What It's Like Being a Vampire

When Dr. Xia took “Baby Alice” to Citong City, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen’er, and Little Apple also escorted the Little Fatty Girl to Pengcheng City – as her long vacation was coming to an end, and she needed to return to her classes.

At noon, upon receiving a WeChat notification from Dr. Xia, they began to keep an eye on time, and as agreed upon, Tang Baona was to call Mrs. Xiang at the appointed time.

Although Tang Baona had previously prepared a script of what to say and rehearsed it twice with Yang Zhen’er, she couldn’t help but become nervous during the real conversation. On several occasions, she almost burst into laughter, so she had to cover the phone’s microphone and giggle before resuming the conversation.

Surprisingly, Tang Baona’s conversation with Mrs. Xiang ended up sounding even more like someone who was struggling to express herself, emotionally unstable, and somewhat distracted. This emotional performance actually achieved their intended goal for the call more effectively.

After the call ended, Tang Baona’s face turned red from trying to suppress her laughter, and even her eyes became teary. Only then, she finally allowed herself to laugh freely on the table, causing Yang Zhen’er and Little Apple to break into laughter as well.

After a while, Tang Baona exhaled, her heart filled with laughter now settled.

Yang Zhen Er rubbed her hands together: “Nana, I also want to make a call to auntie, hehe.”

“Hehe, your head!” Tang Baona playfully tapped Yang Lao San’s forehead irritably and advised: “The reason why Dr. Xia didn’t want you involved is exactly to avoid you making impromptu changes! Remember not to chat nonsense when you go to Citong City to collect Alice! If you ruin the plan and raise Uncle Xiang’s and Aunt Shen’s suspicions, you’ll be spanked by Dr. Xia!”

“I’m not Little Lingdang; I’m not afraid of Dr. Xia. On the contrary, I’m more likely to spank her, as she’s my cousin!” Yang Zhen’er protested.

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However, judging by Tang Baona’s and Little Apple’s faces, they were plainly skeptical of Yang Zhen’er’s rebellious proclamation against Dr. Xia.

Yang Zhen’er assured them: “Don’t worry; even if I have anything to say to Auntie, I’d discuss it with you all beforehand. I really value teamwork! Nonetheless, I guess even if I don’t make a call now, eventually when I go to pick up Alice, Uncle and Auntie will definitely try to indirectly probe. At that time, I just have to give subtle hints…”

“Dr. Xia advised us not to guide their judgment toward a predefined conclusion, which would require too many prerequisites and be easily seen through. We merely need to provide them with plausible information which allows Uncle Xiang and Aunt Shen to make their own judgments. If you talk too much, you’ll definitely give the game away!” Tang Baona advised.

Yang Zhen’er expressed her regret: “Then I won’t say anything. It’s quite a shame you all didn’t involve me in this enjoyable task. After all, my acting skills are much better than yours and Dr. Xia’s…”

Little Apple rested her chin in her hand and mused: “Sister Zhen’er, Sister Nana, if Grandpa Xiang and Grandma Shen really think Uncle Xiang had a child and ran away, Uncle Xiang might get a lot of scoldings when he comes back, right?”

Yang Zhen’er took a slightly gleeful tone: “Of course!”

Tang Baona also couldn’t help but chuckle with excitement, seemingly imagining the stunned look on Xiang Kun’s face when he gets an earful from his parents as soon as he gets home.

Little Apple voiced her worry: “In this way…the misunderstanding will only grow deeper. Won’t it be difficult to clear things up later?”

Yang Zhen’er confidently assured her, “No worries! In any case, if there are any problems later, it would all have to be faced by Chef Xiang when he returns! He’s that capable, there will definitely be a way to sort things out! Consider it like we’re running the company while the big boss is on vacation. Then the company’s major shareholder came to demand money. Not wanting the company to go under, we had no choice but to take on a super high loan to appease the shareholders and keep the company afloat. In the end, the debt would still be the big boss’s problem when he returns, hehe!”

Little Apple looked puzzled: “Why would the company’s major shareholders want to drive the company to bankruptcy?”

“Oh well, the meaning is as it is, just understand it.” Yang Zhen’er said, and sighed a little: “Ah, even though it’s only been half a day since we saw each other, I already miss Alice a little.”

As soon as her words fell, “Little Old Xia version of Alice” co-manifested in the room, lying on the sofa next to them, and loudly said, “I’ve been here all along!”

Yang Zhen’er reached out to pinch her cheeks: “I miss my little Alice!”

