Genius Playground

Tian Xiaoli gripped the bedsheets with both hands.

”He’ll have to be in prison for a long, long time, won’t he?”

”Mhm.”

”By the time Dad can get out of prison, I’ll definitely be all grown up.”

”Mhm.”

”That’s okay, too. When I’m grown up, it’ll be my turn to earn money, support the family, and take care of Dad!”

A child’s mind is always fickle, changing as quickly as the weather.

Just a moment ago, Tian Xiaoli had been sad and dejected, but now, some happy image must have popped into her head, because she started to smile.

”Even though the doctors and nurses all say Dad’s a bad person...”

Tian Xiaoli turned her head, looking at the blue sky and white clouds outside the window.

”In my heart...”

”Dad will always be the best dad to me.”

...

Leaving Tian Xiaoli’s room, Jiang Ran’s mood was a little low.

It wasn’t because of their conversation... Her mind was that of a completely innocent child. The mental gap between them was so vast there was nothing to really talk about. Jiang Ran had hardly said anything besides ”Mhm, mhm, mhm.”

The reason for his low spirits was mainly the shock of seeing Tian Xiaoli’s condition.

’Where was the slightest trace of sickness?’

’Where was the slightest hint of a vegetative state?’

On that rainy day on the rooftop, Old Tian had said the Priest’s promise to him was ”to have Tian Xiaoli awaken immediately and live like a normal girl, to be reborn.”

That promise had been fulfilled perfectly, down to the last letter.

This couldn’t help but make Jiang Ran wonder—

’Against the Regrets Mutual Aid Association, which is so powerful it seems to have divine aid, if Cheng Mengxue really was sent by them, do I have even the slightest chance of winning?’

It was a feeling of powerlessness, like an ant facing a towering mountain, completely unable to resist.

Without realizing it, he walked into Zhang Yang’s hospital room, head bowed.

Zhang Yang’s room was on the same floor as Tian Xiaoli’s, and Jiang Ran had planned to stop by anyway.

Entering the room, he found Zhang Yang lying in bed by himself.

”Where’s the missus?” Jiang Ran asked, looking left and right.

”Went to work,” Zhang Yang replied.

”I can completely take care of myself now. I’ll just stay in bed for a few more days and get discharged during the National Day holiday. I don’t need your missus to look after me.”

”Oh, okay.”

Jiang Ran walked around the bed, sat down in the chair beside it, picked up a fruit knife, and started peeling an apple.

As he watched the apple peel fall away, the word ”miracle” echoed in his mind.

He’d heard the Assassin talk about it before, but he never had a real concept of what it meant.

But seeing Tian Xiaoli’s condition today... it truly left Jiang Ran, just like her attending physician, deeply bewildered.

”Staring Cat?”

Zhang Yang clearly noticed Jiang Ran’s mood was off and turned his head to the side.

”What’s wrong, my top disciple? Why do you seem so out of it today? Did something happen?”

”It’s nothing.”

Jiang Ran continued peeling the apple.

”It’s just that... I feel like I’m starting to lose my faith in ’science’.”

”What nonsense are you spouting!”

Zhang Yang was so shocked he nearly leaped out of bed.

”Are you kidding me? I’m waiting for you to shake up the academic world! How can you be giving up before you’ve even started?!”

”Do you know about Tian Xiaoli?”

Jiang Ran looked up.

”She’s on the same floor as you. The daughter of the murderer who killed Teacher Yan.”

”Of course,” Zhang Yang wasn’t surprised.

”The whole hospital is buzzing about her—how she woke up from a vegetative state and is recovering incredibly fast.”

”Do you think that’s scientific?”

Jiang Ran pressed.

”A person in a vegetative state, unconscious for 10 years, with brain atrophy—someone all the world’s experts had written off as a hopeless case. Suddenly, she wakes up. And in a matter of days, her brain is fully restored, and she’s back to being a normal person with no problems speaking or acting.”

”So what?” Zhang Yang asked, not understanding. ”Is there a problem?”

”Is that scientific?”

Jiang Ran asked again.

”Teacher Zhang, I know you’re not an expert in the medical field, but based on your common sense, do you think Tian Xiaoli’s situation can be explained by science?”

”Why couldn’t it be?” Zhang Yang said dismissively.

He shifted his butt, leaned against the headboard, and sat up straight.

