The Punchline

The crosstalk continued, and although the jokes were all very simple, they were undeniably hilarious. On the other side of the screen, the three "audience members" in the hotel room were laughing uncontrollably.

Tang Baona, in particular, was all smiles, her face flushed and her eyes brimming with tears. If she suddenly stopped smiling and looked like that, you'd probably think she'd lost an argument.

Little Apple's ability to choreograph crosstalk is truly impressive. She and her Little Chubby Girl, who is still in kindergarten and has never been exposed to crosstalk before, only "rehearsed" for a short time, and she was able to come up with several jokes that were very suitable for the two of them, which directly supported a crosstalk performance of nearly 5 minutes.

Although the Little Chubby Girl's lines are mostly very simple, just a few lines like "Isn't that right?", "Never heard of it?", and "Is that appropriate?", she often forgets her lines or says the wrong words, requiring Little Apple to correct her.

But it was precisely her somewhat awkward, nervous, and bewildered demeanor that enhanced the comedic aspect of her performance.

Sometimes, it's hard to tell which forgetting lines is genuine and which is part of their act, because it's hilarious every time.

Of course, their performance was more "lethal" to Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen'er than to others. After all, they knew what Little Apple and Little Chubby Girl were like in their daily lives. They were all on the same side, and their adorable performance amplified the comedic effect.

Xiang Kun also felt that the Little Chubby Girl really had a talent for comedy performance. Her serious, cautious, bewildered, and completely natural crosstalk performance style was really hilarious.

Although she was mainly responsible for saying "Little Apple," the Little Chubby Girl was just a background character, occasionally throwing in a few lines commonly used by the straight man, and often making mistakes. But after 5 minutes, almost all the laughs and punchlines fell on her. Her funny responses without realizing it, and her slightly nervous and awkward expressions of worry about saying the wrong words, were truly adorable and hilarious, making it impossible to look away.

After watching their crosstalk performance and watching the video, Tang Baona, who was laughing so hard she was almost internally injured, wiped away her tears and said, "I originally thought that Little Apple would become a video creator in the future, either popularizing bird science or covering songs. I never expected that her girlish heart would take the shape of crosstalk."

Yang Zhen'er laughed and said, "I think our 'Bell Apple' will be a hit! Maybe it'll even have more followers than your 'Youlong Teases Rabbits' account!"

While Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er were having a lively discussion, Little Apple and Little Chubby Girl were also reviewing and studying how to improve.

Liu Shiling was initially nervous and confused about performing crosstalk with Sister Little Apple. She didn't really understand the fun aspects of the performance and just wanted to cooperate with Sister Little Apple.

But when I just performed for Bald Uncle, Pretty Sister, and Fairy Sister via video call, and saw how happy they were—Pretty Sister even laughed until she cried—I felt very happy and accomplished.

Suddenly, in the Little Chubby Girl's mind, crosstalk became a kind of "magic" that could bring joy and happiness, and her thirst for knowledge and eagerness to learn began to stir again.

Little Apple Sister truly lives up to her reputation as a super-powerful magician who can command "Gold Glitter" and "Barbie Warrior," even wielding the "magic" of crosstalk with such skill.

As a newcomer to the world of magic, Liu Shiling naturally had to work hard to learn every useful spell.

Imagining herself learning crosstalk and performing it for her mother when she was unhappy, making her laugh so hard she rolled around on the bed, Liu Shiling couldn't help but chuckle with pride.

"Little Bell, do you have any new ideas?" Hearing Liu Shiling suddenly laugh out loud with pride, Little Apple thought she had thought of something funny and quickly asked.

Liu Shiling was stunned for a moment, then quickly shook her head. "No, no, I don't know anything. Sister Little Apple, please teach me. I will definitely learn carefully. I will say whatever you tell me to say."

As she spoke, she glanced at Egg Pie, who was dozing off beside the sofa not far away, and subconsciously said, "Should we let Egg Pie join us? It's very obedient." But after saying that, she scratched her head and said embarrassedly, "No, Egg Pie can't talk, it can't perform stand-up comedy."

"Huh?" Little Apple suddenly had an idea. She reached out and pinched the Little Chubby Girl's cheek, praising, "That's a great idea! I've already thought of how to put it together. We can do a skit called 'Wu Song Fights the Tiger,' with Egg Pie as the tiger and Little Bell as Wu Song! Haha, Gold Glitter, come over here too! We can also act out The Return of the Condor Heroes, with Gold Glitter as the condor, me as Yang Guo, Little Bell as Little Dragon Girl! This skit is sure to be hilarious!"