Alice dodged Yang Zhen’er’s claw, moved closer to Xiao Pingguo, and said, “Grandpa and Grandma really like me, they gave me a Chinese name! Old Xia also approved! My full name is now Xiang Shinran!”

As Alice spoke, she pointed to the TV in the room, and the 75-inch big TV turned on by itself, then displayed three large Chinese characters with a black background and white edges that were glowing: Xiang Shinran.

Yang Zhen’er moved closer and put her arm around Alice’s shoulders, laughing, “You’re already calling them grandpa and grandma? And they even gave you a name with the Xiang surname, are you planning on playing your role for real and becoming Xiang family’s granddaughter?”

Alice raised her chin slightly, her face full of pride.

Xiao Pingguo smiled and said: “This name is really good.”

Tang Baona also said: “Yes, it sounds pretty good, the name immediately makes me think of a cute little girl, haha.”

“That’s not right.” Yang Zhen’er smirked: “Xiang Shinran? The initials of this name’s pinyin, is XXL, hehe, extra-large, it sounds like a big fat girl!”

Tang Baona, who had just taken a sip of water from a cup, burst out laughing, coughing and choking, almost dying. It took her a while to recover, laughing so hard she started to tear up, she pointed at Yang Zhen’er and said: “Yang Lao San! Did you do this on purpose! What XXL, how is ‘Ran’ represented with an L in pinyin!”

Yang Zhen’er was stunned: “Huh? Has my accent changed since I’ve been in Haixi Province for a long time?”

“Go away! Stop making excuses, Xia and I have been in Haixi Province for a much longer time than you!” Tang Baona nagged.

“Oh well, let’s not talk about this.” Yang Zhen’er forcefully hugged Alice, making her sit on her lap, and asked with a smile: “Dear Alice, dear Xiang Shinran, where is Old Xia now, what kind of ‘mutant’ is she going to deal with in Thailand? Could you livestream it for us?”

Old Xia saying to Mr. Xiang and Mrs. Xiang that she had to catch a plane and go abroad wasn’t just an excuse. After dropping off “Baby Alice” at Xiang’s parents’ place, she took a flight to Thailand to deal with a special case involving a “mutant”.

Usually, normal “mutant” management problems can be solved by Alice through “Super-connected Objects” spread all over the globe.

Whether they mutated from humans, insects, plants, or other organisms, Alice could communicate with them on a basic level, manage their actions, and guide them to join “Xiao Luobo’s Platform”.

For “mutants” that refuse to join Xiao Luobo’s Platform, if they don’t pose a threat to humans or the ecosystem, they were monitored and restricted. If they were threatening, they would be penalized.

The “mutant” that Old Xia went to handle in Thailand was a bit special, it refused to join “Xiao Luobo’s Platform” and tried to attack humans several times, so Old Xia planned to capture it and take it back as a live sample for the “Mutant research”.

Yang Zhen’er only knew that Old Xia was going to Thailand to handle a “mutant”. but she had no clue about how she was going to handle it or what the “mutant” looked like, so she was very curious.

Now the “Research Base” has a specialized department for handling “mutant” creatures, including fieldwork, investigation and combat. Although Yang Zhen’er is not aware of the specifics of how this department carries out its tasks or its internal structure, she does know several people who have joined it, such as Liu Zhengyi from Chongyun Village, her cousin Xia Tianhuo, and even Yang Zhuo, Yang Jie’s younger brother. All of them seem to have begun secret internships, so she takes a great interest in these matters.

Yang Zhen’er believes that she should be a leading member of that department!

She has unique skills that need to be put to use!

However, when Yang Zhen’er requested to join, Alice firmly refused: “No, Old Xia would not approve!”

“Is it because the situations tend to be extremely bloody?” Yang Zhen’er’s eyes lit up. “That’s not a problem, Xiao Pingguo can duck out of view first. Nana and I will be fine!”

Xiao Pingguo was bemused: “Sister Zhen’er, I’m not a little kid. There’s nothing that you can handle that I can’t.”

“But we might be asked to deal with things like birds or cats. You’re softer-hearted,” Yang Zhen’er replied.

“Three years ago, a bad ‘mutated bird’ nearly killed Gold Sparkle. It was driven away by Li Bing, Xiao Lingdang, Alice, Custard Pie, and me. I can tell friend from foe,” Xiao Pingguo answered seriously.

Hence, Yang Zhen’er shook Alice’s shoulder: “Alice, you see, Xiao Pingguo wants to watch too, so you must hurry up and livestream it!”

Alice sighed helplessly, then… disintegrated and vanished.

“Alice!” Yang Zhen’er cried out unwillingly.

