Where's My Crab?

Xiang Kun rang the doorbell for a long time at Tang Baona's house, but it was Yang Zhuo who opened the door.

Upon seeing Xiang Kun, Yang Zhuo immediately gave him a thumbs up and blurted out, "Brother Xiang, you're awesome!"

Upon seeing the Bluetooth earphones on his ears and hearing the voice inside, Xiang Kun knew he was playing the sound story game he had developed, and he also knew what Xiang Kun meant by "awesome".

Entering the living room, besides Yang Zhuo, Yang Zhuo's girlfriend Xiao Min, Yang Zhuo's sister Yang Jie, Zhang Qian and Chang Bin were also there, and Wang Han, Tang Baoting, Gao Yao, who were off work, were also on their way.

As for the host Tang Baona, and the permanent resident, Yang Zhen'er, they were busy in the kitchen, with various sounds coming from time to time. Everyone else in the living room was wearing headphones and focused on the game. Few people even heard Xiang Kun ringing the doorbell for a long time, so they naturally didn't notice the sounds coming from the kitchen.

However, Xiang Kun could already hear the noise from the kitchen when he was outside the door, and he found it both funny and exasperating.

"Is this salt or sugar?" That was Yang Zhen'er's voice.

"My dear sister! This is MSG!" Tang Baona's voice was somewhat helpless.

"Nana, how do we kill this fish?" Yang Zhen'er's voice was a little timid.

"Didn't we prepare a video beforehand? Just follow the instructions in the video." Tang Baona's voice sounded weak.

"I've seen it, but the video only shows how to process the fish meat, not how to kill the fish."

"Then let's search again, search for 'how to kill fish'."

"Nana, this doesn't taste right. Is it burnt?"

"How could it be blurry? I followed the video... wait, it really is blurry... quick, quick, turn off the heat, quick!"

"Nana, are you sure this is MSG?"

"Hmm, how could I possibly get this wrong... Uh, okay, this really is salt. Wait, how come salt granules look like this? It shouldn't be like this!"

"Nana, since you're sure it's salt, why did you add it again? Didn't you already add it just now?"

"Did I let it go? Oh dear, I'm so confused..."

"Are we going to be too late? We haven't even prepared all the vegetables yet. Oh dear, I should have just bought pre-prepared ingredients. It's all Chef Xiang's fault. Every time we go grocery shopping with him, he always buys fresh, live produce. I'm used to it."

"Stop talking and get to work. Oh, and what about the crabs? Don't let them suffocate; I remember dead crabs don't taste good."

"Let me see... wait, these crabs... the number is wrong! It looks like one escaped? Where did it go? Oh dear, Nana, I told you crabs are hard to handle, don't buy them..."

"You said you'd handle the seafood, so how about we switch and you handle the vegetables and meat?"

"The Chef Xiang make cooking so effortlessly and easily, so why is it such a mess when we try? There are far fewer dishes today than at Christmas last time."

"That's why you call him 'chef'! Sigh, let's just order takeout, otherwise we might not even finish cooking by nine o'clock."

Even if it's prepared well, it might not be edible...

"Didn't you say you wanted to do it yourself?"

"Oh, my bad, my bad! But what are we going to do with all this food?" Yang Zhen'er's voice sounded troubled.

"Let's put the unprocessed parts in the fridge for now. Let's work on the recipe and make it next time. We were in too much of a rush this time. Or... let Chef Xiang make it next time." Tang Baona's voice sounded somewhat helpless.

"What about those that are already half-processed?"

"Let Chef Xiang make some late-night snacks later."

"This fish... can't be put in the refrigerator, is it still alive? Should we keep it in the basin? Sigh, should we buy some fish food for it? Otherwise it'll starve and become stale..." Yang Zhen'er said hesitantly, then seemed to remember something and suddenly said, "Wait, the crab, we haven't found the crab yet! Nana, don't cook yet, find the crab first..."

Xiang Kun couldn't hold back any longer; he was about to die laughing. Since everyone in the living room was playing games with headphones on and no one had time to pay attention to him, he decided to go check on the kitchen.

As soon as they pushed open the kitchen door, they found everything bustling about, but everything was in a mess. Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er were startled by Xiang Kun's sudden appearance, and then their expressions turned as if they had seen a savior.

"Chef Xiang, you've come at the perfect time! Quick, quick, help us find the crabs! We don't know where they've gone!" Yang Zhen'er said anxiously, squatting on the ground.

Xiang Kun naturally knew where the crabs were. Whether by smell or sound, he could instantly pinpoint the location of the escaped crabs.

