Chapter Twenty-Five: Investigating Oneself

By the time Chen Qi returned to his rented apartment, it was already past nine in the evening.

After a quick wash, he sprawled unceremoniously on the bed, pulled out his phone, and opened the university class group chat. Ever since he arrived in this world, he had made it a habit to check the group daily, never missing a single message. This was his only way to piece together his past.

Curiously, there were no family or friends' groups on his phone, and during this period, no one had taken the initiative to message or call him. He felt both relieved and regretful about this. On the one hand, he didn’t have to force himself to interact with people whose identities he couldn’t recognize; on the other, he missed out on potential opportunities to learn more about himself.

It was a contradiction. But on the whole, relief outweighed regret.

Because of this, he pinned all hopes of understanding his previous life on this classmates’ group. Yet, after quietly observing for nearly a week, he found it rather frustrating that, aside from gaining a deeper impression of a few particularly active classmates, he hadn’t learned anything useful about himself.

The topics being discussed were mostly about work and the future; almost no one mentioned anything from their school days. He couldn’t even tell who his close friends had been, let alone gain any useful information. Clearly, he would have to find another way.

Fortunately, now that he had money, obtaining basic information about his school days didn’t seem like such a challenge. As the saying goes, money can make even the impossible possible—let alone something like this.

After skimming through the day’s chat logs, Chen Qi targeted two particularly active male classmates. After pondering for a moment, he registered a new account on his second phone, set a pretty and innocent-looking girl’s photo as the profile picture, and sent friend requests to the two.

Half a minute later, a classmate with the nickname “Cold Wind” accepted.

Seeing the successful notification, Chen Qi couldn’t help but smile.

Ah, men.

Just then, “Cold Wind” sent over a question mark.

Chen Qi didn’t bother with small talk or pretense. He got straight to the point: “Hello, I’m from Blueprint Advertising. I added you to ask about your classmate, Chen Qi’s, personal background.”

He didn’t even waste energy making up a company name—he shamelessly used Blueprint.

“???”

After a short pause, the other party sent three question marks, then, two seconds later, added, “What do you mean?”

Reading these messages, Chen Qi almost burst out laughing. Even through the screen, he could imagine the other’s stunned and bewildered expression.

To accept a friend request from a pretty stranger, only to be hit with this? Where’s your humanity?

Chen Qi quickly typed: “Here’s the thing. Our company thinks Chen Qi has strong abilities and is considering giving him a promotion. But before that, we want a clearer, more detailed understanding of him.”

“……” The reply was a string of ellipses, then, “Why don’t you ask him yourself? Why are you asking me?”

Another message brimming with barely-contained frustration.

Chen Qi replied: “There’s a reward.”

The other: “Is this about money?”

Chen Qi: “A thousand yuan.”

The other: “Do I look like someone who’s desperate for a thousand yuan?”

Chen Qi: “Two thousand.”

The other: “……”

Chen Qi: “Three thousand!”

“Wait… what…” The other seemed utterly bewildered by this blunt approach and didn’t know what to say.

Chen Qi continued, “Three thousand. Think about it. If you’re not interested, I’ll just find someone else.”

Silence. Clearly, the other was still processing what had just happened.

He’d truly never encountered anything like this before.

Just as this gap stretched on, the other classmate, “Flaunt,” also accepted the friend request.

“Hello,” this one greeted, adding a smiling emoji, sounding polite.

Chen Qi smiled and, instead of trying to guess at the other’s mood, got straight to the point—this time even more directly—offering two thousand yuan in exchange for information about Chen Qi.

Just like “Cold Wind,” “Flaunt” seemed taken aback by the proposal and didn’t reply for quite some time.

Chen Qi wasn’t worried. He had time and patience, and with so many people in the group, someone would be willing to pocket quick cash.

Based on his understanding of recent graduates, such a minor matter wouldn’t be refused.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, “Cold Wind” messaged first.

“Are you serious?” He was still a bit skeptical.

Without another word, Chen Qi transferred a thousand yuan as a deposit.

About half a minute later, “Cold Wind” accepted the payment, still sounding uncertain.

Such a direct approach upended everything they thought they knew about the world.

Wasn’t human nature supposed to be more ruthless?

“What do you want to know?” he asked.

“Are you close with Chen Qi?” Chen Qi asked.

“Uh… not really. We hardly ever hung out together.”

This answer didn’t surprise Chen Qi. If they’d been close, the classmate would have already tipped him off about someone investigating him. And so far, his old phone had shown no sign of texts or calls.

He only asked to gauge how reliable this person might be—whether he’d fabricate things or not.

Judging by the answer, this one seemed trustworthy; not trying to exaggerate the relationship.

With these thoughts, Chen Qi’s fingers flew across the screen.

“Tell me everything you know: his personality, character, hobbies, family background, academic performance, how many girlfriends he’s had, whether he was ever involved in any shocking incidents at school, and your general impression of him. Anything you know, share it.”

After sending that, Chen Qi added, “Please make sure everything is real and objective—no rumors or false information.”

Investigating himself was absurd enough; he didn’t want to waste energy sifting through useless lies.

“Alright, give me a moment to recall,” came the reply, after which the chat went silent.

Chen Qi waited patiently, lost in thought.

A few minutes later, his new phone chimed with a message.

It was “Flaunt.”

“Are you joking??? The three question marks all but screamed disbelief.

Chen Qi replied quickly, “No joke. I’m serious.”

After a short pause, “Flaunt” asked, “What do you want to know?”

“Are you close with Chen Qi?” Chen Qi used the same tactic.

The reply took a few seconds, as if the other was weighing the question. “Pretty decent,” he said.

That answer made Chen Qi’s expression turn odd. He checked his old phone—still no messages.

Awkward. He’d picked two classmates at random, and neither was close with him? Was his social life really that bad, or was his luck just that uncanny?

He shook his head, dismissing these thoughts, and continued, “I need real, objective information, nothing exaggerated. Can you guarantee that?”

“Of course, that’s easy,” came the instant reply.

“Good.” Chen Qi copied the message he’d sent to “Cold Wind” and sent it over.

To reassure the other, he transferred a thousand yuan as an advance, promising to pay the remainder upon receiving the information.

The payment was quickly accepted, followed by an “OK” emoji.

With the new phone set aside, Chen Qi picked up his old one and scrolled through his classmates’ social media, hoping to find photos or posts related to himself.

Whether he’d been low-key or simply inactive, his account had no posts at all—clean as a new account. More importantly, since arriving in this world, he’d had no recollection of any past experiences; it was as if his memories had been completely erased.

“Hm?” As he browsed, something caught his eye.

He spotted himself in a group photo on a female classmate’s feed and clicked in, a bit excited, but it turned out to be just a class outing, offering no useful information.

After a while, feeling tired and seeing no results, he abandoned this futile search.

Better to wait for “Cold Wind” and “Flaunt” to send their detailed reports, then do a targeted investigation.

Ding dong.

More than twenty minutes later, his new phone lit up with an incoming message.

From the screen, Chen Qi saw it was from “Cold Wind.”

He took a deep breath, straightened up unconsciously, and opened the message with anticipation.

…

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