When in Doubt, Ask Lao Xia

Tang Baona was startled and almost screamed, but the person at the door snapped on the room light, and after seeing their face, she immediately felt at ease.

"Lao Xia!" Tang Baona felt the excitement of finally seeing a relative after wandering in a foreign land for a long time—even though she and Lao Xia had only met a few hours earlier and had been in the same building the whole time.

"Why aren't you asleep yet? Oh, did I make too much noise coming downstairs and wake you up?" Tang Baona said apologetically.

"No, I wasn't asleep at all," Xia Libing said. "Sister Nana, is there something you need to check the security footage for?"

"Ah, I was on the rooftop just now, and when I was coming back... well, I almost tripped and fell, and... I just wanted to see how I fell," Tang Baona stammered.

After all, the experience was too unbelievable. Without sufficient evidence, telling others directly would either make them doubt the truth or frighten them as well, which was unnecessary.

"Oh right, it was Xiang Kun notified you, right? I just wanted to come in and check the security footage, but I couldn't open the door, so I asked Xiang Kun for the key. He probably thought something had happened to me." Tang Baona thought that she was wearing slippers and had been very quiet going up and down the stairs, so she shouldn't have made any noise. The fact that Lao Xia knew she was checking the security footage and came down to check meant that Xiang Kun had most likely told her.

"Anyway, I didn't sleep either." Xia Libing neither confirmed nor denied, and walked in, bending down to check the surveillance video on the computer with her. "It seems there's a problem with the data transmission of that surveillance footage; the recorded clips weren't saved. This problem happens frequently, so it's not surprising."

"Does it happen often?" Tang Baona caught the key word.

"Mm." Xia Libing nodded.

"Lao Xia... um... when you lived here before, did you encounter anything strange?" Tang Baona finally couldn't help but ask tentatively.

"For example?"

"For example... strange sounds, or... people I've never seen before, uh... hallucinations?" Tang Baona frowned, trying to find the right words.

"You had a hallucination on the rooftop and at the stairwell, so you want to use the surveillance footage to confirm it?" Xia Libing asked in return.

"You could say that... well, you could say that," Tang Baona said hesitantly, as if she had unconsciously told Lao Xia everything. Fortunately, Lao Xia wasn't someone easily intimidated.

"What exactly was the hallucination?" Xia Libing asked again.

Thinking she could get Lao Xia's help to analyze the situation, Tang Baona simply explained, "When I was coming down from the rooftop and entering the stairwell, I tripped and almost tumbled down the stairs. Then someone... let's say someone, grabbed me from behind. But when I turned around, I found nothing there. I searched the rooftop for a long time, but there was nowhere for anyone to hide, and I didn't see any signs of anyone climbing up. I wanted to check the stairwell's security camera, but it happened to be malfunctioning and didn't record any video."

Xia Libing listened calmly to her finish speaking, then said, "Sister Nana, please stand up."

"Huh?" Tang Baona was taken aback for a moment, but still stood up as instructed, looking at Xia Libing, who was half a head taller than her, with a puzzled expression.

"Turn around," Xia Libing said.

Tang Baona turned around and then felt her waist being hugged. Xia Libing's voice sounded from behind her, "Is this how you hug someone?"

"Huh?" Tang Baona couldn't help but laugh and said, "No, it was someone who hugged my leg. It felt like it had short arms and was very short, like a child, and it made a 'hey' sound, um, something like 'hey!', like a little girl's voice. Hmm, I think I imitated it pretty well, hey! Hehehe! Hey!~"

Xia Libing squatted down again, then half-huddled around her thigh. "Is this roughly how it is?"

"Yes, that's right leg, around that height," Tang Baona said.

Then Xia Libing had her simulate the state of almost falling at the stairwell entrance, and then squatted down to hug her legs to help her hold on.

To ensure a realistic portrayal, Xia Libing even went to the living room to get a sofa cushion so that Tang Baona could complete the entire action of almost falling down, being pulled back, and kneeling down.

After conducting multiple simulations and debriefings with Tang Baona, scrutinizing many details, Xia Libing concluded, "Based solely on your description and our simulation, there are two possibilities."

