Chapter 56: Delete a Friend

Xia Mi didn’t catch the words An Mufeng muttered under his breath, but her phone picked them up.

Her phone was no longer the second-hand model she used to have. It was a high-end device bought with pooled money from Shield, Eye, Mi, Qiu, Liao, and the members of the Second Team. Its performance was exceptional, and its audio reception was top-notch. Even though An Mufeng’s voice had been barely a whisper, Mi Xiangyan still captured the muffled sentence.

After processing it with professional software, Mi Xiangyan heard the words clearly.

Qiu Hailan spoke up immediately. “This proves An Mufeng did indeed know Xia Mi before, but for some reason, Xia Mi doesn’t remember him.”

“There are many ways to make someone forget something; not remembering isn’t that difficult,” Mi Xiangyan said. “The key issue is that the past I’ve uncovered for An Mufeng shows no intersection with Xia Mi. Whether it’s Xia Mi or An Mufeng, there are no traces of the two ever meeting. Why do they know each other, and when did they meet? Why does An Mufeng remember, but Xia Mi doesn’t?”

Qiu Hailan speculated, “Xia Mi keeps saying she has an ex-boyfriend, but no matter how we search, we can’t find him. Could it be An Mufeng?”

Mi Xiangyan followed that line of thought. “Then when did they fall in love? Was it an online relationship? An Mufeng mentioned pheromones. Pheromones are a general term for chemical compounds used by organisms for communication. Insects can use pheromones to communicate over long distances.

“Assuming there’s a mysterious pheromone that allows communication between ‘Rong’ as well, could An Mufeng have used pheromones to influence Xia Mi’s memory?”

Mi Xiangyan and Qiu Hailan analyzed An Mufeng’s words for a while before suddenly realizing the room felt like it was missing someone. Weren’t there three people in the office? Why had it just been the two of them discussing this?

Qiu Hailan looked to her side and found Liao Tianhua sitting right there. However, at some point, his presence had completely vanished. He sat silently in his chair, with only his faint breathing proving he was still alive.

“Captain Liao, what’s your take on this?” Mi Xiangyan asked.

Seeing Liao Tianhua remain silent, Mi Xiangyan encouraged him, “We’re just making bold hypotheses and looking for careful proof. Whatever guess you have, no matter how unreasonable it might seem, feel free to say it.”

Liao Tianhua appeared to be sitting in the office, but he had been dead inside for a while now. Hearing Mi Xiangyan’s voice brought him back to life. He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something.

Seeing his hesitant expression and recalling Liao Tianhua’s behavior lately, Mi Xiangyan reminded him, “Speculation is fine, but don’t let too much personal emotion get mixed in.”

Liao Tianhua swallowed the words “I’m the one who’s Xia Mi’s ex-boyfriend” back into his stomach and said, “I don’t think An Mufeng is Xia Mi’s ex.”

“Reasoning?” Mi Xiangyan asked.

Liao Tianhua said, “You said before that the circumstances of Xia Mi becoming a ‘Rong’ are a mystery, but it’s unlikely to have happened domestically. Her only chance was four years ago when she was traveling in Thailand. I think we can assume An Mufeng and Xia Mi met in Thailand. At that time, An Mufeng was only fourteen. Xia Mi wouldn’t like a boy that young. She’s not a pedophile.”

“What if An Mufeng can influence Xia Mi’s pheromones? Still, you’ve reminded me of something. An Mufeng might be related to Xia Mi’s trip to Thailand. I’ll start the investigation from that angle,” Mi Xiangyan said. “I’ll report this to Deputy Director Jiao in real-time.”

Xia Mi had no idea her colleagues were investigating Xiao Feng, nor did she know that her current idol, Deputy Director Jiao, was now aware of the matter. After seeing Xiao Feng off, she checked her phone every minute. It wasn’t until ten minutes later, when the app showed the shared bike had been returned, that Xia Mi breathed a small sigh of relief.

Taking the subway back to her dormitory and lying on her bed to think quietly, Xia Mi felt that her feelings toward Xiao Feng were indeed unusual.

She had actually paid for a shared bike for him!

One had to understand that this wasn’t just a matter of a couple of yuan. If Xiao Feng forgot to lock the bike, she had no idea how much money would be deducted from her account later.

She had a classmate who hadn’t locked a bike properly and woke up the next morning to find over a hundred yuan gone. That was a huge sum of money.

“Do I really like him a little?” Xia Mi recalled Xiao Feng’s appearance.

Strictly speaking, Xiao Feng was exactly the type that young girls liked nowadays.

His face was as beautiful as a woman’s, his looks were top-tier, and his physique was well-trained. Those lean muscles made one want to give them a squeeze. Moreover, every gesture he made carried an unconscious allure. He was incredibly charming, a type Xia Mi had never encountered before.

