Genius Playground

Chapter 43 Start over
After leaving the cafeteria, Jiang Ran went back to her dormitory to change her clothes.

There's a small dormitory group on WeChat, labeled 7B523, which must be his dormitory number.

The college campus is very small; it only takes a few minutes to walk from the cafeteria to the dormitory.

It's an 8-person room with bunk beds. The conditions are a bit poor, but at least it's very clean.

Jiang Ran had just sat down on her bed when one of her roommates sneaked over.

"what?"

Looking at roommate number 1, Jiang Ran didn't know his name.

Roommate #1 closed the window, drew the curtains, closed the door, and locked it.

"Fuck."

Jiang Ran quickly stood up and leaned against the wall.

Surely they wouldn't seek revenge in broad daylight?
Roommate #1 looked nervous and gestured for Jiang Ran to sit down, then leaned close to her ear and whispered:
"Jiang Ran, you and I are usually the closest. I'm only telling you this, so please don't tell anyone else!"

"Oh, okay."

It seems that roommate number 1 is a good friend of mine.

Jiang Ran lowered his guard and listened attentively:
"what's up?"

"I won the lottery!!" Roommate #1 beamed with joy.

"You won the lottery?" Jiang Ran was also surprised.

"It wasn't the lottery! I won an iPhone 16! The top-of-the-line one!"

Roommate #1 couldn't hide her excitement. With trembling hands, she took out her phone, showed it to Jiang Ran, and kept covering it with her hand.

Jiang Ran struggled to read the text message:

[Congratulations! You've won the grand prize in our New Year's Lucky Draw! It's a top-of-the-line iPhone 16! Please click the link below to fill in your shipping information and pay 180 RMB for shipping. It will be shipped immediately via SF Express with insurance!]

"..."

Jiang Ran pouted to the back of her ear, looking helplessly at her roommate #1:
"Brother, are you serious?"

"of course!"

Roommate #1 quickly put away her phone:
"I'm only telling you this, I don't dare tell them, they're definitely jealous of me! What if they steal my phone!"

"No, brother..."

Jiang Ran quickly pressed him down:

"This is fake. It's an old scam from years ago. Their goal is to scam you out of shipping fees, and then they might try to scam you out of insurance fees, deposits, verification fees, and so on... In short, they're just trying to scam you out of all sorts of fees. They'll never actually send you a phone."

"look at you!"

Roommate #1's expression changed instantly:
"I only told you because we're close, how can you be jealous of me! I checked the tracking number, it's already been shipped, how could it be fake?"

"no……"

"I really misjudged you, Jiang Ran! If it were fake, why did I receive the text message but you didn't? You're just jealous of me!"

After saying that, roommate number 1 slammed the door shut and left.

"..."

Jiang Ran looked at the shaking dormitory door and was powerless to refute it.

Forget it.

Let him pay a few hundred yuan to learn a lesson; a fall into a pit, a gain in your wit.

Less than two minutes later.

Another roommate walked in, looking excited:
"Jiang Ran! I'm going to tell you a secret! But you absolutely mustn't tell anyone else!"

"You won the lottery too?" Jiang Ran blurted out.

"Eh? How do you know?"

"Could it also be an iPhone 16?"

"What nonsense! This is a legitimate lottery, a real lottery!"

Roommate #2 took out his phone and showed Jiang Ran the number selection interface:

"Look, this lottery website, the 'instant lottery,' a round every 10 minutes, with an older brother guiding me, I've already made several hundred!"

"..."

Jiang Ran looked at the rough page and instantly understood what was going on:

"Brother, these are all fake websites. It doesn't matter how much you earn, the key is that you can't withdraw your money."

"Why can't I withdraw it! I just withdrew 100!"

"That's because you didn't withdraw enough. If you deposit too much later, they definitely won't let you withdraw anymore. By the way... don't any of you have anti-fraud apps on your phones?"

"W-What? Jiang Ran! I was just trying to help you share this, and I even wanted to invite you to join the group to make money. How could you do this?!"

