A Grand Show (Part Two)

Let's rewind to a little after 2 PM.

Tang Baona is at Jianzhou City Airport, waiting to pick up Little Apple who is arriving today.

Because Yang the Third went to Peng City, and Lao Xia also had things to do, Xiang Kun asked her to pick up Little Apple —actually, there was no need to ask, she would definitely have come anyway.

But she was still a little confused. It was understandable that Lao Xia was busy because he had to go to the Research Base to inspect the equipment installation. But she didn't know why Xiang Kun had been going to the mountains every day. When asked what he was doing, he would always laugh and dodge the question. Today, he even went so far as to say that he was going to the mountains to "protect the earth and safeguard the world." He was acting all crazy.

During this period, Tang Baona was immersed in the ability to perceive the rhythm of emotions. Because the closer she was to Xiang Kun, the more sensitive she became to the emotions of others. So at the beginning, she tried every day to get Xiang Kun, Lao Xia, and Yang the Third to go to town for dinner.

If she stayed in Chongyun Village, eating and living in their small courtyard, she could basically feel the melodies composed of Yang the Third's emotions. It was just a few songs over and over again, which she knew very well.

When she gets to town, in crowded places, Tang Baona can feel the unique melodies formed by a rich variety of emotions. She then uses these melodies to deduce related stories, and then arranges and writes lyrics, which is very interesting.

Tang Baona was completely immersed in it and enjoying it so much that she neglected many company matters. Even when she was working on them, her mind was elsewhere, and she would unconsciously drift off into her own thoughts.

However, she also knew that when she was too busy, Yang the Third would definitely step in to help her fill in the gaps and steer the ship.

Don't let Yang the Third's usual loud and silly appearance fool you; she's actually quite capable and trustworthy, she's just lazy. Anyway, ever since she started partnering with Xiang Kun to manage "Universe Technology," Yang the Third has been by her side no matter what she does. She's familiar with everything, knows Zhang Qian well, and is one of the shareholders, so taking over wouldn't be a problem at all.

Tang Baona was also thinking that she should concentrate on figuring out what was going on with her recent special feeling before doing anything else, so as not to keep thinking about it.

Moreover, she also noticed that not only her, but Yang the Third had also been acting strangely lately, often muttering to himself and talking to himself, as if he were really imitating her talking to the "Little Sprite". Sensing that Yang the Third had also discovered something, she simply revealed some information, half-truthfully, because she felt that some of Yang the Third's unreliable ideas from the past seemed to be actually becoming a reality.

She also tested Xiang Kun and Lao Xia. Judging from their reactions, they were clearly aware of the changes that had occurred in her and her special feelings to some extent. They even intentionally cooperated with her, such as going to crowded places with her.

As time went by, Tang Baona became more and more sensitive and skilled at perceiving the Emotional Melody of others. She had accumulated more than 100 songs with completed music and lyrics, covering a variety of emotions, moods, and stories. Among them, 15 songs had already been released online, and unsurprisingly, they had generated a great response, which made her feel a little bit of smug.

In addition, she had hundreds of other pieces that she had only roughly recorded the melody and feeling of, and many that she didn't record because she felt the melody was just average.

Unbeknownst to her, Tang Baona discovered that she could perceive not only people's emotions and transform them into specific melodies, but also certain objects, which would evoke special feelings in her mind, with intermittent melodies appearing in her mind.

The Item Melody are not as definite and coherent as the Emotional Melody, but they are still clear and real.

This sensitivity is increasing, and more and more objects are capable of generating melodies.

From cars to cell phones to televisions, to tables to chairs, to trees to grass, to the road beneath her feet, to the streetlights beside her, to the trash can in front of her—as long as she gets close to something, she can "play" a corresponding melody in her mind.

At first, she was quite excited and curious about it. But soon she got annoyed because her mind was almost constantly filled with various melodies, sometimes several at the same time, which was incredibly noisy.

Tang Baona's control over this perception is not yet at a level of complete mastery, especially when it comes to perceiving objects, which gives her a real headache.

As a result, Tang Baona went from clinging to Xiang Kun every day to keeping her distance from Xiang Kun. Except when she returned to Chongyun Village at night, she would always use the excuse of going to Tongshi Town to handle company-related matters and personally oversee personnel matters, and stay in Tongshi Town alone.

She was actually quite worried that Xiang Kun would misunderstand her and think that she was avoiding him. However, at that time Xiang Kun seemed to realize something and deliberately cooperated. During that period, he started to frequently go into the mountains during the day, as if he was conducting some kind of research and investigation. He would not return until midnight each time, which saved her the trouble of making up excuses for deliberately keeping her distance from Xiang Kun.

