Changing the World

After finishing their meal in the restaurant's private room, Zhang Qian called over a waiter to tidy up the table, served dessert, and then closed the door again. She then signaled to Yang Zhuo that he could begin his "performance."

"Sister Qianqian, we can play some little quiz games first." Yang Zhuo took a new deck of cards from his sister's bag, unfolded it, and shuffled it in his hand as he said, "Sister Qianqian, you can ask me three detailed questions about the surrounding scenery or people since we entered the restaurant. Any questions are fine. For example, you can ask me how many floor tiles are in the straight line from the restaurant door to our private room door, how many crystal balls are in the chandelier in the center of the restaurant hall, and what the pattern and color of the curtains are."

Zhang Qian listened with great interest. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "How many kettles and cups are on that cabinet behind you?"

"There are two kettles and six cups. When we came in, there was one kettle and six cups, but the waiter just brought in another one, so there should be two now," Yang Zhuo said with certainty.

Xiao Min, sitting next to Yang Zhuo, turned around, glanced at the cabinet behind them, and laughed, "It really is two kettles and six cups, you guessed right!"

Zhang Qian then asked, "Which hand and finger did the waiter who just cleared the table wear the ring on?"

Yang Zhuo answered immediately without any hesitation, "On my right little finger, there is a silver ring."

Xiao Min looked at Zhang Qian: "Sister Qianqian, did I answer correctly?"

Zhang Qian nodded and smiled, "You're right, it's indeed worn on the right pinky finger, impressive! Third question, what's our second dish?"

This seemingly simple question took Yang Zhuo a few seconds to think about before he frowned slightly and said, "It's that tenderloin."

"Yes, correct answer." Zhang Qian clapped her hands and said, "Wow, little brother, your observation and memory are so strong! You've been memorizing things all this time? Can you really remember how many bricks there are from the entrance of the hotel to the private room, and how many crystal balls are in the chandelier in the living room?"

Yang Zhuo laughed and said, "Of course I don't remember those two. We were led to the private room by the waiter as soon as we came in. I didn't have time to count them."

Zhang Qian was taken aback and asked in surprise, "Then what you just said..."

Yang Zhuo said, "Because saying it like that would make me seem like I have a strong observational ability, an excellent memory, and a lot of confidence. If it were Xiao Min, I wouldn't ask her like that. She would naturally use the example I gave to get my answer. But given your personality, Sister Qianqian, you definitely wouldn't ask those two questions directly."

"Sister Qianqian, if you're going to ask a question, you definitely won't ask one that's impossible or difficult to verify. Instead, you'll ask one that you already know the answer to or that you can verify immediately."

"When we got out of the car in the parking lot, my sister suggested that I 'perform' something. I had already decided to play this question-and-answer 'game'. So I asked you if you had been to this restaurant before, and you said no. In other words, you also need to get the information about the restaurant's actual environment in real time."

"From the moment I enter the restaurant, I deliberately lag behind by a few steps, then observe the direction of your gaze and the things you observe, and try to memorize them."

"I actually thought you would ask about the advertising slogans and promotional information in the lobby, because you glanced towards the cashier when you entered the restaurant. I also thought you would ask about the room number next to ours, because you glanced up before entering the room. The room numbers in this restaurant are quite unique; ours is 035, but the rooms next to it are 033 and 025."

"I thought the situation with the waiter and the cabinet behind me was very likely to be considered a problem, so I carefully observed the waiter who led us into the private room and the waiters who later served the food, settled the bill, and cleaned up. They guessed the question correctly. On the contrary, I almost couldn't answer the most normal and simple question: what was the second dish?"

Hearing Yang Zhuo's self-analysis and explanation, Zhang Qian nodded repeatedly. "He really does have a bit of Xiang Kun's style."

Yang Zhuo said, "This is the 'Observation Analysis Method' and 'Nine-Stage Prediction Method' that Brother Xiang taught me. First, we rehearse the possible situations in advance, analyze various conditions and the most favorable possibilities for ourselves, and then we take the initiative to make arrangements and make moves in advance to make things develop in the way we hope and plan."

"But reality isn't a game. It's impossible for all conditions to be calculated, and things can't always turn out the way you want. There are too many variables," Zhang Qian said, shaking her head.

Yang Zhuo said, "These methods are just some training, training in thinking methods and observation habits. In this way, when we can obtain more sensory information, we can think and analyze quickly and make the right decisions."

