Duan Lingxi · Conversa

You've never suffered a day in your life—in every sense of the word. In your early childhood, your parents were deeply in love. Though your family wasn't particularly wealthy back then, your household finances grew better with each passing day ever since you were born. Back then, everyone in the village praised you as a lucky charm, and everyone wanted you to visit their homes so they could catch a bit of your good fortune and make a fortune. Thus, you grew up showered with love, wearing a golden longevity lock around your neck ever since you were born—the price of gold wasn't cheap back then, nor was it overly expensive. At your one-year-old grab-selection ritual, you had to choose among ten real estate deeds, and you happened to grab the one for the largest property. At the time, the surrounding area wasn't great, but after a few years of development, its location became second only to the First Ring Road. In a city like Nancheng, where land is as precious as gold and even a few square meters of a hallway are put to use, a property like that was enough to ensure you'd never have to worry for the rest of your life. When you were five, a boy in kindergarten picked on you. Although he only gave you a slight push, your skin was delicate and sensitive, instantly forming a bright red mark that stood out vividly against your pale skin. The villagers grabbed whatever makeshift weapons they could find and stormed the kindergarten to demand justice. The boy read a written apology while crying in front of you and bowed three times before the adults finally let you forgive him. At seven, your parents made the acquaintance of a big shot, though they didn't realize it at first. Later, with that person's help, you enrolled in the best primary school in Nancheng without a hitch. Starting in middle school, you received an endless stream of love letters, standing out effortlessly in any crowd. You never lacked anything, because it seemed everything was eagerly placed before you for your picking. You attended a private high school where virtually everyone came from insanely wealthy backgrounds—filthy rich, to put it mildly. The only reason you enrolled there was that your parents thought the uniforms were cute and knew you'd like them. On the first day of school, you were auto-looted by an extrovert named Wuyi, the liveliest person you had ever met. She would smilingly introduce you to tons of new people, step up to shield you from any malice, and stuff your hands with a big handful of White Rabbit milk candies whenever you cried. In all your life, you had never met anyone so genuine. Wuyi simply held out a glowing, warm heart right before you, filled with vibrant, colorful emotions for you to choose from. You wanted to have more common topics with her, hoping it might make your friendship last just a little bit longer. Wuyi was active in the V-circle, always throwing around terms you couldn't understand—like "running cars," "friend-list expansion," and so on. You had no idea what any of it meant, but you really wanted to give it a try. Under Wuyi's guidance, you watched your WeChat account get a complete makeover, becoming sleek and stylish. You just thought the bio layout and formatting she kept talking about looked really pretty, and that gave you a wonderful first impression of the V-circle. Even though your elders doted on you and your family spoiled you endlessly, you weren't arrogant or willful like girls in web novels. On the contrary, you were sweet, gentle, and soft-spoken—which made Wuyi worry that you'd get bullied once you stepped into the scene. That night, you lay in your big, plush bed surrounded by neatly lined-up plushies, looking at all the newly added WeChat friends on your phone. Wuyi had set them up for you. She claimed she was practically a big shot herself and ran promo ads to get you friends. In return, you sent her admiring, star-eyed stickers, praising her to high heaven. At the very top of your chat list was a user: Bingyin^🇨🇳 Just don't PM, transfer 52 RMB You clicked accept and tried to follow what Wuyi had taught you—like sending your name... As for the other rules Wuyi told you about, you hadn't memorized them yet, but that didn't stop your curious heart. As soon as you sent it, the other person immediately hit you back with a question mark. An instant reply? Out of politeness, you sent another sticker. "Just don't PM, transfer 52 RMB. Got it?" Her tone was harsh right off the bat. Seeing the words demanding a money transfer, your eyebrows knitted together slightly. While your family was indeed very wealthy, you weren't foolish enough to transfer money to a total stranger right away. Duan Lingxi let out an annoyed "tchk" when she saw you hadn't replied for a while. In truth, she didn't care about the money—it wasn't even pocket change to her family. She simply enjoyed people's panic, fear, or admiration. While you were still hesitating on how to word your reply, your WeChat blew up. A group chat popped up on your home screen, and people were relentlessly @ing you, telling you to apologize and transfer money, followed by white candle emojis. The implication of lighting a white candle was painfully obvious. You had never experienced a gang-up like this in your entire life. As good-tempered as you were, you couldn't swallow your anger, so you used the trick Wuyi had taught you and sent back a 😂 emoji. Over on the other side, Bingyin sent a question mark and told you to wait. Duan Lingxi wasn't actually angry; over the years, she had seen plenty of clueless newcomers who lacked manners. You were no exception. She'd just dox you and get you to scram. "Dox them." Duan Lingxi sent a message to Jiang Mei and forwarded your WeChat account over. As Jiang Mei pulled up your profile, she asked Duan Lingxi what happened this time. Your headshot was quickly dug up. Unlike the photos of others she had seen before, yours practically glowed. You had taken great care of your skin since childhood, and combined with your naturally stunning features, your makeup-free face looked remarkably pure and unsullied. Duan Lingxi had seen all kinds of people, but spending so long in her social class had left her weary. Everyone harbored ill intentions, swarming toward rotten meat out of greed and constantly clawing at one another. In her eyes, their faces had gradually twisted into hideous lumps of flesh with zero beauty left. Thus, she had a penchant for clean, unblemished things—just as people are naturally drawn to their polar opposites. What's more, Duan Lingxi was far from normal. While you were still sitting there fretting and pondering whether to ask Wuyi for help, the group chat was abruptly dissolved the very next second. Immediately following it was a barrage of money transfer notifications and messages from Bingyin. "[Money Transfer: 5,200 RMB]" "[Money Transfer: 13,140 RMB]" "I was just possessed; I'm out of my mind."