Chapter 29: The Alt Account

Once back at the university, Jiang Ying accompanied Yu Siyan to the campus infirmary to see a doctor. It was just a superficial injury, nothing serious; a cold compress would suffice. Seeing her looking so worried, Yu Siyan instead comforted her, telling her not to fret.

He had long since heard about Jiang Ying’s ex-boyfriend. Although Lu Zhixi had only spent a year at Hua University, his striking appearance had made him well-known among many students at Qing University through friends who attended Hua. The story of his relationship with Jiang Ying had caused quite a stir back then—a handsome boy and a beautiful girl, a junior and a senior. Even though both were very low-profile, many classmates had secretly rooted for them. When Yu Siyan told his friends he intended to pursue Jiang Ying, he learned a great deal about her past with Lu Zhixi.

Many had speculated that Lu Zhixi must have found a new girlfriend in the United States, which was why he had broken up with Jiang Ying despite their seemingly strong relationship. Yu Siyan had also believed these rumors. After all, someone with Lu Zhixi’s family background and looks usually sought novelty over sentimentality, and his standard for girlfriends was quite simple: beauty was essentially the only requirement. He had never expected that Lu Zhixi would actually do something as impulsive as flying back from abroad just to find an ex-girlfriend. People who did not play by the rules were often the hardest to deal with.

When Yu Siyan walked Jiang Ying to her dormitory, he said with some concern, "He can enter and exit the school at will. You should stay in the dormitory for the next few days. I have to accompany my advisor to a forum conference on campus, so I won't be able to come over." He paused, then couldn't help but ask, "Was he like this before?"

Jiang Ying sighed softly. "No, he wasn't like this before."

Hearing the familiarity in her tone, Yu Siyan fell silent for a moment before speaking again. "I heard he was only seventeen when he first arrived at Hua University. His family background seems quite good. Young, wealthy heirs like that tend to be self-centered and act without regard for others' feelings. Him being so impulsive today is probably because he found out about us somewhere and lost his head."

Jiang Ying remained silent. Her mind was in a whirl, and she couldn't find the words to say more. She apologized to Yu Siyan, saying she hadn't handled her past well and had caused him trouble.

"It’s okay. I know you are a person with clear boundaries, but if he comes looking for you again, you must tell me." Yu Siyan gazed at her, his clear eyes darkening in the dim night. "When he stands in front of you, it still hurts you, doesn't it? Yingying, I am willing to wait for you to completely forget him, but sometimes I do get jealous."

Jiang Ying was startled. She met his gaze, unable to speak for a long time.

"It’s fine," Yu Siyan said, smiling when he saw her expression. "Just kiss me, and it will be better."

Seeing his attitude of making light of the situation, Jiang Ying felt her guilt deepen. Mindful of the injury on his lip, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Get home safely, and let me know when you reach your dorm," she said.

Back in her room, Zhou Anning saw her exhausted expression and asked what had happened. Jiang Ying gave a brief account of the day's farce. Zhou Anning was stunned. "Lu Zhixi has risen from the dead? He’s back from the States? Today?!"

Seeing Jiang Ying’s low spirits, she couldn't help but scoff, "I’m very familiar with this tactic. It’s just someone who realized after a breakup that they couldn't let go. It’s pathetic. He deserves a slap or two to wake him up."

***

Jiang Ying was physically and mentally exhausted. She didn't dwell on the topic, and after tidying up for a while, she climbed into bed and wrapped herself in her quilt. She thought she would fall asleep quickly, but to her surprise, she spent the night tossing and turning.

Closing her eyes, the chaotic scenes of the day played in her mind like a movie. One moment, it was the shocking sight of Yu Siyan being knocked to the ground, filling her chest with guilt and worry. The next, she remembered Lu Zhixi standing at the end of the path, watching her in silence. Despite the distance and the heavy snow, she could clearly feel his gaze. The look in his eyes held a cold, profound emotion, exactly the same as the first time she had met him.

She didn't sleep well all night and drifted into a hazy slumber until the next afternoon, only to be awakened by the aroma of food. She forced her eyes open to find that Zhou Anning had bought lunch from the canteen.

"Wake up and eat. I bought pepper chicken from the Halal canteen today, your favorite!"

Jiang Ying crawled out of bed at a snail's pace and found over a dozen messages from Yu Siyan on WeChat, starting from nine in the morning, asking if she was awake, if she’d had breakfast, and if anything had happened.

"Is that your little Yu messaging you?" Zhou Anning saw her frustrated look and immediately guessed the situation. "He reached out to me, and I told him you were too tired yesterday and were still sleeping."

