Genius Playground

”Aww, that’s so lame!”

Chi Xiaoguo pouted.

”It makes us sound like some failing sect with no one to carry on the legacy!”

Uh...

Jiang Ran gave a wry smile.

’Isn’t that the truth?’

He then went behind the shelves, pulled out the large cardboard box containing the Positron Cannon, and opened it. He lifted the machine—which looked like an oversized camera with an unknown mechanism and unverified effects—back onto the lab bench.

They had recruitment yesterday, and considering the Film Club would be holding frequent activities in the future, he had hidden the Positron Cannon when it wasn’t in use, just to be safe.

”Speaking of which, there’s another problem.”

Jiang Ran told Chi Xiaoguo about his chat with Fang Ze the previous night.

”From now on, I don’t really have a good reason to come here so early every morning. This kind of sneaky behavior is just too suspicious.”

”Once or twice is fine, but if I do it every day, the secret of the Positron Cannon will definitely get out. After all... Fang Ze is a member of our Film Club too. Sooner or later, he’s going to come to this clubroom, and he’ll eventually find out we’re using the Positron Cannon every morning.”

Chi Xiaoguo thought for a few seconds.

”How about we switch to activating the Positron Cannon at night from now on?”

She giggled.

”Didn’t you say before, Senior, that we can use the Positron Cannon anytime the electrical load is low?”

”Lights out at our school is at 11 PM. After 10:30, the club activities building is pretty much empty. We can totally wait until just before 11 to activate the Positron Cannon.”

”Is that okay?”

Jiang Ran scratched his head.

He had initially felt it would be too much trouble for Chi Xiaoguo, and besides, it didn’t feel right to keep a girl out so late every day.

But now that they were more familiar with each other... he was starting to feel that there was nothing inappropriate about it.

’After all, my conscience is clear, so what’s there to worry about?’

Ultimately, it was because he was now a student at this school and a proper member of the Film Club. That gave him a bit more confidence; he was no longer just some nobody from another school.

Under these circumstances, there was nothing wrong with being alone with Chi Xiaoguo until 11 PM.

”Of course it’s no problem~”

Chi Xiaoguo looked very happy.

”I’ll be staying late here a lot from now on anyway, since we have to start planning club activities. So... this clubroom is going to be my main battlefield for the next year!”

”I’ll basically be here every day, preparing materials, developing photos, and all that. So really, it’s just a matter of leaving an hour or two later at night and helping you start up the Positron Cannon along the way!”

Jiang Ran smiled slightly, accepting her kind offer.

This way, things would look much more normal to Fang Ze.

It was normal for university students to rush back to their dorms right before curfew, or even not go back at all. But waking up at five or six every morning? That was completely absurd! Where on earth could you find a university student that disciplined?!

”Thank you.”

Jiang Ran once again thanked Chi Xiaoguo from the bottom of his heart.

”I’m really grateful that you’ve been so unconditionally cooperative and trusting this whole time. No matter what I ask, you always agree, and you never press me for details about what I’m doing... I’m really thankful for that.”

”Hey, I’m not an idiot!”

Chi Xiaoguo waved her hand dismissively.

”I figured out what you were doing a long time ago.”

Huh?

This time, it was Jiang Ran’s turn to be the clown.

”You... you know everything?”

”Yep!”

Chi Xiaoguo put her hands on her hips, looking as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

”It wasn’t that hard to guess. I’m pretty smart, you know!”

With that, she suddenly bent over and struck a pose, pretending to push up a pair of glasses even though she wasn’t wearing any.

Then she shot upright, pointing her index finger at Jiang Ran and shouting:

”The scheming frog keeps rubbing your belly!”

Ah... Jiang Ran froze on the spot, petrified.

It was another meme from the Japanese anime *Detective Conan*—a phonetic gag based on the Japanese pronunciation of ”There is only one truth!”

Chi Xiaoguo really was a master of surfing the web; she could pull out even ancient memes like this with ease.

Her gaze instantly sharpened, her line of sight becoming a Lance of Longinus that pierced through Jiang Ran’s very soul.

”Senior! You’ve been researching a time machine, haven’t you!”

...

...

...

The hustle and bustle of pedestrians outside didn’t seem to penetrate the room, as if time itself had frozen.

Jiang Ran had the strange feeling of being caught red-handed. He stood there, stunned into silence.

Silence.

It was as if a temporal camera had clicked its shutter at that very moment, capturing the instant Chi Xiaoguo pointed her finger, judging the culprit.

Jiang Ran sighed.

’Fair is fair.’

He had been mentally prepared for this to happen eventually.

After all, any person with normal intelligence would have figured out the truth after all this time.

As his ”accomplice” who saw him day in and day out, it was impossible to hide something like this from her forever.

”Alright.”

Jiang Ran made up his mind and said in a low voice,

”Since you’ve figured it out, I won’t—”

”Hahaha, don’t worry, Senior! I would never laugh at you!”

”Huh?”

Chi Xiaoguo’s sudden interruption made Jiang Ran swallow the confession he was about to make. He looked quizzically at the confident club president.

”Hey, I know this kind of thing is hard to talk about, which is why I never brought it up.”

Chi Xiaoguo patted her flat chest, trying to act like a grown-up.

”But honestly, I get it! It’s just like how everyone dreams of having their own Doraemon or their own Pikachu. Who wouldn’t want to have a time machine?!”

”Wait a minute...” Jiang Ran suddenly realized that Chi Xiaoguo seemed to have misunderstood something. It was as if she thought he was some delusional, crazy idiot with a wild imagination.