”Jiang Ran, let me ask you, did what happened to Tian Xiaoli violate the law of conservation of mass? Did her brain and the flesh on her body appear out of thin air?”

Jiang Ran was taken aback.

”Well, no,” he answered honestly.

”Even when she was in a vegetative state, she was constantly being fed nutrients through an IV. The doctor even said her appetite these past few days has been ridiculously huge.”

Zhang Yang smiled faintly.

”Then did she violate the law of conservation of energy? Is her cell division rate far beyond that of a normal person? Or did she, like a Super Saiyan transformation, suddenly get jacked, jump out of bed, and start playing basketball?”

Heh.

Jiang Ran couldn’t help but laugh.

”Of course not. She’s recovering fast, but what are you even talking about... The changes in her body have been gradual, getting better bit by bit, day by day. I just went to see her. Although her complexion is much better, her arms and legs are still very thin, and she can’t get out of bed to exercise yet.”

”Then that’s that!”

Teacher Zhang Yang leaned back, spreading his hands.

”A young girl who hasn’t violated the law of conservation of energy, hasn’t violated the law of conservation of mass, and whose bodily data is all recovering slowly within biologically permissible ranges...”

”So let me ask you, ’Staring Cat’, where exactly is this phenomenon unscientific? What part of it violates science?”

...

Zhang Yang’s sophistry left Jiang Ran speechless.

”You... you can’t just argue like that, Teacher Zhang. I’m not the only one saying it. Her attending physician also thinks the situation is completely unscientific.”

Zhang Yang waved his hand impatiently.

”Doctors aren’t scientists. Their understanding comes mainly from clinical experience. Their thinking is still too narrow.”

”We who do scientific research must understand one thing—’What exists is rational, and what exists is scientific.’”

”Our universe, our world, is inherently scientific. Whether it’s a black hole, with energy and matter on a scale far beyond our comprehension, or the superluminal expansion of the universe... everything, absolutely everything, must obey the most fundamental physical and scientific laws.”

”Are you trying to say that the energy within Tian Xiaoli is greater than that of a pulsar, a neutron star, or a central black hole? Besides, even pulsars, neutron stars, and central black holes must obey the laws of physics, without the slightest deviation!”

”So, Jiang Ran, if you just broaden your perspective a little, look at the bigger picture, you’ll realize just how foolish your thinking is—”

”’You live in a scientific universe, so how can you not believe in science? Or are you saying you think tiny little humans can pry loose the fundamental theorems and parameters of the universe?’”

...

At that moment, Jiang Ran was in a bit of a daze.

Teacher Zhang Yang’s serious lecture made him recall the respect he felt when consulting the Bookworm in the Future Prison of 2045.

Lately, Teacher Zhang Yang’s goofy antics and bad jokes had nearly eroded away the ”mentor-like-a-father” sentiment he felt.

But in that moment, Teacher Zhang Yang seemed to be glowing.

It was the light of a scholar who revered, respected, and championed science.

He was a staunch materialist warrior.

Even while hospitalized on the same floor as Tian Xiaoli, Teacher Zhang Yang’s faith in science remained unshakable.

Suddenly, Jiang Ran also felt that what Zhang Yang said made a lot of sense.

’To put it bluntly, it was just a person in a vegetative state waking up.’

’It didn’t violate any universal laws, it couldn’t be categorized as Magic or sorcery, and it certainly wasn’t a miracle.’

’There are no gods in this world. My enemy is not a god.’

”Teacher Zhang.”

Jiang Ran looked up.

”If someone who had died was standing in front of you again, would you still firmly believe that it was scientific?”

”It would have to be scientific,” Zhang Yang answered without hesitation.

”Because a dead person absolutely cannot be resurrected.”

”Unless we’re talking about something like the Worldline Theory I taught in my general education course. But a Worldline Jump isn’t the same as resurrecting the dead, because in the new worldline, that person never died in the first place.”

”Since there was no factual death to begin with, how can you even talk about coming back from the dead? So, I can tell you unequivocally, everything in this world is, and must be, scientific.”

”If someone who is confirmed dead truly reappears before your eyes, then from a scientific perspective, you don’t need to have any doubts—”

Zhang Yang pushed up his glasses, his voice firm and decisive.

”’That person can only be a fake! It’s absolutely impossible for it to be a true resurrection!’”