You're Xiang Kun, Right?

Within minutes, Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er had already taken the elevator up.

Xiang Kun opened the door and welcomed them in. Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er were both taken aback when they saw the room – the living room was filled with multiple computer mainframes and peripherals, and various power cords were tangled together and spread all over the floor, looking quite messy, which was in stark contrast to the empty and clean living room they had seen before.

"I'm sorry, my room is too small, there's no room for all my things, so I dragged them all to the living room. I've been busy with this project lately, so I often forget to reply to WeChat and I often miss phone calls..." Xiang Kun explained, half-jokingly.

"Chef Xiang, there's practically no room left to put food in your room?" Yang Zhen'er asked, quite surprised, as she carried two bags of breakfast.

Tang Baona turned to look at Xiang Kun: "Have you been too busy these past few days and haven't had much rest? You don't seem to be in a good state."

Even she noticed? Xiang Kun immediately reflected on himself. Although the manic feeling caused by hunger was much less intense during the day compared to the night, it still had some effect. When he was deliberately controlling it, strangers might not notice anything unusual, but friends like Tang Baona, who had been in frequent contact with him recently, might still be able to detect the change.

"Yes, we've been working through the night for the past few days," Xiang Kun said readily.

As Yang Zhen'er spoke, she placed the breakfast she had bought on Xiang Kun's computer chair and said, "Alright, then we'll leave the breakfast here. You should finish eating quickly and go back to sleep. We were originally planning to have breakfast with you at your place, but it seems there's nowhere to eat there. Nana and I will just take it to the office to eat."

"Hey? Minions? Carpenter Xiang, you have so many, can you give me one?" Yang Zhen'er, who was about to leave, saw several Minion Wooden Carving in the open room and went over to pick one up with great interest.

"Okay, I'll give you one, and then that's it for your birthday present," Xiang Kun said.

"That won't do! This Minion is obviously just something you made casually! It's poorly made! And it's prickly! No, you have to make me a special one that's similar to Saber from Nana's house!" Yang Zhen'er quickly put the Minion Wooden Carving back.

Tang Baona quickly pulled Yang Zhen'er away, afraid of disturbing Xiang Kun's rest. "Let's go, let's go to work."

As Xiang Kun saw the two off, he said, "I'll take a couple of days to rest and recover. The project is almost finished. How about we come over for dinner the night after tomorrow? I still owe Nana several meals."

"Okay! Then I'll have to trouble Chef Xiang!" Tang Baona said with a smile as she turned to him after entering the elevator.

Yang Zhen'er quickly added, "No fewer than six... um, seven dishes! Not including soup!"

Tang Baona laughed, "You can't finish seven dishes!"

"What about you? You can eat so much... Oh dear! A gentleman uses words, not fists!"

Watching the elevator doors close, Xiang Kun shook his head helplessly. The two of them could be quite funny sometimes.

He didn't leave immediately, but waited for more than ten minutes before going out again. But as soon as he stepped out of the community gate, he sensed something was wrong.

Although he is currently focused on suppressing his hunger, he still subconsciously observes his surroundings when he goes outside.

Then he noticed that outside the convenience store diagonally opposite the gate of the residential area, a tall and strong-looking man was holding a cup of milk tea, drinking it while suspiciously watching them.

Moreover, Xiang Kun noticed that the burly man's expression changed drastically the moment he saw Xiang Kun come out. Was this the guy who had been watching him from the doorway?

Was it that private investigator from before? He got arrested by the police, or received some kind of punishment, and now he's afraid to Xiang Kun anymore, so they sent someone else?

However, Xiang Kun quickly dismissed this assessment, because he could tell that the burly man had absolutely no basic skills or common sense in surveillance or tailing.

Moreover, his overall emotional state also struck Xiang Kun as very strange.

So Xiang Kun walked to the convenience store, went inside and bought a bottle of mineral water from the owner. He then stood at the entrance of the store and took a sip. He noticed that the burly man, who was half a head taller than him, still couldn't help but keep looking at him, so he turned around and smiled and nodded at him.

