How Impressive Am I?

As Joel's body disintegrated and turned to ashes, John, who was standing at the foot of the Guarding Prosperity Building in Peng City, also had a strange feeling, as if a hat that he had grown accustomed to wearing on his head had suddenly been removed.

He knew Joel had tampered with him, so when he sensed something unusual, his first thought was that Earl Joel had arrived and was checking his location or condition!

If he had been caught by Mr. Liang and knew that Count Joel was following closely behind, he would have been a little worried, because he knew that Count Joel could easily find out that he had betrayed "Red Rose" and betrayed him.

But after gaining some understanding of Mr. Liang's strength and influence, John was no longer worried—his priority was to save his own life. Even if Joel came, he wouldn't be a match for Mr. Liang and his group. In fact, if Joel came, he could even use the opportunity to enhance his role and status within Mr. Liang's faction.

However, after spending those three dark months under the Guarding Prosperity Building, and especially after successfully defeating two "Blood Beast" through arduous battles and using their blood to help him complete two phases of transformation, John's thoughts changed again.

He now feels much stronger, and Mr. Liang hasn't really examined or understood the changes he's undergone in his two phases of transformation.

He must have some "hidden tricks" up his sleeve now when dealing with Mr. Lang.

He believed that if he launched a surprise attack at the right moment, he might be able to severely injure Mr. Liang, thus gaining the opportunity to escape or even devour him.

Now, if Joel were to actually come to China, it might provide him with that "opportunity".

So, in the completely enclosed room, he got up, ran to the camera, jumped up and down, and shouted, "Lord Liang! I have something to report! Important news!"

After he defeated the "mutated giant snake" and completed his transformation, he had been locked in this enclosed room, just like the other "Blood Beast"—to be precise, in this underground space, besides him, there should only be one other "Blood Beast" locked up.

"Speak," Mr. Liang's hoarse, unpleasant voice came from the loudspeaker.

John quickly said, "It's Earl Joel, whom I mentioned to you before... Old Joel! He's the most senior 'true Bloodline's of the 'Red Rose,' over two hundred years old. I came to your country this time to help him find his 'bloodline'! He should be here by now, I can sense it..."

"Where are you?" Mr. Liang's communication style was simple and direct.

"I can't be sure where he is right now... But! Given our usual methods, we don't usually come to your country by sea; we're more likely to enter through the land border. So I think he, like me, probably sneaked in from the southwestern border. However, I have this strange feeling now, which means he's not far from me! He has a way of pinpointing where those 'prosthetics' disappeared, probably by finding the place where you ate his 'prosthetics.' He probably already knows our location! Lord Liang, you must be prepared; he'll come knocking." John said in a loyal tone, "If you don't want this place to be exposed, you can move me to another place. When he comes to us, I will definitely cooperate with you to capture him. Joel is over two hundred years old; I think he's about to reach his limit, which is why he came here on his own."

Mr. Liang replied in a calm tone, "I understand."

John sighed inwardly. It seemed that Mr. Liang really didn't take their "Red Rose" Bloodline seriously.

However, in a sense, this disdain is also a good thing for him.

Just wait, I'll definitely surprise you, you "monster," when I get back!

Just as he was thinking this, Mr. Liang's voice suddenly rang out, startling him:

Are you ready?

"Huh?" John looked up at the monitor, stunned. "What's ready?"

"You should know what lives next to you, right? You'll be living with it from now on. Are you ready?"

John understood now and quickly said, "Of course I'm not ready yet, please give me some more time."

However, Mr. Liang's "time" was clearly limited. "I'll give you one more day."

In Peng City, there is a small but very well-known kindergarten in the vicinity.

In a classroom, a young and beautiful female teacher is introducing the characteristics and habits of some animals to a class of children, using images on a projection screen.

Liu Shiling sat among the other children, seemingly lost in thought.

Indeed, although the kindergarten has a fairly "advanced" teaching method, the content it teaches is still somewhat out of her reach.

Normally, she would be learning to read and do all sorts of fun things with Alice right now, or learning math and drawing from the pretty older sister, the fairy older sister, and the Roast Chicken Wing Sister.

In terms of fun, what the teacher taught was far less entertaining than the stories and knowledge that Little Apple's older sister told her, as well as the skits and crosstalk performances they rehearsed together.

So now in class, she often appears to be interacting with the teacher along with the other children, but in reality, she's daydreaming.

She might be thinking of all sorts of random ideas, such as her "magical training plan," "return to Chongyun Village plan," "new jokes for the Bell-Apple Duo," "new skin ideas for Barbie Warrior," "Egg Pie diet plan," "early elementary school graduation and junior high school study plan," and "completing nine years of compulsory education in 5 years."