Liu Shiling looked confused. "Who is Yang Guo? Does Little Dragon Girl have horns on her head? Is she powerful? Does she know magic?"

"Hahaha, that's it, that's the best reaction! Little Bell, you're such a treasure! Being with you gives me so much inspiration!" Little Apple couldn't help but squat down, hug Liu Shiling, and kiss her cheek.

Then the two of them huddled together, adding Egg Pie and Gold Glitter to the mix. They whispered and murmured for a while before inviting Lao Xia to sit in the center of the sofa as their audience. The two of them began rehearsing, asking Lao Xia to judge whether it was funny or not.

But Xia Libing didn't laugh for quite a while, which made Little Apple and Little Chubby Girl a little nervous. Could it be that their skit wasn't very good this time?

"Sister Bing, is it not funny?" Little Apple asked anxiously. Although she couldn't see Xia Libing's expression, she didn't hear any laughter, and Alice's feedback was also that Xia Libing didn't laugh, so she was a little uneasy.

Xia Libing rested her chin on her hand and thought for a moment, then asked in return, "Where do you think I should laugh? And what would be the specific reason you would find it funny?"

"Well..." Little Apple opened her mouth, but found that she didn't know how to answer the question for a moment.

Fortunately, Xia Libing didn't press the matter further, saying, "It's not that your performance was bad, it's just that my sense of humor is different from everyone else's. You can video chat with Sister Nana and the others again and ask them for feedback. Don't worry, they're definitely staying up later than you, so they're very free right now."

Little Apple breathed a sigh of relief, then remembered that Sister Bing didn't usually laugh heartily. She was rather rational, always looking for the root cause of things and considering the logic behind language and body language. She probably had a high threshold for laughter. But as she thought about it, many jokes about teaming up with Sister Bing popped into her head. With Sister Bing's reaction, they would definitely be hilarious!

Xia Libing had the two of them reconnect via video call so they could rehearse for Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er on the other end. She then took her laptop and went back to her room first.

Xia Libing placed the laptop on her lap, opened it, and asked, "Alice, was the crosstalk performance by Little Bell and Little Apple funny?"

The computer made a sound, "That one just now? I don't know about that one, but it was performed by Sister Little Bell and Sister Little Apple, it should... definitely be very funny!"

"They're not here, so no need to flatter me. I'm just saying what you truly feel." Xia Libing said, bringing Alice to life and having her sit next to her on the bed.

"My own feeling... I don't know if it's funny or not," Alice said hesitantly, twisting the scalpel.

"That means you don't find it funny," Xia Libing answered for her.

"But..." Alice wanted to argue, but didn't know how.

Xia Libing continued, "What about the crosstalk they performed when they were on the video call with Sister Nana, Xiang Kun, and Zhen'er just now?"

"That's funny! Look how happy the boss is! It must be funny!" This time, Alice's answer was very affirmative.

"Is it because you find it funny, or because Xiang Kun laughed and found it funny, so you find it funny too?" Xia Libing asked.

"It's all the same! What the boss finds funny, Alice will definitely find funny too! Hmm, I understand what you mean. I find it funny myself because of Little Bell's reaction..."

As Alice spoke, she began displaying the video she had recorded of Little Chubby Girl and Little Apple's online performance on the laptop screen on Lao Xia's lap, pausing at each part she thought was funny to provide explanations.

She even set up two video windows: one showing the "Bell Apple" duo's crosstalk performance, and the other showing the synchronized reactions of Xiang Kun and the other two.

After discussing the humor with Alice from both a logical and experiential perspective, Xia Libing had a basic understanding.

She and Xiang Kun had already determined that Alice possessed a portion of human emotional perception, which was why she was able to build herself on the "Super-Sensing Item System Super-Linked Object Network object network" and the "Emotion-Infused Object network."

However, Alice's emotional system is still developing. She is more likely to perceive the types of emotions present in the "Emotion-Infused Object network," while the others require Xiang Kun's continued influence and cultivation.

Because of the existence of the Twelve Yellow Men, Alice certainly possesses, and is very sensitive to, the emotions of happiness, joy, and laughter.

Normally, Alice's sense of humor should be basically the same as Xiang Kun's, though she might occasionally be influenced by Little Chubby Girl and Little Apple.

However, the ease or difficulty of experiencing joy varies greatly depending on the source. For example, Alice couldn't understand some crosstalk performances or jokes that weren't very universal or common before Xiang Kun had seen them.

