran corrected. ”They’re both Dragon Country People, okay?”

”Aren’t they both ethnically Chinese?” Zhang Yang shot back.

This...

For a moment, Jiang Ran was stumped.

’He was right, Teacher Zhang Yang wasn’t wrong.’

According to their files, Fang Ze was purely of Chinese descent but born abroad. Cheng Mengxue’s real identity had been erased, and she was now using a fake identity from the United States. Her cover story was also that of an ethnically Chinese person who grew up in the US, commonly known as an ABC.

’Strictly speaking, Cheng Mengxue and Fang Ze really were both foreigners.’

”Fine, I’ll talk them out of it.”

Jiang Ran spread his hands.

”You’ll be back soon anyway. We can just have them welcome you back at school then.”

”Speaking of which... since you’re coming back, does that mean Teacher Yan will be leaving?”

Zhang Yang nodded.

”Of course. But Teacher Yan won’t be leaving East Sea University entirely. He still has to be at the research institute here for an exchange for a while.”

”Sigh, you kids better cherish the time you have with Teacher Yan! He’s a professor from Dartmouth. If it weren’t for my accident and hospitalization, you wouldn’t even be qualified to meet him!”

’Heh.’

Jiang Ran laughed to himself.

’I don’t even want to see him.’

Teacher Yan clearly had a problem with his academic attitude. On top of that, the guy was always rushing in and rushing out, busy with who-knows-what all day. It was hard to say who was phoning it in more in this teacher-student relationship.

”Alright, I’m leaving. Call me on the day you’re discharged, and I’ll come pick you up.”

Jiang Ran waved goodbye to Zhang Yang and walked out of the hospital room—

”Huh?” ”Eh!”

Two familiar people met in an unfamiliar place, staring at each other blankly.

”Old Tian?” ”Xiaojiang!”

The person he had run into in the hallway was none other than Old Tian, the janitor uncle he swept with every morning.

Jiang Ran let out a soft laugh.

”Fancy meeting you here.”

But on second thought, it wasn’t that strange.

Old Tian had mentioned that his daughter wasn’t well and was undergoing rehabilitation at a hospital. East Sea University First Affiliated Hospital wasn’t far from the East Sea University campus, so it was a very suitable place for her to be hospitalized.

”Are you here to see your daughter?”

”Yes, yes.” Old Tian nodded. ”She’s staying on this floor. And you’re here...?”

”Oh.”

Jiang Ran pointed to the room door behind him.

”I came to visit my teacher. He was in a car accident and is hospitalized here too.”

After a moment’s thought, he followed behind Old Tian.

”Old Tian, let me come with you to see your daughter. I’ll just say hi.”

Since he was already here and had run into him, Jiang Ran decided to take the opportunity to visit Old Tian’s daughter.

Old Tian tried his best to refuse, saying he didn’t want to trouble Jiang Ran, but Jiang Ran insisted on going, so Old Tian eventually gave in with a helpless sigh.

”Heh, sigh... Xiaojiang, I really didn’t want to trouble you. You’re just too kind and warm-hearted. I’m actually a bit embarrassed.”

”It’s no problem.”

Jiang Ran waved his hand dismissively.

”It’s all fate.”

After that, Old Tian walked ahead to lead the way.

”My daughter’s room is just up ahead. We’re here. This is it.”

He pushed open the door with a CREAK and led Jiang Ran inside.

Jiang Ran followed him in.

’Hm?’

Suddenly, his eyes widened.

That strange feeling enveloped him again, like a cold, black mist solidifying into a dark hand, gripping him tightly. In his ears... the words of the middle-aged Qin Feng, spoken through gritted teeth before his death, echoed once more.

’Wait.’

’No way. Did I see that wrong?’

He quickly took a step back and looked again at the nameplate on the hospital room door:

[Rehabilitation Ward: Room 42]

[Name: Tian Xiaoli]