Paper Airplanes, Magicians, and Angry Apples

At 6:58 a. m., before her phone alarm went off, Mi Qiao opened her eyes and sat up in bed.

For a tech-savvy woman who has been immersed in technology for years, working day and night is a habit; she used to often be awake at this time of day.

Watching the sunrise before bed and the sunset after waking up is a normal part of her life.

But things are different now. Now she follows the company's work hours every day, which is quite regular, even though she's not really considered an employee of the company.

After washing up and changing her clothes in the master bedroom's bathroom, she grabbed her laptop bag, left the room, and departed with her Assistant Gao was already "ready to go."

When they were almost at their destination, Assistant Gao parked the car on the side of the road and went to a breakfast shop to buy breakfast.

Although Assistant Gao had previously said that breakfast could be bought in advance every morning, Mi Qiao heard several researchers mention on her first day at the lab that the breakfast shop near the company was quite good. So she asked Assistant Gao to stop by that breakfast shop on her way to the company in the morning.

While Assistant Gao was queuing to buy breakfast, Mi Qiao took out her softcover notebook from her bag, took out a piece of paper tucked inside, and squinted as she looked at it.

This piece of paper was clearly taken from a B5 notebook. It was covered with a dense collection of circles and lines of various sizes and curvatures drawn in black ballpoint pen, and it was also full of creases, indicating that it had been folded into complex shapes before.

A few mornings ago, she accidentally discovered a paper airplane on the balcony.

Her first reaction was that the nearby residents were inconsiderate, throwing paper airplanes around randomly. She originally wanted to pick one up and throw it in the trash can, but after picking it up, she was attracted by the way the paper airplane was folded.

This was the first time she had seen this kind of folding. It was very intricate, but it didn't seem to be just intricate for the sake of appearance. The paper airplane still had a very good aerodynamic structure. Several complex folds seemed to be designed for counterweight, which gave it a unique "industrial aesthetic".

She took it to her room and "test-flew" it, finding that it flew very smoothly. So, she decided to expand the search for paper airplanes to people on the 12th floor and above of the surrounding buildings.

So Mi Qiao didn't throw the paper airplane away immediately. Instead, she took it apart to study how it was folded. She didn't find anything strange about the paper airplane; she just saw a new and nice way of folding it and instinctively wanted to learn it—even though she didn't actually have any particular interest in folding paper airplanes.

Normally, once you learn how to fold it, you just throw the paper away.

But after unfolding the paper, Mi Qiao discovered a bunch of random circles and curves scribbled on it. At first glance, it looked like someone had doodled haphazardly, as if testing the ink flow of a ballpoint pen. But upon closer inspection, these circles and curves didn't seem like random scribbles; they possessed a strange... aesthetic appeal?

She tried to imitate the same types of circles and arcs on other pieces of paper, and found these patterns increasingly difficult.

So she pondered this for a while, and casually tucked the paper into a softcover notebook. Over the past few days, she'd taken it out and looked at it a couple of times, wondering what the patterns represented.

However, despite having many guesses, she still didn't have a reliable answer. Of course, the most likely possibility in her guesses was that these patterns were just doodles drawn by someone, and the person who drew them didn't even know what they were drawing.

After buying breakfast, Assistant Gao got into the car and handed the bag to Mi Qiao in the back seat. He glanced at the piece of paper with strange drawings in her hand, and although he was a little curious, he didn't ask a single question. He knew very well what his job was, and only doing what was within his responsibilities and limiting his curiosity were principles he had known since he started this high-paying job.

After receiving breakfast, Mi Qiao put the paper back into her softcover notebook and casually asked, "Assistant Gao, is there any way I can check the information of other residents in our neighborhood?" Actually, she could find it herself, but she had promised "Mr. Liang" that she would not engage in any activities beyond the permitted limits online without his permission.

Upon hearing her words, Assistant Gao nodded. "Understood, I'll take care of it." She didn't ask her why she needed to investigate this information.

Star City.

