茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

After chatting with Xiang Kun on WeChat for a while, Xia Libing began to feel sleepy and prepared to go to bed.

Her aunt had prepared a new towel and toothbrush for her. After a quick wash, she tiptoed into the kitchen, took a pair of chopsticks, and returned to her room.

After she closed the door, Xia Libing took out the pair of chopsticks that Xiang Kun had given her from her bag and alternated between using them and the ones from the kitchen.

The chopsticks from her aunt’s home were also sharp at the ends and made of wood, but the hand feel was noticeably different when she picked them up, and the difference was even more significant when she tried picking up things with them.

Although, in reality, if she were to use them to pick up things, there wouldn’t be much difference in time usage for a single use. But, subjectively, the ones Xiang Kun customized felt so much better. If usage were to be calculated over a long period and multiple uses, she could expect significant differences, in terms of both improved success rate and reduced finger fatigue.

Xia Libing placed the two pairs of chopsticks on top of her laptop and observed them for a while before taking a picture to record this.

Then she went to wash the chopsticks she had taken from the kitchen, put them back where they belong, and went back to bed.

Truth be told, she was feeling very sleepy and could hardly keep her eyes open. She was fatigued and wanted to sleep.

But the sheer amount of information she received tonight was overwhelming. It was spinning in her head, and she unconsciously wanted to analyze and think about it all.

When she first saw the chopsticks Xiang Kun had given her, her initial judgement was that they were unlike the lyrics, graffiti, and coin he had previously given her. They seemed more like a proper “gift” rather than something that was given to her for a specific purpose. After all, these chopsticks looked more like a “gift”, and Xiang Kun had previously given a pair to Nana too.

But when she held them in her hands, she wasn’t so sure anymore. These chopsticks were incredibly suitable, though this feeling of suitability was different from the one she felt for the coin that Xiang Kun had given her. At least she could explain why these chopsticks felt more comfortable to use, while with the coin… she couldn’t see why it was any different from any other coins.

As Xia Libing lay in bed, her eyes closed, but her mind was still preoccupied with these thoughts. Her hands lay outside the blanket on her stomach and were unconsciously flipping a coin.

She was thinking about the “fight” between Xiang Kun and those two thugs in the alley.

While it seemed fierce, she was confident that Xiang Kun did not take it seriously at all. It was more of a “performance”, similar to the situation when they encountered human traffickers before.

Knowing Xiang Kun’s personality, he wouldn’t allow those two men to keep wielding their weapons unless he had absolute confidence and control over the situation, especially when she was also present.

But even if it was just a “performance”, the physical prowess he displayed was quite remarkable.

So, to what extent can Xiang Kun’s actual physical fitness and athletic abilities reach?

Xia Libing couldn’t help wondering how one could push Xiang Kun to his limit.

She noticed that Xiang Kun seemed to have a better grip on his emotions now. When she first met him, she could easily guess his thoughts and feelings from his expressions and reactions, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to do so.

It’s only been a short amount of time, hasn’t it?

While a few months might seem long for certain things, it’s hardly substantial for an adult to undergo physical and psychological changes.

What could have caused these continuous changes in his body and mind?

As these thoughts swirled around in her mind, Xia Libing’s consciousness gradually faded, and she fell into a deep sleep.

Once he learned that Xia Libing was going to stay at her aunt’s for the night, Xiang Kun started getting excited about the opportunity to sense those chopsticks and try invoking her dream later on.

He knew that if Xia Libing were to go back to her rental place, she might not necessarily put the chopsticks in a predictable place.

While the most probable place was in her bedroom, there was still a chance that she might put them in the drawer of her study desk, in the cupboard, or on the dining table in the living room. As for the kitchen, he remembered from his last visit to Xia Libing’s rental place that she didn’t cook. With her personality, it was unlikely that she would place the chopsticks there.

Therefore, when Xia Libing was asleep, there was still a certain chance that she was not influenced by the chopsticks.

However, if she spent the night at her aunt’s house, it would be different. She definitely would bring her backpack and put it in the room. The guest room wouldn’t be that big, so her backpack would probably not be too far from the bed. When she was sleeping, she was certainly within the radius of influence.

By almost four o’clock, Xiang Kun’s perception finally responded. The scene in front of him changed and he successfully “connected” to a dream.

He was still perceiving it as the dreamer, in the first-person perspective. He found himself in an enclosed small room, buried in the table eating something. A strong sense of hunger controlled him and made him swallow voraciously.

