On the plane, Li Haojun recalled Sienna's demeanor and expressions during their conversation before lunch. He ate his lunch, occasionally glancing up at her to compare, but didn't initiate any conversation. Li Haojun now knew she could sense his brainwaves, but he didn't care that Sienna knew he was scrutinizing her.
Sienna didn't talk to Li Haojun as she had before lunch either, eating quietly, occasionally glancing up at him, but involuntarily looking away when their eyes met.
After this boring working meal during the journey, Li Haojun no longer felt the afternoon drowsiness he had experienced before. Although the sun was indeed warm and the engines were indeed noisy, he only wanted to figure out what had happened. Having recounted his past experiences, he sat opposite Sienna, calmly awaiting her perspective.
Sienna didn't immediately offer an explanation, seemingly hesitant. Ultimately, Li Haojun had to encourage her to speak.
"Sienna, I don't mean to blame you. I just want to know what happened just now, and whether it had anything to do with you? Can you tell me?"
"Yes," Sienna finally spoke timidly.
"I'm sorry, Ethan, it might be because of me. I was exploring your memories; I was just curious."
"So, that afternoon I just realized, it only happened in my mind, right?"
"Yes, everything now is real."
"Then, why did I sense those fabricated scenarios when you explored my memories?"
"Perhaps it's the result of our brainwaves interfering with each other." Listening to her explanation, Li Haojun smiled slightly, thinking, then, why would she fabricate those ambiguous scenarios?158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xdiEkT38D
Li Haojun glanced at Sienna across from him. She looked somewhat hesitant, not wanting to press the matter further, but upon closer analysis, something seemed amiss. She knew she must have eaten lunch and drunk water to feel the urge to urinate, so her trip to the bathroom must have happened before lunch—it didn't make logical sense.
At this moment, Sienna spoke,
"You didn't go to the bathroom, and your memory is false."158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxG4o8HE6ls
Li Haojun looked into Sienna's eyes, thought for a moment, and asked,
"Then, where do these false memories begin? And where do they end?"
"From when you remember..." "When I rested my chin on my hands and approached you, that was real; the memory ended when you came back from the bathroom and sat down," seeing that Sienna had confessed truthfully, Li Haojun thought he shouldn't be so petty and act so serious. He smiled and asked,
"Have you done this to anyone else?"
"No, not here,"158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNv3IROsxep
Li Haojun was about to ask, "Then where have you done it to anyone else?" when he realized something was wrong. Sienna's resume showed she was in Kalispel. Had she been to other places? Then he thought again, perhaps she meant this company.
In the afternoon, thinking about the indistinguishable sensations in his mind, Li Haojun no longer had the desire to take a nap. His conversation with Sienna became perfunctory, seemingly somewhat resentful of her intrusion into his thoughts. Time was spent understanding the written materials Sienna had prepared.
Small planes are always slightly slower than mainline flights, and it was already evening when they arrived in New York. After dinner at the hotel, the city lights were just coming on. Knowing he had work the next day, Li Haojun took Sienna back to her room after dinner and then returned to his own room next door.
Lying on the bed to relieve the day's fatigue, he couldn't help but think of Kathy, those days they had spent traveling together.
Then he thought of Sienna next door. He wondered if, at this distance, through the wall, Sienna could still intrude into his mind and steal information. Although Li Haojun didn't mind this young woman, just entering society, knowing some of his privacy, for some reason, when her inquiries touched on his relationship with Kathy, it stirred up his emotions, as if he disapproved of Sienna replacing Kathy.
Li Haojun himself didn't know why he had this emotional reaction. Hearing a knock at the door, lying in bed, he already guessed it was Sienna. For some reason, a slight sense of unease washed over him.
"Ethan, Ethan, it's Sienna," her voice came from outside.
When there was no answer, she knocked again.
"Do you have a moment, Ethan? I want to explain something..."
Normally, Li Haojun would have responded immediately and wouldn't have treated a lady so coldly. But this time, he didn't. Instead, he went straight to the door, opened it, and faced Sienna. He didn't speak first, nor did he invite her in.
Sienna looked into Li Haojun's eyes, seemingly sensing the awkward atmosphere. She opened her mouth but didn't say anything, then lowered her head, seemingly unable to look Li Haojun in the eye. Her eyes darted around, but she finally mustered the courage to look at him and say,
"Ethan, I'm sorry about what happened today, I think..." Sienna seemed about to say she wanted to explain, but Li Haojun didn't give her the chance.
Li Haojun interrupted her with a smile before she could finish, saying,
"It's okay, don't worry about it. You have work tomorrow, get some rest," he said, closing the door and going back to bed.
