茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Chapter 52 Why Don’t You Ask Yourself?

After dialing Officer Chen’s number, it was picked up after just two rings.

“Where have you run off to? You’re not replying to WeChat messages or answering your phone?”

Hearing Officer Chen’s tone, Xiang Kun concluded that he didn’t sound angry, just curious. It seemed like it wasn’t a big deal, so Xiang Kun made up an excuse: “I’ve been out traveling these past few days, up in the mountains without a signal. What’s up, Officer Chen, you need something from me?

Officer Chen responded, “The reward money for the fugitive you caught before has been issued. You need to come in and sign some paperwork to confirm it.”

Xiang Kun paused, recalling that he had received a bounty for stopping that blond punk on the streets. He couldn’t recall whether it was for ten thousand or twenty thousand?

“I remember now. Didn’t I leave my bank account details at the station last time?

“We have your bank information, but you’ll have to come into the station to sign some documents, confirm your identity and stuff. Basically, it’s just some necessary paperwork. We can’t directly transfer the money to you. Let me know when you’re free to make a quick trip in, it won’t take long.”

“How about… tomorrow morning, will that work?”

“Hmm, call me when you are heading here. If I’m not around, I’ll arrange for a colleague to assist you.”

Having confirmed the plans, Xiang Kun was debating whether or not to make some small talk, ask about Officer Chen’s work and life. Officer Chen, however, preempted him by saying: ‘Well, that’s all for now. Oh, one more thing… You haven’t been patrolling the streets at night recently, have you?”

“Absolutely not, the most I ever do is run around my neighborhood at night.” Xiang Kun couldn’t help but feel awkward. Officer Chen was still worried about him playing the superhero, acting as a vigilante. In reality, he wasn’t “patrolling the streets” anymore, he had switched to “patrolling the mountain”. Either way, the mountain and lake he visited were isolated and lacked any surveillance cameras.

Officer Chen went on, “If anything happens in the future, remember to call the police first. If you’re unsure whether a situation calls for police intervention, you can always contact me first either via WeChat or a call. Don’t try to be a hero on your own.”

“Yes, yes. Don’t worry, Officer Chen. If there’s trouble, I promise to call the police. The last two times, umm… I mean three times, I was the first to call them.” Xiang Kun’s promise was sincere; he genuinely did not enjoy butting in where he wasn’t needed. The ‘Good Samaritan’ video of him is still being shared on the internet, it had proven to be quite a headache.

After ending the call, Xiang Kun checked his WeChat. Sure enough, there were a heap of unread messages, including three from Officer Chen.

He’d set most of the group chats to mute. He only checked the conversation with his parents, replying to his mom’s caring messages and explaining why he didn’t respond earlier.

Then he noticed a message from Tang Baona. It was sent last night, probably not long after he’d fallen asleep.”

“Teacher Saitama, how come you haven’t been to the gym lately? Both Coach Shen from the gym and Coach Yang from the boxing gym have been asking about you.”

Although he currently wasn’t ready for a romantic relationship and didn’t wish to have frequent or intimate contacts with others, Tang Baona’s personality was really appealing, he had to admit.

A number of times, he’d thought that his lack of responses or curt replies would upset her and she would stop contacting him or even ignore him.

Given Tang Baona’s looks and family background, she must have plenty of suitors and be the center of attention among her friends. Not many people would continually ignore or rebuff her outreach.

Xiang Kun considered this. If it were a message asking “are you there?” he might ignore it, but this message was clearly a caring inquiry, so he felt that he should acknowledge it. Not responding to Tang Baona all the time might come off as impolite- after all, she was introduced by Chang Bin. His lack of responses in the past were unintentional, simply because he hadn’t seen the messages.

“I haven’t been feeling well lately, so I’ve been resting at home. How about you?

Is your ankle injury now better?”

After replying to the message, Xiang Kun got up to check on the four rabbits that had been injected with his blood and saliva.

Unexpectedly, less than three seconds after sending his message, a reply came.

He picked up his phone to look and, indeed, the message was from Tang Baona:

“Whoa, Teacher Saitama! How poor is your internet connection? You’re responding to my message a whole day la ter?”

Then the second message came:

“You’re not feeling well? Didn’t you get heatstroke from carrying me home that day, did you?”