“But he can’t compare to my ex-boyfriend,” Xia Mi thought, lying on the bed with her hands clasped behind her head.

Although she couldn’t remember her ex-boyfriend’s face, she could faintly recall the feeling he gave her.

Her ex-boyfriend didn’t have that overwhelming allure, but just seeing him made her feel at peace. He gave her a sense of security, the feeling that she could fall asleep safely by his side.

Xiao Feng was different.

When Xia Mi was with Xiao Feng, her guard was always up.

She was physiologically attracted to him. She always wanted to look at his moist lips, always wanted to lean in and take a bite of them, or slide her hand into the deep V-neck of his collar. These things even appeared in her dreams.

But even in her dreams, Xia Mi felt a sense of defensiveness. She could only perform those intimate acts while gripping Xiao Feng’s throat. It was as if she could only feel at ease if she held his life in her hands at all times.

Xiao Feng didn’t just pique her interest; he piqued her killing intent. It was like the instinct of a female mantis wanting to devour the male after mating.

Unable to figure it out, Xia Mi simply opened her phone and tentatively launched the Project Queen Bee app. She had absorbed over seven hundred Zhuo Coins at the bar, so perhaps she could open the game now.

She wanted to see the progress of the “Finding the Lost Boyfriend” mission.

This time, Xia Mi actually managed to open the game app. She found a new game loading inside, titled “****”. Its status was “Locked,” and she didn’t know what kind of mission it was.

However, the progress of “The Lost Boyfriend” mission had actually reached 20%.

Xia Mi’s brow furrowed tightly.

She had only just met Xiao Feng and developed a tiny bit of feeling for him, and the “Boyfriend” mission had already progressed. Could Xiao Feng really be her boyfriend?

Xia Mi had a personality that followed a straight line; when she walked her own path, she never noticed the tangled branches along the roadside.

During the few days she had known Xiao Feng, Xia Mi’s initial focus had been solely on completing the bar mission. After that, she wanted to secure a permanent position. Once she became a regular employee, they rarely met, and even then, she only thought about how to save a bit of money, paying little attention to what Xiao Feng said.

The only words that had actually registered in her mind were the figures of Xiao Feng’s salary. That number had dealt her such a massive blow that she still hadn’t quite recovered.

It was only after seeing progress in her mission and realizing that Xiao Feng might be her “boyfriend” that Xia Mi began to seriously recall every detail of their time together.

It seemed that from the very beginning, Xiao Feng’s attitude toward her had been different from how he treated others.

He had proactively bought her mineral water—priced at 98 yuan but actually worth two yuan when bought in bulk. He had pulled her onto the dance floor, taken the initiative to add her as a friend, messaged her frequently in the middle of the night, and even asked her out to meet.

Xia Mi got out of bed and looked in the mirror. She wasn’t bad-looking, but she certainly wasn’t the kind of stunning beauty who turned heads instantly. Furthermore, to project an image of a mature and capable professional woman to her superiors, she had asked Sister Li to give her a mature haircut, making her look like a practical worker in her thirties.

After finishing the cut, Sister Li had remarked, “Whenever I style people, I try to make them look younger. You, on the other hand, insisted on such an ugly style. Don’t you dare tell anyone I cut this. Tell them it was the male technician at station number five next door; he’s the one who loves giving people these ‘old-enough-to-die’ hairstyles.”

Xia Mi’s hair wasn’t quite as ugly as Sister Li claimed, but it certainly made her look much more mature, adding five years to her appearance at a glance.

Observing her reflection in the mirror, Xia Mi murmured to herself, “I believe in love growing over time. After all, I’m so outstanding that it’s normal for someone to like me. But love at first sight is usually about looks, so that seems like a bit of a stretch.”

She thought for a moment and sent a message to Xiao Feng: [Have we met before?]

The moment she sent it, she felt a twinge of regret. Thinking that Xiao Feng should be focused on accompanying guests and wouldn’t have time to check his phone, she immediately retracted¹ the message.

To her surprise, as soon as she retracted it, Xiao Feng replied: [Sister, did you finally remember me?]

Xiao Feng: [Why did you retract it? I saw everything.]

Xia Mi: [I was afraid of disturbing your work.]

Xiao Feng: [I didn’t go to the bar today; I took the day off. After seeing you, Sister, I didn’t want to chat with anyone else.]

Xia Mi: [That won’t do. You need to work hard and be serious.]

Xiao Feng: [Sister, you love money more than you love me.]

Xia Mi replied righteously: [Of course. How many people love money, and how many people love you? They aren’t even in the same league. There’s no comparison.]