On the contrary, as time went on, she began to wonder what kind of research Xiang Kun was doing in the mountains all by himself.

While waiting for Little Apple at the airport, Tang Baona looked at all sorts of objects, from seats to railings to glass, to passengers' bags, watches, and cell phones... Each glance triggered a corresponding melody in her mind—not because she was now far from Xiang Kun and still possessed the ability to transform emotions and object perception into melody, but because she had perceived so many things before that it had become a conditioned reflex. Now, whenever she saw similar items, the corresponding melody would play in her head; she had gotten used to it.

Tang Baona is now also pondering whether this melody has any deeper meaning. She can understand the thought processes contained in the melodies compiled from the emotions of others, and even complete a detailed thought process, the reasons for the emotion, the story behind it, and so on, and write lyrics based on this.

But the melody of the objects was a bit mysterious. She couldn't understand why objects could produce corresponding melodies, let alone recreate the corresponding story like the melody of human emotions. She was completely baffled.

She vaguely sensed that if she could understand the origins expressed by the melody of the objects, she would be able to find the origins of her special perceptions.

She had an "immature guess" that the reason why various objects could make her perceive different melodies, just like human emotions, was because they actually had something like "Little Sprite" on them; they all had "spirits."

This idea sounds incredibly naive, but thankfully she hasn't told anyone. She's just been secretly "talking" to various objects, trying to elicit a response from the "Little Sprite." Unfortunately, she hasn't received any clear feedback from the "Little Sprite" yet.

However, in another sense, it wasn't entirely without feedback. After she sensed the melody, touching or using those items would give her a rather unique experience.

For example, this GL8, which is usually driven by Xiang Kun and Lao Xia, gives her a very mysterious feeling when she drives it after she has experienced the overall rhythm of the car as a whole.

She rarely drives, especially since she's been living with Yang the Third since graduation and he's always the Yang the Third driving. Her driving skills have become even more rudimentary; although she can still drive, she's inevitably a little unsure. But now, driving this GL8, she's very confident. Whether it's passing oncoming traffic in narrow lanes, turning and making U-turns, parallel parking, or overtaking on the highway, she's quite adept. Her distance control is very precise, and she handles the car with ease, as if she's been driving it for over a decade.

This feeling further solidified her "naive guess".

Because of the flight delay, Little Apple didn't arrive at the airport until almost 3 a. m.

A pretty airport ground staff member led Little Apple over. After confirming Tang Baona's identity, she asked Little Apple to go with her to pick up the "checked-in" Gold Glitter airline suitcase.

Little Apple came to Chongyun Village alone this time. Professor Li saw her off at the airport and asked the flight attendants to help take care of her. After the plane arrived, the airport and the airline had services and guidance for disabled people to help her get off the plane more quickly and conveniently and hand her over to the person who came to pick her up. She was accompanied by someone throughout the whole process. So although Professor Li was a little worried, he still agreed to Little Apple Pingguo's request to come to Chongyun Village alone because he couldn't leave his work at the school for the time being, and he was well aware of the completely different situation his daughter was in at home and in Chongyun Village.

Holding Little Apple's hand, Tang Baona received the Gold Glitter flight case. After checking that the slightly chubby little bird was in a stable and comfortable mood, she called Professor Li to let him know that Little Apple had arrived safely. Actually, Little Apple had already called her father to let him know after the plane landed, but calling again was to reassure Professor Li.

After getting into the car with the Gold Glitter, Tang Baona smiled and said, "Little Apple, was the journey smooth?"

"Yes, it went very smoothly. The flight attendants and ground staff were all very kind to me, and the other passengers were also very considerate of me," Little Apple said somewhat shyly.

In fact, she could complete the journey perfectly well on her own, even without anyone's help.

If she doesn't say anything and simply pretends to be someone with normal vision, more than 90% of the people around her won't notice that she is blind.

After all, through the training and influence of "Object-Sensing," her hearing has been greatly improved, especially her ability to locate sounds. Her sense of smell has also been greatly enhanced, which can help her make more complex environmental judgments.

Then there are the superhuman Gold Glitter and Alice, whose assistance to her allows her to see further and know more than ordinary people.

Although she was separated from Gold Glitter on the plane, Alice provided her with information feedback, allowing her to be fully aware of the entire situation on board. Now, with numerous "Super-Linked Object" everywhere, Alice could provide Little Apple with sufficient environmental information even without a single surveillance camera. This information was precisely what Little Apple could understand.

So now, even though Little Apple can see more clearly than anyone with normal eyesight, she still has to pretend she can't see, which is truly frustrating.

