What It's Like Being a Vampire

She always considered herself different, special from the rest.

Like Little Lingdang, she would indulge in childish fantasies, believing that she was born into this world with a special mission. That beyond their world, there must be other worlds and beyond the creatures they knew, there must be other species.

Of course, as she grew up and matured, her naive and simple fantasies gradually faded away. Only a part of her passionate and strange ideas from her childhood got preserved in the realm of anime and manga, occasionally being stirred to life by certain pieces of work.

But on that night in Chongyun Village in late April, after she nearly rolled down the stairs, she discovered that there was a presence from another world she could “interact” with.

And that existence seemed to be protecting her, helping her, saving her, just like the “little elf” she had imagined when she was small.

Truth be told, after that night, her time in Chongyun Village was marked by alertness to all kinds of details around her, just like Old Xia, constantly observing her surroundings.

And indeed, she did notice many peculiarities about Chongyun Village, such as, like Yang Zhen Er said, the village had very few insects, especially near their house.

Then there was dust, too. Given the location of their house on a hill, dust should have been abundant. However, their yard was easy to clean; almost no leaves or other debris blew in. A quick wipe of the stone table in the yard in the morning would leave it dust-free till the end of the day.

Despite the strong winds outside, the yard — situated at a higher altitude within the village — was always filled with gentle breezes. Even when they opened the windows of the upstairs rooms, the wind that blew in was always comfortable, never cutting or too cold, yet it didn’t block all the wind either.

It was just like the lyrics of a song — “The wind sticks here, sticking to the memories of passersby.”

Their yard and building seemed to have some special “field” that protected the people living inside.

Having experienced it firsthand, Tang Baona naturally attributed this protection to the “little elf” that had once saved her life.

It was just a pity that before leaving Chongyun Village, she could never find concrete evidence of the “little elf” or manage to interact with it again.

Unexpectedly, after arriving in Peng City, she received protection from the “little elf” once more.

And she even managed to interact with the “little elf” again!

This stirred the buried spirit of the fantasy-loving girl in her. She maintained small quick steps all the way to the gate of her residence, only stopping to catch her breath and suppressing the excitement pounding in her chest.

Back home, she opened the door and was surprised to find Yang Lao San and Little Fatty Girl still there — usually, by this time, Yang Lao San would take Little Fatty Girl to their rented apartment to sleep and would only return after Shiling’s Mom came home.

Yang Zhen Er ignored Tang Baona when she walked through the door. Little Fatty Girl, without lifting her head, greeted “Pretty Sister” and then continued to focus her attention on the edge of the coffee table in the living room.

Presently, Yang Zhen Er was kneeling on one knee by the coffee table, slightly hunched over like a ready-to-pounce cheetah, her eyes locked on Little Fatty Girl.

Little Fatty Girl crouched on the other side, her eyes meeting Yang Zhen Er’s across the edge of the coffee table, like an egg custard pie peering at a bowl of cat food.

There appeared to be a conflict brewing between them?

What was going on?

Tang Baona was a bit dazed. Yang Lao San adored Little Lingdang and always wanted to give her the best of everything. Why were they in this standoff now? Moreover, Little Lingdang was such an obedient child, why was she crossing horns with Yang Lao San?

Even if they were arguing, why were they having a standoff across the coffee table?

Curiosity got the better of her, or maybe she was taken aback by the tension between the two, and Tang Baona just stood by the door, watching the two in silence.

Suddenly, Liu Shiling spoke up: “One, two…”

As the word “three” came out, she and the facing Yang Zhen’er simultaneously put a something from their hands on the coffee table, and then pushed it forward.

Tang Baona saw clearly that those were two coins!

Yang Zhen’er and Liu Shiling simultaneously rolled the two coins on the edge of the coffee table, making the two coins roll towards each other and collide.

The two coins rolled straight, collided, and then one fell into the coffee table, and the other one landed on the floor.

