Chapter 3.3 He was so angry he felt like his lungs were about to explode after being completely outmaneuvered...

Liang Siyu successfully stopped the car, and the waiter chased after him to return his credit card.

Xu Aida's heart pounded wildly as he watched this farce unfold. The vein in his left temple twitched, and that annoying headache returned.

How come she never noticed that Liang Siyu was so impulsive?

The car slowly started moving, and after taking several deep breaths, she couldn't hold back any longer and yelled at him, "Are you crazy? The car has already started moving!"

What if the car knocks him down? What if he falls and breaks his arm...?

Her eyes reddened with anger: "You're going to be a neurosurgeon, do you even know what you'll be using for experiments and surgeries? Your hands! Ned, your hands!"

Neurosurgery is a department that requires extremely precise procedures. Liang Siyu is quite careful in her daily life. Even after starting her MD studies, she is very careful when skiing to avoid possible arm fractures.

Her reaction quickly calmed Liang Siyu's anger.

He impulsively chased after her, expecting her to scold him for being persistent, but to his surprise, the first thing she noticed was his hand. She clearly still liked him.

He was about to admit his recklessness and emphasize that he could no longer casually say "break up" in the future, as it would really drive him crazy.

But Xu Aida's expression suddenly froze. He turned to the window and coldly left behind the words, "Never mind."

He doesn't care, so why should she care for him?

This incident gave her another headache. How could she have overlooked these details back then? Didn't she realize that he didn't value his medical ideals that much?

This man appears steady and rational, but inside he's clearly a willful child.

Liang Siyu disliked her sudden cold expression, as if he had done something heinous.

She was the one who provoked us first today, and she wants to break up. Isn't that more serious than anything else?

He pulled her into his arms and said, "Ada, you clearly care about me, so why did you say you wanted to break up? I don't like hearing angry words like that. What happened? You have to tell me."

She struggled and tried to push him away, but it was no use.

She was petite and slender. Although Liang Siyu had left the rowing team after his sophomore year, his height and muscle mass were still impressive, and he could easily lock her in his arms with one hand.

His brow furrowed more and more, not understanding what was wrong with her today. Her sudden temper and threats to break up were completely unlike her.

Her head was throbbing more and more, so she gave up fighting it. With her eyes closed, she said listlessly, "Nothing else matters. I care, but you don't. We can't be together."

He doesn't care? When has he ever not cared about her? But she's so down that he can't bear to keep yelling at her.

He lowered his voice almost immediately: "I care, I care about you, Ada...you have no heart."

He whispered his accusation in her ear, his tone much softer than before, making her vaguely feel that he had been wronged. She was stunned and didn't say anything.

Seeing her stunned expression, he knew he had hit her weak spot, so he immediately kissed her ear gently and lightly, with a hint of probing and pushing his luck, while his hand naturally pressed against her jeans.

She instantly collapsed into his arms—damn it, they hadn't been dating long, but he knew her body perfectly.

She was slightly out of breath. Thank goodness, thank goodness, she was in a taxi.

They returned to the hotel. In the elevator, she tried to push him away, but it was no use; the arm around her waist was as hard as steel bars. In the hallway, she tried to push him away again, but he simply lifted her up by the waist.

He opened the door, closed it, held her tighter in his arms, lifted her in front of him, and kissed her without hesitation.

He was nearly 190 centimeters tall, while she was less than 165 centimeters tall, only slightly taller than his shoulder. It was uncomfortable for him to bend over and for her to stand on tiptoe, so it was the easiest and most comfortable way to kiss her. That's how he developed this habit.

Xu Aida didn't have time to say anything before he was lifted up, his feet off the ground, and he could only lean on him, rely on him, and feel him.

She felt like she'd been thrown into a scorching desert by a hurricane—dazed and with a headache.

The desert wind is dry and harsh, carrying fine pebbles and sand; it's anything but gentle and hits your face hard.