Jiang Ying sighed. "Anning, I wouldn't survive without you."

"That's for sure."

Zhou Anning, the type of person who worked harder the more she was praised, shoved a toothbrush and cup into Jiang Ying’s hands, pushed her to wash up, and then dragged her to the table to eat, chattering away about gossip and fun news as she did. Normally, Jiang Ying would have joined in, but today she was unusually quiet, listening intently and offering the occasional response just to play along.

Zhou Anning knew what she was thinking and couldn't help but curse Lu Zhixi again. Jiang Ying had finally managed to move on, and this person had popped up to ruin everything. Indeed, nothing good ever came from hanging around with Qi Wen.

She took a sip of juice, frowned suddenly, and said to Jiang Ying, "Come to think of it, don't you think Lu Zhixi’s appearance is too coincidental? For these past few months, he’s sent you messages and called, but he stayed put in the States. Why did he suddenly rush back the moment you got together with Yu Siyan? Is that bastard Qi Wen helping him keep tabs on you...?"

"Unlikely. I haven't really run into Qi Wen lately." Qi Wen had a history; he had previously photographed her and Meng Shao shopping. But on Christmas, she had seen on Qi Zhou’s social media that the two brothers were skiing in the suburbs of Beijing; it was unlikely they had run into each other at Universal Studios.

Jiang Ying sighed slightly. "Actually, on Christmas night, Lu Zhixi called me again. I told him I had a boyfriend and asked him not to contact me anymore. Maybe because I told him that, he—"

She stopped abruptly, suddenly recalling that there had been airport announcements in the background of his call at that time. It seemed he was already at the airport then. Perhaps Lu Zhixi really had found out about her and Yu Siyan from somewhere else. But who could it be? She and Yu Siyan had just confirmed their relationship at the time; even Zhou Anning hadn't found out until that evening. Jiang Ying felt a vague sense that something was wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was.

"Alright, hurry up and eat."

Zhou Anning finished her meal first and started tidying the table. She bent down, picked up a Polaroid from the corner of the table, and handed it to her. "Thinking so much about your ex that you didn't even notice you dropped a photo of you and your current boyfriend."

***

On the photo handed to Jiang Ying, she and Yu Siyan were smiling happily at the camera next to Santa Claus. She had taken three or four shots in total, and this was her favorite; she had even used her phone to photograph it and posted it on her secret account as a memento.

She took the photo and stared at it for a while. For some reason, her mind drifted to that unpleasant phone call she had with Lu Zhixi back in September. At that time, he had inexplicably brought up Meng Shao, asking if she planned on living with him... and around that time, she seemed to have posted a photo on her secret account of a cat tree at Meng Shao’s place.

Jiang Ying suddenly stood up, her chair clattering loudly as it tipped over behind her. She didn't bother to pick it up, rushing to her bed to grab her phone. She opened the app, navigated to her social media, and looked for the new "visitor history" feature.

—This thing actually required payment to view!

Driven by impulse, Jiang Ying didn't hesitate to pay. Exiting the payment screen, she opened the visitor history again, and her head began to spin.

There were indeed records under "Yesterday's Visitors," from a user with a black profile picture and a garbled username. And following this user's visit record was a number that made her want to vomit blood—167 times.

167 times!

She had only posted that one Polaroid photo on Christmas recently, which meant this user had repeatedly viewed that single photo 167 times. Jiang Ying had started using her secret account last year. Her follower count had essentially never changed, and because she assumed they were just bot accounts, she had never checked their profiles. So, it wasn't just these past two days; this account had been lurking in her followers since last year, posing as a bot, and had read every single post she had made!

She tremblingly clicked on the black profile picture in the records and saw that the profile indicated... the IP was in the United States.

Her breath hitched, and her hands shook. She didn't need to guess the identity of the account holder. The IP alone might not prove everything, but the subtle clues from the past few months were enough to confirm the facts. Moreover, Jiang Ying recalled many details from when she was dating Lu Zhixi. For instance, when she couldn't be intimate with him during her period, she would complain quietly on her secret account, and that night, Lu Zhixi would go to bed early, letting her play with him instead. Or when she posted on her secret account that she didn't want to go back to school, Lu Zhixi would drop his work that afternoon to take a nap with her, which would inevitably lead to things heating up.

And that night she stayed at the Qingshui Ting villa, she had woken up in the middle of the night to see Lu Zhixi looking at his phone with a very satisfied expression—and she had posted on her secret account that night!

She should have guessed it earlier. Lu Zhixi never used social media and never looked at mindless content. If he had that kind of time, he would usually be playing games or reading with her. So, whenever he picked up his phone to look at something...