Chapter 31: The Boyfriend Who Didn’t Exist

Xia Mi felt that even if her boyfriend was a snob who cut ties with his beloved the moment he achieved success, it shouldn’t invalidate two years of romance, right? It wasn’t as if her entire dating history over the last two years was a figment of her imagination.

“I can’t remember his name, but I have a vague memory of him,” Xia Mi said, reminiscing. “He was over six feet tall, quite handsome, and a hard worker. He could cook, and he loved to clean. Every time he tidied up, the place was spotless. He even set specific spots for everything and wouldn’t let me leave things lying around. The house was always clean and organized.”

She continued, “No wonder I never broke up with him; someone like that is hard to let go. My forgetting his name must be related to the Zhuo. Look at the terrifying battle I just went through—it’s normal to forget a few things. I’ll probably remember in a couple of days.”

Liao Tianhua rolled his eyes. “Fine. Let me ask you this: you lived in a dormitory for all four years of university and never lived with anyone. What house was he cleaning? Where was he cooking?”

“Uh…” Xia Mi froze.

Liao Tianhua was right. As frugal as she was, there was no way she would have given up a cheap dorm room to go out and rent an apartment. Rent near the university was expensive!

She had clung to her dorm bed until the day she received her diploma, feeling like she was losing money if she left even a day early.

“Maybe it was a place he rented, and I was just staying there?” Xia Mi suggested.

Liao Tianhua countered, “As a witness, your testimony lacks credibility. Let’s think about physical evidence. You dated for two years; he must have given you gifts, right?”

“He did!” Xia Mi clapped her hands. “That axe! Even though the lady swallowed it, you saw it on the Rooftop, didn’t you?”

Liao Tianhua let out a long, weary sigh. “When I saw you carrying such a massive axe, I was curious why a girl living alone would have one. When I was looking into your background, I checked the history of that axe as well.”

“Was it a gift from my boyfriend?” Xia Mi’s eyes sparkled. “Even if our relationship didn’t stand the test of time, that axe was a very important gift he left me. I’m still grateful to him.”

Liao Tianhua held out his hand. “Give me your phone. I’ll show you where that axe came from.”

“What does my phone have to do with it?” Though skeptical, Xia Mi unlocked her phone and handed it over.

Liao Tianhua scrolled through her phone for a moment before opening a screen for her to see. “Look at your Alipay records. Does this transaction for over two hundred yuan from two months ago look familiar?”

Xia Mi looked at it. “What a coincidence! That’s exactly what the axe cost!”

“You bought that axe yourself!” Liao Tianhua said. “You deleted the Taobao order, but you couldn’t delete the Alipay transaction record!”

Xia Mi took the phone and stared at it, looking from every angle, but the conspicuous spending record remained.

“No wonder I couldn’t find where that two hundred yuan went when I was balancing my books in July. So that’s what I spent it on,” Xia Mi said seriously.

Liao Tianhua added, “You bought that axe for yourself right after you moved into this building. When I found the purchase record, I thought you were just a girl living alone who was scared and wanted a weapon for self-defense. I never imagined that in your mind, your boyfriend bought it for you.”

Xia Mi pulled up her WeChat chat history to show him. “But he used to chat with me. Look, here’s the chat from two months ago where he said he was going on a blind date.”

Liao Tianhua looked at Xia Mi with pure pity. “You’d actually want a boyfriend like this?”

Xia Mi replied, “Not really. I just wanted to wait until I passed the civil service exam before dumping him. Dumping him now wouldn’t have enough impact.”

Liao Tianhua carefully examined the chat logs between Xia Mi and the “boyfriend.” He found that there were only records from two months ago where the “boyfriend” mentioned going on a date with a girl who had a government job. There was nothing prior to that. Furthermore, in these messages, the “boyfriend” was constantly pushing Xia Mi to take the civil service exam.

Boyfriend: [Government benefits are excellent. Don’t go to that crappy company you signed with. Focus on the exam.]

Xia Mi: [The pressure of not working and just studying is a bit much.]

Boyfriend: [You have to get into the system early. With your physical fitness, it’s best to aim for the police or the courts. The physical test will be a breeze for you.]

Xia Mi: [I’ll think about it.]

Boyfriend: [Our family is from Shandong; your parents would prefer you to have a stable government job, right?]

Xia Mi: [That’s true. In my parents’ eyes, earning a million a year isn’t as good as being a section chief.]

Boyfriend: [I only want to marry someone who’s in the system.]

Xia Mi: [What a coincidence. So do I.]

Then came the messages where the boyfriend said he was going on a blind date with a girl who worked for the government.

