Genius Playground

”Xiaoxue?” ”Sister Mengxue!”

The sudden arrival of an uninvited guest made Chi Xiaoguo’s voice nearly crack.

Jiang Ran couldn’t figure it out, either. It was 10:50 PM, only ten minutes before the student dorms locked their doors and turned out the lights.

What was Cheng Mengxue still doing outside at this hour?

Jiang Ran looked at her.

”What are you doing here so late?”

”Oh... I came out to look for my Rhine Cat.”

Cheng Mengxue’s brow was furrowed.

She pulled her phone from her pajama pocket and shook it. The iconic wedding dress Rhine Cat Pendant was gone, leaving only half a lanyard dangling in the air.

”I just couldn’t rest easy, so I decided to retrace my steps back to the dorm to look for it.”

Speaking of the Rhine Cat, Cheng Mengxue was heartbroken.

”It’s the limited edition from Brooklyn... It’s one of a pair with the Godfather Rhine Cat. I don’t want to lose it and leave it all alone...”

”It’s here! It’s over here!”

Chi Xiaoguo’s shout came from inside the Film Club window.

After hearing Cheng Mengxue was looking for her Rhine Cat, she had quickly turned around to search the club room and had actually found it in the crack of the sofa where Cheng Mengxue had been sitting.

”Sister Mengxue, should I toss it out to you?”

”No, no, no, that’s too risky!”

Cheng Mengxue quickly waved her hands.

”Thank you, Xiaoguo! Wait in the club room, Jiang Ran and I will come over right now.”

With that, she grabbed Jiang Ran’s sleeve.

”Phew, that scared me to death. I really thought I’d lost the wedding dress Rhine Cat.”

”As long as it’s found, that’s all that matters... Come on, Jiang Ran, let’s head back to the Film Club room.”

Jiang Ran silently ended his call with Chi Xiaoguo, nodded, grunted in acknowledgment, and put his phone in his pocket.

’It’s over.’

His heart began to race.

’She must have seen something, right?’

Although he had spent a full two hours with the Assassin in the Future World of 2045...

...from the perspective of 2025, he had merely been holding his phone, answered Chi Xiaoguo’s call, and zoned out for a few seconds.

’Think, think, think.’

His mind raced as he calculated the time difference.

Jiang Ran was certain that Cheng Mengxue had definitely not been standing behind him when Chi Xiaoguo activated the Positron Cannon; this was something he double-checked before every experiment.

’Good.’

That at least proved that Cheng Mengxue probably hadn’t heard their countdown or the roar of the Positron Cannon.

Then, he had returned from the Future World of 2045, felt dizzy for two seconds, and opened his eyes.

At that moment, he hadn’t immediately returned to the Film Club but had stood there thinking for a while—not just about what the Assassin had said, but also about the Magician Coin in Qin Feng’s hand and his true purpose for sending the Time SMS.

He’d been thinking for about three minutes.

Cheng Mengxue must have walked up the main path during those three minutes.

’The reason I didn’t hear footsteps...’

Jiang Ran looked down at Cheng Mengxue’s feet. She was wearing fluffy cotton slippers.

She must have finished washing up in her dorm, realized her Rhine Cat Pendant was missing, and then came out looking for it in her pajamas, slippers, and a jacket.

The soles of those slippers were very soft, making almost no sound when she walked, which was why Jiang Ran hadn’t heard her.

”Why didn’t you just message us on WeChat?”

Jiang Ran asked, walking ahead.

”Since you were already in your pajamas, why bother coming all the way back out? Wouldn’t it have been easier to ask if you’d dropped it in the club room?”

”I didn’t know you guys were here!”

Cheng Mengxue’s tone was matter-of-fact.

”It’s so late, I thought you two would have packed up and gone back to the dorms ages ago. Who would’ve thought you’d still be here?”

”Hey, hey, what are you two up to, anyway? So secretive, and hiding from us?”

”We...”

Jiang Ran scratched his head.

”Sigh, I really didn’t expect you to catch us. I’ll tell you and Xiaoguo together once we get to the club room.”

His mind had been racing, and he had indeed come up with an excuse.

But to get their stories straight, he had to say it in front of Chi Xiaoguo so she would hear it too.

So, for now, he decided to act like it was a big deal and stall for time.

”Huh?”

Cheng Mengxue froze completely.

She stood rooted to the spot, eyes wide, staring at Jiang Ran.

”You! You two! You’re not actually—”

”Whoa, no,” Jiang Ran said, waving his hands.

”You! You two! You’re not planning on suddenly confessing something, are you?!”

”It’s not that, it’s not that.”

They finally hurried to the Film Club’s entrance. Jiang Ran pushed the door open, positioned himself in front of Cheng Mengxue, and started frantically signaling to Chi Xiaoguo with his eyes.

Chi Xiaoguo widened her eyes, trying to increase her bandwidth to download the kilobytes of information in his frantic gaze.

Unfortunately...

It was a failed connection.

Unlike the non-verbal communication he had with Wang Hao, Jiang Ran and Chi Xiaoguo had none of that rapport. Their Bluetooth signal failed to connect; all they could do was stare blankly at each other.

”Xiaoguo.”

Jiang Ran spoke first.

”Xiaoxue found out about... our thing.”

”Huh? HUH!!!”

Chi Xiaoguo was so scared her cowlick stood straight up!

’Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute... Was *that* what he was trying to tell me with his eyes just now?!’

’Is-is-is-is-is this a public announcement?!’

To be honest, when she first saw Cheng Mengxue suddenly appear outside the window, Chi Xiaoguo had been terrified.

Because she knew very well that Jiang Ran didn’t want anyone else to know about the Positron Cannon or the secret Time Machine experiments he was conducting.

This was something he had stressed over and over again since last semester.

Of course, Chi Xiaoguo had to help Jiang Ran keep his secret; she was always tight-lipped. So, if Jiang Ran told her to come to the club room in the morning, she came in the morning. If he told her to come at night, she came at night... In short, she did whatever was necessary to stay under the radar.

Everything had been going fine. No one had ever discovered their daily experiments.

But who would’ve thought that today, of all days, they’d be caught by Cheng Mengxue!

In that instant, Chi Xiaoguo’s brain short-circuited. It was like being caught red-handed. With both a witness and physical evidence, she had no idea how to explain the Positron Cannon!

Helpless.

She could only place her hopes in Jiang Ran’s super-brain, praying he had thought of an excuse on the roundabout way back to bluff their way through this.

Thus, the moment Jiang Ran stepped into the club room, she had tried to communicate with him through eye contact, hoping to get some sort of hint.

But she never expected that not only would their eye contact fail and she’d get no hint, but Senior Jiang Ran would say something so shocking it nearly made her faint.

She did understand Senior Jiang Ran. She knew he had to lie because he didn’t want to expose the secret of the Positron Cannon.

But...

’Was it necessary to lie to *this* extent?’

Frankly, it was just a teenager’s delusional obsession with a time machine. If he just came clean, Sister Mengxue would at most just laugh at Senior Jiang Ran a little. She couldn’t believe he was willing to go to such lengths!

GULP.

She swallowed hard.

’Alright.’

’Since I promised Senior Jiang Ran I’d help him keep his secret, and he’s already putting it all on the line, I can’t worry about the details!’

’I’m all in!’

’For my senior! I’ll take the fall!’

”So... so we’ve been found out...”

Chi Xiaoguo’s cheeks gradually turned red as she lowered her head.

”Then, I guess we can’t hide it anymore...”

”I didn’t really want to say it at a time like this,”

Jiang Ran said softly.

”Because... we mainly wanted to give you and Fang Ze a surprise...”

Cheng Mengxue clutched the collar of her shirt and took a step back.

”What kind of surprise?”

”A surprise is... well, a surprise.”

Cheng Mengxue turned her head again, her pupils shaking as she looked at Chi Xiaoguo.

”What exactly is the surprise?”

Chi Xiaoguo bit her lip, her little fists clenched.

”The surprise, the surprise is... it’s...”

”It’s exactly what it sounds like.”

Jiang Ran stepped forward and stood next to Chi Xiaoguo.

”This is also why the two of us were hiding from you tonight.”

”R-Right...”

Chi Xiaoguo felt a little feverish.

But she had to go all in!

’Senior Jiang Ran, I understand what you’re trying to say!’

’Okay.’

’It’s come to this.’

’I have no choice but to lie!’

”Th-That’s right!”

She finally psyched herself up and, with grim determination, raised her head.

”But since you’ve found us out! There’s no point in hiding it anymore! Right! Senior Jiang Ran!”

”That’s right!”

Jiang Ran turned, joining Chi Xiaoguo to face Cheng Mengxue.

”The two of us—” ”We’re—”

The two of them took a deep breath.

”Were secretly preparing a welcome ceremony for you!” ”Secretly— PFFFT—”

Jiang Ran spoke decisively, but Chi Xiaoguo leaned back and sputtered.

’What?’

’Dude!’

’So *that’s* the game you’re playing!’

At that moment, Chi Xiaoguo was incredibly grateful that her shyness had made her a beat slower, allowing Jiang Ran to speak first.

If she had impulsively blurted out the reason she’d assumed, wouldn’t that have been instant social death?!

”Huh?”

Cheng Mengxue stood by the coffee table, slightly stunned.

”So... you two were in here preparing a welcome ceremony for me and Fang Ze?”

”Yes.”

This was the most perfect excuse Jiang Ran could think of. He explained:

”You’ve got to have a sense of ceremony, right? Even though we all met today, Xiaoguo and I both felt that even if our club has few members... a proper welcoming ceremony for new members is a must. Right, Xiaoguo?”

”Ah, right, right, right,” Chi Xiaoguo nodded.

”We were originally planning a surprise for you two, hoping to prepare it secretly while you weren’t around and then really wow you.”

Jiang Ran faked a sigh.

”Sigh, but we didn’t expect you to suddenly double back and catch us in the act.”

”Sigh...” Chi Xiaoguo covered her face and sighed along with him.

”Oh, I’m so sorry.”

Cheng Mengxue apologized profusely.

Then she walked over to the workbench and looked at the bizarrely shaped device on top of it.

”So, this device is the surprise you were preparing for us?”

Jiang Ran nodded.

”It’s part of the surprise, yes. But it’s not finished yet, so I hope you can keep it a secret from Fang Ze for now.”

”Ooh~ Now I’m really excited.”

Cheng Mengxue bent down, her eyes level with the protruding barrel of the Positron Cannon.

”What exactly is this machine used for?”

She smiled slightly, squinted, and peered inside.

”It looks...”

”Kind of like a giant camera!”