What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 587: Chapter 587: A Big Show (Lower Part – Upper Part)

Time rewinds to a little after two in the afternoon.

Tang Baona was currently at Jianzhou city airport, waiting to pick up Xiao Pingguo, who was arriving today.

Since Yang Lao San went to Pengcheng City and Old Xia was busy with other matters, Xiang Kun asked her to pick up Xiao Pingguo – but truthfully, even without his request, she would have definitely come.

However, she was still a bit confused. She could understand that Old Xia was busy due to him needing to go to the research base for equipment installations. But, as for Xiang Kun, she had no idea why he had been running off to the mountains recently. When asked about it, he would only laugh mischievously and distract her with irrelevant answers. Today, he even spouted some nonsense about him going to the mountain to “defend the earth and protect the world,” which was all rather abnormal.

Tang Baona had been immersing herself in the ability to transform emotional perception into melodies recently. Since being around Xiang Kun amplifies her sensitivity to emotional perception, she initially kept trying to invite Xiang Kun, Old Xia, and Yang Lao San to have meals together in town.

If they stayed in Chongyun Village, she would only have been able to sense Yang Lao San’s emotions converted into melodies. There are just a few of those and she was already overly familiar with them.

Going to the town with a larger crowd allowed Tang Baona to sense more diverse and vibrant emotions forming into special melodies. She could then derive various stories based on these melodies and use them to compose new songs and lyrics, which was incredibly intriguing.

Tang Baona was completely absorbed by this, finding immense pleasure in it, such that she started to neglect lots of her company work. Even when she was working, her mind was elsewhere, often drifting away unconsciously.

Yet, she knew that whenever she was unable to manage things, Yang Lao San would willingly step up, covering her deficiencies and steering the ship for her.

Despite Yang Lao San’s lackadaisical and goofy demeanor, his capability was evident and trustworthy. His act of supposed incompetence was merely a facade masking his inherent laziness. Ever since she began partnering with Xiang Kun to manage QianKun Technology, Yang Lao San had always been by her side, familiar with every aspect of the business. Thus, taking over posed no issue for him.

Tang Baona was contemplating whether to fully immerse herself in understanding her recent special senses, fully-figure out what’s going on, and then do other tasks. It’s better than having it constantly on her mind.

Apart from this, she also noticed Yang Lao San acting strangely recently, mumbling to himself frequently, seemingly aping her conversations with the “Little Elf”. Noticing that Yang Lao San might have discovered something, she vaguely revealed some of her experiences to him. In her opinion, some of Yang Lao San’s far-fetched ideas seemed to have a chance of becoming reality.

She also tested Xiang Kun and Old Xia. Judging by their responses, it seemed apparent that they were aware of the changes happening to her, her special sensations, and even intentionally cooperated with her on certain occasions, like accompanying her to crowded places and so on.

As time passed, Tang Baona became increasingly sensitive and adept at sensing the melody of other people’s emotions. She had composed over a hundred songs with finished lyrics, encompassing various emotions and storylines. 15 of those songs had already been released online, causing quite the stir as expected, which brought her a bit of secret joy.

Apart from this, she had hundreds of melodies and ideas roughly jotted down, and countless others that she deemed mediocre and did not bother recording.

Unconsciously, Tang Baona realized that not only could human emotions be perceived and transformed into specific melodies, but certain objects could also evoke special feelings within her, creating intermittent melodies in her mind.

Although these object-based melodies weren’t as definitive and fluent as human emotional melodies, they were still clearly and genuinely present.

The sensitivity of this feeling was becoming stronger and stronger, the number of objects that could produce a melody were growing in numbers.

From cars, to phones, to television, to tables, to chairs, to trees, to grass, to the ground beneath her feet, to the street lamps next to her, to the trash can in front of her, as long as she got close, she could “play” a corresponding melody in her mind.

At first, she felt excited and curious about it. But before long, she was a little annoyed, because her mind was almost always filled with melodies, sometimes simultaneously with several different melodies, making a terrible racket.

Tang Baona’s control over this perception had not yet reached the point of mastery, especially when it came to the perception of objects, it was quite overwhelming.

So Tang Baona suddenly went from sticking to Xiang Kun all the time to keeping her distance from Xiang Kun. Except for returning to Chongyun Village at night, everything else was an excuse to handle company-related matters in Tongshi Town, personally controlling everything and staying in Tongshi Town on her own.

She was actually quite worried that Xiang Kun would misunderstand her, thinking that she was avoiding him, but at that time, Xiang Kun seemed to sense something and intentionally cooperate. He began to enter the mountains frequently during the day, as if planning on conducting some research or investigation. Each time, he would not return until late at night, which spared her the need to make excuses for intentionally keeping her distance and avoiding Xiang Kun.

