What a Shame

Yesterday morning, Xiang Kun suddenly asked Xia Libing about her dreams and pressed her for details, making her realize that Xiang Kun seemed to have begun to touch on her secrets through some means.

Therefore, she also planned to adopt a more direct strategy to observe and even test Xiang Kun.

The conversation in the car was a concrete example of this strategy being implemented.

Judging from Xiang Kun's reaction, her speculation about his itinerary last night should be correct.

But Xiang Kun didn't react with any panic or tension, nor did she offer any rebuttal or explanation. When she made her speculations, her reaction was more one of surprise and astonishment.

There are two possibilities.

One possibility is that although her deduction is correct in the right direction, due to limited information, the results she draws are also limited, and she is still far from "discovering" the secret that Xiang Kun "hides," so she is not worried;

One reason is that Xiang Kun felt it didn't matter even if she "discovered" his "hidden" secrets.

In comparison, she felt the first possibility was more likely.

What exactly did Xiang Kun do last night?

Or to put it another way, what did he do those nights in Tongshi Town? -- Xia Libing now has reason to believe that when she saw him buying breakfast early in the morning a few days ago, he wasn't going for a run, but rather he hadn't returned home all night and had gone out to "take care of business."

What's so important that you have to do it alone in the middle of the night?

Judging from this, they might be heading into the mountains?

He can't possibly be starving during the day and then sneak out into the mountains at night to "hunt" and have a special meal, can he?

Or perhaps it's related to the tourist fall from the cliff at Wushu Mountain Scenic Area on the day she arrived in Tongshi Town. Did he go to investigate this "accident" for several nights in a row? Does he have a penchant for investigating all sorts of cases? Considering that he had previously caught a wanted criminal on the street, this possibility cannot be ruled out.

Xia Libing shook her head. She didn't know enough information to make a definite judgment. She could look up some news about Wushu Mountain's accident later.

Her attention returned to the piece of paper in her hand, pondering the meaning of the patterns on it.

Just then, a little girl who looked to be about kindergarten age exclaimed, "Big sister is so amazing..."

Xia Libing glanced at her and noticed that she was watching her left hand, which was rapidly flipping Coin.

The little girl, accompanied by her parents, quickly pulled her aside, saying, "Don't bother your sister." Then she smiled apologetically at Xia Libing.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Libing stopped flipping the Coin in her hand and smiled at her and the little girl. Of course, this smile looked much more natural than the "smile" she had given to the college student who had struck up a conversation with her a few days earlier when she had just left the station.

The little girl glanced back at her mother, then at Xia Libing, and whispered to her mother, "Sister is so pretty, and her drawings are beautiful too."

Xia Libing naturally heard this as well. She didn't care about the first part of the little girl's praise, but she became interested in the second part and said to her, "Are you talking about this painting?" As she spoke, she unfolded the Black Circle Graffiti that Xiang Kun drawn in front of her.

The little girl looked at her and nodded. "Yes!"

Xia Libing asked, "What do you think is beautiful?"

The little girl's parents couldn't help but find it strange, feeling that this beautiful girl with a special aura seemed to think differently from ordinary people.

Most girls, when praised by a child, whether for their looks or their drawing, would simply say thank you and that would be it. Why would she ask, "What's so pretty about it?" And judging from her expression, she was genuinely asking that question, not just responding to the child.

The little girl looked at the paper very seriously and said, "It's beautiful, like water."

Water? Xia Libing was taken aback for a moment, then realized that the little girl was probably referring to the ripples on water. The black circles on the paper did indeed resemble ripples on water in certain parts.

Just then, a little boy across the aisle from them got up from his seat and came over, saying, "This looks like bugs! Lots of big bugs! And it looks like a beard!"

"It doesn't look like one! It's not a bug!" The little girl turned and glared at the little boy; clearly, they knew each other.

The little boy grinned and said, "It's a bug, a big earthworm, a big bug, a whole bunch of them!"

No! It's not!

Xia Libing stopped paying attention to the two children's "debate," placed the paper on the black leather notebook on her lap, and continued her previous thoughts.

However, what the two children had just said gave her some other thoughts:

The black circles and curves on this paper, though seemingly possessing a strange regularity and beauty, were certainly not drawn randomly. However, finding a corresponding meaning in reality for these abstract patterns composed of simple lines and shapes is extremely difficult. They could represent many things, or they could represent nothing at all. Even if she did find some pattern in these lines and deduce some expression, it might not actually be the same as what Xiang Kun intended when he drew them.

She thought of the calligraphy of song lyrics that Xiang Kun had given her before. These gifts from Xiang Kun were definitely not just "gifts." They were fundamentally different from the wood carvings he gave to Nana and her cousin. There must have been some reason and purpose behind them.

Previously, when studying the calligraphy, she started with the song itself, but quickly realized that it probably had little to do with the song. Otherwise, there would have been no need to write the lyrics in calligraphy on such rough paper and send it over; she could have just sent the song via WeChat.

So she turned her attention to the characters themselves, even analyzing them stroke by stroke, but she still didn't get enough useful information.