Roommate #2 turned against each other:
"When I made money, the first person I thought of was you, and you're actually blocking my path to wealth! Are you just jealous that I'm making so much money?"

"I've made money, how could I not treat you to a meal? You've really disappointed me!"

Roommate #2 was furious and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

"..." Jiang Ran looked at the rickety dormitory door, quickly changed her clothes and left.

I feel like if I stay here any longer, I'll offend all my roommates.

Before we can get the positron cannon sorted out, we should stay here for a while longer. It's good to have a backup plan.

Stepping out of the college gates.

I took a taxi straight to Tunghai University.

Jiang Ran didn't know where to start, so she decided to go back to the film shop to take another look.

We arrived at the student club activity building.

On the notice board on the first floor, there is still a notice of punishment for senior student Yan Rui.

Although the public notice period has long passed, no one cares or tears it down, so it's still posted on the notice board, waiting for some notification to cover it up.

We entered the building and arrived at the entrance of the film shop.

The door was found to be half-open and slightly ajar.

There were people inside.

I leaned closer and peeked through the crack in the door—and sure enough, it was someone I knew! The last president of the film club, the user of the positron cannon, the one who bore the disciplinary burden, the graduating senior—

Yan Rui.

In the original timeline, because Jiang Ran, Qin Feng, and Cheng Mengxue took over the film club in March, senior Yan Rui was able to hand over the reins and leave school ahead of schedule.

But in this current timeline, the trio is fragmented and struggling to survive, so naturally no one from FilmWorks is willing to take them on.

This is probably why Yan Rui has not yet left the school.

Having finally seen an old acquaintance in the new timeline, Jiang Ran was inexplicably excited and pushed open the door to enter:

"Hello Yan Rui, I'm a sophomore—"

Jiang Ran stopped mid-introduction and shut her mouth.

Seriously, why are you trying to get close to me?

He is currently just a junior college student from another school, not a junior at this school, so it's better to say less than more.

Senior student Yan Rui is packing up the clutter on his desk.

He turned around and adjusted his glasses:
"Excuse me, who are you?"

"Senior Yan Rui, I'm here about the film club."

Since this part of the story has already been replayed, Jiang Ran went straight to the point and chose the fastest way to complete the level:

"Senior, I've only recently started using film cameras and I really love film photography, so... I want to continue the film club."

"I understand that the student union has already issued a notice to our club to withdraw, but I will try to find a way. Could you please wait for me for a couple more days?"

Yan Rui looked completely bewildered.

It took me a few seconds to process what Jiang Ran said:

"I have no objection to your desire to revitalize the film company. However... it won't be an easy task."

He took the "Notice of Withdrawal of Club" from the bookshelf and handed it to Jiang Ran:

“Look, now that the club’s membership has been revoked, I’m planning to pack up my personal belongings as soon as possible and hand over the activity room key.”

"Of course, if you really have a way to save the film company, I'd be happy to wait two days for you."

"After all, I've been in this club for a long time, and I have an emotional attachment to it. I don't want to see it shut down."

Jiang Ran accepted the "Notice of Withdrawal of Club/Association":
"Don't worry, Senior Yan Rui, I won't let you down. I'll come back to see you in a couple of days."

OK.

The first step of the plan has been completed.

Next, we need to find Xu Yan and take advantage of her incredible connections.

After leaving the film club, he went straight up to the second floor and arrived at the film club's activity room.

The thriving film club is different from the film reel club; it's a large club with several activity rooms and a dedicated screening room, making it a formidable force.

however……

I ran to several rooms but couldn't find Xu Yan.

This made Jiang Ran feel uneasy.

No way.

Could it be that Xu Yan in this timeline also jumped into the river to save a child and sacrificed herself?

In the previous timeline, Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue saved her using a time-traveling text message.

But in this timeline, no one can save her.

A boy saw Jiang Ran standing at the door and went to greet him:
"Hello, what can I do?"

"I want to find someone."

Jiang Ran's heart raced:
"Excuse me, is President Xu Yan here?"

(End of this chapter)