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Chapter 202: You Are Xiang Kun, Right?

Xiang Kun opened the door to usher them in. The moment they entered and noticed the state of the room, they both froze. Multiple computer towers and peripherals filled the living room, a mix of power cords covering the floor, and it looked chaotic. It was a stark contrast to the previously empty and tidy living room.

“I’m sorry. My room is too small to put all these things so I had to drag them into the living room. I’ve been focusing on this project lately, so I often forgot to check WeChat, and I’ve missed a lot of calls…” Xiang Kun explained with a partial truth.

“Big chef Xiang, your room… there are no places left to put food, right?” Yang Zhen’er, holding two bags of breakfast, asked in astonishment.

Tang Baona turned to look at Xiang Kun, “Have you been too busy and not getting enough rest these days? You don’t look in good shape.”

Even she noticed? Xiang Kun immediately introspected. Though the irascibility caused by hunger was less severe during the day than at night, it still had some impact. In his deliberate control, strangers might not notice anything unusual but friends who often interact with him like Tang Baona might sense the changes.

“Yeah, I’ve been up all night working for the past few days,” Xiang Kun admitted.

Yang Zhen’er placed the breakfast she bought on Xiang Kun’s computer chair and said, “Alright, we’ll just place the breakfast here. You should hurry up and eat then get some sleep. We wanted to accompany you for breakfast, but your house is too cluttered for us to eat, so we’ll take it back to our office.”

“Huh? The minions? Carpenter Xiang, you have so many of them, can you gift me one?” Yang Zhen’er, who was about to leave, notices several minion wood carvings in the room with the open door. She curiously picked one up and asked.

“Sure, I can gift you one, but then you won’t get a birthday present,” Xiang Kun replied.

“No way! This minion wood carving was clearly made casually, it’s rough and splintery, and it hurts! No, you need to make one for me, like the saber at Nana’s house!” Yang Zhen’er quickly put that minion wood carving back.

Tang Baona quickly led Yang Zhen’er away, worrying they might impair Xiang Kun’s rest, “Let’s go, we should head to work.”

As he bid them goodbye, Xiang Kun told them, “I’ll rest and recover for a couple of days. The project is almost finished, so how about returning for dinner the day after tomorrow? I still owe Nana a few meals.”

“Sounds great! Then we’ll have to trouble Chef Xiang again!” Tang Baona turned around and grinned back at him as she entered the elevator.

Yang Zhen’er quickly added, “You can’t make less than six… uh, seven dishes! Excluding the soup!”

Tang Baona laughed, “You won’t be able to finish seven dishes!”

“Isn’t that what you’re for? You can eat so much… hey, quit it! A gentleman uses his mouth, not his fists!”

Watching the elevator doors close, Xiang Kun helplessly shook his head. These two were funny at times.

He didn’t leave immediately but waited for about ten minutes before heading out. However, as he exited his apartment building, he realised something was amiss.

Although he was preoccupied with suppressing his hunger, he was still keenly aware of his surroundings.

Then he noticed a tall, burly man drinking milk tea with a sneaky expression outside a store opposite the building entrance.

Moreover, Xiang Kun noticed that this muscular man’s expression changed visibly when he saw him leaving the building. Was this guy spying on him?

Was it the private detective from before? He got caught by the police, or faced some kind of punishment, so he was too scared to spy on Xiang Kun, thus they sent another person?

However, Xiang Kun quickly dismissed this idea because he could tell that this burly man didn’t seem to have any basic surveillance or stalking skills at all.

Moreover, Xiang Kun found his overall emotional state rather peculiar.

So, Xiang Kun headed to the convenience store, bought a bottle of mineral water from the owner, then stood at the entrance and took a sip. He noticed the burly man, who was taller than him by half a head, couldn’t help but keep staring at him. He responded by smiling and nodding back at the man.

The burly man immediately averted his gaze, pretending to casually look elsewhere, then took a sip of his milk tea. But it was apparent that he had already finished his drink, and because he sucked too hard, it made a slurping sound.