This is Ned—urgent, unrestrained, and passionate; he hasn't yet become the more silent, gentler, more attentive to her feelings, and more service-oriented Liang Siyu.

Liang Siyu, the melancholy Liang Siyu, the gaunt Liang Siyu, the Liang Siyu who gave her a bitter smile, the Liang Siyu who asked her, "Shall we still be friends?"...

She burst into tears because she thought, what if this is a parallel universe, and she died and ended up here, meeting another Ned from the parallel universe? What would happen to her Liang Siyu?

Her head ached, but her heart ached even more, and she suddenly burst into tears.

He stopped immediately and put her down. She had never cried before, and this was the first time, which immediately frightened him.

"Ada? What's wrong? What's wrong? I'm not... Don't be afraid... I'm sorry..."

He was rambling incoherently, trying to explain that he had absolutely no intention of forcing her.

She nestled in his arms, her tears quickly soaking his shirt.

He never knew that a girl could shed so many tears, and they were so hot that he thought his tactile receptors were malfunctioning.

This was the first time he had ever felt such heartache; it felt as if every nerve in his body had been severed by a scalpel.

He wondered if this was what it felt like to immerse your heart in strong sulfuric acid.

"Ada, don't cry, don't cry, please don't cry..." He didn't know what to do, so he could only beg her not to cry.

Her sobs subsided: "I...I hate you so much."

He held her blankly, his emotions so intense, it was impossible for him to be faking it. What had happened?

He meticulously reviewed recent events, trying to identify the most likely overlooked variable, but being a poor detective, he couldn't find a single clue.

She lifted her drowsy head: "If I died in a plane crash, what would you do?"

“Ada, don’t ask such questions. I don’t know. Heaven wouldn’t be that cruel.” He suddenly had a flash of inspiration. “This is the nightmare, isn’t it?”

She turned her head away without speaking, neither admitting nor denying it.

He wanted to say, "Why are you so stubborn? It's just a nightmare, what's there to be ashamed of admitting?" But looking at her tear-streaked face, he couldn't bring himself to say anything to accuse her.

He hugged her tightly: "It won't happen, don't be afraid, don't be afraid."

You know nothing! It's already happened!

Xu Aida couldn't help but say, "You treat me very badly."

She knew that this was a bit of an exaggeration. Apart from the increasingly thick invisible barrier between them and the decreasing communication, he was still quite gentle and caring towards her.

She simply lost the man who had a sparkle in his eyes and with whom she was so close.

But clearly, he misunderstood it as something else.

“I will never forget you, Ada, I don’t care what you see in your nightmares.”

His voice was hoarse, "Even if something happens to you, I will never forget you. I will only love you for the rest of my life. Believe me."

She started crying again, but in her heart she was thinking, "No, don't do this, Ned, you have to forget me, we're divorced, you have to forget me."

Her head felt heavy, and she felt pain in her chest, shoulders, and her whole body, as if she had been hit by a car, or as if fire was burning inside her bones.

"It hurts, Ned, it hurts so much," she murmured, collapsing into his arms.

Liang Siyu carried her back to bed and quickly touched her forehead; it was burning hot. She had a fever? When? He hadn't noticed in the hallway.

Ada has always been healthy, exercises regularly, and is full of energy; at least this semester, he hasn't seen her get sick.

“Ada? Can you hear me? Look at me! Look at my finger!” He patted her on the shoulder.

She flinched, barely opened her eyes, and quickly closed them again.

He continued to check his pulse, quickly calculated it, and found his heart rate was fast, close to 140.

He immediately called the front desk and asked for a thermometer and ice packs.

His body temperature was 39 degrees Celsius, and he quickly checked other vital signs.

I pried open her eyelids and shone a flashlight on her. Her pupils contracted sharply, her neck was flexible, and her breathing rhythm was still within the normal range, so it shouldn't be a big problem.

If we were at school, we could immediately check blood oxygen levels and do basic blood tests, which would give us peace of mind.

