Genius Playground

Jiang Ran was surprised.

He had expected the "Cheng Mengxue" before him—whose authenticity was still in question—to approach and greet him with the same cheerful demeanor she had shown while laughing and chatting with their classmates just moments ago.

Or perhaps she would run over to him laughing, just like in their days as childhood sweethearts, grabbing his sleeve and chattering away.

But he never imagined that the composure she had struggled to maintain all evening would utterly crumble the instant their eyes met, her face streaked with tears.

This scene was completely outside of Jiang Ran’s expectations.

He admitted to himself that he was "biased" against this Cheng Mengxue who had appeared out of nowhere.

Even if all their classmates believed the story Cheng Mengxue told, and even if Jiang Ran himself felt there were some plausible parts to it.

But his gut reaction was to constantly repeat a powerful Suggestion to himself:

This Cheng Mengxue is fake.

This Cheng Mengxue is fake.

This Cheng Mengxue is fake.

This powerful Suggestion, like an idea branded into his mind, allowed him to suppress his emotions toward the Cheng Mengxue before him, keeping him from losing his cool or panicking.

According to Jiang Ran’s initial line of thinking, this fake Cheng Mengxue would approach him with all sorts of ulterior motives.

Would she run over to him?

Be incredibly happy?

Maybe even pull him into a big hug?

Jiang Ran was prepared for all of it.

If she really did any of those things, he would have definitely taken a step back to avoid her.

Toward this Cheng Mengxue, who was full of suspicious points and had appeared at such a bizarre time, he not only felt extremely wary but also had a visceral sense of rejection.

He had just never expected that Cheng Mengxue’s emotional shift in that single second would throw him into utter disarray.

He was in a daze.

It was a look of intense longing that overflowed into tears, but also one of careful trepidation, full of anticipation and guilt.

’She’s so much like Cheng Mengxue.’

For a moment, Jiang Ran didn’t know how to react.

He believed that after so many years as inseparable childhood friends, especially during high school and college, he knew Cheng Mengxue well enough, was familiar enough with her.

Other than Cheng Mengxue’s parents, there was probably no one in the world who understood her better than Jiang Ran; in fact, he might have understood her even better than her own parents did.

Therefore, he was certain that real was real, and fake was fake. It was simply impossible for someone to impersonate a girl and deceive the childhood friend who had grown up with her!

Jiang Ran had been waiting for an opportunity to rip the mask off this imposter.

That had been the plan, at least.

But in this moment, Jiang Ran began to doubt his own judgment.

It was that same thought again.

’She’s so much like Cheng Mengxue.’

If he cast aside his bias and the psychological Suggestion, Jiang Ran was almost certain that this reaction, this expression, this state of mind...

...was, without a doubt, Cheng Mengxue herself.

...

"Why... why didn’t you contact me?"

Jiang Ran looked into Cheng Mengxue’s eyes.

"I understand what you said about having to fulfill a promise. About keeping your word and repaying the scientist who saved your life."

"But since you were already planning to come back to the country for the class reunion, why didn’t you contact me beforehand?"

"Even if it was just two days, one day, or even just this morning—it would have at least given me some time to mentally prepare, right?"

Cheng Mengxue had just finished explaining the whole story to their classmates.

She had only logged into her QQ account, which she hadn’t used in two years, in mid-July. That’s when she saw the notice for the class reunion.

She was afraid that suddenly appearing in the group chat would scare her classmates. She also worried she wouldn’t be able to explain the truth of what happened back then and would only cause more misunderstandings.

So she decided to arrive unannounced, attend the reunion in person, and explain everything to her classmates face-to-face.

Jiang Ran could understand that line of thinking.

The only thing he couldn’t understand was...

Why hadn’t she contacted him first?

Their relationship was so good. After returning to the country, shouldn’t her first step have been to find him and explain everything she’d just told the others?

If she had done that, Jiang Ran might have been able to accept it.

But it had to be at the worst possible time. A coincidental appearance at the worst possible moment. And, to top it all off, it was right after Zhou Xiong had made a wish to Lilith. How could Jiang Ran possibly accept all that calmly?

"I couldn’t."

Cheng Mengxue looked directly into Jiang Ran’s eyes, her tears smudging her makeup.

"I didn’t know how to explain it to you over the phone or online in a way that would make you believe me."

"So, my original plan was actually to find you and Wang Hao before the reunion. I wanted to explain everything to you two first, and then go to the reunion together. That way, you both could have helped me explain."

"If, like you said, we hadn’t been in contact for two years, and in your mind, I was already dead, how could I have convinced you to believe me from the other end of a phone line or an internet cable?"

"Standing right here in front of you, letting you see me for yourself—that was the only way you could believe that I really didn’t die back then."

...

Cheng Mengxue’s explanation left Jiang Ran speechless.

It was true. If Cheng Mengxue had suddenly contacted him online, his first instinct would have been to think it was a scam. Even if her voice was identical, even if they could video call, it could very well be a simulation using artificial intelligence—AI technology.

Nowadays, with the rapid development of AI, voice and video were no longer irrefutable proof of identity.

So, in the end, meeting in person and seeing with one’s own eyes was unavoidable.

From that logical standpoint, Cheng Mengxue’s reasoning wasn’t wrong.

It’s just...

Why did he still feel this whole thing was utterly absurd, riddled with doubt, and impossible to believe?

"Jiang Ran! Xiaoxue!"

The two of them heard the voice and looked toward the side of the road.

They saw Wang Hao running toward them, panting for breath.

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