Chapter 385: Chapter 385: Yang Lao Sanâs speculation
At Tang Baonaâs house.
Both the living room sofa and coffee table are overflowing with various printed documents. Tang Baona sits on the sofa, flipping through some of the files whilst deep in thought, a frown etched onto her face as she stares at the notebook on her knees.
As for Yang Zhenâer, she is uncharacteristically volunteering to clean up the dishes, and even takes them to the kitchen to wash.
After cleaning up the kitchen, Yang Zhenâer walks over, grabs a small ottoman and sits down next to the coffee table, resting her chin on her hands, her brow furrowed deeply in thought.
Tang Baona, who was busy working, couldnât help but glance at her roommate. When Yang Zhenâer was around, she was usually a constant chatterbox, easy to ignore while Baona continued her work. But today, her silence seemed out of place and unexpected, prompting Baona to pay attention.
âWhat are you thinking about?â Tang Baona finally couldnât help but ask.
It seemed that Yang Zhenâer was just waiting for her friend to ask. She immediately replied, âSomethingâs wrong!â
âWhatâs wrong?â asked Tang Baona, puzzled.
âChef Xiang is acting odd,â Yang Zhenâer replied. âI asked him on WeChat this afternoon, he said he hadnât gone to Tongshi Town yet and heâs still in Citong City.â
âUh huh, so what? Whatâs strange about that?â Tang Baona questioned.
âDidnât he say he was going back to discuss the âYoulong Restaurantâ business?â Yang Zhenâer addressed.
Tang Baona expressed her doubt, âHe arrived in Citong only last night, isnât it normal for him to stay at home for a couple of days before going to Tongshi Town?â
Yang Zhenâer replied, âNana, what day is it today?â
âWhat day?â Tang Baona takes out her phone to check, âFebruary 14th, 21st of the lunar month, Friday, oh, Valentineâs Day?â
âRight, Valentineâs Day! If the situation in Tongshi Town wasnât urgent, why didnât Chef Xiang stay and celebrate Valentineâs Day before going?â said Yang Zhenâer, âHe should have taken advantage of this day, ask you out to have fun, invite you for dinner!â
Tang Baonaâs eyes widened, âAskâŠask, ask me what?! I am not his girlfriendâŠâ
Yang Zhenâer narrowed her eyes at her friend with an expression that said âQuit pretendingâ. After a while, she spoke to herself, âCould it be that Chef Xiang knew about your ostrich-like personality? On such a special day if he stayed, it would be awkward not to ask you, but if he did, heâd worried youâd reject him, leaving things awkward. So he made up an excuse about Tongshi Town and left? Looking at it this way, he is just like you, both ostriches!â
âWhat nonsense are you talking about?â Tang Baona couldnât take it anymore and picked up a stack of files next to her and threw them at her friend.
Yang Zhenâer swiftly turned her head to dodge, but was hit squarely on the forehead and rolled off the ottoman onto the floor with a yell, clutching her head.
Tang Baona was speechless, she had just thrown the stack casually to scare Yang Zhenâer but hadnât expected her to dodge just to get hit in the face.
Fortunately, it was just paper and didnât get thrown with much force, it shouldnât have hurt too much.
But when Yang Zhenâer rubbed her forehead and sat up, instead of âwrestlingâ like she usually did, she sat dazedly, causing a wave of worry to arise in Tang Baona. She stood up and reached out to touch her friendâs head, âAre you okay, did that hit you too hard?â
Yang Zhenâer simply leans her forehead into Tang Baonaâs hand, letting her friend rub it for her, then she ponders out loud, âNana, havenât you noticed that every few days, Chef Xiang will âgo missingâ for a day or two?â
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Tang Baona, realizing that Yang Zhenâerâs forehead wasnât actually hurt and she was just pretending, pushes her away and asks confusedly, âWhat do you mean, go missing? Itâs normal for Xiang Kun to be busy with his own stuff and not always eat or hang out with us.â
âItâs not very normal, Nana, when we first met Chef Xiang, his previous company had just closed down right? He wasnât working, so why would he be so busy all the time?â
âWe werenât familiar with him at the time, so of course we wouldnât hang out often. Besides, he has a lot of his own things to do, like gaming and such. This game heâs playing now, he actually started playing ages ago. Remember the voice reading system?â Tang Baona pointed out.
