Twelve Yellow Men (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader You Meng Zhi Yu 3)

After dropping Tang Baoting and her boyfriend off at home, Yang Zhen'er asked Tang Baona, "Sister Tingting and her boyfriend are officially together, right?"

Tang Baona rolled her eyes at her. "You're already calling him brother-in-law, why are you still asking this question? My parents have met him, my maternal grandfather has met him, and my brother-in-law's parents have met my sister. I reckon it's just a matter of both sets of parents meeting to set a wedding date, and then everything will be fine."

"I used to think that Sister Tingting would prefer the domineering CEO or influential figure type," Yang Zhen'er exclaimed.

Tang Baona laughed, "My sister actually only likes one type—handsome guys. She's a pure 'looks-obsessed' type. She said that generally, handsome guys are more likely to be womanizers and have a higher chance of being jerks. But my brother-in-law has the face and body of an idol, but the heart of a homebody. He's more reassuring. I don't have to worry about him getting hooked up with some flashy, cheap woman out there."

"That makes a lot of sense!" Yang Zhen'er nodded in agreement. "Being obsessed with games is better than being obsessed with other women. Sigh, I used to think you were a looks-obsessed person, but I didn't expect... uh, no, actually, after knowing you for a while, I've found that Xiang the Carpenter is quite good-looking. Even his bald head gets old after a while, plus he has a good physique now..."

"No, you can call me superficial, but why are you bringing Xiang Kun?"

"Oh, it's nothing, I just suddenly thought of it and mentioned it casually, hehe. Remember to remind Carpenter Xiang to hurry up and make me my birthday present!"

After returning to their shared apartment, Gao Yao rushed to turn on her computer and log on to prepare for a raid. However, upon seeing the number of people queuing to log in to the server, she let out a desperate scream.

Tang Baoting went to the balcony and video chatted with her grandfather on WeChat.

"Tingting, you're back after dinner? How did it go? What are your thoughts?" On the other end of the video call, Mr. Feng placed his phone on the stone table in the yard and asked with concern.

Tang Baoting briefly recounted her Xiang Kun's house for dinner, focusing on her questioning Xiang Kun about the reason for carving the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving sculpture. She concluded by saying:

"Grandpa, I saw the wood carving on the way to Xiang Kun's house, and there was nothing wrong with it. I think it's Uncle's problem. I've heard Auntie mention it several times on WeChat; he often doesn't come home until 3 or 4 in the morning after socializing, then he just collapses into bed and doesn't talk to anyone for days on end, sometimes he doesn't even come home at night. Drinking like that every day is bound to cause physical and mental problems, and he'll easily become paranoid. By the way, Grandpa, did you really have a nightmare too? I heard from Uncle that you dreamed of an eight-armed monster, is that true?"

Mr. Feng was taken aback for a moment, then quickly said, "No! I didn't tell him I had a dream! I just told him it's normal to have a nightmare once or twice!"

Tang Baoting asked with some suspicion, "Then why do you think there's something wrong with that wood carving, Grandpa?"

"I didn't say there was a problem, it was your second uncle who said there was a problem!" Mr. Feng said firmly.

"Grandpa, if you think it's alright, could you let Second Uncle take the wood carving to someone to perform a ritual? Would you let me and Nana Xiang Kun's house today to take a look?"

"Your second uncle spoke with absolute certainty, so I can't just say for sure that there won't be any problems... I'm just worried about Nana, aren't I?"

Tang Baoting said, "Anyway, when I went to his house, I felt there was nothing wrong with him. He cooks well, is humorous, and is a very kind person. He even keeps a canary. His bird-keeping skills are much better than yours, Grandpa. The one you kept last time died, but this one doesn't even need to be kept in a cage. You don't have to worry about it flying away."

"And he has indeed carved a lot of works, and I think they are really well done. Besides that eight-armed monster, there are also many normal wood carvings. This time, he asked Nana to replace your wood carving with a canary. I don't know anything about these things, but I really think they are very impressive. Even Gao Yao, who only stares at the computer screen and phone all day, is interested in his carvings."

"Besides, as I said before, he was introduced by my classmate Wang Han. He's her husband's college classmate and best friend from the same dorm. I know his character and background very well, so it's unlikely that anything will go wrong."

Mr. Feng felt inexplicably as if he were being lectured by his granddaughter, but he couldn't refute it, so he could only say, "Well, that's a good young man. I still need to find an opportunity to meet him and talk to him in person."

Tang Baoting smiled and said, "Then you can talk to Nana yourself. She'll definitely find time to send that Canary Wooden Carving to you."

Thinking about his phone call with Tang Baona that morning, Mr. Feng felt inexplicably more guilty.

After seeing off the Tang sisters, Yang Zhen'er, and Gao Yao, Xiang Kun quickly washed the dishes, tidied the kitchen, and disposed of the food scraps. Then he began the plan he had devised during the day:

Under the same emotional pattern, create multiple "Emotional Injection" items, and then test them after the next blood-drinking period to see if forming an "array" can lead to a qualitative change through quantitative change and exert an emotional influence on conscious people.

