Genius Club

Lin Xian lay in the corner of his bed, his eyes slowly opening. He was back in his bedroom. This was his second time entering the sixth dream world, and he had learned a lot from it. What reassured him the most was realizing that Turing, the digital lifeform, wasn’t as powerful as he’d once thought.

Compared to artificial intelligence, digital lifeforms have their own natural weaknesses. The gap in their strengths is vast—like night and day. Turing, after all, is just an internet version of Kevin Walker. Sure, it’s stronger than Kevin Walker himself, but it’s still based on a human mind, which limits its power.

The biggest flaw is that Turing doesn’t dare to split itself or create copies. It can only think and act in one thread at a time. It’s like a human—no one would want a clone of themselves walking around. There’s always the fear that a clone might betray them, attack them, or even replace them. Like in that movie, The Island, where the clone kills the original and takes over their life.

This fear keeps Turing from splitting even a tiny part of its consciousness. As a result, it can’t monitor the whole world or listen to everything at once. This realization gave Lin Xian some comfort.

But it wasn’t enough to feel completely safe.

Lin Xian often thought about the mysterious old man from his fourth dream, the one who seemed like Copernicus. How did he know Lin Xian could dream about the future? How did he know the exact locations of these dreams? These things were unbelievable to know. How was that possible?

Even Lin Xian himself didn’t know his own starting point—so how could Copernicus?

Lin Xian suspected it might be connected to Turing’s surveillance. As the porcupine version of Turing once mentioned, it couldn’t monitor the whole world simultaneously, but it could focus on a few people with a specific purpose.

If Turing chose to monitor him 24/7, wouldn’t it eventually figure out that he always woke up at 12:42 a.m.? Wouldn’t the secret of his dreams eventually be exposed?

Lin Xian couldn’t figure out how Copernicus could have known his secret. Could it be…

According to the history in the fourth dream, he would be sent to the space-time court, where they might use cruel or advanced technology to force him to reveal everything. That’s how Copernicus knew the secrets of his dreams and then set up an ambush on August 28, 2624.

“It makes sense logically, but every event must have a starting point,” Lin Xian thought, staring at the ceiling where the moonlight seeped in.

“Today is June 1, 2024. I have no reason to expose the secrets of my dreams yet, so the enemy probably doesn’t know about them. But what about later? As my activities become more widespread, as my company grows larger, and as I make bolder moves in various fields of science… ‘The taller trees catch the most wind.’ I’m bound to attract attention.”

“Right now, my company, Rhine, is just a small business. On a global scale, or even nationally, it’s not much—just a small company worth a few billion. The Rhine Cat mascot is still the biggest source of income; everything else is losing money.”

“At this stage, I’m not exposed yet, and I’m not that noticeable. But… what about when the mini nuclear battery comes out? Or when the time-travel machine project starts operating? When my existence becomes a threat to Turing, to Copernicus, or to the members of the Genius Club, that might be when my identity and secrets are truly exposed.”

Lin Xian closed his eyes again. He had no idea where Turing was in 2024. Was it in his bedside alarm clock? In his phone? Was it listening to him all this time? Once you start down the path of suspicion, it becomes endless, and paranoia can drive a person insane.

But Lin Xian had a reason to believe that his future exposure would be related to Turing. This omnipresent ghost, now unchecked with its powerful ally VV gone, was indeed getting too arrogant.

So, for his safety and to prevent human civilization from becoming a casualty in a proxy war, Turing must die.

If he could kill Turing in 2024, both he and many others could break free from its surveillance. He wouldn’t have to worry about it becoming biased or unfair one day. Also, future humans wouldn’t become its battle puppets, constantly at war. A triple win. It would be a good deed for himself and for humanity.

However, right now, the “kill switch password” to destroy Turing wasn’t reliable. Turing was far more cunning than he’d imagined. He had a version with 13 lines of code and another with 7 lines of code, but neither were the original versions—they must contain hidden tricks.

“I need to simplify and compress it more.”

