Boom!!!!!
Jiang Ran hit the water flat on his back, sending up a towering wave.
“Pah!”
Cheng Mengxue wiped her face.
“If I was a bomb just now, then you were totally on the level of an atomic bomb, weren’t you? Do you even know how to dive?”
“Does he look like he does?”
Qin Feng stood on the diving board.
“But I didn’t expect you’d actually dare to jump.”
Jiang Ran surfaced and rubbed his back.
“Your turn!”
“I’m not jumping.”
?
“Playing dirty, huh?” Jiang Ran raised his middle finger.
“Who told you to go first?”
Qin Feng said with a laugh, then walked down from the platform.
……
Night fell.
The top-tier suite had its own private viewing deck, where they could dine.
After the staff served their meal, they left.
The three of them sat around a small round table, sighing over how rich people really knew how to enjoy life.
From where they were, if they lifted their heads, they had an unobstructed view of brilliant starlight; if they lowered their heads, they saw the crowds on the cruise ship’s deck dancing to the DJ’s music.
Looking west, there was the brightly lit Donghai City.
The coastline was a stretch of neon, and the Oriental Pearl Tower stood out among the riot of colors like an undying beacon.
Looking east, there was the pitch-black sea.
It was a black darker than black, where truly nothing could be seen.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
Amid the clinking of red wine glasses, WeChat notifications rang from all three of their phones at the same time.
It was their high school class group chat.
Back when they had just started freshman year, the group had been lively every day, with classmates complaining about their schools, their military training, and their dorms.
But gradually, it had fallen completely silent.
The three of them opened their phones. The message was from Wang Hao.
Wang Hao had been the class monitor in high school, and everyone had a pretty good relationship with him. Though he wasn’t as close to them as the three of them were to each other, their friendship was still above that of ordinary friends.
The message was fairly long:
[Wang Hao: Classmates! It’s been almost two years since we graduated from high school. It’s about time we got together!
Let’s set the class reunion for this summer vacation. We’ll decide the exact date later. There are still several months anyway, so I’m letting you all know in advance.
Those of you who have time and can come, make sure you come!]
……
“A class reunion, huh…”
Jiang Ran put down his phone.
“It’s true we haven’t seen them in ages. We got along pretty well back then, and we said we’d keep in touch even after going to university. In the end, everyone scattered all over the place, and slowly there was no news anymore.”
“As expected.”
Qin Feng put down his fork.
“Distance may create beauty, but distance absolutely does not create feelings.”
“Otherwise, why do you think I applied to the same university as you two back then? The admissions teachers from Tsinghua and Peking University practically moved into my house, but I still insisted on coming to Donghai University with you.”
“Of course I have great faith in our friendship, but distance is just like that. One inch farther is one inch farther. No matter what, it won’t become closer.”
“Actually, in this world, there’s nothing more important than true friends… especially friends from when you were young.”
“Hehe.”
Cheng Mengxue scratched her head in embarrassment.
“Sorry about that. The two of us dragged you down. With our grades, the best choice was Donghai University; and since Sister Xu Yan was also here, we applied here.”
“Speaking of which… Wang Hao went to a junior college, right? Doesn’t that mean he has to go into society for an internship next semester?”
This seemed to be a rather heavy topic.
Junior college programs lasted three years. Their once good brother Wang Hao really was about to enter society and become a workhorse.
“No matter how dumb someone is, could they really fail to score 500 points?”
Qin Feng genuinely did not understand.
“Just getting a passing score in each subject would be enough.”
“Shut up already.” x2
Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue spoke in unison.
Especially Cheng Mengxue, who had failed two courses last semester.
“You don’t need to worry about Wang Hao. That mouth of his is more powerful than a positron cannon. He won’t have trouble finding a job.”
Jiang Ran peeled open a lobster.
“Nowadays, lots of undergraduates can’t find jobs either. Aside from not being able to take postgraduate entrance exams or public-sector staffing exams, a junior college degree actually doesn’t make that much difference in society. In the end, it still depends on personal ability.”
“Wang Hao was the class monitor in high school. Everyone saw what he was capable of. Who knows, maybe he’ll enter society a year earlier than us and end up doing better than all of us.”
