We moved to Golden Courtyard

Amused by Xu Qi's words, Mei covered her mouth with the back of her hand, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

"That won't do. Given your wariness of me, you'll be scared away."

Xu Qi scratched his head awkwardly and waved his hand, saying, "That's not true, that's not true."

He seemed to recall last night, when there was not only a kiss but also a heart-to-heart talk, and he gained a deeper understanding of the much more mature 'Mei' in front of him.

Yes, just like Mebius during the day.

When Xu Qi was able to better distinguish between the two, he found that he wasn't as unable to accept the other person's existence as he had imagined.

"Then I'll be going now. Since we agreed that I would come to teach Gretchen, you don't need to worry that I might not be able to come for some reason."

What could be the cause of this accident?

"For example... something more intimate happened besides kissing?"

Xu Qi's face immediately turned red.

"Just kidding, I'm leaving."

……

Watching the other person leave, Xu Qi could only sigh—the other person knew him too well, knowing that he simply couldn't resist this kind of older sister-like teasing.

But the key question is... where did this understanding come from?

······

"Hey, hey, hey? Can you see me?"

In Alicia's room, Mei was having a video call on her iPad. The two girls had been tinkering with it all day and had finally managed to get in touch with Professor Planck, who was far away in Europe.

On the other side of the video, a woman sat quietly and elegantly behind the lab table. All that could be seen was a long gray-black dress and a head of smooth, long green hair.

Unlike Mebius's slightly curled hair, it's more like that of Dr. Mei.

"Hello, Ms. Mei, Ms. Alicia."

"Professor Planck, I've finally managed to get in touch with you!"

"Wow! Professor Planck is so beautiful too!"

Mei squinted at Alicia, who was lying to the side. The pink fairy scratched her head politely but awkwardly, stuck out her tongue, and stepped aside.

“I have already looked into the specifics. Speaking of which, Dr. Mebius seemed to have asked me a similar question not long ago.”

Mebius?

Mei pouted – the professor had indeed come prepared.

“If it were just a simple resemblance, there would be no need to ask me. I know Dr. Mei very well, after all, she and I are both at the forefront of quantum theory.”

Planck looked at Mei again carefully, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"But those at your level are indeed rare... and it also involves mental strength, which cannot be explained by conventional science."

"Coincidentally, I've been working on a project recently that might be helpful to you."

Mei's eyes lit up.

"What is it?"

"In earlier years, scientists in the quantum field proposed the idea of ​​parallel universes. Although it has been disproven in recent years, similar world bubble theories are still being widely studied."

Mei and Airi both held their breath.

“Oh, but I’ve already proven it wrong for you. That Dr. Mei could not possibly be Miss Mei from another world.”

"Huh? Why?"

"Because just recently, the world bubble theory has made a huge breakthrough. I can't say the specifics, but I can tell you very clearly."

Within the bubble of the world, there may indeed exist others who are identical to our intrinsic world, like a mirror image, but their essence remains that of two different people.

Mei and Airi stared at each other, wide-eyed.

"Let me give you a reference that you New Humans can accept. For New Humans, what distinguishes the essence of humanity is the fluctuation of mental energy, right?"

Mei nodded.

"Then I can say this: two humans who are essentially identical and whose mental energy fluctuations are almost identical... even if you count thousands of world bubbles, it is impossible for them to exist."

"!"

"I won't go into the specific theoretical basis, because you wouldn't understand it anyway. I'll just state the conclusion. And you don't need to rely on the idea of ​​people from the future."

Because time is a concept we humans use to satisfy our self-perception; it doesn't actually exist.

This...then...who exactly is she...?

"But it wasn't all for naught, Miss Mei."

"What do you mean?"

"This major breakthrough in the theory of the world bubble has also brought a new puzzle and a new research direction, and this research direction... may actually be related to the existence of Dr. Mei."

Planck retrieved a three-dimensional projection from the computer beside him.

That was a... tree?

"We named this new research direction, which symbolizes the concept of infinite possibilities, the Tree of Imaginary Numbers."

······

On the rooftop balcony of the Golden Courtyard, Xu Qi met Aponia, who was dressed in a nun's habit and had just finished praying.

I couldn't help but laugh and said, "Sister Nia, you had just finished praying when I saw you at church this afternoon. Why are you praying again tonight?"

Aponia only gave a slight smile in response to Xu Qi's question, without answering.

She walked slowly to Xu Qi's side, and as if she had noticed something, she said softly, "You seem a little confused. Is it because of Dr. Mei?"

It seems nothing can escape Nia's notice...

Xu Qi smiled helplessly, put his arm around Nia's shoulder, and walked down the balcony with her.