Lin Xian had a plan in mind. The next time he entered the dream world, he would use the 7-line version to threaten Grizzly Turing. Maybe he could get a 5-line version. Then, with the 5-line version, he’d go to Porcupine Turing. Perhaps he could get a 4-line version.

Finally, he’d take the 4-line version to Red Bull Turing…

“Let’s see how much you can compress it down to!” Lin Xian chuckled.

As far as he could tell, the first three lines were genuine; it was the content afterward that needed scrutiny.

In reality, in 2024, he might not be able to fight against the digital lifeform Turing, but in the dream world of 2624, it was his domain. With infinite loops and information gaps, he could control everything.

He pulled off his blanket and picked up the remote to lower the air conditioner temperature by two more degrees. Summer had begun in June, and temperatures in Donghai City were soaring, gradually aligning with the time and season of his dreams.

By the time it was August 28, 2024—a date with special significance—it would be exactly 600 years away from the time in his dreams.

Putting on his slippers, Lin Xian walked over to his desk, turned on the desk lamp, and began twirling a pen in his fingers. He looked at the calendar on his desk and flipped the page from May to June. He stared at the red circle marking July 7 on the next page… There were only 36 days left in the countdown to his death.

Unfortunately, he still had no clue about how he would die, what his death would look like, or who the killer would be.

He had hoped to get some information from Turing. But that guy, full of deceit, had tricked him.

“You really don’t appreciate the good until you see the bad,” he thought. Compared to these sneaky, manipulative characters, Big Cat Face, who spoke plainly and honestly, was much more lovable.

But even if he couldn’t get the information out of Turing, he couldn’t just sit and wait to die.

He had to save himself!

The pen in his fingers spun faster as Lin Xian’s mind pieced together clues.

So far, the most likely killer was Lin Yu Xi, who was currently missing. And Lin Yu Xi was probably the blue-eyed girl, Yan Qiao Qiao, from his dreams. If they both had the same name, it must be linked to the Yan Qiao Qiao he knew in real life.

So, based on these clues, it seemed like he could deduce an unsettling conclusion—The person who would kill him on July 7 was Zhao Ying Jun’s distant relative, Yan Qiao Qiao.

Thankfully, this could be confirmed with a DNA test.

And that would be his task during tomorrow’s trip to Disneyland—figure out a way to get hair samples from Zhao Ying Jun and Yan Qiao Qiao.

If it turned out that Yan Qiao Qiao was biologically his and Zhao Ying Jun’s daughter, then it would be confirmed—Yan Qiao Qiao was Lin Yu Xi, the time-space assassin who wanted to kill him.

“This result is hard to accept,” Lin Xian muttered, his pen stopping mid-spin.

Even if it were someone else trying to kill him, or if Lin Yu Xi wasn’t related to him by blood, Lin Xian could accept it. He had countless ways to deal with it, including but not limited to eliminating Lin Yu Xi ahead of time.

But…

A tiger doesn’t eat its cubs.

If Lin Yu Xi was indeed Yan Qiao Qiao, his and Zhao Ying Jun’s biological daughter… How could he bear to do it?

Even without a strong father-daughter bond, and even though she wasn’t a true biological child born after ten months of pregnancy, blood ties are mysterious things.

Besides, Yan Qiao Qiao and he, as well as Zhao Ying Jun, weren’t entirely without feelings. They had been calling each other brother and sister all along… But after spending so much time together, feelings had developed. People’s hearts are made of flesh, after all.

Sometimes, fate has a funny way of giving you exactly what you fear the most.

Lin Xian was starting to guess what the result might be.

“So what can I do about it?” he sighed, asking himself.

An unexpected time-travel incident had tangled up all these threads of cause and effect, even messing up generational ranks. All he could do was take things one step at a time.

Maybe being a parent was always like this—full of helplessness.

Thinking about this, Lin Xian couldn’t help but smile.

He remembered seeing short videos online of highly educated parents from prestigious universities in X Country losing their minds because their children were ranked last in class; or Russian diplomat couples who were fluent in five languages, but whose son failed English and whose daughter refused to roll her R’s when speaking Russian, constantly yelling “death to the foreigners”…

So many parents’ children end up not meeting expectations. But what can you do? You can’t just abandon them or reset their lives. You have to make do.

