Prodigy’s Playground

Chapter 152 The Truth

“Xiaoxue?”

“Sister Mengxue!”

The sudden appearance of an uninvited guest shocked Chi Xiaoguo and the others.

Jiang Ran couldn’t understand it either. It was already 10:50 p.m.—in ten minutes, the dormitories would lock and lights would go out.

At this hour… why was Cheng Mengxue still outside?

He looked at her. “It’s so late. What are you doing out here?”

“Aiya—I came out to look for my Caimao.”

Cheng Mengxue frowned tightly.

She took her phone out of her pajama pocket and held it up. The signature wedding Caimao charm was gone, leaving only half a strap dangling.

“I just couldn’t relax, so I followed the route back to the dorm to look for it.”At the mention of Caimao, her heart clearly ached.

“That was the Brooklyn limited edition… it’s a pair with the mob boss Caimao. I don’t want it getting lost all alone…”

“It’s here! It’s here!”

Chi Xiaoguo’s voice came from inside the Film Camera Club room.

As soon as she heard Cheng Mengxue mention the missing Caimao, she had rushed back inside to look—and sure enough, she found it wedged in the gap of the sofa where Cheng Mengxue had been sitting.

“Sister Mengxue, should I toss it out to you?”

“No, no, that’s too dangerous!”

Cheng Mengxue waved her hands quickly.

“Thank you, Xiaoguo. Just wait in the activity room—I’ll come in with Jiang Ran.”

With that, she tugged on Jiang Ran’s sleeve.

“Ah, that scared me to death. I really thought I’d lost my wedding Caimao.”

“It’s fine as long as it’s found.”

Jiang Ran nodded.

“Let’s go back together.”

He silently ended the call with Chi Xiaoguo, slipped his phone into his pocket, and walked forward.

It’s over.

His heartbeat accelerated.

She must have seen something, right?

Even though he had spent two full hours in the future of 2045—

from the perspective of 2025, all he had done was stand there with his phone, take a call from Chi Xiaoguo, and space out for a few seconds.

Think. Think.

His mind spun rapidly, calculating the time discrepancy.

Jiang Ran was certain—when Chi Xiaoguo activated the Positron Cannon, Cheng Mengxue had not yet arrived behind him. That was something he always double-checked before every experiment.

Good.

At least that meant the countdown—and the hum of the Positron Cannon—should not have been heard.

After that, he had returned from 2045, dizzy for two seconds, then opened his eyes.

At that moment, he hadn’t immediately gone back to the clubroom. He had stayed where he was, thinking.

Not only about what the Killer had said—but also about Qin Feng’s Magician coin, and the true purpose behind his time-traveling message.

That thinking had lasted about three minutes.

Cheng Mengxue must have walked over during those three minutes.

As for why he hadn’t heard her footsteps—

Jiang Ran glanced down at her feet.

Fluffy indoor slippers.

She must have finished washing up in the dorm, discovered the missing charm, and come out in her pajamas, slippers, and a coat to look for it.

Those slippers were soft. Nearly silent.

That’s why he hadn’t noticed her approaching.

“Why didn’t you just message us on WeChat?”

Jiang Ran walked ahead.

“If you were already in pajamas, why come all the way out? Wouldn’t it have been easier to ask if it was left in the clubroom?”

“I didn’t know you were still here!”

Cheng Mengxue replied matter-of-factly.

“It’s so late—I thought you’d both gone back already. Who knew you were still here?”

“Mm-hmm, so what were you two doing anyway? Acting all mysterious… even hiding from us?”

“We—”

Jiang Ran scratched his head.

“Well… didn’t expect you to catch us. Let’s go inside and I’ll explain together with Xiaoguo.”

In that brief moment earlier, his brain had already worked out an explanation.

But to make sure their stories aligned, he had to say it in front of Chi Xiaoguo.

So for now, he deliberately stalled.

“Huh?”

Cheng Mengxue froze in place.

She stared at Jiang Ran, eyes wide.

“You—you two—could it be—”

“No, no.”

Jiang Ran waved his hands.

“You—you two—weren’t planning some kind of sudden confession, were you?!”

“Not that, not that.”

They finally reached the clubroom door. Jiang Ran pushed it open, stepping slightly in front of Cheng Mengxue—

and began frantically signaling Chi Xiaoguo with his eyes.

Chi Xiaoguo widened her eyes too, increasing “bandwidth,” trying to receive whatever message was being transmitted.

Unfortunately—

no connection.

Unlike with Wang Hao, there was zero tacit understanding between Jiang Ran and Chi Xiaoguo in this regard. The Bluetooth simply wouldn’t pair. They just stared at each other.