Xia Mi had practically thrown “How could you possibly compare to money?” right in his face.

Xiao Feng was likely hurt by her words, as he didn’t reply for several minutes.

Xia Mi also felt she had been a bit harsh. Feeling a hint of guilt, she offered a dry bit of comfort: [Xiao Feng, don’t be sad. One day, you’ll meet someone who loves you more than money.]

But it certainly wouldn’t be her.

Xiao Feng: [It’s not that “Feng” character.]

Xia Mi: [Then which one is it?]

Xiao Feng: [I’ll tell you later, Sister.]

Xiao Feng: [Sister, I regret it.]

Xia Mi: [Regret being in this line of work? That makes sense; it’s not exactly a proper job. But you’re short on cash… I want to help you, but there’s nothing I can do.]

Xiao Feng: [I don’t regret this job. I regret not being a rich man. If I’d known you loved money so much, Sister, I would have just become a wealthy man instead.]

Xia Mi: [Stop talking nonsense. Being rich isn’t that easy. Everyone wants to be wealthy.]

Xiao Feng: [If only I were a domineering CEO². I’d write you a check for tens or hundreds of millions to buy all your time, so you could be with me forever.]

Xia Mi: [Then I’d probably just beat you to death.]

Xiao Feng: [Why? Don’t you love money, Sister?]

Xia Mi: [I love the money I earn myself. I have no interest in what’s in other people’s pockets. Besides, the kind of CEO you’re imagining is exactly the type of person I hate most.]

Xiao Feng: [Sister, you’re so hard to please.]

Xia Mi: [Why try to please me? Don’t be a people-pleaser. You need to love yourself. Only when you love yourself will others love you.]

Xia Mi thought about it and decided this couldn’t continue. Even if Xiao Feng might be her “Lost Boyfriend,” she wasn’t willing to complete the recovery mission.

She steeled her heart and sent a message: [I don’t think we have much in common. I can’t offer you any help, and I’m affecting your drive to work. You took a day off just to see me and lost out on several thousand yuan. I can’t pay that back to you.

I don’t want to make friends where we just drain each other. Let’s part ways here. I hope you can escape your difficulties and find a proper path in the future.]

After saying her farewells, Xia Mi deleted him from her contacts, tossed her phone aside, and fell into a peaceful sleep. That night, she finally didn’t have any more erotic dreams.

Little did she know that on the night she blocked An Mufeng, many people were slamming their desks in frustration.

The three people staying up late to monitor Xia Mi’s phone all slammed their desks and stood up simultaneously.

Mi Xiangyan said anxiously, “If I’d known Xia Mi was so decisive and acted so quickly, I would have told her the plan and had her stall An Mufeng! An Mufeng’s identity is airtight, but whenever he chats with Xia Mi, he always leaks something. Just now, he revealed that the identity of ‘An Mufeng’ is fake and that he could have chosen to be a wealthy CEO instead. This might be related to his abilities.

“Now that Xia Mi has blocked him, where am I supposed to get key information?”

Liao Tianhua, taking advantage of the fact that Mi Xiangyan wasn’t looking, quietly curled his lips into a smile. He thought to himself, Well done, Xia Mi. If Mi Xiangyan hadn’t been so frantic, he might have actually clapped.

Qiu Hailan spoke up, “Since we’ve confirmed this person is problematic, I suggest we arrest An Mufeng directly and bring him in for interrogation.”

Mi Xiangyan sighed. “Aren’t we afraid he has accomplices? We don’t want to alert the enemy like we did at the Pharmaceutical Factory. Forget it, Xia Mi’s personality really isn’t suited for being an informant. I’ll report to Deputy Director Jiao. As soon as he gives the approval, we’ll arrest An Mufeng immediately.”

On the other side, An Mufeng, hidden away in his rented room, flipped his table in a fit of rage.

“I’ve gone this far, and she can still hold back? How is she suppressing the influence of the pheromones? Why am I the one who can barely control this urge to worship her?” An Mufeng clutched his chest and sank deeply to his knees, bowing in the direction of Xia Mi.

It took a long time before he finally raised his head. As he looked toward Xia Mi, his eyes transformed, manifesting countless compound eyes that shifted and flickered like a kaleidoscope.

“Who is the person she loves most right now? I need to find them. I need to replace them,” An Mufeng muttered, his gaze searching everywhere.

His eyes scanned in every direction until finally, the countless compound eyes converged, focusing his vision on a single point.

An Mufeng tilted his head, seemingly analyzing the information he had gathered.

He whispered to himself, “Aside from her parents, the person she currently has the strongest emotional projection toward is…”

“Jiao Xingjian?”

Translator’s Notes