What It's Like Being a Vampire

“Lu Cheng’an…I met him a few times in the early years. We had some interaction, but we’re not very familiar.” Upon hearing this name, Mr. Feng nodded, seemingly lost in his memories. After a moment of silence, he shook his head, “He’s a pitiful man.”

Gao Yao was taken aback, a bit confused. He didn’t expect to get such an answer. In his eyes, the founder of Divine Technology, Lu Cheng’an, should be a life winner!

Moreover, with the size of Divine Technology, the job opportunities it created, and the various new technologies it developed, it should have made significant contributions to society, the country, and even all of humanity.

However, Xiang Kun immediately thought of Lu Cheng’an’s family and the rumored tragedies of his wife and child.

As expected, Mr. Feng continued, “When he was starting his business, the company just got on track, and then his wife fell ill and died. Not long after, his only son became paralyzed. No matter how well the company does or how smoothly his career goes, nothing can make up for that pain.”

Xiang Kun keenly detected from various physical feedback from Mr. Feng that his mood seemed somewhat downcast. Mr. Feng himself said that he was not well acquainted with Lu Cheng’an and even not considered a friend. Obviously, it was not likely that he would have much emotional reaction to his sorrow. But Xiang Kun remembered that on the way, Tang Baona said that her grandmother had died long ago, and the relationship between her grandparents was very good. So when this topic was mentioned, Mr. Feng might have thought of himself and projected his feelings.

However, others obviously wouldn’t be so sensitive to notice that. Yang Zhen’er immediately asked curiously, “Grandpa, is all the research done by Divine Technology over the years really for resurrecting his wife and curing his son?”

Even though Yang Lao San often argues with Xiang Kun and loves to boast, she is quite “well-behaved” and polite when facing elders. Because of her good relationship with Tang Baona, she started calling Mr. Feng as grandpa after meeting him a few times.

Tang Baona would often say that if Yang Zhen’er were reincarnated in ancient times, she would certainly be a sycophant.

Upon hearing her question, Mr. Feng couldn’t help but chuckle, “Where did you hear this kind of gossip?”

“I heard many people saying so.” Yang Zhen’er replied, “Grandpa, did Chairman Lu’s son get cured?”

Actually, on Christmas Eve last year, at Tang Baona’s family gathering, they once discussed various topics about Divine Technology and the Lu family behind the scenes. This was because Yang Zhen’er’s classmate, Qin Ping, was having a hard time deciding whether to accept an offer from Divine Technology at the time.

Although they had abundant information at that time, most of it was second-hand, coming from the elders of the family or veterans in the industry. Naturally, these couldn’t compare to first-hand information from someone like Mr. Feng, who had personally been in contact with Lu Cheng’an and knew people from the Lu family.

Mr. Feng replied, “I don’t know whether his son was cured or not, but I guess he most likely hasn’t been cured yet. Otherwise, there should be some news from his relatives and friends. This is a joyous event, there’s no reason to hide it.

“I know that there are many rumors outside, saying his son was harmed by the competitors of Divine Technology. People say the hardship Lu Cheng’an has endured for over a decade was all for revenge, but it’s all nonsense. I am very clear about the reason his son was paralyzed. The kid just fell down the stairs by himself; it had nothing to do with anyone else.

“As for the technology developed by Divine Technology, it may not necessarily have been Lu Cheng’an’s original idea. It could be that the authorities suggested it.”

Tang Baona exclaimed in surprise, “Grandpa, do you mean Divine Technology is actually a state-owned enterprise?”

“Divine Technology is definitely not a state-owned enterprise. What grandpa means is that the authorities have a great influence on the technological development and research direction of Divine Technology. They probably provide some supports that we don’t know about, right?” Tang Baoting said.

But Gao Yao was puzzled, “Are you saying that Divine Technology collaborates with the authorities on some projects, Grandpa? Many private enterprises have such collaborations, which seem quite normal, don’t they?”

Mr. Feng said, “Divine Technology’s cooperation with the government is much deeper than what it appears on the surface. I found out about this inadvertently in the past. The officials collaborating with Divine Technology are very high-ranking. As for their exact ranks, identities, and what they are doing specifically, you all don’t need to concern yourselves with it. Just understand that the advanced tech that Divine Technology is working on isn’t simply because Lu Cheng’an wants to bring his wife back to life and cure his child.”

But even though he said this, the grandchildren became even more fervently engaged in the conversation about the secrets behind “Divine Technology” after hearing Mr. Feng’s revelations.