Followed by the third message:

“Is it serious? Did you go see a doctor or take medication?” The fourth message also quickly arrived:

“You’re just replying now – you’re not still sick, are you?”

Xiang Kun, holding his phone, was taken aback as messages came flooding in one after another. He was honestly impressed by the speed at which Tang Baona’s typed on her phone, or was it voice recognition?

Xiang Kun quickly replied: “I’m much better now. However, I don’t think I’m going back to the gym right away. Did Coach Shen mention needing me for anything?”

Tang Baona: “It seems they have some competition coming up. They wanted to ask if you wanted to participate.”

Tang Baona: “What’s wrong with your health in the first place? Zhen’er works in a pharmaceutical company. She can get lots of newly released, highly effective medicines. If you have viral flu or something like that, you can give it a try.”

Upon hearing that Yang Zhen’er worked at a pharmaceutical company, Xiang

Kun instantly became interested: “Which pharmaceutical company does Zhen’er work for? Is she a researcher?”

This time, Tang Baona didn’t respond right away, only replying after a while:

“Why not ask her yourself; are you interested in pharmaceutical companies?”

Xiang Kun replied: “I’m a bit interested in medicine, pharmaceuticals, and biotech. I’ve been thinking about a project recently that might involve these fields. ”

Tang Baona: “So, how about coming over to play cards at my house in a couple of days? A Master’s student from the Medical University will be there. If you have any questions, you could ask directly.”

Xiang Kun hesitated a bit but thought it would be manageable since it was just playing cards, not having a meal. It shouldn’t be too revealing of his oddities.

“You set the time and let me know.”

Xiang Kun responded and then added: “Preferably before next Friday.”

Because next Friday, the 23rd, according to the cycle, will be his next blood-drinking period.

After responding to Xiang Kun’s message on WeChat, Tang Baona got off her sofa and swiftly walked back to her room—Although her ankle was still a bit swollen, it no longer affected her movements.

In the room, Yang Zhen’er was playing a computer game with her classmates.

Tang Baona squeezed next to her and watched the screen in silence.

“What’s up, darling? Anything up with you? Speak up!” “Nothing, I’ll talk when you die in the game.”

“Oh no! Don’t curse me! I must win this round..

Yet, just as her words settled, her game character fell to the ground.

“Ahhhh! That’s all your fault!” Yang Zhen’er roared in anger.

After a while, exiting the game, Yang Zhen’er turned around and gave Tang Baona a frown. “So, what’s up?

“Didn’t you mention inviting Old Xia to play cards?” Tang Baona asked.

– END OF SECTION –

Some readers mentioned that there were issues when they searched for the book title. I tested it, and it seemed to be true. If you search for “vampire”, it’s fine; if you only search for “demon”, it’s fine too. However, if the words “blood” and “ghost” are searched together, the book does not come up. Not sure why these words became forbidden when combined. It seems that this issue started a few days ago.

Today, I saw comments from readers from Dragon Hollow. I checked it out and found that there was a post recommending this book. Many thanks to the reader with the pen-name ‘Melodious Tune’ who made the post. For a recommendation and a contract for a book of 100,000 words, it’s not easy to be noticed.

I also want to thank those who have added this book to their reading list and recommend it. As for the young novel with fewer words, your recommendations, comments, favorites are precious nutrients. They are the driving force for the author to continue writing.

Some readers worry about the subsequent plot. Honestly, I can’t guarantee that it won’t collapse because different people have different understandings of what that means. The saying goes like this, “One man’s meat is another man’s poison”.

But what can be assured is that this book does not follow the path of spiritual resurrection. It will not open up an alternative dimension. The overall style will be similar to the previous chapters. The protagonist will continue to explore himself and the world. Mutants will not only include the protagonist and the already appeared owl but also will be extremely rare and not flood every street corner.

I originally wanted to reply in the comment section but was prompted to bind my phone. I found an old account was tied to my phone number while trying to bind. After recovering the old account, I discovered I could not unbind my phone number from the account… So frustrating!

I’ve been paying attention to all of your comments. Thank you all for your interest in this book. Your clicks, recommendations, favorites, and comments are like adrenaline for me— they are what motivate me to keep writing..