Happy Birthday (Part 3)

After Xia Libing stepped out of the courtyard, she stopped and looked around. There was no one, no living being, and no unusual phenomena.

My phone vibrated again, displaying a notification message: "Take a few steps forward."

Xia Libing did as she was told and took a few steps, standing directly at the edge of the road outside the door.

Chongyun Village is not flat. They are located on high ground. After stepping out of the courtyard and standing on the other side of the road, they can see most of the village below. They can see the newly built village road stretching out from a distance, empty and deserted under the bright streetlights on both sides.

Suddenly, the village streetlights began to go out from their doorsteps, sweeping outwards like a black tide.

Soon, the entire village was plunged into darkness again, with only the lights in each household remaining on.

However, the streetlights in Chongyun Village had only been installed recently, and the villagers were already used to not having streetlights. Since most of them were at home at this time, they didn't pay much attention and no one came out to check.

After most of the streetlights in the village went out, a point of white light slowly rose from the ground at the village entrance in the distance. It exploded in mid-air, making a very soft crackling sound. The flashes of light decorated the night sky and formed a huge cartoon cat face pattern.

Then, one after another, points of light rose into the air and exploded.

Each time it explodes, the pattern is different, but it's either a cartoon cat, a chicken leg, a cake, or even a one-yuan Coin – a style typical of Little Chubby Girl.

It's normal that the villagers didn't notice the streetlights were off, but what's strange is that these successive fireworks displays that filled the entire night sky didn't attract anyone to come out and watch. Even the courtyard behind Xia Libing was completely silent.

Xia Libing had anticipated this situation; from the moment the first firework went off, she realized:

This was not real fireworks, nor even a widespread illusion; it was a visual transmission from Alice directed solely at her. Before the fireworks exploded, Alice had already established a sensory connection through the pair of "Emotion-Infused Object" chopsticks she had left on the table and the new wristband she was wearing.

In other words, this fireworks show was an "illusion" that only she could see, a special performance prepared by Alice for her.

The source of this fireworks show was actually Lao Xia's new wristband. In addition to being able to carry a large number of "Super-Linked Object", this wristband was also a "Emotion-Infused Object".

The emotion that inspired the creation of this wristband was the joyful feeling that Xiang Kun the Little Chubby Girl, which he experienced while watching the fireworks of the Lantern Festival in Star City.

Lao Xia himself does not possess such emotions, so even if this "Emotion-Infused Object" is aroused, he cannot directly resonate with or perceive it.

Alice made the connection through the pair of "Emotion-Infused Object" chopsticks that Lao Xia could resonate with—within Chongyun Village, due to the presence of a large number of "Super-Linked Object" in the surrounding area, the influence range of "Emotion-Infused Object could be greatly increased, and the entire village area became Alice's operating platform.

However, even after the connection was transferred, Lao Xia could only see the illusion of emotions projected onto the wristband, but he couldn't directly feel the emotions.

After the fireworks show ended, Xia Libing turned around and looked at Alice standing by the courtyard wall.

At that moment, all the cameras in Chongyun Village that could capture the surrounding area froze, pausing their operation.

Alice, dressed in a white princess dress, gave Xia Libing a bright and cheerful smile and said, "Happy birthday, Lao Xia, thank you."

Alice's figure then disappeared, but her radiant smile remained etched in Xia Libing's mind.

Alice, existing in her childhood form, now possessed a smile she had never had as a child.

She knew that Alice's smile stemmed from the joyful emotion emanating from the "Emotion-Infused Object" on her wristband, a genuine feeling from the depths of her "heart," and a sincere expression of her emotions.

Alice, who came into being from nothing and is less than a year old, already possesses a rich capacity for emotional perception and has such a joyful smile. What about her?

Xia Libing understood the meaning of Alice's "thank you". One of the main reasons why Alice was able to integrate into the "Super-Sensing Item System" so quickly was her "Dream Within a Dream" ability. Whether it was communicating with the Little Chubby Girl or connecting with Little Apple, it all started with "Dream Within a Dream". Not to mention, if she wanted to cross the digital world and appear in reality, the most core ability was "Fantasy Manifestation".

And she also knew what Alice had given her as a "birthday present."

Because she couldn't understand "extrasensory information" like Alice and Xiang Kun, the illusion of the fireworks show that was unique to her, and that radiant smile from the bottom of her heart, were Alice showing her the emotions on the wristband little by little in a way that she could understand, helping her to understand to some extent the steps and ways in which these emotions had an effect.

This gift was probably given after Alice and Xiang Kun discussed it; they certainly knew what she wanted.