However, while practicing flipping Coin with Nana and Yang Zhen'er, she unexpectedly discovered something— the Coin Xiang Kun gave to Nana seemed a little different from ordinary Coin.

She had borrowed the Coin from Nana before and examined and compared it carefully. On the surface, it looked no different from an ordinary Coin in terms of appearance, weight, and material.

But as soon as you try flipping the Coin with that Coin, you can immediately feel the difference. It is noticeably more "sticky" and more "finger-responsive," making the movements easier and more natural, with a lower error rate.

Even without turning it over, just holding the Coin in her hand feels more comfortable and better than holding a regular Coin, as if it has become one with her palm.

At first, she thought it was just some kind of illusion or psychological suggestion, but after carefully experiencing it a few times, she found that it was an objective phenomenon.

Especially after experiencing the Coin she Xiang Kun for before getting off the bus, she became even more certain of her guess— the Coin Xiang Kun "gave," whether it was the one he gave her or the one Tang Baona gave her, were quite different from ordinary Coin.

Thinking of the Coin that "Little Apple" received from Xiang Kun, and the skill with which "Little Apple" flipped the Coin, Xia Libing felt that Xiang Kun might have some kind of equipment that could perform some kind of "processing" on these seemingly ordinary Coin that was not visible to the naked eye, giving them certain characteristics that ordinary Coin did not have.

This characteristic gives her a better feel for handling these Coin.

However, she asked Nana and Yang Zhen'er, and they said that the so-called "Lucky Coin" that Xiang Kun gave them was not significantly different from other Coin. It couldn't be flipped with ordinary Coin, and it just as clumsily bounced with the "Lucky Coin."

Therefore, that kind of characteristic should only be enhanced, not bestowed. It's like how excellent basketball shoes can make someone who can already dunk perform better and more consistently, but they can't make someone who can't even touch the rim able to dunk immediately after wearing them.

Xia Libing guessed that the action of "flipping the Coin" was actually a simple method of "testing" these special Coin.

It's very possible that the Little Chubby Girl who used to live next door to Xiang Kun in the video I saw earlier was able to flip the Coin so skillfully and with that unique technique because the Coin was a gift from Xiang Kun.

If that's the case, then what was Xiang Kun's reason for doing this?

How exactly do these Coin acquire these properties?

Xia Libing then wondered if the "Black Circle Graffiti" that Xiang Kun gave her, and the calligraphy she received last time, were actually the same kind of thing as those Coin?

Although they may seem unrelated in terms of material and type, they might actually share certain characteristics?

Therefore, it wasn't that Xiang Kun wanted to convey some kind of message to her through the calligraphy and Black Circle Graffiti, but rather that the two pieces of "paper" themselves were what Xiang Kun wanted to convey.

Xia Libing brought her hands together, sandwiched the paper with black circles and arcs between them, pressed her palms together tightly, and carefully felt its texture.

Well, it's not much different; it doesn't have that feeling of some kind of connection to my hand that I had with the Coin Xiang Kun gave me.

She then placed the paper on her right middle and index fingers and tried to spin it like she would a book or a mouse pad—she used to be quite skilled at spinning books.

But it still failed; the paper was too light and had too little inertia to spin. During the spinning process, I also didn't feel anything special.

Xia Libing simply covered her face with the paper again and then blew air upwards...

The little girl's mother, sitting beside her, noticed out of the corner of her Xia Libing making various strange and childish movements towards the paper, further confirming her earlier judgment.

This girl is really pretty, but her thought process is truly unique.

What a pity...

After Xiang Kun dropped Lao Xia off at the train station and drove back to the hotel, everyone had just gotten up. At this time, most people gathered in his and Zi Cheng's room to have breakfast.

Not only was there the breakfast he had brought back earlier, but there was also the breakfast that You Meng and Liang Yulong had just brought.

Seeing him walk in, Yang Zhen'er asked curiously, "Chef Xiang, you were sleepwalking when you were climbing the mountain yesterday, so why are you going for a run so early this morning?"

"I didn't go for a run; I went to do what you didn't do," Xiang Kun said seriously.

Yang Zhen'er took a bite of the crepe You Meng had just brought and mumbled, "What didn't I do? What did I do?"

Tang Baona, who was next to her, suddenly snapped out of her daze and slapped her forehead, "That's right! Lao Xia!"

"Lao Xia? When we came over just now, we passed by her room and knocked on the door a few times, but there was no response. She must still be sleeping..." Yang Zhen'er asked curiously.

"Lao Xia's train is this morning! We agreed last night that you would see her off! You even brought the keys to that Corolla..." Tang Baona said helplessly.

Yang Zhen'er was startled, her eyes widened, and then she coughed, almost choking. She instinctively reached for the soy milk, but Tang Baona quickly stopped her, grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the hotel room, opened it, and handed it to her—the soy milk was still very hot.

"Did you just Lao Xia to catch the high-speed train?" Tang Baona asked.

"Yes," Xiang Kun said with a smile, "But Lao Xia wasn't surprised that her cousin forgot to see her off; she was already prepared."

