Genius Playground

Chapter 20 Past Events

"That was more than ten years ago. Xiaoxue and I were both five or six years old. We were childhood sweethearts and played together every day."

Jiang Ran looked at the sea and felt the sea breeze gradually becoming colder:

"Something happened that year that nearly killed me."

"Or you could say that I was already dead at that time, or at least 99.99% dead."

puff--

Qin Feng spat it out.

"Feel sorry."

He wiped his mouth, feeling both amused and exasperated.
"I know I shouldn't laugh at such a serious moment, but your death percentage is just... what kind of unsettling quantitative metaphor is that?"

However, Jiang Ran shook his head:
"It's not an exaggeration to say that. Under normal circumstances, I would definitely die, but I'm still alive. That's why I said 99.99%."

"The situation at that time was similar to when I jumped into the river to save a child who had fallen into the water a few days ago."

"I was a hero once when I was 6 years old, but the one who fell into the water was none other than... 6-year-old Xiaoxue."

Qin Feng's expression was serious.

He had a vague idea of what was going on.

"We were running and playing on the hill when Xiaoxue accidentally slipped and fell into the river."

"Of course she couldn't swim at that time, and she immediately thrashed and sank to the surface. Of course, I also couldn't swim when I was 6 years old."

Qin Feng blinked:

"Have you not……"

"Yes."

Jiang Ran nodded:

"I didn't think twice and just ran to the river and jumped in."

"It wasn't really about being brave or anything, it was just ignorance is bliss. Plus, during kindergarten, my parents always told me to take good care of Xiaoxue and protect her from being bullied."

“Kids don’t understand all that. They keep talking to me about it, so I just take protecting her as my responsibility. If she falls into the water, of course I have to jump in.”

"As you might have guessed, after I jumped into the water, my feet couldn't even reach the bottom, and I choked on the water. But I still forced my eyes open, tried my best, and pushed Xiaoxue towards the shore."

"It was also a stroke of luck that Xiaoxue managed to grab onto the sewage pipe and climb up. As for me, I was swept away by the river and quickly suffocated and lost consciousness."

Qin Feng frowned deeply.

He never expected that the two of them had such a past.

No wonder... Cheng Mengxue had such an abnormal and crazy reaction when she saw Jiang Ran jump into the water to save someone that day.

"And then what?" he urged.

"What happened after that was told to me by other people."

Jiang Ran looked at the sea:

"As I just said, I was already drowning and unconscious, so of course I don't remember what happened after that."

"They said that after Xiaoxue got ashore, she ran wildly along the river, shouting for help as she ran."

"When the adults around heard the shouts, a kind person immediately jumped into the water and rescued me... but that was several minutes later."

"They say I had stopped breathing, my face was turning purple, and my heart wasn't beating. The adults immediately started giving me artificial respiration and chest compressions for CPR, but it was all in vain."

Qin Feng clenched his fists and became nervous as well.

Only then did he truly understand what it meant to be 99.99% dead.

Suffocating in the water, heart stopped beating, CPR failed to revive him, brain was deprived of oxygen for nearly ten minutes... It's not an exaggeration to say that this state is 99.99% fatal.

"That……"

He looked at Jiang Ran:

"What does that 0.01% represent?"

"[What was it that 0.01% saved your life?]"

Jiang Ran smiled.

Stretch and yawn in the sea breeze:

"【coincide.】"

"coincide?"

"That's right, an extreme coincidence."

Jiang Ran continued:

"I can't help but laugh when I talk about this. Those adults were performing CPR on me, and since I couldn't wake up no matter what they did, they pressed harder and harder on my chest until my ribs broke. My head was bounced up and down and hitting the ground."

"Just then, a primary school student carrying a schoolbag was passing by on the mountain. He slipped and fell, and his schoolbag fell to the ground and opened. His stationery popped out, and pencils, erasers, rulers and other items were scattered all over the ground."

"As luck would have it, a pencil bounced and rolled down the mountain and landed right under my neck."

He subconsciously rubbed the back of his neck:

"The adult who was performing CPR on me was also pressing down hard, and then..."

"what!"

Qin Feng gasped for breath, a bloody image flashing through his mind. He felt a phantom pain in the back of his neck, as if a sharp pencil tip were piercing him!

