Genius Club

“Huh?” x4

The old doctor’s words left the Lin Xian family completely stunned.

Lin Xian, his mother, and his father exchanged bewildered glances, unable to find words. Zhao Ying Jun’s eyes widened, her breath caught in her throat, and she was too scared even to look up.

The rest of the visit was a blur. Zhao Ying Jun barely remembered how she got through it, and she didn’t want to. Making up a hasty excuse about urgent work at the company, she grabbed Lin Xian’s arm and practically dragged him to the car, speeding away as fast as she could.

“What were you thinking?!” Zhao Ying Jun punched Lin Xian’s arm.

“Seriously! It’s my first time meeting your parents, and you spring this on me?! How am I ever supposed to face them again? What must they think of me now?!”

“Whoa, whoa—I’m driving here!” Lin Xian tried to steady the wheel, his brow furrowed. He was just as shaken as she was.

“Look, I had no idea my uncle was that good! I mean, who could’ve guessed? My mom just asked him to check your pulse, and suddenly he figures everything out. I always thought he was just some shady old quack—who knew he was actually this talented!”

“Ha.” Zhao Ying Jun let out a cold laugh. “You seem pretty proud of yourself, Lin Xian. Good aim, huh?”

“Well, I do have good marksmanship,” Lin Xian admitted with a nod.

“You still have the nerve to joke!” Zhao Ying Jun shot him a glare, then sighed, covering her face with her hands.

“You’ve embarrassed me completely in front of your parents. I’ve never felt so humiliated in my entire life. When your uncle figured it out, I seriously wanted to vanish. I mean, what kind of situation is this?! It’s my first time at your place, and that was awkward enough. You told your parents we’d only been dating for a month—they weren’t even pressuring us… And then, out of nowhere, we just drop this bombshell on them, presenting them with a grandchild!”

“You’re right. This one’s on me,” Lin Xian nodded, accepting the blame.

To be honest, they had thought this might happen—just not so soon.

Neither of them had much experience with this sort of thing, especially not in planning for a family. All their colleagues always talked about how hard it was to conceive, how they’d been trying for years, seeking out all kinds of treatments.

One of Lin Xian’s coworkers at MX Company had been married for ten years and still hadn’t conceived, despite spending tens of thousands on in vitro procedures. She’d tried multiple times, only to suffer miscarriages, and it was all pushing her to the edge.

Who could have imagined?

Lin Xian and Zhao Ying Jun hadn’t prepared at all, hadn’t even timed anything—yet, somehow, after just one month, it happened.

Sure, Lin Xian always thought of himself as a speedrunner… but did this really need to be a speedrun too?

He felt embarrassed enough as it was—he could only imagine how Zhao Ying Jun felt. Just moments before, he’d warned his parents not to pressure them about marriage or kids, reminding them they were still at the early stages.

Then, Uncle chuckled and announced, “It’s a pregnancy pulse!”

It felt like Lin Xian’s brain had been struck by lightning—the world spinning around him as if it were all just a dream.

He had made promises to Zhao Ying Jun, sure, but this had come so suddenly that he wasn’t ready for it.

“Ooohhhhh…” Zhao Ying Jun sighed again, her emotions gradually settling.

“I’m not blaming you. Pregnancy doesn’t just happen on its own—I’m responsible too. And I was prepared for it… It’s just that being exposed like that in front of your parents made me feel so mortified. Some things, you know, the order matters.”

“I understand,” Lin Xian said, signaling left and overtaking a car.

“I’ll take responsibility. I’ll explain everything to my parents—after all, most of the blame lies with me.”

“But the bigger question right now is…”

He glanced sideways at Zhao Ying Jun’s belly, then looked up to meet her cold gaze, a small smile on his lips.

“Since things are progressing so quickly, shouldn’t we start planning some things now?”

“Oh, stop it.” Zhao Ying Jun placed her hand over her stomach, turning to look out the window at the passing highway scenery.

“You make it sound like it was just too easy for you. Like I’m just giving in.” She paused for a moment, then smiled despite herself.

“Why does it feel like, with the two of us, it’s always a case of ‘get on the bus, then buy the ticket later’?”

“We hadn’t even properly gotten together, and now there’s already a child on the way. We aren’t married yet, but we’re expecting. We never even went on a proper date before you won me over. We were supposed to go to Copenhagen together, but before our scheduled trip, you ended up there with my future self instead.”

“Sometimes I wonder… Since there are so many strange things in this world, is it possible that before you even knew me, we’d already met somewhere?”

Lin Xian shook his head.

“Nah, that’s pretty unlikely. Before I went to college, I never left my local city. And you went abroad when you were still a teenager, then came back straight to Donghai. Our first meeting should’ve been when I graduated from Donghai University and started at MX Company.”

