Chu Xiaoting's Assessment
Xiang Kun and Lao Xia arrived at the "Youlong Restaurant" and went to their usual private room, Zi Cheng and Chu Xiaoting were already there.
Chu Xiaoting's features weren't particularly delicate or beautiful, but together they gave her an overall air of grandeur. She was quite tall, only slightly shorter than Lao Xia, standing at just over 1.7 meters. Her skin was relatively dark, her makeup was heavier, and her style leaned towards a Western look, making her appear at first glance like a mixed-race person.
In total, she only spent about half a year more abroad than Zicheng, but she seemed to be much more deeply influenced by Western culture than Zicheng.
Overall, though, she gives a good impression; she's a very warm and straightforward girl.
When they entered the private room, Zicheng and Chu Xiaoting were huddled together looking at the restaurant's newly updated menu, discussing it in hushed tones, their heads almost touching.
Seeing their state, Xiang Kun immediately understood that the relationship between the two must have made rapid progress in the past two days. Based on his understanding of Zi Cheng, they had at least progressed to the point of embracing, otherwise they wouldn't be so natural.
Xiang Kun glanced at Lao Xia; he knew Lao Xia must have figured it out too.
However, neither of them made any special gestures. They greeted Zicheng and Chu Xiaoting as before, and then sat down to chat.
Xiang Kun had only been in the private room for a few minutes when You Meng, disregarding the fact that it was the busiest time of day with the most customers and orders, personally carried a freshly prepared dish upstairs and into the private room. Upon seeing Xiang Kun, he chuckled and said, "Hey, Xiang Kexing's here? I heard that the reward for providing clues to the police is given to people from Chongyun Village. Could it really be you?"
"It wasn't me." Xiang Kun shook his head with a wry smile. Before leaving yesterday afternoon, he told You Meng that if the two fugitives really went to Chongyun Village, he would change his name to "Xiang Kexing" (meaning "Xiang the Nemesis"). Unexpectedly, his words came true. The two fugitives really went to Chongyun Village and even stole the Liu brothers' clothes.
This self-proclaimed goal is enough to earn him a nickname.
You Meng came up to greet them, made a few jokes, and then hurriedly went downstairs back to the kitchen, leaving Zi Cheng and Chu Xiaoting completely bewildered.
So Xiang Kun repeated what he had told You Meng yesterday to them, and told them about what had happened in Chongyun Village last night—all of which he had heard from Liu Caifu during their phone call earlier that day.
Zicheng and Chu Xiaoting had naturally seen the news today and were very interested. So Xiang Kun took the lead in the conversation. After the dishes were served, Xiang Kun slowly steered the topic back to Zicheng and Chu Xiaoting, making them chat enthusiastically.
Based on what they said and their behavior, Xiang Kun further deduced that they got along quite well and had a good understanding of each other, and that they might soon end their ambiguous period and establish a relationship.
In particular, he noticed that when Zicheng was with Chu Xiaoting, his overall state, heartbeat, breathing, and a series of physiological reactions were basically the same as usual.
This state was completely different from the nervousness, excitement, and uncontrollable state he used to have when he met girls he liked. It was also a big change compared to when he first met Chu Xiaoting a few days ago, proving that he was now very relaxed when he was with Chu Xiaoting.
This made Xiang Kun even more optimistic about their relationship, because Zi Cheng's current state meant either he had absolutely no feelings for Chu Xiaoting, or the two had gotten along very well these past few days. Judging from their interactions, it was clearly the latter. Moreover, in a relaxed state, Zi Cheng's mind was more agile, his intelligence was at its peak, his reactions were faster, and he could communicate with Chu Xiaoting better and better showcase his charm.
The meal lasted until after 8 p. m., Xiang Kun and Xia Libing left first.
However, they did not return directly to Chongyun Village, but instead drove towards Wushu Mountain.
Their target was a villa area near Wushu Mountain, where Mi Qiao, Zhou Rui, and the other members of the "Shenxing Technology" investigation team lived. Tonight, Xiang Kun was going to place another "Black Circle Graffiti" that was related to Lao Xia and could enter Dream Within a Dream in Zhou Rui's sleeping place, so as to ensure that he could guide his dream through the Dream Within a Dream tonight.
Although Xiang Kun had already placed a "Black Circle Graffiti" next to Mi Qiao in the "Shenxing Technology" team, this "Black Circle Graffiti" was mainly used to trigger Mi Qiao's dreams because it was closest to Mi Qiao.
If the goal is simply to understand the current state of their team's investigation and to exert some influence on them through Mi Qiao, then that "Black Circle Graffiti" is sufficient.
However, after last night's "lightning strike on the fugitive" incident, it can be expected that "Shenxing Technology" will definitely conduct a related investigation, and it is highly likely that Zhou Rui, Mi Qiao and others who are nearby will conduct the investigation. He then had a plan to guide their investigation, but this influence should start with Zhou Rui - because he is the most suitable target.
Xiang Kun naturally wouldn't drive the car into the villa area, or even onto the same road. He turned the car at an intersection and headed towards the scenic area. He then stopped the car in a relatively secluded spot by the roadside, leaving Lao Xia to wait in the car while he took a shortcut and ran towards the villa.
