Genius Club

Chapter 363: Shouting Ghost

The next morning, Lin Xian woke up early. He had flipped his routine around, going to sleep right after lunch the day before so he could explore his dream world as much as possible.

After waking up, Lin Xian made plans with Brother Wang to head over to Time Bank.

“Hey, Lin Xian, you’re here!” Brother Wang was already waiting outside Time Bank. When he saw Lin Xian, he laughed. “Man, you slept like a rock yesterday. Zhao Ying Jun and I joked that you might sleep straight through to midnight—and guess what? You only replied to my message around midnight!”

“I’ve been really tired lately, flipping my days and nights,” Lin Xian replied with a smile. Then he asked, “What’s Zhao Ying Jun up to these days? Did she want to talk to me about something?”

“Nope, not at all,” Brother Wang said, shaking his head as they walked inside together. “We were just chatting about work, and I mentioned you were sleeping during the day.”

“Didn’t Zhao Ying Jun’s parents come down from the capital to see her? She’s probably busy with family stuff. She called me yesterday asking which restaurants are good for kids. I suggested this Western family restaurant.”

Lin Xian looked a little puzzled. “Wait, isn’t Zhao Ying Jun an only child? Did her parents bring a kid with them to visit her in Donghai City? Maybe a relative’s kid?”

“Probably,” Brother Wang shrugged. “She didn’t give many details—just said her parents were bringing a kid over. If it’s not a friend’s kid, then it’s likely a relative’s.”

“Or maybe,” Brother Wang added, chuckling, “it’s a sneaky way to pressure her into thinking about marriage. Her parents might have borrowed a kid to show off the ‘happy family’ vibe, trying to nudge her a bit.”

Brother Wang then remembered the cool little girl who used to hang out with Lin Xian. “Speaking of kids, what about that little girl who was with you before? I asked my wife, and it turns out you two aren’t related at all. Seriously, you didn’t know if you had a kid or not?”

“Next time, don’t do stuff like that,” he continued. “You can’t just pick up a kid off the street and drag them to a paternity test… especially if you’re not even sure! And dragging Zhao Ying Jun along? That’s just insulting her!”

“Think about it, Lin Xian—how would you feel if Zhao Ying Jun picked up some random girl and made you go for a DNA test with her?”

Lin Xian listened to Brother Wang’s bizarre words and tried to see it from Zhao Ying Jun’s point of view. Alright, maybe he did go a bit too far. But it wasn’t like he just grabbed a random kid for a DNA test. Yellow Finch had misled him into thinking he should keep an eye on Yu Xi. If Yellow Finch hadn’t said, “Don’t leave Yu Xi,” he definitely wouldn’t have taken Zhao Ying Jun to get a DNA test.

Looking back, he realized his actions were a bit unreasonable—definitely not the right approach.

“Oh, that little girl?” Lin Xian scratched his head, coming up with an excuse. “She was handed over to the police. They found her parents and sent her home quickly.”

“Did they give you a banner or something for that?” Brother Wang joked.

“Heh, I already have the title ‘Youth Hero of Donghai City’ for doing good deeds, right?” Lin Xian chuckled. “Doing good things isn’t a big deal; good people get good rewards.”

As they talked, Brother Wang opened Time Bank’s vault, and they both stepped inside. It was cooler than outside, but the temperature and humidity were carefully controlled. Brother Wang, an expert on the subject, explained that this specific climate was ideal for long-term storage.

“So, what are you here to see today?” Brother Wang asked, standing in the middle of the vault and looking around.

“How many safe deposit boxes do we have here now?” Lin Xian asked.

“266,” Brother Wang replied instantly. He knew everything about Time Bank like the back of his hand. He pointed to the far corner of the vault. “When we first opened, we custom-ordered 266 aluminum-alloy safes, numbered from 1 to 266… Look, this side has Box No. 1, and way over there is Box No. 266.”