"It's alright, I've actually figured it out. What Dr. Mei's identity doesn't seem to matter. What matters is what kind of person she is, and whether she's worth getting to know as a friend."

I think this is the essence of human relationships; I was just being too attached to appearances.

I suppose... that Dr. Mei must have had the same wish.

Aponia smiled with satisfaction.

"It's like a choice you make in the trajectory of fate. Whether the outcome will change because of it is not important. What is important is that you took that step and added a new branch to your predetermined path."

New... branches.

478. Gretchen is my sister... she really is my sister!

Xu Qi glanced at the nun in front of him with amusement and chuckled softly, "Sister Nia always has a lot of profound wisdom to share. I really should consult you more often when I encounter something like this."

After she finished speaking, Aponia's eyes revealed a rare hint of resentment.

This made Xu Qi scratch his head and ask cautiously, "Sister Nia?"

“I told you from the beginning that you can come to me for advice no matter what problems you encounter, right? But it seems you didn’t take that to heart… Xu Qi.”

amount……

Cold sweat streamed down his face.

Being stared at like that by other women was one thing, but being stared at like that by Aponia was incredibly stressful, and it truly was...

It was my oversight.

So he quickly hugged Nia tighter and whispered comfortingly, "I'm sorry, Nia, it's my fault, it's my fault."

"besides."

besides?

Xu Qi scratched his head, his face full of bitterness—did he really have that many problems with Sister Nia?

"What did you and Bronya do the night before last?"

Bronya?

Xu Qi was stunned. Now, whenever Bronya's name was mentioned, all he could think of was her curvaceous figure and her incredibly bouncy...

Xu Qi's face stiffened; he understood.

"Sister Nia... already knows?"

Beneath the nun's headscarf, Aponia nodded slowly, her eyes filled with gloom and dissatisfaction.

"I thought neither Miss Bronya nor I had ever been intimate with you, since neither of us was prepared. At first, I had some concerns..."

Even though you've already expressed your feelings for each other, you haven't taken the next step yet. Do you feel any dissatisfaction?

Later, I met Miss Bronya. You were there too, during that tree hole session, and we all heard her innermost thoughts, which made us feel a sense of goodwill towards her.

After all, she and I are very similar, at least in our relationship with you.

But I only found out the night before last... that you two had already been together for a long time...

"No, no, no!" Xu Qi hurriedly waved his hands to explain, "Sister Nia, what are you thinking? We didn't...do...no! Even now, Bronya is still a virgin."

……

The nun raised her face, which was filled with doubt and confusion, and tilted her head at Xu Qi.

"No?"

Oh no, why is it so cute?

Having understood the source of Nia's inexplicable jealousy and faint resentment, Xu Qi breathed a sigh of relief.

He quickly explained, "Of course not."

“But last night, I clearly felt that your bodies were very close together, and the spiritual energy transmitted between you was the same as it is on your usual nights.”

Holy crap! I didn't know mental power could be used like this!?

Xu Qi scratched his head awkwardly and said, "But it hasn't come to that yet..."

Aponia was still puzzled. She frowned in displeasure and lowered her head again.

“I understand. You don’t want to say it, and I can’t force you to. You and Bronya are close, and I understand that you don’t want me to know.”

I'll assume things haven't progressed to that point yet, so you don't need to explain. Please be happy, Xu Qi. I will silently protect you.

Xu Qi was instantly overwhelmed!

He originally thought that the nun was without desires and wouldn't be jealous like Mei and the others.

Now it seems... I really haven't mastered the art of understanding women's hearts!

After their relationship was established and they became increasingly close, the nun's possessiveness towards her began to become more and more obvious.

These older women... are not to be trifled with.

He could only smile wryly and say, "Sister Nia, what are you thinking? Why would I lie to you?"

Aponia glanced at Xu Qi in the crowdfunding group (456127940), said nothing, and bowed her head in prayer.

Oh no... You have such a devilishly alluring body, yet you can also be as cute as a little angel. Only you, Aponia, could be like that.

Xu Qi thought for a moment, then hesitated before saying, "How about... we also... do what Bronya and I did the night before last?"

Aponia held her breath for a moment.

"but I……"

"I know, I know, I'm not ready yet. Sister Nia, don't worry, I'm not lying to you. Bronya and I didn't do anything, just like when we played house last time."

I didn't actually go inside... it was somewhere else.

Other places...?

Aponia looked at Xu Qi with a puzzled expression.

Even Xu Qi couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt—it felt like he was abducting an innocent little rabbit.

"Sigh, we'll find out soon enough, okay?"