Genius Club

This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation

The Harley motorcycle roared down the wide Fifth Avenue of Manhattan.

It was late at night now, with only a few cars on the road. The surrounding skyscrapers, however, were still lit up brightly. Manhattan truly lived up to its name as the world’s capital, with the city’s nightlife being as lively as ever. Lin Xian took a deep breath, his exhale quickly turning into a faint mist in the cold air.

“This cold front is really something,” he muttered to himself. “The temperature’s dropped a lot. It might even snow.”

Lin Xian turned his head slightly as he rode, his passenger staring in awe at Manhattan’s sights. The view was breathtaking, and she looked like she was trying to take in every detail.

“Is there any place in particular you’d like to go?” he called over his shoulder.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Yes, there is!” she replied, raising her head and looking towards the tallest point in Manhattan—the unmistakable silhouette of the Empire State Building, visible from anywhere in the city.

“The Empire State Building,” she said softly. “It’s the tallest point in Manhattan. You can see the whole city from up there. I want to see it, to really see what the center of the world looks like.”

Lin Xian smiled, as if he had just been given a command by a genie. “No problem. We’re going there now.”

He twisted the throttle, and they sped down Fifth Avenue.

With the Empire State Building as their destination, there was no need for a map or GPS. One only had to look up, and there it stood, majestic and towering above everything else.

Especially at night.

For the sake of air traffic safety, the top of the Empire State Building was always brightly lit. Even the antenna on top flashed a brilliant blue. Nobody could lose sight of the building; it was always there, standing proud.

“But… it’s so late. Will we be able to go up?” she asked, her voice rising above the wind, her wedding dress fluttering as they rode.

“It’s past midnight, isn’t it? Will they still let us in?”

“It should be fine,” Lin Xian answered, recalling a conversation he had overheard during a flight back from a competition in America.

“They say the observation deck at the Empire State Building is open until 2 AM. The last elevator goes up around 1 AM. If we hurry, we should still be able to get tickets.”

The Empire State Building had 102 floors, and its elevators were always busy. Even after buying tickets, you had to wait for a specific observation elevator, just like waiting for a train.

After half an hour of skillful riding, Lin Xian managed to get them there just before 1 AM. He checked the notice board at the ticket counter—

Sure enough, some traditions never change.

The last elevator up to the observation deck was indeed at 1:15 AM. He turned to glance at the clock and calendar hanging in the lobby. October 30th, 1952, 12:50 AM. Perfect, they were just in time. Ṙ₳Νő𝖇ËṦ

He looked back at her with a smile.

“Good thing I drove fast. Sorry if it messed up your hair.”

She laughed, her smile warm and gentle. “Messed up or not, who cares? It’s not like anyone else is watching. As long as we’re happy, that’s what matters.”

Lin Xian glanced around.

He had thought that riding around in a wedding dress would attract a lot of attention and turn plenty of heads. But to his surprise, here in the free-spirited United States, people seemed unfazed by it. Perhaps they had seen stranger things.

There were only a few people in the lobby, and most just glanced their way before moving on.

Lin Xian and she, holding their tickets, walked to the elevator to wait.

The elevator attendant, an elderly gentleman with white hair, looked at them and nodded knowingly. “Oh, here for some late-night wedding photos, eh? You’ve picked the right place. Not many people choose the top of the Empire State Building for wedding pictures, but believe me, kids, there’s no better spot. You’ll get to see the whole world from up there.”

He glanced at his watch. It was exactly 1:15 AM. He gave Lin Xian a playful wink.

“You two are lucky—last elevator of the night, and it’s just the two of you. Same price as everyone else, but you get the whole observation deck to yourselves. You’re really getting your money’s worth tonight.”

Ding—

The elevator doors opened, and the previous group of visitors filed out.

Once the elevator was empty, the attendant gestured for them to enter with a slight bow.

“Please, enjoy your exclusive time up there,” he said. “It’s a rare opportunity.”