“From a physics perspective, it’s highly unlikely we could’ve met before. Even with Yellow Finch, our first meeting was in your office, after I’d already met you.”

“So… This is probably one of the rare things between us that didn’t happen out of order.”

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Zhao Ying Jun closed her eyes and let out a long breath through her nose.

“Oh, forget it.” She leaned her head against the car window, her gaze softening as she looked out.

“Fine, have it your way… Lucky you.”

That evening, the Pomeranian VV lay sprawled on the cool floor, its stomach growling, its heart colder than the tiles beneath it.

This house—it was just unbearable.

First, Zhao Ying Jun had been coming home late every night, leaving VV hungry. Then Lin Xian had moved in, and though VV had hoped for a reliable food provider, the guy slept like a log every day. Still, at least he managed to feed VV on time during the day.

Now? It was worse. The two of them had teamed up, shut VV out of the bedroom, and gone out together, leaving VV alone at home—still without dinner!

Might as well starve to death.

No one here cared about a fluffy little creature like VV anymore. It was lighter than a feather, irrelevant.

Goodbye, world. May the clouds in heaven be made of dog food.

Ding—

Suddenly, the elevator’s chime rang out, and VV perked up, leaping into the air in excitement.

Fine, maybe not today. One more chance for them.

“Woof, woof, woof!” VV growled, baring its teeth at the elevator in indignation.

Finally, the doors opened, revealing Lin Xian and Zhao Ying Jun. She was holding a small plastic bag.

“The doctor said I should start taking these folic acid tablets now and keep taking them until the third month of pregnancy.”

“Uh, ya.” Lin Xian nodded.

“And also… During the first three months, it’s the crucial period, you know…”

“Got it.” Lin Xian nodded again.

“And I shouldn’t stay up late anymore. I will need plenty of rest so I won’t be able to stay up with you at night, but I’ll leave milk in the thermos for you. Make sure you drink it.”

“Yes, got it.” Lin Xian nodded yet again.

Zhao Ying Jun frowned and gave him a light pinch. “Why are you acting like a dummy?”

Lin Xian snapped out of it and smiled slightly. “I was just thinking about what Brother Wang said—it still doesn’t feel real. It just… feels surreal.”

“I really don’t have any experience with this kind of thing. Most of what I know, I heard from Brother Wang. But you seem to be getting into the role quickly.”

“Brother Wang…” Zhao Ying Jun tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, smiling faintly.

“He always said men and women are different. It takes men a bit longer to adjust to being fathers—maybe only once the child is born, or much later.”

“Ever since your uncle said I was pregnant, I’ve felt… I don’t know, like there’s a little life inside me, growing, developing. Of course, I know it’s all in my head.”

“Woof!”

VV, who had been waiting for ages, was not amused.

Could they save the chatting for later? Could they take care of the important stuff first?

Lin Xian finally filled VV’s bowl with kibble, adding extra as compensation. Only then did VV calm down, abandoning its plan to starve itself.

Later that night…

VV, now full, prepared to sleep, hoping to continue its feast in its dreams. It adjusted itself comfortably in its little bed in the living room.

But then…

Lin Xian emerged from the bedroom, picked up VV’s little bed, and carried it into the bedroom.

“VV, you can sleep in the bedroom again from now on.”

“V?”

VV’s eyes widened in disbelief. The happiness was too sudden to trust. Was this real? Was it finally allowed back in?

It looked at Lin Xian, confused…

Wait… Are you serious? Only a month’s ban?

VV’s little legs moved cautiously, its transparent belly brushing the floor as it waddled its way back into the bedroom to its familiar spot.

Ah… Sleeping here was definitely more comfortable. The living room was too lonely.

Lin Xian packed away his laptop from the desk and glanced at Zhao Ying Jun, lying in bed.

“I need to keep working on the blueprints tonight. I’ll be sketching them out on the computer when I wake up. The time-travel machine’s schematics are really extensive—it’s going to take a while to get through them all.”

Zhao Ying Jun nodded. “That’s fine. You can come back to bed later tonight. Just remember to drink the milk I left in the kitchen.”

“Got it.”

Lin Xian turned off the lights for Zhao Ying Jun. “Goodnight.”

In the darkness, with a bit of moonlight filtering through, Zhao Ying Jun smiled at Lin Xian.

“Goodnight. Sweet dreams.”

…

For the next few days, everything seemed to be as usual.

That day, around noon, Lin Xian entered the dream and switched to speed-run mode. He and Xu Yi Yi managed to grab two metal badges from a pair of androids and took the sewers to reach Sin City.

Lin Xian’s mind was tangled with thoughts—Zhao Ying Jun being pregnant, thoughts of Lin Yu Xi, thoughts of becoming a father, of Xu Yun and Xu Yi Yi, and of Li Cheng and Li Ning Ning.

That’s when a sudden idea struck him.

