Genius Playground

Just as I thought...

Jiang Ran freed up a hand and casually leafed through the files on the desk.

In truth, it didn’t really matter whether he looked at them or not. Since Xu Yan said they were authentic, then they must be.

That was why Jiang Ran had insisted on asking Xu Yan’s boyfriend to conduct an in-person investigation at the University of Pennsylvania.

IDs, records, documents, transcripts—to put it bluntly, they were just data on paper. Forging them wasn’t difficult. It wasn’t even hard to use power and connections to create a completely genuine set.

But a person’s actual life and experiences were impossible to fake.

The University of Pennsylvania was a real place, its classrooms were real, and so were its dorms... Whether or not the student named Cheng Mengxue had actually attended classes was a simple matter of fact. It was either true or it wasn’t.

And as it turned out, Jiang Ran’s guess had been correct.

Furthermore, the words Qin Feng had written on the back of that photo were also right—

[”There is no student named Cheng Mengxue at the University of Pennsylvania! She never went to school there!”]

”Jiang Ran...”

At that moment, even the usually calm and composed Xu Yan had a flicker of panic in her eyes.

”What... What in the world is going on?”

Jiang Ran looked up at her.

”American universities aren’t like the ones in Dragon Country. They have way too many workarounds.”

”Especially a private school like the University of Pennsylvania. Strictly speaking, they don’t really have any principles. Any rule can be broken.”

”That’s just how a capitalist society works. With enough wealth and power, you can get into any university you want. You don’t even have to put on an act; everything can be done out in the open.”

”So, from that perspective, it wouldn’t be hard to forge a completely authentic and factually existing set of academic records for Cheng Mengxue. That includes transcripts and all that stuff—it can all be faked.”

”The one thing that can’t be faked... is whether Cheng Mengxue herself actually attended the university in person. That’s why I had you investigate.”

”But...”

Xu Yan still couldn’t understand.

”But I still don’t get it. Why would Xiaoxue lie to us about this?”

”Including the house she lives in and the things about her parents... Could it... could it all be fake?”

Jiang Ran didn’t answer, propping his chin on his hand as he thought.

’To pull off such a comprehensive deception, the efforts of one person, or even a few people, definitely wouldn’t be enough.’

’Without a doubt, there must be an entire ’team’ behind Cheng Mengxue, masterminding all of this.’

’This group of people spared no effort to create a fake yet seemingly real Cheng Mengxue...’

’What is their goal?’

”Actually, it’s possible her parents aren’t the only fake things.”

Jiang Ran said something that horrified Xu Yan even more.

”It’s very likely that Xiaoxue herself is also a fake.”

”Don’t be so shocked just yet. This is hard for me to explain, too. You know I’ve been suspicious about this since summer vacation. And... we did something behind your back. We took some of your father’s hair and had a DNA kinship test done with Xiaoxue’s hair.”

”What were the results?” Xu Yan pressed.

”The results showed they are indeed uncle and niece. They’re biologically related.”

At this, Jiang Ran spread his hands.

”But look, since all of Xiaoxue’s academic records and transcripts were forged, do you think that test report, which also came from a private lab, has any credibility left?”

Sharing Jiang Ran’s thought, Xu Yan gently shook her head.

Being sharp, she had already realized that Cheng Mengxue’s sudden return to the country and her abrupt appearance were indeed full of suspicious circumstances.

What made her even more uneasy was...

The thought that the sister she spent every day with, the sister who showed no flaws whatsoever, the sister whose every memory and habit was identical to how she remembered...

Was actually a fake?

”Should we... do another DNA test?”

Xu Yan was still finding it hard to accept this reality. She suggested,

”I can get another strand of Xiaoxue’s hair, and some of my dad’s, and we can take them to a public hospital in the Imperial Capital. Or I can have my boyfriend find a reliable lab overseas to run the test.”

”We could even... have it done at several labs, multiple times, to see if this Xiaoxue really has any blood relation to our family.”

However, Jiang Ran shook his head.

”Actually, there’s not much point in doing that anymore.”

He gave three reasons.

First.

They didn’t know how powerful the team behind Cheng Mengxue was. It was possible they could infiltrate and alter the reports from public hospitals, or even overseas labs.

Second.

Even if the test results did confirm that Cheng Mengxue and Xu Yan’s father were related by blood...

So what?

At this point, with Cheng Mengxue’s background story being full of lies, could they really trust this ”flawless” girl?

Finally, and most importantly.

”It’s best not to tip them off.”

Jiang Ran said in a low voice,

”Right now, we don’t understand this Xiaoxue’s goals or intentions. The other party probably hasn’t noticed our suspicions yet, so it’s better to maintain this balance for the time being.”

”If she notices you pulling her hair, it’s basically the same as us laying our cards on the table. To be honest... I don’t think we’re in any position to do that right now. I need more time to prepare.”

Xu Yan nodded, agreeing that Jiang Ran made sense.

”So what’s your plan now?”

”My boyfriend might be able to help, but... from the sound of it, you don’t seem to want too many people to know about this.”

”Don’t worry,” Jiang Ran reassured her.

”I already have a rough plan. And, if you’ll forgive me for being blunt, right now, I don’t trust anyone besides official channels.”