Chapter 144: When People Believe in Different Systems
Sheldon had clearly lost all interest in continuing the discussion.
He picked up his laptop, walked over to the dining table, and resumed playing his game, fingers tapping rapidly across the keyboard.
The living room fell quiet again.
On the couch, only Ethan and Penny remained sitting side by side.
"So…"
Penny was the first to break the silence.
"Leonard and Leslie are actually pretty compatible together, right?"
She tilted her head slightly, sounding half-serious and half-casual.
"They're both scientists, both highly educated, and they have things in common."
"And if they ever had kids…"
"…those kids would probably be terrifyingly smart."
Ethan shook his head.
"I'm not very optimistic about them."
"They are both smart, but…"
He paused, carefully choosing his words.
"There's no real feeling between them."
From the dining table, the rhythmic clicking of keys continued.
Without even looking up, Sheldon interrupted.
"You and Paige are both intelligent as well."
"Although your intelligence is somewhat limited."
"And yet when the two of you were together, I likewise failed to observe any 'romantic feeling.'"
Ethan slowly turned his head toward Sheldon.
You? Observing emotional chemistry?
He only replied briefly:
"Paige is different."
Penny blinked.
"Who's Paige?"
Ethan was just about to explain—
"Oh, wait."
Penny suddenly slapped her thigh, eyes widening.
"I remember now."
She narrowed her eyes and looked toward Sheldon.
"She's the girl Sheldon once said was smarter than me and thinner than me, right?"
Sheldon nodded.
"Yes."
"She started liking Ethan when she was ten years old."
"They finally broke up when they were fourteen."
At that moment, Ethan genuinely wanted to throw Sheldon back into the hallway.
He suddenly realized something he had overlooked for years.
If Sheldon was around during a relationship…
…then private space wasn't optional.
It was a survival necessity.
"So why did they break up?" Penny asked curiously.
Ethan shook his head immediately.
Very clear message.
Not talking about it.
Sheldon shrugged.
"I don't know. I was already in Germany by then."
Penny turned back toward Ethan and gave him a slow once-over.
"…Don't tell me it was because things didn't work out in that department?"
She paused deliberately before delivering the finishing stab.
"Fourteen-year-old boys are usually way too young and too…"
"…trust me, I know exactly how that goes."
"No," Ethan denied instantly.
He fell silent for a moment before finally saying:
"It's complicated."
"Oh?"
Penny leaned forward immediately, eyes sparkling with gossip.
"Did you do something stupid?"
"Relax, my lips are sealed."
"And I promise not to judge."
From the dining table came Sheldon's voice again.
"If he did something wrong…"
"…then it must have been extremely, extremely serious."
He actually paused to think about it carefully.
"The degree to which Paige liked him…"
"…surpassed even my affection for model trains."
"Sheldon."
Ethan finally snapped.
"You either quietly play your game…"
"…or come sit down and join the conversation properly."
He took a deep breath.
"When we get back to the apartment, you and I are having a long talk."
"Hey, Sheldon, don't worry."
Penny immediately jumped in, grinning mischievously.
"We can always wait until Ethan isn't around and talk privately."
Sheldon looked up and frowned.
"No thank you."
"Nobody normally invites me to have conversations."
"So why does everyone suddenly want private discussions with me today?"
Penny winked at Ethan and subtly gestured toward Sheldon.
The meaning was obvious:
If you don't tell me, I'll ask him later.
Thinking about Sheldon's "open-source software" level of confidentiality, Ethan sighed in defeat and spread his hands helplessly.
"So…" Penny pressed on eagerly.
"Do you still see each other?"
"Once a year."
"Why?"
"She celebrated Ethan's thirteenth birthday," Sheldon answered immediately.
"She was unusually happy that day."
"She promised that no matter where Ethan ended up in the future, she would personally celebrate his birthday every year."
He paused, as though recalling a historic moment worthy of archival preservation.
"I remember she also complimented me that day."
"She said that in certain areas, I was better than her."
"Oh my God…"
Penny sighed sincerely.
"That's insanely romantic."
"Sheldon," Ethan immediately changed the subject, "you knew Paige before I did. Why didn't she like you?"
"She didn't reject me."
"I rejected her," Sheldon corrected immediately.
Ethan nodded.
"Fine. You rejected each other."
"Then let me rephrase it."
"Why couldn't the two of you stand each other?"