At least now, Lin Yu Xi, or Yan Qiao Qiao, still had a chance to turn back. After all, she had lost her memory. As long as she didn’t regain it, she would always be a good child.

“What would trigger her memory to come back?” Lin Xian wondered, resting his chin on his hand.

He had a feeling it might have something to do with that entangled state time-space particle.

Would Yan Qiao Qiao regain Lin Yu Xi’s memories once that particle regained energy?

If that were the case, it wouldn’t be a big problem. He could just repeat the trick, draining the particle’s energy again to make Lin Yu Xi lose her memory once more. It wasn’t a difficult idea to think of.

So…

He could rule out that possibility.

“Lin Yu Xi’s memory recovery should have nothing to do with the time-space particle. After all, I have it in my possession, and it’s easy to ensure it remains in a drained state.”

“Liu Feng is monitoring the particle’s energy changes every day. If anything happens, he’d inform me immediately. There’s no way the ‘me’ who dies on July 7th would overlook such an important detail. This means Lin Yu Xi’s memory recovery must be due to another reason.”

However, with all his knowledge and reasoning skills, Lin Xian couldn’t think of any other reason.

“I should just focus on confirming Yan Qiao Qiao and Lin Yu Xi’s identities for now,” he said, shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

Thinking too far ahead wouldn’t help right now. Once he got their hair samples tomorrow, the truth would come out.

He got up from his chair and walked to the living room. From the two small tote bags, he took out the Children’s Day gifts he’d prepared for Zhao Ying Jun and Yan Qiao Qiao, placing them in his backpack.

Given the hot weather, a trip to Disneyland with so many attractions would take all day. They wouldn’t head back until after watching the fireworks show in the evening. So, there was a lot to prepare—better to bring a backpack. Besides, he had to carry things for Yan Qiao Qiao, the little kid, too. He couldn’t stuff all the toys into Zhao Ying Jun’s bag.

“Let’s hope everything turns out well in the end,” Lin Xian said as he zipped up the backpack.

According to what Turing said in the dream, he would be killed before he even had a chance to join the Genius Club. But what if…

What if he sped things up, answered the three test questions as soon as possible, and joined the Genius Club before July 7? Would that change the future?

“That’s it!” Lin Xian had a sudden idea.

The Genius Club wasn’t known for nothing. Both Elon Musk and Turing held the mysterious President of the Genius Club in high regard, speaking of him with respect and admiration. This indicated that the president had not only the ability to command respect but also the qualities that earned it.

Maybe he could provide Lin Xian with some useful clues or even direct help!

“Yeah, that’s a new way to think about it.”

“So… I’ll take a two-pronged approach,” Lin Xian decided.

Over the next 36 days, he would focus on Yan Qiao Qiao, figuring out her identity and why she might regain her memory. At the same time, he’d work on joining the Genius Club as soon as possible to get more high-level information.

“Time for sleep.”

Now that his plan was set, Lin Xian knew he had to take things one step at a time. He needed a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, he had to wake up early to pick up Zhao Ying Jun and Yan Qiao Qiao.

He returned to his bedroom, turned off the light, lay down, and closed his eyes.

That night, he had no dreams.

…

The next morning, Yan Qiao Qiao was already dressed in her three-piece dress set. Sitting on a chair outside her closet, she swung her pale legs back and forth, frowning impatiently. “Aren’t you ready yet? Why are you so slow?”

“What’s the rush?” Zhao Ying Jun replied, sitting at her vanity, carefully drawing her eyeliner.

“Driver Li will first pick up Lin Xian, then come get us for Disneyland. The car isn’t even here yet, so what’s the rush?”

“But you’re so slow,” Yan Qiao Qiao complained. “You got up way earlier than me and have been fussing around, but you’re still not done.”

“Can I be like you?” Zhao Ying Jun put down her eyeliner, leaned closer to the mirror, and checked her work. “You just put on your three-piece set, and you’re ready to go. You don’t need to put on makeup.”