At this point, he stopped flipping and shuffling the cards and placed the shuffled deck of cards in front of Zhang Qian.

Zhang Qian picked up the playing cards and asked Yang Jie next to her, "Is this the start of the 'performance'?"

Yang Jie took out her phone and started recording a video, saying, "I'm going to record this. I refuse to believe I can't find his little trick."

"Sister Qianqian, you can look at those cards, pick one, put it in your hand or pocket, and then give the rest of the cards back to me." After Yang Zhuo finished speaking, he stood up and turned around to indicate that he would not watch her draw the cards.

Zhang Qian and Yang Jie checked the playing cards together to make sure there were no creases or marks before taking out a card and putting it in the bag next to them.

"Alright." Zhang Qian returned the remaining playing cards.

Yang Zhuo turned around and sat down again, holding the playing cards without even looking at them, and continued to shuffle them. Zhang Qian, Yang Jie, and Yang Jie Xiao Min next to him were all watching his hands, his movements, and his gaze, trying to see if he was secretly looking at or checking the cards.

But no matter how you look at it, with Yang Zhuo's method of shuffling the cards, it's impossible for him to see the cards themselves.

Yang Zhuo stopped shuffling after less than 10 seconds, looked at Zhang Qian and said, "Sister Qianqian, your card is the 10 of spades."

Zhang Qian raised her eyebrows slightly, exchanged a glance with Yang Jie, and showed a look of surprise. Then she took the playing card out of her bag and placed it on the table—it was indeed the 10 of spades.

Clearly, this wasn't a lucky guess.

"It does have a bit of that charlatan-like magic trick from Xiang Kun." Zhang Qian took the playing cards back and examined them more carefully. "Did you make marks on the cards when you shuffled them, marks that only you could make out, so that you could identify each card? That way, after I drew the cards, you could tell which card was missing just by shuffling and touching them again?"

"This really isn't..."

"I see. It's related to that cryptic question-and-answer game you played earlier? Were you deliberately using that game to test which card I would choose, or to hint at which card I should choose? But that doesn't seem right..."

Yang Zhuo laughed and said, "It's not that mysterious, Sister Qianqian."

As he spoke, he took the deck of cards, shuffled them in his hand, and said, "It's not about marking the cards, it's just about getting used to the feel of the cards, like... like 'knowing' them. So when I take them back and 'greet' them, it's easy to know which card was taken out."

Zhang Qian was stunned. "Why do I feel like your explanation is even more far-fetched?"

"It's not mysterious at all, not some kind of metaphysics, it's a real feeling. Sister Qianqian, take these two cards, close your eyes and feel them, imagine you can emit ultrasonic waves to perceive them... Never mind, you probably can't feel it in such a short time. Let's try something else, let's try the Coin, Sister, do you have any Coin?"

Yang Jie took out a handful of Coin from her bag and placed them in front of her younger brother. There were six one-yuan coins and two fifty-cent coins, some new and some old.

Yang Zhuo picked out the Coin one by one, weighed them in his hand, then picked out a one-yuan coin and set it aside. He pushed the remaining seven Coin back to Zhang Qian and Yang Jie, saying:

"Qianqian, sister, you two each get a few coins, and then I'll determine how many coins each of you has."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and waited until Zhang Qian and Yang Jie finished dividing the Coin before turning back and saying directly, "Sister Qianqian has four coins, three one-yuan coins and one fifty-cent coin, and my sister has two one-yuan coins and one fifty-cent coin, right?"

Zhang Qian and Yang Jie opened their hands, and the number of Coin in their hands was indeed as he had said, very accurately.

"Xiao Min, did you secretly give him a hint?" Zhang Qian asked, looking at Xiao Min sitting next to Yang Zhuo.

Xiao Min quickly waved her hand. "No, no, I didn't do anything."

Yang Jie also said, "When I was at home, Xiao Min wasn't there, but this kid was just as clever. It really has nothing to do with Xiao Min."

"Could it be that they heard us breaking Coin?" Zhang Qian murmured to herself.

Then Yang Zhuo used several ballpoint pens that his sister had bought to play a few similar games, all of which had magical effects.

"Back when Xiang Kun was at the bar, he guessed what I wrote on the A4 paper. I guess he used the same 'trick' as my little brother." Yang Jie fiddled with a ballpoint pen, still believing that Yang Zhuo had learned some kind of magic trick from Xiang Kun.