“The numbers were engraved at the factory. You know, aluminum alloy is so tough that if the numbers weren’t engraved before it set, you couldn’t add any marks later. This stuff is ridiculously strong.”

“That’s why we have those nameplates on the safes. They’re there to engrave customer names because, at the time of production, we don’t know who the customers will be. The nameplates aren’t made of aluminum alloy, but they use some of the same techniques. They won’t corrode or rust for hundreds of years.”

Lin Xian nodded. “Are there any plans to add more safes?”

“Not right now,” Brother Wang said, spreading his hands. “Out of the 266 safes, only a few dozen are actually sold or in use. Around fifty or sixty have names engraved and items stored. We still have over 200 that are unused.”

“This business is a long-term one. It might take decades to pick up, but when we do sell one, we make decades, even centuries, of fees. Especially when cryogenic capsules become common—that’s when our business will really take off.”

“So, don’t think these time capsule-like things have no demand now. When human hibernation becomes widespread, there might be a huge demand for safes. We might need to increase the number of safes then… But for now, these 200-plus remaining ones will last us a long time.”

Listening to Brother Wang, Lin Xian stroked his chin in thought. As the owner and investor of Time Bank, he actually had the power to change the bank’s rules. For example, he could decide on new rules for the safe numbering.

A lot of people in his country didn’t like the number 4. He could rule that all future safes avoid any number containing 4—like how some hotels skip certain room numbers. This could cause a time-space fluctuation. In the Fifth Dream, CC had confirmed that Gao Wen’s safe was numbered 424, and the photo of Old Man Wei Sheng Jin’s safe showed it was 724.

If he changed the numbering rules now, time-space fluctuations would certainly occur, the “time-space curvature” would shift, and he and Liu Feng could see changes in the time-space clock’s readings. They could use this data to figure out the pattern of “time-space coordinates.”

The theory was solid, but in practice, it wasn’t feasible.

Because of one simple reason: Time-space changes are uncontrollable.

Who could guarantee that if the safe numbers changed, Old Man Wei Sheng Jin would still pick the same safe?

What if Box No. 724 was only available to him because the number was considered unlucky? If he changed the rules, it could ruin the time-space changes just like when he switched the safe material to aluminum alloy.

Similarly, in Big Cat’s Village, Gao Wen’s safe was No. 424. If the new rules changed it to No. 425, would Gao Wen still choose that safe? No one could guarantee it. He might pick a different number, or someone else could grab No. 425 first.

If that happened, all his plans would be wasted—another self-inflicted problem, just like with the aluminum alloy safes.

But…

Lin Xian suddenly had an idea.

“What if, after messing up in the dream, I quickly reset the safe numbering rules to their original state? Would the deviated history and future revert back?”

There was no guarantee.

Take Time Bank, for example. Honestly, the Time Bank that existed now under his intervention was already very different from the original one. It offered more services, had more funds, more safes… It was practically a different bank.

This is one of the pains of rewriting the future—there’s no way to restore it to its original state. It’s entirely uncontrollable.

Moreover, the most critical point: Time-space changes don’t happen instantly; they require an irreversible anchor point.

It has to be irreversible.

Only then will the future and timeline shift.

Once it’s irreversible, how can you take it back? That’s pure fantasy.

So, the safest approach for now is:

Don’t do anything that might trigger a time-space butterfly effect until you open Gao Wen’s safe and see what’s inside. Otherwise, you might never get to see Gao Wen’s safe.

After opening Gao Wen’s safe and confirming if what’s inside is valuable or indeed left by Academician Gao Wen, he could consider triggering uncontrollable time-space changes to rewrite the future—only after confirming no more concerns remain.

Lin Xian thought of another possibility. The safe he and Old Man Wei Sheng Jin dug out was No. 1277, belonging to a customer named Pang Ya. This safe didn’t seem valuable to him, but since he knew its exact location, it was the easiest one for him to find.

However, its number was 1277.

These safes were clearly produced not long before 2400, maybe shortly before Earth’s great catastrophe.