Xiang Kun moved the refrigerator in the kitchen, then caught the crab that had escaped to the corner, cleaned it, and placed it neatly with its companion.

"I'll take care of it, you guys just go outside and wait." Xiang Kun directly requested to take over the kitchen.

Tang Baona said somewhat embarrassedly, "This isn't right... We agreed before that we'd cook tonight, and you could just wait and eat."

Today is February 10th. Xiang Kun has been back from Citong for almost two weeks, and has completed a total of three blood-drinking sessions. He woke up most recently at noon today.

During this period, he had several meals with Lao Xia, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen'er and others, and naturally he was in charge of cooking each time—after all, there was still a lot of rabbit meat to process.

Besides the meals, the most important activity at these gatherings was naturally playing the voice-based game that Xiang Kun had created. Of course, even without these gatherings, Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er played it every day; they were quite addicted to the game.

However, the games they played during this period were not the same version. In just over ten days, Xiang Kun had provided Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er with six versions of the game—all of which were iterative upgrades and improvements made by Alice based on the data they collected during their gameplay and the improvement directions proposed by Xiang Kun.

Each upgrade brought a significant improvement to the user experience, so Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er both assumed that Xiang Kun had been busy perfecting the game lately.

Although Xiang Kun hadn't specifically mentioned it beforehand, Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er didn't reveal the game Xiang Kun made to too many people. Even when they invited Tang Baona's sister Bao Ting and her fiancé Gao Yao to play together, they first consulted Xiang Kun and got his consent.

Today is the first time so many people have gathered together to demonstrate this game and play it with so many others.

Besides the people in the living room, and Wang Han, Gao Yao, and others who are still on their way, after dinner, they will also connect with Liu Caifu and You Meng from Tongshi Town, as well as Zicheng who is staying at home.

This could be considered the first official product presentation to the "investors." Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er, who had already resigned and were preparing to join Xiang Kun Future Company, naturally took it very seriously. During this period, they played the game far more often and for far longer Xiang Kun. Alice learned about the problems that might be encountered in the game and the game experience from their actual experience. Xiang Kun's overall control of the game's direction was also largely based on the information they provided. To some extent, they also deserve a lot of credit for the game becoming what it is today.

Yang Zhen'er originally wanted to borrow a villa or rent a hotel's multi-functional banquet hall to arrange tonight's "investor experience meeting," but Tang Baona still felt that the so-called "investors" were actually just friends she knew. Xiang Kun himself hadn't even registered his company yet, so there was no need for such a formality. It would be fine for everyone to get together at her house.

The two women then suggested preparing dinner themselves and cooking for everyone, saying it would create a more friendly atmosphere for the gathering, and they wouldn't let Xiang Kun cook—because he was the star of the show that night.

And then... well, that's how things are now.

Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er knew that it would be difficult for them to clean up the mess in the kitchen by themselves. Ordering food at the last minute would be troublesome and would also make them lose face.

So, although Tang Baona felt a little embarrassed, she still took off her apron and then, together with Yang Zhen'er, tied it on Xiang Kun.

"By the way, Chef Xiang, why did Lao Xia leave so suddenly tonight when everyone was having a get-together? When I called her this afternoon, she was already at the airport, and she didn't even offer to let me see her off. When I asked her if it was something to do at the hospital, she said no. If it wasn't something to do at the hospital, what else could she have to rush to Citong for?" Yang Zhen'er didn't leave the kitchen immediately, but asked curiously, "Haven't she been helping you with things lately? Do you know what's going on? If that game becomes a hit, she'll be one of the biggest contributors, right?"

Xiang Kun knew why Lao Xia was going back tonight. It was because he had ended his dormant period at noon today, and Lao Xia had come back with him this time, collecting data from his three blood-drinking dormant periods. Next, she needed more equipment and tools for testing, so she went directly to Citong City to register a company, contact some relevant equipment manufacturers, and customize equipment. Afterward, she would go directly to Tongshi Town to find Liu Caifu to discuss the details of establishing a laboratory in Chongyun Village.

After his first blood-drinking slumber upon returning, Lao Xia and he relived the experience of the night of July 11th last year, even visiting the food stall and the rented house to observe them in person. In the following days, they made another trip to the habitat of the mutated "Giant Owl," taking Lao Xia there for a day to observe the traces left by the "Giant Owl" and to see its nest cave.

Originally, according to the plan, they were to go to Yang City again to look for any traces that Guo Tianxiang might have left behind. Although Xiang Kun did not know how far the police investigation into Guo Tianxiang's case had progressed, judging from the timeline, they should no longer be keeping a close eye on those places. If they did not find that the police or others were watching those places, he and Lao Xia should have a chance to go and "investigate" them in person to help him "anchor" some scenes in Guo Tianxiang's memory.

