What It's Like Being a Vampire

Before finishing his conversation with Shiling’s Mom, Xiang Kun found out they were about to go eat at the rabbit meat restaurant they had tried before.

The primary reason he gave Liu Shiling those chopsticks was to use the ability of “Emotional Infusion” to perceive the emotions in objects to feel Little Fatty Girl’s “love” for food, collecting her emotions during meals.

Among the people Xiang Kun knew, if there were an award for “enjoying food the most,” Liu Shiling would undoubtedly win first place, with a gap before the next contender.

So if he were to transfer someone’s emotions about delicious food, Liu Shiling would undoubtedly be the best target.

Since sending the chopsticks to Liu Shiling, Xiang Kun had made several attempts at collection. Although he had successfully caused emotional transference a few times, he still wasn’t quite satisfied.

These emotional feelings at mealtime, which for others would be quite intense, seemed to Xiang Kun to lack something, as if “it might be more if it were Liu Shiling.”

Perhaps Liu Shiling hadn’t had delicious food recently, resulting in limited emotional feedback; also, Xiang Kun had been busy recently and couldn’t monitor and prepare to transform emotions at every meal, which could have made him miss out on some intense emotions during meal times.

Knowing they were going to eat rabbit meat today, and judging by the live feedback from the last time they dined together in Star City, he judged the emotional feedback to be strong enough. Xiang Kun prepared to fully perceive and transform it.

As for those chopsticks, Liu Shiling carries them to nursery school every day for meals, so now that Shiling’s Mom is picking her up, she must have the chopsticks with her.

Since Liu Shiling is going to eat rabbit meat, Xiang Kun also prepared a plate of rabbit meat—after all, he still had plenty of ingredients in the fridge.

Emotions perceived through “Emotional Infusion” need first to be transformed into your own, making you truly empathize, and only in a non-perceptible state can you use “Emotional Assimilation” to influence others or use “Emotional Infusion” on objects.

The way to transform is to find a way to mimic the target’s actions and conditions in real-time.

If Liu Shiling is eating rabbit meat, then he will also eat rabbit meat; that is the easiest way to find the right feeling.

Xiang Kun continued to sense the pair of chopsticks he had given to Liu Shiling, constantly getting different feedback.

Little Fatty Girl has always been a child with a lot of emotional activity, rapid emotional changes, and drastic mood swings, especially when she’s hungry. And getting such clear emotional feedback proves that she’s already started playing with the chopsticks.

Feeling uncomfortable, anticipating, enduring, anticipating, feeling uncomfortable, feeling hungry, enduring—the emotions of Liu Shiling keep switching between these few types. Xiang Kun can almost see Little Fatty Girl sitting impatiently in the restaurant chair, messing with her chopsticks, and her mother nagging her.

Combine all these emotions, and it equates to strong appetite before the meal when you’re hungry and want to eat delicious food. But for Xiang Kun, such emotions are hard to empathize with.

Little Fatty Girl’s expectancy dramatically increased, and Xiang Kun immediately realized that their food has been served.

He too picked up his chopsticks, ready to eat the rabbit meat in front of him.

Because he’s alone at home, he didn’t suppress his urge to vomit by swallowing pebbles. He placed a bucket beside the dining table, ready to spit out the food residue directly into the bucket after chewing.

Of course, if he gets too immersed in the emotion and swallows the food, he can directly vomit it out; it doesn’t matter if he accidentally vomits on the table as no one is around to see it.

Little Fatty Girl’s emotions went from extremely high anticipation to the slightest sense of satisfaction and enjoyment, indicating that she had started eating.

Based on past experience, this sense of satisfaction should continue to rise, followed by feelings of happiness. If the food is tasty enough, there should be further emotional feedback.

Xiang Kun closed his eyes, chewing the rabbit meat in his mouth, savoring various tastes while sensing Little Fatty Girl’s emotions, and correlating those tastes with the emotions.

This time the feedback of emotions was one of the stronger ones Xiang Kun had sensed during meal times. Based on the cognitive model he had built for Liu Shiling, apart from the dishes he cooked himself, Liu Shiling would only get stronger feedback from eating chocolate ice cream or chocolate muffins. Unfortunately, chopsticks aren’t used to eat ice cream and muffins, and Xiang Kun wouldn’t be able to cook for her in the near future.

As Xiang Kun chewed and sensed Little Fatty Girl’s emotions, he started to savor the taste; the transformation was going smoothly.

But then, Little Fatty Girl’s satisfaction suddenly turned into repulsion, then disappointment.

Xiang Kun stopped chewing, somewhat puzzled. Why such a large shift in emotion?

