Chapter 1 Paranoia

Heavy rain fell from the leaden sky, and the whole street was foggy.

Shen Boyan put away his umbrella by the wall, and his shoulder bag slid down and hung on his arm.

The plain ring on the middle finger of his left hand was exquisitely crafted and shone with tiny brilliance under the dim sky. But he was only wearing an ordinary black coat, and his sleeves and hem were stained with water, leaving deep traces of it.

When I closed my umbrella, I splashed some water on my face, and a few strands of my bangs were wet and stuck to the side of my face. He raised the hand with the wedding ring and wiped it off casually, then pushed open the door of the café on the roadside, which was lit with warm lights.

The wind chime rang crisply.

Shen Boyan stood at the door and inserted the long-handled black umbrella, which was still dripping water along the ridge, into the umbrella stand.

At a glance, he saw the shop owner Fang Youhan sitting in a comfortable position as usual, leaning on his laptop and tapping away.

"Shen Boyan!" Fang Youhan looked up and saw Shen Boyan coming, and said with a smile, "Come and sit down, what do you want to drink?"

Behind the bar, the tall clerk under the apron stopped what he was doing and looked towards Shen Boyan.

Shen Boyan patted the water droplets on his sleeves and said, "Thank you, hazelnut latte."

When he sat down, Fang Youhan had already closed the computer. Fang Youhan looked at him and said with a smile, "Happy wedding!"

"Thank you." Shen Boyan nodded.

He took off his coat and set it and his shoulder bag aside. Before he could sit up straight, he heard Fang Youhan ask, "Are you living together?"

"We just moved here yesterday," Shen Boyan said.

"Would you like to share a room?" Fang Youhan narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"Of course not." Shen Boyan smiled helplessly, "He lives in the master bedroom, and I live in the side bedroom. We agreed that it is just a contract marriage, no relationship."

Fang Youhan was not too disappointed, he just understood. He said "oh".

"What did your brother Wu Chen say," he asked, "After marrying Cheng Wenjun, do I need you to do anything else?"

The clerk brought a hazelnut latte with a beautiful love flower in the cup. Shen Boyan picked it up, took a sip, shook his head and said, "No need."

"He means that I can maintain my relationship with Cheng Wenjun and don't get divorced."

"The requirements are really low." Fang Youhan complained. .

A finished cup of lemon oolong tea was piled in front of him. The clerk took away the empty cup and replaced it with a cup of coffee.

"Where do you live now? I'll come to visit you some other time?"

"It's in the University Town, Jinyang Garden." Shen Boyan replied.

"How close is it to your school?" Fang Youhan calculated it, but couldn't figure out anything.

"It's very close, only two or three kilometers." Shen Boyan told him.

The rain outside the window was getting heavier and heavier, and the rumbling sound had a tendency to overwhelm the music in the cafe.

Shen Boyan leaned on the soft sofa in the cafe. Although the cafe tried its best to create a soothing atmosphere, his back was still tense.

He took another sip of coffee, put his left hand on the table, and tapped the table with his fingertips frequently.

"That's good." Fang Youhan smiled, "Contract marriage, non-interference, living close to work - I remember that when Xiao Xu's cousin came to see him, he always complained that he had to sit half a mile to go to work every day. Hours on the subway."

He paused: "Besides, isn't Cheng Wenjun a good friend of mine? We remember that we often had dinner together when you celebrated your birthday. The relationship is pretty good."

"My brother also said that you would chat in private... Anyway, we should be considered his friends back then."

"Yes." Shen Boyan licked his lips. .

"But there was no contact after that."

"It's okay." Fang Youhan thought for a moment, "It seems like, in the past three or four...or five or six years, we have rarely seen each other."

He looked at it briefly. Asked Shen Boyan: "You came to me in the heavy rain, is it because of the internal conflict?"

"Of course not." Shen Boyan laughed.

The smile only stayed on his face for a moment, and then disappeared without a trace like raindrops falling to the ground. He looked at Fang Youhan and considered his words: "I just always feel that something is wrong."

"...What's wrong?" Fang Youhan was stunned, "Did he suddenly gain a white moonlight out of thin air in the past few years? "

No." Shen Boyan shook his head.

"So he cheated?" Fang Youhan began to think wildly again.

"No." Shen Boyan shook his head again.

"What could be wrong?" Fang Youhan didn't understand.

Shen Boyan pressed his temples.

"It sounds a little strange." He said slowly, "I always suspect that the person who married me is not Cheng Wenjun himself."...

The rain fell vigorously for two hours and finally stopped.

During this period, Shen Boyan stayed in the cafe and had a takeaway meal with Fang Youhan and the clerk, solving the dinner problem simply and hastily.

"It's okay, don't think blindly." Fang Youhan comforted him while eating, "If you need my help in any way, just ask me."

Shen Boyan agreed. When he left the cafe opened by Fang Youhan, he stuffed the mental diagnostic scale on the table into his bag, carried an umbrella that was no longer dripping, and walked into the night.

Before coming to see Fang Youhan, he had just seen a doctor. The indicators in the scale are not completely healthy, and mild anxiety and moderate sleep disturbance are not unexpected. But compared to his concerns, this situation is indeed not serious.