Sheldon answered in the familiar tone he used whenever slipping into lecture mode.
"Because our fundamental assumptions about the world were incompatible."
"More specific?" Ethan asked.
"Paige believes science is an ability."
"And I believe science is an order."
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds basically the same."
"Completely different," Sheldon rejected instantly.
"In Paige's worldview, science is merely a tool."
"She can use it."
"And when reality fails to align with expectations, she can abandon it without hesitation."
"She does not attempt to correct reality."
"She simply avoids it."
"And in my opinion…"
"…that is unacceptable."
Ethan nodded slowly.
"And what about you?"
"I believe—"
Sheldon suddenly stopped speaking.
"…Wait."
Ethan blinked. "What?"
Sheldon suddenly looked up, his eyes faintly shining.
"I know how to stop Leonard and Leslie from getting together."
"Sheldon." Ethan immediately became alert. "You cannot deliberately sabotage their relationship."
"No." Sheldon calmly corrected him.
"I am merely accelerating the exposure of their unstable structure."
"If a relationship can only survive by avoiding its core conflicts, then that relationship was never meant to exist in the first place."
Ethan stared at him for a long moment without speaking.
Because… disturbingly enough, that actually made sense.
"…You're sure this isn't revenge for her calling you an idiot?"
Sheldon considered it carefully.
"That is an additional benefit."
Ethan instinctively glanced toward Penny.
She had completely stopped talking.
Clearly, she had no intention of involving herself in Leonard's love life anymore.
"I still want to know," Ethan said cautiously. "What exactly are you planning to do?"
Sheldon asked:
"Are you familiar with String Theory and Loop Quantum Gravity?"
Ethan took a deep breath.
"Let's just pretend I am."
Sheldon nodded and immediately launched into explanation mode.
"Leonard and I both believe the universe is composed of countless microscopic closed strings."
"We are more inclined toward spacetime string models."
"But Leslie believes Loop Quantum Gravity better integrates Quantum Mechanics with General Relativity."
"In her view, that is the future of physics."
Ethan nodded slowly.
"Okay. I get it."
"You belong to different theoretical camps."
"So?"
Sheldon looked up, his tone more solemn than ever.
"So…"
"…this creates an unbridgeable cognitive divide."
He closed his laptop and stood up, speaking noticeably faster now.
"When two people fundamentally disagree on what constitutes 'reality that can be corrected'…"
"…then any relationship maintained through emotion, compromise, or temporary avoidance…"
"…will eventually collapse at the cognitive level."
"It's like the conflict between a vegetarian and a committed carnivore."
Penny blinked.
"That sounds… kinda serious?"
"Yes."
The moment he finished speaking, Sheldon turned and headed straight for the door without giving anyone time to react.
"Wait, where are you going?" Ethan asked instinctively.
Sheldon stopped, turned back, and looked at him.
"Across the hall."
"To conduct a necessary structural verification."
The door closed behind him.
Silence returned to the living room.
Penny and Ethan exchanged a look.
"…Did he just say 'verification'?" Penny asked carefully.
"Yes," Ethan replied.
"So he thinks if he repeats all that theory stuff to them…"
"…they'll break up?"
"That appears to be the plan." Ethan sounded uncertain himself.
Less than ten minutes later, the familiar knocking returned.
Penny immediately sat upright.
"No way."
Ethan checked the time.
"…Eight and a half minutes."
He got up and opened the door.
Sheldon stood outside calmly.
"You may return to the apartment now."
"That fast?" Ethan stared.
"Yes." Sheldon nodded.
"They have already separated."
"Wait, wait—" Penny blurted out. "What exactly did you do?"
"I did not interfere with their relationship," Sheldon explained seriously.
"I merely helped them understand each other's respective physical theory systems."
He paused to think, then added:
"Everything afterward was entirely their own decision."
Ethan covered his face with one hand.
"…Where's Leonard?"
"Currently sitting on the couch staring into space."
With that, Sheldon tucked his laptop under his arm and calmly walked back toward the hallway.
Penny stared at his retreating figure for several seconds before finally speaking.
"He just… broke up a couple with a few sentences?"
Ethan sighed and shut the door.
"To be fair, what he said wasn't completely wrong."
"At the very least, it's better than getting married first and only later discovering that the things your partner fundamentally believes in are things you can never accept."
He paused, then glanced toward the hallway outside.
"And besides…"
"…he is obviously in a fantastic mood right now."