Could he use this safe to his advantage?

Lin Xian had thought about leaving something like a will.

For example: He could pay for Safe No. 1277 in 2024 and specify that when it’s manufactured, the staff at Time Bank should move the contents of his Safe No. 66 into it and set the password to match Safe No. 66’s: 20240328.

That way, when he and Old Man Wei Sheng Jin dug up Safe No. 1277 in the Fifth Dream, it would be his.

Everything would go as planned; he could see the little note and even invite CC to witness this historical moment.

This plan seemed perfect.

But actually…

It wasn’t workable.

The problem was the “irreversible anchor point.”

Even if he made the will now, paid for Safe No. 1277, and clarified everything, there would be no change in the Fifth Dream until the moment Safe No. 1277 is manufactured and his items are placed inside.

The irreversible anchor point would only form then. From that moment, the Safe No. 1277 in the Fifth Dream would truly become his.

Maybe in 2397? Or 2399? It could be any time.

But Lin Xian couldn’t wait that long.

This is the rigor of time-space logic… No wonder Yellow Finch had emphasized it so many times; it really is crucial.

Understanding these rules deeply, you can deduce whether something is feasible without needing to try, risk, or test it.

So, he really couldn’t control those safes that hadn’t appeared yet.

But should he give up?

Was there a way to keep Gao Wen’s safe intact while also causing the time-space clock’s values to change again and get data on the time-space curvature?

Lin Xian closed his eyes, thinking hard. He recalled some overlooked details.

He thought of the Safe No. 1277 he dug up with Old Man Wei Sheng Jin in the Fifth Dream. The font on the engraved nameplate seemed different!

He opened his eyes and walked over to Safe No. 66, his own safe, and looked at the engraved name. It was in the standard “Microsoft Yahei” font.

As someone who studied design, he could immediately tell the difference.

In the Fifth Dream, the name “Pang Ya” on the Safe No. 1277 nameplate had sharper strokes; it looked like a font similar to “Songti.”

The change in fonts might be due to the passage of time.

Maybe “Microsoft Yahei” got phased out in a few hundred years? Or maybe there were copyright issues?

For some reason, the font on the nameplates of aluminum-alloy safes changed over centuries.

Lin Xian tried hard to remember the photo Old Man Wei Sheng Jin had shown him. The nameplate on Old Man Wei Sheng Jin’s safe still used “Microsoft Yahei.”

That meant that, at least up to Safe No. 724, the engraved names used the “Microsoft Yahei” font.

Naturally, Gao Wen’s safe would use “Microsoft Yahei” as well.

This was perfect!

Lin Xian came up with a way to avoid affecting Gao Wen’s safe but still cause a time-space change:

“Simply make a strict rule that all future safes at Time Bank must use the Microsoft Yahei font for engraving customer names. Then, the name on Safe No. 1277 would definitely change to Microsoft Yahei!”

It didn’t matter to Lin Xian if Safe No. 1277 still belonged to Pang Ya. He just needed to confirm that if the safe he dug up had any changes, then Liu Feng’s time-space clock values would also change. That was the key!

“Brother Wang,” Lin Xian called him over, pointing at the font on the safe’s nameplate. “This font is Microsoft Yahei, right?”

“I think so,” Brother Wang replied, not paying much attention. “This… shouldn’t be a copyright issue, right? Does this count as commercial use?”

Lin Xian smiled slightly. “Hard to say. Nowadays, there are a lot of cases of font copyright infringement. How was this nameplate engraved? By hand or laser?”

“Definitely a small laser engraver,” Brother Wang said. “Where could you find someone who still engraves by hand… But you’re right; there are indeed many copyright disputes about fonts every year. We certainly haven’t paid any fees to use Microsoft Yahei. If they come after us, we’d probably be willing to pay for the rights.”

“And I’m not sure if this kind of use counts as infringement. Should I call our legal advisor over to check? Wow, Lin Xian, you’re really detail-oriented. I’ve never thought about this before.”

