Genius Playground

"Senior?"

Inside the Film Club, Chi Xiaoguo tilted her head and looked out the window at Jiang Ran.

’What’s going on?’

’Why has Senior frozen up?’

’He’s just standing there, completely still and dazed, like a computer that’s crashed.’

"Senior Jiang Ran!"

She took a couple of steps to the window, propped her hands on the sill, and raised her voice.

"Was the experiment a success?!"

’Hm?’

At the same time, Nan Xiuxiu’s questioning voice came from the phone in Jiang Ran’s right hand:

"Jiang Ran? Why is there a girl’s voice on your end? Where on earth are you?!"

...

Jiang Ran took a deep breath.

’Chaos.’

’The situation right now is a complete mess.’

’His mind was already reeling from the chaotic experience just moments ago. Now, he had Chi Xiaoguo shouting in his left ear and Nan Xiuxiu interrogating him through the phone in his right.’

’His head was throbbing.’

’Alright, one thing at a time.’

First, he waved to Chi Xiaoguo in the Film Club room.

"Hang on, I’ll be with you in a second."

Then, holding his phone, he walked away.

The call timer on his phone read 00:36. After a full thirty-six seconds with no reply, Nan Xiuxiu’s patience had reached its limit.

"Jiang Ran! Have you gone mute?!"

"Nan Xiuxiu," Jiang Ran said in a low voice.

"What?"

Over the phone, Nan Xiuxiu sounded a little wary.

"Why are you using my full name?"

Jiang Ran sat down on a stone bench.

"I recall we made an agreement the day before yesterday. Have you forgotten what you promised me?"

The day before yesterday, in the archery hall at the East Sea College of International Trade and Economics, Jiang Ran and Nan Xiuxiu had agreed that she wouldn’t disturb him for ten days.

"Not disturbing him" meant not contacting him in any way, which he had made perfectly clear at the time.

Back then, Nan Xiuxiu had gritted her teeth, but she ultimately agreed.

But...

...it had only been two days. How could she have broken her promise already?

Jiang Ran was not happy about it.

"We agreed you’d give me a ten-day break and not disturb me. So why are you calling me now?"

"Where are you?" Nan Xiuxiu pressed, refusing to let it go.

"East Sea University."

Jiang Ran replied.

"The Film Club."

"Ohhh..."

Hearing those two words, "Film Club," Nan Xiuxiu’s fiery tone instantly subsided, and she became gentle.

"Sorry, you must be busy with the competition, right?"

...

For a moment, Jiang Ran didn’t know what to say.

This so-called competition project with his friends from East Sea University was just a lie Wang Hao had fabricated to get Nan Xiuxiu off his back.

He never expected that as time went on, the lie would start to seem more and more real.

"Let’s talk about our agreement."

Jiang Ran steered the conversation back on topic.

"You not honoring our agreement like this is really causing me problems."

"Oh, come on~ I already apologized!"

Nan Xiuxiu giggled.

"Just this once! It’s a special situation! Just for today, okay? Can you free up some time tonight so we can have dinner together?"

Jiang Ran frowned.

"I’ve already made myself perfectly clear. I’m really busy right now. We agreed on ten days, and that means ten days. Can you please stop bothering me?"

"Just for one day!"

Nan Xiuxiu was still trying to bargain.

"Just for today, please? Fine, I’ll make up for this one day of your break. I’ll add another day to it later! Okay? Okay?"

Jiang Ran didn’t answer.

He was really getting annoyed by her habit of casually breaking their agreements.

He was already swamped with things he couldn’t deal with, completely overwhelmed... and yet she was still pestering him like this.

"Jiang Ran?"

Hearing no reply, Nan Xiuxiu started upping the ante over the phone.

"Two days, then! I’ll add two days to your break, alright?!"

...

"Three days!"

Nan Xiuxiu gritted her teeth.

"Fine! I take up one day today, and I’ll make it up to you with a whole week! That has to be enough, right?!"

"After today, I swear I won’t send you a single message or make a single call for the next half a month!"

Heh.

Jiang Ran scoffed.

"I don’t think you’re capable of that. You’re always so impulsive."

"I swear!"

Nan Xiuxiu’s voice over the phone was earnest and serious.

"This time, I’ll keep my word! If... If I break our agreement again, then you can just ignore me forever!"

’Sigh...’

Jiang Ran sighed in resignation.

’He really wasn’t good at dealing with girls like this.’

’Especially not when Qin Feng was missing, Cheng Mengxue was dead, and that bizarre waking dream he’d just had still sent a chill down his spine.’

’With all that weighing on him, having to deal with a persistent pest like Nan Xiuxiu was really the last straw. He’d had enough.’

"Why is it so important that we have dinner tonight?"

Jiang Ran asked.

"What dinner is so important that you’re willing to trade a week of your break for it?"

’He really couldn’t understand Nan Xiuxiu’s logic.’

’When he’d asked for a ten-day break before, she had been furious, practically grinding her teeth in anger.’

’But now, she was turning right around and offering a lopsided deal—trading seven days for one—just to have dinner with him.’

’Incomprehensible.’

’Completely irrational.’

"Because..."

After a pause, Nan Xiuxiu said softly over the phone,

"Because today is your birthday."

...

...

...

Jiang Ran froze.

He swiped down on his phone screen and looked at the calendar—

May 15, 2025.

’So it was.’

He had been through so much recently, so busy and on edge, that he hadn’t even realized... today was his nineteenth birthday.

So...

’...the reason Nan Xiuxiu had called him, the reason she was willing to trade seven days for one dinner... it was all just to celebrate his birthday.’

’He never would have thought.’

’Nan Xiuxiu had remembered his birthday, even when he himself had forgotten it.’

"Alright."

In an instant, all of Jiang Ran’s frustration vanished without a trace.

’He felt a pang of regret.’

’He had, once again, directed his foul temper at this girl—the very one he’d been prejudiced against since the moment they met.’