On the contrary, as time passed, she began to wonder what Xiang Kun was actually researching by himself in the mountains.

At the airport waiting for Xiao Pingguo, Tang Baona looked at various objects at the airport – the seats, the railings, the glass, the passengers’ bags, the passengers’ watches, the passengers’ mobile phones… Simply by looking at them, a corresponding melody would sound in her mind. It wasn’t that now that she was far away from Xiang Kun and still had that ability to translate emotions and object perception into melodies, but rather she had sensed too much before, forming a conditioned reflex. Now when she sees similar objects, the corresponding melody would automatically play in her mind due to habit.

Tang Baona was thinking about whether there was a deeper meaning to these melodies. She could understand the thoughts and the detailed thought process contained in the melodies compiled from others’ emotions, even fill in the reason why these emotions were generated, the stories behind them, etc. and write lyrics based on this.

But the melodies of objects were a bit more obscure. She couldn’t understand why objects could also generate corresponding melodies and she couldn’t restore a corresponding story like she could with the melodies of human emotions, she was very confused.

She vaguely sensed that if she could understand the source of what the melodies of objects expressed, she could find the root of her special perception.

She had an “immature guess” that the reason why all sorts of objects could make her sense various melodies, just like human emotions, was because they all had something like a “little elf” existing within them. They all had “spirits”.

This idea sounded super childish. Fortunately, she had not told anyone about it. She was just secretly “talking” to various objects on her own, trying to elicit a response from the “little elf”. Unfortunately, she had not yet received a clear response from any “little elf”.

However, in another sense, it was not entirely without feedback. After the objects made her feel the melody, she would have some special experiences when she touched or used them again.

For example, this GL8 car that was usually driven by Xiang Kun and Old Xia. After she sensed the melody of the whole car, driving it gave her an abstract feeling.

She didn’t drive much herself, especially after graduating and living together with Yang Lao San, it was always Yang Lao San who drove. Her driving skills were rusty and she was quite hesitant. But now, driving this GL8, she felt very confident. Whether it was meeting vehicles on narrow roads, making U-turns, parking sideways, or overtaking on high-speed roads, she was quite proficient, had a precise sense of distance, and was very at ease, as if she had been driving this car for over a decade.

This feeling further consolidated her “childish guess”.

…

Due to flight delays, Xiao Pingguo didn’t arrive at the airport until nearly three o’clock.

A pretty airport ground staff led Xiao Pingguo over and after confirming Tang Baona’s identity, handed over the shining, glittering cage of her “checked-in” pet to Xiao Pingguo.

This time Xiao Pingguo arrived in Chongyun Village alone. Professor Li saw her onto the plane, asked the flight attendants to help take care of her, and airport and airline services for the disabled guided her off the plane more quickly and easily, handing her over to the person picking her up. Since someone accompanied her throughout the process, Professor Li agreed to Xiao Pingguo’s request to come to Chongyun Village alone even though he was a bit worried because he could not leave his work at the school and clearly understood how different Xiao Pingguo was at home and in Chongyun Village.

Tang Baona, holding Xiao Pingguo’s hand, received the gleaming cage and after checking that the little bird was emotionally stable and comfortable, she called Professor Li to let him know they had arrived safely – actually, Xiao Pingguo had already called her father shortly after landing, but she made another call to put his mind more at ease.

After putting the cage in the car, Tang Baona smiled and said, “Xiao Pingguo, was your journey smooth?”

“Yes, it went very smoothly. The stewardesses and ground staff were all very nice to me, and the other passengers also gave way to me,” Xiao Pingguo replied somewhat bashfully.

In fact, even without the help of others, she could have easily completed her journey alone.

If she didn’t, and just disguised herself as a person with normal vision, more than 90% of the people around her wouldn’t even notice that she is blind.

After all, through her training and influence in “Object Sensing,” her hearing has greatly improved, especially in determining the source of sounds, and her sense of smell has also been greatly enhanced, helping her navigate through more complex environments.

Furthermore, the incredibly helpful capabilities of her pet bird and Alice, allowed her to see further and know more than the average person.

Although she was separated from her pet on the plane, she was fully aware of the situation on the plane due to the information feedback from Alice. Now that Alice was connected to the various “Super-connected Objects” around her, she could provide enough environmental information feedback to Xiao Pingguo even without a single security camera. This information, crucially, was something Xiao Pingguo could understand.

So, even though Xiao Pingguo could see things much more clearly than anyone with normal vision, she still had to pretend to be blind, which was somewhat helpless.

