2

Xiang Ran was completely flustered; the world seemed insane. He was just here to make up the numbers!

"We're just classmates, not close at all!"

"I don’t even have her phone number!"

"Besides, how could I not know?"

Zhao Ying, however, remained calm and continued explaining, "I know that in her current state, she’s misattributing sources of information from different events. This confusion might lead Shuyao to mistakenly believe that some fictional information is a real experience she’s had."

"Also known as false memory!"

He only partially understood this technical term, but he did know what "false" meant.

Ridiculous!

"Then why is the boyfriend she imagined me?"

Xiang Ran couldn't comprehend it at all. "I have nothing to do with her."

This question, laced with gossip, made Zhao Ying hold back from revealing Liu Shuyao's secret.

The school beauty has secretly had a crush on him for years, so she created a fantasy comic about their “romantic” daily life. After the accident, she confused the comic’s identities with reality? This plot is too surreal for her to speak up!

“Cough, cough.”

“The official explanation from the doctor is that this memory distortion may come from something the patient has overly focused on or been obsessed with in their life.”

Sure enough, hearing this explanation, Xiang Ran had a big “Are you kidding me?” expression.

He took a deep breath to explain:

“Even though we were classmates in high school and ended up at the same university, we’re just ordinary classmates—nothing special. Do you understand what it means to be just classmates? It means we don’t know each other"

"Three years of high school plus one year of university, and we probably spoke a total of fewer than ten sentences!!”

“Are you sure it’s just four years?”

“Absolutely!”

The last two words came out of Xiang Ran’s mouth through clenched teeth, sounding very sincere.

Zhao Ying was washing an apple. After rinsing it, she handed it to Xiang Ran without reacting to his explanation.

“Now your story is starting over, but this time as boyfriend and girlfriend”

What identity is that? Is this some kind of loaned romance? 

An unexpected path!

The bizarre situation left him struggling to find the right words to complain.

Who would have thought Zhao Ying didn’t care at all? She had the perspective of a god. “Just give Shu Yao a chance! Look how pitiful she is~ Right now, she still thinks you’re her boyfriend and is having a little argument with her!”

Xiang Ran felt his head buzzing after hearing this. It was like a hidden error in code—during execution, it might not show up immediately, creating the illusion of smooth operation, until the system crashes one day, taking the programmer down with it.

Xiang Ran suddenly felt as if the words “Criminal Law” were flashing brightly in front of him.

“What if one day she regains her memory? Will I have any way out? How many years would this kind of thing get me?”

Zhao Ying shrugged, thinking he was overreacting. “If Shu Yao regains her memory, she’ll be so happy she might drag you to the courthouse in no time, believe me!”

But even though she thought this, she couldn’t say it out loud. Instead, she reassured him again, pretending to make a solemn vow. “It won’t happen; there’s absolutely no way!”

“This situation is like a logical error. Any unexpected behavior in the program will eventually cause the server to crash,” Xiang Ran said, his voice tinged with helplessness.

Zhao Ying didn’t quite understand, but she caught the word “expected” and quickly interjected, “But how do you know she doesn’t like you? What if Shu Yao has had a crush on you for years and wants you to be her boyfriend?”

“Besides, why do you care so much? The school beauty sees you as her boyfriend—how could you possibly refuse such a great opportunity?”

After saying this, Zhao Ying worried that Xiang Ran might bring up more strange technical terms, so she quickly made an excuse about a debate club meeting and rushed away.

Xiang Ran watched her slip into the elevator and shook his head. Code was so much better; it never lied!

A bug is just a bug!

But how could he refuse such a great opportunity to play the school beauty's boyfriend?

Of course he could! What was he getting into? Was he signing up to be stuck in a sewing machine for five years?

Xiang Ran felt that Zhao Ying was a bit desperate, so he decided to consult the doctor again. The doctor’s explanation was similar: terms like false memory, suggestive effects, confusion, and constructive memory were all thrown at him. He was reminded repeatedly not to stimulate the patient and to go along with her wishes to avoid causing neurological issues.

