Genius Playground

"Qin Feng, who the hell is Qin Feng?"

Leaving the cemetery, Wang Hao wouldn’t stop asking:

"You called me in the middle of the night, acting all weird and muttering this name. You said something about him being the top scorer on the college entrance exams, a classmate of ours from high school... It was like you were fucking sleepwalking."

"I thought you were just half-asleep and confused, but I can’t believe he’s actually a real person!"

"So, who is this guy, really? You said on the phone that he was really close with you and Xiaoxue. Don’t tell me Xiaoxue knows him too?"

Jiang Ran pulled open the taxi door and motioned for Wang Hao to get in:

"I can’t really explain it to you right now."

He shook his head:

"It’s hard to describe the relationship between me, as I am now, and him, as he is now."

"But... I think he should remember me, right? Even if he doesn’t remember our past together, he should at least know my name. That’s what I think, anyway."

"What is all this nonsense?"

Wang Hao’s head was starting to ache from listening:

"Why are you spouting gibberish again, like your brain is fighting itself? Are you two friends or not?!"

"I’ve known you and Xiaoxue since middle school, and I’ve never heard either of you mention this person."

"Not in middle school, not in high school, not in college... where on earth did you meet him?"

Jiang Ran waved his hand dismissively:

"I already told you, it’s hard to explain. Just drop it for now."

"I’m not even sure if I can find him yet. Let’s talk after I do."

Sitting in the back of the taxi, Wang Hao searched for the route to Kaihua County on his phone, while Jiang Ran closed his eyes and thought about Qin Feng.

He really didn’t want to tell Wang Hao about the Time SMS right now, which was why he couldn’t clearly explain the connection between him and Qin Feng.

The Qin Feng on this World Line 1 would certainly not remember the past events from World Line 0, and that was the most troublesome part.

Even if he really found Qin Feng and they came face-to-face...

’What would he even say?’

’Would Qin Feng believe him?’

Jiang Ran wasn’t sure.

Worldline shifts, the temporal Butterfly Effect... a normal person wouldn’t believe any of it.

However, he was still convinced that a genius as smart as Qin Feng would never waste a single character of the Time SMS.

A 70-character limit could actually convey a lot of information, given the depth of the Chinese language and through constant compression.

’Could Qin Feng have... ’

’...written his own name in the Time SMS?’

’He probably did.’

Qin Feng knew very well that the Time SMS sent 10 years into the past would inevitably trigger a worldline shift; and after the shift, the only person who would retain memories of the original worldline was Jiang Ran.

So, if he truly cherished their friendship, he would have at least included an instruction or a reminder in the message, right?

However, there was one more thing to consider.

Jiang Ran opened his eyes.

’Who was the actual recipient of the Time SMS that Qin Feng sent?’

There were two possibilities.

1. The recipient was Qin Feng’s father from 10 years ago.

2. The recipient was a young Qin Feng from 10 years ago.

After thinking it over and over, Jiang Ran felt the second possibility was more likely.

Because if he had sent this precious message directly to his father, his father most likely wouldn’t have taken it seriously and would have just ignored it.

But if he sent it to his 10-year-old self, gaining trust would be much easier.

After all... convincing yourself is always easier than convincing others.

In 2015, the young Qin Feng would have been an elementary school student, so it was unlikely he’d have his own personal cell phone to carry around.

But looking at it from another angle, a 10-year-old boy would definitely love playing on a phone. If he had an old, hand-me-down phone from his parents at home to use as a "game console" or "cartoon player"... that would be perfectly reasonable.

Especially since Qin Feng was naturally gifted and never made his parents worry about his studies. Even if they gave him an old phone just for entertainment at home, his parents would have felt at ease.

So, Qin Feng’s plan at the time must have been something like this—

Condense as much information as possible into that 70-character Time SMS, then send it to his younger self 10 years in the past;

The young Qin Feng, convinced by certain evidence in the message, would believe it came from the future and, on the day of his father’s accident, stop his father from going out, thus preventing his death;

The end of the message probably had something to do with Jiang Ran, Cheng Mengxue, and the Worldline Theory, but for some reason, Qin Feng had never looked for him in these 10 years, disappearing without a trace.

