Genius Playground

Chapter 34 Trust
A night breeze blows, and the willow branches sway.

In the dead of night, when no one was around, tensions were high outside the film studio window.

Jiang Ran held his palm out in mid-air, his eyes fixed on Qin Feng's phone.

Qin Feng held his phone in his right hand, staring at Jiang Ran with disbelief in his eyes.

"You don't believe me?" Qin Feng asked softly.

Jiang Ran remained noncommittal.

There was not a single movement.

"Can I see my phone?"

He knew that his expression must be terrible at this moment, and that he must have hurt Qin Feng deeply.

but……

He was worried.

The unprecedented and terrifying hallucination he had just experienced brought his panic to its peak.

Qin Feng took a deep breath and handed over the phone:
"for you."

Jiang Ran took the phone and looked at the screen.

That was the text message sending page. The recipient was indeed Qin Feng's phone number. The message content was short, only four lines:
[This is a time-traveling text message from 10 days in the future. Please go to Lao Qi's Appliance Repair Shop in the Old Appliance Street as soon as possible. They have a knob control panel there that's perfect for a positron cannon.]

That's it.

Jiang Ran watched it twice.

There is no hidden information in the whole story.

Moreover, he knew that the shop that sold circuit boards was indeed called Lao Qi Home Appliance Repair Shop.

This text message... has no problem.

The person who is overly suspicious and anxious is himself.

Qin Feng smiled as he looked at Jiang Ran:

"You think I'd pull some trick to save my father, right?"

as always.

He could still easily see through Jiang Ran, just as Jiang Ran could always see through him.

Years of tacit understanding and tacit agreement have left no secrets between the two; everything is transparent.

"Feel sorry."

Jiang Ran said in a low voice.

A thousand words can be summed up in one sentence.

He didn't know how to explain or defend this distrust of his friends.

"It's ok."

Qin Feng remained as magnanimous as ever:

“It’s normal for you to have these concerns, and you’ve been suspicious and overthinking for a long time. I’m used to it.”

Having said that, he extended his palm:

"You've confirmed the text message, so why don't you give me your phone and restart the positron cannon?"

accident.

Jiang Ran made no move.

He thought for a few seconds, put down his phone, and looked at Qin Feng:

"Can I send this text message?"

?

"Jiang Ran, you..."

Cheng Mengxue, who was peering out the window, heard the entire conversation between the two.

seriously.

Even she felt that Jiang Ran had gone too far in this situation.

If you really don't trust Qin Feng, then you shouldn't send the time-space text message at all.

Yet, even after rejecting Qin Feng once and then promising to compensate him once, he still harbors such doubts about his friend...

How could this be?

"It's ok."

Qin Feng, hands in his pockets, took a few steps back and leaned against the electrical box:
"Then you can send it."

Cheng Mengxue stared at the two of them with her mouth slightly open.

finally.

She bit her lip and retreated.
"Fine, whatever you want."

She opened the window completely:

"It's late at night now, and there's no disturbance, so I can just stay inside and count down."

"The rhythm is still the same. Once the countdown reaches 0, I will activate the positron cannon, and then Jiang Ran will send a text message."

"Qin Feng... well, you can stand outside then."

Shaking her head, Cheng Mengxue walked back to the lab table. ...

The leaves rustled, and the cicadas chirped intermittently.

Jiang Ran stared at the text message she had just typed on her phone, her thumb hovering in the air.

so awkward.

He was too ashamed to speak to Qin Feng, nor could he bear to look at him.

"Jiang Ran".

Ah, just what I feared most has come to pass, Qin Feng called out his name.

Jiang Ran shifted her gaze from her phone screen to Qin Feng beside the electrical box.

"Actually, when I first proposed using time-space text messages to save my father, I hesitated, just like you."

Qin Feng said softly:

Do you know what I'm hesitating about?

Jiang Ran paused for two seconds:

"Are you worried about being separated from us?"

The butterfly effect in spacetime is uncontrollable; no one can predict the changes that will occur in history.

Qin Feng was able to meet Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue, and they became the closest trio because Qin Feng came to Hangzhou No. 1 High School and was bullied after his father's death, which led to their friendship.

Think about it from another perspective.

If Qin Feng's father hadn't died 10 years ago...

Will Qin Feng still attend Hangzhou No. 1 High School?

Maybe, maybe not.

Both probabilities exist.

If Qin Feng's father moved due to work or some other reason, Qin Feng would not come to Hangzhou No. 1 High School, and naturally he would not meet Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue, and this friendship would be lost.

Let's take a step back.

Even if Qin Feng went to Hangzhou No. 1 High School, since his father was still alive, those bad kids wouldn't bully him, and he would still lose the opportunity to meet Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue.

There's an old saying that goes, "On the road of life, one wrong step leads to another."

Isn't the same true of changes in world lines?
Everyone's life, seemingly accidental, is in fact an inevitability driven by countless coincidences...

Lost in millimeters, a thousand miles.

"hehe."

Qin Feng smiled as if he had expected this:

"You always seem to see right through me; you can guess exactly what I'm thinking."

"That's right, the two of you were the ones I hesitated to part with the most back then."

He looked up at the moonlit starry sky:

“I am different from you. I don’t have that special constitution and I won’t retain memories from before the timeline changed.”

"So, if I were to send a time-traveling text message to my father from 10 years ago and bring him back to life, the entire historical trajectory of those 10 years would be altered, and I would unknowingly embark on a different life."

"It's very likely I won't go to Hangzhou No. 1 High School, nor will I come to Donghai University with you all, and we might not even become friends..."

"After the world line shifts, we are complete strangers on the new world line."

There was a pause.

He continued:
“I’ve said before that I miss my father very much, but I also miss you all. Both sides of the scale are the same to me.”

"So when Xiaoxue suggested voting, I chose to give up because I didn't want to face that outcome."

"Jiang Ran, don't you think this feeling is cruel?"

Turning around, their eyes met, and Qin Feng's voice was clear:
"[After the world line shifted, we, who were once so close, instantly became strangers.]"

"All emotions and experiences are gone, everyone is living their own lives... No one will remember our current trio."

"I will remember."

Jiang Ran reminded him:
"I possess the special ability to remember everything in all timelines, so no matter how the timeline changes, I will remember everything we went through, our good relationship, and that we are the best of friends in the world."

Qin Feng smiled slightly:
Yes, you will remember, but only you will remember.

"But feelings and friendships are two-way... It's no use if only you remember."

"The emotions in people's hearts come from a series of shared experiences; without these experiences, all adjectives are empty words."

"You and Xiaoxue are childhood sweethearts, and no matter how the timeline changes, it will not affect your relationship."

“But I only met you in high school. Any tiny butterfly effect in time and space could separate me from your lives.”

"So, Jiang Ran, there's a question I've been wanting to ask you."

He stopped smiling, and his voice became serious:

"If the timeline shifts, causing me to be separated from you and become a stranger on a new timeline... what would you do?"

The night breeze grew slightly cool, and Qin Feng looked into Jiang Ran's eyes:

"【In the new online world, will you find me again?】"

(End of this chapter)