Liu Shiling hasn't been playing with Coin as frequently at kindergarten these past few days. Partly, her teachers have mentioned this to her mother, hoping she can play with Coin less or not at all. There's been a "Coin craze" at the kindergarten lately, with almost every child carrying a one-yuan Coin, and you often see children playing with them. However, not every child has Liu Shiling's Coin -Coin handling skills. Most children can't even hold Coin steady on the back of their hand, let alone flip it with their fingers. So, you often see children bending over to pick up Coin, and you hear the crisp sound of Coin hitting the ground. There are also frequent arguments and conflicts among children because they can't tell which Coin is theirs.

On the other hand, Liu Shiling herself found another way to play with Coin besides flipping Coin.

She discovered that she could now control the two "magic Coin" that the bald uncle had given her, making them stick tightly to her body.

For example, if you place Coin in your palm and then turn your hand down, the Coin can "stick" to your palm and not fall off. Sometimes, when she's in a good state, she can even suck the Coin onto her palm from a distance of 2 or 3 centimeters.

Because her bald uncle had told her to keep her "magic" a secret, she could only play with it when no one was paying attention to her, and she wouldn't show it off in front of others.

Moreover, when she played with Coin in this way, she would occasionally cause some strange phenomena, such as the lights in the activity room showing slight alternating bright and dim changes, static noise from the classroom speakers, and some interference with the projector screen.

So when she was in kindergarten, she didn't play with Coin this way much, and practiced more often in bed at night. Of course, she didn't know how frustrated Shiling's Mother was when she was playing games on her phone in the next room, seeing the 460ms network latency.

Besides the Coin, Liu Shiling also had a new connection with the "magic A4 paper" that was already covered in creases.

She now has a vague feeling that sometimes, it's as if there's a thread connecting her to that magic paper.

So when she folded the magic paper into a paper airplane and threw it, she could subtly control the airplane's direction and flight trajectory in the air.

The paper airplane could originally only fly 10 meters, but under her control, it might fly 18 or even 20 meters. The original flight direction was to the right and forward, but under her control, it might become straight ahead.

Moreover, she vaguely discovered that there seemed to be some inexplicable connection between her and the ordinary origami she had folded, as if a finer thread was connecting her to those origami pieces.

But perhaps these "threads" were too thin and weak; no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make any real difference to the origami.

However, this discovery still greatly interested Liu Shiling, who felt that she had developed a new "magical realm".

If I can master this new magic before I see Uncle Baldy again, I'm sure I can surprise him.

So, even though she was sitting in her seat, her gaze was fixed on a double-headed paper crane on the desk of a classmate not far away. She only knew that she had folded it, but she couldn't remember exactly when she had folded it. In any case, she could vaguely feel the "thread" between herself and the paper crane.

Liu Shiling slowly narrowed her eyes, concentrating her mind, thinking about making the paper crane move, move, slowly move, even just a tiny bit.

But after staring at it for a long time, until her vision became blurry and her eyes even started to glaze over, and she felt like crying, the double-headed paper crane didn't move an inch.

Just as she was about to give up and rub her eyes, the paper crane suddenly left the table and flew straight towards her.

Liu Shiling was taken aback for a moment, and then she heard a somewhat timid voice say, "Liu Shiling, I traded this paper crane with Xiao Xue for a doll. If you don't agree, I'll give it back to her."

She then noticed that two little fingers were gently pinching the double-headed paper crane, as if afraid of touching too many parts and breaking it. The owner of those two little fingers was a pretty little girl standing by her table with a nervous expression.

Liu Shiling knew that she was one of the most popular children in their class. Not only was she cute and pretty, but she was also very good at singing and dancing, and could even sing in English. Moreover, she always had new clothes and new toys, and all the children loved to play with her.

Of course, that was in the past.

Right now, Liu Shiling is definitely the most popular, but she doesn't really care about that. Her sights are already set on the vast universe of the "magical world," and she wants to work hard to improve herself so that she can have the ability to help Uncle Baldy as soon as possible. Then, perhaps she can hunt those monsters with Uncle Baldy.

The other children, on the other hand, are the people she needs to protect.

Well, the bald uncle uses a bow and arrow, and she uses magic, just like an elf archer and a human magician in an animated film.