They entered the elevator, where a woman in a uniform greeted them and pressed the button for the observation deck. The elevator began to ascend smoothly, picking up speed.

It was a fast elevator—faster than any Lin Xian had been in before.

He glanced to the side, a little worried.

But she seemed unfazed. Of course—she had always been extraordinary. Despite the acceleration, she showed no discomfort. Instead, she was calmly adjusting the layers of her wedding dress, completely at ease.

Even though the elevator moved quickly, it still took nearly ten minutes to reach the observation deck—a testament to just how tall the world’s tallest building of the time was.

When the doors opened again, they were hundreds of meters above the ground.

The elevator operator stood and bowed.

“Sir, ma’am, we have arrived. Please enjoy your time on the observation deck, and remember that it closes at 2 AM. When you’re ready, come back here to take the elevator down.”

She was already impatient, dashing out of the elevator and running to the edge of the observation deck. She leaned over the railing, looking down at the glittering city below.

“Wow!” she gasped, her eyes wide with amazement. “This is the center of the world! It’s so magnificent!”

Lin Xian walked up behind her, the icy wind cutting through the high-altitude night air as he gazed down as well. It was his first time seeing Manhattan from this height, even higher than when he had stood with Chu An Qing at the Aman Hotel. The view here was broader, more expansive.

Manhattan in 1952—luxurious, sophisticated, brimming with technology and endless wealth.

The skyscrapers seemed small compared to the Empire State Building, yet their lights formed lines, wove networks, and turned into the brightest lattice on this entire planet.

“Is it everything you imagined?” Lin Xian asked, glancing down at her.

She nodded, her breath forming soft white puffs in the cold air, her eyes glued to the lights below.

“Exactly like I imagined,” she whispered.

This was the scene she had dreamed of for so long. It was her greatest dream come true—a poor girl from Brooklyn, with no parents, no family, finally standing at the highest point in Manhattan, wearing the most beautiful white dress.

The neon lights below began to blur.

Her eyes had grown misty.

“I really made it,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “I can’t believe this is real.”

Lin Xian stepped closer, gently ruffling her wind-blown hair. His thoughts drifted back to that day with Chu An Qing, standing on the rooftop of the Aman Hotel. The circumstances were different—

One was summer, the other winter.

One was in 2023, the other in 1952.

One was Chu An Qing, and the other was…

But some things stayed the same. Lin Xian was still Lin Xian, and both of these girls, they were both timeless souls, with intertwined destinies.

“This is amazing,” she said, smiling as she looked up at him. She didn’t mind his hand on her head; in fact, she liked it.

“Thank you,” she said. “For making my dream come true.”

Lin Xian smiled gently.

“This is just the beginning of your dreams,” he said. “We have only just started.”

“C, we have a lot of money now. You can do anything you want. It’s your first night in Manhattan, but tomorrow, we can go anywhere—the best restaurants, the biggest movie theaters, the busiest shopping centers, anywhere you want.”

“You can even stay in Manhattan forever, just like I said. You’ll never have to go back to that old, broken-down place in Brooklyn.”

She shook her head softly.

“This is already enough, Lin Xian,” she said with a gentle smile. “Really. You don’t have to do anything more for me. I’m already content.”

“Keep the money for yourself. My dream has come true, but what about yours? You still have your own dream to chase.”

She hopped down from the railing, tilting her head slightly as she looked at him.

“To be honest, I’m really curious. You once told me that your dream was to save everyone, to not let anyone down, to be a true savior.”

“But why?” she asked, her eyes searching his face. “It’s hard to imagine that, until today, you were just a homeless boy, barely surviving, going hungry on the streets. How did you come to have such a grand, heroic dream?”

Lin Xian took a deep breath and let it out slowly, bowing his head.

“Because I promised a lot of people. I made a lot of commitments,” he said quietly. “But that’s not the main reason.”