However, Yang Zhenâer continued talk about how she had talked to Zhang Qian before, that during the time they were trying to hang out with Chef Xiang, he would often say he was out on a business trip, and his phone was either out of the service area or turned off. But Zhang Qian hardly ever got ahold of Xiang Kun when she wanted to, and neither her coworkers nor partners had seen him, which was very strangeâŠ.
âItâs possible that he has accepted other jobs at the same time and had to run around to cooperate with others in person,â Tang Baona guessed.
âAlso, when we send him messages on WeChat or call him, he often replies in the afternoon, saying he overslept and didnât see them. But do you remember when we all went to play in Tongshi Town together? Chef Xiang, who was playing outside and staying in a hotel, always managed to get up early in the morning for a jog and workout. How could he often sleep so late?â Yang Zhenâer spoke with increasing vigor as she continued to recall the past.
âThatâs also very normal. Sometimes he stays up all night to finish his work, watch movies, or play games⊠What exactly are you getting at with all these conjectures and assumptions, Zhenâer?â Tang Baona asked curiously.
âHave you seen the group photo of Liu Chuang, Brother Bin, and Chef Xiang from their college days that Liu Chuang shared in the gaming group? Didnât you notice that Chef Xiang has changed a lot?â
âWell, itâs been so many years since he graduated from college, he just lost some hair and put on some bulk, thatâs normal since heâs been working out.â Tang Baona commented.
âItâs not just compared to university⊠Brother Bin also used to say, Brother Xiang has transformed drastically in just a few months.â Yang Zhenâer shook her head and speculated, âI suspect that maybe Brother Xiang had some sort of adventure after his company went bankrupt, and he joined some special organization. Then he changed. This organization might require its members to carry out secret tasks periodically, which is why Brother Xiang often disappears without explanation. After the tasks are completed, Brother Xiang gains special abilities, like cooking, wood carving⊠Ah, could it be that Brother Xiangâs return to Citong City this time isnât about the restaurant, but to carry out a âsecret missionâ?â
âMission, my ass!â Tang Baona quickly flicked her forehead and scolded, âA secret organization that teaches cooking and wood carving? Instead of fantasizing, you might as well help me look over these documents. We still have to meet with Zhang Qian and Attorney Liang tomorrow, we canât go unprepared, right? We previously agreed to liaise with Zhang Qian on behalf of Xiang Kun.â
Yang Zhenâer rubbed her forehead and looked at her innocently, âDidnât we agree before? I cook, I clean up, I wash the dishes, and you look at those documents. Then, whatever you say tomorrow, Iâll just follow. All I have to do is echo your sentiments, right?â
âWhat cooking are you talking about, didnât you just order food? Isnât cleaning up just throwing the takeout containers in the trash? There are only two soup bowls, one spoon, and two pairs of chopsticks to wash, right? Ah, anyway, you have nothing to do now, help me look, since youâve worked in finance for so many years.â said Tang Baona.
âIâm not idle, Iâm very busy⊠I will invite Brother Xiang to play a game together. If he refuses, he might indeed be on some âsecret missionâ. Right, do you think Brother Xiang might be secretly dating someone in Citong City? Uh, this is hardly plausible, Brother Xiang does not seem like a playboy.â Yang Zhenâer said as she picked up her phone to send Xiang Kun a WeChat message.