The entire chat history contained no voice messages or video calls, only text. Xia Mi’s replies weren’t particularly enthusiastic either.

Most importantly, Liao Tianhua noticed that the “boyfriend” never used the pronoun “you.”

It looked more like a person talking to themselves.

Liao Tianhua searched for cloned apps on Xia Mi’s phone and found a second WeChat app hidden in a folder labeled “Inspiration.”

When he opened “WeChat II,” there was only one person on the friend list: Xia Mi’s main account.

Liao Tianhua silently showed the screen to Xia Mi.

With the evidence laid bare, Xia Mi could no longer find any proof that her boyfriend had ever existed.

She scrolled through the messages in “WeChat II,” nervously licking her dry lips. She looked at Liao Tianhua and asked, “Are you saying that I imagined a six-foot-tall, handsome, athletic boyfriend who’s good at housework and has a government job, and that I bought myself gifts and chatted with myself?”

Liao Tianhua’s expression shifted to one of deep sympathy as he nodded solemnly.

“That shouldn’t be right…” Xia Mi said, puzzled. “Sister Li even knew I was about to be dumped by my government-worker boyfriend.”

Liao Tianhua rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. “Your boyfriend never once came to Building 6. How would anyone else have found out about this?”

Xia Mi shook her head, speechless.

Liao Tianhua said, “From your own mouth, of course!”

“How could I have told anyone…” Xia Mi paused, searching her memory. She said sheepishly, “I think I actually did say it.”

The landlady was a rather talkative auntie from the Northeast. When Xia Mi was renting the place, the woman had gossiped and asked why she was looking for a room. As they chatted, Xia Mi had opened up more and more, nearly giving the woman her entire family history for three generations.

Of course, Xia Mi hadn’t come out empty-handed. She knew the landlady was from Heilongjiang, had moved out to find work after a divorce, and after saving up some capital, had rented several properties to act as a sub-lessor. She made a decent living.

Once the auntie had money, she brought her child over as well, and now the child was working in the area.

“I only told the landlady,” Xia Mi said.

Liao Tianhua naturally knew what kind of person Xia Mi’s landlady was. He said, “You only met your landlady twice, once to see the room and once to sign the contract. You told her that much, and you think she’s someone who can keep a secret?”

Xia Mi replied, “Of course not. She’s incredibly chatty. She was the one who told me Xiao Pi’s father was away working, and she told me the Otaku in 702 was going to his ex-girlfriend’s wedding.”

“Then do you think she would keep your secrets?” Liao Tianhua asked.

Xia Mi thought about it and said, “Not only would she not keep them, she’d probably add a little spice when she told others. No wonder Sister Li was so convinced I’d been dumped and was worried I’d jump off the building.”

Everything was coming to light. Liao Tianhua was right. Aside from Xia Mi’s own memory, there wasn’t a shred of evidence that this boyfriend had ever existed. Even Xia Mi herself couldn’t remember when they met or exactly what he looked like.

“Could it be that I was under too much pressure and developed schizophrenia, splitting off another personality to be my own boyfriend?” Xia Mi speculated. “No, that’s not right. If I were to hallucinate a boyfriend, he would definitely fit my aesthetics perfectly. He’d whisper sweet nothings every day and constantly send me photos of his abs. Why would he be such a jerk?”

Liao Tianhua said, “I’m not clear on your mental state, but when we have time, I can arrange a screening for you.”

Xia Mi consulted him, “Do you think I seem schizophrenic?”

Liao Tianhua wanted to say, “This is the first time we’ve met and we’re not close, how would I know?” But looking into Xia Mi’s earnest, pleading eyes and remembering her optimistic, proactive personality, he swallowed the cold words.

He thought for a moment and said, “Xiao Xia, you are strong and rational, passionate and kind, bold yet meticulous. You have firm convictions and a strong will. You don’t have schizophrenia.”

Xia Mi remarked, “What you just said sounds like the teacher’s comments I used to write for myself back in school.”

Whether it was elementary, middle, high school, or university, whenever Xia Mi had to fill out forms for being an outstanding student, she wrote the teacher’s evaluations herself. They sounded very similar to what Liao Tianhua had just said.

Liao Tianhua replied, “Those are my honest thoughts. There’s no exaggeration.”

Xia Mi said with a sense of crisis, “I’m not doubting your sincerity. I just think you sound too much like a leader. You speak in official scripts. As your subordinate, I feel like it’s going to be very difficult to stage a coup and take your power.”

Liao Tianhua took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to strangle her. He said, “Think about something serious. Since it’s not schizophrenia, there must be another reason. Do you have any leads?”