Like when she was getting off the plane before, the ground attendant was so busy helping her avoid obstacles ahead that she didn’t notice a luggage trolley near her own feet and almost tripped over. Little did she know, Xiao Pingguo had predicted this through the environmental information transmitted by Alice, and pretended to stumble herself, making the attendant instinctively rush over to help her thereby shifting her foot, which prevented her from tripping over.

The only place where Xiao Pingguo could truly be herself was in Chongyun Village – even at home she couldn’t completely let go for fear of startling her father.

“By the way, your Uncle Xiang and Sister Bing were busy, so they couldn’t come pick you up. We’re going to have dinner in town first, then go back to the village. I know you were looking forward to the dishes Xiang Kun makes, but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow,” Tang Baona explained on behalf of Xiang Kun and Old Xia.

But Xiao Pingguo laughed and said, “It’s okay, Sister Nana. Uncle Xiang told me that he’ll be busy in the mountains for a few days and will prepare a big ‘show’ for us tonight. No, I should say mainly for you!”

“Huh? Is Xiang Kun bluffing you too?” Tang Baona wondered.

Before Xiang Kun went to the mountains today, he did tell her to go to the rooftop tonight for a “big show” prepared in advance for her birthday celebration. But he also talked about “defending Earth” and “protecting the world” which seemed utterly crazy, so she didn’t take it seriously and thought Xiang Kun was just joking, just like he always talks about the “secret organization” and “welcome to the family of superpowers” when he is with Yang Lao San. But the fact that Xiang Kun remembered her birthday in a few days made her very happy.

But now it seems that Xiang Kun has told Xiao Pingguo about the “big show” in advance too? Could it be some kind of “big show” indeed?

Could it be fireworks?

Releasing fireworks in the mountains? Isn’t that against the law?

And such a step feels a bit too cliché, Xiang Kun wouldn’t actually do that, right?

And if it’s about releasing fireworks, why not just do it in the village?

Other than fireworks, she couldn’t think of something that would be considered a “big show.”

However, Xiao Pingguo didn’t know much either, because Xiang Kun didn’t tell her the details. Tang Baona asked a few questions but didn’t get any results, so she temporarily dropped it.

“Sister Nana, your recent songs are so good, it’s amazing. Did you write all these songs yourself?” Xiao Pingguo exclaimed.

“Princess Tangdou” is Tang Baona’s online identity, which only a handful of people on the Internet know. With Alice’s control, this information is unlikely to leak out, but people around her, like Xiao Pingguo and Little Fatty Girl, are quite clear about it. So, now they keep an eye on the latest “Tangdou pop songs.”

“Kind of, hehe, which song do you like best, Xiao Pingguo? I’ll write a few songs for you too,” Tang Baona said with a smile while driving.

“My favorite is ‘Stealing Pleasure.’ As soon as I hear it, I know it’s about Sister Zhen’er. It’s like seeing her being proud and shyly covering her mouth to laugh, it’s really interesting, and makes me want to laugh and sing along. Oh, and Xiao Lingdang also likes that song, haha,” Xiao Pingguo said with a laugh.

“Huh? Xiao Pingguo, you can tell that my song is about Yang Lao San? Did she tell you?” Tang Baona asked curiously. Her song didn’t mention Yang Lao San’s name and even lacked descriptions that match him. It merely expressed the emotion of Yang Lao San at that time when she thought she knew something and was “Sneering.

Xiao Pingguo said, “No, Sister Zhen’er didn’t tell me, but when I first heard this song, I knew it was about Sister Zhen’er. The beats…the melody…it just felt very ‘familiar’. I know it sounds weird when I say it has a sense of déjà vu, but that’s exactly how I felt. Sister Nana, when I heard your song, I was very certain it was about Sister Zhen’er ‘stealing pleasure.’

Tang Baona had a thought and said, “Xiao Pingguo, I’ll hum a few melodies and you listen, okay?”

Then, she started humming a melody in “Do Do Do”, “Woo Woo Woo” sounds, stopped after more than half a minute, and asked, “Xiao Pingguo, if the melody I just hummed represents an item, what do you think it could be? Just guess, anything is fine.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Xiao Pingguo directly replied, “It’s a car, a fast-running car. Oh yes, and it’s black, pretty big too. By the way, the car you’re driving now, Sister Nana, the melody you hummed, I feel it represents this car running!”

Tang Baona was taken aback. She was amazed that Xiao Pingguo could tell that ‘Stealing Pleasure’ was written about Yang Zhen Er and claimed she had guessed it. However, the fact that Xiao Pingguo could now understand her “Object Melody” and guess correctly that it reflected the feel of the GL8 was simply incredible!