While Liu Shiling was daydreaming about herself wearing a bright red, gold-trimmed magic robe and battling monsters, she said to the pretty little girl at the table, "What I give her is hers, and what she gives you is yours. I have no objection."

The pretty little girl breathed a sigh of relief, revealing a bright smile with two adorable dimples on her cheeks, "Thank you! Liu Shiling!" Then she took the double-headed paper crane back to her seat, as if the paper crane wasn't something she had traded for an expensive Barbie doll, but rather a gift from Liu Shiling.

Watching the girl's retreating figure, Liu Shiling was slightly taken aback, sniffed, and sighed inwardly:

She has such a beautiful smile!

Luckily, I know magic.

In "Little Apple's" room, besides "Little Apple" sitting quietly at her desk "reading" a Braille book, there is also a boy of about ten years old "secretly" teasing Gold Glitter in the birdcage.

"Don't touch it with your fingers. 'Gold Glitter' is usually timid, but if you provoke it, it will peck you," Little Apple said helplessly.

"I didn't," the little boy said, staring at her with wide eyes.

Little Apple didn't say anything, continuing to read the Braille book by touching it with her fingers, but in reality, she was perceiving her surroundings through "Object-Sensing." Now, this perception method is providing more and more feedback, making her increasingly adept at using it.

This little boy is the son of her father's cousin, so he's also her cousin. He came to visit today with his brother and mother.

His older brother is taking the college entrance exam next year and seems interested in applying to the university and major where Li Yang teaches, so he came to visit relatives, wish them a Happy New Year in advance, and also to "inquire" about some things.

His brother, mother, and Little Apple's father are chatting in the living room, while he runs to Little Apple's room to see "Gold Glitter."

Li Yang had a good impression of the boy in the past; he was a very well-behaved and obedient little boy who was always very polite whenever they met. She had also heard good things about him from his mother, so she felt that it would be fine to let him play with her daughter.

But clearly, the little boy wasn't as well-behaved as he appeared in front of others. After being told off by Little Apple, he still reached out to tease "Gold Glitter" in the birdcage, and even tried to pluck its feathers.

"Don't touch it!" Little Apple spoke again, this time with a hint of sternness in her tone.

After the boy withdrew his hand, he stared wide-eyed at the Little Apple: "I didn't touch it! I was sitting here looking at my phone, I didn't move it at all!"

Don't lie.

"I'm not lying, you can't see it, so why do you say I touched it?" As he said this, he deliberately reached into the cage to touch Gold Glitter, but this time Gold Glitter didn't dodge. Instead, it turned around and pecked at his hand, almost hitting it.

Little Apple got up, walked straight over, picked up the Gold Glitter birdcage, and placed it beside her. The whole movement was very quick, and there was no sign of any visual impairment.

The little boy was also stunned for a moment, and subconsciously waved his hand in front of the Little Apple.

Little Apple had no experience dealing with this kind of unruly child. She frowned slightly, but still didn't say anything.

The little boy stopped touching the Gold Glitter. His eyes darted around Little Apple's room and he saw the CPU Wooden Carving on the table. Curious, he reached out to pick it up.

"Don't touch that," Little Apple said helplessly, then took the CPU Wooden Carving back and put it in the drawer.

The little boy stared at her wide-eyed. "You're not blind, are you?"

Little Apple ignored him.

The little boy said thoughtfully, "I know, you pretended to be blind so you wouldn't go to school!"

Little Apple sighed helplessly, but still didn't say anything.

"Let me see that piece of wood you just showed it to, or I'll tell my uncle that you're not actually blind!" The little boy thought he had caught his cousin red-handed.

Little Apple gripped the Minion Wooden Carving tightly in her right hand, which was tucked into her coat pocket. She suppressed her emotions, wishing only that time would pass quickly so her cousin would leave. She didn't want to involve her father, even though she knew he would side with her. She didn't want to risk damaging his reputation by getting into a fight with a relative over such a small matter.

However, the little boy did not give up because of her silence. Instead, he kept staring at her while secretly reaching out to open the drawer where the CPU Wooden Carving was kept.

Through her "Object-Sensing," Little Apple naturally detected this action, and she became extremely angry.