He’d eaten at that restaurant before as well, and while it didn’t match up to his dish tailored to Liu Shiling’s taste—after all, the restaurant had to consider cost, time-efficiency, and taste—it was acceptable, and Liu Shiling seemed to enjoy it last time.

Or did the mother and daughter order a different rabbit dish to try this time, and its taste was far inferior to the previous one?

According to Xiang Kun’s perception, Liu Shiling’s emotions were continuously changing, from repulsion, disappointment, struggle, to helplessness.

Xiang Kun naturally stopped chewing, spitting the food residue in his bucket.

But his perception of the pair of chopsticks did not stop, he was curious about little Liu Shiling’s emotional journey during dinner.

It seems she hit some unpleasant food. So next, Little Fatty Girl’s emotions would turn into anger and dissatisfaction? Would she start throwing a tantrum?

However, quite unexpectedly to Xiang Kun, the feeling of helplessness lasted for a long time and gradually turned into discomfort.

The feeling of discomfort varies from person to person and status to status. The discomfort of hunger, sickness, and pain all differ.

Xiang Kun, relying on past experiences sensing Liu Shiling’s emotions, roughly guessed the source of her discomfort—it seemed like she had overeaten?

So, what was happening?

Even though she felt the dishes were not tasty and not to her taste, she still overate?

Liu Shiling’s emotions… are really harder to understand than an adult’s!

After “finishing dinner” at home, Xiang Kun went out to take a cab to a café near a certain university to meet with Yang Zhuo.

Last month, they ran into each other in a tailor shop and chatted over dinner and drinks that evening. Afterwards, Yang Zhuo started practicing according to Xiang Kun’s “guidance,” and kept consulting and interacting with him over WeChat.

Xiang Kun continuously adjusted the observation and reasoning training model he had built for him based on Yang Zhuo’s descriptions and feedback, to further guide him.

Through this process of interaction, Xiang Kun discovered that Yang was a journalism major and had been editing clips since high school.

In college, he and his girlfriend started a film review program on Bilibili. He manipulated the clips and wrote the script while his girlfriend did the voiceovers. They only started a few months ago, so they don’t have many followers yet. But the view count for each episode is steadily increasing. He also made a few insightful Vlogs, which received good reactions.

Xiang Kun had seen the videos they made previously and was genuinely impressed by their quality and well-crafted scripts; this sparked an idea in him. He thought of asking them to help You Meng’s family make videos and other related promotional materials for “Youlong Play Rabbit,” in their spare time. The winter vacation was just around the corner, so he planned to invite them to Tongshi Town for a visit.

It wasn’t because Xiang Kun wanted to save money and take advantage of free labor; instead, it was because Tang Baona has been incredibly helpful and extremely busy, so much so she hardly had time to make her own videos. Moreover, Xiang Kun knew that Baona would never accept any kind of payment from him. Therefore, Xiang Kun was considering finding a trustworthy and capable helper.

In Yang Zhuo’s case, he would certainly not refuse a part-time salary. Given his admiration for Xiang Kun, he would be more willing to understand and implement the various ideas and strategies Xiang Kun might have.

Therefore, in his interactions with Yang Zhuo, Xiang Kun made an additional effort to present a positive image and helped him to develop detailed training plans so that his training could yield quick and effective results and strong positive feedback.

They decided to meet at a cafe that day for two reasons: Yang Zhuo wanted to update Xiang Kun on his training progress, and Xiang Kun wanted to give him a brief overview of his concepts for the next few videos for “Youlong Play Rabbit.” Furthermore, they also wanted to discuss relevant operational strategies.

When Xiang Kun arrived at the cafe, Yang Zhuo and his girlfriend Xiao Min had been waiting for a while. It wasn’t because Xiang Kun was late; instead, the young couple had finished their dinner and arrived early just to wait for him.

“Brother Xiang!” Upon seeing Xiang Kun, Yang Zhuo and Xiao Min stood up immediately, smiling and greeting him.

It was clear that the two young individuals held Xiang Kun in high regard and respected him immensely – they almost treated him as their idol and mentor.

Xiang Kun gestured for them to sit down and not to stand on his account.

“Brother Xiang, we ordered an Americano for you; I remember you were drinking it the other night,” Yang Zhuo said.

Xiang Kun thanked him and complimented: “It seems like you paid good attention before.” He picked up the coffee cup, pretended to take a sip, and then asked directly: “How many people are sitting behind you? And how many are men and women?”

This abrupt question did not surprise either of them; they had often played games like this together.

“There are six people, four women, and two men,” Yang Zhuo replied instantly.

Xiao Min thought for a moment, then added, “Both men are wearing glasses. Among the women, one of them is wearing a skirt.”

Xiang Kun nodded, “You two confirm.”

The couple glanced back to check and once they confirmed they were correct, they high-fived each other.

