The World Had Already Changed Dramatically (Part One)

Liu Shiling groggily sat up in bed, rubbed her eyes, and tried to look at her small digital clock on the bedside table. Then she turned her head and realized it wasn't her own bedside table. She realized that it was still a holiday and she was in Chongyun Village.

So she looked to the other side and saw Little Apple Sister still sleeping, while another bed further away was empty, with the blankets neatly folded – that was Roast Chicken Wing Sister's bed.

Did the Roast Chicken Wing Sister not sleep last night?

No, the Roast Chicken Wing Sister is sleeping.

Liu Shiling recalled her dream from last night, and a happy smile involuntarily appeared on her face. She chuckled and jumped out of bed, wearing the Garfield slippers Yang Zhen'er had bought for her, and walked to the window.

As the curtains were drawn back, golden sunlight streamed into the room. The Little Chubby Girl instinctively closed her eyes. The sunlight warmed her chubby face, making her feel comfortable and still. She stood by the window with her eyes closed and her face tilted back.

After a while, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Opening her eyes, she saw that Little Apple had gotten up and was standing by the window, just like her, with her eyes closed, letting the sunlight shine on her face. She exclaimed, "The sunrise is so beautiful."

The Little Chubby Girl didn't ask Little Apple why she could see the sunrise so beautifully even with her eyes closed. In her understanding, Little Apple was also a super powerful magician who could command Gold Glitter and summon Barbie Warrior, so it was only natural that she could see things with her eyes closed.

As for Little Apple being blind? That's just one of her unique characteristics, like Uncle Bald's bald head, Egg Pie's egg yolk fuzz, Gold Glitter's golden fuzz, Pretty Sister's singing voice, Roast Chicken Wing Sister's chicken wing magic, and Old Fairy Sister's happiness.

The Little Chubby Girl looked at the rising sun, which resembled half an egg yolk, and leaned against Little Apple, saying, "Little Apple, did we win?"

Little Apple naturally knew what she was talking about, and nodded, "I guess so."

"Little Apple Sister, have you seen that big monster? Do you know what it looks like?" the Little Chubby Girl asked again.

"Hmm... According to Sister Bing and Uncle Xiang, the monster's form is something we can't understand using normal cognition. The reason we find those unusual and different elements in the dream is to help Uncle Baldy and Alice determine the way that monster exists... um, Uncle Xiang." Little Apple scratched her head a little embarrassedly. She found that spending too much time with Little Fatty made it easy for her to be assimilated by Little Chubby Girl's cognition. She always felt that Little Fatty's way of calling things was more natural. Not only "Uncle Baldy," but she had also called Little Apple "Old Fairy Sister" and "Pretty Sister" several times before.

"So... were we any help?" the Little Chubby Girl asked again.

"There should be... right?" Little Apple thought for a moment, then changed her tone to affirmation. "There definitely is."

She knew that, unless absolutely necessary, given Xiang Kun's protectiveness towards them, he would never easily allow them to participate in the "battle." Recalling her dream from last night, her feelings and discoveries, she felt that her understanding was probably correct.

Hearing her words, the Little Chubby Girl became happy. Although the long-awaited "monster battle" didn't involve any majestic or terrifying monsters, and felt more like playing hide-and-seek in a dream, she still had a very special feeling after waking up. She felt like she had become more powerful, but she couldn't figure out exactly why or how.

In the Little Chubby Girl's logic, since she became more powerful after last night's dream, it must prove that she had been of great help and had played a role—although she didn't know exactly what role she had played.

She only had a vague idea herself and wasn't sure, but with the affirmation from her trusted older sister, Little Apple, there was no doubt about it.

Suddenly, a large ball of something fell from above and floated lightly onto the windowsill in front of them.

Then the Little Chubby Girl saw that the Big Cat face of the Egg Pie was looking at her through the window with a "hungry" expression.

Although the Egg Pie came down abruptly from above, neither of them was startled. Little Apple could always tell from the sounds that Gold Glitter and Egg Pie were upstairs and what they were doing, while Little Chubby Girl suddenly sensed something just before Egg Pie fell, as if she had a premonition, so she wasn't surprised.