He noticed the food in his hand; it seemed to be toast. However, he was filling his mouth with that, chewing and swallowing continuously, occasionally taking a sip from the cup of water next to him.

Driven by hunger, even though he was only eating ordinary bread, the taste was still very delicious. While eating, he was drooling madly. His hands were also full of saliva from eating the toast.

Xiang Kun was a little surprised, was this Old Xia’s dream?

This sense of hunger was too strong… Was Old Xia reincarnated from a starving ghost?

However, this unique type of dream could not be anyone else’s.

Suddenly, a small hand reached out from the side, snatched away the plate of toast that Old Xia was eating, and then a juvenile voice of a little girl sounded, “That’s enough. You can’t eat anymore. You have to control yourself.”

His gaze followed that hand and realized that the one who took away the plate was a plump little girl in a white coat. Because the girl was too short and the coat was too long, it even dragged along the ground. If it was not for the collar and buttons, it would look like she was wrapped in a white duvet.

The little girl was Little Fat Girl Liu Shiling.

Xiang Kun immediately understood that when he was making these chopsticks and carrying out the “Emotional Infusion”, although the expectation and enjoyment of food had transformed into his own emotions, it still originated from Liu Shiling. So, when repeating this emotion, he would more or less think of the Little Fat Girl.

As a result, the dream projection of this pair of “Emotionally Infused” chopsticks became Liu Shiling.

But originally, who was this person in a white coat taking Old Xia’s plate? Was it the doctor who treated her when she had problems as a child?

Just as he was thinking about it, the next moment, the scene in front of him changed again. The surroundings appeared blurry but familiar. It seemed to be the house that he had bought.

Old Xia was sitting at the dining table in his living room, waiting for food with chopsticks in her hand. He could clearly sense her anticipation for the food.

There was another small figure near the table; it was Liu Shiling. However, she was not wearing a white coat this time.

“Sister Old Xia, the rabbit meat Uncle Bald cooked is super delicious!” Liu Shiling’s voice rang out.

“The crispy pig’s elbow is better.” Old Xia said.

“Rabbit is delicious!” Liu Shiling lifted her chin.

“The pig’s elbow is better.” Old Xia repeated, still certain.

“Rabbit is delicious!!” Liu Shiling raised her voice.

“The pig’s elbow is better.” Old Xia repeated, unbudging.

Meanwhile, a bald man wearing an apron walked over with a plate in his hand. On one side was braised rabbit meat and on the other was crispy pig’s elbow, both steaming with aroma.

Without a doubt, this bald chef was Xiang Kun in the dream, playing the role of a tool man.

Looking at himself from Old Xia’s perspective in the dream, Xiang Kun couldn’t help but laugh. His physique and attire in the dream were not much different from reality, but the spectacles on his face were always reflecting, hiding his eyes. He had a wide grin on his face showing off a row of white teeth, creating an exaggerated and artificial “bright” smile.

Could it be that Old Xia felt he was too hypocritical in reality, and that’s why he had such projections in his dreams? Uh, probably not, it’s probably because Old Xia can’t see through him, huh?

While Xiang Kun was sensing and observing the situation in the dream, the hunger originating from Old Xia, the anticipation of food, all of a sudden disappeared. In its place was a sense of rationality and lucidity, like emotions but not really.

Feeling clear-headed and rational in a dream? That’s really a peculiar experience.

This wasn’t the first time Xiang Kun felt this. Previously, during the Blood-drinking Period, when he was hungry, he had faintly sensed this feeling through the song lyrics he relayed to Old Xia. This feeling could even help him suppress the irritability brought about by hunger during the Blood-drinking Period.

In his dreamland sight, Xiang Kun saw Old Xia looking down at the back of her hand. The next moment, a coin appeared between her slender, pale fingers. She was flipping the coin quickly, but suddenly, the coin was suspended in mid-air.

Then, Old Xia looked around the room.

Many details in this somewhat blurry dreamland scene, including the table, window, walls, and dinnerware, became clearer when her gaze passed over them—even the reflective glasses and the fake smile on the “Xiang Kun,” who walked out of the kitchen wearing an apron, disappeared and appeared normal.

And Liu Shiling, sitting at the table, had her clothes and appearance slightly changed, resembling when she was still living in room 706.

It seems that Old Xia is filling in the details in the dream, using her memory for “repairs”?

But soon, the dream changed again. Everything around faded into darkness, and Xiang Kun withdrew from the perception of the dreamland.

Obviously, Old Xia’s dream had ended.

The abrupt end of the dream was probably because Old Xia suddenly became “awake” in the dream?

