Genius Playground

"What did you say?"

Wang Hao’s eyes widened, his expression frozen, the beer mug in his hand hovering in front of his chest.

"What... What did you just say?"

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

"You’re going to break up with Nan Xiuxiu!?"

Jiang Ran sat across from him.

He watched the foam in the beer mug before him slowly dissipate as condensation beaded on the glass.

"Yeah."

He answered softly.

...

It had been a busy day.

After leaving East Sea University that afternoon, he had returned to the East Sea College of International Trade and Economics, met up with Wang Hao, and headed to their usual barbecue stall.

He told Wang Hao everything: that he’d received a recommendation from the director of the Longke Institute, that he was about to drop out of vocational college, and that he was going to East Sea University for graduate school.

However...

Wang Hao had listened in silence, showing no sign of joy. He just nodded quietly.

It was as if he had anticipated something.

It was as if he was waiting for something.

That was why, even though Jiang Ran’s story was so outlandish, he hadn’t raised a single question or asked for any details.

Until...

Finally.

The dagger was finally revealed.

Jiang Ran uttered the words he’d been saving for last.

He said he was going to break up with Nan Xiuxiu.

Wang Hao’s fists tightened. He slowly set down his mug, gritting his teeth, his breathing heavy.

"Dude, what the hell are you doing?"

He couldn’t understand.

"Going to East Sea University is one thing. We won’t even talk about that. You got in, so you’re the man. Fine. That’s definitely where you belong."

"But what does that have to do with breaking up with Nan Xiuxiu? Just go and focus on your studies. Did Xiuxiu do something to piss you off? Why break up with her?!"

"It doesn’t."

Jiang Ran licked his dry lips.

"I’m not breaking up with Nan Xiuxiu because I’m going to East Sea University. The two things are completely unrelated."

"Then what the hell is this!"

Wang Hao slammed his hand on the table.

"The first thing you do after you’ve made it is cut down the one you love! Are you even the Jiang Ran I know? How can you do something so shameless?!"

"You think you’re so great now that you’re a good student? You think moving up from a vocational school to a graduate program makes you hot stuff, and now you look down on Xiuxiu? You—"

"I already told you, it has nothing to do with that."

Jiang Ran cut him off, looking up.

"It has nothing to do with East Sea University or getting into grad school, Wang Hao... I’ve said it several times now."

"This is hard for me to explain, but I’ve been thinking about how to break up with Nan Xiuxiu from the very beginning."

"At first, I thought this would all be over quickly, so I didn’t need to do anything drastic. I figured I could just drag it out so no one would get hurt."

"But then I realized many things couldn’t be resolved that quickly, so I had no choice but to face the problem—"

"Since I don’t actually like Nan Xiuxiu, then I shouldn’t be dragging this out, stringing her along, or even deceiving her and faking this relationship."

"I think that kind of deception would be what hurts Nan Xiuxiu the most. I’m not making excuses. The fact is, I don’t like her. And at this point in my life... it’s something I can’t do, and something I shouldn’t do."

Jiang Ran picked up a beer bottle, filled his mug to the brim, and then GULP, GULP, GULP, chugged it down.

"My mind wanders on dates. I avoid physical contact. I have to force myself to chat with her, and the conversation still goes nowhere. I never, not for a single second, think about her otherwise. Even eating with her feels like a waste of my precious time."

"So, Wang Hao, you give me the answer—"

"If I genuinely don’t like a girl, should I pretend that I do, force myself to go on dates with her, and play the part of a dutiful boyfriend? Or..."

"Should I be direct, tell her honestly how I feel and how things have changed, and not waste her valuable emotions?"

Wang Hao had been holding back a torrent of anger, ready to chew Jiang Ran out.

But after hearing Jiang Ran’s sincere question...

The fire in him died down.

He lowered his head, staring at the scattered skewers on the table, and fell silent.

If.

If you really didn’t like a girl, if you couldn’t bring yourself to love her genuinely.

What was the right thing to do?

Pretend, act, and deceive?

Or be honest and part amicably?

Looking at the question in isolation, anyone would say the second option was better, more respectful.

But...

When it came to love, was there ever really a right answer?

But when he applied that same question to Jiang Ran and Nan Xiuxiu, Wang Hao couldn’t see a clear choice.

He also picked up a bottle opener, cracked open a beer, and emptied it into his draft mug, downing it in one go, foam and all.

He sighed.

"So you’re saying you don’t like Xiuxiu anymore. You’ve lost your feelings for her."

"Yeah."

"When did it start?"

Wang Hao’s gaze was bleak as he watched a crumpled piece of paper tumble across the ground in the wind.

"When did you stop liking Xiuxiu?"

Jiang Ran looked up.

"From the very beginning."

"Fuck!"

Wang Hao kicked a beer bottle away and glared at Jiang Ran.

"Then why the hell did you agree to date her?! If you didn’t like her, you shouldn’t have said yes in the first place! You were just leading her on!"

In that moment, he felt like his friend was a complete stranger. It was as if... as if a soul from another world had taken over Jiang Ran’s body, possessing him.

Jiang Ran didn’t speak.

He had no way to explain it.

At the end of April, when Qin Feng sent the Time SMS that spanned ten years, the world line had shifted dramatically, and he had arrived on this new World Line No. 1...

Nan Xiuxiu was already his girlfriend.

And though only four days had passed since they’d made it official, it was a fact that everyone had witnessed.

In Nan Xiuxiu’s eyes, she had already spent two years with Jiang Ran as his classmate.