Genius Club

Chapter 499: From an Angel

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.

“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.

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.”