“Brother, you look a bit unfamiliar. Did you just move into this community? Or are you here to visit someone?” Xiang Kun greeted him in an amicable manner.

The burly man hesitated for two seconds, before finally turning to him and saying, “You’re Xiang Kun, aren’t you?”

“You know me?” Xiang Kun asked, pretending to be surprised. However, he felt slightly relieved. From his behavior, it was obvious that he did not have any ill-intent.

“I’m Yang Zhen’er’s cousin.” The burly man introduced himself.

Xiang Kun was momentarily stunned as several scenarios rushed into his mind. Could Yang Zhen’er’s family have misunderstood something about their relationship, or heard something, so they came to check on the situation? Were they trying to dissuade him from punching above his weight?

Xiang Kun quickly said, “Ah, hello. Yang Zhen’er just left a while ago. I was working late last night but missed their call. They thought I might be sick or something, so they dropped by before work this morning to check on me.” He paused before asking knowingly, “Are you… just passing by?”

“I came to find you.” The cousin replied matter-of-factly.

Xiang Kun said, “Did you… misunderstand something? Yang Zhen’er and I are just ordinary friends. My cooking is pretty good, so they often come over for meals, and we occasionally play cards together. Tang Baona, her sister and brother-in-law often join us too.”

The cousin shook his head, “No misunderstanding. It’s not about Yang Zhen’er.”

“Then it’s about…?” Xiang Kun clutched at straws, although judging from the man’s body language, eyes, and minute facial expressions, he didn’t seem to bear any hostility towards him. However, he seemed a bit downcast.

“It’s about Nana, Tang Baona.” The cousin took a deep breath and confessed, “I like Tang Baona.” He quickly added, “It’s just my one-sided love. In fact, we haven’t met many times. Whenever she visits our house, she’s always hanging out with my cousin.”

Xiang Kun blinked, not knowing how to respond. Although his current relationship with Tang Baona was that of ordinary friends, they had met through a matchmaking event, so he couldn’t entirely deny their connection. Moreover, as the cousin of Yang Zhen’er, he needed to clarify the situation with him. But there was no connection between him and Tang Baona.

“Why did you… come here then?” Xiang Kun was a bit confused about the cousin’s intentions. He hadn’t felt any antagonism from him, despite the fact that he was taller and more muscular than Xiang Kun. The man hadn’t shown any aggression either.

It seemed like Yang Zhen’er’s cousin had finally decided to spill the beans as he began speaking in a low voice, “I met Nana… Tang Baona when she visited our home with my cousin the year before last. I fell for her back then. But my cousin told me that she didn’t like someone like me, that she was not interested in me. I thought it was because I was overweight at the time. Therefore, I have been trying to lose weight for the past two years. Since she didn’t have a boyfriend, I thought there might be a chance once I slimmed down. But then… a few days ago, I heard from the people in her company that she’s already dating someone named ‘Xiang Kun’. And she even said ‘you’re so handsome’ directly to the person on the other end of the call while being at the company. Based on what I understand about her, if she dares to say something like that in public, there’s no doubt that there’s no chance for me, no matter how slim I become…”

Xiang Kun was dumbfounded. Of course, he was aware of the situation when Tang Baona called ‘Xiang Kun, you’re so handsome’ — those words were not actually spoken by Tang Baona. He had made a voice synthesis software using Tang Baona’s voice and had forgotten to delete that test sentence. As a result, when Tang Baona tried using it, the words just blared out through the company’s computer speakers.

Given how similar it sounded to Tang Baona’s actual voice, it had probably caused some misunderstandings among her colleagues.

Who would have thought that the misunderstanding had spread this far? Even Yang Zhen’er’s cousin knew about it?

Yang Zhen’er’s cousin continued, “So, I just wanted to see what Xiang Kun, the man who could make Tang Baona say ‘you’re so handsome’, looks like.”

Xiang Kun didn’t ask how he had found out which community he lived in; it was probably not too difficult to find out. What he found strange was, “But if you’ve been waiting here and I don’t go out, then what?” He had barely left house this past while – first he’d been busy with Director Lin and Zhang Qian’s project, and then with his “AI Aid Plan”.