The burly man immediately looked away, pretending not to care as he glanced to the side. Then he lowered his head and took a sip of his milk tea, but he had clearly finished it all. He had been sucking too hard, so it made a slurping sound.

"Hey bro, you look a bit unfamiliar. Did you just move to this neighborhood? Or are you here to see someone?" Xiang Kun greeted him in a friendly manner.

The burly man hesitated for two seconds before finally turning around and saying, "You're Xiang Kun, right?"

"You know me?" Xiang Kun asked, feigning surprise, though he was secretly relieved. Judging from this, the person clearly didn't have any ill intentions.

"I'm Yang Zhen'er's cousin," the burly man introduced himself.

Xiang Kun was stunned for a moment, his mind instantly conjuring up multiple scenarios: Had Yang Zhen'er's family misunderstood their relationship, or had they heard some rumors and sent them to check on him? Were they trying to dissuade him from his ambitions?

Xiang Kun immediately said, "Ah, hello, hello. Yang Zhen'er just left not long ago. I was working at home until midnight yesterday, and they called me but I didn't answer. They thought I might have died from illness, so I stopped by to check on things before going to work this morning." He paused, then asked knowingly, "You just happened to be passing by?"

"I'm here to see you," the burly cousin said earnestly to Xiang Kun.

Xiang Kun said, "Um... you must have misunderstood something. Yang Zhen'er and I are just ordinary friends. I'm a good cook, so they often come over for meals together, and occasionally play cards together. Tang Baona, as well as Tang Baona's sister and brother-in-law, also often come over."

The burly cousin shook his head. "There's no misunderstanding, it's not Yang Zhen'er."

"That is...?" Xiang Kun was completely confused, but judging from the other party's various physical reactions, eyes, and facial micro-expressions, there was indeed no hostility towards him, but he seemed to be in a somewhat depressed mood.

"It's Nana, Tang Baona." The burly cousin took a deep breath and said, "I like Tang Baona." He quickly added, "It's just one-sided. We've only met a few times. When she comes to my house, she's always with my cousin."

Xiang Kun blinked, unsure how to respond. Although he and Tang Baona were indeed just friends, they had met through a blind date, and he couldn't completely sever ties. Besides, Tang Baona was Yang Zhen'er's cousin, and he needed to explain things about Yang Zhen'er to her, but Tang Baona had nothing to do with him.

"So... what brings you here?" Xiang Kun was a little confused about Yang Zhen'er's cousin's intentions. If he was here to cause trouble because he was a love rival, he didn't feel any hostility. Although this guy was taller and stronger than Xiang Kun, he didn't show any aggression.

The burly cousin seemed to have opened up, his voice low as he said, "I met Nana two years ago... Tang Baona and my cousin came to our house to play. I liked her then. But my cousin told me she didn't like someone like me, that she wasn't interested in me. I thought it was because I was a bit chubby back then, so I've been dieting for the past two years. Since she's never had a boyfriend, I thought maybe I'd have a chance once I lost weight. But... a few days ago, I heard from people at her company that she's already dating someone named 'Xiang Kun.' And when she was on the phone at work, she directly told the person on the other end, 'You're so handsome.' Based on my understanding of her personality, the fact that she would say something like that in public makes it clear that I have no chance, no matter how thin I get..."

Xiang Kun was stunned. Of course he knew what Tang Baona meant when she said, "Xiang Kun, you're so handsome"—that sentence wasn't spoken by Tang Baona. Instead, Xiang Kun had created a synthesized voice software based on Tang Baona's voice, but forgot to delete the test sentence. As a result, Tang Baona played it out directly through the company computer's speakers when she was testing it.

The voice sounded very similar to Tang Baona's, which probably caused a misunderstanding among the other people in the office.

I never expected that this misunderstanding would spread so far and wide? Even Yang Zhen'er's cousin knows about it?

The burly cousin continued, "So I just want to see what Xiang Kun, the one who made Tang Baona say 'You're so handsome,' actually looks like?"

