At nine o'clock the next morning, Su Nian rang the doorbell of Xie Chen's apartment right on time. She was carrying a rather light breakfast that she had bought on her way, and her mind was still processing the massive amount of information she had received the night before and the initial plans for today's meeting.

The door was quickly opened a crack. Xie Chen (the main personality) peeked out. He seemed to have just gotten up; his hair was a little messy, and he was wearing soft, light gray loungewear. He looked even more gentle and harmless than he had been backstage at the concert hall the night before, even carrying a hint of morning drowsiness. Upon seeing Su Nian, he visibly relaxed, his cheeks slightly flushed, and he said softly, "Good morning, Assistant Su."

"Good morning, Mr. Xie." Su Nian smiled and held up the paper bag in her hand. "I brought you some breakfast. I don't know if it suits your taste."

"Ah... thank you, you've gone to so much trouble." Xie Chen quickly stepped aside to let Su Nian in, his movements filled with careful politeness.

The apartment remained excessively tidy yet lifeless, just as it had been the night before, though the faint smell of alcohol in the air had dissipated. Su Nian noticed that the piano, which had been smashed by the alternate personality, was now completely covered up, as if trying to conceal everything that had happened the previous night.

Su Nian placed the breakfast on the table, while Xie Chen stood awkwardly to the side, like a student waiting for the teacher to speak.

"Mr. Xie, please have breakfast first. We can chat while we eat, just relax a bit." Su Nian tried to make her tone sound casual yet professional to ease his tension.

Xie Chen nodded obediently, sat down at the dining table, and ate the porridge and snacks that Su Nian had brought in small bites. His movements were elegant, but you could still tell that he was uncomfortable.

[Host, the main personality's mental fluctuations are relatively stable today, but their vigilance and dependence are both very high.] 088 analyzed, [His trust in you is slowly increasing, which is a good sign.]

Su Nian sat opposite him, not rushing to get to the point, but asking casually as if chatting with a friend, "How did you sleep last night? Does your head still hurt?" She remembered that she seemed to be in some pain before the alternate personality switched.

Xie Chen paused, his hand holding the spoon pausing, his eyes dimming slightly. He shook his head gently, "It's alright... it's just that I can't quite remember what happened afterward." He looked up at Su Nian anxiously, "He... last night, besides smashing the piano, did he do anything else outrageous? Did he... scare you?"

He seemed very concerned about the impact of his negative personality behavior on Su Nian.

“He didn’t scare me,” Su Nian answered confidently, avoiding specific details. “He was just a little emotional and said some… things about music.”

"His opinion on music?" A hint of confusion and unease flashed in Xie Chen's eyes. "What did he say?"

“He said… true strong people don’t need useless emotions and complaints.” Su Nian carefully chose her words, observing Xie Chen’s reaction.

Sure enough, Xie Chen's face turned pale instantly. He lowered his head, his fingers gripping the spoon tightly until his knuckles turned white. After a long silence, he said in an almost inaudible voice, "He... has always thought so. He thinks my music... is a symbol of weakness."

This sentence, like a key, unlocked the first door to Xie Chen's inner world.

Su Nian didn't urge them, but waited quietly.

Perhaps it was Su Nianping's calm attitude that gave him a sense of security, or perhaps it was because he had been suppressing his feelings for too long and needed to confide in someone, Xie Chen began to tell his story in fits and starts.

“I… I could feel ‘his’ presence since I was little.” Xie Chen’s voice was low, with a hazy feeling of reminiscence. “When I was little, whenever I didn’t practice the piano well, or when I was criticized by the teacher, and I felt scared, wronged and wanted to cry, ‘he’ would appear. ‘He’ would get very angry, smash things, and call me a ‘useless crybaby,’ and then… take on the blame and pressure that I couldn’t face.”

His account reveals the initial cause of the alter ego—a harsh and brutal defense mechanism born to protect the vulnerable primary personality.