"The first scenario is when you are in a dangerous situation, a large amount of adrenaline is secreted in a short period of time, the sympathetic nervous system is extremely excited, and other hormones are also secreted rapidly. The body enters a state of stress, the muscles tense up instantly, and you may unleash a force far exceeding your usual strength. During this process, your conscious mind cannot adapt immediately, and you may have hallucinations, imagining a 'person' helping you complete those actions. That 'hey' may be what you shout out when you exert force in your mind."

Seeing Tang Baona's delicate brows furrow slightly as she seemed to be deep in thought, Xia Libing continued, "The second possibility is that there really was a little girl who appeared behind you for a fleeting moment, grabbing your leg and preventing you from falling down the stairs. The fact that she could grab your leg and make a sound proves that she truly existed and could exert physical influence. The fact that she appeared to save you when you were about to fall, but disappeared when you looked back, proves that she had good intentions towards you, but for some reason didn't want you to discover her. The surveillance footage might also have been affected by her and not saved."

Tang Baona listened and nodded. Rationally speaking, the first scenario Lao Xia mentioned was more likely, especially after they had just gone through several Lao Xia and simulations together.

However, from another perspective that she herself couldn't quite explain, she preferred the second scenario. The thought of having a cute little girl who could appear at any time to help and protect her was... pretty good.

As for why she found it "cute," it's because she almost instinctively and subconsciously imagined what the little girl looked like in her mind, basically imagining her as a Little Chubby Girl.

Yes, after Lao Xia's thorough review, simulation, and on-site reconstruction, and careful analysis, she not only no longer felt the initial trepidation, unease, anxiety, and doubt, but even began to hope that such a little girl really existed.

In other words, Tang Baona could accept whatever happened at the rooftop stairwell, and the fact that the surveillance footage wasn't available didn't seem to bother her too much.

She felt much more relaxed immediately.

"Are you hungry, Nana? Do you want to eat instant noodles together?" Xia Libing asked.

"Okay, hey, by the way, there seems to be some leftover food from Xiang Kun's dinner in the fridge..." Tang Baona said. She had just heard Lao Xia's stomach rumbling, and she herself was indeed a little hungry. As for her weight loss plan of giving up late-night snacks, she would deal with that later when "Universe Technology's" business stabilized.

As Xia Libing walked towards the refrigerator, she said, "We can add the leftovers to the instant noodles and cook them together; it should taste good."

So the two chatted as they discussed which leftover dish to add and whether to boil or soak the instant noodles.

"By the way, Lao Xia, have you noticed that we've hardly seen any mosquitoes or other insects since we came to Chongyun Village? Our house is even more unusual. Don't outdoor lights attract a lot of light-attracting flying insects at night? Not to mention in the mountains, even city streetlights attract a lot of insects, and you can see a swarm of them at night. But we don't see any insects in the lights in our yard or the streetlights in front of the door. It's very strange! Did we spray insecticide or something here?"

Xia Libing said, "There are probably many reasons. It's possible that there are natural enemies of mosquitoes in Chongyun Village that they fear. Also, it should be related to Gold Glitter."

"Gold Glitter? No way, Gold Glitter... does it eat bugs?" Tang Baona asked curiously.

"Gold Glitter doesn't want Little Apple to get bitten by mosquitoes, so it drives away any insects nearby. Also, its scent is quite strong, which mosquitoes are afraid of," Xia Libing said.

"Is that so? Gold Glitter is a bit... special, isn't it? Lao Xia, don't you think Gold Glitter is much bigger than a regular canary, and it's really intelligent? Not to mention other birds, it's even smarter than dogs and other animals with higher intelligence. Sometimes I even feel like it can completely understand what we're saying and really comprehend the meaning behind our words," Tang Baona continued to ask.

"Gold Glitter is indeed very special, after all, it's a guide bird, possibly the only one in the world," Xia Libing said.

While the instant noodles were cooking, Tang Baona thought of Yang Zhen'er's previous conjecture and the various doubts she had raised, so she simply brought it up and asked Lao Xia directly, "Lao Xia, did you really quit your job and come to Chongyun Village with Xiang Kun to set up that Research Base just because you were interested in aquaculture or something?"

Xia Libing was about to speak when she suddenly noticed the Coin Tang Baona was flipping smoothly and naturally in her hand. She could vaguely sense that this Coin was the "Super-Linked Object" Coin that Xiang Kun Sister Nana. It was from this Coin that she first noticed something unusual about the Coin Xiang Kun had given her.