’Is there some hidden trouble? Did something happen to him?’

Jiang Ran couldn’t find an answer.

’What is Qin Feng hiding from? Or what is he running from?’

In any case, he had to find him or contact him first. Speculating wildly right now was pointless.

"Damn."

Wang Hao said, looking at the navigation on his phone:

"Kaihua County is really far, over 200 kilometers."

"Why don’t we head home first? I have a driver’s license anyway. I’ll drive my dad’s car and take you tomorrow."

Jiang Ran nodded.

’That could work.’

He didn’t know much about Qin Feng’s childhood, so having a private car would be more convenient when the time came to run around looking for clues.

...

「The next day.」

Wang Hao picked up Jiang Ran in his dad’s old manual-transmission Jetta. The two of them headed south, following the GPS navigation to Kaihua.

Kaihua County is located in the western part of Zhejiang Province, northwest of Quzhou City, at the source of the Qiantang River, and on the border of the three provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui, and Jiangxi.

Jiang Ran had never been here before; he had only heard bits and pieces about it from Qin Feng.

Qin Feng had said that Kaihua County’s economy wasn’t well-developed and was quite backward compared to the surrounding areas. The permanent population was small, there were no major corporations, and transportation wasn’t very convenient... All in all, it didn’t sound like it had many good points.

But in anyone’s eyes, their own hometown is always poor and run-down. Such evaluations are often not objective.

Since he didn’t know Qin Feng’s home address, or even what district he lived in, his only option was to start the investigation at his school.

Last night, Jiang Ran had searched online.

Kaihua County had a total of 31 elementary schools and 7 middle schools.

Visiting them one by one would be a massive undertaking and extremely difficult.

Fortunately, Qin Feng had once mentioned that the elementary and middle school he attended was a "nine-year integrated school," meaning a school that included both elementary and middle school divisions, allowing students to complete their nine years of compulsory education without having to change locations.

This piece of information was incredibly useful.

There was only one nine-year integrated school in all of Kaihua County: Malan Middle School.

So, it went without saying that if they investigated at this school, they could find Qin Feng’s student records, and from there, his home address, his parents’ contact information, and so on...

The journey was indeed long.

The highways were toll-free for the May Day holiday, and traffic had surged accordingly. Wang Hao cursed under his breath as he constantly shifted gears and worked the clutch.

Three and a half hours later, the old Jetta finally pulled up to the entrance of Malan Middle School.

"Holy crap, my back is about to break."

Wang Hao pulled the handbrake and slumped into his seat:

"After I graduate from my vocational college and get a job, I’m definitely saving up to buy a car with an automatic transmission!"

"So, what do you think? Given my vibe, should I get an Audi, or an electric car like a Li Auto or an Aito?"

"How about a compromise?" Jiang Ran suggested.

Wang Hao was taken aback:

"How do you compromise on that? Buy an electric Audi? Which model?"

"An Auldey Double Diamond."

Jiang Ran opened the car door:

"My partner."

"Fuck, the kind that runs on AA batteries!"

Wang Hao scrambled out of the car after him.

Malan Middle School was built against a mountain. Standing outside the school gates, you could look up and see green mountains. The scenery was truly beautiful.

"Let’s go. We’re heading to the student affairs office."

Jiang Ran squinted against the sunlight.

No matter where the present-day Qin Feng was... his 10-year-old self had indeed attended elementary school here. That was a fact that not even the Time SMS could change.

’Follow the clues.’

’To find someone, you just need to find the initial clue, and you can follow the trail all the way to the end.’

He recalled the promise he had made to Qin Feng before the worldline shift:

"I will remember."

At the time, he hadn’t realized that this test would be their final farewell:

"I have this special constitution, Full Space-Time Memory, so no matter how the worldline changes, I will remember everything we’ve been through, remember our close relationship, and remember that we are the best friends in the entire world."

"No matter how the worldline changes, I will never leave any of you behind."

Time passed and things changed. His words had become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Since he was able to find this place today, their reunion couldn’t be far off.

’Come back, Qin Feng.’

Jiang Ran gazed at the gates of Malan Middle School from afar.

’I hope we can still be like we were before... the world’s...’

’Best friends.’