“But you never wear this much makeup,” Yan Qiao Qiao continued, “You usually just put on some basic stuff and go to work. Today, it’s like you’re painting a picture on your face.”

“Alright, enough with the chatter,” Zhao Ying Jun said, getting up from her vanity.

She turned to face Yan Qiao Qiao and asked, “How do I look?”

Today, Zhao Ying Jun was not wearing her usual work outfit. She had completely changed her style. A black chiffon skirt flowed down to her calves, with a pair of high-heeled sandals on her feet. Thin straps wrapped around her delicate feet. Over her shoulders, she wore a black shawl that covered the thin straps of her dress while still showing her fair arms.

Yan Qiao Qiao looked up, continuing to inspect.

Two-piece black gemstone earrings dangled from her earlobes, swaying above her collarbone and reflecting the glow of the incandescent light. Her hairstyle was also different from her usual city-girl look; it was much more youthful. Clearly, she had used a curling iron to style her hair. Her slightly wavy locks framed her face, looking neat and smooth as they cascaded over her shoulders and behind her neck.

“Wow…” Yan Qiao Qiao exclaimed, her eyes wide. “You look so pretty. You’re totally different from before.”

Zhao Ying Jun smiled, satisfied. “Well, I’m not going to work today, so I had to change things up a bit.”

“It’s not just the clothes that are different,” Yan Qiao Qiao shook her head seriously. “You look different from before.”

“…”

Zhao Ying Jun squinted her eyes and looked at her biological daughter, feeling somewhat speechless. “Do you know that saying this to a woman who’s putting on makeup is quite rude?”

“You’re still young, so you don’t understand makeup. But for a woman, different occasions call for different looks. If I went out today looking like I usually do for work, people would laugh at me, wouldn’t they?”

“You’re just used to my usual style. But you’re right… I haven’t worn everyday makeup like this in a long time. Mostly because I haven’t gone out to have fun in a long time.”

Yan Qiao Qiao tilted her head. “Haven’t you ever gone out to have fun with Brother Lin Xian?”

“No,” Zhao Ying Jun shook her head. “The only two times we did, it was all rushed. Both times were after banquets. He drove me around a bit or took me to the racetrack for practice… We never really went out properly.”

“So… it’s safe to say this is my first time going out for fun since I returned to Donghai, and it’s also the first time I’m going out with Lin Xian,” Zhao Ying Jun said.

“Oh,” Yan Qiao Qiao nodded. She had assumed that Zhao Ying Jun and Lin Xian were very close. But it turned out they hadn’t even gone out to play or shop together. She snorted softly. “So I’m ahead of you.”

She looked up at Zhao Ying Jun, who was beside the vanity mirror. “I’ve already played with Brother Lin Xian for two days.”

“Hehe,” Zhao Ying Jun chuckled, choosing a lighter shade of lipstick and applying it to her lower lip. “And who was it that sent you over to him?”

Yan Qiao Qiao felt a bit annoyed. “But I also slept over at Brother Lin Xian’s house for two nights.”

“So what?” Zhao Ying Jun smiled, pressing her lips together to spread the lipstick evenly. “You’re quite proud of yourself.”

Yan Qiao Qiao blinked her intelligent eyes. “Why can I sleep over at Brother Lin Xian’s house, but Brother Lin Xian can’t sleep over at ours?”

Zhao Ying Jun’s hand froze mid-air, the lipstick nearly stabbing her cheek. She turned to look at Yan Qiao Qiao, who had made such a bold statement. “Do you see any extra room in our house? We only have one bed.”

“You could sleep on the couch,” Yan Qiao Qiao suggested.

“Why don’t you sleep there?” Zhao Ying Jun shot back.

“Well…” Yan Qiao Qiao thought for a moment and nodded, “I guess I could.”

“Hehe,” Zhao Ying Jun chuckled again, closing her lipstick and placing it in her purse. “You do know how to be considerate.”

“It’s been ten days since you’ve seen Lin Xian. He’ll definitely be surprised by how much you’ve grown. Look at you now—you speak, communicate, and interact like any normal girl in her teens. You’ve really matured.”

