茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Originally, when Xiang Kun saw the Little Fatty Girl flipping the coin with practiced ease, he had already assumed she had a special connection to the coin she had established “super sensory contact” with. When he heard Shiling’s mom say that she had lost ten times in a row at coin tossing with the girl, and then the coin she’d hidden was easily found, it further confirmed his judgment.

The Little Fatty Girl’s “control” over that coin was deeper than he had imagined.

After chatting with Shiling’s mom for a while and learning about the Little Fatty Girl’s other behaviors at home and in kindergarten, as well as her worries, Xiang Kun softly soothed, “I told Xiao Lingdang that the coin is a magical coin, but it was mainly an expression from a psychological crutch perspective. In itself, it is not special and is just a very ordinary coin.”

While saying this, Xiang Kun casually took out a one yuan coin from his pocket, held it in his hand, hid it behind him, and then said to Shiling’s mom, “What do you think the probability is to guess which hand the coin is in?”

“Half?” Shiling’s mom said hesitantly.

“Correct, generally speaking, with two choices, if there are no tricks or methods to discern, blindly guessing would yield a 50% chance.” Xiang Kun said this while taking out his clenched hands from behind, putting them in front of Shiling’s mom, “You guess, which hand is the coin in?”

Shiling’s Mom looked at Xiang Kun’s hands and hesitated for a moment, then pointed to his right hand. “This one?”

Xiang Kun opened his right hand and the coin was indeed lying in his palm. “This is the probability of hitting 50%.” he said.

Repeating the same action, he placed his fists before Shiling’s mom. “Guess again.”

This time she guessed left hand, and she was still correct.

Xiang Kun said, “Now you have guessed correctly twice, what do you think is the probability of guessing correctly next time?”

Shiling’s mom hesitated, but even before she could respond, Xiang Kun said confidently, “Still half, 50%.”

Xiang Kun continued to guide her gently: “So you see, actually, the probability of guessing correctly each time is 50%, regardless of whether you guessed correctly or incorrectly the previous time. And 50% is quite significant, it is not something utterly implausible.”

He very cunningly deconstructed the probability of guessing correctly ten times in a row into single instances of guessing correctly. He knew from previous encounters that Shiling’s mom wasn’t very number-sensitive, and she wasn’t good with calculations and math-related problems, so playing this trick had no fear of bring exposed.

Moreover, when he had given her the coin to guess earlier, he had subtly guided her — the hand that held the coin was a little bit tighter than the hand without, both hands seemed parallel but the hand without the coin was actually closer to her. When her gaze landed on the hand with the coin, he very slightly tightened that hand and drew it back, implying a hint to guide her primary suspicion, enabling her to guess the location of the coin.

If they had played more times, Xiang Kun would have been more confident after observing the sensory feedback from Shiling’s mom, and could provide more targeted guidance.

Of course, even if she didn’t guess correctly, it wouldn’t affect anything. In any case, it was a single instance of a 50% chance. As long as she knew that it wasn’t difficult, that would be enough.

While Shiling’s mom seemed to be in deep thought, Xiang Kun continued to reassure her, “As for the coin you hid, that Xiao Lingdang played with for so long, she could recognize many details on it, such as tiny scratches that could be used to distinguish. It’s perfectly normal that she realized you had switched coins. You usually keep your change and coins in your purse, so it is logical that she would immediately think to look there. It’s not strange at all. It can only show that Xiao Lingdang is a child who is good at observing and also at thinking.”

In the end, Xiang Kun summarized in a low voice, “Shiling’s mom, don’t let yourself be influenced by some superstitious thoughts. Xiao Lingdang might be just a bit quiet because she just moved to a new city and kindergarten and went through that previous incident. After a while, when she is familiar with the new environment and her new friends, she’ll be back to her normal self.”

After listening to Xiang Kun’s explanation, Shiling’s mom also felt that she might have been too sensitive before. It’s perfectly normal for her kindergarten-aged daughter to believe in things like magic or magical items. She was an adult herself, why was she being influenced?

“I was just a bit worried that she would keep playing with the coin and folding paper and neglect what the teacher is teaching. It could pose a problem when she starts elementary school.” she said.

“No, Xiao Lingdang is still young and it will be a while before she starts elementary school. By then, she will probably lose interest in the coin and the folding paper. I’ll also talk to her, encouraging her to develop other hobbies.” he reassured.

“That would be great. She always listens to you. It seems like rewarding her with tasty foods doesn’t work as well as it used to.”

“By the way, where is Xiao Lingdang’s father?”

“He’s still dealing with ‘that situation’.”

Since it was just a casual mention and Shiling’s mom didn’t elaborate, Xiang Kun didn’t ask anymore. They simply exchanged numbers, with Xiang Kun saying that the next time he came to “Star City” for a business trip, he’d bring gifts for Xiao Lingdang.

Normally, Xiang Kun would rather not maintain contact with others, but he couldn’t help but keep an eye on the Little Fatty Girl’s situation. When he saw Liu Shiling feasting away, he stood up to serve more food and asked, “How is it? Do you find the taste of the rabbit meat here delicious? How does it compare to Uncle Bald’s?”

While chewing the meat in her mouth, Liu Shiling said somewhat indistinctly, “Uncle Bald’s better, ate too much here!”

Shiling’s mom quickly rebuked, “Swallow the food in your mouth before you start talking!” She then helped wipe her daughter’s mouth.