After the Egg Pie fell, the Gold Glitter followed closely behind, landing by the window.

The Little Chubby Girl opened the window and brought in the Egg Pie, then she and Little Apple went downstairs to see what they could have for breakfast.

As Little Chubby Girl and Little Apple came downstairs, Tang Baona also sat up in bed.

She had just woken up, still wearing the smile from her dream. She had played music all night, essentially putting on a "concert," yet she was in excellent spirits and looked very refreshed.

Since childhood, she has fantasized countless times about singing on a magnificent stage with top-notch sound equipment and a dance troupe, surrounded by a huge audience, and singing exceptionally well while receiving cheers and applause. Especially after recently gaining the ability to perceive the melodies and Emotional Melody of all things and "originalizing" many songs, she has secretly indulged in these fantasies even more.

However, she still felt a bit resistant to actually performing on stage. She wanted to enjoy the momentary exuberance and expression on stage, but she didn't want to bear the troubles and worries that come with fame.

Therefore, this kind of performance, which is both real and illusory in a dream, can very well satisfy her desire to perform.

In particular, her performances and her compositions are not just for her own enjoyment; they have a real audience— Lao Xia, Little Apple, Little Bell, Yang the Third, and even Xiang Kun and Alice can hear them.

Not only can they hear these songs, but they also play a very "crucial" role in "awakening" them from their dreams.

This gave Tang Baona a great sense of accomplishment, and she sang with great effort in her dream.

When the dream ended and she woke up, Tang Baona felt a sense of ease and accomplishment, like she had when she was a student and had worked hard all night to finish her summer/winter vacation homework, and then had a wonderful sleep.

Sitting on the bed, she stretched and felt a sudden thought. She reached out and touched the beaded bracelet on her wrist. Without consciously trying to sense it, she heard a magnificent melody playing.

Everything around her—the blankets, mattress, bed, wooden floor, bedside table, chairs, table, walls, curtains, the various buildings outside, the birds, flowers, soil, and the first rays of sunlight shining on them—oh, and Yang the Third, still sleeping soundly beside her—everything was like an instrument, playing a melody. Then, all the instruments and melodies blended together perfectly, creating a magnificent and awe-inspiring symphony.

Tang Baona released her right hand from the beaded string, took a deep breath, and glanced at the wall in the room. The sound of the symphony faded away. This perception became more natural and casual, like breathing. It exists all the time when you don't pay attention to it, running in the background. When you pay attention, you can notice various details, detailed processes, and expand its functionality for actual operation.

Tang Baona couldn't help but hum a cheerful melody softly, an expression of her current mood. She looked at Yang Zhen'er, who was sleeping in the same bed as her, leaned over, and pinched her nose. "Third sister! Get up!"

Yang Zhen'er frowned, grunted in response, slapped Tang Baona's hand away, then turned over and went back to sleep.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" Tang Baona continued to harass him, knowing that Yang the Third and she had fallen asleep at the same time, with the same sleep duration. No, strictly speaking, she had "sung" Yang the Third to sleep, so Yang the Third had slept a little longer than her.

"Let me sleep a little longer, Nana. I'm so sleepy and tired," Yang Zhen'er hummed a few times, hugging the blanket, and mumbled indistinctly.

"Huh?" Tang Baona curiously lay down on Yang the Third and touched the furrowed brows of his face. Laosan looked really tired.

Then I thought about Yang the Third's dream last night. Yang the Third's emotional fluctuations were indeed much more frequent than Little Bell and Little Apple's, and it seemed that the situation he was dealing with was more complicated and troublesome.

Although she didn't see them directly, she could roughly sense the emotional and state changes of Yang the Third, Little Bell, and Little Apple in their dreams through their emotions. So when Yang the Third was frustrated, sad, or desperate, she would play the corresponding positive Emotional Melody and encourage Yang the Third to stand up.

While humming a soft, soothing melody, Tang Baona gently smoothed away Yang the Third's furrowed brows and didn't wake her up again, but instead helped her fall back asleep.

After Yang the Third fell asleep, Tang Baona got up, washed up, changed her clothes, and left the room.

She went to Xia, Niu, and Guo's room first, only to find it empty; none of the three were there.

