What It's Like Being a Vampire

Zhang Qian laughed so hard that her stomach hurt. She was truly surprised by Xiang Kun’s exceptional ability not only in fortune-telling through twisted logic and having a natural talent for cooking, but also in telling ridiculously funny stories with remarkable expressiveness.

Whilst Xiang Kun was talking, she indeed found the stories very amusing and hilarious. However, after the laughter subsided, she realized that the stories themselves were not particularly brilliant; rather, it was Xiang Kun’s knack for maintaining just the right rhythm and his execution that was the essence of his humor.

Given her previous contacts and knowledge of Xiang Kun, she speculated that this was not merely a display of performance skills – it felt like he was naturally skilled at identifying emotional triggers within everyone. He always knew what to do and how to maximize the conditions at hand to generate emotional responses from others.

When Tang Baona and Yang Zhuo mentioned Xiang Kun’s collaboration with friends from his hometown to run a rabbit meat restaurant and how they made promotional videos online in a huge effort to advertise the restaurant, Zhang Qian found it rather amusing and thought that Xiang Kun was purely fooling around.

In her opinion, he should utilize his coding skills to their fullest extent.

The project her company was working on with Xiang Kun was making significant progress, both in terms of time and expenditure. It costs less than projected and, based on the beta version, it seemed more user-friendly and versatile than she initially imagined. Indeed, it even surpassed what her brother had initially envisaged.

Just last week, she, Director Lin, and Ma Hongguo held an internal meeting where it was speculated that Xiang Kun might have a team backing him as they thought he could not complete such huge tasks alone. However, if that were the case, he could have brought his team officially into the project, allowing them to be duly compensated without having to spend any of his own money. Besides, the funds he received did not quite match the amount of work he did.

But if it was indeed his own work… that fact was even more astounding. From their review of Xiang Kun’s previous company’s project, he did not seem to possess such capabilities. Did he suddenly gain insight after his original company collapsed, resulting in a stunning improvement in his abilities?

Zhang Qian was more inclined to the latter hypothesis, which is why she proposed further collaboration with Xiang Kun. This would allow her to verify her assumption.

When wanting to accomplish something, finding the right person or team is crucial.

As far as Zhang Qian was concerned, Xiang Kun was the exact talent she was looking for. She accepted Wang Han’s invitation to attend Chang Bin and Wang Han’s wedding and came to Tongshi Town with Yang Zhuo and the others. The core purpose was to get Xiang Kun to join her “side” and help her with her work.

However, after the dinner, Zhang Qian realized that the “Youlong Restaurant” Xiang Kun and his friends set up seemed to hold real potential.

Least to say, if she lived in Tongshi Town, she would definitely pay a second visit to the restaurant, actively recommend it to her friends, and even become a regular customer.

If they continued based on Xiang Kun’s plan, the restaurant might become a brand with a profound influence throughout the entire province, or even the country.

In that case, the videos they produced online and the buzz they created would be utterly justified.

Zhang Qian speculated that perhaps she could also participate, first boarding Xiang Kun’s “ship”, then persuading him to join hers?

After dinner, everyone helped clean up and gathered in the kitchen to discuss how to shoot the next video for “Youlong Play Rabbit”.

Xiang Kun, Tang Baona and Yang Zhuo led the discussion, Tang Baona even brought over some filming equipment. The others merely observed, occasionally providing their “genius” ideas.

Zhang Qian seized an opportunity when Xiang Kun was free, went up to him, and handed him her phone.

On the screen was a WeChat conversation window with “Assistant Chen”. Xiang Kun instantly recalled the stern-faced lady who had appeared with Zhang Qian in the café box the very first time he met Director Lin.

“Assistant Chen” had sent Zhang Qian information about two people. One was Qi Haoguo, a wealthy businessman from the neighboring province, who was reportedly worth tens of billions. The other was Liu Feibao, originally from a village in Tongshi Town, who had various businesses in both Jianzhou City and Tongshi Town.

He had heard the name “Liu Feibao” earlier in the day from “Boss Qi” — clearly, it was the boastful chubby man with golden-rimmed glasses. As for “Qi Haoguo”, he was undoubtedly “Boss Qi”.