"Later... when I went on stage to perform, facing the audience, my fingers would tremble with nervousness, and 'he' would come out too. 'He' wasn't afraid of the stage, wasn't afraid of anyone, 'he' even enjoyed that... feeling of being in control of everything." Xie Chen's tone was complex, containing both a secret envy of the alternate personality's abilities and a deep fear. "However, 'he' hated the emotion I poured into playing the piano; 'he' thought it was a sign of weakness. Every time I immersed myself in the music, 'he' would become restless... just like last night."

Su Nian pondered for a moment: "So, the alternate personality... shall we call him 'A-Chen' for now? He protects you, but he also rejects your most core quality as an artist—the expression of emotions."

Xie Chen was taken aback by the name "A-Chen" for a moment, then nodded silently, accepting the temporary nickname.

"So... regarding your childhood, did anything particularly unusual happen?" Su Nian tried to touch on deeper traumas, "For example, related to the piano, or to your parents?"

At the mention of "parents," Xie Chen's body trembled visibly, his eyes instantly filled with immense fear and pain. He shook his head violently, his voice choked with sobs: "No...don't ask this...I don't know...I can't remember..."

His reaction was so intense, almost a physiological rejection. Clearly, his parents were the key to triggering his deep trauma, and also a deliberately blocked area in his memory.

Su Nian immediately stopped asking questions and instead soothed him in a gentle tone, "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Mr. Xie, relax, take a deep breath..."

She guided Xie Chen through a few simple relaxation exercises, and his emotions gradually calmed down, but his complexion was still very bad, his eyes darted around, and he dared not look at Su Nian again.

Unable to delve any deeper into the initial conversation, Su Nian turned her attention to Xie Chen's current life. She helped him plan a relatively relaxed schedule for the next few days, mainly for rest and preparation for his next charity performance. Throughout the process, Xie Chen was very cooperative, even somewhat dependent on Su Nian's arrangements, as if he were clinging to her as a lifeline.

At noon, Su Nian made two simple bowls of noodles using the ingredients she had stored in her apartment. Xie Chen ate quietly, occasionally stealing a glance at Su Nian, his eyes filled with gratitude and a tenderness like that of a fledgling bird.

[Host, the primary personality's dependence on you is significantly increasing.] 088 cautioned, [This is beneficial for establishing a therapeutic relationship, but be careful of potential problems caused by excessive dependence, especially from the perspective of the secondary personality, which may feel like 'his possessions' are being encroached upon.]

After dinner, Xie Chen seemed to be in better spirits. He hesitated as he looked at the covered piano in the living room.

"Assistant Su... I... I'd like to play the piano for a while, is that alright?" he asked softly, as if it were something important that required approval.

“Of course you can, it’s your prerogative,” Su Nian encouraged.

Xie Chen walked to the piano, took a deep breath, and as if gathering his courage, lifted the dust cover. When his fingers touched the cold keys, he seemed to relax completely, finding a place to belong.

He played a soothing piece with a touch of melancholy. It wasn't a work by a famous composer, but the melody was simple yet deeply moving, like an impromptu outpouring of emotion.

Su Nian sat on the sofa not far away, listening quietly. She could feel the loneliness and unease flowing through the music, as well as a trace of longing for understanding and warmth.

"Host, this piece of music... isn't recorded in the database. It's very likely something he composed when he was a child," 088 analyzed. "The core motif of the melody hides a strong internal conflict, which matches his personality perfectly."

Just as the piece was about to enter a slightly brighter movement, Xie Chen's fingers suddenly froze, and an abrupt, incorrect note popped out.

He stopped abruptly, his face turning deathly pale, and his breathing becoming rapid.

"No...no..." he muttered to himself, his eyes beginning to glaze over, his fingers unconsciously scratching at the piano keys, making a jarring noise.

[Warning! A violent fluctuation in the primary personality's emotions has been detected, and a crack has appeared in the mental barrier! The secondary personality's consciousness is attempting to take over! The triggering cause is suspected to be related to the musical fragment that was just played!] 088 Emergency Alert.

