Genius Playground

"Why don’t you head to class first? I’ll just rest in the student lounge for a bit."

Jiang Ran stretched and said goodbye to Chi Xiaoguo:

"See you in a bit."

...

By mid-morning, when the bell for the end of second period rang, Jiang Ran and Chi Xiaoguo had already been waiting at the science building for a long time.

To look more like a student, Jiang Ran was holding a notebook with a freshly sharpened pencil tucked inside.

His plan was as follows:

Since Teacher Zhang Yang didn’t know him on this World Line 1, he would have to do everything in his power to leave the deepest possible impression on him when they met.

The deeper the impression, the better.

Ideally, it would be an impression so deep that Zhang Yang wouldn’t forget him even twenty years later.

Of course...

Achieving that would be rather difficult.

Unless Jiang Ran was willing to abandon all shame, rush into the classroom to put on some cringey performance, or stab Zhang Yang in the arm with his pencil until blood gushed out.

If he did something like that, forget twenty years from now. Even two hundred years later, when Zhang Yang crawled out of his grave as a zombie, he would still slap his forehead and exclaim:

"Man, that student Jiang Ran was nuts, wasn’t he?"

For now, since he still had to stay on this World Line 1 for a while, Jiang Ran didn’t plan on going to such extremes.

After all, this wasn’t like the constantly looping prison of 2045. Any embarrassing history he made here couldn’t be erased. Besides, Chi Xiaoguo was with him; he had to save some face.

To make Teacher Zhang Yang remember him for twenty years after a single conversation lasting just a few dozen minutes was, admittedly, a tall order.

But he had no better ideas at the moment.

All he could do was ask some memorable questions, or... interact with him more over the next few days.

In short, the more contact they had, the deeper the impression would be, and the greater the chance that Zhang Yang would recognize him twenty years later, in 2045.

And as long as Teacher Zhang Yang’s memories in the 2045 prison changed because of his actions now, in 2025, that would be enough to prove—

That the future he experienced in 2045 was, in fact, real!

And, that the spacetime of 2045 and the current spacetime of 2025 existed on the same worldline, in a continuous relationship between past and future!

Once these two points were proven,

it would be a definitive proof that would, in turn, validate a wealth of other information.

For example...

That Qin Feng, as the Magician, would become the world’s number one criminal, an enemy of all humanity.

For example...

That Teacher Zhang Yang would be imprisoned for researching Quantum Tunneling theory too deeply.

For example...

That a prison would be built specifically for Qin Feng, and that four other criminals—Sang Biao, the stupid young man, the Bookworm, and the Assassin—would be thrown in with him to make up the numbers.

And another example...

That in the near future, a super-genius would appear at East Sea University and invent a Time Travel Machine, a device that could send a person back to the past.

This was the piece of information Jiang Ran cared about most.

It was his hope for saving Cheng Mengxue.

It was also his... last hope of changing history and returning to World Line 0.

「A few minutes later.」

The students in the laboratory gradually departed, leaving only Teacher Zhang Yang at the lectern organizing his course materials.

At this moment, Zhang Yang was young and vibrant, with a sturdy physique. He wore a white shirt, his hair neatly parted to the side. He looked like a completely different person from the man in prison in 2045.

Jiang Ran gave Chi Xiaoguo a meaningful look, and the two of them walked in together.

"Teacher Zhang Yang, hello."

Jiang Ran greeted him politely.

"I have some questions to ask you, if you don’t mind. I was wondering if you have a moment?"

Zhang Yang stood up from his chair and sized the two of them up.

"Of course. Which... class are you students from?"

"Teacher! I’m from the School of Fine Arts!" Chi Xiaoguo quickly raised her hand.

Jiang Ran, however, sidestepped the question with some clever wording.

"We attended your general education lecture on Worldline Theory, but there were a few things we didn’t quite understand, so we wanted to come and ask about them."

"Oh, I see. The general education course."

Zhang Yang suddenly understood. They were from his general education course. In that case, it wasn’t surprising one of them was from the School of Fine Arts.

General education courses were electives open to students of all years across the entire university. They were usually taken to meet credit requirements, so students from any major could enroll.

Each lecture was held in a massive hall with one or two hundred students.