Or she might do something sneaky, secretly practicing her magical control.

For example, right now, she's secretly using two Coin to "scratch" her back.

However, her absent-mindedness, or rather, her somewhat adorable and dazed expression, still caught the teacher's attention.

"Shiling, were there any parts of what the teacher just said that you didn't understand?"

All the children around her turned their attention to Liu Shiling, but the Little Chubby Girl was no longer the Little Chubby Girl as before. Under the watchful eyes of the other children, she calmly and secretly slipped the two Coin she had used to scratch her back into her sleeve, then into her hand, and back into her pants pocket. Only then did she shake her head with a blank expression and say, "There's nothing I don't understand. The teacher explained it very well!"

"So... what are you curious about regarding giant pandas?" the teacher asked again.

Liu Shiling shook her head.

"Does Shiling know a lot about giant pandas?"

Liu Shiling nodded.

"Shiling, would you like to come up here and explain the panda facts to the other children again?" The teacher said with a smile, "If you do well, you'll get two little red flowers as a reward!"

Liu Shiling scratched her head, obediently got up and walked to the projection screen. She looked up at the panda's big face, paused for a couple of seconds, and then began to read, "Tsk, panda! It has a round head and a round belly, short arms and legs, and a short tail too. When it's little, it's very small, and when it grows up, it's very big, but it's still round and chubby. Hey? Don't let its roundness fool you, it's a master at climbing trees, scrambling up in a flash, just like a golden monkey among bears. Pandas love to eat bamboo, so they all live in bamboo forests. Actually, they can also eat meat, eating a big pig's trotter in one bite. Pandas are our national treasure, we must cherish them..."

What she was reciting wasn't what the teacher had just said. She hadn't really heard much of what the teacher had said; these were things her older sister, Little Apple, had told her when introducing various animals. Of course, she couldn't completely repeat them, only giving a general outline, sometimes haltingly, but this was more than enough. Not only were the other children listening intently, but even the female teacher was stunned—she had originally intended to use this method to teach the new student Liu Shiling, the importance of paying attention when the teacher is explaining things, but the little girl's opening remarks turned into a hilarious and educational stand-up comedy routine! Amazingly, even her accent had changed!

Actually, if it were in the past, the Little Chubby Girl would be very nervous and quite at a loss if she had to speak or perform in front of so many people she didn't know very well. She wouldn't know where to put her hands.

But after forming the "Bell Apple" and "Bell Fruit" duo with Sister Little Apple in Chongyun Village, she often had to perform in front of Roast Chicken Wing Sister and Sister Pretty.

Especially after Little Apple helped her and Old Fairy Sister put together a crosstalk performance, Old Fairy Sister came to Peng City and took her out to play every few days, and then performed with her for people.

Although the uncles, aunts, grandfathers, and grandmothers all seemed very kind and treated her exceptionally well, she was indeed very nervous at first, often mixing up or mispronouncing her words. However, they were always very happy for her, praising her effusively regardless of whether she made a mistake or not. Gradually, she became less nervous.

So now, when facing a group of children and teachers, she can remain calm and is not afraid of making mistakes or forgetting her lines.

After Liu Shiling finished talking about pandas, the female teacher was about to praise her and let her go back to her seat, but when she touched the controller in her hand, the image of the baby panda on the projection screen was changed to a big ant.

Liu Shiling glanced back, then continued quite naturally, "That thing is an ant, called... a big-headed ant, because its head is especially big! Ants have six legs, three on each side. It runs very fast, but it has two fewer legs than a spider, so it's not as fast as a spider."

"Not every ant can be a mother. Only one ant with a particularly large abdomen can be an ant mother. It is called the queen ant. Its abdomen is full of ant eggs. Every once in a while, it will give birth to a large number of baby ants. The baby ants can help everyone find food and fight, while the queen ant is only responsible for giving birth to baby ants."

"I also know a particularly cute kind of ant called 'Ni' (拟), 'Guang' (光), 'Fu' (腹), 'Gong' (弓), 'Bei' (背), 'Yi' (蚁). The 'Ni' in 'Ni' isn't 'you, I,' or 'him,' it's a combination of the 'hand' radical and the 'yi' radical. Do you know how to write 'yi'? That's how you write it. 'Guang' is 'bald'... no, it's 'bright'..."

The female teacher standing nearby was stunned, her mouth slightly agape, her face filled with shock. She instinctively felt that something Liu Shiling had said was off, but upon closer inspection, she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

As for the other children, they listened with rapt attention, their eyes filled with admiration for Liu.

