Genius Playground

Chapter 2 SMS
"You know what, the ideas you came up with in junior high were actually quite interesting."

Qin Feng flipped through the script:

What exactly does "Genius Playground" refer to?

After filming wrapped, the film club rushed back to edit the footage, while Jiang Ran and Qin Feng headed to the cafeteria.

"I can't remember anymore."

Jiang Ran kicked a pebble away:
"They were all just unfounded fantasies from adolescence. How could I possibly remember them after all these years?"

"I only vaguely remembered some fragments, so I used them to write a script for the film company."

"it's a pity."

Qin Feng closed the scriptbook:
"I'm quite interested in this story."

Jiang Ran chuckled softly:
"Then I'll go home and look in the basement when summer vacation starts. If I'm lucky, I might be able to find the script I wrote back then."

Qin Feng is Jiang Ran's best friend.

The two met in high school and were like brothers.

"Jiang Ran! Something terrible has happened!"

in front of you.

A short-haired girl ran over anxiously, her forehead covered in sweat and her expression flustered.

She grabbed Jiang Ran's arm:
"Oh no! I lost my phone! I've been looking for it for ages!"

Jiang Ran blinked.

This girl was his childhood sweetheart, Cheng Mengxue, whom he had grown up with since they were little.

Adding Qin Feng, the three of them were classmates in high school and were also the closest trio, a friendship that has lasted to this day.

Although they were in different majors at university, they always got together after class.

"Where did you lose it?" Jiang Ran asked.

"I do not know!"

Cheng Mengxue was very anxious:
"You guys were filming a movie just now, so I was wandering around the graduate market by myself, and when I realized it... my phone was gone."

"Actually, losing my phone isn't so bad. I'm mainly worried about that Rhine Cat pendant! It's a limited edition Rhine Cat astronaut! It's a collaboration with 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,' and only 4200 were released. It's very rare!"

Rhine Cat is currently the most popular doll, selling well worldwide.

Originally, this thing was just a mascot for a cosmetics brand. Who would have thought it would be so cute and popular, and now it's an independent IP on par with Doraemon and Hello Kitty?

Cheng Mengxue is a die-hard Rhine Cat fanatic.

"No one usually steals phones at school, I'll make a call for you."

Jiang Ran picked up his phone and dialed Cheng Mengxue's number. A notification sound rang.

The number you dialed is currently unavailable, sorry...

"It must be out of power."

Jiang Ran thought for a moment:
"Okay, I'll send you a text message."

"Your phone doesn't have privacy mode set up, so once the person who found your phone charges it, even if they don't know the unlock password, they can still see the text messages and then contact me."

"That's a good idea," Qin Feng nodded.

Jiang Ran began composing the text message—

Hello, if you find this phone, please contact XXXXXXX. Thank you very much!

"Hey."

Cheng Mengxue sighed:

"I hope they can return Rhine Cat to me..."

Jiang Ran smiled:

“Who would recognize a limited edition? I didn’t even know that the pendant was so expensive until you told me. Otherwise, I would have sold it to a second-hand dealer long ago.”

"you dare!"

"I'm kidding you."

Jiang Ran confirmed that the contact information was correct:

"Don't worry, we'll find it soon."

After saying that, he pressed the send button.

hum!
hum!
hum!
The moment the message was sent, the world spun around and my vision blurred!

The intense tinnitus caused Jiang Ran to lose her balance and nearly fall.

He closed his eyes, clenched his teeth, and pressed his temples...

Two seconds later, the discomfort disappeared.

"what happened?"

Qin Feng looked at him:
"uncomfortable?"

"I don't know, I suddenly feel a little dizzy."

Jiang Ran let out a long sigh, opened her eyes, and stood up.

Huh?
He looked left and right:

"Where's Xiaoxue?"

"What Xiaoxue?" Qin Feng asked, puzzled.

"Cheng Mengxue, and what about Xiaoxue?"

Jiang Ran turned around, but still couldn't see Cheng Mengxue.

strangeness.

I was standing right next to you just now, how did I disappear in the blink of an eye?

"Hey."