“I’ve thought about that too, whether I should pay you a direct visit. But I felt it would be rather impolite to show up unannounced. Regardless, I’m flying abroad today, so I thought I would try my luck on my way to the airport. If I could see you, great; if not, oh well.” Yang Zhen’er’s cousin offered Xiang Kun a cigarette from his pack. When Xiang Kun declined, he lit one himself.

“But how could you recognize me if you’ve never seen me before?” Xiang Kun asked again.

Baldy, the muscular cousin, pointed to his own bald head and laughed, “I heard about you from my sister. She said that you’re bald, really strong, and you know kung fu. According to her, one ‘you’ could knock four of me down.”

Xiang Kun laughed and said, “She’s just bragging about me.”

The muscular cousin chuckled and said, “But given this weather, you walked out in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt without flinching. You don’t seem to be scared of the cold at all. If one talks about you being strong, there is definitely some truth to it.”

Xiang Kun suddenly realized that the temperature that morning was already below 10℃. Everyone on the street had thick coats on, while he was the only one in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.

Xiang Kun knew that if he had not been affected by hunger, he would have looked at the outside temperature before leaving and observed what others were wearing in order to determine his own attire. But his attention had been on suppressing his hunger today. The visit by Tang Baona and Yang Zhen Er also distracted him, so he had made such a mistake.

“That’s because I was planning to go for a run,” Xiang Kun casually offered an excuse.

The muscular cousin nodded and said, “In that case, I won’t waste your time anymore. Go ahead with your run. Don’t catch a cold. Meeting you today also gave me a sigh of relief. At least Tang Baona is still that unique and creative girl, not the shallow kind of woman who judges by appearances.”

Looking at the sincere face of the muscular cousin, Xiang Kun didn’t know whether he should be happy or angry. Then he suddenly remembered that Old Xia was also Yang Zhen Er’s cousin. So he asked, “May I ask what your relationship is with Xia Libing?”

The muscular cousin was taken aback and asked, “You know our Old Xia?” Then he seemed to understand and said, “Yes, I get it. Yang Lao San must have brought her along. She’s also my sister, my cousin.”

Xiang Kun nodded as well, “Old Xia, Nana, Zhen’er, and I often hang out together.”

The muscular cousin laughed, “If you can get on with my Old Xia, that really is rare. Let’s get to know each other formally. I’m Xia Tianhuo.” Having said that, he extinguished his cigarette, extended his hand to Xiang Kun.

Then, the muscular cousin, Xia Tianhuo, got into his Land Cruiser parked on the side of the road and drove off.

It was only after the car disappeared around the corner that Xiang Kun turned back to the residential complex, to change into more appropriate and temperature-friendly clothes.

Having hailed a private minibus that he’d worked with before to go to the farm, Xiang Kun now found himself getting somewhat restless. He saw everything—he was usually fine with—as irritating as waking up on the wrong side of the bed.

And what was causing Xiang Kun’s restlessness the minibus driver’s chattiness.

This dude loved to talk so much that whether Xiang Kun politely or directly told him to stop talking, it was useless. He would only stop for the first two minutes but start yakking again as soon as the two minutes ended. It seemed like as soon as he started driving, his mouth just couldn’t stop.

When he had hired this van before, the driver would also talk a lot, but Xiang Kun didn’t care much. He sometimes responded and at other times, he didn’t. If needed, Xiang Kun could even intentionally ignore the driver’s voice and focus his auditory attention on other sounds.

But now, Xiang Kun felt like the driver’s voice was like some sort of “sticky” thing that kept drilling into his brain, making him feel like tearing something apart.

He knew it wasn’t the driver’s problem, it was his own issue. Even if the driver stopped talking, he might still find the engine noise too loud.

In the past, Xiang Kun used to conduct experiments to suppress his hunger at home, where the environment was familiar and controllable. This was the first time he was doing it outside, dealing with various noisy surroundings was indeed much more difficult than at home.

