What Day Is It Today? (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader Lan Yin)
After seeing his blood magnified 2000 times, Xiang Kun compared it with the videos and pictures he had found online and noticed some differences.
In comparison, at the same multiple, his red blood cells seemed to be more "plump," densely packed together and swimming.
If other people's red blood cells are like persimmons, then his red blood cells are like basketballs, and strangely, they even have a kind of dignified feel to them?
He searched carefully for a long time but couldn't find any white blood cells or platelets. Perhaps it was because they weren't stained?
Suddenly, all the red blood cells seemed to receive a command at the same time. Their cell membranes ruptured and disappeared rapidly. Then, all the tissues inside the cells joined together and continued to change and coagulate, forming one tiny particle after another. These particles looked to be uniform in size and had a very smooth surface.
Soon, the once densely packed and crowded red blood cells were all gone, transformed into tiny particles that were either tightly packed together in clusters or scattered in various places.
Xiang Kun suddenly exclaimed in surprise, glanced at the time on the computer, then at the time on his phone, and couldn't help but frown: Although he hadn't timed it, he roughly knew that from the time the blood was taken out to the time when the red blood cells were completely broken into small particles, it shouldn't have taken more than 10 minutes.
He had previously conducted experiments showing that changes in blood and other body tissues did not occur that quickly, and the entire process took nearly 15 minutes.
What's going on? Has the rate of decomposition and change of the inactive tissue also changed during this period? But it didn't change during all those previous mutations.
Xiang Kun didn't think too much about it and decided to do the experiment again to find out.
This time, he divided the blood into two portions, placing one portion aside and using the other for observation, and started timing immediately after the blood was drawn.
"Holy crap! What's going on!?"
Looking at the image displayed on the laptop screen connected to the microscope eyepiece, the red blood cells began to rapidly transform into tiny particles again, while the blood extracted at the same time and placed in other containers did not show any obvious changes. Xiang Kun was somewhat bewildered.
The timer app on my phone is currently showing 00:08:37.
When the blood sampled at the same time is observed under a microscope, does the decomposition rate increase? This is an optical microscope; no reaction was observed during observation, right? Could it be the built-in LED light source?
14 minutes and 50 seconds later, another sample of blood that had not been observed also turned into gray powder.
Xiang Kun then continued to collect blood, placed it on a glass slide, and then moved the objective lens away, simply placing it above the light source.
But this time, the blood took almost 15 minutes to completely turn into gray powder, as expected.
"Is it really related to observation??" Xiang Kun still found it hard to believe.
The experiment continued, but under his observation, the enlarged red blood cells decomposed even faster, turning into a pile of tiny particles in just over seven minutes.
Undeterred, Xiang Kun switched to observing oral and skin cells, but the results were all the same: the rate of decomposition accelerated significantly whenever he observed them.
However, if he doesn't use a microscope and only looks with his eyes, the rate of decomposition will not change.
He also tried recording observation videos, but instead of watching them directly, he went to the window to "get some fresh air" and returned to check the videos after fifteen minutes.
The results showed that when he was not present to monitor the process in real time, the breakdown of tissue cells returned to a normal rate.
Holy crap! Do my cells know I'm watching them?!
Xiang Kun was somewhat confused...
He even imagined a bunch of anthropomorphic, fat red blood cells that, upon discovering Xiang Kun observing them under a microscope, would push each other, shouting "Get out of here!", and then begin to self-destruct...
However, he immediately shook his head, denying this speculation.
He suspected that when he could see the microscopic structure of these body tissues at the cellular level, his subconscious mind might have exerted some kind of influence on these tissues that originally belonged to him, without his conscious awareness, causing these tissues to decompose prematurely?
Given his ability to establish special connections and senses with various objects, and to influence surrounding creatures of the same kind through changes in his own emotions, this possibility cannot be ruled out.
But what causes this to happen, and why is it necessary to accelerate the decomposition of isolated tissues? What is the purpose?
He couldn't figure it out for a moment.
At 2 PM, Yang Zhen'er and Tang Baona drove to pick him up and take him to Xia Libing's house.
Because he'll be cooking that evening, he needs to go there early to prepare and process the ingredients.
Although Xiang Kun already knew that Xia Libing, like Yang Zhen'er and Tang Baona, came from a well-off family, he was still taken aback when he entered Xia Libing's house.
He wasn't an ignorant person... Well, this location, this spaciousness, this expansive view, and this highly designed interior that blends classic luxury with modern technology—he'd never seen anything like it before. The best house he'd ever seen in the city was probably his former boss's, but even that couldn't compare to this one in terms of location, view, size, or quality of decoration.
If Xiang Kun for the past few years would have changed from a detached villa to this place.
However, Xiang Kun no longer has any attachment to houses.
He planned to go to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients first. He already had a plan for what to cook tonight, prepared the recipes, and asked Xia Libing and the others to buy the ingredients first.
He didn't plan to make any new dishes—actually, he hadn't had time to develop them yet—and would still stick to his usual few signature dishes. However, after observing the three women's behavior while they ate at his house last time, he had a more detailed understanding of their tastes. Therefore, he believed that even if the dishes were the same, he could make slight adjustments to the flavors to make them taste even better.
However, Tang Baona stopped him and didn't let him go to the kitchen immediately.
"Xiang Kun, do you know what day it is today?" Tang Baona asked with wide eyes and a smile.
Xia Libing and Yang Zhen'er were also watching him from the side, waiting for his answer.
What day is it today? Xiang Kun thought for a moment, quickly calculating the lunar and solar calendar dates in his mind, and suddenly realized, "Huh? Today is already the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"It's not just about the Mid-Autumn Festival, think about it again," Tang Baona said with a mysterious smile.
Not just the Mid-Autumn Festival?
Xiang Kun's mind raced. This year is 2019, the Year of the Pig, uh, specifically it should be... the Year of Ji Hai, the Month of Gui You... the Day of Gui Chou, uh, that shouldn't be related, it's not like we need to look at the date... So what special day is today?
September 13th? A news item he'd casually glanced at a long time ago flashed through his mind. September 13th seemed to be Russian Programmer's Day? Perhaps because it's the 256th day of the year... Uh, even more impossible. How could Tang Baona possibly know anything about some damn Programmer's Day, especially in Russia...?
Seeing Xiang Kun staring blankly, seemingly trying to think and recall, Tang Baona suddenly slapped her forehead and said, "Oh, I forgot, it's not today, it's tomorrow. You can't have forgotten what day tomorrow is, can you?"
September 14th? Xiang Kun's eyes widened, his mind instinctively thinking... The day OPEC was founded? Uh, that definitely has nothing to do with us, it's not that.
Seeing that Xiang Kun still seemed unable to remember, Tang Baona exclaimed in surprise, "No way, Xiang Kun, September 14th is your birthday! You can't even remember your own birthday?"
September 14th is my birthday? How come I didn't know that? Xiang Kun remained completely bewildered.