In fact, they were already very curious about this new child who had just transferred to the kindergarten. After Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er also came to Peng City, the "Old Fairy Sister" who loved dressing up children and buying them clothes couldn't control herself at all and was completely let loose. As a result, the Little Chubby Girl is dressed in brand new clothes and beautiful shoes almost every day, looking very exquisite, like a little princess.

In addition, she doesn't take the initiative to talk to other children, nor does she play the house games or other games that other children are keen on. She prefers to stay quietly by herself, giving people a very special "aloofness" that makes the other children keep a certain distance from her, while at the same time wanting to get closer to her and get to know her.

Today's performance has further elevated Liu Shiling's mysterious status in the hearts of the children.

In the afternoon, after school, Liu Shiling walked out with her little schoolbag on her back and immediately saw the old fairy sister craning her neck to look out at the kindergarten gate.

During this time, Yang Zhen'er would always volunteer to pick up the Little Chubby Girl, and then take her out to eat, buy things, and play together.

Liu Shiling naturally went over and took Yang Zhen'er's hand, then said goodbye to the teacher at the door.

"Little Bell, your teacher just praised you to me! She said you're really amazing, you even know a lot about ants, and you got two little red flowers in class today!" Yang Zhen'er said excitedly, holding the Little Chubby Girl's hand, as if it was she who got the little red flowers, not the Little Chubby Girl.

Liu Shiling tilted her head back and said, "It was all Sister Little Apple and Sister Little Screw who taught me."

Yang Zhen'er knew that Little Screw Sister was a little girl that Little Chubby Girl often chatted with online. Although she had never met her, she knew that this little girl was very knowledgeable.

"Anyway, Little Bell, you're the best! Hmm, you got three little red flowers today, so I'll reward you with three new outfits!" Yang Zhen'er said happily, already thinking about where to take the Little Chubby Girl shopping.

"Sister Fairy, please don't buy any more clothes. It's such a waste. I already have more clothes than I can wear. Mom also said that we can't accept any more of your clothes, or she'll spank me," Liu Shiling said with a bitter face.

"How could we waste it! Little Bell, you're so cute, of course you deserve to wear your prettiest clothes! Okay, let's not buy clothes this time, then... shall we buy hats? I found a brand online before, their children's hats are really cute."

As Yang Zhen'er spoke, seeing the Little Chubby Girl's resentful look, she could only helplessly say, "Alright, alright, no clothes or hats, umm, no shoes either, then... let's go eat something delicious!"

The Little Chubby Girl was overjoyed and nodded in agreement. Then the two of them went to a restaurant that Yang Zhen'er had found online with many good reviews.

The food at this restaurant was indeed quite good, but after finishing her meal, Yang Zhen'er still habitually remarked, "... Although it was alright, it's still far inferior to Chef Xiang's cooking. I miss the boiled fish slices and the dry-pot rabbit!"

Then Liu Shiling, sitting opposite her, patted her round belly and nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

After dinner, she took Liu Shiling back to the apartment she and Tang Baona rented—their place was in the same complex and building as Liu Shiling and her daughter.

During this period, Tang Baona stayed at Soaring Dragon Interactive Entertainment to coordinate some matters with Zhang Qian, while Shiling's Mother, because of her hard work, has now started to do some real work in the administrative department instead of just doing odd jobs and running errands. Therefore, the two of them often had to work until quite late before returning home.

As for Yang Zhen'er, she mainly served as Tang Baona's "general manager's assistant" at "Universe Technology" and was also responsible for some financial work. She didn't have much to do normally, so she naturally volunteered to take over the job of taking care of Liu Shiling. It was precisely because of her that Shiling's Mother was able to devote herself to her work, or rather, truly begin to work.

Of course, Yang Zhen'er herself was also very happy to be with the Little Chubby Girl.

Back home, seeing her Little Chubby Girl about to take out her iPad to study, Yang Zhen'er quickly pulled her to sit on the sofa and said, "Little Bell, don't rush to study, come watch your fairy sister perform magic for you!!"

After saying that, she took out a disposable cup, placed it on the TV cabinet, then stepped back to the doorway, took out a Coin, put it on her thumb, and said triumphantly, "The moment to witness a miracle!" Then she flicked the Coin toward the TV.

The Coin tumbled through the air, tracing a long arc before landing precisely in the disposable cup.

Yang Zhen'er jumped up excitedly, then shouted to Liu Shiling, who was staring wide-eyed at the disposable cup on the sofa, "Little Bell, aren't I amazing?!"