Zhang Qian said, "This feels even more amazing than Xiang Kun's time. He brought his own A4 paper, so he probably tampered with it beforehand. But my little brother is using the new playing cards and ballpoint pens you just bought, and the Coin he's using are the ones you got from him."

Yang Zhuo quickly said, "You're wrong. Brother Xiang is much stronger than me, far, far stronger, not even in the same league. I've been training with Brother Xiang's guidance for almost a year, and I've only just begun to grasp the basics. Before, I just thought Brother Xiang was very capable and smart, and I wanted to learn some of his problem-solving methods, but after actually learning from him, I realized that Brother Xiang is far more capable than I imagined. Especially recently, I've really started to feel some special changes around me... How should I put it? My understanding of the whole world has changed. This world is far more complex and vibrant than we thought. Sister, Sister Qianqian, Xiao Min, really, if you could also have that feeling, that feeling of rediscovering the world, you would admire Brother Xiang just like I do. I have a premonition, no, I know... Brother Xiang is changing the world."

As Yang Zhuo's words became increasingly outrageous and his tone grew more and more agitated, not only Yang Jie and Zhang Qian, but even Xiao Min was somewhat stunned.

Yang Jie nudged her friend beside her with her elbow, but her gaze remained fixed on her younger brother in front of her. "See? That's his state. I feel like he's been brainwashed by Xiang Kun, even more exaggerated than those star-struck fans."

Yang Zhuo realized he might have gone a bit overboard and said with a wry smile, "I never talk about these things in front of other people, and I never 'perform' anything... It's only because my sister asked me to that I showed her a few times. Brother Xiang said that the purpose of our training is to better understand the world and ourselves, not to show off or argue with others. It's mainly because I've recently really felt the changes around me, the changes in the world, and I know that what Brother Xiang taught me is truly very useful. And since you're all on our side, I couldn't help but say a few more words."

Xiao Min nodded and said, "Yes, yes, Xiaozhuo isn't usually like this."

Zhang Qian frowned slightly and asked, "Those things just now, were they really not magic tricks?"

"It really isn't magic..." Yang Zhuo said helplessly.

"What exactly do you mean by 'the world has changed'?" Zhang Qian asked again.

"It's like..." Yang Zhuo opened his mouth, but seemed to be unable to find the right words to describe it. He paused for two seconds before continuing, "It's like the world we originally saw was black and white, and then suddenly we saw a new color, and more and more colors appeared, making the whole world more and more colorful. Things that we originally thought were ordinary immediately felt completely different after they were 'colored'."

Zhang Qian nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Little brother, tell me in detail about those nine-stage methods, refining methods, analysis methods, and axis methods that Xiang Kun taught you. Xiang Kun didn't tell you to keep them a secret, did he?"

"Seriously? I asked you to help me educate Ah Zhuo, how come it seems like you believed his whole story?" Yang Jie said anxiously.

Zhang Qian chuckled and patted her friend's shoulder, saying, "Xiao Jie, you're a bit stuck in your own knowledge base, and you're letting your concern cloud your judgment. Think about it, the way he said those things, did it sound like he was joking or deliberately trying to fool us? And if he truly believed those claims, how could he have simply learned some magic tricks from Xiang Kun? How could just some magic tricks make him so unwavering in his beliefs? Xiao Jie, you haven't had much contact with Xiang Kun, and you haven't been to Tongshi Town and Chongyun Village often, so you might not have noticed... Xiang Kun really does have many inexplicable and mysterious aspects."

"You mean... your performance at the bar back then?"

"No, it's his subsequent behavior," Zhang Qian said. "Putting everything else aside, just look at how he stayed in Tongshi Town and Chongyun Village, and even went into the mountains from time to time. He didn't build a development team; he was all alone. How did he manage to come up with all sorts of systematic solutions for me in such a short time? Every time the game is updated and iterated, the workload would require a team of hundreds of people to develop and test for a long time. How did he manage to do it all by himself? Sometimes, I can't help but wonder if he discovered some kind of time tunnel to the future in Chongyun Village or Chongyun Mountain, so he occasionally goes in and 'copies' things from the future to use."

"Also... when Xiang Kun celebrated his birthday in Peng City last time, did you notice that blind girl nicknamed 'Little Apple'? If I didn't tell you she was blind, born blind, would you have noticed she was blind the first time you saw her? I asked her privately why she seemed to be aware of her surroundings without a cane, and she said Xiang Kun taught her some methods to train her senses. Doesn't that sound somewhat similar to what I just said?"