Qin Feng patted him on the shoulder:

“What are you looking for? Xiaoxue hasn’t been with us all afternoon; we’re filming a movie, and she’s off playing by herself.”

"no……"

Jiang Ran was completely stunned. He gestured with his hands:

"Xiaoxue was standing right here, just a few seconds ago!" "Heh, how could that be?"

Qin Feng laughed speechlessly:

"What's wrong with you? Are you kidding me?"

For an instant.

Jiang Ran felt a chill run down his spine.

What's the matter?

Why did Cheng Mengxue disappear after I felt dizzy for a while?

Furthermore, Qin Feng acted as if he had never seen Xiaoxue before, even though the three of them were chatting just seconds ago!

"Who's kidding me! I just sent her a text message..."

Jiang Ran opened the text message on her phone and was speechless.

No.

I can't find it anywhere.

He was certain that the text message had indeed been sent successfully just before he felt dizzy.

But now, there's no trace of that text message in either the sent items folder or the recycle bin!

Where did it go?
Why did that text message disappear along with Xiaoxue?

He immediately dialed Cheng Mengxue's number.

"Hey? Jiang Ran, you guys finished filming the movie?"

There was a lot of noise coming from Cheng Mengxue's side.

"Where are you?" Jiang Ran asked directly.

"I'm at the graduate fair... What's wrong? You sound strange, is something the matter?"

Jiang Ran frowned, unsure how to explain.

This feeling……

It was like daydreaming.

Cheng Mengxue's phone was not lost.

No one rushed over to find me.

I didn't send any text messages myself.

Was everything that just happened just an unreal illusion?
"Jiang Ran?" came the question from the other end of the phone.

Qin Feng also leaned closer, looking at him with concern:
"What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong, don't be mute."

Jiang Ran calmed down:

"I don't know how to explain it, but just now, as I remembered, Xiaoxue lost her phone. Then she came to find us, and I even sent her a text message saying—"

"Oh!" "Hahaha, so that's what it was about."

Jiang Ran was nervous, but the two of them were all smiles and didn't seem to care.

"You finally admit it." Qin Feng snorted.

"Admit what?" Jiang Ran looked at him.

"【Three days ago, you sent a strange text message to Xiaoxue's phone.】"

Qin Feng chuckled:
"You said whoever found this phone would contact you, it's so strange."

"When Xiaoxue took a screenshot and asked you about it, you pretended to be stupid and said that you didn't send it. I also saw it at the time, and the sender was you, but you insisted that it wasn't you and wouldn't admit it no matter what."

"If you refuse to admit it, what can we do? So we just ignored you."

……

Jiang Ran's arms hung down.

Stand up straight.

The setting sun casts long shadows, like the hands of a clock moving backward.

Three days ago?
He sent this text message just a minute ago, how could it have been sent three days ago?
He opened WeChat, clicked on his chat history with Cheng Mengxue, and scrolled up.

really.

Three days ago, on March 14, Cheng Mengxue sent him a screenshot of a text message and asked him what was going on.

Let's zoom in for a closer look.

The sender was indeed himself.

The text message content is identical word for word, providing irrefutable evidence.

"look."

Qin Feng pointed to the date in the upper left corner of his phone: March 17th.
"It was clearly a text message you sent to Xiaoxue three days ago. It's not a big deal. Do you have to be so stubborn?"

No, I wasn't being stubborn.

Jiang Ran shook his head:
"I wasn't lying three days ago."

The sun completely disappeared below the horizon, while a crescent moon rose in the sky above.

He's starting to understand.

Three days ago, on March 14th, I did not send a text message to Xiaoxue.

because……

The person who sent this text message is myself on March 17th, right now.

What is completely incomprehensible is...

The text message was sent today, so why is the date it was received three days ago? And why do neither Qin Feng nor Cheng Mengxue remember this at all?

"Could this be... a text message from across time?" he murmured to himself.

Although I don't know the principle behind it or how to implement it.

But in terms of the outcome...

That text message just now truly traveled through time and went back to the past—

It was sent three days ago!
(End of this chapter)