"The pencil tip just suddenly pierced the back of my neck."

Jiang Ran scratched the wound on the back of her neck with her fingernail:
"You should know that I have a small piece of green here, and you even asked me about it."

"I remember."

Qin Feng opened his left palm:
“When I was a child, I was also pricked by a pencil on my palm. Now it’s a small dark blue dot. It’s similar to the principle of tattoos.”

"I do remember asking you why there was a bruise on the back of your neck. You said it was from a pencil, and I didn't think much of it. Who hasn't been pricked by a pencil during all those years of school?"

"But I really didn't expect that little blue dot on the back of your neck had such an origin. So... that pencil that just happened to fall was the 0.01% that saved your life?"

“That’s right.” Jiang Ran chuckled softly.
"The pencil was stuck quite deep. I tensed up and kicked my legs, and the fluid in my lungs gushed out. I was coughing violently... but my heartbeat returned to normal."

"Brilliant."

Qin Feng was amazed.

Reality is indeed more fascinating than fiction.

That pencil must have punctured some nerve, like an electroshock therapy, directly causing the muscles throughout the body to tense up, which unexpectedly restored the heart and lung function.

This kind of internal stimulation is far more effective than external chest compressions.

"When I woke up, I saw that Xiaoxue's voice was hoarse from shouting, her mouth was covered in blood, and she was hugging me and crying loudly."

Jiang Ran turned her head and looked at the second-floor window.

That was Cheng Mengxue's room; the Sleeping Beauty was already fast asleep.

"After that, she insisted on dragging me to sign up for swimming training classes together."

“I went there purely to soak in the water, but Xiaoxue always practiced very seriously, even excessively so.”

"So you see, Xiaoxue's diving is quite skillful. It's probably because... the incident of me almost dying was too traumatic for her."

……

This is the end.

Qin Feng finally understood.

He initially thought that Cheng Mengxue was too worried about Jiang Ran, which caused her to lose her composure, realize her feelings for Jiang Ran, and was about to confess her love while drunk...

Completely wrong.

All guesses were wrong.

This is not some melodramatic love story, but a past event that almost led to their separation by death.

For Cheng Mengxue, the incident of rescuing someone from drowning was the biggest psychological shadow and trauma in her life.

The moment Jiang Ran jumped off the bridge, all that flashed through Cheng Mengxue's mind was that scene from more than a decade ago... the little boy who jumped into the river to save her and died 99.99% of the time.

This was her most terrifying nightmare.

It was also the scene she feared most.

"Okay, I admit I guessed wrong."

Qin Feng patted Jiang Ran on the shoulder:

"Feel sorry."

"fine."

……

The two were silent.

The moonlight disappeared into the dark clouds once again.

The crowd dispersed from the lower deck, and the lights went out.

The night grew quiet.

Seabirds landed under the moonlight to snatch scraps of food, while the sound of steel cutting through the water was deafening.

The waves crashed against the ship's side, washing away the traces of time and cleansing the heart.

"However, there is one thing I am not wrong about."

Qin Feng turned his head:
"Don't care what others think of you, don't care whether you've been ordinary or outstanding over the years, in Xiaoxue's eyes you've never changed in the past ten years—"

"From the moment you jumped into the water at the age of six, you became her one and only hero."

Jiang Ran neither confirmed nor denied, but smiled slightly:
Why don't you take a course on "Adolescent Psychology"?

"Let's all go together next semester, the three of us."

"forget it."

Waaah————————

A muffled whistle sounded.

This signal, which had long lost its meaning in maritime navigation, has now become the hourly chime on cruise ships.

The sound of the ship's horn signifies the end of all entertainment activities for the day, reminding guests to return to their rooms for a safe rest.

"Let's go."

Jiang Ran braced himself with both hands, left the railing, and walked towards the steps.

"Ok?"

He noticed that Qin Feng hadn't followed.

"What's wrong with you?" Jiang Ran asked, puzzled.

Qin Feng remained silent.

He walked to the dining table.

Pick up a green date from the fruit plate.

He threw it at Jiang Ran.

Snapped.

Jiang Ran reached out and caught it accurately.

"Jiang Ran".