To be honest, university general education courses were like a huge, revolving door. Aside from the class monitors, he rarely remembered most of the students.

"Heh heh, I’m serious, I’m very glad you came to see me. I always assume the students in my general education courses are just looking for easy credits. Not many of them listen attentively... Some even treat my lectures like they’re listening to a science fiction story."

Teacher Zhang Yang twisted open his thermos and took a sip of tea.

"I never expected to find students who actually listen and think seriously about the material. This is wonderful, truly wonderful. Seeing you two really makes me happy as a teacher. So, go on, what did you want to ask? I don’t have a class next period, so I can take my time and chat with you properly."

Jiang Ran listened silently to the familiar words, his heart a turmoil of mixed emotions.

’This, perhaps, is the inevitability of history.’

’Or perhaps, an anchor point amid the chaos of spacetime.’

Back on World Line 0, when he, Qin Feng, and Cheng Mengxue had come to ask Teacher Zhang Yang questions, the man had expressed the exact same sentiments, word for word.

Now, on World Line 1, though the circumstances and the people had changed, Teacher Zhang Yang was still just as kind and gentle when faced with eager and inquisitive students.

It seemed that even if the tornado of the spacetime Butterfly Effect could churn history into chaos, there were still things that would remain unchanged, caught in the space between human nature and destiny.

"Teacher Zhang, I want to ask about the moment of a Worldline Jump..."

And just like that, Jiang Ran repeated the same questions Cheng Mengxue had asked back on World Line 0.

It could be considered a way of pandering to the teacher’s known interests.

Teacher Zhang Yang was a true scholar at heart, and he had a soft spot for students who were eager to learn. As he’d just said himself, he put a great deal of preparation into his general education course, yet most students didn’t pay close attention.

’So if I act a little more serious right now, won’t that leave a good impression?’

Sure enough, as their discussion progressed and Jiang Ran accurately answered every follow-up question, the look in Teacher Zhang Yang’s eyes grew brighter.

"What’s your name, young man?"

"My name is Jiang Ran," Jiang Ran replied with a smile.

"Jiang, as in the great river, and Ran, as in ’then’."

"Good! Jiang Ran, you’re an excellent student!"

Zhang Yang praised him, satisfied.

"I’ll make a note next to your name on the class roster. The final exam is next month, and I’ll be sure to give you a high grade!"

"Thank you, Teacher."

’Everything is going smoothly.’

’Step one: make Teacher Zhang Yang remember me. Mission accomplished.’

’He knows my name now.’

’When he gets back and flips through the class roster, after checking it over and over, he’ll discover...’

’Huh? How come there’s no Jiang Ran on this list?’

’That will only deepen his impression of me.’

’Ahem, this feels a bit like playing hard to get, like something out of one of those overbearing CEO romance novels. Though that’s not my intention, if it helps Teacher Zhang Yang remember me, then a little white lie is worth it.’

As they worked through one question after another, Teacher Zhang Yang’s expression grew more and more expectant.

He was curious to see what kind of questions about spacetime and worldlines this student would come up with next.

"Teacher Zhang, I have one last question."

"Mm, go ahead." Teacher Zhang Yang picked up his thermos again.

Jiang Ran took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, looking at the young Teacher Zhang Yang and seeing in his features a flicker of the same man he knew from prison.

"Teacher Zhang, do you believe... that a Time Travel Machine, a machine that could send people back to the past, could ever really be successfully developed?"

...

...

...

Teacher Zhang Yang’s thermos froze in midair.

The air seemed to solidify.

The rustling of leaves outside the window was suddenly sharp and clear.

Chi Xiaoguo tilted her head.

She glanced from Teacher Zhang Yang to Jiang Ran, wondering why both had fallen silent. They were staring intently at each other, their gazes unwavering.

"Heh."

Zhang Yang shook his head and chuckled.

He didn’t take a drink. Instead, he screwed the lid back on his thermos and set it down on the lectern.

Then, he looked at Jiang Ran with great interest.

"You know, that question... how should I put this? Normally, I wouldn’t discuss it. It’s too sci-fi, with no real practical application."

"However, I find you to be a very interesting student."

Zhang Yang picked up a piece of chalk from the lectern and held it in his palm.

"Since this is a rare opportunity, I’ll tell you..."

"...a little something special."