“Assistant Chen” had comprehensive information about both men, including their companies, assets, family relationships, social relationships and their involvement in past and ongoing litigations.

Xiang Kun’s gaze shifted from his mobile screen and looked up at Zhang Qian. Clearly, she must have had “Assistant Chen” searching for information about those two guys after their incident this afternoon. For them, this task was not difficult.

“That Qi Haoguo does have some influence in the neighboring province. The Liu family isn’t very prominent in Haixi Province, but they might also have quite an influence in Tongshi Town. Do you want me to get someone to drop them a line? I have an uncle who probably has some connections with Qi Haoguo.” whispered Zhang Qian.

Xiang Kun gave it some thought before he responded, “No need for now. If we need to, I’ll ask for your help then.”

Zhang Qian didn’t say anything else. She just nodded, looking at You Meng, who was “rehearsing,” and Yang Zhuo and Tang Baona, who were filming, and started chatting with him about the restaurant.

Xiang Kun understood that when she just offered her help, she wasn’t showing off the influence of the Zhang family. In fact, she genuinely wanted to help, and might even have been trying to curry favor with him. However, for now, he didn’t think that Qi Haoguo would cause them any trouble, and Liu Feibao, under the control of Qi Haoguo, should not be problematic either. But nothing could be determined yet, as he wasn’t in a position to control all the variables, and his understanding of the two men was not comprehensive enough.

After a few noisy hours in the kitchen, they all moved over to the self-made rooftop of You Meng’s house for a barbeque.

This time, there was no need for “Chef Xiang” or “Chef You” to step in. Yang Zhuo, Xiao Min, and Zi Cheng all volunteered. However, after they burned a few pieces of charcoal, You Meng could not bear to watch any longer and asked his wife, Liang Yulong, for help.

As for Xiang Kun, he was still casually lying on the deck chair on You Meng’s rooftop, looking at his phone.

Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er brought over some grilled chicken wings and handed one to him, then curiously looked at the blueprint on his phone screen.

“Oh my gosh! Brother Xiang, are you starting to research airplanes now? Are you planning to fly or build planes?” Yang Zhen’er couldn’t help but exclaim when she saw the blueprint.

If it had been before, she probably would have teased and ridiculed him a bit. But her past experiences with Xiang Kun had taught her that this bald man had too many “hidden skills.” It was possible for him to do anything.

Tang Baona curiously asked, “Is the plane you’re looking at the one we took when we came here?”

Xiang Kun nodded: “Boeing 737NG series, 737-800, we took this type when we came here. Most planes for domestic short and medium haul flights in our country are of this type. They’re equipped with two CFM56-7B turbofan engines, with a maximum thrust of 27300 lbs, and a maximum speed of 0.82 Mach…”

“Is there… anything wrong with this plane?” Tang Baona asked in a low voice.

“No, not at all.” Xiang Kun laughed, “I’m just interested in its structure, so I’m studying it. Just like when you see a beautiful lipstick color, you want to figure out the exact shade.”

In reality, while he was on the plane, he managed to grasp a good understanding of the aircraft through his “super sensory state.” He has repeatedly viewed various blueprints and related data for the 737-800, and a lot of public information was available for this classic model.

But the direction he was considering now was different from his previous information collection and detection. He didn’t just want to “know,” he wanted to “control.”

He was pondering whether it would be possible to combine the ability to affect coin movement, which Liu Shiling helped him “develop,” with influencing circuits in the “super sensory state,” to achieve control over airplanes.

Of course, this was purely theoretical for now. Since today, he had collected a lot of information about the 737-800 in his “super sensory state,” so it was used as the assumed target. In the short term, he hadn’t thought of running any experiments, at least not on a plane in flight.

If successful, it would be as if he had grown “hands and feet” in his “super sensory state.”

Previously, when he blocked his other senses temporarily in the “super sensory state”, he basically felt as if he had no physical body, and even though he was aware of his surroundings, he couldn’t influence them.

However, the two abilities that Xiao Pingguo and Liu Shiling recently helped him refine gave him a glimpse of the possibility of influencing other people and objects in the “super sensory state.”

