Chapter 1
“@Liam You deaf or mute? @you a hundred times and you still don’t reply. What are you trying to act like, some big shot?”
When my phone screen lit up, I had just finished showering and was ready for bed.
Messages in the resident group kept popping up one after another, all from the same person—the so-called “helpful” woman from Building 6, the busiestbody in the whole complex.
“Kids these days really have no manners. Living in someone else’s complex and not knowing the rules, acting like a dead man.”
“Someone explain this to me. I was being nice to him, and he didn’t even say a word. Is this guy sick or something?”
I stared at the screen, and my palms started sweating.
I had only moved into this complex three days ago, and I had barely even gone out.
Working remotely as a programmer had one major advantage: I didn’t have to deal with people.
I rented this old complex because it was quiet, cheap, and there weren’t many people around.
I thought I could live peacefully here, but on the afternoon of the day I moved in, someone knocked on my door.
“New here, huh, kid? I’m Aunt Wang from Building 6. If anything comes up in the complex, just come find me!”
When I opened the door, I saw a woman in her fifties with permed curls, holding a plate of dumplings, smiling so hard her face was covered in wrinkles.
“No, no need, thanks.” I took a step back.
“Oh, don’t be so formal, kid. I’ve lived in this complex for fifteen years. I know everything about everyone.”
“You live alone? How old are you? Where do you work? Got a boyfriend?”
As she talked, she squeezed past me and used her eyes to scan my living room.
I blocked the doorway, my palms full of sweat. “I’m pretty busy with work. It’s not very convenient.”
“Busy with what? Young people should get out more. Come to the dance party tomorrow night. I’ll introduce you to the neighbors!”
“No thanks, Aunt Wang, I really—”
“It’s settled then!”
She turned and left, leaving the plate of dumplings at my door.
The next day I didn’t go to the dance party. I didn’t go on the third day either.
And then there were these messages in the group.
I scrolled through the chat history, my fingers trembling a little. There were over two hundred people in the group, and some followed along:
“Aunt Wang, don’t be mad. Kids today are all like this. They don’t know any better.”
“Exactly. Aunt Wang was just being kind, and he gave her attitude. What kind of person is he?”
Some people stayed silent, but no one stood up for me.
I turned off the screen and lay in bed, my heart pounding.
I didn’t like being noticed. I didn’t like people talking about me. I hated being scolded even more.
I moved here just to get away from all that.
But now the whole complex was laughing at me.
Aunt Wang sent another message:
“@Liam Don’t think staying quiet will make this go away.”
“Tomorrow the community is having an event. Everyone has to show up. Try not coming if you can.”
I stared at the ceiling and didn’t sleep all night.
The next morning, when I went out to throw away the trash, I ran into Aunt Wang in the garden.
She was chatting with a few old ladies, and when she saw me, she shouted at the top of her lungs:
“Well, if it isn’t our neighborhood superstar? Finally decided to come downstairs?”
Several old ladies turned to look at me all at once.
It felt like everyone’s eyes were stuck to me, and my temples started pounding.
“Aunt Wang, I was working late yesterday. I didn’t see the group messages.” I tried my best to keep my voice steady.
“Didn’t see them? You got @-ed a hundred times and you still say you didn’t see them? Are you blind?”
Her voice was incredibly loud. People walking dogs and pushing strollers in the garden all stopped to look.
I tightened my grip on the trash bag. “I have social anxiety, so I’m not really used to dealing with people. Please don’t take it personally.”
“Social anxiety?” Aunt Wang’s voice got even louder.
“What are you anxious about? I kindly brought you dumplings and invited you to an event, and now you’re anxious?”
“Are you sick or something?”
Those two words, sick, felt like needles stabbing into me.
An old lady nearby jumped in to back her up:
“Aunt Wang, don’t waste your breath on him. Kids like this have no manners. His parents never taught him how to talk to people.”
Another one chimed in:
“Exactly. I think he’s just putting on an act. These days, young people just use social anxiety as an excuse. He’s really just rude.”
I stood there, my palms drenched with sweat.
Aunt Wang walked over and pointed at my nose:
“I’m telling you, I run this complex.”
“If you want to keep living here, you have to follow my rules.”
“Tomorrow’s community event, you have to come. You hear me?”
I didn’t say anything.
“You hear me!” she shouted.
“I heard you.” I turned and walked away.
Back in my room, I shut the door and sat against it for a long time.
I couldn’t argue with her. Someone like me, once I got emotional, couldn’t say anything and would only end up as a joke.
But I also couldn’t keep letting her bully me like this.
I opened my laptop and tried to look up how to handle this kind of situation. After searching for a while, words like “community harassment,”
“resident disputes,” and “evidence collection” popped up on the page. I stared at them for a long time and memorized them.
The next day I didn’t go to the community event.
Aunt Wang sent a voice message in the group, and when I opened it, her voice was shrill enough to pierce my eardrums:
“@Liam You’ve really got guts. You’re the only one in the whole complex who didn’t show up. What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Looking down on us old folks, huh?”
“I’m telling you, people like you won’t last long in this complex. You might as well get lost now!”
Someone replied below: “Aunt Wang, don’t get so upset. It’s not worth hurting your health.”
“Exactly. Let him stay locked up. Maybe he’ll shut himself in until he goes crazy.”
I took screenshots of every single one of those chat messages and saved them into a folder.
Then I turned on my phone’s recording function.