“The laser engraving work is outsourced to a third-party company. Whenever we need names engraved, we just call them. I’ve never asked about the font. But since they’re in this business, they’ve probably bought the right to use Microsoft Yahei, right?”

Lin Xian nodded. “Maybe that company has the rights. But… Time Bank’s goal is to operate for hundreds of years, offering long-term storage services. We aim to become a century-old brand, but can the laser engraving company last that long?”

“Even if we increase the number of safes and find a new laser engraving company, they’re likely to have the rights to use Microsoft Yahei. However… over hundreds of years, anything could happen. If someday, due to a dispute or copyright issue, Microsoft Yahei couldn’t be used legally worldwide, we’d have to use a different font for engraving names.”

“Right, right,” Brother Wang said, rubbing his hands, realizing the issue. He was quite the perfectionist with OCD.

Every little detail about the aluminum-alloy safes had his input. How could he have overlooked the font detail?

If, a few hundred years from now, there were thousands of aluminum-alloy safes in the warehouse, and half used Microsoft Yahei while the other half used different fonts… his OCD would definitely drive him mad!

Even though he probably wouldn’t live to see those days, just thinking about the bank he painstakingly built ending up with inconsistent fonts on the safes made him feel like he’d die with regrets! He could even feel his blood pressure rising right now!

“So what should we do?” Brother Wang thought. “Why not change all the nameplates to Songti font now while the number is still small? Songti has no copyright and can be used freely forever.”

Lin Xian shook his head. No, if they changed to Songti now, both Gao Wen’s and Wei Sheng Jin’s safe names would change to Songti.

It wouldn’t matter for Wei Sheng Jin. But what if Gao Wen, being a perfectionist too, didn’t like the Songti font and decided not to use the safe anymore?

It might seem a bit far-fetched, but Lin Xian couldn’t take that risk.

After all, his expectations for Academician Gao Wen were very high!

“No need to go through all that trouble,” Lin Xian waved his hand. “Doesn’t the company have 3 billion yuan in its account? We’ll just buy the rights to Microsoft Yahei and make it exclusive to Time Bank!”

“We don’t care how others misuse this font, but we must ensure that the rights to Microsoft Yahei are in our hands. We must guarantee that Time Bank’s aluminum-alloy safes, no matter how many are produced in the future, can always use Microsoft Yahei to engrave customers’ names.”

Brother Wang was stunned. “Is… is that necessary? Buying font licenses and authorizations isn’t expensive, but purchasing the rights to a popular font like Microsoft Yahei… that’s probably not cheap, right?”

“Actually, Lin Xian, we could just buy a lifetime license. That option exists, and it wouldn’t cost much.”

“There’s no need to be so frugal.” Lin Xian waved it off. “Why keep all that money sitting in the company account? Money is meant to be spent. Don’t worry… If we run out, we’ll just make more.”

After all, he could borrow tech from the future. If the opportunity was right, making Rhine Company bigger and stronger would be easy.

“No time to waste. Call the company that owns the rights now,” Lin Xian urged. “I remember that although the font is named Microsoft Yahei, its copyright is actually owned by the X Country company Fangzheng. Contact them now and offer a price they can’t refuse, within our company’s financial capacity. The sooner, the better.”

Brother Wang nodded and left to make the call. About half an hour later, he returned with an OK sign.

“Lin Xian, I might have quoted too high a price… They agreed immediately and said they’d rush to Donghai City with their company seal to sign the contract. Uh… I guess I overshot, probably by quite a bit. They were really excited.”

“No worries,” Lin Xian laughed. “As long as we get it. Just wrap up the paperwork with them quickly. If they’re so eager, I bet we’ll own the rights to Microsoft Yahei by this afternoon.”

“Keep at it, Brother Wang. I’ll take a walk this morning and then go home to catch up on some sleep—I’ve been feeling pretty tired lately.”

Brother Wang, looking incredulous, gave a thumbs up. “Your sleep quality is really enviable—sleeping whenever and however long you want. No wonder you have such great hair.”