This possibility excited him enormously.

Just to remind you, in his “super sensory state”, he could perceive things from afar by sensing other “emotionally infused” objects. If he could then affect other people’s consciousness, or even objects significantly while in this “super sensory state”, then he essentially has the ability to remotely control behavior.

Of course, this behavioral capability is different from traditional influence.

With a roast wing in her left hand and a few meat skewers in her right, Yang Zhen Er squinted at Xiang Kun, dubious saying, “Just a hobby? Just something you’re researching? It doesn’t seem like that to me…You won’t seriously start flying planes in the future, will you?”

Xiang Kun glanced at the roasted meat in her hand, then at the wing in his hand that was singed over a large area. He turned to Tang Baona and said, “This one…you two grilled it, didn’t you?”

“Zhen’er grilled it!”/”Nana grilled it!” Both of them pointed at each other simultaneously.

Xiang Kun helplessly replied, “You are eating what Boss Liang grilled, but give me what you grilled…”

“Hehe, Zhen’er said you wouldn’t notice, but I knew you would. So, I win now.” Tang Baona said, taking the half-charred roast wing from Xiang Kun’s hand, and gave him a beautifully roasted chicken wing instead.

Yang Zhen Er pouted, “I thought you’d eat it even if it were a piece of charcoal as long as Nana gave it to you!”

Xiang Kun laughed, “If it were grilled by Nana, I might pretend to not know and eat it. But I knew that this chicken wing was grilled by you, Old Yang.”

“Oh ho? You could tell? Are you just guessing? Can you actually identify people by their roast meat?” Yang Zhen Er asked skeptically.

Xiang Kun replied, “Of course, I’m not guessing. I judged it based on your two characters. Nana is very careful and cautious in doing anything, so her grilling must involve frequent turnover and location switching. Even if she burns the meat, it will be uniformly charred, not like this chicken wing, which is mostly charred over one area. This reckless grilling style must have been done by you, Miss Yang San.”

Tang Baona covered her mouth and laughed. She was so amused, she couldn’t stop herself, while Yang Zhen Er huffed, “Damn! You have really been corrupted by Old Xia! You can even criticize roast meat in a roundabout way…Speaking of Old Xia, I was just chatting with her on WeChat. She is going to come over tomorrow and wants to ask you about calligraphy when she’s here. When did you two start studying calligraphy?”

“Actually, my calligraphy is pretty good. If you’re interested, I can give you a piece of my work as a gift for you to hang at home.” Xiang Kun joked.

Tang Baona said, “Xiang Kun, you can write calligraphy? My grandfather is also interested in calligraphy. You can write a piece, and I’ll show it to him.”

Yang Zhen Er laughed, “Would your uncle, on seeing Xiang Kun’s brush writing, treat it like a charm, and take it to some spiritualist to be verified?”

“No way. That ‘master’ he consulted last time has been arrested by the police. He was seriously scolded by my grandfather and now he doesn’t dare to dabble in such superstitious stuff anymore.” Tang Baona said.

Though they had some trouble a while back because of that eight-arm, eight-eye wood carving, and she is still quite unhappy and aggrieved about her grandfather and uncle’s involvement. But after a few months, she had pretty much let it go and hoped that her grandfather and uncle would like Xiang Kun, and that Xiang Kun would have a good impression of her relatives.

Xiang Kun replied, “I was just blowing smoke at Old Yang. My calligraphy is just at the level of student practice, and definitely wouldn’t impress your grandfather.”

“You dare to call me ‘Old Yang’ again! I’ll poke your eyes out!” Yang Zhen’er retorted angrily.

They stayed at You Meng’s house until after eleven before leaving. When they got back to the hotel, Zhen’er wanted some drinks after eating too much roast, so Xiang Kun and Tang Baona went with her to the 24-hour convenience store near the hotel to buy some, also buying extra to take back for everyone else.

When Tang Baona and Yang Zhen Er were picking out drinks in front of the cooler, Xiang Kun was drawn to a claw machine in the convenience store. He stood there looking at it, flipping a coin in his hand over and over.