Xiang Kun was not surprised by this answer. While the rabbit meat here was quite well done and had a distinctive flavor, the rabbit dishes he made were more catered to individual customers’ tastes, designed to “please” each diner’s palate.

Previously as neighbours, Xiang Kun often used them as hypothetical diners when testing out new recipes, and frequently offered them samples of his freshly prepared meals. He was therefore, rather familiar with the tastes of Liu Shiling and her mother. The only thing that was in short supply was the opportunity to observe them while they ate. Consequently, the information he gathered was relatively scant. His understanding of their preferences had not yet reached the same level as it had with Tang Baona, Yang Zhen’er and Xia Libing. Nonetheless, he was confident that his cooking excited their palates more than the typical dishes served in most restaurants.

Even though Little Fatty Girl had quite an appetite, she was still just a child, and her stomach was only so big. Xiang Kun had hardly touched his food, so a lot of it was left behind.

When it was time to settle the bill, Xiang Kun and Shiling’s mom had a brief argument. Shiling’s mom insisted that since he was the guest in Star City, they should be the ones to treat him. He deftly resolved the issue with one sentence:

“I can be reimbursed for meals while traveling on business.”

Seeing the mass of food leftovers, Xiang Kun was aware that Shiling’s mom was feeling slightly regretful. As a result, he asked the servers to pack the food, and he would carry it. When it was time to leave, he could easily hand it over to Little Fatty Girl.

After paying the bill and while the waiter was packing up the food, Shiling’s mom went to the restroom and Little Fatty Girl suddenly took Xiang Kun by the hand, and whispered, “Uncle Bald, I think my magic scared mommy.”

Xiang Kun had already noticed during dinner that, although he and Shiling’s mom had deliberately kept their voices low when talking, Little Fatty Girl had apparently overheard some of their conversation. However, because she had not interjected, Xiang Kun had assumed she was engrossed in eating and wasn’t paying attention to their conversation.

Now it appeared that she had intentionally kept quiet? Furthermore, judging by the way Shiling’s Mom had been behaving, it was clear that Little Fatty Girl was aware of her mother’s reactions.

Xiang Kun crouched down and told her, “You know your magic is a secret, right? Other people cannot understand this mystery. Do not tell anyone else about it except your mom.”

Liu Shiling nodded vigorously, “mmm.”

Xiang Kun gently stroked her hair and continued, “Also, to make better use of your ‘magic,’ not only do you need to nurture a good relationship with our ‘magical items,’ but you’ll also need to study a lot. For example, the paper plane you just folded, it flies more stably and higher than others right? You always know just the right angle to throw it from so you can control where it lands, right? Do you know why? To understand all these, you’ll need to learn mathematics, physics. You’ll need lots and lots and lots of knowledge. To learn these things, you need to learn English and Chinese. It’s like using an IPAD to watch cartoons, you first needed to learn how to use the IPAD, didn’t you?”

She was a bit confused by his words, but now in her eyes, Xiang Kun was not just the next-door neighbor who cooked delicious food, he was a great figure who could teach her magic and provide her with magical items.

So, whatever knowledge Uncle Bald asked her to learn, she would learn it, even if she didn’t understand the relationship between that knowledge and magic, or the magic items, or even know what that knowledge specifically referred to.

Satisfied with Little Fatty Girl’s compliance, Xiang Kun pulled out the coin he had shown Shiling’s mom earlier and said to her, “Give it a try. Can you flip this coin too?”

Upon receiving the coin, Little Fatty Girl nimbly began to flip it between her fingers, from left to right, and back again. This spectacle drew the attention of a little boy and his parents passing by.

Waiting for the passersby to go away, Xiang Kun then nodded with satisfaction, “I’m giving you this ‘magical coin.’ I want you to teach your mother the magic of flipping a coin. But remember, this is our secret, don’t tell anyone else.”

“Yep!” The Little Fatty Girl gripped the coin, nodding vigorously.

From Little Fatty Girl’s free use of the coin, which he had established a “super-sensory contact” with, Xiang Kun concluded that the authority over the “super-sensory contact” items was likely “universal.” Meaning that once she obtained the authority from Coin 1, she did not need to re-establish it with Coin 2, she could control it right away.

But considering the conversation with Little Fatty Girl and Shiling’s mom, Xiang Kun surmised the decrease in sensitivity of the coins and A4 paper indicated that Little Fatty Girl’s access to this “authority” was incremental, similar to a ladder climbing at 10%, 20%, etc., rather than an instant acceptance.

He wanted to test, through Little Fatty Girl teaching her mother to flip the coin, if there were any other necessary conditions to obtain this kind of “authority.”

“Uncle Bald, what do you have in this case?” Little Fatty Girl, curious, asked, touching the huge bow case Xiang Kun had placed by his side.

Xiang Kun whispered, “It’s a bow and arrow. Uncle Bald is actually here on a monster hunting trip.”

Upon hearing this, Little Fatty Girl’s eyes lit up as she looked at the bow case, lost in thought.

Xiang Kun immediately added, “This is our secret though, you can’t tell anyone else.”

Little Fatty Girl nodded vigorously.

“Where’s the monster?”

“Uncle Bald ate it.”

“Was it tasty?”

After bidding farewell to Liu Shiling and her mother, Xiang Kun did not linger in Star City and booked the nearest flight.

After all, he had to start preparing for his “blood-drinking period” that was to happen early morning the day after tomorrow.