As he walked out, he got into his customized Alphard minivan and waved goodbye to Brother Wang. Lin Xian asked Xiao Li to drive toward the big supermarket.

In the coming days, he’d need to enter the dream world frequently during the day. He needed to stock up his fridge to avoid waking up in the middle of the night with nothing to eat.

The white Alphard minivan turned right.

Then it made a U-turn.

Finally, it got on the highway, moving quickly.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Donghai City…

Another white Alphard minivan came off the highway, heading toward a luxurious private hospital in the suburbs.

Zhao Ying Jun sat in the back seat as she pressed the window button, allowing the late spring breeze of early May to blow in, carrying the subtle hint of summer.

She could already see the building of the private hospital.

While it wasn’t as big as the public hospitals, it was said to have world-class DNA testing capabilities.

Since she had decided to do a DNA test, she might as well go to the most professional and accurate place to get an indisputable result.

She opened her handbag and looked at the two small plastic bags containing hair.

The bag on the left held Yan Qiao Qiao’s hair. It was of medium length, curled into four or five loops, lying calmly in the plastic bag.

The bag on the right held Zhao Ying Jun’s own hair, long and tangled, much like her current state of mind.

She didn’t believe a single word of what her parents had told her.

She was innocent—she hadn’t even dated anyone. How could she possibly have a child?

Besides, she was a woman. Wouldn’t she know if she’d given birth?

But…

She also understood that her parents, being highly educated intellectuals, wouldn’t make such outrageous claims without some basis.

There had to be some secret behind this.

And it wasn’t hard to uncover the truth.

A DNA test would reveal everything.

She got out of the car and was greeted by a receptionist.

This kind of luxurious private hospital catered specifically to wealthy clients, so the service quality and attitude were impeccable.

She walked into a private consulting room and took out the two plastic bags containing the hair and placed them on the table.

“I’d like a DNA test to see what the relationship between these two hair samples is,” she said.

“No problem, Miss Zhao Ying Jun,” the doctor replied politely, taking the samples and labeling them.

In private hospitals, clients are king. If the client doesn’t say whose hair it is, the doctor won’t ask. After all, they’ve seen their fair share of soap operas.

He skillfully labeled the hair sample on the left as Sample A and the one on the right as Sample B.

Then he showed Zhao Ying Jun to let her know which was which.

“By the way, Miss Zhao Ying Jun,” the doctor said as he recorded the information, “what kind of relationship do you think these two samples might have? It gives us a point of reference and could speed up the process a bit to get the results faster.”

“They should be sisters,” Zhao Ying Jun answered. “Most likely sisters, but I’m not ruling out other relationships. So, run a comprehensive test. I’m not in a hurry. I’ll come back tonight to pick up the results.”

“No problem, Miss Zhao Ying Jun. We’ll have it ready for you tonight.”

The doctor didn’t say more. He got the hint.

It was probably a dispute over an illegitimate child fighting for inheritance… very common among his clientele.

After giving her instructions, Zhao Ying Jun walked out of the hospital building.

The driver had already opened the electric door of the Alphard, waiting in the parking lot.

Wearing a dark green coat and high heels, with emerald earrings swaying and reflecting the sunlight, she walked briskly toward the car.

Suddenly, Zhao Ying Jun stopped in her tracks.

Her heart… seemed to beat a bit faster.

Then she turned around.

Staring at the hospital building she had just walked out of, she said, “Why do I feel a bit nervous?”

She chuckled softly and shook her head.

It should be her parents who were nervous.

She had a clear conscience so why should she be nervous?

Besides, if she did have a little sister, wouldn’t that be nice? As an only child, she had always envied families with siblings.

She’d love to be a big sister.

At that moment, she genuinely hoped Yan Qiao Qiao might be related to her.

“Am I about to become a big sister?” she wondered aloud with a smile.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, got into the van, closed the door, and headed back to the office for a meeting.