Chapter 10

Once I realized the “text” in front of the commenters could be entirely different from the actual “images,” all those buried inconsistencies fell into place.

That night, Xie Ting’s clothes had been immaculate. He’d looked perfectly at ease, utterly unafraid of my taking Su Tao’s pulse.

He’d never imagined I’d suspect anything of that sort. After all, he and Su Tao were usually so cold toward each other that they were almost openly hostile.

Perhaps she’d been afraid of my reading her pulse only because she was embarrassed I might discover something else.

And she hadn’t been afraid of my taking her clothes off at all.

The text and the images might never have been in sync!

But who would have thought of that?

Su Tao’s reactions were misleading, the comments were furiously stirring things up, and the moment I tried to verify anything, I was shut down.

Unless Xie Ting, as a main character, took the initiative and brought me into the investigation.

With that settled, I immediately asked him to take me to find Su Tao.

When she looked at us, her eyes were full of the grief, terror, and despair of someone who expected to be cast aside.

“Is Mommy going to keep away from me? I knew… this day would come.”

She cried so hard she could barely breathe, then blurted out an absurd, unhealthy fantasy.

“If only the world had a one-husband, one-wife rule. Then Mommy’s little crybaby could stay with Mommy forever.”

What?

Was it just me?

I felt as though I’d just been mown down by a machine gun.

As Su Tao’s tears spilled like pearls from a broken string,

I sighed silently.

I stepped forward without hesitating and gently gathered her trembling body into my arms.

“Su Tao. First of all, the person you like is me, Pei Xue. I have to commend your taste.”

That was the compliment.

“Second, although you call me Mommy, you knew from the start that we’re not related by blood. Having feelings for me isn’t, ethically speaking, some unforgivable original sin.”

That was the absolution.

“Finally, Su Tao. Mommy hears how much you want us to stay together forever.”

I met her reddened eyes, each word steady and firm.

“But romantic love has never been the only way to make companionship last. It’s intense, but it can change. The family bond we’ve built together over these five years can be strong and lasting in its own right. It’s more than enough to hold the sense of belonging and safety you want.”

“As long as you’re willing, and you treasure this unique relationship of ours as you have for the past five years…”

“Mommy will always be here with you—as your mommy.”

The End

Extra

Later, I had a conversation with the commenters across the divide.

They were astonished that I could see them.

Then they all started chattering at once, telling me how it had turned out.

“There are bad actors in the crowd. Lots and lots of them!”

My suspicion was confirmed. The commenters weren’t seeing live footage, but “text.”

Those pornographic “core plot points” couldn’t be rewritten by anything I did. But as long as I didn’t interfere with them, my actions could still be reflected in the story’s text for the commenters to see.

In other words, what they saw was the unchangeable “original plot,” plus the small adjustments caused by my meddling.

The thing I least expected was this:

Ninety percent of those comments so morally bankrupt they made you question humanity had been generated by AI.

To test whether AI could manipulate public opinion, commercial interests had mixed AI-generated comments in with human ones, steering the conversation.

They wanted to find out:

No matter how absurd or twisted a view was, if the brainwashing was repeated often enough and densely enough, would humans be influenced? Would they gradually accept it, even come to treat it as gospel?

There were so many AI comments pushing the narrative that normal people were too bewildered to speak.

They only dared to venture an occasional quiet question.

Then they were instantly drowned out by the bad comments.

After that day, I never saw the comments again.

I told Lu Yuan these bizarre truths.

Lu Yuan looked baffled.

“Holy shit.”

“But what I’m most curious about is whether Xie Ting likes you.”

“What difference would it make?” I smiled. “As we are now, this is the distance we’re most comfortable with.”