Xiang Kun didn't ask him how he found his neighborhood; finding that shouldn't be too difficult. He was just puzzled. "But what if I don't go out while you're waiting here?" He had been busy with Director Lin and Zhang Qian's project, and then with his own "AI Assistance Plan," so he had rarely gone out.

"I've thought about visiting you directly, but I feel it would be a bit impolite to come so abruptly. Anyway, I'm leaving the country today, so I'm just stopping by on my way to the airport to try my luck. If I see you, great; if not, oh well." The burly cousin took out a cigarette case and offered Xiang Kun a cigarette, which the latter refused, so he lit one for himself.

"But if you've never seen me before, how did you recognize me just now?" Xiang Kun asked again.

The burly cousin tapped his bald head and laughed, "I heard my sister talk about you. She said you're bald, very strong, and know kung fu. She said one of you could take down four of me."

Xiang Kun laughed, "She's just bragging about me."

My burly cousin laughed and said, "But in this weather, you went out in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt without even breaking a sweat, and you didn't seem to be afraid of the cold at all. It's no exaggeration to say you're physically strong."

Xiang Kun was taken aback, then suddenly realized that the temperature this morning was already below 10℃, and everyone on the street was wearing thick coats, while he was the only one who went out in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.

Xiang Kun knew that if he hadn't been so hungry, he would have checked the outside temperature and estimated what others were wearing before going out to decide what to wear. But today, his attention was focused on suppressing his hunger, and the arrival of Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er had also distracted him, leading to this oversight.

"Because I originally wanted to go for a run," Xiang Kun casually made up a reason.

The burly cousin nodded and said, "Then I won't take up any more of your time. Go for your run, don't catch a cold. I'm relieved to see you today. At least Tang Baona is still that girl with personality and ideas, not the kind of superficial woman who judges handsomeness solely by appearance."

Looking at his burly cousin's sincere face, Xiang Kun didn't know whether to be happy or angry. Then he suddenly remembered that Lao Xia was also Yang Zhen'er's cousin, so he asked, "May I ask what your relationship is with Xia Libing?"

The burly cousin was taken aback for a moment. "You know my Lao Xia?" Then, as if realizing something, he nodded and said, "Yes, Yang the Third must have brought her along. She's my sister, my cousin."

Xiang Kun nodded. "Lao Xia, Nana, Zhen'er, the four of us often play together."

The burly cousin laughed, "You actually get along with my Lao Xia? That's rare, really rare. Let's formally introduce ourselves. I'm Xia Tianhuo." As he spoke, he stubbed out his cigarette and extended his hand to Xiang Kun.

Then the burly Xia Tianhuo got into the Land Cruiser parked by the roadside and drove away.

After watching the car disappear at the intersection, Xiang Kun turned back to his apartment complex to change into normal clothes suitable for the temperature.

He hailed a private van he had worked with before to go to the farm. Xiang Kun began to feel agitated. This agitation was like morning grumpiness; something that was normally normal would inexplicably ignite his emotions now.

What made Xiang Kun anxious in the car was the van driver's talkativeness.

This guy just loves to talk. No matter how Xiang Kun tried to get him to stop, whether gently or directly, it was no use. He would stop for the first two minutes, but then he would start talking nonstop again, as if his mouth couldn't stop once he started driving.

When he called this car before, the driver was also very talkative, but Xiang Kun sometimes responded and sometimes didn't, and didn't really care. If necessary, he could even deliberately ignore the other person's voice and focus his auditory attention on other sounds.

But now, Xiang Kun felt as if the driver's voice was "sticky," constantly drilling into his brain, making him want to tear something apart.

He knew this wasn't the driver's problem; it was his own. Even if the driver stopped and didn't say anything, he might still find the engine noise too loud.

In previous experiments to suppress hunger, Xiang Kun had always been at home, where the environment was familiar and controllable. This was the first time he had been outside, facing a noisy environment, which made it much more difficult than when he was at home.

Xiang Kun kept clenching his fists, then releasing them, then clenching them again. His manic emotions gave him a constant urge to tear something apart. He started listening intently to the tire noise of the car and other sounds outside in order to distract himself.