When the drinks were ready and they were checking out, Tang Baona leaned over and asked, “Do you want to play the claw machine?” With a glance to the coin flitting swiftly over his hand, she said, “How do you flip this coin? It’s so cool.”

“If you want to learn, I can teach you.”

“My fingers aren’t so nimble. I think it might be difficult to learn.”

Yang Zhen’er, who had brought two bags of drinks, said, “I’m a pro at claw machines. Let’s see who can grab a toy first.” As she spoke, she took out her phone and began to scan the payment code on the claw machine.

Yang Zhen’er sat excitedly in front of the claw machine and said, “Whoever gets the first toy doesn’t have to carry the drinks. How about it?” The drinks filled two plastic bags—perfect for the other two to carry, one each.

“Sounds good!” Tang Baona was also eager to try.

Confident Yang Zhen’er soon lost, followed by Xiang Kun. Even though he aimed accurately, and managed to grab a toy, it fell during the conveyance process.

However, this was all within his expectations. As soon as Yang Zhen’er played the claw machine, Xiang Kun stood beside it, closed his eyes, and entered a “super sensory state”, thoroughly understanding the claw machine mechanism and its key points.

Actually, the structure of a claw machine is simple. There’s an electromagnetic coil inside the claw. When electrified, an iron bar within the coil moves upward, causing the claw to tighten. The stronger the current, the tighter the claw’s grip.

Even if the claw successfully clamped down on the toy, as it lifts and moves the toy towards the exit, the electric current dwindles; the clamping force decreases until the toy eventually “slips” out before reaching the exit hole.

Usually, claw machines have a circuit board to control the outlet voltage. The owner sets the pattern to have one or two no-force-reduction chances every N times giving players a chance to grab a toy.

Nevertheless, some claw machine shops secretly reduce the current of the coil more to further weaken the grip, preventing pros from accurately hooking the tag or “clothes” of the toy and get it easily.

Xiang Kun stood up and let Tang Baona sit down. Before she started to play, he pointed to a toy in the bottom right corner and said, “Try grabbing that one by its head.” He then placed the coin, which he had flipped around in his hand earlier, on top of the claw machine. “This is my ‘Lucky Coin’. With it, you just need to aim right, and you’ll definitely be able to grab it.”

“Hey, hey, Chef Xiang! Were you too partial to Tang Baona? She got guidance and your ‘Lucky Coin’, while I only got you…contemplating in silence.” Yang Zhen’er joked.

“Aren’t you a pro at claw machines? Why do you need others’ guidance?” Xiang Kun laughed, “Alright then, I will continue contemplating.”

His so-called ‘contemplation’ was actually entering the ‘super sensory state’ again.

Based on the observations he had made earlier, together with the deduced correlation between the toy’s position and his ‘super sensory’ coin, Xiang Kun could easily lock the claw’s position in the ‘super sensory state’, and also determine the pattern of changing the information feedback mode for the current.

Xiang Kun began to draw from the ability to control coins, which he had gained from Little Fatty Girl Liu Shiling, and combined it with the ‘charging’ state he experienced while ‘Electric Mastery Flying’, to influence the electric current.

At this moment, the coin placed on top of the claw machine was no longer a ‘buoy’ used for position anchoring in the ‘super sensory state’. It had also become a signal transformer and even a ‘gun emplacement’.

In his ‘super sensory state’, Xiang Kun distinctly sensed a force transferring through the coin, influencing its surrounding environment, and then further affecting the designated ‘claw’, altering the current flowing into the electromagnetic coil.

Inside the convenience store, seeing Xiang Kun ‘contemplating’ as promised, Yang Zhen’er laughed. She and Tang Baona then shifted their attention to the claw in the claw machine.

Following Xiang Kun’s suggestion, Tang Baona used the joystick to aim the claw at the toy in the bottom right corner. After pressing the button, she watched as the claw descended and accurately grasped the toy’s head.

In the next moment, however, the claw suddenly clenched tightly, like a chicken claw with a cramp, so much so that it changed the shape of the plush toy’s head because of the immense pressure.

The lights in the claw machine also became significantly brighter in an instant.

As the claw moved to the exit and released its grip allowing the toy to fall, both Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er stared with their mouths agape.