On the windowsill of the room, Custard Pie, who had been napping, lifted its head in bewilderment, glanced at the people in the room in confusion, shook its head, yawned, then continued sleeping.

…

Dr. Xia didn’t arrive in Chiang Mai until after nine that evening.

She actually landed in Thailand that afternoon but had stopped off in Bangkok for half the day to gather her team. Besides herself, her team that arrived in Chiang Mai consisted of five comrades, all members of the newly established Field Investigation Department. They ranged from former ‘Divine Technology’ insiders like Li Shibao to newbies like Yang Zhuo.

Because he frequently dines at the Youlong Restaurant, Li Shibao unknowingly established a connection with the ‘Secondary Emotion Object Network’. With his professional skills, working experience at ‘Divine Technology’, and training history with the likes of Fang Pingfang, he naturally became one of the heads of the newly-established Field Investigation Department.

As for Yang Zhuo, although he has no connection to the ‘Secondary Emotion Object Network’, he and Liu Zhengyi from Chongyun Village had noticed some peculiarities in their lives and were able to sense the existence of ‘Super-connected Objects’ in the environment using their sensory abilities.

As Xiang Kun once put it, they are people of “spirituality”. He suspects that their ability to perceive the influence of ‘Super-connected Objects’ is related to knowing him and subconsciously believing that some anomalies originate from him.

Due to their unique identities, both Yang Zhuo and Liu Zengyi were accepted into the newly established department with the plan to provide them with resources to cultivate their abilities to see if they could develop new ways of using the super-connected object system.

Soon after arriving at Chiang Mai airport, they were met by someone.

The person who greeted them was a member of the Field Investigation Department in Thailand, an intern just like Yang Zhuo.

The members here were not dispatched from China, but local hires trained by a lead investigator in Thailand.

However, Dr. Xia didn’t harbor any doubts about their identities or reliability, because she trusted the supervisor and she had Alice, who was somewhat all-knowing, virtually ensuring that no one with malicious intent could infiltrate them. If anyone did manage to sneak in, it would mean they had let them in intentionally.

The person who came to meet them was a young man with dark skin, of short stature, thin but very agile. If you judge him solely from his appearance, you would think that he’s a local Thai. But Dr. Xia knows that the guy named “Zuo Liu” is a half-blood, his father is Chinese and his mother is Thai.

“Hello, Director.” When Zuo Liu saw Dr. Xia, he was very nervous and his voice trembled in greeting.

In his view, what he joined was not just the peripheral branch of a Chinese institution studying abnormal creatures, but a chance to see “powerful creatures” and the “real world”.

Just the “team leader” who recruited him and trained him was enough to command great respect and admiration. Before the “South Pole Crisis”, someone like the “team leader” would have been regarded as a god.

As for Dr. Xia, a person even the “team leader” respected, one can imagine how formidable and powerful she must be.

When he saw Dr. Xia, Zuo Liu could feel she had a distinctly different demeanor from the others. Though he had never seen her picture before, he could tell from afar that this was the person he was waiting for.

“Don’t call me ‘director’, everyone else calls me ‘Dr. Xia’, you should too,” Dr. Xia simply said.

“Ah, okay, director…. I mean, okay, Dr. Xia.” Zuo Liu was still somewhat nervous.

His reaction was quite puzzling to Yang Zhuo, who was following behind Dr. Xia. Apart from her cool expression and tone, there didn’t seem to be anything intimidating about Xia. Why was this guy reacting as if he’d seen a monster?

As this thought crossed his mind, an air of superiority washed over him, coming straight from the home base in China, and he began to walk more confidently, with his chest puffed out and his head held high.

The group traveled overnight to the outskirts of the city, stopping outside a preservation area. A few Thai individuals quickly left in the car driven by Zuo Liu, and the group disembarked to proceed on foot.

Soon, two individuals with torches approached them from ahead.

One of the individuals bore a striking resemblance to Zuo Liu and turned out to be Zuo Liu’s cousin Pu Te Peng. The other man clearly looked Chinese and was bald.

“Jiang Chun, what’s the situation?” Dr. Xia asked the bald man.

That’s right, the bald man greeting Dr. Xia was Jiang Chun, the man who mutated in Burma three years ago and subsequently connected to the Secondary Emotion Object Network of the eight-armed, eight-eyed woodcarving. During the mutation process to adapt to high-speed swimming underwater, his hair was ‘specialized’ away.

Seeing Jiang Chun’s “haircut”, Li Shibao and Yang Zhuo were simultaneously filled with deep respect. Even before Dr. Xia introduced his identity, both instinctively sensed the man’s extraordinary abilities.

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