Qin Feng wiped his mouth.
“That’s possible, but… now it’s impossible.”
He smiled faintly.
“Now that we have [Spacetime Text Messages], we can freely alter history and correct mistakes.”
“Unless we deliberately keep a low profile and hide ourselves, it’ll be very hard for anyone among our classmates to do better than us.”
“Hey, even I got led astray by you guys. What’s all this about doing better or worse? We’re all classmates. There’s no need to divide people into ranks.”
“When we succeed in the future and gain a certain social status, we can absolutely give our classmates a hand.”
“But the secret of the Spacetime Text Messages must only ever be known by the three of us,” Jiang Ran emphasized again.
He had already lost count of how many times he had stressed this point.
“We might only want to use the Spacetime Text Messages to make a little money or take shortcuts in life or something, but others might not be the same.”
“[Once the Spacetime Text Messages fall into the hands of bad people… revenge against society, hegemonic wars, even the destruction of the world could all be possible.]”
“So we must protect this secret. Protecting this secret is protecting the entire world.”
“Of course.” “We’re not stupid.”
Cheng Mengxue held a fork between her lips and tilted her head.
“Since we’re talking about this, what exactly are we going to use the Spacetime Text Messages for in the future?”
“Or rather… what are we ultimately going to do with the Spacetime Text Messages? What is our final goal?”
“To realize our dreams, I guess.”
Jiang Ran answered.
“Speaking of which, what are your dreams? What kind of life do you want to live in the future?”
“I want to become a Rhine Cat designer!”
Starlight suddenly flashed in Cheng Mengxue’s eyes.
“After I graduate, I definitely want to apply to Rhine Company. I really want to design a Rhine Cat that I like!”
Jiang Ran smiled.
“That’s a pretty normal dream. What about you, Qin Feng?”
“I want to go… to the world’s top laboratory to do research.”
Qin Feng was also very serious.
“There are many difficult problems in this world that individual strength can’t solve. I want to work with the smartest geniuses in the world to explore the deepest secrets of physics, the microscopic world, and even the universe.”
“Wow, how great.”
Cheng Mengxue sighed, then turned her head.
“Jiang Ran, what about you? What’s your dream?”
“Me…”
Jiang Ran rubbed the napkin in his hands. For a moment, he really couldn’t think of anything.
“I might not have such a concrete goal like you two. My thought is… since a person lives only once, they should do something meaningful, right?”
“On a smaller scale, that means living my own life well and protecting the family and friends around me. On a larger scale, it means making some contribution to society, the country, or even humanity, and making the world a little better.”
“Oh~”
Cheng Mengxue thought about it.
“So that means… a savior?”
“It’s not that exaggerated!”
“Then… a genius like Einstein, who advanced science?”
“Do I look like one?”
“Then…”
Cheng Mengxue smiled faintly. The neon lights on the shore were reflected in her pupils, blending into one continuous glow.
“[Then just keep being a hero, like you are now.]”
Bang, bang, bang, bang!!
It was time for the fireworks.
A sea of fireworks rose from the cruise ship’s deck, exploding into flames of every color. It was as if the universe had opened countless eyes… quietly staring at the casual conversation at the highest point of the cruise ship.
“……”
Jiang Ran swirled his glass of red wine.
“Do I count as a hero?”
“Of course you do. You saved Sister Xu Yan, and you also saved those two children who fell into the water.”
“That was cheating.”
He looked at Cheng Mengxue.
“I knew the answer in advance. I knew the solution. Without that buoyant life vest, I would never have jumped.”
“You would have.”
With the red wine in her stomach, Cheng Mengxue was a little bolder today.
“We grew up together. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen you be this brave. Even without that life vest, you would have jumped.”
The waves swayed, and the wine glasses trembled.
The fireworks slowly fell, like tears streaming from the sky.
“Besides… so what if it was cheating? No matter what the reason was, in the end, you still jumped…”
Cheng Mengxue’s cheeks were flushed, her gaze hazy, reflecting the last afterglow of the night sky.
“If cheating can make the world a better place… if it can make you a hero who saves lives and heals the wounded…”
The world returned to darkness.
“[Then why not just… cheat for a lifetime?]”