Yang Zhen’er let out a tragic scream, rolling directly onto the floor, wailing: “I lost again! How did I lose again! Ahh, Xiao Lingdang, is your coin heavier? That’s not possible! That shouldn’t be the case! ”

The little fatty girl regained her smiling expression, squatting down next to the fallen Yang Zhen’er, and said: “Old Ms. Fairy, you’re already quite good, being able to play so well the first time. It looks simple, but it’s actually difficult for most people to roll the coin along a relatively straight path at the edge of a smooth coffee table.”

Yang Lao San then sat up from the floor, holding the little fatty girl’s face and asked: “So Xiao Lingdang, how long have you been practicing this coin rolling game?”

“Huh?” The little fatty girl paused for a moment, and said: “This game… I just came up with it.”

Yang Lao San then began to pinch the little fatty girl’s face.

Tang Baona who had changed her shoes and walked in now knew what was going on, laughing and saying: “Zhen’er, you must be harassing Xiao Lingdang again, not letting her study properly!”

Yang Zhen’er suddenly scrambled up from the floor, ran to the door, and pulled Tang Baona, who was about to walk in, back.

“Nana, where is your coin? Did you bring it with you?” Yang Zhen’er said.

“What coin?” Tang Baona asked, puzzled.

“You know.”

Tang Baona dumbly took out a coin from her pants pocket: “You mean the lucky coin gifted by Xiang Kun?”

“Right, right, right.” Yang Zhen’er said, asking the little fatty girl to pick up the coin from the ground for her, then said: “Nana, watch carefully!”

With a ding, Yang Zhen’er flicked the coin with her thumb into the paper cup that was still on the TV cabinet, then turned back to Tang Baona: “Nana, you try it!”

“Oh.” Tang Baona mimicked Yang Zhen’er’s gesture, casually flick the coin, the coin almost followed Yang Zhen’er’s trajectory, tumbling into the cup, hitting the previous coin, and made a crisp sound.

Yang Zhen’er was dumbfounded. So, as long as someone uses the “lucky coin” gifted by brother Xiang, as long as they learn the coin flipping skill, they can easily achieve her “Flying coin into the cup” feat?!

So… her “Flying coin into the cup”, is in fact a “skill” one level lower than “coin flipping”?

Afterwards, Tang Baona also curiosly played with the little fatty girl the “colliding coins” game she just played with Yang Lao San.

As a result, they couldn’t stop playing.

The three of them were either sitting, kneeling, or squatting on the floor in the living room, having a great time playing.

If ordinary people just heard about it, it would be hard to imagine that two adults and a child, could play with coins until after midnight.

At twelve-thirty, when Shiling’s mom came home, she didn’t see her daughter sleeping like usual, so she knocked on the door, and the three of them finally reluctantly ended the “clash of coins” competition.

After Shiling’s Mom took the Little Fatty Girl back to sleep, the exhilarated Tang Baona and Yang Zhen Er were still wreaking havoc in the living room.

They specially got blankets to place under the coffee table to avoid the noise of fallen coins disturbing the people downstairs.

When they got hungry, they ordered delivery: Golden Arches burgers and fried chicken wings.

While munching on her burger, Yang Zhen Er mumbled unclearly, “Nana, I think Xiao Lingdang is a genius. She can conjure so much fun from just a coin. You don’t know, tonight there aren’t only games of bumping coins, there are several games using coins that are super entertaining. I even think… it’s more fun than the game we’re helping Brother Xiang and the chef run…”

Sitting cross-legged on the couch, Tang Baona nodded as she nibbled on a chicken wing, “It’s indeed fun, but I estimate not many people can play it.”

“Ah? Why?” Yang Zhen Er was confused for a moment before she nodded, “Oh right, only a few normal people have the coins Brother Xiang gave, and not many can control the coin so well.”