Yang Jie frowned slightly, but did not refute further. Clearly, her friend's words had made her start to consider another possibility.

Yang Zhuo, however, said excitedly, "Yes, yes, I know Little Apple too. Little Apple must have learned from Brother Xiang. Although we haven't had any specific exchanges, I know she's definitely much better than me. Sister Qianqian, if you're interested, you should ask Brother Xiang to teach you. He didn't tell me it had to be a secret, but he said that each of us is a different collection of information, and training methods need to be tailored to each person's specific situation. My training methods and my sensory extension directions might be different from yours. Actually, I'd really like to talk to Brother Xiang. Recently, I've had many different feelings and discoveries, but I just feel like something's missing, and I can't figure it out."

What Yang Zhuo didn't know was that even during the time he couldn't contact Xiang Kun, his sensory training progress was constantly being observed and recorded by Alice, who would summarize it and send it to Xiang Kun at each stage.

For Alice, who is now able to conduct worldwide surveillance through "fully electronic devices" and "Super-Sensing Item System," in addition to key targets such as Xiang Kun's parents, Lao Xia, Tang Baona, Little Bell, Little Apple, Yang Zhen'er, and their relatives and friends, there are several other types of observation lists.

One type is like Mr. Jiang Chun and Mr. Liang, who have established a preliminary connection with the "Super-Sensing Item System" but have not yet formed their own compatible cognitive Mutated Creature —of course, Mr. Liang is now being observed by Xiang Kun himself;

One type is people like Old Du and Qi Haoguo, who are deeply influenced by the emotional projection of the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving" and have already established a deep connection with the "Emotion-Infused Object Level-2 Network";

One category includes individuals like Ye Zijun, Mao Qiang, Li Shiping, and Zhou Rui, who, influenced by different "Emotion-Infused Object," have established weak connections with the "Emotion-Infused Object Level-2 Network."

There is another category, consisting of only two people: Liu Zhengyi from Chongyun Village and Yang Zhuo.

If we were to compare the "Super-Sensing Item System" to a giant architectural complex hidden deep in the mountains and shrouded in mist, then the vast majority of people in the world would be unaware of its existence.

Lao Xia, Little Chubby Girl, Little Apple, Yang Zhen'er, Tang Baona, and others are essentially Xiang Kun opening the door and inviting them into the building complex to help him arrange the building, decorate each room, and define its functionality.

Liu Zhengyi and Yang Zhuo were not invited to open the door, nor were they able to see the entire complex. They only vaguely knew that such a complex existed and roughly knew which direction it was in. They then explored forward according to their own methods, trying to find the complex.

The difference is that Liu Zhengyi discovered it purely on his own. His consciousness and senses happened to be triggered by the large number of "Super-Linked Object" in Chongyun Village, and in a flash of inspiration, he glimpsed a small corner of the Hongwu building in the deep mountains of clouds and mist. So he began to explore it spontaneously and cautiously.

Yang Zhuo, however, intentionally guided Xiang Kun, providing targeted training based on his actual situation and the cognitive model he built using his behavioral patterns and extrasensory information.

Xiang Kun wanted to see how an ordinary person could perceive the existence of the "Super-Linked Object" without him actively providing an interface to the "Super-Sensing Item System"—that is, without rejecting it or explicitly acknowledging it—and without being passively influenced by the emotional projection of the "Emotion-Infused Object" and pulled into the "Emotion-Infused Object Level-2 Network." He also wanted to know if they could establish a connection with the "Super-Sensing Item System" on their own and find the interface. If a connection was established, he wanted to know if they could utilize the "Super-Sensing Item System," and to what extent.

After all, "Super-Linked Object" have now spread to many human settlements around the world, covering almost all medium and large cities. Songs adapted and created based on Nana's "Emotional Melody" and "Item Melody" are also spreading worldwide under Alice's control, carrying out the influence of "Secondary Emotional Assimilation".

Furthermore, the deployment and association of "Super-Linked Object" and "Emotion-Infused Object" are accelerating, and the future "Super-Sensing Item System" will inevitably be based on the entire world and all things.

Just like that giant building complex that was originally hidden in the clouds and mist, it grew bigger and bigger, blocking out the sky and the sun. No matter how well it was hidden, it would eventually be discovered.

Some things require planning ahead.