There was no way out. Xiang Ran thought about escaping, but Zhao Ying had already dropped this situation in his lap. Reluctantly, he grabbed the apple and hot water and headed back to the hospital room.

He stood at the door for a long time, trying to convince himself that there was no way he could agree to such a ridiculous arrangement!

How could they possibly be together when they were practically strangers? Even online relationships needed a few days to get to know each other!

Determined, Xiang Ran decided to confront Liu Shuyao about it. He walked back to the hospital room and, through the slightly open door, saw her slender figure sitting on the bed, eagerly looking in the direction he had just left.

“Hubby.”

Xiang Ran shivered. “I’m not; don’t call me that!”

He simply couldn’t accept that the usually cold and noble school beauty was suddenly softening her voice and calling him “hubby.”

Xiang Ran was feeling a bit overwhelmed, but he calmed himself down, determined to resolve the issue properly.

To his surprise, Liu Shuyao pressed her lips together, her brow furrowing slightly, her tone even more pitiful. “But you used to force me to call you that!”

Xiang Ran felt as if his head was about to split open. “Used to? When did we ever have a past?”

Were the false memories the school beauty conjured up really that convincing?

Taking a deep breath, he pulled a chair over to sit by the bed, trying to test whether Liu Shuyao truly had amnesia. “So, tell me, what proof do you have that I’m your boyfriend?”

Liu Shuyao shook her head, looking completely bewildered, clearly not understanding the meaning behind Xiang Ran’s words. She thought he was testing her.

“But I have photos of you on my phone!”

“We’re in the same club; group photos are common!”

“What about that drawing I did...?”

Liu Shuyao hurried to explain but suddenly realized that her boyfriend didn’t know about her drawing the daily slice-of-life comic. That was evidence of their love, and she couldn’t let that slip!

A flicker of guilt flashed in her lively eyes. She pressed her lips together and rephrased, “I’ve also drawn your portrait!”

Xiang Ran didn’t sense anything wrong and continued to explain earnestly.

“You’re in the art department. Just last week, you had people from the club model for you!”

He moved his chair closer, speaking confidently. “And most importantly, we hardly know each other. How could two people in this situation possibly be in a relationship?”

“You like the buns from the South Gate; you only eat vegetarian ones and don’t like pasta. You think tomato and egg noodles taste better; you can only handle two beers, and you’re allergic to eggplant. And…”

These habits of Xiang Ran flowed naturally from Liu Shuyao's lips, especially the fact that he was allergic to eggplant—a detail even his friends didn’t know.

“If that doesn’t count as knowing each other, then what kind of understanding do you need to want to be your girlfriend?”

“As for that aspect, you won’t let me too...”

“Uh-uh~~~”

As Liu Shuyao spoke, her eyes instinctively glanced down. Xiang Ran was startled and quickly shoved the apple into his mouth.

What an outrageous statement!

“But my wife isn’t you!”

To his surprise, Liu Shuyao tilted her head, as if counting something carefully. “Isn’t Mai Yi your wife from the second dimension?”

“I’m talking about the third dimension; it doesn’t conflict!”

What? She knows about that too?

“Are you trying to break up with me?”

Xiang Ran paused, the words he wanted to say caught in his throat. When he saw the redness at the corners of Liu Shuyao’s eyes, he remembered Zhao Ying’s and the doctor’s warnings and was forced to swallow his words, leaving him unable to escape.

Could she be... crying?

In that moment, his worldview collapsed like an ancient building battered by wind and rain, crumbling without warning under Liu Shuyao’s direct gaze.

From program design to data structures, from validating the logical steps of algorithms to the stacks used for function calls and expression evaluations, he couldn't say a single word.

He felt overwhelmed. Maybe it was best to just go with the flow for now.

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