Standing at his own door, Xiang Kun overheard the conversation between Shiling's Mother and Tang Baona in the elevator and knew that trouble was brewing.
Sure enough, a few dozen seconds later, Tang Baona, who was still downstairs, called.
"I only started trying to cook recently, and I only know how to cook two dishes so far."
"My neighbor gave me some homemade snacks, and since I had just tried making a dish, I gave them these as a return gift."
"That's just her saying nice things about me, she's exaggerating. I'm just a beginner, how could I possibly cook better than people in restaurants?"
"A chef? Are you kidding me? Before this month, I had never cooked more than a dozen times."
"Why rabbit meat? I happened to see a video about making rabbit meat online a few days ago, which sparked my interest."
"Sure, if you guys really have the courage to try the food, next time I'll prepare in advance and ask you to be my guinea pigs. But if it tastes bad, don't blame me."
"You don't eat rabbit meat? Why? Rabbit meat is really good, and it's the only thing I can cook for now... Okay, then I'll try beef next time."
"Tonight? Tonight won't work. I haven't prepared anything, and I have something to do later. Let's make it up another time. I need to prepare. I should find a few beef recipes to try out first..."
After hanging up the phone, Xiang Kun returned home.
Indeed, logically speaking, he is now a friend who often hangs out with Tang Baona, Yang Zhen'er, and Xia Libing. Since he can cook and give food to his neighbors, there is no reason why he can't cook for his friends—especially since they have directly asked him to.
Of course, if someone is truly unwilling, Xiang Kun will still forcefully refuse.
But after he woke up from drinking blood this time, he was actually considering going back to his hometown to be with his parents after a while. It would definitely not work if he didn't eat properly.
After his sudden physical mutation, he was more concerned with survival. He then focused on training and guiding the mutation to improve his various abilities. He didn't think much about getting along with people because he was unemployed and lived alone, so he could avoid many problems.
But now it seems that no matter what kind of being I become, whether I become a "vampire" or something else, I'm not going to die anytime soon, so I should start thinking about the future.
The three biggest problems I face when interacting with people now are: first, the fixed period of drinking blood; second, the need for nearly 25 hours of sleep after drinking blood; and third, the inability to accept normal food and drink other than water.
The first problem can be solved as long as you have your own private space. The blood-drinking process is very short, and at the current frequency, it's about once every six days. Just be careful not to be seen while drinking blood.
The second question can be attributed to work or gaming. Even before the mutation, during his university holidays, he would occasionally stay up all night playing games or programming, and then sleep for fifteen or sixteen hours straight afterward. As long as he gave prior notice, he wouldn't be disturbed even if he slept at his parents' house.
The third problem is the most difficult to avoid.
When interacting with others, whether relatives, friends, or family, it's almost impossible to avoid the issue of eating together.
You can make excuses to avoid it once or twice, but it will cause problems in the long run, unless you completely cut off contact with everyone.
But no matter how reclusive and withdrawn he is, he can't abandon his parents, he can't stop having normal contact with them, and he can't stop eating with them.
Of course, he had also thought that if he told his parents everything that had happened to him, they would definitely keep his secret, cover for him, and do anything for him. His parents were people he could absolutely trust.
But he also knew that if he did that, they would be constantly worried about him.
His parents had toiled and worried for him for thirty years, and he hoped their later years would be easier, instead of having to worry about whether their son would turn into a "monster" or suddenly die.
As for how to suppress vomiting after eating, Xiang Kun already has a general training direction.
He had previously considered whether targeted training could help him eat and hold it in without vomiting, thereby allowing his stomach to evolve the ability to hold food for longer periods after the mutation following blood-drinking.
But after trying, he found he couldn't do it...
The process of vomiting involves the continuous contraction of the pyloric antrum, the opening of the pyloric sphincter, the contraction of the abdominal muscles, and the increase in abdominal pressure, which forces the stomach contents to reflux rapidly and violently from the stomach and be expelled from the body through the esophagus and mouth.
Most people, whether from drinking too much alcohol, motion sickness, or certain illnesses, experience nausea before vomiting, followed by a strong contraction of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles, making them want to vomit. At this point, they can try to endure it or use other methods to alleviate the nausea. However, when vomiting actually occurs, it is impossible to forcibly stop or suppress it.
As for Xiang Kun, the process of going from nausea to vomiting after eating was too fast, and he was unable to control himself during the vomiting process.
The worst that can be from a forced "resistance" is for them to keep their mouths tightly shut, preventing them from spitting out the food...
But this kind of behavior is too conspicuous; it's impossible for others at the same table not to notice it.
However, after exploring the Giant Owl's nest, Xiang Kun found a way to suppress drowsiness after drinking blood—swallowing pebbles.
He used the nausea and vomiting sensation in his stomach after swallowing the stone to stay awake.
Compared to other foods, the feeling of pebbles in the stomach is somewhat different, because one can vaguely and intermittently sense the outline of the pebbles.
Therefore, when the pylorus begins to contract, one can use the sensation of the pebble to control a part of the stomach and forcibly inhibit the contraction of the pylorus.
Although the process is painful, it does indeed suppress vomiting.
Xiang Kun believes this is due to structural changes in the stomach after the mutation. Before the mutation, swallowing a stone would at most cause stomach pain due to digestive issues, unlike now where he can clearly feel the state and outline of the stone in his stomach and use this to suppress vomiting.
The fact that even a Giant Owl could do this proves that his stomach, which is primarily for digesting and absorbing fresh blood, is the reason he can do it.
Xiang Kun first found the smooth-skinned pebbles he had bought earlier, washed them, and swallowed them. Then he picked up a 480ml bottle of Xiao Ming Tongxue, tilted his head back, and gulped it down in one go—these drinks were bought today to entertain Tang Baona and the others.
Xiang Kun judged that the vomiting process does not distinguish between what should be vomited and what should not be vomited, so as long as the stone can be suppressed, the urge to vomit can be suppressed, and the other contents in the stomach can naturally stay put.
Twenty seconds later.
"Puff--"
Xiang Kun violently sprayed out the drink he had just drunk, making a mess all over the kitchen.
Finally, he spat the pebble he had been holding in his mouth into his hand.
Although the attempt failed, Xiang Kun was not discouraged, because the drink he had just consumed had affected his sensation of the stone in his stomach.
So this experiment taught him that he shouldn't eat too much liquid food.
Xiang Kun then opened the snacks he had bought earlier and began to continue his experiment.