Genius Playground

Chapter 44 Script
"Oh, senior."

The boy pointed out the window:

"Senior Xu Yan is looking worried on the playground. She's in a bad mood. You'd better not provoke her."

Jiang Ran breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, this means Xu Yan is still alive.

But why am I in such a bad mood?
He asked out of curiosity.

"Because of the college student film festival."

The boy gave a wry smile:

"Look, the deadline for submitting films to the College Student Film Festival is fast approaching, but our film club still doesn't have any decent works to show for it."

"Xu Yan will be a senior next year, so this year is her last chance. Her biggest dream is to win an award at the College Student Film Festival, but as things stand... well, you know."

The boy explained that because there wasn't a good script, Xu Yan worked tirelessly on her writing every day, but she was still not satisfied.

The long hours of hard work and setbacks caused her to have an emotional breakdown.

"I see."

Jiang Ran understood and figured it out.

Perhaps this is also an effect of the butterfly effect in spacetime.

In the original timeline, because he wrote a script for Xu Yan and helped her resolve her biggest worry, she went out on March 26th and jumped into the river to save a child who had fallen into the water.

But in this timeline, no one is writing scripts for Xu Yan; she's so worried that she's neglecting her meals and sleep, how can she possibly be in the mood to go out?
Thus, by a twist of fate, he escaped death without anyone knowing.

"Thank you, I'll go find her on the playground."

Jiang Ran thanked the boy and then headed straight for the playground.

really.

From a distance, I could see Xu Yan lying listlessly on the exercise equipment.

"Hi."

Jiang Ran greeted him.

Xu Yan turned her head away.

As if she had seen a ghost, she suddenly jumped off the exercise equipment and stood up straight:
"Jiang Ran!"

She shouted it out, looking very surprised.

This left Jiang Ran unsure how to respond, and she waved her hand, which remained suspended in mid-air.

"Hehe, sorry."

Xu Yan smiled somewhat awkwardly:
“I just didn’t expect you to come to the school to find me… You’ve been avoiding me for the past two years, and I haven’t had the heart to bother you.”

?

Jiang Ran tilted her head.

What new plot is this?

But he immediately thought of Cheng Mengxue's passing.

Wang Hao once said that Cheng Mengxue's unexpected death had a great impact on him, and he became listless and half-dead.

Could it be...

Because of this incident, I became estranged from Xu Yan, and we haven't had any contact or interaction for two years.

Probably.

Judging from Xu Yan's behavior just now, the two of them are not as familiar as one might imagine.

"I hope I didn't bother you," Jiang Ran replied.

"No, no, of course not."

Xu Yan quickly waved her hand and looked at Jiang Ran:

"You seem to be in good shape right now, and I'm very happy for you."

"Regardless, just like we advised you before, [Xiaoxue's death wasn't your fault, you don't need to blame yourself too much, no one has ever blamed you.]"

"Oh, let's not talk about that. You suddenly came to Donghai University to find me, is there something you need?"

Jiang Ran handed over the "Notice of Withdrawal of Club" and explained his purpose.

As a current junior college student from another university, he couldn't think of a suitable reason to explain why he wanted to keep the Tunghai University Film Club.

This is completely unrelated.

He fabricated a friend, starting with "I have a friend," and made up a story about liking film cameras, hoping that Xu Yan could help them save the film company.

Honestly, Jiang Ran herself thought the reason was lame.

He had also considered that Xu Yan from this timeline might reject him, which would be reasonable.

But as he continued talking, he realized...

Actually, these fabricated stories are not important.

From the way Xu Yan looked at him from the very beginning, it was clear that no matter what request he made, Xu Yan would agree.

The feeling was strange, yet very obvious.

Xu Yan didn't even seem to be listening carefully to his fabricated story; she just kept nodding and waiting for it to end. "No problem."

Sure enough, as soon as Jiang Ran finished speaking, Xu Yan immediately agreed:
"Leave this to me, I'll take care of it for you."

This……

Jiang Ran scratched his head.

Xu Yan's straightforwardness made him feel a little embarrassed.

For some reason, he always felt that Xu Yan was very gentle, careful, and caring towards him.

Just like his initial intuition, Xu Yan agreed to whatever he asked for today.

Why is this?

Seeing Jiang Ran hesitate, Xu Yan smiled brightly.

"You don't need to make that face. It's okay. It's very simple and nothing serious."

"Hehe, do you know who my boyfriend is?"

This……

This question stumped Jiang Ran.

Is Xu Yan's boyfriend in this timeline the same one from the previous timeline?

Who exactly is this person?

but.

It doesn't matter who your boyfriend is.

A boyfriend who can get things done is a good boyfriend.

"Come find me at the film club tomorrow."

Xu Yan waved the "Club Withdrawal Notice," turned around, and waved, still as dashing as ever.

"See you tomorrow."

……

the next day.

Jiang Ran traveled a long way and arrived at the Donghai University Film Club as promised.

"Here."

Inside the screening room, Xu Yan handed a "Petition" to Jiang Ran.

Without even looking, Jiang Ran knew what was on it.

Because of this piece of paper... this is the second time he has received it.

This feeling is amazing.

The petition from the original timeline has returned to him in a completely new historical trajectory.

Turn to the front of the petition.

The paper was covered with the signatures of the presidents of various student organizations, as well as the signatures of five instructors.

"Thank you."

Jiang Ran said solemnly.

This expression of gratitude comes from the bottom of my heart.

Because he knew very well how ridiculous and outrageous the reasons he had made up yesterday were.

But Xu Yan didn't ask anything.

Even though she knew those reasons were fabricated and false, she didn't say a word and unconditionally agreed to Jiang Ran's request and supported him.

This kind of trust is hard not to be moved by.

Although Xu Yan is only one year older than him and Cheng Mengxue, she is indeed a very reliable older sister in every way.

"We've been friends for so many years, why be so polite?"

Xu Yan punched Jiang Ran on the shoulder:
"It's good that you've picked yourself up. You're still as handsome as ever when you're in good spirits. Keep it up!"

The unexpected encouragement warmed Jiang Ran's heart.

He looked at Xu Yan, wanting to repay her in some way:
"I heard you've been having a headache over the script lately?"

When this topic came up, Xu Yan immediately sighed, covered her forehead, and shook her head:
"Yeah, that's right. This year is my last chance to participate in the College Student Film Festival, but I can't even come up with a satisfactory script."

"Sometimes I think, if all else fails, I can just make a short film, but I'm still not quite satisfied."

Jiang Ran smiled slightly:
Do you have any laptops here?

Xu Yan looked up, puzzled:

"Yes, I do have some. Do you need it?"

"Ah."

Jiang Ran nodded:
“I have a ready-made script here, which I think is pretty good.”

"If you don't mind... I'd like to write it down and show it to you."

(End of this chapter)