After a few minutes, she received Xiang Kunâs reply. Yang Zhenâer got excited again, showed her phone screen to Tang Baona, and said, âNana, look, I didnât guess wrong, did I? Brother Xiang again said âIâm busy tonightâ! With his personality, if it were work or home affairs, he would surely explain it, but he just said âIâm busyâ, without giving any details. There must be something fishy! Heâs surely doing something he doesnât want us to know about!â
Tang Baona gave her a blank look, lifted her hand to ruffle her hair, âIf you arenât going to help me, could you at least stop disturbing me and go play in your room?â
Yang Zhenâer reclined on the couch beside her, phone in hand, legs propped up on the backrest. She texted as she muttered, âNo, I need to inform Old Xia about this, have him keep an eye on Brother Xiang.â
After she sent a series of WeChat messages to her cousin, she instructed, âOld Xia, tonight you must find a way to invite Brother Xiang for supper. This spying mission is on you!â
Few moments later, Xia Libingâs reply came, a panda sleeping Zzz emoji.
âStop sleeping! A cousin nurtured for a thousand days is used for such a day, today is the day you repay me, your dear cousin! Go spy on Brother Xiangâs movements for me!â
A few moments later, the reply was still a panda Zzz emoji.
âThis is about your Sister Nanaâs happiness, stop sleeping and listen to me, be a good girl!â
The reply remained unchanged, still the panda Zzz.
Yang Zhenâer obviously didnât know, at this time in Citong City, in the house where Xia Libing lived, it was Xiang Kun who was using Xia Libingâs mobile phone to reply.
According to the previous cycle, Xiang Kun was due to drink blood again on February 15, which was tomorrow.
The rabbit needed for the blood drinking was already purchased with Old Xia from an arranged breeder, delivered here by a small truck, and were now in Old Xiaâs kitchen.
Yes, the place for this blood drinking session was set to be Xia Libingâs house. And since it was previously explained to his parents as a âbusiness trip,â he wonât be returning home tonight, thereâs no need to pretend sleep and can directly stay at Old Xiaâs place.
Because he came home very late last night and had to wake up early in the morning to drive to Zi Huan Mountain to meet Xiang Kun, Old Xia wasnât very active today, feeling sleepy after dinner.
Xiang Kun then told her to sleep first, get enough rest tonight so that she had the energy to stay up tomorrow.
Although Old Xia now has a way to remain awake in the âconscious worldâ to resists sleepiness, it is still necessary to rest well and conserve her energy.
Just like after Xiang Kun drinks blood and sleeps, he leaves his phone with Old Xia to handle possible emergencies, before Xia Libing goes to bed, she also hands over her phone to Xiang Kun so he can handle possible emergencies that may arise, like her third aunt suddenly coming over, and on her behalf, can reply messages saying she is not at home.
What Xiang Kun did not expect was that he did not receive a message from Third Aunt, but instead received a series of messages from Yang Zhenâer about his âsecret organizationâ and âsecret mission.â
Xiang Kun couldnât help but find it amusing, not expecting the usually baffled Yang Zhenâer to have moments of sharpness.
Truth be told, although her guesses about the âsecret organizationâ and the âsecret missionâ are not true, her chain of thought and suspicions are indeed correct.
After dealing with Yang Zhenâer using Xia Libingâs phone, Xiang Kun uses his own phone to browse over the information sent by Alice. Around two oâclock in the morning, he began to connect with the chopstick on Xia Libingâs pillow, guiding the dream.
This has been discussed with Old Xia previously, to start the dream in the second half of the night, allowing Old Xia to trigger the âDream in a Dream.â
As for whose dream it is, to be honest, neither he nor Old Xia know yet. Anyhow, the object initiating the dream is on the window ledge of the dormitory, and whoever is being induced into the dream is definitely someone in the dormitory.
In the afternoon, Xiang Kun snuck near the division, placed a âblack circle graffitiâ around a âsuper-connected objectâ orb and launched it onto the window ledge of the dormitory using a slingshot.
He wanted to use this method to âinvoke dream warningsâ.
To give a hint to the police force, letting them go to Zi Huan Mountain, where they will discover the bodies of those affected by the âmutated parasitesâ, so the families of the deceased could have some closure, instead of continuing to be left in that desolate mountain cave.