“Xiaoguo.”

Jiang Ran spoke first.

“Our situation… has been discovered by Xiaoxue.”

“Ah? Ah!!!”

Chi Xiaoguo’s hair practically stood on end.

Wait wait wait wait—was that what Senior was trying to say with his eyes just now?!

Is this… is this a public reveal?!

To be honest, when she had first seen Cheng Mengxue suddenly appear outside the window, Chi Xiaoguo had been terrified.

Because she knew—Jiang Ran didn’t want anyone else to know about the Positron Cannon. About the time machine experiments.

He had emphasized it again and again since last semester.

Chi Xiaoguo had always kept a tight mouth. She had followed his instructions exactly—coming in the morning when told, at night when told, always avoiding attention.

Everything had been fine.

Until today.

Of all days, Cheng Mengxue had stumbled right into it.

At that moment, Chi Xiaoguo’s brain had completely shut down. Like being caught red-handed doing something bad—with both witness and evidence present—she had no idea how to explain the Positron Cannon.

So she had pinned all her hopes on Jiang Ran’s brain, trusting him to come up with a cover story on the way back.

That’s why, the moment he stepped into the room, she had tried to communicate through eye contact.

But not only did she fail to receive any signal—

Jiang Ran dropped a bombshell that nearly made her faint.

She understood his intention—to keep the Positron Cannon secret.

But—

did the lie really have to go this far?!

At its core, this was just a chuunibyou-level obsession with a “time machine.”

If he had simply said it outright, at most Cheng Mengxue would laugh at him a little.

Yet Jiang Ran was going all-in on this lie!

Gulp.

She swallowed.

Fine.

She had promised to help him keep the secret.

And since he was already committing this hard—

she couldn’t hold back either.

She’d go all in too!

“For Senior’s sake—I’ll take the fall!”

“I-it’s… been discovered…”

Chi Xiaoguo’s cheeks flushed red as she lowered her head.

“Then… we can’t hide it anymore…”

“I didn’t really want to say it yet.”

Jiang Ran spoke softly.

“Because… we actually wanted to give you and Fang Ze a surprise—”

Cheng Mengxue clutched her collar and stepped back.

“What kind of surprise?”

“A surprise… is a surprise.”

She turned to Chi Xiaoguo.

“What kind of surprise is it exactly?”

Chi Xiaoguo clenched her fists.

“A surprise is—it’s—”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like.”

Jiang Ran stepped forward, standing beside her.

“That’s why we were hiding things tonight.”

“Y-yes—yes—”

Chi Xiaoguo felt like she was burning up.

But she had to say it!

Senior Jiang Ran—I understand what you mean now!

Fine.

At this point—

there was no choice but to lie!

“Y-yes!”

She finally braced herself and looked up.

“Since you’ve discovered it, there’s no point hiding anymore! Right, Senior Jiang Ran?!”

“Exactly!”

Jiang Ran turned toward Cheng Mengxue.

“We—”

“We—”

They took a deep breath.

“Secretly prepared a welcome ceremony for you!”

“We’ve been planning it behind the scenes—”

Jiang Ran said it decisively.

Chi Xiaoguo, however, nearly collapsed backward in shock.

Wait—

you’re going with THAT?!

At that moment, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief that she had hesitated earlier.

If she had blurted out her own interpretation of the situation…

that would’ve been instant social death.

“Ah?”

Cheng Mengxue blinked.

“So—you stayed here to prepare a welcome ceremony for me and Fang Ze?”

“Yes.”

This was the most perfect excuse Jiang Ran could come up with.

“Rituals matter, right? Even though we met earlier, Xiaoguo and I felt that—even if our club is small—we should still have a proper welcome ceremony. Right, Xiaoguo?”

“Y-yes, yes.”

“We originally planned to prepare everything secretly while you weren’t here—to give you a big surprise.”

Jiang Ran sighed dramatically.

“Who knew you’d suddenly come back and catch us in the act.”

“Sigh—”

Chi Xiaoguo covered her face and followed along.

“Oh—I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!”

Cheng Mengxue apologized quickly.

Then she walked to the workbench and looked at the strange-looking device.

“So this machine… is part of the surprise you prepared for us?”

Jiang Ran nodded.

“Part of it. It’s not fully completed yet—so please keep it a secret from Fang Ze for now.”

“So exciting.”

Cheng Mengxue bent down, bringing her gaze level with the protruding barrel of the Positron Cannon.

“What exactly does this machine do?”

She smiled slightly, narrowing her eyes as she peered inside.

“It looks like…”

“…a giant camera, doesn’t it?”