As she spoke, she reacted, correcting herself, “No wait, not ‘normal people,’ it should be ‘ordinary people.’ Otherwise, it’s like implying we’re not normal! But really, does the coin Brother Xiang gave really have some kind of ‘Magic Power’? It can’t just be simple psychological effect right? This ‘Lucky Coin’ thing seems truly different from ordinary coins!”

This time, instead of saying Yang Lao San was talking nonsense, Tang Baona nodded, “It’s different.”

“Nana, do you think this coin could be a ‘black tech’ from the research base that Brother Xiang and Old Xia secretly worked on?” Yang Zhen Er asked, leaning into the rhetorical conspiracy.

“Oh? What would they want with this black tech coin?”

“Who knows? Maybe it’s a next-generation toy? Otherwise, why would they give it to Xiao Lingdang to play first? Did you know? Brother Xiang gave Xiao Lingdang five ‘Lucky Coins,’ five of them!” Yang Zhen Er exaggeratedly held up five sauce-stained fingers.

Tang Baona shook her head, “What kind of black tech can a coin have? We’ve compared it, and there’s no difference between it and an ordinary coin, from material to weight.”

“Didn’t you just say it’s ‘different’?” Yang Zhen Er asked confusedly.

“What I said is ‘different’ refers to the difference within.”

“Within?”

“Yes, a sort of…internal feeling,” Tang Baona squinted, “Something indescribable.”

“No way, Nana, are you talking about metaphysics now?” Yang Zhen Er stopped eating her burger, turned back and looked at her friend in surprise.

“Zhen’er, do you believe there are creatures in this world that we can’t see or who even exist outside of our space?” Tang Baona said mysteriously.

Yang Zhen Er was somewhat flustered, “No way, Nana! What’s going on with you today? That’s what I usually say! Don’t you always say ‘oh Yang Lao San, you’ve read too much fantasy and are overthinking things’ to crush my spirit? Why are you saying this today too! Something’s wrong! Something’s wrong with you, Nana! Did you encounter a supernatural event or see a ghost or something??”

“Rubbish!” Tang Baona rolled her eyes while not bothering to continue the discussion, casually changing the topic, “By the way, watch what you say in front of your friends and relatives!”

“Ah? What did I say that’s wrong?” Yang Zhen Er was confused.

“That Shiling is your daughter! Did you know, tonight my mom called and asked me mysteriously if you secretly had a chubby daughter and that she’s already in kindergarten…” Tang Baona said, somewhere between laughing and crying.

Yang Zhen Er was surprised: “How did aunt know?” She naturally knew that “chubby daughter” referred to the Little Fatty Girl and often bragged in front of others that Shiling was her daughter.

Tang Baona said, “I asked her too! My mom said one of her close friends mentioned it. Her friend seems to know one of your relatives. I suspect, the relative she knows is one of those who came to Peng City a while ago, those whom you took Shiling to have dinner with. I remember you and Shiling even performed a comedy sketch for them. You definitely must have shown off that Shiling was your daughter!”

“Oh oh oh, right right right, but when I said that Shiling is my daughter, they surely knew it was a joke, Shiling calls me sister, they mustn’t be fooled…” Yang Zhen Er scratched her head, and after scratching, suddenly remembered her hands were covered in burger sauce, and stood still in surprise.

“Maybe they won’t misconstrue it, but when they retell it to others, others might not understand it’s a joke. They’ll remember only the key phrase ‘Yang Lao San has a chubby daughter,’ and after a couple more retellings, people will start thinking you secretly had a child!” Tang Baona said.

“No worries, forget about him.” Yang Zhen’er said nonchalantly. So, she didn’t care about the sauce on her hands, scratched her head a few more times, and decided to wash her hair later.

“Oh right, Nana, you, me, Xiao Lingdang, Apple, Old Xia, we are all pros at playing with coins. We should form a club! How about we call it ‘Five Coin Alliance’? Um, no, that sounds terrible, ‘Five Coin Club’? Hmm, that sounds like fraud… I’ve got it! We’ll call it ‘Five Ring Club’! Like the Olympic rings, we can stack five one dollar coins as our club emblem!” Yang Zhen’er couldn’t help starting to brainstorm again.

