Genius Playground

A taxi carried Jiang Ran, loaded with luggage, toward East Sea University.

Jiang Ran opened the window.

He watched the scenery pass by.

’This is probably...’

’...the last time I’ll travel this road.’

’To be honest, I’m a little reluctant to leave.’

"The emotions in a person’s heart come from a series of shared experiences. Without those experiences, all adjectives are just empty talk."

The words Qin Feng once spoke echoed in his ears.

At this very moment, he felt their truth once again.

Emotions.

Shared experiences.

’There are some things in this world that are beyond your control. They creep into your life without you realizing it, entering your consciousness and swaying your mood...’

’...making things you never intended to be profound quietly become so.’

...

After arriving at East Sea University, he called Teacher Zhang Yang and had the gate guard speak to him. The guard then let the taxi drive straight to the faculty apartments.

Because Teacher Zhang Yang was recruited as special talent, the university had assigned him an apartment.

He rarely stayed here, so he had given the key to Jiang Ran, letting him store his luggage, bedding, and other miscellaneous items from his dorm room.

"Instead of hauling all this stuff back home after you withdraw, only to ship it back to East Sea University for the new semester, it’s better to just leave it in my apartment for now."

"That way, when you get your dorm assignment next semester, you can just move your things over from here. The faculty apartments are very close to the graduate dorms, which will save you a lot of trouble."

That was what Teacher Zhang Yang had said.

He was indeed very considerate of Jiang Ran, his First Disciple of the Sect. After all, this was the first student he had ever taken under his wing, so of course he had to put in a little more care.

Using the key to open the door, he found that the apartment was quite large.

A two-bedroom, one-living-room unit, fully furnished and very clean.

’This is really nice...’

Jiang Ran murmured in appreciation as he looked around the apartment.

Then, he and the taxi driver worked together to haul his packed luggage upstairs.

"That suitcase of yours has a pretty unique design."

The taxi driver said, looking at the suitcase that had been pierced by an arrow.

"Is that arrow a decoration? Are you an artist or something? It looks so realistic!"

"Heh."

Jiang Ran was speechless.

’How could it not be realistic? If that arrow had been off by half an inch, it would have gone right through my head.’

Speaking of which, he was quite surprised.

’A Recurve Bow that powerful... shouldn’t it be a controlled weapon?’

’In the hands of someone like Nan Xiuxiu, what’s the difference between that thing and a sniper rifle?’

His suitcase wasn’t some cheap piece of junk.

Yet that arrow had pierced straight through it, along with several articles of clothing inside...

Recalling the afterimage that had brushed past his ear, Jiang Ran felt a wave of belated fear just thinking about it.

’So violent. She has no sense of restraint.’

He shook his head.

In any case, he had finally taken care of the last loose end. Now he could begin Phase Two of "Project Save Cheng Mengxue" without any worries.

As for Nan Xiuxiu, although she had been adamant about not breaking up...

...the two hadn’t contacted each other at all since that day. Nan Xiuxiu hadn’t sent him a single message.

Their only interaction was when Nan Xiuxiu had just given him a "send-off" with her bow, nearly sending him to the afterlife.

’I guess this more or less counts as an amicable split. We’re parting on good terms.’

Jiang Ran started to organize his luggage.

He stopped thinking about that strange girl.

...

After he finished organizing, he headed to the School of Physics office. Teacher Zhang Yang was waiting for him there, and he planned to return the key.

Students were trickling out of the school, pulling their suitcases behind them.

It was already the end of June, and finals week was drawing to a close. Many students who had finished their exams were eager to go home for summer vacation, and the campus was noticeably quieter.

Chi Xiaoguo still had one last exam today. She had bought a plane ticket back to Guangxi for tomorrow, so after meeting with Teacher Zhang Yang, he needed to see her one more time. She said she had something to show him.

He entered the School of Physics building.

Pushed open the door to Zhang Yang’s office.

And walked inside.

"Yo."

Zhang Yang looked up, smiling at Jiang Ran.

"First Disciple is here."

"..."

Jiang Ran was at a loss for words.

The more he interacted with Zhang Yang these past few days, the more he realized that this seemingly refined and gentle teacher was actually a huge dork. He had no airs and wasn’t the least bit pretentious. No wonder everyone used to say he had a great personality.

Of course, you could only see this hidden side of him after you got to know him well.

Teacher Zhang Yang loved to joke around. Sometimes his dad jokes were so cringey they’d make your skin crawl, a far cry from Jiang Ran’s stereotype of a scientific researcher.

This was especially true since Jiang Ran had also met the Teacher Zhang Yang from 2045 who was thrown in jail. That gloomy, depressed figure was like a completely different person from the cheerful, humorous Zhang Yang before him now.

’It seems ten years in prison not only smoothed away Teacher Zhang Yang’s rough edges but also hollowed out his soul.’

’So.’

’I have to change the future and help Zhang Yang avoid prison.’

’The easiest way is to constantly whisper in his ear, telling him not to research Quantum Tunneling. Or, to be more aggressive, I could directly interfere with his experiments and disrupt his train of thought.’

’It’s a bit unethical, I know...’

’...but compared to a prison sentence, who has time to worry about ethics?’

This was the best way to repay Teacher Zhang Yang. He would also consider it repayment for the kindness his teacher had shown when he tirelessly taught him about Goldbach’s Conjecture.

"Teacher Zhang, here’s your key."

Jiang Ran placed the key on the desk.

"I put all my luggage in the bedroom you don’t use. Once I get my dorm assignment at the start of the semester, I’ll get the key from you again and move my things straight to the graduate dorms."

"Mm, sounds good."

Zhang Yang took the key and stood up.

"Come on, I’ll take you to see our lab. The university places a lot of importance on my project, and since I’m starting to advise graduate students this year, they’ve given me a dedicated laboratory."