Su Nian immediately stood up and quickly walked to the piano: "Mr. Xie!"

Xie Chen raised his head and looked at Su Nian, his eyes struggling, sometimes clear-headed, sometimes confused. He clutched his head in anguish: "Go... Assistant Su... you have to go... he's coming out... he's angry..."

"Why are you angry?" Su Nian didn't leave, but instead took a step closer and asked in a calm voice.

"Because...that piece of music...that is..." Xie Chen's words were interrupted by the roar of another consciousness within him.

"Don't play! Don't think about it!" A furious voice seemed to be squeezed out from deep in his throat, filled with great pain and anger.

The next second, Xie Chen's body suddenly stiffened, and when he raised his head again, his eyes had completely changed!

His dark pupils burned with raging fury as he stared intently at Su Nian, who was standing close at hand, and the piano behind her.

It's the alternate personality "A-Chen"!

"It's you again!" Ah Chen's voice was icy cold, filled with the fury of someone whose territory had been invaded. "What did you say to that piece of trash? To make him play that damn tune!"

He pushed aside the piano stool, stood up, and his tall figure approached Su Nian with a powerful sense of oppression.

"I was just doing my duty, helping Mr. Xie manage his emotions," Su Nian replied calmly, without backing down. She knew that retreating at this moment would only embolden him.

"Relieve emotions?" Ah Chen scoffed, his eyes filled with malice. "You're digging up things that should have been buried long ago! Those weaknesses! Those useless pains!" He pointed sharply at the piano. "And this damned thing! It only brings misfortune!"

He was unusually agitated, even more so than the night before, as if the simple piece of music had touched upon his deepest taboo.

Su Nian caught the key information: "Misfortune? Has this piano, or its music, ever brought any misfortune?"

Ah Chen was like a wild beast whose tail had been stepped on. His eyes instantly turned extremely dangerous. He grabbed Su Nian's wrist with astonishing force, almost crushing her bones.

"Shut up! Don't ask any more questions!" he growled, pulling her sharply towards him until their noses almost touched. His hot, chaotic breath enveloped her completely. "I warned you, you're mine! I forbid you from investigating those things! I forbid you from focusing your attention on that good-for-nothing and this lousy music!"

His paranoia and possessiveness reached their peak at this moment. He could not tolerate Su Nian touching upon the past that he considered taboo, nor could he tolerate her showing any form of care or guidance towards the main personality.

Su Nian felt a sharp pain in her wrist, but she still looked directly into his crazed eyes and said, word by word, "Escape and violence won't solve anything. Those 'buried things' are the root of your suffering."

"Pain?" Ah Chen seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world, but his eyes became even more sinister. "As long as I can control you, as long as you only have eyes for me, what does pain matter?"

He lowered his head and brought his lips close to Su Nian's, his movements carrying a destructive decisiveness, as if he wanted to assert ownership through this most primal means and silence any words she might utter in her quest to uncover the truth.

Just as his lips were about to touch—

"No...don't hurt her..."

A faint but clear voice, tinged with sobs and brimming with immense courage, struggled to emerge from Xie Chen's throat!

It was the primary personality! He actually managed to break free from the secondary personality at the moment when the secondary personality's emotions were at their most intense and its control was strongest!

Ah Chen's movements suddenly froze, his face showing extreme astonishment and anger, as if he couldn't believe that "good-for-nothing" dared to defy him.

Xie Chen's (the main personality's) gaze regained control. Although filled with fear and tears, he clung tightly to the remaining control of Ah Chen's consciousness and shouted at Su Nian with all his might:

"Assistant Su... hurry! The practice room... the locked practice room... can't be opened..."

Before he could finish speaking, he closed his eyes and his body went limp and fell down.

This time, it wasn't a personality switch, but rather a coma caused by excessive mental exhaustion.

Su Nian quickly supported his fallen body, her heart pounding violently at his last warning.

A locked music room?

What exactly is hidden there?

(End of Chapter 127)