Genius Playground

”Oh, okay, I’ll add a bit more then.”

Jiang Ran deposited another 100,000 yuan into Tian Xiaoli’s hospital account. This would surely relieve a great deal of Old Tian’s financial pressure.

After taking care of everything, Jiang Ran went to Teacher Zhang Yang’s hospital room.

”Well, well, a rare visitor. My little Stare—” ”That’s enough.”

Jiang Ran cut off Zhang Yang, who was in the middle of a bad joke, clearly thinking he was the pinnacle of wit and humor.

”You don’t need to be lying in bed anymore?”

When he’d come in, he saw Teacher Zhang emerging from the bathroom on crutches.

’Damn...’

’He’s so skilled with those things.’

He had the air of a disabled master from a wuxia novel. With crutches in hand, he moved with surprising speed, giving off a vibe of cyberpunk-style mechanical ascension.

”Don’t knock it. Walking like this is actually pretty cool.”

Zhang Yang showed Jiang Ran a few new tricks he’d been practicing.

”The Bengbu Spin! Look! Don’t I protect the ball just like Li Yi?”

”Heh.”

Jiang Ran laughed, speechless.

”Teacher Zhang, that stale meme is probably older than I am, right? Did you really expect me to get it?”

”See? But you did get it, didn’t you?”

Zhang Yang freed one hand to give Jiang Ran a thumbs-up.

”As expected of my star pupil.”

”Just get some rest already...”

Exasperated, Jiang Ran guided Zhang Yang back to his bed.

”Your bones have just started to heal. Don’t tempt fate and end up breaking your other leg.”

”Is that any way to treat a patient?” Zhang Yang asked, stunned.

’So you finally see yourself as a patient...’

Zhang Yang told Jiang Ran that the doctor planned to discharge him after the National Day holiday. He said teaching on crutches would be no problem at all.

”My wife will come take care of me at my faculty apartment. When the time comes, bring those two foreign exchange students over for dinner. You can try her cooking.”

”They’re exchange students... not trainees.”

Suddenly, Zhang Yang reminded Jiang Ran of someone else.

”Teacher Zhang, how about I bring another friend to your place then? I’m sure you two would hit it off.”

”Who?”

”Chi Xiaoguo.”

Jiang Ran couldn’t help but smile as he said the name of the Film Club’s petite president.

”She loves these cringey internet memes, too. You two are practically cut from the same cloth.”

”Tell her to come be my graduate student,” Zhang Yang said without a second thought.

”Can you be serious for a second! You can’t just decide something like that!” Jiang Ran couldn’t help but retort.

”See? You really don’t have a single humorous bone in your body. Can’t you even take a joke?”

Zhang Yang picked up two oranges from the table and tossed one to Jiang Ran.

”Has anyone ever told you that you’re too stiff and serious, like a block of wood?”

”Actually, yes.”

”See!”

Zhang Yang threw up his hands.

”The masses see things clearly! I mean, you walk around frowning all day like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Can’t you be a little more cheerful and lively, like someone your age is supposed to be?”

”As your teacher, I have to correct you on this. That whole silent, standoffish act is out of style now. It’s not in the meta anymore.”

”You’re an old-school anime fan!” Jiang Ran said, aghast.

He’d never noticed this side to the gentle and refined Teacher Zhang before.

Now he absolutely had to bring Chi Xiaoguo to Teacher Zhang’s house for dinner so they could meet.

”Don’t interrupt me!”

Zhang Yang tugged on Jiang Ran’s sleeve, signaling for him to shut up.

”Your teacher is trying to educate you, to help you become a little more popular. You might not believe this, but when I was young, I was incredibly popular with the girls at East Sea University! I used to get piles of love letters every day!”

”I don’t believe you.”

”Heh, trying to get a rise out of me? It won’t work, Stare-Cat.”

Faced with skepticism, Teacher Zhang was completely unfazed. He just laughed it off and wagged his index finger.

”A lie does not wound. The truth is a blade.”

”When you come over for dinner, I’ll show you my old photos from my university days. Then you’ll understand just how popular I was.”

”Anyway, let’s not get sidetracked. Your teacher is trying to impart his wisdom here, to turn you into a heartthrob. For starters, shouldn’t you do some soul-searching about why you don’t have a girlfriend?”

”What makes you so sure I don’t have a girlfriend?” Jiang Ran demanded.

”Well, do you?”

Zhang Yang pressed him.

”Have you ever even been in a relationship?”

”I...”

For a moment, Jiang Ran didn’t know what to say. In his situation, did he count as having a girlfriend or not?

From his perspective, the answer was a definite no.

But from a purely factual standpoint, there was indeed an ex-girlfriend.

”It’s complicated,” Jiang Ran said frankly.

”Look at you, so stubborn!”

Zhang Yang scoffed.

”Ah, forget it. You block of wood. You’d better study hard under my tutelage. I’ll teach you how to be popular with girls. That whole ’deep and brooding, half-bright and half-sorrowful’ act you’ve got going on is completely outdated.”

”Can’t you teach me something useful?” Jiang Ran was beginning to feel that his choice of advisor was incredibly unreliable.

”Something useful?”

Zhang Yang gave a knowing smile.

”Then how about you learn Quantum Tunneling from me!”

”Goodbye.”

Jiang Ran stood up and strode out of the room.

...

A light drizzle had been falling over East Sea City all day.

But the dark clouds in the sky were growing thicker, obscuring the sun as if brewing a major downpour.

His phone also pushed a thunderstorm warning, reminding citizens to be careful when traveling.

In the evening, Jiang Ran messaged Chi Xiaoguo, asking if she was still going to the Film Club room that night.

After all, it was drizzling outside, and the forecast had called for a thunderstorm that night. With such bad weather, it would be perfectly fine to pause their experiments for a day.

However, Chi Xiaoguo said she was still going to the club room.

”I’m going to organize and check all the cameras on the shelves, see which ones have problems, and get them repaired. We’re going to start club activities soon, after all.”