Chapter 789: Two Kinds of Life

"Is the memory fake?"

Chen Jun-nan and Qiao Jia-jin asked in unison.

"Yes," Qin Ding-dong nodded. "The reason I went to find Wei Yang was partly because I was really pissed off at you, you jerk... and partly because I genuinely wanted to understand the mindset of a 'scammer'."

"I don't get it," Chen Jun-nan said. "You've been calling yourself a scammer ever since I met you. Don't you know what a scammer's mindset is?"

"That's exactly what's been bothering me..." Qin Ding-dong replied. "In my subconscious, I am a scammer because I've always vaguely remembered that in the real world, I worked at a rundown matchmaking agency, where I was set up with men from out of town and tasked with scamming them into marriage for money."

"Huh?" Chen Jun-nan was taken aback. "Scamming marriages...? How come I've never heard you mention that?"

"Because I've never talked about it," Qin Ding-dong answered. "It's not exactly something to be proud of, and I don't go around telling everyone."

"Then why do you say your memory is fake?" Chen Jun-nan asked again. "Did you realize you were scamming young guys instead of old men?"

"No, if it were that simple, it wouldn't be so bad. It's just that I've spent a long time recalling my entire life..." Qin Ding-dong said quietly, "and no matter how I think about it, there's no experience in my life where I became a scammer."

"I'm a bit confused..." Chen Jun-nan said. "Did someone remove the memory of you becoming a scammer?"

"No... not exactly..." Qin Ding-dong replied. "It's hard to describe this feeling—I'm not even sure where to start... Chen Jun-nan, A-jin... do you know? My life is complete; there's no missing pieces. I can even recall my first part-time job after high school graduation and my first internship in college... right up to when I quit my job, opened my own milk tea shop, and eventually experienced the earthquake there. All these experiences are fully intact in my memory."

"Well, that sounds pretty good, doesn't it?" Chen Jun-nan said.

"Yes, if that's really how my life went..." Qin Ding-dong said with a serious face, "then why have I always called myself a scammer?"

Her brief question left Chen Jun-nan and Qiao Jia-jin speechless for a moment.

Qiao Jia-jin thought for a while and then said, "Pretty lady, maybe... maybe it's just your personality? You're pretty straightforward, so calling yourself a 'scammer' might just be a way to scare people off."

"Yes, that's what I hoped too," Qin Ding-dong nodded. "Inventing an identity for myself here to make those bad guys back off sounds totally reasonable. But why would I retain such specific memories of my scamming? I mean... why can I clearly remember being someone who hooks up with old men for marriage scams? If I'm just making up an identity, do I need to make it that detailed?"

After hearing this, Chen Jun-nan slowly scratched his head, knowing Qin Ding-dong was right.

Normally, a "scammer" is just a "scammer." If the identity is made up, there's no need to go as far as specifying "marriage scams." She could have just claimed to be a fraudster, which sounds even more intimidating than "marriage scamming."

"Hold on..." Chen Jun-nan suddenly thought of something else, which only added to his confusion. "Dong-jie... what crime did you commit?"

"Crime?"

"If your life unfolded exactly as you've described... you're just a milk tea shop owner. Why are you in Zhongyan Zhidi? Did you break the law? Did you put paraquat in your milk tea?"

Qin Ding-dong narrowed her eyes and said, "That's the issue... Chen Jun-nan, I haven't committed any crimes. If I were a 'scammer,' I should be here, but now, in all my memories, there's not a single blemish. That's what's most puzzling to me."

"So you suspect your memory is fake," Chen Jun-nan said. "You suspect that you really are a scammer?"

"Yes," Qin Ding-dong nodded. "I suspect that the vague memory of 'marriage scamming' is my true life. After all, you know me—I'm not some genius scammer, but when it comes to swindling bride prices from old men, I think my success rate would be pretty high."

"You sound kind of proud of it..." Chen Jun-nan shook his head helplessly. "So, does that mean you're actually 'innocent'?"

"Yes, but I don't believe it," Qin Ding-dong said firmly. "Do you think there are flawless people in this world?"

"I... I don't know..." Chen Jun-nan shook his head. "You've never done anything wrong in your life?"

"Right," Qin Ding-dong nodded. "Based on my current memories, my life has been too perfect. Not super rich or anything, but smooth sailing. Is that even a real life? If everything goes exactly as planned, what's the difference from a dream?"

After a pause, she added, "No... even in dreams, things don't always go the way we want. Let alone life, which is full of unpredictable changes."

Chen Jun-nan had no idea what to make of this.

The idea that "memory is fake" sounded utterly absurd. It could make sense if it were "amnesia" or "dissociative identity disorder," but for an entire life to be fake—what could cause that?

"Even if it's Huixiang, that's still ridiculous..." Chen Jun-nan muttered. "This Huixiang isn't affecting Zhongyan Zhidi; it's affecting people?"

"Well..." Qin Ding-dong said, "if you think it's caused by Huixiang, the bigger problem isn't that it's affecting people, but that it's acting on the 'past,' on the 'outside,' on places we can't see or touch. It might seem fake, but it actually happened."

Chen Jun-nan sighed after hearing this and asked, "Dong-jie... we can't conclude anything yet. I think there's another possibility."

"What possibility?"

"How long has it been since you lost your memory?" Chen Jun-nan asked. "Maybe you're just exhausted?"

"Me...?" Qin Ding-dong thought for a moment and said, "At least seven or eight years. Ever since I met you, that jerk, I've remembered everything. The first thing I learned from Wei Yang was how to stay sane."

"What the heck?" Chen Jun-nan was stunned. "You learned 'staying sane' from Wei Yang?"

"Yeah," Qin Ding-dong nodded. "What's wrong with that?"

"Learning to stay sane from his 'farmer choir group'?" Chen Jun-nan looked utterly speechless. "Okay, kid, I get it—you might already be crazy, and you're in a state of memory confusion."

"Don't talk nonsense," Qin Ding-dong snapped, kicking out at Chen Jun-nan. "Do you even know if I'm crazy or not?"