Xiang Kun repeatedly clenched his fists and then loosened them. The agitation made him feel an impulse to tear something apart. He tried to listen to the car’s tire noise and various other sounds outside to shift his attention.

He not only feared that he would lose control and do something violent but also feared that he would unconsciously use “Emotional Assimilation” or “Mental Deterrence” and affect the driver or others on the road.

Xiang kun began to sense those items with which he had established an “Emotional Infusion” connection, hoping to use other people’s emotions to distract his own attention.

When he sensed the Eight-Armed, Eight-Eyed Wood Carving, he got nothing, because it was stored in his home cabinet.

Upon sensing the calligraphy of ‘Memorial on the Subject of Stepping Down from Official Duty’, Xiang Kun received no feedback, guessing his parents weren’t home or didn’t interact with the calligraphy.

Sensing the lyrics of ‘People Like Me,’ also rendered no response…

Just as Xiang Kun was about to sense the Minion and trio wood carving set at Xiao Pingguo’s place, he suddenly felt compelled to re-sense the lyrics at Xia Libing’s.

Upon careful perception, he realized that it wasn’t that the lyrics hadn’t sensed anyone else’s emotions, but that he had previously overlooked it.

Xiang Kun closely experienced this emotion, then attempted to substitute his current state into it, trying to “transform” that emotion into his own.

Xiang Kun couldn’t articulate this emotion, it didn’t resemble feelings like passion, sadness, excitement, fear, curiosity, joy and so on. The emotion from the lyrics was somewhat akin to Xiao Pingguo’s cognitive perception, embodying an essence of — void, along with a rationality that bordered on indifference.

Xiang Kun’s gaze settled on the van driver:

He held the wheel with his left hand, rested his right hand on the stick shift, and rambled on, clearly a bit nervous, talking to alleviate his driving anxiety;

This driver looked to weigh about 70KG, which meant he should have around 5000ml of blood in his body. Even if only 1/5 is drawn, it would suffice for this blood drinking session;

But I can’t do that. If I did, I’d become a murderer, a monster, and be sought by the police. Even if I’m not caught, I’d become the sort of “monster” I disdain, like Guo Tianxiang. I have rationality, I can control my desires, I can choose what blood I want to drink and when;

My heartbeat is somewhat quicker than normal, the cells in my body appear more “active” due to hunger, “demanding” blood. But there’s no direct impact on my bodily functions, the effects of hunger are primarily felt on an emotional, psychological level;

The smell in this van… must’ve transported beer yesterday, as well as fruit, a pair of shoes, and two pairs of socks, which stunk;

The two vehicles passing by have three-cylinder turbocharged engines, based on the sound I’ve heard before, they’re Geely cars;

We just drove over a pothole, judging by the overall reaction of the chassis, the pressure in the left rear tire is a bit low, and there’s an issue with the front left shock absorber, it’s likely leaking oil.

Xiang Kun has fallen into a strange state, his thoughts are both chaotic and meticulous.

What he sees, hears, smells, thinks of, is entirely unrestrained, but every thought is still governed entirely by his rationality.

He can even disassociate from his emotions to “observe” his own emotions, sensing the subtle changes in various parts of his body under agitated conditions.

This state of utmost rationality, which appears emotional yet isn’t, doesn’t last long. Xiang Kun loses his perception of the other emotions attached to the lyrics and departs from the state he was attempting to transform and immerse into.

He can basically guess that this “pseudo-emotional” state likely comes from Xia Libing.

But why this feeling?

He hadn’t completely converted that emotion into his own, so before fully “empathizing”, he had already entered a state of indifference and rationality so extreme that he could “observe” his own emotions. Undoubtedly, Xia Libing’s original “emotion” must be quite something.

However, due to this unexpected emotional perception, Xiang Kun did manage to successfully control his agitated emotions, not being influenced by the outside world to the point of eruption.

After purchasing and consuming rabbit blood at home, Xiang Kun started a countdown timer to sleep.

As for the emotional sensing of Xia Libing and that calligraphy, he’d have to explore that after waking up.