When Xu Yi Yi was deciding which gang to join, Lin Xian spoke up:

“How about we join the Li Family Gang?” he suggested.

“Didn’t you say they’re the strongest gang in Sin City? Besides, the leader, Li Cheng’s daughter, Li Ning Ning, was even chosen by the godfather himself to pilot the time-travel machine. If we join a powerful gang, we’ll have better opportunities, see things from a higher perspective.”

He glanced at her. “Joining something like Big Cat Face’s Gang or Er Zhuzi’s Gang would be pointless. They’re just a bunch of misfits with no future.”

Xu Yi Yi tilted her head thoughtfully. “True, that gang… everyone there seems a little off. Maybe Ah Zhuang is kind of normal, but Er Zhuzi’s always sneaky, and San Pang—well, he must have some sort of language disorder.”

And just like that, the two of them used the metal badges to successfully join the Li Family Gang.

In Sin City, the gangs have their rules. As long as you’ve got a metal badge, any gang will accept you. Of course, in a big gang like the Li Family, newcomers shouldn’t expect any special treatment or mentorship.

Li Cheng received them briefly before saying he had to head off to a meeting with the godfather. He left them with simple instructions: “My daughter, Li Ning Ning, is at the training grounds in the center of the city. If you have any questions, go find her. She can fill you in.”

They made their way to the training grounds. It was filled with equipment, wooden dummies, and yet it felt empty. Only Li Ning Ning, dressed in a black training outfit, was there, her punches echoing loudly as she trained, sweat dripping like rain.

Lin Xian got closer and noticed that her hands were wrapped in bandages. But even through the bandages, he could see the thick calluses. They were rough—a clear sign of long-term, rigorous training.

He sighed.

He had felt a pang of sympathy for Li Ning Ning before, but now that he was about to become a father himself, it hurt even more. Ning Ning was so young, and in countless dreams, her hands only felt soft in the seventh dream. In every other future, her hands were rough, like sandpaper or tree bark.

While she paused to wipe her sweat, Lin Xian and Xu Yi Yi approached her, introducing themselves and explaining their purpose.

In this dream, Li Ning Ning’s figure was still delicate but clearly more muscular. Her body had strength in every line.

“When did you start training?” Lin Xian asked. “Gao Wen—I mean, the godfather’s time machine hasn’t been around for very long. How did you end up like this?”

“Since I was little,” Li Ning Ning replied, wiping her sweat off with a towel. Her voice was calm. “I started training even before the time machine was built, before the blueprints were complete. After all, for something this important, there wouldn’t be enough time if I started after it was ready.”

Lin Xian listened in silence.

This was another version of Lin Yu Xi, wasn’t it? Except, one was meant to enforce the dominance of the Time Bureau and Copernicus’ rule, and the other fought for noble ideals, for the future of humanity.

“Does your dad worry about you?” Lin Xian asked. “Did he ever try to stop you? Maybe… ask you to give up being an assassin and let someone else do it?”

“He probably tried to persuade me behind the scenes,” Ning Ning said with a straightforward smile. “But he’s the leader of the biggest gang in Sin City. It’s his responsibility. And as his daughter, it’s also mine.”

She paused, looking thoughtful. “Every father must hate to see his daughter in danger. But if every father thinks like that and every daughter follows suit, if no one is willing to be brave—who’s going to save the world?”

Xu Yi Yi rested her chin on her hand, giving a little snort. “Actually, I think it would be best if I went instead.”

Lin Xian and Ning Ning turned to her, curious.

Xu Yi Yi shrugged. “Look at me—I’m an orphan. No parents, no attachments. Isn’t it better for me to go? No one’d miss me if I died.” She gave a wry smile. “I don’t need all that stuff. If I die, I die. Doesn’t matter where or when.”

Lin Xian watched her, remembering Professor Xu Yun, who had died on the street… No matter how tough things got, he had never given up on saving his daughter. He had even gone to extreme lengths, walking a narrow path, just to avoid any possible consequences he couldn’t bear.

But there was one thing beyond doubt.

Xu Yun’s methods may not have always been right, but his love for his daughter was unquestionable.

Lin Xian remembered how Xu Yun had explained why he refused to enter a hibernation pod: “The longer you hibernate, the more memories you lose. It wouldn’t matter if Yi Yi forgot me… she’d start her new life, and whether she remembers me or not doesn’t matter.”

“But I don’t want to forget her,” Xu Yun had said, his eyes filled with quiet resolve. “I don’t want to forget Yi Yi. She only had those few years when she was young—those are all the memories I have of her. I can’t bear to lose even a bit of them.”

“I’ll keep my memories of her until my last breath, and I’ll spend every moment of my life trying to make a better hibernation pod for her. So, Lin Xian, if you’re still around when Yi Yi wakes up… please take care of her.”

