Genius Playground

As for the award from the university film festival...

It was a bit of a shame, but knowing it was originally supposed to win the grand prize was enough to fulfill everyone’s dream.

More importantly, the film company also promised that after the movie was released, they would announce the original creative team and restore the honor the East Sea University Film Club deserved.

Xu Yan kept talking.

But she noticed that Jiang Ran had spaced out again.

She poked him again with the handle of her spoon.

"Hey, are you even listening to me?!"

"What else is there to hear...?"

Jiang Ran gave a helpless smile.

"They’re showing so much sincerity, they’ve considered everything. The only thing they haven’t done is get on their knees and beg."

"They’re offering money, job offers, and startup capital. They’re even going to make up for the award after the film is released."

"Only a fool would refuse a deal like this! So I don’t think you need to keep going. I have no idea what they see in the script, but since they’re willing to buy it, we should just sell it to them."

Jiang Ran had agreed.

Xu Yan let out a sigh of relief.

"Whew..."

She looked at Jiang Ran and smiled.

"I’m so glad you agree."

"This 12 million in my account was an advance they paid directly to me. I haven’t fully accepted the deal yet because I wanted to get your opinion."

"If you didn’t agree, I would’ve returned the 12 million. The other club members wouldn’t have had any objections either."

"After all, we’re all very clear on one thing: without your help and without the script you provided, none of this would have happened."

"So... whether we make this deal with the film company or not is ultimately your decision."

Jiang Ran waved his hand dismissively and repeated himself.

"Only a fool would refuse... though I think they’re the real fools here."

He gave a dry laugh.

"Honestly, I have no idea what they see in that script. It’s like they’re possessed or something."

’Someone’s insisting on throwing money at us. It’d be a waste not to take it.’

Besides, Jiang Ran could tell.

What Xu Yan and the other film club members really wanted were the job offers and the startup capital.

That was perfectly understandable.

’If it were me, I’d make the same choice.’

’Compared to their futures and cold, hard cash, a single grand prize at a university film festival was nothing.’

The only thing he didn’t quite understand was...

’Is it really necessary for that film company and the famous director to go to such lengths?’

...

Afterward, Xu Yan took Jiang Ran to the bank, intending to transfer the entire 12 million to him.

He tried to refuse again and again, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Resigned, Jiang Ran reluctantly accepted it.

With the BEEP of a text message alert, his once-fragile bank account instantly bulked up with a deposit of 12,000,000 yuan.

"This feels like a dream."

Walking out of the bank, Jiang Ran looked at Xu Yan and joked,

"I’m not going to wake up and find out this was all just a dream, am I?"

It was a line from a movie.

Xu Yan understood instantly.

She smiled, turned back, and waved to Jiang Ran.

"Well, in case I don’t see you, good morning, good afternoon..."

"And good night."

...

After they parted ways,

Jiang Ran went straight home, lay back on his bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

He really needed some quiet time to process everything that had happened.

He’d already signed the confidentiality agreement at the cafe.

There weren’t any particularly strict requirements.

It just stipulated that he was to destroy all related materials, never discuss the plot with anyone, and not leak any information about Genius Playground.

That wouldn’t be hard to do.

He didn’t have any of the materials on him anyway.

"Oh, wait. That’s not right."

He suddenly remembered the short film sample Xu Yan had sent him, still sitting in his QQ email inbox.

’Since I’ve taken the film company’s money, signed a confidentiality agreement, and the futures of so many film club members are on the line...’

"I’d better delete it right away."

He sat up and turned on his computer.

’This isn’t just about me anymore. The film club members are probably frantically destroying all their files right now. I can’t be the one to screw this up.’

He logged into his QQ email and saw Xu Yan’s message right on the first page.

It was still marked as unread.

He moved his cursor over the delete button, preparing to delete it.

...

...

...

But he didn’t click.

He was just too curious. What was it about this script that had a major film company and a famous director so utterly obsessed, as if they were possessed?

’Could it be...?’

Jiang Ran rubbed his chin.

"Could it be that my script was just average, but the film club did a fantastic job shooting it?"

Hmm.

It was very possible.

’I’ll just take a quick look.’

Jiang Ran clicked open the email and began downloading the sample.mp4 file.

He was still pretty curious about how the film club’s version of the Genius Playground short film had turned out.

’I’ll just watch it once.’

’After I’m done, I’ll delete the downloaded file, the email, everything. Then this whole business will be over.’

The download was fast, finishing in moments.

Jiang Ran double-clicked the video file. It began to play...

The previous version of this short film had starred Jiang Ran and Qin Feng; now, the two leads had been replaced by underclassmen from the film club.

The underclassmen were handsome, and their acting was excellent.

To be honest, in many scenes, their performances were even better than his and Qin Feng’s.

They were the professionals, after all.

It’s just...

As Jiang Ran watched one familiar scene after another in the short film, all he could see in his mind’s eye were images of himself and Qin Feng acting out their parts together.

"Go..."

On the screen, the underclassman clutched his chest as blood gushed out, his face contorted as he stared into the camera.

"If you can just go back to the past and change this... everything can start over... Now go!"

This was the role Qin Feng had played.

The other underclassman gritted his teeth, snatched up the diary, and rushed to the rooftop, flipping rapidly through its pages.