Chapter 1325: Grandma Can Be Late, But She Won't Be Absent

In fact, deducing results from causes is certainly a commendable ability, but tracing causes from results is a more mercenary pursuit.

Quantifiable behavior is certainly an important indicator of peace of mind, but the direction of the indicator is not limited to peace of mind, especially when it concerns oneself.

Out of reliance on his comfort zone, Aomo would like to view Ling's actions as a joke, just as her own ambiguous and noncommittal stance seems to offer such an escape.

But...

Aomo had already noticed Ling's abnormal behavior before.

Not to mention the confession on the balcony that day, just the so-called quiet of these days has already caused him several doubts.

Shu and Xi each displayed strange attitudes regarding Ling's topic, which once made him doubtful.

Moreover, Chazuo had once mentioned the fact that Ling had waited for him in silence but he didn't wait for her, and it once made him surprised by her silence that she had never mentioned.

At those times, unable to understand, he could only temporarily resort to plausible excuses, such as not being particularly familiar with the Year Beast incarnations, and also that Ling had good drinking habits, good character, and was not lacking in worldly savvy.

Therefore, he had also thought of giving Ling a few bottles of good wine when he was free, not knowing whether she could accept the influence of the Demon Realm's Po Spirit Liqueur series— in Aomo's view, gifts for transmigrants naturally ought to be the most representative specialty of this world, and that liquor was precisely the kind highly praised on the transmigrant forum.

However, because brewing requires beast spirit remnants and has been opposed by certain groups, whether to do it still depends on him gauging her acceptance.

But obviously, before that time arrived, he had to face that so-called joke.

Could that be a joke?

Looking back, he recalled all the points worth noting.

Many of those were far-fetched, actually just used to suppress curiosity, awaiting later refutation, but now they have come up with a more reasonable motive.

But... is it really reasonable?

All night, Aomo couldn't close his eyes, found it hard to sleep.

Although he could employ forced sleep measures such as Source Energy interference, he did not.

He was just using his brain repeatedly.

He did not rely on Jierbalisi's computing power as a mental exoskeleton.

That excessive computing power is always useful for web searches and data corruption, but it is of no use in the search for rational thought.

It even carries the risk of overriding his own logical calculations.

Thus he relied only on replacing the newly loaded crystal core at the hospital that morning, which took ten minutes, and his own mental power, repeatedly reviewing and replaying to fill in the most incredible motive to corroborate everything.

At the same time, he was deducing the rationality of the motive itself.

No one knows how he deduced it, and even he himself has hesitated more than once about what he was doing.

So-called liking, so-called affection's calculation model has never existed in the world; there are only various external feedbacks based on hormones.

But reactions such as flushed face, racing heart, incoherent speech, sending autumn glances, and wandering gaze are neither unique nor inevitable.

Many have mistaken it, many have ignored it, many have coincidentally followed it, easily turning it into confidence, only to suffer defeat that day in that confidence, and the various outcomes are too many to count.

That feeling, never placed in precision instruments nor magnified and clarified by lenses, exists in the Source Energy domain with especially diverse criteria for judgment, and under those criteria, the two being together is also a hard requirement.

In the end, it simply cannot be determined.

But one point that cannot be ignored is: once the existence of the fundamental motive is acknowledged, all past doubts will find answers.

In formal case reasoning, by this step one can already confront the parties involved; even if another reason that could explain everything suddenly pops up, it doesn't matter because the present moment is already a point infinitely close to the truth.

Perhaps I should talk with the other party again...

Or perhaps I should first explain to Qian and Qiena...

Or perhaps... I should just pretend nothing happened...

At that time, Aomo had thought of many things, because that back-and-forth deduction could never be nailed down, he found it hard to determine the truth of that joke, and thus found it difficult to specially inform his two girlfriends based solely on an uncertain joke.

A joke should basically be treated as a joke deserves; Aomo had also considered bringing it up casually during breakfast chat, letting the two take over for his brain exhausted by all those deductions.

Being fellow women, they might have perspectives he lacks; being in the same company, even stepping aside to talk would be easier for them than for him.

But Ling is his friend, not a suspect in the case at hand.

For a suspect, he can disregard how they will view him later, and can boldly assume and interrogate to verify everything at this stage.

But for a friend, for a friend who has many times helped him relieve fatigue, that rash step could easily become a rift in their friendship.

From between the two, it could extend to Zhong Yue, Shu, Xi, and others.

This step, even if spoken through the girlfriend, makes no difference.

Although everything started with the other party's move, that slightly over-the-line action caused the present annoyance, but he is not the type of domineering CEO who would say, 'It's your fault for starting it, even if it's a misunderstanding.'

Unfinished work also forced him to temporarily set this matter aside, until Xi's avatar flickered, making his breath catch.

A person with a guilty conscience cannot stay calm at any rustle of wind or grass, especially when the rustle takes on a distinct form.

But that ultimately is just a rustle; in the end, Xi gave no message worth his notice, yet her very act of waking up and sending a message is itself a proof.

This proof, together with Chazuo's words, constructs a subtext that Ling's situation is also out of the ordinary, as if adding a few percentage points to the original doubts.

Or should he just contact her directly? Gazing at the light screen, he once again considered this plan.

If he were to clarify beforehand, asking for forgiveness if it were a misunderstanding, would that reduce the risk of friendship fracturing?

Truly acknowledging a friendship, this period of the year has already begun to reap rewards one after another, yet Aomo Lindun lacks confidence in this matter.

He has seen positive examples and also negative outcomes, but the determination of those results depends not only on actions, but also on the parties' personalities and the depth of their friendship.

As for the latter, Aomo does not feel he has seen it clearly.

Because only at such times does he realize he cannot define his friendship with Ling.

Is it deep or shallow, familiar or light?

Is the relationship of drinking and chatting, of dreaming together and wandering about, for her ordinary or special?

He suddenly realized his information on 'Ling's interactions with others' was pitifully scarce, largely due to his busyness and Ling's solo actions, with only later did a little sidekick like Chazuo appear.

But the fact remains, and furthermore those forgotten dreams make him wonder whether they still hide a key defining point.

These unknowns constitute his new doubts.

A person who from birth possessed extremely few demons, the only experience of having then losing, was the physiological death of the foster father.

It seems he has accepted it for a long time, yet the scab on his heart has never fallen off.

The sudden impact of gaining too much friendship over several months did not make him indifferent to the possibility of losing friendship; he remains the youth who worries about "the dead cannot be changed, I want to see the living," and as long as it's not yet settled, he wants to strike a perfect conclusion.

This unconventional perfectionism is actually a self-imposed cocoon, making his extremely unstable steps difficult, yet he also has a crutch called "training" and a crutch called "work," adding a sense of stability derived from "switch" and from "comfort zone."

He originally thought this matter could be temporarily set aside like that until after school.

Everything could be left until evening when he returns home to cook and discuss with Xi and Qiena; at least he should keep his girlfriend informed and hear her opinions—but just then, Chazuo sent a message.

【Deep Coffee: Is the trainer's insomnia because of your older sister?】

……

From afar, those dark-golden eyes gazed at himself.

For Aomo, who lacks the Ultraman's eye but has the snake's pupil, the doubt in those eyes is not concealed; instead, it suddenly makes him realize:

Compared to Qiena, who merely works at the same company headquarters, Chazuo is the one best suited to go to your side and probe.