<p>This study introduces novel data crucial for evaluating representative analyses of null objects in Mandarin Chinese. It advocates for what this article terms the <i>Topic-bound Variable</i> (TBV) analysis. In the TBV analysis, null objects are treated as variables bound by the topic. This stands in contrast to alternative approaches such as the <i>Argument Ellipsis</i> (AE) analysis, which views null objects as elided arguments. In the AE analysis, the content of these objects is recovered directly from their linguistic context antecedents, not from a topic. This study investigates empirical predictions of the analyses regarding the (un)availability of the sloppy reading and the quantity reading. Through a close examination of aspects of the sloppy reading, this article demonstrates that adjuncts, reflexive possessors, and other elements within the antecedent of a null object can be excluded from the interpretation of the null object. These phenomena pose serious challenges to the AE analysis but are compatible with the TBV analysis, as the mediating topics can yield such interpretive possibilities. In addition, this article finds that the quantity reading can be “turned on and off” by managing the type of topics to be projected, independent of the type of antecedent the null object has. Specifically, I show that the type of the topic—i.e., whether it is a definite- or kind-denoting bare nominal or a licensed numeral phrase topic—is crucial to the interpretation of null objects. The topic’s mediating role in the interpretation of null objects favors the TBV analysis over the AE analysis. This suggests a dissociation between the interpretation of the null object and its antecedent, challenging the empirical foundation of the AE analysis in general.</p>