Xiang Kun also carefully considered which emotion to choose.

At the very beginning, he unintentionally used the type of fear of "what he would become or what situation he would fall into." Although the emotions he felt while carving were not very strong, the impact of this wood carving on people can still be described as eerie, especially on the person in charge of the consulting firm. The dream he had would definitely leave him with psychological trauma.

Therefore, if he were to conduct a test on the influence of emotions on people, he would definitely choose more positive emotions.

Xiang Kun chose one of the most important positive emotions—happiness.

There's a saying that goes, "The most important thing in life is to be happy!"

Happiness is an emotion that is relatively easy to perceive. If a person is very happy, it is difficult to hide this emotion. From micro-expressions to body language, heart rate, breathing, and hormone secretion, everything will change.

Therefore, once the influence is truly successful, Xiang Kun will not be unaware of it.

As for how to get into a happy mood, Xiang Kun chooses to watch some movies, TV series, novels, and anime that he used to find very funny.

For example, there's "East Meets West," Ge You's early films "Be There or Be Square" and "The Dream Factory," Xu Zheng and Wang Baoqiang's "Lost in Thailand" and "Lost in Journey," TV series like "My Own Swordsman" and "Dragon Inn," the "Unexpected" series of short films, and animations he found funny in his early years such as "Crayon Shin-chan" and "Slam Dunk."

But he found that emotions like laughter and happiness seem to require novelty, unlike some sentimental things that can be rekindled through recollection; the longer they are, the stronger the feeling becomes when looking back.

These movies and animations that I used to find hilarious still make me laugh when I watch them now, but they don't feel as "hilarious" as they used to, and I don't enjoy watching them as much anymore.

And recalling those past emotions, I can't really immerse myself in them or put myself in that state now.

Perhaps happiness is an emotion that is relatively immediate, fresh, and superficial?

Xiang Kun scratched his head, checked the time—it was past 11 p. m.—and wondered if Tang Baona was asleep yet.

I sent a peeking emoji on WeChat, and a dozen seconds later, I received a reply with a peeking emoji from another direction.

Thankfully, I'm not asleep yet.

Do you have any funny works to recommend? Anime, movies, TV series, anything is fine.

Are Japanese dramas, American dramas, and Korean dramas acceptable?

"I'll accept anything, as long as it's funny."

"For anime, you can watch Gintama, Daily Lives of High School Boys, 100,000 Bad Jokes, Despicable Me, oh, and there's a similar-style Japanese film, Seto Inland Sea, hmm~, The Key Thief and Every Day I Come Home to Find My Wife Pretending to Be Dead are also good, and there's also Take My Brother Away from a few years ago, have you seen Goodbye Mr. Loser, and Never Say Die."

"Hmm, not bad. I've heard of some of them, but I haven't seen them yet." Xiang Kun was very pleased.

Tang Baona continued, "Zhen'er was giving feedback from the side. He nominated two short films, 'A Monologue Between Two People' and 'Brothers Are Getting Along Well Today,' saying he guaranteed to make you laugh until your abs hurt."

Xiang Kun sent a muscular emoji. "I already have abs..."

Having received the list of "spiritual nourishment," Xiang Kun began watching various videos while preparing himself emotionally.

Besides asking Tang Baona to recommend those works, he also looked for some classic crosstalk performances that he hadn't seen before.

At four in the morning, Xiang Kun, wearing headphones and with a slightly stiff smile on his face, began to carve the boxwood pieces that had been cut into twelve equal pieces and had not yet been connected to by any "Super-Sensory Link".

Xiang Kun's original idea was to carve twelve miniature cartoon versions of the Chinese zodiac, but once he got into the mood, his first wood carving was not a rat as planned, but a grinning little yellow man. So, it was only natural that he carved twelve little yellow men with different characteristics and expressions.

When he finished carving, he found it was just getting light and was a little surprised. He picked up his phone and saw that it was already past 6 a. m. on November 2nd.

He sculpted for over 26 hours straight!

However, with twelve wood carvings, averaging one to two hours each, it's quite normal.

Although these wood carvings are small, they are quite exquisite. Moreover, Xiang Kun made them entirely by hand, not using an electric grinder, which makes them more difficult and physically demanding—of course, this is not a problem for Xiang Kun.

If these twelve small wooden carvings are intended to be decorative pieces, they are still quite far from being finished products and require further refinement and polishing, which will also take a lot of time.

But for Xiang Kun, these weren't works to be given away, but merely tools for application and experimentation, so there was no need for such trouble. Because he felt a sense of exhilaration after sculpting each one, he was about 80% certain that he had successfully "Emotional Injection" into these little minions and established a special connection with them.

Once they drink the blood again, they can take it with them to conduct experiments.

Xiang Kun stretched and realized he had been sitting for far too long. If this were an ordinary person, he would probably have developed hemorrhoids just sitting there, not to mention eating, drinking, and relieving himself.

If it weren't already broad daylight, he would have liked to run up the mountain a few times to vent his frustration.