“Your turn now,” Xiang Kun said.

Yang Zhuo whispered, “Can we ask anything? If we ask something too challenging, you won’t beat me up, right?”

“Don’t worry,” Xiang Kun reassured him.

So, after a brief discussion between Yang Zhuo and Xiao Min, they asked, “What is the name of the restaurant next to this cafe?”

“Xiaoxiang Beauty,” Xiang Kun responded swiftly.

“What is the phone number listed on their sign?” Yang Zhuo asked again.

Xiang Kun promptly recited a number.

Yang Zhuo and Xiao Min stared in astonishment out the window at the sign of the neighboring restaurant. The phone number listed beneath the name “Xiaoxiang Beauty” on the sign was the exact number Xiang Kun had just recited.

“Brother Xiang, did you intentionally memorize the name of the restaurant next door and the number listed on the sign before you walked in?” Yang Zhuo asked incredulously.

“No, I didn’t,” Xiang Kun pointed to the glass window beside him, “I saw it from the reflection.” The glass window during the night had partially become a mirror of sorts, which Yang Zhuo and Xiao Min hadn’t noticed from their positions.

Yang Zhuo and Xiao Min exchanged a speechless look, then said, “Okay, we’ll change the question then. Brother Xiang, when you came into the coffee shop just now, did you notice there was a sign at the entrance? It had the promotions the shop is currently running, along with the end dates.”

Xiang Kun responded, “The promotion was about topping up $500 and getting an extra $300, and topping up $1000 and getting an extra $700. The promotion ends on January 15th.”

Yang Zhuo’s eyes widened in surprise, “That’s impressive, Brother Xiang! You remembered all that! I recall when you walked through the door, you didn’t even pause a moment!”

At this point, the café waitress brought over the appetizers they had ordered. After she left, Yang Zhuo went on to ask, “Brother Xiang, what was the number on the badge of the waitress who just brought over our foods?”

“005,” Xiang Kun responded instantly.

“I give up!” Yang Zhuo exclaimed in shock, shaking his head. He had observed the surroundings carefully, and there weren’t any reflective surfaces that would allow Xiang Kun to see what was on the sign at the cafe’s entrance. Plus, when the waitress brought over their food, Xiang Kun didn’t seem to look up at all.

Xiao Min asked curiously, “Brother Xiang, do you observe every detail wherever you go? Isn’t that tiresome?”

Xiang Kun replied, “Of course not. But I knew that I’d be playing this game with you today. Based on our conversations on WeChat these past few days, I knew that Yang Zhuo is especially keen on observing tangible symbols in reality, such as numbers, text, etc., and considers these the hardest to remember. So, I predicted that if he were to ask a question, it would be something along those lines. Thus, when I walked into the cafe, I consciously memorized these symbols.”

Xiao Min looked at her boyfriend and exclaimed, “That’s so true! You’ve always been particularly fond of tangible symbols and always like to ask similar questions.”

Upon reflection, Yang Zhuo realized that he was, indeed, as Xiang Kun had described.

Xiang Kun continued, “This is what I previously mentioned, observing is a means to an end. People have a limited attention span, so different objectives call for different focus in observation. Be flexible and don’t remain the same. Sometimes we observe objects in order to understand people, other times, we observe people to understand objects, and sometimes we observe both people and objects to deduce events. Depending on what the purpose is, the focus will differ.”

“I understand, it’s like what you told me before. To understand Xiao Min’s mood, I don’t necessarily have to rely only on her facial expressions, tone, and actions. I can also analyze it from her clothes, makeup, and appearance the next day,” Yang Zhuo said with a realization.

Xiao Min also seemed thoughtful.

Xiang Kun picked up his coffee cup and symbolically took a sip, displaying a “giving you some time to think” look.

In fact, whether it was the phone number and name on the sign of the restaurant next door, the content on the ad sign at the café entrance, or the badge number of the waitress, he had memorized all these indiscriminately. Moreover, he had “recorded” much more information based on various cognitive models, including many smells, sounds, and other feedback information that Yang Zhuo and Xiao Min were not aware of.

However, he understood that the observation and reasoning model built for Yang Zhuo was based on ordinary human abilities. Therefore, every concept introduced needed to be explained in a way that they could understand and accomplish.

The exercises he had them do right now were simple and might not have much practical use. However, they would provide plenty of positive feedback, which would motivate them to carry on and accept more complex and systematic training.

Yang Zhuo and Xiao Min shared their observations and analyses based on their own experiences, then Xiang Kun explained and analyzed them. He recommended some books for them to study, and time flew by.

The two college students were more focused while communicating with Xiang Kun than they were in their classes; they listened intently, not wanting to miss a word.