He continued to pat her on the shoulder and call her name, and she barely woke up.

He had prepared crushed Tylenol beforehand—and she drank it.

He helped her change into a bathrobe, wrapped an ice pack in a T-shirt, and placed it on the major artery near her iliac crest. He checked her temperature every half hour, and after three hours, he finally saw it begin to drop.

When Xu Aida woke up the next morning, he was fully awake, but his body was still a little sore.

She wondered if it was really just muscle soreness from the fever, or lingering injuries from the plane crash.

Is her sudden, unannounced fever a physical reaction to the time travel?

If there are faint traces of a plane crash, does it mean that this is the same time and space? (Personal interpretation, Note 1)

When she first arrived yesterday, she secretly hoped that this was a parallel universe, and perhaps she would have a chance to change the future.

Of course, she was still unwilling to accept it and wanted him to experience some pain as well.

But the question that suddenly popped into her mind tore her apart.

If this isn't the same timeline, then in her original timeline, her Liang Siyu was left there alone, while she could start over here.

—No, absolutely not.

She resented him, but the scene still pained her.

She can let go of her marriage, but she's not ready to forget Liang Siyu, the Liang Siyu who gave her both hope and disappointment.

She wished they were all in the same time and space, that perhaps the future could not be changed, that fate had taken him away, and that death had taken her away.

They both lost, but they both tried their best. She won't fall in love with anyone else—not even "another him" from a parallel universe.

She was lost in thought, unaware that the person next to her had already woken up.

"Ada? Has your fever gone down?" A hand reached out, and she immediately turned her head away.

Liang Siyu was stunned. He didn't want to argue with her, but he was also fed up with her cryptic remarks.

She called his name before she fainted, and avoided his hand after she woke up.

"What exactly happened? All because of that vague nightmare?" He was getting a little frantic. What was this all about?

She took a deep breath: "I need to figure some things out. Wait for me, okay?"

She needs to confirm whether this is the same time and space before she can consider what comes next.

The most direct verification might be her physical condition. If she has physical injuries that only exist in the future timeline, then she has most likely returned to her own past, rather than stealing the life of another Ada from a parallel universe.

He stared at her, wondering if this was another excuse or the real thing.

Her face was pale and sickly, but her eyes were bright, just like when she was proposing a new plan at a lab meeting. I'll trust her one more time.

He didn't press further, but emphasized, "I didn't agree to break up, did you hear me?"

She wouldn't budge either: "Let's break up and cool off. We'll talk again after the holiday."

This is winter break, not a breakup break. He wanted to yell, "Is this where you use your intelligence? Are you deliberately going against me?"

He was so angry he wanted to put electrodes on her to see what was going on in her head. Of course, this was neither in line with current cognitive neuroscience nor with experimental ethics.

Almost the instant the thought crossed her mind, she narrowed her eyes: "Don't even think about putting electrodes on me."

He paused for a moment, and the two looked at each other, like two connected wires.

He couldn't resist and reached out to put his hand on her left shoulder.

She shuddered suddenly and cried out, "It hurts—"

He let go and froze.

A thought flashed through her mind: had the plane injured her left shoulder when it crashed?

She held her breath, raised her hand, and carefully, tentatively, pressed her shoulder.

This time, it was gone—the pain receded like the tide, as if nothing had ever happened.

She stared blankly at her fingers. Could it be... that she was so eager for this to be the same time and space that she was experiencing "phantom pain"?

"Let me see." He reached out to pull open the collar of her bathrobe.

She immediately slapped his hand away, her tone turning cold: "We're on a break, man?"

His fingers froze in mid-air.

She turned to the side, coughed as if impatiently, and then said in a forced tone, "You're not an X-ray, you just have a fever and suddenly your muscles hurt."

He didn't speak, his gaze lingered on her shoulder for a few seconds before slowly shifting away.