“If only you could regain your memory,” Zhao Ying Jun continued, “I’d really love to know what kind of life you lived before, where you lived, and whether you were happy.”

Yan Qiao Qiao shook her head. “I don’t know either.”

She paused for a moment, then added, “But I’m happy now. If I could regain my memory… I’d only want to know who my mom and dad are. I don’t really care about anything else.”

“Still… do you think I can find my mom and dad? Would they want to see me?” she asked, lowering her head and fidgeting with the floral hem of her dress.

“Have they not come looking for me all this time because they don’t want me?”

Zhao Ying Jun held her breath, turning away before exhaling slowly.

“No,” she said softly, “No parent would ever abandon their child.”

“But it happens a lot on TV,” Yan Qiao Qiao argued.

“That’s just drama and movies making up stories to create conflict,” Zhao Ying Jun explained. “Sure, there might be some parents who can be heartless and abandon their children… But I’m sure, Qiao Qiao, that your parents aren’t like that.”

“But… why do you have such a deep longing for your parents?” Zhao Ying Jun wondered aloud. “Even though you’ve completely lost your memory, you miss them so deeply?”

“I don’t know,” Yan Qiao Qiao shook her head again. “I’ve forgotten everything; I can’t remember anything. But the longing for my parents, this formless feeling… that’s something I’ve never been able to forget. It feels like I’ve been missing my mom and dad ever since I was little… always, always thinking about them.”

“Why would that be? Could it be that I never had parents from the start?” she asked.

Zhao Ying Jun didn’t say anything. She slowly walked over to Yan Qiao Qiao.

Children grow up. Yan Qiao Qiao had experienced in one month what most do in over a decade. She had developed her own feelings, her own thoughts, and her own obsessions.

Should she keep hiding this from her?

Being so close, yet unable to speak the truth felt like a cruel distance. Zhao Ying Jun often felt a pang of sympathy for Yan Qiao Qiao during moments like this.

She had been pondering this issue for a while—should she come clean to Lin Xian? Even if she didn’t want to sound like she was using this information to manipulate him, it was hard to see Yan Qiao Qiao longing for her parents every day.

Was it fair for her to keep hiding this from her daughter while watching her suffer?

Thinking about it carefully, Lin Xian was probably prepared for this all along, wasn’t he? Otherwise, why would he have invited her to join him for the blood test during that parentage test mix-up?

At the time, it seemed odd, but she hadn’t given it much thought. Looking back now, it seemed that Lin Xian had also been searching for some truth, not really worried about her knowing anything and not deliberately hiding it either.

If Lin Xian had found the little girl back then, and it had been Yan Qiao Qiao, not Yu Xi, then perhaps the truth would already be out.

As it turned out, it was her and her parents’ fabricated story that had thrown Lin Xian off track.

Thinking about this, Zhao Ying Jun felt a little guilty. Lin Xian trusted her, and he trusted her parents too. So, when the three of them told him that Yan Qiao Qiao was a distant relative, he accepted it without a second thought.

Was it wrong to do this?

She never wanted to keep anything from Lin Xian, especially not about Yan Qiao Qiao. She had been waiting for the right moment to reveal this, but she wasn’t sure what that moment would look like.

Now, Yan Qiao Qiao was growing up every day. Her mind was maturing, and her longing for her parents was growing stronger.

It seemed like…

They couldn’t keep this hidden anymore.

For the sake of honesty with Lin Xian, and for the responsibility towards Yan Qiao Qiao, Zhao Ying Jun felt… she couldn’t continue hiding this relationship behind lies.

She crouched down to look into Yan Qiao Qiao’s eyes. “Qiao Qiao, if your parents aren’t as perfect as you think, would you be disappointed?”

Yan Qiao Qiao shook her head. “As long as they still want me… I’ll be happy.”

“Alright then.” Zhao Ying Jun smiled, brushing a lock of hair away from Yan Qiao Qiao’s forehead. “Leave it to me.”

“I’ll help you… find your home.”