When everything calmed down, Li Haojun reflected on what had just happened and realized he had handled Sienna very roughly. He didn't know why he had been so impatient at that moment, to the point that now, lying in bed, he was worried about the girl. Had she been hurt? Had she gone back to her room crying?
The worry and guilt in his heart didn't seem to have reached the threshold for action. Li Haojun remained lying calmly on the bed, but his inner turmoil grew increasingly unsettled.
With each passing second, his rough treatment of Sienna inflicted more pain on the young girl's heart. She only possessed a unique ability due to her hearing impairment; it wasn't her fault.
Li Haojun could no longer remain indifferent. He knocked on Sienna's door.
"Come in, the door's unlocked," came Sienna's familiar voice.
Pushing open the door, Sienna was already standing before Li Haojun. He carefully examined her face, looking for any trace of crying, until he found no evidence. Only then did Li Haojun feel some relief from his guilt.
"Ethan, please come and sit down,"
Just as Li Haojun turned to close the door, he missed the joy in Sienna's eyes as she looked at him. Turning back to face her, he said softly, somewhat apologetically,
"I'm sorry, I was a bit rude to you just now. It seems you hadn't finished speaking. I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."
"No, Ethan, I should be apologizing to you,"
Before she could finish, Li Haojun pointed to the chair behind Sienna and said,
"Let's sit down and talk."
The atmosphere seemed much better now. Sienna sat down in the chair, moved closer to Li Haojun, and said timidly,
"Ethan, it's my fault. I lied to you during the day."
"Oh? You are..." "How did you trick me? Tell me," Li Haojun said with a half-joking laugh.
"Well, sorry, the person you sensed was someone I found in your memories, and then I projected a fabricated story onto you, which is why you felt like you experienced so many things."
"Found in my memories? How did you find them?" Li Haojun was genuinely curious.
"Ah, it's like this, when you're chatting with me, the people or events you mention will have corresponding images in your mind. I can sense your brainwaves and roughly perceive what the person looks like or the scene of the event," Sienna explained, seemingly excited and almost animated.
Seeing her so relaxed, Li Haojun also let go of his worries. Seeing her so enthusiastically explaining, he continued the conversation.
"So how did you project those experiences onto me?"
"I thought of it. I imagined the whole process from your first-person perspective, and you could sense my brainwaves, thinking it was your own experience."
"Oh, haha," Li Haojun laughed, feeling it was like magic, looking at Sienna's young and lovely face. She didn't look like a witch from a fairy tale at all.
"Ethan, I'm not a witch," Sienna said with a smile, her tone slightly coquettish.
Brought back to reality with a smile, Li Haojun asked curiously,
"Then why did you do that?"
"I..." Sienna hesitated.
"It's okay, you don't have to say if you don't want to," Li Haojun quickly reassured her.
"I'm curious," Sienna said, her big eyes blinking as she looked at Li Haojun.
Curious about what? Had she never been in a relationship before? Li Haojun wanted to ask her, but remembering it was a girl's privacy, he dismissed the idea. But this time, however, he seemed to have been caught off guard by Sienna again.
"I've never had a romantic relationship before, nor have I ever had any contact with the opposite sex. I come from elsewhere, and this is the first time I've met a man at work." Sienna pointed at Li Haojun with a slightly timid expression, then continued,
"I've only ever heard that when men and women are together, well, they do certain things, so I'm a little curious,"
"Oh, is that so?" Although he agreed verbally, Li Haojun still had some questions. Her resume clearly stated that she was born and raised in Kalispel, but he didn't want to ask her for details.
Thinking for a moment, Li Haojun suddenly chuckled,
"Ethan, why are you laughing?"
"I just noticed you're very energetic tonight, unlike that time at your house when I couldn't stop you from falling into a deep sleep," he said, curious about the reason for her unusual behavior. Looking into her eyes, he seemed to expect a reasonable answer,
"Oh, but, I really..." "I don't know why, I don't remember, I don't remember what you said, but I do remember some things about my family, I don't know why,"
"Huh? Is it possible that you were at home when they did what you did to me?" Li Haojun suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of this.
"Oh," Sienna replied, blinking her big eyes, and thought for a moment before saying,
"What you said makes sense, but who did it? How did they do it? Why would they do it?" Li Haojun wanted to say that he had a brainwave measuring device, but the words stuck in his throat. He felt like he was trying to get close to her, and since he was going to Sienna's house anyway, he pretended to check the time and said,
"It's getting late, I have work tomorrow, I'll go back to my room now, you should get some rest too, okay?"
"Okay, Ethan, goodnight,"
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