The muscle aches caused by fever are a widespread dull pain, not really related to pressure or tactile stimulation. Her expression just now clearly indicated a sudden, localized sharp pain.

She asked, trying to cover her tracks, "Could you make me some breakfast?"

Liang Siyu nodded and went out. He reminded himself to be more mature, to give her some space, to act like a steady and rational doctoral student, not like a naive high school student.

While he was out, she carefully examined herself in the bathroom mirror and noticed a horizontal red mark near her iliac crest. She suspected it was a mark from an airplane seatbelt, but then she remembered that they had spent the night together the night before, so maybe it was him?

When they first got together, they were prone to losing their temper. Now he's impulsive and prone to violence. It's hard to say for sure; it can't be used as direct evidence.

Another issue is that she can feel her body recovering rapidly.

Logically, such a sudden high fever shouldn't resolve this quickly. Does this mean the time travel effect will disappear soon?

She couldn't wait until the holiday was over; she needed to verify it as soon as possible.

She racked her brains trying to think of possible ways to verify the information, and suddenly remembered that she had once fallen while skiing and fractured the radius in her left arm, as well as damaging the shoulder and elbow joint capsule.

If it is still in the "overlapping" state after the initial crossing, it might be detectable in an MRI scan?

Without a doctor's referral, it's difficult to get an expedited medical examination appointment; it's better to seek other avenues.

In their line of work, many labs have MRI equipment. She quickly thought of someone.

"Hi, Professor Nelson?"

She said she was sorry to disturb his vacation, but her old arm injury suddenly flared up and was very painful. She wondered if he would allow a student to scan her MRI in the lab.

With her memories of the future, she knew that Nelson usually wrote papers and didn't go on vacation in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays, so it didn't disturb his private time too much.

Liang Siyu brought back breakfast. After eating, she said she wanted to change rooms tonight.

He wanted to say something, but held back: "I'll move it, you get some rest."

She thought she would have to argue, but it went so smoothly.

She murmured her thanks, "I'm sorry. You could have gone to Vegas by yourself, or gone back to New York earlier. You didn't have to stay here with me."

"I cancelled the plane tickets and hotel last night. As for when I'm going home, that's none of your business." Liang Siyu felt she was pushing him away again, and her tone was somewhat harsh.

They had originally planned to go to Las Vegas for a vacation these two days, and then go home to celebrate the holiday.

He didn't want to go home for Christmas for the first time. He didn't want the engagement ring to be just any ordinary one, so he used his mother's account to expedite its customization.

I thought I could happily announce to my family when I got home, "She agreed."

And now? Before I even had a chance to propose, I was dumped, without even knowing why.

Seeing his attitude, Xu Aida stopped talking. Worrying about him? She'd rather worry about herself; a whole host of questions awaited her.

In the afternoon, while Liang Siyu was lost in thought in the hotel's coffee shop, she suddenly saw that people who were supposed to be resting had come out.

A thought struck him, and he followed her from a distance. She walked with great focus, never looking back or glancing around, making it easy for him to keep up.

Five minutes later, she entered UW, and he began to have a bad feeling.

A little while later, she went into a building, and he was absolutely furious. Of course, he knew who was in this research center.

What did she say she needed to figure something out? Was she here to find out about that older man? To figure out how much he truly cared for her? Was it worth dumping him?

He must be crazy to believe her nonsense, allowing her to vaguely say "we are on a break," promising to talk about it again after the holiday, and even moving out of the room himself—he's acting like a complete idiot, being played like a fool.

A note from the author:

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[Note 1] A minor personal setting.

If one travels back to the same time and space, that is, is reborn, the body will be in a "superimposed state" for a short period of time, and the scars, diseases, abilities, etc. that one had before rebirth may reappear for a short time.

If you travel to a parallel universe, you will be in a "superimposed state" without a physical body.

This setup was designed so that Ada could go to Professor Nelson, the "tool person," for a checkup.