He is now worried not only about losing control and committing some violent act, but also about unknowingly using "Emotional Assimilation" or "Mental Intimidation" to affect the driver or other people on the road.

Xiang Kun began to sense the objects with which he had established an "Emotional Injection" connection, trying to distract himself with the emotions of other people.

The Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving was empty because it was placed in his cabinet.

I tried to sense the calligraphy of "Memorial to the Throne on the Eve of the Northern Expedition," but there was no feedback. I guess my parents aren't home, or they haven't been in contact with the calligraphy.

I tried to connect with the lyrics of "Someone Like Me," but there was no real response...

Just as Xiang Kun was about to sense the Minions and the three-piece wooden carving set at Little Apple's place, he suddenly had a thought and began to sense the lyrics he had placed at Xia Libing's place again.

Upon closer inspection, he suddenly realized that the calligraphy wasn't unaware of other people's emotions; rather, he had simply overlooked it.

Xiang Kun carefully experienced this emotion, and then tried to apply it to his own current situation, attempting to "transform" that emotion into his own.

Xiang Kun couldn't describe the emotion in detail. It wasn't like emotions such as enthusiasm, sadness, excitement, fear, curiosity, or joy. The emotion came from the lyrics of that song, which was somewhat similar to the feeling he had when he thought of Little Apple. It was a kind of nihilism, and a kind of rationality that was close to indifference.

Xiang Kun's gaze fell on the van driver:

He gripped the steering wheel with his left hand and rested his right hand on the gearshift, muttering to himself, clearly nervous. He was talking to ease his anxiety while driving.

The driver appeared to weigh around 70kg, and normally should have close to 5000ml of blood in his body. Even if only 1/5 of that was released, it would still be enough for this blood-drinking incident.

But I can't do that. If I do, I'll become a murderer, a monster, and be wanted by the police. Even if I'm not caught, I'll become the kind of "monster" that Guo Tianxiang despises. I have reason; I can control my desires; I can choose what kind of blood I want to drink and when I want to drink it.

My heart is beating a little faster than usual, and the cells in my body seem to be more "active" due to hunger, "clamoring" for blood. However, it doesn't have much direct impact on my bodily functions. The biggest effects of hunger are on my emotions and mental state.

The smell inside this van... it must have carried beer, fruit, a pair of shoes, and two pairs of socks yesterday. It stinks.

The two cars that drove by next to me had three-cylinder turbocharged engines; judging from the sound I'd heard before, they were Geely cars.

I just drove over a pothole. Judging from the overall chassis response, the left rear tire pressure is low, and there's a problem with the left front shock absorber; it's probably leaking oil.

Xiang Kun fell into a strange state, his thoughts both chaotic and meticulous.

What he sees, hears, smells, and thinks is completely unrestrained, yet all his thoughts are guided entirely by reason.

He can even detach himself from his own emotions to "observe" them and perceive the subtle changes in various parts of his body when he is anxious.

This extreme state of rationality, which was neither purely emotional nor purely emotional, did not last long. Xiang Kun lost his perception of the other emotions on the calligraphy and also broke away from the state he was trying to transform and empathize with.

He could basically guess that this "emotion-like" state was probably coming from Xia Libing.

But why do I feel this way?

He hadn't fully internalized that emotion, so he hadn't completely "immersed" in it. He was already in a state of indifference and rationality, to the point that he could even "observe" his own original emotions. One can only imagine what Xia Libing's original "emotions" must have been like.

However, after this "unexpected" sensation, Xiang Kun successfully controlled his anxious emotions and was no longer almost triggered by external influences.

After buying the rabbit blood and returning home, Xiang Kun drank the blood and then started timing himself to go to sleep.

We'll have to wait until Xia Libing wakes up to investigate the connection between her and the calligraphy.

Thanks to the new deacons "Qiead", "Banjin, Baliang", and thanks to book friends Qianzi, Wang Baitang, z Lichen, I am a talent. qdcn, Chixiaxue, Xiaoshifang for their rewards.