After that, as planned, once Xiang Kun completes one blood-drinking period, they will make another trip to the Qinling Uninhabited Zone to see the place where Xiang Kun fought the "mutated spider" and the "mutated spider's" cave.

By examining these examples, we can identify the causes and commonalities of these "Mutated Creature '" mutations, and in turn, analyze the reasons for Xiang Kun's mutation.

However, after returning from the habitat of the "Giant Owl," Lao Xia canceled the subsequent plans because she felt that the "basic cognitive information" about the mutation that she and Xiang Kun had obtained was too little, so it would be difficult to quickly obtain enough information simply from the memory fragments or habitats of other "Mutated Creature"—unless the memory fragments obtained by Xiang Kun directly contained content related to the causes of their mutations.

Therefore, Lao Xia decided to first organize and analyze the known information about these "Mutated Creature," including some of their memory fragments and information related to their habitats.

However, Xiang Kun had already organized this information, or rather, he had entered it into the database while Alice organized it. This information was ready for Lao Xia to use, greatly reducing her workload.

For the past ten days or so, Lao Xia has spent most of his time working for Xiang Kun. Since Xiang Kun doesn't need to sleep except during his blood-drinking period, the bed is usually not needed. However, when Xiang Kun needs the bed during his blood-drinking slumber, Lao Xia has to stay up all night to watch over him.

Lao Xia was completely absorbed in his research on Xiang Kun's mutation. Apart from eating, drinking, defecating, and sleeping, he devoted almost all his time to it. He was either searching for the cause and root of Xiang Kun's mutation, or experimenting with Xiang Kun's various abilities and the various abilities she gained through "Super-Linked Object," and trying to further "develop" these abilities to establish a more comprehensive system that was closer to Xiang Kun's true abilities.

When Yang Zhen'er had dinner with Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er for the first time after returning, she was surprised to find that Lao Xia had obvious dark circles under his eyes. You know, whether it was the middle school entrance exam, the college entrance exam, or the postgraduate entrance exam, Lao Xia had always been relaxed and never had dark circles under his eyes from staying up all night.

Following the story he'd agreed upon with Xiang Kun, Lao Xia claimed he'd been helping Xiang Kun with various tasks lately. Yang Zhen'er naturally assumed he was helping Xiang Kun develop games, which explained why Xiang Kun updated his games so quickly with new versions and added features. As for why Lao Xia, a medical student, could help Xiang Kun, she didn't ask too much—in her view, her eccentric cousin learned everything quickly, so it was only natural that she'd show some talent in programming.

Regarding Yang Zhen'er's question, Xiang Kun chose to tell the truth, "Didn't I mention before that I wanted to build Research Base related to aquaculture in Chongyun Village? Lao Xia knows more about this than I do. She went there first to help me with the arrangements, purchasing and customizing some equipment, and also discussing with Director Liu how to plan the land use and find a design company. We've almost finished dealing with things here. After finalizing the intentions with General Manager Zhang and the others, and once the funding is in place and the framework is built, I will also go to Tongshi Town and Chongyun Village. The 'Youlong Restaurant' should be ready to open for business soon."

Yang Zhen'er was a little confused. "Chef Xiang, with so many things to do at once, can you manage?"

"We're too busy," Xiang Kun said with a smile, "That's why we need your help."

Tang Baona hesitated for a moment, then said, "Are Zhen'er and I really okay with this? Neither of us are professionals..."

Xiang Kun's hands moved swiftly, cleaning up the mess in the kitchen while quickly preparing the ingredients. He said to them, "Two weeks ago, I would have just told you to do your best. It's a startup, after all, there's nothing to be afraid of. Besides, we have General Manager Zhang, Zicheng, and Chang Bin, right? They're all seasoned veterans. But now, I know you two can definitely do it. This 'product' was originally made possible by the two of you, so go for it with confidence!"

With Xiang Kun taking over, dinner was successfully prepared, but the meal was served much later than expected, with dishes not being served until 7:30 pm.

Fortunately, everyone in the living room was engrossed in the game, all wearing headphones and displaying various expressions. They were completely oblivious to their hunger, only occasionally taking a bite of the snacks on the table. Even Tang Baoting, Gao Yao, Wang Han, and others, who had just gotten off work and hadn't been able to join the game, were huddled together, listening to the others play the game with great enjoyment.

Even after the game ended, the group was still discussing what they had just played. Yang Zhuo criticized his sister for being too cunning, and Zhang Qian complained that Xiao Min was too soft-hearted.