Genius Playground

Zhou Xiong’s phone, the one that could contact Lilith, had definitely been stolen beforehand.

Qin Feng had definitely crossed world lines to steal the Setting Collection he’d written in middle school.

As for...

...whether Cheng Mengxue, who had suddenly appeared at the class reunion, had been resurrected by Lilith...

Jiang Ran shook his head.

He felt this matter probably had nothing to do with Lilith.

This world, this universe, had to be scientific. Supernatural phenomena did not exist.

Therefore...

He didn’t believe Lilith was truly omnipotent, nor did he believe the dead could really be resurrected.

For now...

Perhaps Cheng Mengxue really did go to the United States for treatment, living incognito for two years.

Or perhaps, someone was impersonating Cheng Mengxue to achieve some special goal.

In any case, the matter of the dead coming back to life, of resurrection...

...was absolutely impossible.

He took out his phone and checked his WeChat messages from Cheng Mengxue. Still no reply.

This meant she was still on the plane, without a signal.

The paperwork at the University of Pennsylvania had processed very slowly, only getting finalized yesterday. As a result, Cheng Mengxue had to frantically catch the earliest flight today to fly halfway across the world to Dragon Country.

Jiang Ran checked the flight ticket information Cheng Mengxue had sent him earlier.

’She should be landing soon. Once I get to the university, I’ll check in and move into my dorm first.’

He estimated the time.

By the time he finished checking in and settling into his dorm, Cheng Mengxue would probably be arriving at East Sea University by car, and he could go help her.

So, after getting off the high-speed train, Jiang Ran hailed a taxi and went straight to East Sea University.

The check-in process went smoothly.

Jiang Ran carried his luggage and headed for the graduate student dormitory.

Along the way, he still felt a little uneasy.

Although he was 100% sure it was impossible, a sliver of anxiety remained.

’There’s no way...’

’...he actually put me and Cheng Mengxue in the same dorm room, right?!’

He suspected Zhang Yang was definitely joking.

But what if he wasn’t?

In the past, whenever Teacher Zhang Yang was truly joking, he would always clarify it at the end so there wouldn’t be any misunderstanding.

But even today, Teacher Zhang hadn’t offered any follow-up clarification.

’This...’

’...is a bit strange.’

Jiang Ran scratched his head and could only brace himself and press on.

Thankfully!

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the plaque at the entrance of the graduate dormitory building, clearly engraved with the words ”Graduate Male Dormitory.”

It was as if an upstanding little elf had smacked him awake with a club.

”In your dreams!”

Just as he thought.

’I was tricked by Teacher Zhang Yang after all.’

’Sigh, that guy... You’re the prized disciple of the highly respected Dean Gao Yan, for crying out loud. Can’t you be a little more serious and act like a proper teacher?!’

’You can’t just make any kind of joke you want at a university!’

He arrived on the 3rd floor, at room 314. This was the room assigned to him on his admission notice—a standard two-person room.

He inserted the key, turned it, and pushed open the door—

CREAK.

Brilliant sunlight streamed in from the south-facing window, brightly illuminating a handsome young man.

He wasn’t praising himself.

There was genuinely a handsome youth with delicate features sitting by the window, reading a book.

A gentle breeze stirred the bangs that slightly covered his eyes, and the sweet air, filled with birdsong and the scent of flowers, played through the tips of his glossy, smooth hair.

Fair skin, half-lidded melancholic eyes, a slightly slender frame, and a long, slim index finger.

Coupled with the bright sunlight that traced his silhouette in a golden edge, Jiang Ran couldn’t think of a better term than ”pretty boy” to describe the young man before him...

He looked just like the kind of tragic, heart-wrenching male lead who had stepped right out of an old-school romance manga.

Jiang Ran blinked.

’Is this... my roommate for my graduate studies?’

Hearing the door open, the manga-esque pretty boy looked up.

”Hello. It’s nice to meet you. You must be Jiang Ran, right?”

”That’s right.”

Jiang Ran nodded back in a friendly manner.

”You know me?”

”Heh, Teacher Zhang Yang told me all about you. He said you’re his senior disciple, a genius with high hopes placed on you by the Longke Institute.”

The pretty boy closed his book, stood up, and walked straight toward Jiang Ran.

He smiled faintly and extended a hand to Jiang Ran.

”Let me introduce myself. My name is Fang Ze. I’m an exchange student from Harvard University in the United States. Like you, I’m also studying under Teacher Zhang Yang.”

Jiang Ran sucked in a sharp breath.

”You’re also studying under Teacher Zhang Yang?”

”That’s right.”

Fang Ze let out a soft chuckle.

”It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jiang Ran.”

”I hope that in this coming year of our studies...”

”...we can become the best of friends.”