"I have some doubts about my mental condition." He told the doctor in a calm tone. "During this period, I often thought about whether my marriage partner has been replaced. But in fact, not only Judging from his appearance and fingerprints, he is the same person."

"After checking some information on my own, I would like to ask you whether I may have symptoms of delusional cognitive syndrome."

"It stands to reason that it is unlikely. Possible, but very few cases cannot be ruled out." The doctor also answered his question objectively, "Generally speaking, what is more similar to your situation is the scope of 'Capgra's delusion' when you are sick. , you will think that someone you know in reality has been impersonated or replaced. "

We generally interpret it as schizophrenia, and the patient is likely to be violent. But first of all, this disease is caused by a problem in the visual system. As a result, you can still tell the difference between the two people when you answer the phone. According to your description, you will feel "replaced" through any method." Shen Boyan remained silent.

"However," the doctor suggested, "you and the 'relative' around you have not had close contact for more than five years. Maybe some of his behavioral habits have undergone major changes, which has given you This strong sense of substitution.

"I can't give you a clear answer at the moment. My suggestion is that you can learn more about this."

After politely thanking the doctor, Shen Boyan grabbed the medicine. A small stack of paper, and I was hit by heavy rain when I went out.

I received a message from Cheng Wenjun on my phone twenty minutes ago——

[I'm sorry Xiaoyan, I have a meeting today and I can't take you home. ]

Shen Boyan walked and replied: [It's okay. 】Then he put his cell phone in his pocket, held an umbrella and broke into the rain.

After the awkward meeting ended late at night, Cheng Wenjun did not send any message.

Fang Youhan's cafe is near the university town, seemingly not far from where he lives now.

The rain had stopped when Shen Boyan left, and only the street trees on the roadside were still scattering water droplets on their leaves.

He shook the umbrella and held it up resignedly. The street lamps cast shadows on the ground, reflecting the brightly lit tall buildings not far away. He drove the navigation system, entered the name of his current address unskillfully, and then walked slowly through the stagnant water on the roadside towards the unfamiliar 'home'.

It started a month ago.

A month ago, his half-brother Wu Chen suddenly found him for the first time.

Shen Boyan sat opposite Wu Chen and listened to him say in his usual cold tone: "The company needs you to marry Cheng Wenjun."

Since Wu Chen said 'need', it was a done deal.

What can I do? I have to agree.

Shen Boyan didn't quite understand the twists and turns involved. He didn't study business, and he didn't have any relevant knowledge in his mind. He just felt that this marriage was inexplicable, like a nonsense story in a novel.

Logically speaking, he should find a roundabout way to refuse.

But as if facing some irresistible temptation, he tossed and turned for several nights, and finally went to find his sister Shen Boxuan.

Shen Boxuan was speechless after hearing what Shen Boyan said: "Yes, marriage is meaningless and cannot solve any real problems. But..."

She glanced at Shen Boyan's face. Shen Boyan didn't know what she saw.

"I knew you were just an idiot... Forget it, Mr. Cheng Wen. Let's get married. There's nothing we can't do."

She paused: "By the way, just be careful not to sign anything incomprehensible."

Shen Boyan I don’t know why I felt a little relieved, so I agreed.

The wedding needs to be finalized over a meal.

Shen Boyan stood at the door of the hotel waiting for them, and saw Wu Chen chatting warmly with Cheng Wenjun from a distance.

The sun was shining brightly that day, falling through the shadows of trees and onto Cheng Wenjun's face. Shen Boyan saw Cheng Wenjun smiling, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

But for some reason, the moment Shen Boyan's eyes touched Cheng Wenjun, a heavy haze passed through his heart unknowingly.

He couldn't help but recall that in high school, Cheng Wenjun was his senior. In an overlapping physical education class, Shen Boyan finished his run and saw Cheng Wenjun standing under the tree in the blink of an eye.

The sunlight was also scattered. Cheng Wenjun turned his head to look at him and smiled, his eyebrows and eyes curved.

But now, Shen Boyan looked at Cheng Wenjun's obviously gentle and plain smile, but it felt very strange.

There is also a hint of dissonance.

He couldn't tell where exactly. I could only say hello to the two of them mechanically and follow them in.

Then, they will prepare to get married.

Shen Boyan should have felt the expectation, but in fact he felt nothing at all.

His doubts never ceased.

Those inexplicable thoughts, along with countless details in life, always flow into my mind uncontrollably. The constant flipping made him uneasy.

From that moment on, he thought over and over again - Cheng Wenjun, what happened? Is he still him? ...

Stepping on the rain-covered ground, Shen Boyan walked back to Jinyang Community.

The sanitation guard was sweeping water on the roadside. He crossed the path and found the building where he lived based on his memory.

Press your thumb on the doorknob and make a beeping sound. Shen Boyan opened the door. It was dark inside, as if no one had come back.

Yes, Cheng Wenjun has a meeting today.

He didn't know where to put the wet coat, so he could only throw it into the washing machine, throw the shoulder bag on the sofa, and go into the room to take a shower.

After everything was put away, Shen Boyan wiped his hair, but heard a familiar "beep" sound at the door. The door opened.

A tall figure blocked the light in the corridor, casting a dark shadow. The lamp in the living room vaguely reflected the person's face - a gentle and elegant face with gentle brows.

"Xiaoyan."

The person raised his lips and showed a faint smile.