Tang Baona said helplessly, “Are your five rings referring to us five, or the five coins? Didn’t you say Xiao Lingdang has five coins herself?”

“Right, so we should be called… ‘Nine Ring Group’? ‘Nine Circles’? ‘Nine Cakes’?” Saying this, Yang Zhen’er couldn’t help laughing and rolled over on the couch.

However, Tang Baona was deep in thought. Xiang Kun’s coin indeed had something different. After successfully interacting with the “Little Elf” again tonight, she suddenly felt that the coin Xiang Kun gave her might be a “token” for communicating with the “Little Elf”.

Perhaps it was because she carried that coin with her, that she was able to have the “Little Elf” rescue her in Chongyun Village initially, and the “Little Elf” is able to come to Pengcheng City with her now.

In that case, could it be possible that Xiang Kun, Old Xia, and even Apple, all know about the existence of the “Little Elf”?

Of course, at this moment, Tang Baona did not know that besides Xiang Kun’s “Lucky Coin”, she also had many other “tokens” similar to the “Lucky Coin”.

These included her bag’s zipper, the ballpoint pen in her bag, and the metal buttons on her clothes.

On her way back, the area around where she lived, even the large urban area radiating from the center where they worked and Little Fatty Girl attended school in Pengcheng City, were all full of Xiang Kun’s “Super-connected Objects”.

Right next to the street light that responded to her, a large number of “Super-connected Objects” existed, including the street light pole, the rubbish bin beside it, the protective fence of the green belt, and the underground pipes.

Alice could basically co-manifest within the areas they frequented. Under the premise of controlling the network and various electronic devices, even making other substantial influences through the “Super-connected Object Matrix” was quite easy for Alice.

Moreover, this “Super-connected Object Control Circle” is still expanding.

…

While Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er were engrossed in the coin collision game, the inventor of the game had already gone home with her mom to wash up and go to bed.

But after saying goodnight and curling up in her quilt, when her mom turned off the main light and left a small night-light on, then left the room, Little Fatty Girl opened her eyes again, with no sleepiness in her bright eyes.

She rolled over and picked up the IPAD from her desk – this had now become her exclusive learning tool; her mom no longer used it to watch dramas.

She crawled back into the quilt, and like a spy, she sent a voice message to Xiang Kun through QQ in a whisper:

“Uncle Bald, it seems that Ms. Fairy is beginning to learn magic. I taught her all evening, and although she learns slowly, she seems to have a talent for it. Can I continue teaching her in the future?”

After a while, Xiang Kun’s reply came: “Sure, but don’t spend too much energy on it. Remember, your main task at this stage is to study.”

Liu Shiling nodded continuously, then realized that Xiang Kun couldn’t see her, so she quickly sent a voice message: “I know, Uncle Bald, I will definitely become an excellent junior high school graduate as soon as possible!”

As she spoke, she thought of something else and continued, “Uncle Bald, I’d like to see Custard Pie. Is he asleep?”

On this trip to Peng City, because it was rushed, there was no time to get a quarantine certificate for Custard Pie, so it couldn’t be brought on the plane. So Custard Pie was left to keep Golden Shiny company and heal the rest of its wounds, and also to play with Apple more. Next time when Xiang Kun and Apple come to Peng City, they will bring Custard Pie to reunite with her.

Little Fatty Girl of course missed Custard Pie, but she could clearly feel that Custard Pie, staying in Chongyun Village and playing with Golden Shiny, was much more free and happy than in the city. Actually, she felt the same way.

The video call was quickly connected. On the screen was a confused Custard Pie, who appeared to have been awakened by Xiang Kun from its sleep.

Even though the live image on Little Fatty Girl’s side was pitch black, as soon as he heard her voice, Custard Pie’s face changed from “waking up grumpy” to “excitement”.