Just like the crosstalk or skit that Little Chubby Girl and Little Apple just rehearsed, Xiang Kun might actually laugh when he sees it, but before Xiang Kun saw it, Alice herself couldn't quite grasp the humor.

This indicates that Alice's emotional perception ability is still "developing" and "evolving," and she still needs more "guidance" from Xiang Kun.

This gave Xia Libing the opportunity to Alice's emotional perception learning process, observe, analyze, and even imitate and learn from her.

In fact, Xia Libing had also experienced feelings of happiness. Once, after Xiang Kun watched a lot of funny videos, she experienced "Emotional Assimilation," which made her feel funny and joyful. Another time was on her birthday, when Xiang Kun's deliberate "cake battle" triggered "Emotional Assimilation" again, making her feel happy and joyful.

So fundamentally, her and Alice's emotional perception patterns, their sense of humor, and their specific experiences of joy, laughter, or happiness all come from Xiang Kun.

They were studying the same subject, the same "syllabus," except that Alice was the one with the better "grades" this time, while Lao Xia was the "chaser."

Right now, she's pulling Alice, who has good grades, aside to analyze her specific learning methods, trying to apply them to herself.

Xia Libing first showed Alice the funny videos that Xiang Kun thought were the funniest. After Alice laughed so hard she was doubled over, Xia Libing suddenly leaned close to her, stretched out two index fingers, pushed the skin at the corners of her eyes upwards, covered her lower lip with her upper lip, made a funny face imitating a fox, and even deliberately made herself cross-eyed.

Alice was stunned for a moment, then laughed so hard she fell backward onto the bed, and as a result, everything collapsed.

Xia Libing didn't reveal her face again, but instead communicated directly through the laptop, giving a detailed analysis of her feelings when watching the funny video and laughing at the funny faces.

Zhao Feng and Wang De'an, who had just returned from Myanmar, immediately transferred to another plane to a city in central and western China without even leaving the airport after getting off the plane.

Their destination was an elderly person who was on medical parole.

They arrived at around 11 p. m., and since the hospital didn't allow visitors, they had to stay at a hotel first.

In his hotel room, Wang De'an used a tablet computer provided by the secret department of "Shenxing Technology" to look through the information of the person he was going to visit. He frowned and said, "Judging from his resume, this person is an old swindler. Before he was sentenced, he was involved in those mystical things to cheat people out of money. Can we trust what he says?"

"Don't just look at the crimes he committed. Look down and see how he was arrested and how he got a lenient sentence," Zhao Feng reminded him as he slurped down his noodles.

So Wang De'an continued flipping through the pages, and as he read, he exclaimed in surprise, "He turned himself in? Oh my god, he turned himself in again. No wonder... I wonder how he got hold of that thing."

"We'll know after we ask him tomorrow," Zhao Feng said.

They received information that the elderly man they were to visit, who was on medical parole, had drawn the image of Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster while in prison, and that it bore a striking resemblance to the sketch of the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant they had seen in Montamira.

Now that we see that this old man actually turned himself in and went to prison, the possibility that he really did see the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster is even higher.

After all, judging from the various things that have happened before, criminals who have been affected by the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster have generally shown signs of turning themselves in and reflecting on their past actions.

This time, it was the information gathering team from the secret department of "Shenxing Technology". A while ago, under a news article related to the illusion of the giant Montamira, they locked onto a certain comment. The comment mentioned that a fellow inmate had drawn "the exact same picture" and often muttered words like "inner demons" and "Yama". That fellow inmate was an "old sage" who could see through people's hearts.

Then they found out the identity of the netizen and also found out where the prison he was serving his sentence was. The "old immortal" he mentioned was actually Old Du, who was imprisoned for fraud and is now out on medical parole due to health problems.

So as soon as Zhao Feng and Wang De'an returned to China, they immediately came to investigate whether the painting by Old Du was related to the things they were investigating.

Of course, neither the two of them nor the information gathering team knew that when the information gathering team noticed the comments under that news article, a particularly diligent digital being had already sensed this potential problem and then notified Xiang Kun.

With just a word from Xiang Kun, she could immediately mislead the investigation direction of the "Shenxing Technology" information gathering team, or provide them with incorrect or false information.

However, Xiang Kun did not give any orders, but simply instructed Alice to continue monitoring.

That's why Zhao Feng and Wang De'an were able to receive the message and appear here, waiting to visit Old Du.