At that moment, an idea popped into her mind, and the next instant, within Little Apple's cognitive realm, an "eight-armed, eight-eyed monster" seemed to be summoned, breaking free from the cell that imprisoned it, and appeared beside her, its head resting on the ceiling, looking down at the little boy.

Little Apple looked up at the little boy who was less than a meter away from her, her expression indifferent, her eyes even colder, as if dark clouds were gathering and thunder was brewing.

Although she still couldn't actually see anything, her eyes accurately locked onto the little boy's eyes, and they made eye contact for a moment.

The little boy paused, his expression somewhat blank.

In her mind, just before she was about to give "commands" to the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster" that had appeared beside her, Little Apple suddenly remembered some things Xiang Kun had said to her, and her father's earnest teachings to her in the past. Her anger slowly subsided, and the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster" disappeared instantly from her perception as if it had never existed.

The little boy snapped out of his daze, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and looked blankly at Little Apple, who was sitting upright "reading a book," feeling inexplicably uneasy.

"Do you like listening to crosstalk? Let me tell you a crosstalk performance." Little Apple's voice softened.

The little boy didn't know how to answer, so he nodded blankly.

Then Little Apple began to vividly recount a crosstalk performance she had heard in the past, a new-era crosstalk with mathematics as its theme. At the same time, in her perception, thirteen little yellow men were gathered around her, seemingly helping her perform the crosstalk, running around the room.

Not long ago, under Xiang Kun's deliberate guidance, Little Apple finally established a deep connection with the other twelve Minion Wooden Carving in Xiang Kun through the Minion Wooden Carving in her hand, under that special sensory state.

Just like when she first sensed the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving," she felt she was sensing a Many-Armed Monster. When she sensed the twelve Minion Wooden Carving, she sensed twelve incredibly happy Minions.

She knew that Xiang Kun had made Minion Wooden Carving, so this perception made Little Apple realize that the reason she was able to perceive these various "monsters" that seemed to not exist in their world or dimension in that special state of perception was probably because of Xiang Kun.

Xiang Kun is very likely the gateway between those monsters and this world, and also the source of her special sensory abilities.

After having this thought and idea, she found that she could no longer just sense those "monsters," but those "monsters" could even respond to her "summons" and come to her side, although it would not last very long, and she needed to maintain a high level of attention throughout the process.

In just over five minutes, Little Apple's short crosstalk performance made her little cousin laugh dozens of times, completely immersing him in the atmosphere she created.

However, the laughter also attracted Li Yang's attention in the living room. He knew that his daughter didn't really like interacting with people she wasn't very familiar with. Although the person was a relative, they hadn't visited often, so she wasn't very familiar with them. So, feeling that they had chatted enough, he subtly mentioned that he had to go to a meeting at the school later. The cousin and his wife then tactfully got up to say goodbye.

After calling her youngest son out, his mother asked curiously, "What were you talking about with your older sister Xiao Jun? You were laughing so happily!"

Before the little boy could answer, Little Apple, who had gotten up with her cane and seemed about to see him off, interrupted with a smile, "I was telling you some interesting stories about math. My little brother is really interested in math and has a real talent for it. Auntie, you could enroll him in an Olympiad math class during winter break and buy him lots of reference books. We definitely shouldn't let him waste this talent!"

"I... I didn't..." The little boy was stunned. He opened his mouth to refute, but didn't know how to do so.

His mother, on the other hand, was very pleased to hear this and nodded in agreement repeatedly.

"He might lose heart after the initial excitement, Auntie and Uncle Jiu, as the parents, you must help him stay confident. We absolutely cannot let him give up halfway and regret it later, blaming you and yourselves for wasting his talent." Little Apple was still earnestly saying this as the family of three left.

Professor Li Yang casually remarked, "I know a math Olympiad class that's quite good there, with several nationally renowned teachers. I'll send you their phone numbers later."

"Don't worry, Third Brother, Xiao Jun, I definitely won't let this kid slack off, and I won't let you down," the mother, who Jackie Chan, replied gratefully.

Behind her, the older boy was glancing sideways at his younger brother, who had a blank expression, suppressing a gloating smile.