This had been Professor Xu’s final request to Lin Xian.

To him, those few memories of his daughter were worth more than anything—worth more than his own life.

Looking at Xu Yi Yi now, Lin Xian couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Professor Xu had entrusted her to him, yet he hadn’t been able to change anything for her. She was still unloved, still a lonely orphan, living in a harsh, crowded city, and enduring a life that was anything but comfortable.

Professor Xu had wanted her to at least go to school, live a decent life—but this world only allowed her to be a “bad girl,” to make mistakes, break the law.

Lin Xian shook his head. “You’re wrong, Yi Yi.”

He looked her in the eyes. “Your father loved you more than anyone. Even when everyone else gave up on you, he was willing to give up everything to hold on to a sliver of hope.”

Xu Yi Yi blinked, a puzzled expression on her face. “You knew my father?”

Lin Xian nodded. “You probably won’t believe me, but I did. The godfather can vouch for me. I’m from a long, long time ago—the same era as your father.”

He hesitated before continuing, “Your father was my teacher. I saw you lying on a hospital bed. And after he passed away, I’m the one who put you into that hibernation pod.”

“Really?” Xu Yi Yi looked skeptical, then scoffed. “Is this supposed to be a joke, Lin Xian? Because it’s not funny.”

Under Li Ning Ning’s curious gaze, Lin Xian began to tell Xu Yi Yi everything—her mother’s death during childbirth, her father who raised her alone, her fall that turned her into a coma patient, her father’s desperate struggle to build a hibernation pod, and how he was ultimately betrayed and killed…

Xu Yi Yi listened, stunned. “You mean to say… the hibernation pod was my father’s invention?”

“More or less,” Lin Xian nodded. “Your father wasn’t a genius like the godfather or Chen Heping, but his love for you was just as strong as any parent’s.”

Yet, Xu Yi Yi just lowered her head, smiling faintly, shaking it slowly. “Lin Xian, I don’t know if what you’re saying is true, but even if it is… it’s too bad. I don’t feel anything. I don’t have any emotional connection to it.”

She sighed. “When I woke up, I had nothing—no notebook, no recordings, and my mind was completely blank. Everything you’re telling me feels like someone else’s story. There’s no connection.”

Lin Xian gave a gentle smile, patting her head. “You don’t have to take it to heart. Just listen, that’s all.”

He hadn’t wanted to force those emotions onto Xu Yi Yi. Even Professor Xu himself had said that he wanted Yi Yi to forget everything and start fresh. It was only because she looked so lonely when talking about her parents that Lin Xian shared those memories with her.

But…

The side effect of memory loss in hibernation truly was a great enemy of humanity.

It made them lose so much—emotions, knowledge, experiences, even entire lifetimes.

No wonder Emperor Gao Wen had wanted to develop the neural electric shock helmet more than anything. It could be the solution to memory loss from hibernation. And if it succeeded…

That invention could very well be one of the greatest in history.

“Hey!” Xu Yi Yi slapped away Lin Xian’s hand from her head, giving him a challenging glare. “You’re just a junior! Act like it!”

“Alright, alright,” Lin Xian chuckled.

Li Ning Ning, who had been silently listening, observed Lin Xian’s gentle eyes and the sincerity in his expression. She didn’t think he was lying.

More than that, she could tell he had a different kind of feeling towards her and Xu Yi Yi—a familiarity, a protective nature… like he saw them as his own daughters.

“Do you have a daughter?” Ning Ning asked, her instinct sharp.

“I do,” Lin Xian replied. “That’s why I feel for both of you. I understand what you’re going through.”

“Huh?” Xu Yi Yi jumped off a stack of old tires, giving Lin Xian an incredulous look. “You’re married, and you have a daughter already? How old is she?”

“She’s just a month old,” Lin Xian answered.

“Oh, she’s only a month old?” Ning Ning nodded. “That must be such a tough time. She must be crying all day and night.”

“Not really,” Xu Yi Yi cut in. “A one-month-old baby is actually easy to take care of. I did community service in Donghai City once at an orphanage. Babies that age mostly sleep after eating, and if they cry, it’s usually because they’re hungry. Once fed, they go right back to sleep for like 20 hours a day. It’s really easy to care for them at that stage.”

“No, no, no,” Lin Xian quickly corrected. “You misunderstood. I mean, she’s only a month old… in the womb. Just one month pregnant.”

“…”

“…”

Xu Yi Yi and Li Ning Ning narrowed their eyes, staring at him like he was an idiot.

“Do you even hear yourself?!” “Honestly, could you be any less precise?!”

Suddenly, Xu Yi Yi blinked, her gaze sharp. “Wait a minute. How do you know it’s a girl? It’s only been a month.” She tilted her head, giving him a questioning look. “What if… it’s a boy?”