Tang Baoting guessed, “Could it be the military? Things like mechanical exoskeletons seem to have potential military applications.”

Gao Yao immediately countered his fiancée, “If the level of cooperation was only this, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Our military has been working with private enterprises to procure and develop various military products for a long time now. According to Grandpa’s words, the collaboration between Divine Technology and the government is even deeper. Could it be that they are liaising with overseas parties for some exchanges and collaborations, so using private enterprises is more convenient?”

Yang Zhen’er added with a sense of awe, “No wonder Chairman Lu has been so low-profile these past years. Not even his relatives or friends have seen him much. I suppose it’s because his cooperation with the government is somewhat sensitive?”

Tang Baona looked worried, “Grandpa, is it okay for you to be telling us all this?”

Mr. Feng laughed helplessly, “Don’t overthink, it’s not as complex and mysterious as you’re imagining. These aren’t exactly top-secret matters that can’t be mentioned at all. The reason few people know about this is because neither Divine Technology nor the government have intentionally publicized it, and no one has delved deeply into it.”

Xiang Kun silently listened from the side, not interjecting much. The questions he wanted to ask had mostly already been raised by Gao Yao and Yang Zhen’er. Some of the questions, even if not asked, could be inferred from Mr. Feng’s other responses.

The most significant and important information he obtained was that Divine Technology has a very close relationship with the government, and the officials liaising with Divine Technology are of a very high rank.

This subconsciously led Xiang Kun to speculate that the cooperation between Divine Technology and the government might be related to the search and research on mutants.

After all, based on the mutant samples he’s encountered since his own mutation, mutants have been appearing for at least a decade, and come in all sorts of variants. It’s impossible for the government to be completely ignorant of this.

However, when he thought about his past experiences, Xiang Kun realized there were some issues with this hypothesis.

If the government really wanted to secretly research mutants, why would it rely on a private enterprise? Even if this private enterprise has strong technology and solid strength, it still doesn’t make sense.

Moreover, according to the information he had gathered through various channels beforehand, whether it was Fang Pingfang, Zhou Rui, Mijoe, or other researchers and staff in Divine Technology’s secret department, none believed that they were doing things for the government. They were even worry about being harassed by the government during their confrontation with the mutated big bird near Wushu Mountain. Their use of advanced drones was also extremely cautious.

The various conversations between Mijoe and Mr. Liang were also not like talks with government officials. Mr. Liang didn’t seem to be a government person at all.

Also, when he had observed the Divine Technology personnel monitoring Guo Tianxiang’s clinic and residence while purportedly working for a “supernaturally fast” courier company in Yangcheng City, it further undermined the idea of Divine Technology being a front for government research on mutants.

Perhaps the government is not even aware of the research on mutants conducted by Mr. Liang and others within the secret department of Divine Technology. The cooperation between the government and Divine Technology might be in other areas, while Divine Technology and Mr. Liang are secretly conducting related research and investigations.

But if that was the case, what about the government’s alleged department for research and investigation of mutants? Given the frequency and duration of the mutants’ appearances, it’s impossible for the government to be completely unaware of the existence of mutants.

Just looking at the mutants Xiang Kun has encountered, any of them have significant research value. If the government knew about the existence of mutants, there is no reason for it not to prioritize it.

Plus, based on what he knows, there are several secret research bases run by “Divine Technology” spread across the country. Each base is quite large and is staffed by top-notch researchers. It’s impossible for the authorities to be completely oblivious to this and just let it be.

All in all, there are contradictions and inconsistencies in every conjecture.

After chatting for a while, they said goodbye to Mr. Feng at around nine o’clock and prepared to head home.

Similar to their arrival, Xiang Kun followed Tang Baona and Yang Zhen Er’s car, planning to visit their home. They intended to chat about a newly updated game version, plus the details of their upcoming collaboration with Zhang Qian, representing Xiang Kun.

However, after getting home, Tang Baona checked her phone and said: “Liu Shiling asked me if I’m free to video chat. She wants to show me some of her drawings.”

“Who’s Liu Shiling?” Yang Zhen Er asked puzzledly.

Xiang Kun had mentioned his plan to teach Liu Shiling how to paint to Tang Baona a couple of days ago, and she had agreed. She had already held a video chat “class” with the little fatty girl yesterday and had even assigned her “homework”.

However, Yang Zhen Er had been staying at her own home for the last two days and was unaware of what had been happening with Liu Shiling.