Just like when she got off the plane earlier, the ground staff was so focused on helping her watch out for obstacles that she didn't notice her own footing and almost tripped over the luggage cart next to her. Little Apple had anticipated this from the environmental information Alice was giving her, so she could only pretend to trip and let the staff instinctively come over to help her and move her feet to avoid tripping.

For the time being, the only place where Little Apple can truly be herself is Chongyun Village —she can't even be too unrestrained at home, lest her father be surprised and suspicious.

"By the way, Uncle Xiang and Sister Bing are busy, so they can't come to pick you up. We'll go to town for dinner first, and then go back to the village. Sigh, I know you were really looking forward to Xiang Kun's cooking today, but unfortunately you won't be able to eat it until tomorrow," Tang Baona explained on behalf of Xiang Kun and Lao Xia.

Little Apple laughed and said, "It's alright, Sister Nana. Uncle Xiang told me he has some business to attend to in the mountains these few days, but he's preparing a 'big show' for us tonight. No, I should say, it's mainly for you!"

"Huh? Xiang Kun was bragging to you too?" Tang Baona asked curiously.

Before Xiang Kun went into the mountains today, he asked her to pick up Little Apple. He did mention that there was a "grand show" planned to celebrate her birthday in advance on the rooftop that evening. However, he said this along with the "protect the earth, safeguard the world" talk, which sounded particularly absurd, so she didn't take it seriously at all. She thought Xiang Kun was just joking, like when he always talked to Yang the Third about "secret organizations" or "welcome to join the superpowered family," so she didn't take it seriously either. What made her happy was that Xiang Kun remembered her birthday was in a few days.

But now it seems Xiang Kun actually told Little Apple those words beforehand? Is there really some "big show" going on?

It's not fireworks or anything, is it?

Setting off fireworks in the mountains? Isn't that illegal?

Besides, this tactic is a bit clichéd; Xiang Kun wouldn't do something like that, would he?

Besides, you can just set off the smoke signals in the village.

But besides setting off fireworks, she couldn't think of anything else that fit the description of a "grand show".

However, Little Apple didn't know much either. Xiang Kun didn't tell her any details either. Tang Baona asked a few questions but didn't get any results, so she had to put it aside for the time being.

"Sister Nana, the songs you released recently are all so good, you're amazing! Did you write all of them yourself?" Little Apple exclaimed.

Few people online know that "Sugar Bean Princess Baona" is Tang Baona; under Alice's control, this information is virtually impossible to spread. However, those close to her, like Little Apple and Little Chubby Girl, are very aware of it. Therefore, they are always paying close attention to the latest "Princess Tang Baona pop songs."

"I guess so, hehe. Which song is your favorite, Little Apple? I'll write a few songs for you later." Tang Baona said with a smile as she drove.

"My favorite song is 'Secretly Delighted.' I knew it was about Zhen'er as soon as I heard it. It's like seeing her covering her mouth and laughing, both proud and embarrassed. It's so funny, and it makes me want to laugh and sing along. Oh, and Little Bell likes this song too, haha," Little Apple said with a smile.

"Huh? Little Apple, can you tell that this song is about Yang the Third? Did Yang the Third tell you?" Tang Baona asked curiously. There was no mention of Yang the Third's name in her song, nor was there any description that matched Yang the Third. It was simply expressing Yang the Third's feelings of Secretly Delighted because he thought he knew something.

Little Apple said, "No, Zhen'er didn't tell me, but the first time I heard this song, I knew it was about Zhen'er because of the rhythm... the melody... in short, it had a strong sense of 'déjà vu'. Hmm... I know it sounds a bit strange to say 'déjà vu,' but it's true. As soon as I heard Sister Nana's song, I was very sure it was about Sister Zhen'er Secretly Delighted."

Tang Baona's heart skipped a beat, and she said, "Little Apple, let me hum a few melodies for you to hear."

As she spoke, she hummed a melody with soft "dududu" and "woowoowoo" sounds. She stopped after humming for about half a minute and asked, "Little Apple, if this melody I'm humming represents an object, what do you think it would be? Guess whatever you want, anything is fine."

Little Apple, without even thinking, said directly, "It's a car, a car that's speeding along, um, and it's black, and quite big. By the way, Sister Nana, the car you're driving is it! I think the melody you were humming represents the car moving!"

Tang Baona was astonished. Little Apple could tell that "Secretly Delighted" was about Yang Zhen'er, which could be considered a guess, but now she could actually understand her "Item Melody" and guess that it was the sensory melody brought to her by this GL8. This was amazing!