Before this blood-drinking period, Xiang Kun drew more than a dozen 5x5cm square Black Circle Graffiti to "release" when needed. Folding them up would make them more concealed and less likely to be discovered.
Although the villa where Mi Qiao and his group lived had many security facilities and surveillance cameras, it wasn't impossible for Xiang Kun to break in if he really wanted to.
However, to be on the safe side, he came up with a new method, which was to use the ant colony he had newly controlled, especially the large worker ant "Zero Zero One".
It led several other flying worker ants produced by "Zero Zero Two" into the villa, carrying the "Black Circle Graffiti," and quietly placed it under Zhou Rui's bed.
Xiang Kun could only command the worker ants produced by Queen "Zero Zero Two" to do very simple things, because they couldn't understand anything too complex. But relatively speaking, "Zero Zero One," who had a direct connection with him, could understand much more information.
Visual information is too complex for "Zero Zero One" to understand accurately; it cannot be directly told, "Take that piece of paper to the bed in the third room on the second floor and hide it in a crack."
However, Xiang Kun can use scent to guide "Zero Zero One" to follow its trail based on comprehensible "information," while the other "flying worker ants" can act as followers, closely following "Zero Zero One."
Xiang Kun hid beside the villa, using sound and smell to pinpoint the location of everyone inside. He also used his "Hyper-Sensory State" to confirm the angles of all the surveillance cameras, located the exhaust vent in Zhou Rui's bathroom, and sent "Zero Zero One" and six "flying worker ants" to carry the "Black Circle Graffiti" inside.
The entire process took nearly three minutes. Xiang Kun successfully had the Ant Team drop the "Black Circle Graffiti" under Zhou Rui's bed and then successfully withdrew. Because Zhou Rui, Mi Qiao, and Gao Shu were all on the first floor at this time, the Ant Team's operation went very smoothly.
Watching the ants fly out of the exhaust vent, then, under his "command," deliberately change direction to avoid the angle of the surveillance cameras outside the villa, landing on the back of his hand—one large and six small ants— Xiang Kun nodded in satisfaction, a thought involuntarily popping into his mind:
Is there a way to extend these ants to have a function like "Emotion-Infused Object"? That way, if we want to deploy nodes within Dream Within a Dream, we can just send out an army of flying ants, which would be flexible and simple.
However, after a brief moment of thought, he realized that this was actually the same problem he faced when he wanted Gold Glitter to directly access the "Emotion-Infused Object" ability.
Inside a private room on the second floor of the "Youlong Restaurant" on the pedestrian street.
After Xiang Kun and Lao Xia left, Zi Cheng and Chu Xiaoting did not follow them. Instead, they stayed in the private room, eating fruit and chatting.
"What exactly is the relationship between 'Lao Xia' and 'Bald Brother'? It always feels like they don't even need to say a word. They just look at each other and know what the other is thinking. Even though they haven't said anything, it's like they're conveying so much..." Chu Xiaoting asked curiously.
"No way, you're just making that up. You think a simple glance means they're communicating a lot? Do you think they're connected on a telepathic network?" Zicheng said with a laugh. "As for Lao Xia and A Tu's relationship... for now, they're probably just friends. I don't know about the future. A Tu said that 'Lao Xia' has been helping him set up a research base for aquaculture and biology in Chongyun Village, so he's been staying here."
"I still prefer Nana. She sings really well and makes a lot of interesting videos. Zhen'er also very funny and has a great sense of humor. Lao Xia always seems cold and a bit eerie, like he's always spying on everyone. I don't really like Zhang Qian either. She's too aloof, like she thinks everyone else is on a different level from her, and she always speaks with an ulterior motive." Chu Xiaoting said to herself while eating.
Zi Cheng stroked his chin and said, "I think it's best not to jump to conclusions since you haven't met Lao Xia and Xiang Kun many times, or even with other people. Besides, you're not that close to Xiang Kun, so don't call him 'Baldy.' I've known him for over ten years, and he can call me 'Fatty,' so I can call him 'Baldy,' no problem. But you're not that close to him yet."
Chu Xiaoting wasn't annoyed or upset by Zicheng's somewhat "educational" words. Instead, she thought for a moment and said, "What you said makes sense, but I'm only telling you this in private. In front of them, I still call her Xiang Kun. Sigh... calling her 'Lao Xia' shouldn't be a problem, right? It feels a bit strange when you all call her Lao Xia and I call her Ms. Xia. Calling her Sister Xia also feels a bit awkward."
"Hmm, calling him 'Lao Xia' should be fine." Zicheng nodded.
Chu Xiaoting continued, "As for you saying we shouldn't jump to conclusions... I'm just discussing this with you, aren't I? I don't know enough about them, but you do, so you can discuss it with me! I don't believe you and Xiang Kun, or the other guys, wouldn't gossip about other girls or friends in private? You used to be roommates, you must have often discussed which girls in school were prettier late at night! You didn't know those girls well back then, did you?"
Zi Cheng scratched his chin, looked at the ceiling of the private room, thought for a moment, and said somewhat awkwardly, "Thinking about it carefully... it seems... we really haven't talked much."