"You've learned it."

This irrelevant answer startled Tang Baona slightly. Noticing Lao Xia's gaze, she realized what she was talking about and laughed, "Yeah, I don't know why, but I suddenly got the hang of it tonight. I could never do this kind of looping before. Isn't it strange? No matter how much I practiced before, I couldn't get it right. But tonight, I wasn't even thinking about how to practice. I was just randomly fiddling with it in my hands while thinking about things, and before I knew it, I could do it. I don't even really understand it myself. It's like the saying, 'You can't force something to bloom, but you can thrive when you don't's intentionally plant it.'"

Xia Libing nodded. "Sister Nana is amazing."

"What's so impressive about it? You, Little Apple, and Little Bell all knew how to do it a long time ago." Although Tang Baona said this, the smile on her face still showed that she was a little proud of being able to flip the Coin so smoothly.

Xia Libing said, "Sister Nana, do you remember on the 21st, the day after Little Apple and Professor Li came to Chongyun Village, a 'researcher' who knew Professor Li came to our place?"

"I remember, that person's surname was Zhou, right? He was with another guy who had dark skin and looked quite tough. They seemed to be asking about ants or insects, and they were going to Chongyun Mountain to do some research," Tang Baona said.

Xia Libing nodded. "The Research Base that Xiang Kun and I set up is essentially doing similar research to what they are doing."

Tang Baona suddenly realized that Yang the Third had actually guessed part of the truth. She then asked, "So... you resigned and came to Chongyun Village mainly to study insects?"

"It's not really related to insects. When I was a child, I had a very special disease, or rather, a 'congenital defect.' I received some 'treatment,' but it didn't cure me. The research that Xiang Kun and I are doing in Chongyun Village might be able to help me repair this 'defect' and cure these diseases. I can't tell Sister Nana the specific details for now, because I haven't fully understood it yet," Xia Libing said patiently.

These words corresponded to what Yang Zhen'er had said before going to bed, and Tang Baona's doubts were immediately explained. She didn't ask what Lao Xia's "illness" or "defect" was specifically. Since Lao Xia hadn't explained in detail, it meant he was unwilling to talk about it, and she wouldn't press him for an answer.

Thinking about her past experiences with Lao Xia, Yang Zhen'er's descriptions of Lao Xia's childhood and student days, and the two graduate programs Lao Xia chose, Tang Baona had some vague guesses in her heart. Looking at Lao Xia sitting across from her waiting for instant noodles, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him.

"It's cooked." Xia Libing skillfully lifted the lid of the stainless steel bowl, served Tang Baona noodles, poured soup, and then began to slurp down her noodles.

"Hmm, I didn't expect instant noodles with leftovers to taste so good." Tang Baona looked up, her glasses completely fogged up.

"Because we're hungry, we get a bonus," Xia Libing said.

"Xiang Kun is probably still awake, right? Should we send him some late-night snacks too?" Tang Baona said, taking off her glasses and wiping them.

"No need, he has food," Xia Libing said.

"That's true. If he's not asleep right now, he's probably focused on his work. Let's not disturb him." Tang Baona nodded.

Unbeknownst to Xiang Kun was already fast asleep and would continue sleeping for over ten hours. The person she had just been communicating with on WeChat was not Xiang Kun, but the "little girl" who had saved her and startled her.

After rescuing Tang Baona and preventing her from falling down the stairs, Alice immediately notified Xia Libing, who was indeed not asleep.

While Xiang Kun was asleep, Xia Libing was undoubtedly the first "commander" above the "Super-Sensing Item System". When Alice was unable to make a single decision based on existing rules and principles, she knew that asking Lao Xia for advice was the safest option.

When in doubt, ask the boss; when the boss is sleeping, ask Lao Xia!

Of course, there is no doubt that they risked exposure to rescue Tang Baona. Tang Baona, Yang Zhen'er, as well as Xiang Kun's parents, Chang Bin, Zi Cheng, You Meng, and others all need to be "protected in real time." Their safety is the most important thing at all times!

However, after the exposure, Alice was unsure how to guide Tang Baona, because she had too many methods and directions.

--

Ji Cha's new book, "This Is My Planet," has been released. This time it's a combination of science and cultivation, the same formula, the same flavor.