Tang Baona laughed, "I should set an alarm for her."

Yang Zhen'er took a few sips of mineral water to catch her breath, then quickly grabbed her phone and went to call Lao Xia: "Hey? My dear sister..."

After breakfast, they prepared to head to Jianzhou City Airport.

They had originally planned to have You Meng and his wife drive them again, just like before, but unexpectedly, Ji Hang and Xu Kai, the two "drivers" from yesterday, were sent over by Chu Xiuwen again.

Xiang Kun didn't refuse, which saved You Meng and his wife the time and effort of going back and forth to the airport.

"Old Ji, we meet again." After getting into the passenger seat of the MPV, Xiang Kun Ji Hang, who was driving, with a smile.

"Mr. Xiang. Xiang, it's a pleasure to serve you again." Ji Hang greeted him with his usual honest and simple smile.

On the way to the airport this time, Ji Hang did not try to steer Xiang Kun's conversation through various topics in order to find out information about him. Instead, he took the initiative to introduce Xiang Kun's security company and the help Chu Xiuwen had given him.

Upon arriving at the airport, they even left their company's business cards with Xiang Kun, Zhang Qian, Zi Cheng, Tang Baona, and others.

After dropping the person off, Ji Hang and Xu Kai drove two MPVs back to Tongshi Town and back to Chu Xiuwen's big house.

At this moment, Liu Feibao was also there. Seeing the two enter, he immediately asked, "Have you taken Mr. Xiang and the others there?"

"Mr. Xiang and the others have already boarded the plane, and the flight should be activated by now," Ji Hang said. He could see that Liu Feibao breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Yesterday, when Ji Hang volunteered to take Xu Kai to be the driver for that "Mr. Xiang," he originally thought they were going to expose a swindler—judging from Liu Feibao's account, he and his friend must have encountered a swindler or someone who was just bragging.

Of course, he also promised Liu Feibao that even if he saw through "Mr. Xiang's" true nature, he would never confront him on the spot or let the other party know.

But after driving for Xiang Kun and his friends all day yesterday, Ji Hang returned to Chu Xiuwen and Liu Feibao, only to find himself unable to reach a conclusion.

Based on his observations and conversations with Xiang Kun, he concluded that Xiang Kun was definitely not from the same background as them and probably had not received the same kind of training.

But Xiang Kun also gave him a dangerous intuition, a sense of fear that he couldn't directly describe.

This feeling is rare, but past experiences have shown that trusting this intuition has always been the right choice, and has even saved his life.

This intuition is hard to describe; it's like a first reaction without reason, and it often contradicts objective common sense or apparent facts.

To give an analogy, if there were two people in front of you, one was Mike Tyson, a boxing champion in his twenties, and the other was Xiang Kun, and you had to choose one to fight to the death in a bare-handed fight to the death to survive, then rationally speaking, you would 100% or even 1000% choose Xiang Kun.

But his intuition told him to "avoid Xiang Kun".

Moreover, judging from his conversation with Xiang Kun was very "open" about his background and did not make any hints about "I have a powerful background". He only said that he was a freelancer in the Internet and software development industry, which is completely unrelated to the "persona" of "secret figure with official background" mentioned by Liu Feibao.

So when they returned yesterday, they didn't immediately answer Liu Feibao and Chu Xiuwen's questions or immediately state their judgment about Xiang Kun. Instead, they first carefully inquired about the events following the car accident between Liu Feibao and Xiang Kun.

So Liu Feibao concealed Qi Haoguo's name and identity, and briefly explained the situation after their car rear-ended Xiang Kun's car.

But he neither mentioned Qi Haoguo's explanation nor the "admonition" he received when he inquired about Xiang Kun from Qin Dong. So after listening, Ji Hang was even more confused and couldn't understand it at all.

According to Liu Feibao, Xiang Kun simply stated, "Either pay 3,000 yuan for car repairs and settle privately, or call the traffic police and insurance company to handle it." He didn't show anything strange, nor did he mention any background or connections to intimidate them. You can't say that just because the other party said they would call the police, they have official connections, right?

Is it simply because the "big boss" in Liu Feibao's car showed fear towards Xiang Kun?

Now, Ji Hang didn't know how to explain his judgment to Liu Feibao and Chu Xiuwen.

In the end, all I could say was, "Mr. Xiang seems like a good person, but I can't see anything else about him for now."

These ambiguous words were naturally understood by Liu Feibao and Chu Xiuwen:

Ji Hang couldn't fathom Xiang Kun's background and strength.

Therefore, Liu Feibao and Chu Xiuwen became even more convinced of their previous guesses, even though these guesses still did not have a clear conclusion.

But in any case, they reached a consensus:

Looking back at Xiang Kun, Liu Caifu, and You Meng's project in Tongshi Town, they will help if they can, and if they have the opportunity to participate, they will try to do so.

So today, he simply had Ji Hang take Xiang Kun and the others to the airport again, as a way of showing goodwill and also to give Ji Hang more time to observe Xiang Kun.

But the result was the same as yesterday:

"Mr. Xiang... is quite easy to talk to."