He lifted his head, his eyes meeting hers.

“I used to just go with the flow, pushed along by fate, feeling like I was being forced into the role of a savior,” he said. “But now, it’s different. Now, I genuinely want to save everything, to prevent tragedies, to fulfill all my promises.”

“You’ve seen it too. I have abilities that others don’t. That means I have a responsibility to do what others can’t.”

“With great power comes great responsibility. History doesn’t blame those without strength, but it does judge every incompetent ruler.”

“I never wanted to be a savior just to be called a savior. It was never about that.” Lin Xian paused before continuing.

“The reason isn’t complicated. It’s actually very simple.”

His eyes shone with determination, the lights of the Empire State Building reflecting in them.

“This is my duty. My mission.”

She looked at him silently for a long time.

“I’m sorry,” she finally said, her smile a little embarrassed. “I guess I don’t fully understand.”

“That’s okay,” Lin Xian replied, smiling as well. “It’s been a long journey, a long story.”

She stepped closer, her eyes meeting his, filled with all the colors of the lights around them.

“But… I believe in you. I believe you’ll succeed. You’ll save the world, and you’ll be the hero you want to be.”

She reached out, taking Lin Xian’s hand in hers, her voice soft.

“When I was little, the old lady at the orphanage used to tell us girls that every girl is an angel fallen to earth. She said each of us has one wish that will come true, just one, no matter what.”

“She told us to put our hands together, to be sincere when we made our wish, because it was our only chance—a wish that would definitely come true. We had to be careful, to be earnest, and to make it count.”

“We were just kids, only five or six years old. Everyone closed their eyes and wished.”

Lin Xian blinked. “And you? Did you wish to come to Manhattan?”

She shook her head, her expression serious.

“I didn’t wish for anything.”

“I was the only girl who didn’t make a wish,” she said. “Because I thought, if I only had one wish, something so precious, I shouldn’t waste it.”

“I asked the old lady if I could save my wish for later—for something even more important. She smiled and said yes. She told me I could save it for whenever I wanted, and that it would always come true.”

Lin Xian chuckled softly. “That sounds like something you’d tell a child.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” she agreed, nodding. “But what if it’s true?”

“All these years, no matter how hard things got, I never used that wish. Not even when I dreamed of coming to Manhattan. I saved it, because I always felt that it should be used for something more important, something more precious, something more meaningful.”

She smiled, a small dimple appearing at the corner of her mouth.

“And now, I think it’s time.”

She took Lin Xian’s hand, lifting it between them, placing his larger hand between hers, and closing her eyes.

Her expression turned sincere, almost solemn, like she was praying in a church—even more serious than that. And just then—

A cold touch landed on Lin Xian’s face.

He looked up.

“It’s snowing,” he said softly.

Hundreds of meters above the ground, snowflakes were falling, carried by the night wind. Standing at the highest point in Manhattan, Lin Xian was the first to feel the snow touch his skin.

She lowered her head slightly, still holding his hand, her eyes closed.

“Lin Xian, I need to apologize,” she whispered, her voice almost lost in the wind.

“That day, when you took me to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade to look at Manhattan, you wished for me to become the most beautiful princess in all of Manhattan. I wished for you to be the greatest savior the world has ever known.”

“But I wasn’t sincere back then. I was joking. You were serious, but I was just going along with you, saying whatever came to mind.”

“But now, I’m not joking anymore. I’m serious.”

The snow fell harder, the wind swirling around them, the flakes gathering at her back, almost as if she had grown a pair of pure white wings.

“Heavens above, I’m using my one and only wish now,” she said, her voice steady as if she were chanting a spell.

The snow spun around them, like tiny spirits dancing with her, joining her in the ritual that every girl gets only once in her lifetime.

“I wish for Lin Xian to conquer everything, to save everything, to have everything.”

She pressed his hand tighter, warming it against the cold.

“I wish for him to become a true savior.”