Genius Playground

If one were to say that the different experiences of the past two years were enough to split Cheng Mengxue into two completely different people...

Then what about back on World Line 0, when they sent all those Time SMS messages and rewrote the history of ”the last three days” so many times?

The Cheng Mengxue who lost her phone, and the Cheng Mengxue who didn’t;

The Cheng Mengxue who failed calculus, and the Cheng Mengxue who passed;

The Cheng Mengxue who couldn’t afford a Rhine Cat, and the Cheng Mengxue who won the lottery;

Following that logic, did that mean all these versions of Cheng Mengxue, after their histories were changed, were no longer the original Cheng Mengxue? No longer the childhood friend he’d grown up with?

Jiang Ran didn’t think it was right to make such a hasty judgment.

But the moment the thought occurred to him, he shook his head, refusing to dwell on it.

Because he realized—

’The fact that he was starting to hesitate and get tangled up in these things meant he was already beginning to accept this World Line 1.’

’As expected. The longer I stay on this world line, the more it shakes my resolve.’

Sigh.

’I still have to fix the Positron Cannon soon, or find Lu Yu and work on the Time Travel Machine together. I need to correct this lost history and return to World Line 0 as soon as possible.’

But that was the problem...

Where could he find the old data for the Positron Cannon?

And Lu Yu, who should have enrolled on time—where had he gone?

...

It was already ten o’clock at night by the time he got back to his graduate student dorm room.

After quickly washing up, he sat on his bed, leaning against the headboard, his gaze drifting toward the window.

There.

Fang Ze sat in the armchair like a statue, dressed in a loose white shirt. His left hand was cupped against his cheek, and his right held a copy of *Narrow Gate*, which he was reading with single-minded focus.

You had to admit, he looked just like a pretty boy who’d walked straight out of a romance manga.

The mixed light from the desk lamp and the moon fell across his fair face and slender neck, accentuating a noble and elegant cool-toned fairness.

The soft fringe of his hair half-covered his eyes, lending him an air of quiet melancholy.

Everything, meticulously crafted.

Everything, like a scene from a painting.

Jiang Ran just stared at him quietly, wondering how to bring up the subject of Fang Yang.

’Just asking him directly if he knows Fang Yang seems a bit inappropriate.’

After all, they had known each other for less than forty-eight hours. They were friendly and respectful, the way classmates are, but they weren’t actually close. Things were still a bit awkward between them.

’Maybe I should find a topic to break the ice... start by talking about family.’

Jiang Ran’s gaze drifted from Fang Ze’s face down to his hands.

It was only then that he discovered an unusually similar trait that Fang Ze and Fang Yang shared.

And that was...

Their fingers. They were both fair, slender, and beautiful.

He recalled the Assassin in the Future Prison—arms moving like gliding snakes, fingers like a painter’s brush. The way Fang Ze held his book right now had that same striking quality.

’Could it be a family trait?’

...

Noticing Jiang Ran’s peculiar stare, Fang Ze pursed his lips and glanced up.

Then he lowered his head and went back to his book.

But...

Jiang Ran’s gaze didn’t waver. It continued to scan him from top to bottom and back again, making Fang Ze feel uncomfortable.

”Um.”

Fang Ze finally put down his book and looked at Jiang Ran.

”Jiang Ran, is there something you want to say to me?”

He glanced down at his shirt collar, then at his right hand gripping the spine of the book, and said with a wry smile,

”I feel like... you’re studying me or something.”

”Huh?”

Realizing he’d been staring inappropriately, Jiang Ran sat up straighter on the bed.

”No, no, it’s not that. I was just thinking that you’re pretty good-looking.”

Fang Ze’s eyes widened.

He quickly looked toward the window, at the open curtains and the bright moonlight beyond.

”Heh.”

He turned back, chuckling softly.

”Thanks for the compliment. I know you don’t mean anything by it, but to be honest... as a guy, it’s still a little awkward to hear that.”

”You’ve got it wrong,”

Jiang Ran explained.

”Maybe since you’ve lived abroad for so long, you’re not that familiar with Dragon Country’s culture. It’s actually common here to praise guys for being delicate, quiet, handsome, cultured, and so on...”

”Honestly, the whole tough-guy, muscle-man image you see abroad isn’t as popular in Dragon Country. People here generally prefer a more refined look.”

”So, in Dragon Country, calling a guy good-looking has absolutely no insulting or demeaning connotation.”

Fang Ze blinked, his interest piqued.

”Oh? Is that so?”

He placed the book on the coffee table, adjusted his posture, and turned to face Jiang Ran.

”Don’t let the fact that I’ve lived abroad for years fool you. I’m actually quite familiar with Dragon Country’s culture, traditions, and national situation.”

”Er...”

Jiang Ran scratched his head.

”If you don’t mind my asking, how did you learn all that?”

”Novels and movies,” Fang Ze replied.

”Then you don’t know jack!”

Jiang Ran couldn’t resist retorting,

”It’s like when we Dragon Country People watch movies from the United States. Every school has some dumb jock football captain as the school bully, and he’s always got a girlfriend who’s the head cheerleader. Does that kind of pairing actually exist in American Universities?”

Fang Ze thought for a couple of seconds, then shook his head.

”Now that you mention it... you do have a point.”

”In American high schools and universities, football captains and cheerleading captains have extremely high status. They’re idols for the whole student body. Those aren’t positions some ’dumb jock’ can get.”

”Especially the cheerleading captain. You can forget about getting that role just by having good grades and being a decent person. For the girls who become cheer captains, their beauty and athleticism are the most basic of their many talents. They are absolutely nothing like the arrogant, domineering characters you see in TV shows.”

”Exactly,”

Jiang Ran said, spreading his hands.

”The reality of being a teenager in Dragon Country has nothing to do with the whole ’angsty youth’ trope from novels and movies either. All that stuff—the fights, the love triangles, the pregnancies, running in the rain, getting leukemia, being a ’broken angel’... none of it has anything to do with 99.9% of actual teens.”

”Anyway, how did we even get on this topic? The real reason I was staring at you earlier was that I was just curious about your family. Are you an only child?”

Jiang Ran seized the opening and asked the question directly.

Unexpectedly, Fang Ze simply nodded.

”Yes.”

Huh?

The firm answer caught Jiang Ran completely off guard.

”You... you don’t have any brothers or sisters?”

”None.” Fang Ze shook his head calmly.

”Oh, okay.”

To be honest, Jiang Ran was a little disappointed.

He had been hoping all day, feeling certain that the Assassin, Fang Yang, and his roommate, Fang Ze, had to be connected somehow.

He never expected Fang Ze to be an only child.

It seemed his earlier feeling that the two were similar was just an illusion after all.

Neither of them spoke again after that.

Jiang Ran lay on his bed, playing on his phone, while Fang Ze picked up his English edition of *Narrow Gate* again, holding it to his chest as he read.

But this time...

A long time passed without a page being turned.

His gaze remained fixed on the left-hand page, his eyes unmoving. It was as if... his eyes were merely pointed at the book, not actually reading the words.

After a long while, maybe five or six minutes,

Fang Ze snapped the book shut.

”Alright.”

He said softly,

”Sorry, Jiang Ran. I lied just now.”

Lifting his head, Fang Ze offered a guilty-looking smile.

”The truth is...”

”I do, in fact, have a brother.”