Then she heard the sound of a car and the Little Chubby Girl's cheers.

Tang Baona's heart stirred, and she touched the beaded string on her hand again, purposefully sensing it. She then sensed six Emotional Melody "ravenous hunger" and several Item Melody expressing "delicious aroma".

Tang Baona went downstairs and saw Egg Pie eating cat food in the corner of the living room, and Gold Glitter happily eating Apple Brand special bird food in its birdcage. Little Chubby Girl and Little Apple, still wearing their pajamas, were standing at the gate of the yard, helping Lao Xia get out of the GL8 with his bags.

Needless to say, those bags contained delicious breakfasts—she already knew that from the melody!

"Good morning, pretty sister!" A Little Chubby Girl carrying a bag was the first to enter the room, greeting everyone cheerfully.

"Beautiful... Good morning, Sister Nana!" Little Apple, carrying two bags, also greeted her with a smile.

"Little Bell, Little Apple, you're up so early too?" Tang Baona said, then looked at Xia Libing carrying several bags and exclaimed in surprise, "Lao Xia, you've already bought breakfast? I remember last night at the very end... you even came to listen to my concert with me from below the stage? We should have ended our dreams at the same time?"

As Xia Libing took the food out of the bag and placed it on the table, she explained, "You didn't wake up immediately after the dream ended, but I woke up a little earlier."

Seeing Little Apple holding a fried dough stick and Little Chubby Girl holding a meat bun, both about to take a bite, Tang Baona subconsciously asked, "Have you two brushed your teeth?"

So both of their little mouths stopped in front of the food. After a second of hesitation, Xia Libing took the food from their hands through the plastic bag, then tapped the stairs with her chin. The two understood and quickly went upstairs to their rooms to brush their teeth.

Tang Baona noticed Xia Libing's gaze on her again and quickly said, "I brushed my teeth! I brushed them as soon as I woke up!"

Xia Libing nodded. "Sister Nana, would you like soy milk or regular milk? I also bought some millet porridge, would you like some?"

"Huh? Oh, umm, just a little bit, just a little bit."

After slurping down a mouthful of hot porridge and exhaling a puff of steam, Tang Baona looked satisfied and content. Then she looked at Xia Libing and asked, "Lao Xia, did Xiang Kun take care of that guy we were dealing with?"

"The plan went very well, Nana was great," Xia Libing said. "Alice can answer the questions later with more details."

Hearing Lao Xia's praise, Tang Baona felt a little embarrassed. "I don't think I was of much help, just singing in my dreams and stuff... By the way, your cousin is still sleeping, should we wake her up to eat something before going back to sleep?"

Xia Libing glanced at her watch—a gift from Tang Baona for her birthday—and said, "Let her sleep for another hour. We can just heat up breakfast later. She used up too much energy last night and is quite tired."

"Yes, that's what I think too," Tang Baona said, her hand lingering over the meat bun for half a second before she finally picked up a steamed bun to eat.

Xia Libing poured herself some soy milk and took a few sips. Then she looked up at Tang Baona and suddenly asked, "Sister Nana, did you notice anything different when you woke up today?"

Tang Baona paused for a moment, then, recalling how she felt upon waking, nodded and said, "Yes, I do feel a difference. My perception of melody... how should I put it, it's become smoother and more natural, as if it were an ability I always had, like breathing, speaking, raising my hand, or walking. I can use it very freely; I can sense emotions when I want to, and objects when I want to. And... and the melodies I perceive can blend together very naturally, as if each melody has its specific place and can be combined perfectly. Uh, it's hard to describe; I'll sing you a few verses later and you'll understand."

As she spoke, Tang Baona seemed to remember something and glanced at Lao Xia a few times. Although she couldn't discern anything, she still asked, "Lao Xia, do you also have any different feelings? Is it... that after last night, we're all a little different, that we've all 'leveled up'?"

Xia Libing said, "Yes, we have changed, but the world has changed even more."

"This world?"

"The world is very different now than it was when we went to sleep."

Just then, the Little Chubby Girl and the Little Apple came bounding down from upstairs, yelling:

"I'm so hungry! So hungry! So hungry!"