“Remember the little girl who lived in 706 next to me? I asked Nana to teach her painting. Let’s video chat with her first. Children need to go to bed early. We can chat more later,” said Xiang Kun.

When the QQ video chat connected, Liu Shiling, who was far away in Star City, was startled by the instant appearance of three heads on her iPad screen. Her little face trembled slightly, causing her to pull her iPad back.

After a second, when she recognized who the three heads on the screen were, she relaxed a little and greeted: “Hello, Uncle Bald! Hello, Beautiful Sister! Hello, Grilled Chicken Wing Sister!”

Because Yang Zhen Er only squeezed half of her face into the frame, Liu Shiling assumed she was Xia LIbing, whom she’d chatted with a few times before.

Yang Zhen Er turned to Tang Baona in surprise and asked: “Why she’s calling you Grilled Chicken Wing Sister?”

Tang Baona chuckled impatiently: “Well, aren’t you going to accept ‘Beautiful Sister’? You’re really something! ‘Grilled Chicken Wing Sister’ is clearly addressing you! Yesterday, Liu Shiling called me ‘Beautiful Sister’.”

Yang Zhen Er was taken aback: “Why would I be Grilled Chicken Wing Sister? That doesn’t make sense…”

Xiang Kun laughed and explained: “Grilled Chicken Wing Sister is Old Xia. Because Old Xia promised to treat her to grilled chicken wings. She must have mistaken you for Old Xia.”

In the video chat, Liu Shiling also quickly nodded: “I’m sorry, sister. I confused you with another person!”

“No problem. Look at me. what would you like to call me?” Yang Zhen Er pushed Xiang Kun and Tang Baona to the side to occupy the center of the screen and fixed her hair, maintaining a friendly smile.

Seeing the adorable little fatty girl slightly dazed and unsure, Yang Zhen Er gently coaxed: “Let’s see, I’ll give you three options. One is Pretty Sister, the second is Good-Looking Sister, the third is Ms. Fairy Sister. Pick one, my dear little Lingdang sister.”

Tang Baona felt like facepalming, while Xiang Kun chuckled: “Lingdang, you can call her Old Yang Sister or Old Three Sister.”

“Come on! Xiang Kun, scoot over! Don’t teach bad habits to kids!” Yang Zhen Er forcefully shoved Xiang Kun to the side.

“Lingdang, don’t mind that crazy sister. Come on, show me your drawings?” Tang Baona quickly took the phone and said to Liu Shiling.

Then Liu Shiling held up her drawings to the camera, which were based on images that Tang Baona had sent to her for practice.

Seeing the drawings, Tang Baona couldn’t help but go blank.

“Lingdang, why does this duck have so many wings? And… what are these circles on its belly?”

Although the little fatty girl doesn’t seem to have much talent in drawing pictures, the “homework” Tang Baona had assigned was simple, and she should have been able to copy the images without any problem.

But unexpectedly, she had drawn eight pairs of wings on a small duck, plus several mysterious circles on its belly.

The little fatty girl explained: “A little duck can’t fly with just one pair of wings, so it needs more to rise. The circles on the belly are eyes. They can see small fish and shrimp underwater when it swims.”

Tang Baona felt relieved. It was a good thing the extra wings weren’t for grilling.

She didn’t discourage the little fatty girl’s excessive embellishments. The creativity of a child should be encouraged. So, she taught her how to arrange the multiple pairs of wings more intuitively, how to draw eyes and how to distribute them on the duck’s belly to look more appealing and balanced.

After half an hour of painting class, at Yang Zhen Er’s request, they reversed the roles and had the little fatty girl teach them how to flip coins.

Watching the girl, whose hands were much smaller than theirs, flip coins with such agility, speed, and skill, left both of them feeling shocked and envious.

Originally, the chubby, adorable girl, who was slightly naive, suddenly seemed a bit cool when flipping coins, inexplicably handsome even.

However, the way the little fatty girl flipped coins was not suitable for adults. Despite trying for a long time, both of them did not just fail to improve, but instead regressed, forgetting the techniques they had learned previously.

But this exchange made the little fatty girl more familiar with the two sisters and increased the warmth in their conversation.

Around ten o’clock, before ending the video chat, the little fatty girl said goodbye: “Goodnight Uncle Bald! Goodnight Beautiful Sister! Goodnight, Old Fairy Sister!”

“Old Fairy?” Staring at the already ended video chat on her phone, Yang Zhen Er was stunned while Xiang Kun and Tang Baona couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Clearly, the little fatty girl’s nickname was corrupted by Xiang Kun!

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