Synthesizing all the information Liao Tianhua had provided, Xia Mi analyzed, “It seems like everything started two months ago.”

Two months ago, she moved into Building 6 of the Xingfuli Apartments.

Two months ago, Zhang Xun brought four eggs of the Zhuo into Building 6.

Two months ago, Xia Mi bought a self-defense axe in her boyfriend’s name.

Two months ago, Xia Mi created a “WeChat II,” using the identity of a “boyfriend” to constantly provoke her, urging her to study for the civil service exam and deepening her obsession with passing it.

Xia Mi liked to write things down when she was thinking. She borrowed a pen and paper from Liao Tianhua’s car and noted these clues.

Liao Tianhua looked at the clues she wrote and suddenly said, “After years of research, experts believe there are several key reasons why survivors like Shield and Eye become a Rong.

“First, intense emotions that surpass those of ordinary people. This emotion could be hatred, love, resentment, or a will to survive no matter what.

“Second, being between the ages of 18 and 25, at the peak of physical and mental capacity, with a strong immune system capable of withstanding the violent changes of a major physical reconstruction.

“Third, having had close contact with the Zhuo before actually encountering one.

“Fourth, luck.”

Xia Mi asked, “What does the third point mean?”

Liao Tianhua told her, “Take Shield for example. She was the survivor of a Zhuo incident. The organization failed to eliminate the Zhuo that time, and everyone trapped in the nest died except for her. When the nest dissolved, she was the only survivor.

“Upon investigation, we found that before her encounter with the Zhuo incident, she was on a train that hit someone committing suicide on the tracks. She had no contact with the victim throughout the ordeal; she just thought the train had made a temporary stop for over an hour. But our investigation revealed that after the person died and the train stopped, the victim’s head was positioned exactly beneath her seat. We aren’t sure if her Rong transformation was related to that event.

“The experts proposed a possibility. They summarized the third point as adaptability. That is, people who have been exposed to the Zhuo twice or more develop an adaptability to it, making the probability of a successful transformation higher.

“The reason I dared to undergo the transformation process was because I perfectly met three of those criteria. I’ve been involved in multiple Zhuo incidents and have a certain level of adaptability. I believed I could succeed.”

Xia Mi added, “Add ‘Zhuo energy’ to the experts’ conditions. It won’t work if the energy is insufficient. But why did you suddenly bring up the requirements for transformation?”

Liao Tianhua said, “Don’t you think the appearance of your boyfriend looks like it was reinforcing the first condition?”

Xia Mi said, “You mean, after I moved into Building 6 and came into contact with the Zhuo brought by Zhang Xun, my body began to transform. To ensure the transformation succeeded, I hallucinated a boyfriend who had entered the system, using various methods to strengthen my resolve to pass the exam, bolstering my willpower and increasing the success rate of the transformation.”

“Exactly,” Liao Tianhua said. “It’s the most logical explanation I can come up with.”

Liao Tianhua’s deduction was actually quite reasonable. Xia Mi remarked, “You’re surprisingly decent. You came up with such a great excuse just to prove I don’t have schizophrenia.”

Liao Tianhua replied confidently, “I’ve always been a decent person.”

Xia Mi, however, shook her head. “I really appreciate you helping me find such a good reason, but I don’t think that’s it. I suspect I really am schizophrenic.”

Liao Tianhua’s voice turned cold. “You won’t pass the physical exam for the civil service if you have schizophrenia. Are you sure about that?”

“No, no, no!” Xia Mi said hurriedly. “That’s not what I meant. My ‘split’ isn’t a pathological one, it’s a different kind of split.”

She opened her phone and scrolled until she found a crudely designed app titled Project Queen Bee. She opened the app, revealing a long list of locked tasks waiting to be completed. The very first task was titled Hani Apartments, and its status was marked as Completed.

Xia Mi explained, “When you found that cloned WeChat app¹ on my phone earlier, I couldn’t help but wonder if there were other apps I didn’t know about. I checked my entire application list and actually found this game.

“I checked the download time in the system settings. It was downloaded around six o’clock this evening, which is exactly when the Nest was unsealed.

“Since Hani Apartments is in here, I think the game on my computer must have transferred itself to my phone.

“Seeing this game made it click for me. The protagonist of Hani Apartments is named Xiao Mi, and she can synchronize with my experiences in reality.

“Is it possible that the one pretending to be my boyfriend and sending me those messages is actually Xiao Mi?”

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Translator’s Notes

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1. cloned WeChat app: A common feature on Chinese smartphones (often called ‘App Twin’) that allows users to run two separate instances of the same app simultaneously, typically to keep work and personal accounts separate. ↩