Xia Libing turned and walked back to the courtyard. She paused slightly at the far gate and softly said "Thank you" to the spot where Alice had just appeared.

The next second, her phone vibrated. Xia Libing picked it up and saw a panda making a heart shape with its hands— Alice's reply had clearly been heavily influenced by her.

Crossing the courtyard and returning to the living room, Xia Libing found the living room dimly lit, as if the lights had been turned off.

She knew it wasn't a power outage or Alice's doing, because the lights in the yard and on the second floor were still on, and she could vaguely hear Yang Zhen'er trying to suppress her laughter.

Sure enough, as soon as she entered the living room, the lights were turned back on, and then two people on either side of the door opened confetti cannons above her head, showering her with a shower of glitter.

She could have easily dodged it, but after coming in, she changed her mind and didn't dodge, letting many glitter particles fall onto her hair and shoulders.

Happy birthday, Lao Xia /Bing Jie/Lao Mei/Li Bing/Xiao Xia!

A group of people all used different titles to wish Lao Xia well.

Just as Xia Libing was hesitating whether to make a mock smile to fit the atmosphere, Xiang Kun and Tang Baona had already set out the cake with candles, and then Yang Zhen'er turned off the living room lights.

Then the candles on the cake were quickly lit, and everyone invited her over to make a wish.

Although she wasn't quite used to the situation, Xia Libing still cooperated by standing in front of the cake and pretending to make a wish.

But since it's already my birthday and I've already made a wish, let's make a proper one, since we're already here.

So Xia Libing imitated how others made birthday wishes, closing her eyes and silently praying. "Please, please, let's finish building the lab by the end of the year, figure out the cause of Xiang Kun's mutation, find a way to perceive emotions, understand the deep-seated influence of the 'Super-Sensing Item System,' and figure out the situation of 'Shenxing Technology' and other 'Mutated Creature'..."

"Lao Xia?" Seeing Xia Libing standing motionless in front of the cake with his eyes half-closed for almost a minute, Yang Zhen'er couldn't help but call out, "You're not asleep, are you?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Lao Xia blew out all the candles with a "whoosh!"

Just as the candle was blown out and the light was not yet turned on, Xia Libing felt a gust of wind rush towards her face.

She instinctively wanted to raise her hand to block it, but immediately realized what was hitting her face. A thought flashed through her mind, and she neither blocked nor dodged. She narrowed her eyes and let the thing hit her face.

So, the moment the living room lights were turned on, everyone saw Yang Zhen'er with a dollop of cream in her hand, slapping it squarely onto Lao Xia's face.

Even Yang Zhen'er herself was stunned for a moment; clearly, she hadn't expected to succeed in her sneak attack.

But the next moment, an even bigger blob of cream slapped onto her face, and Lao Xia retaliated quite naturally.

Seeing the two cousins covered in cream, especially Lao Xia was usually so calm, looking so comical, everyone burst into laughter.

However, Xia Tianhuo, who had just opened his mouth and hadn't even chuckled twice, suddenly stopped laughing and let out a miserable "ow!" because Lao Xia had grabbed a clump of cream and slapped it onto his face, with most of it ending up in his mouth.

Next, Xiang Kun also got slapped in the face by Lao Xia; of course, he deliberately didn't dodge.

Tang Baona realized something was wrong and quickly hid behind Little Apple, but was pulled back by her teammate Yang Zhen'er. Then, Xiang Kun, grinning maliciously, smeared cake all over her face.

Seeing the mess of cake, the others knew they couldn't eat it, so they took the opportunity to start a cream fight—in fact, having just finished an incredibly lavish dinner, no one could really eat the cake.

Zi Cheng tried to ambush Xiang Kun, but was instead slapped in the face by his girlfriend Chu Xiaoting.

Even Little Apple, with her mischievous nature, moved next to the cake, secretly smeared some cream on her hand, and then smeared it on Professor Li Yang's face.

"Hahahaha! Oops! It's stuck in my hair! Uh, it's in my nose..." Yang Zhen'er wiped the cream off her face and kept laughing.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't use my clothes to wipe it!" Tang Baona, who was wiping cream off her face, was happily kneading a dollop of cream to attack Lao Xia when she suddenly noticed Yang Zhen'er grabbing her undershirt and bringing her face closer. Startled, she quickly pushed Yang Zhen'er's face away.

"Wait, wait, Lao Xia, don't wipe it yet! Everyone, don't wipe it yet, let's take a picture first, let's take a picture first!" After shamelessly wiping the cream around her eyes on the hem of Nana's cardigan, Yang Zhen'er didn't go to the bathroom to clean herself up. She also stopped Xiang Kun giving Lao Xia a wet towel. She hurriedly ran to get her phone to record Lao Xia's rare embarrassing moment and to take a "tragic group photo" for everyone.

However, just as she got her phone back, she noticed a video call request on Lao Xia's phone, which was also on the table. Seeing the name of the person making the request, she immediately picked it up, answered, and handed it to Lao Xia: "Lao Xia, Lao Xia, it's your aunt!"

Yang Zhen'er's aunt is naturally Lao Xia's mother.

After the video camera stabilized, Xia Libing's mother on the other end was stunned for two seconds before she realized that the girl with cream all over her face was her daughter.

"Xiao Bing... are you... with your cousin?" Xia's mother asked somewhat uncertainly. She had indeed never seen her daughter in this state before.

Yang Zhen'er leaned closer to the camera and greeted Xia's mother, "Hello, Auntie! We're celebrating my cousin's birthday! Nana and Big Guy Xia Tianhuo are here too!"

"Okay, thank you, Zhen'er," Xia's mother said with a smile.

Then, when Xia Libing took the towel handed to her by someone next to her and wiped the cream off her face, with a smile that hadn't yet faded, Xia's mother was stunned.

It wasn't that she hadn't seen her daughter smile. In fact, after receiving treatment from Dr. Li when she was young, her daughter began to actively try and imitate all sorts of smiles. However, she and her husband always felt a little uncomfortable and awkward about her daughter's obviously imitated and faked smiles, and preferred her to be more natural and expressionless.

But the smile that lingers in her eyes, mouth, and cheeks now is distinctly different; it's a genuine, heartfelt, and joyful smile that you can clearly feel.

So, before Xia Libing could even say a word, Xia's mother's eyes were already brimming with tears.

Seeing her mother's reaction, Xia Libing was slightly taken aback and realized her own reaction. She subconsciously turned to look at Xiang Kun, who was holding a towel beside her. He smiled and nodded slightly at her.

Xia Libing immediately realized that Xiang Kun's "Emotional Assimilation" had worked during their playful moments, and she had successfully experienced joyful emotions as well.

This feeling was similar to the happy feeling she had when she and Xiang Kun watched various funny videos together, but there were also some differences. Even she, who was always good at using data to summarize and generalize, couldn't accurately describe the differences. Looking back now, it was like running around in the sweltering heat, sweating profusely and parched, and then drinking a bottle of ice-cold beverage—so refreshing. It was also like being starving for days and finally getting a feast of crispy pork knuckles to eat to her heart's content.

In fact, when she returned to the living room after receiving Alice's "gift" from outside, she already had some vague plans. Clearly, although she hadn't given any prior notice, Xiang Kun accurately grasped her intentions and successfully completed the "Emotional Assimilation" in a very cooperative manner.

Not only her, but everyone in the living room was affected, including Professor Li Yang. The pile of cake on Little Apple's face was his "masterpiece".

Of course, there is also an element of luck involved in the successful "Emotional Assimilation." After all, Xiang Kun must have genuinely felt happy and experienced such strong emotions in order to achieve "Emotional Assimilation."

Xiang Kun took towels and told everyone to go to the restrooms on the second and third floors in batches to clean up the cake. Those who got slapped badly could take a shower and change their clothes while they were there.

This also gives Lao Xia and her mother some space.

Xia Libing took her phone to the courtyard and talked to her mother across the street, as well as her father who had just come over and sat with her mother, about her birthday that evening.

She talked about which friends came to celebrate her birthday, what gifts they gave her, and what she ate for dinner. Although her speaking speed was as unhurried as usual, and her tone and expression were also very calm, Xia's mother and father both noticed something different.

The couple had initially been worried that their daughter, who had suddenly stopped working at the hospital and was no longer under her aunt's care, might become more withdrawn in the countryside. But now it seems that after working with that bald programmer who was said to be a great cook, their daughter has undergone a very positive change.

After ending her video chat with her parents, Xia Libing didn't immediately go back inside. Instead, she continued to sit in the yard, squinting at the night sky.

Having just received Alice's "gift" and gained a preliminary understanding of the emotional projection influence pattern of Xiang Kun's Emotional Injection into the wristband, she immediately received the same type of "Emotional Assimilation," which gave her a more complete experience and understanding of the mechanism of this emotion.

She wants to take advantage of this feeling and summarize as much as possible a methodology or model that she can apply to herself.