The so-called “lucid dreams”, Xiang Kun had seen some research about them when he was looking for material related to dreams. But these were not theories of mainstream psychology or neurology, but metaphysics, which probably has nothing to do with what Old Xia just experienced in her dream.

Furthermore, Xiang Kun never came across this situation when he used the “Emotional Infusion” items to perceive others’ dreams.

Probably, it was Old Xia’s special trait—an emotion yet not one, rational and calm—that allowed her to “wake up” in her dream.

Xiang Kun remembered the intense sense of hunger he felt from Old Xia in the beginning.

There is no doubt that Old Xia must have gone through severe hunger before.

But it’s strange. With Old Xia’s family background, and being an only child, how could her parents let her go hungry?

Considering that narrow room and the man in the white coat, Xiang Kun wondered, was it that Old Xia had to starve while she was being treated for a certain “illness” when she was a child?

And is that why she is more likely to have emotional fluctuations when eating?

And only using “Emotional Infusion” items associated with eating emotions can you trigger Old Xia’s dreams?

Unfortunately, Old Xia didn’t “wake up” in that narrow room, otherwise, more details about the room or the man in the white coat could help determine where she was, allowing for further investigation.

Xia Libing sat on the bed, her eyes fixed on the wall in front of her, subconsciously wiping saliva from the corner of her mouth.

This was definitely the “guest room” in her aunt’s home, and she was certainly dreaming just now.

She actually dreamt again?

Xia Libing licked her lips, feeling a tiny bit of regret—she hadn’t had a chance to taste the Crispy Pig’s Elbow that Xiang Kun served in her dream.

In the latter part of the dream, she suddenly became “awake”, realizing she was in the midst of a dream, then unconsciously observing the surroundings and filling in the various details. She never expected that all this would lead to the collapse and the abrupt end of the dream. If she had known, she would have remained semi-dazed, not paying too much attention to the details.

She likes the experience in her dreams.

But why did she, who hadn’t dreamt in a long time, suddenly dream tonight?

Naturally she thought of the morning a few days ago in Tongshi Town when Xiang Kun suddenly brought up the topic about dreams.

At that time, Xiang Kun asked whether she had ever had an “impressive dream”, and she eventually responded by saying she only had “dreams about eating”.

So, she had another dream about eating a few days later, tonight.

So, was tonight’s dream related to Xiang Kun?

And why didn’t she dream about Nana, or Zhen’er, or her parents in her dream, but instead the little girl who used to live next to Xiang Kun kept appearing?

Xia Libing first found the coin she had been playing with before sleeping, then looked back at the box on the bedside table that held the chopsticks Xiang Kun gave her. She picked it up, opened and checked it.

The chopsticks were still peacefully “lying” in the box. There wasn’t anything abnormal, and nothing had changed as she held them.

But Xia Libing couldn’t help but wonder if there was a connection between the chopsticks she used for eating and the dream she had?

Xia Libing thought about it and decided to just lie down holding the pair of chopsticks, closing her eyes, trying to fall asleep again, to see if she would have another dream.

Whenever that happens, she will try to maintain a state of half-awake, half-dreaming, attempting to control her existence in the dream.

But as soon as she laid down, her stomach let out a grumble.

Xia Libing had no choice but to sit up again, holding her stomach, getting off the bed, and tiptoeing to the kitchen in slippers, looking for something to eat.

It seems that the dream she just had stimulated her appetite, making her hungry sooner.

Opening the fridge, she saw a small cake. Xia Libing licked her lips, subconsciously wanting to grab it, but then she hesitated, clenched her fist, and restrained herself—she picked up two sausages, then made a cup of oatmeal, and returned to the guest room.

While eating, Xia Libing suddenly recalled that the last meal she ate in Tongshi Town seemed to be exceptionally tasty.

Recalling in detail the food she ate then, the specific taste of each dish, she discovered that aside from a couple of dishes that she liked and had tasted before, some dishes tasted different from what she had tried before but were noticeably tastier and suited her better.

She knew all along that Xiang Kun would adjust the flavor of the dishes according to their tastes. The same dish prepared for her, Nana, and Zhen’er would be different.

But that night, all those dishes seemed to be made just for her.

No wonder she thought the meal was particularly delicious, and she ate a lot. Yet Zhen’er complained that the taste wasn’t as good as before, and several dishes were too sweet because sugar was added.

Why would Xiang Kun do that?

Xia Libing recalled that it was indeed that morning when she told Xiang Kun that she only had dreams about eating.

Although there’s no direct evidence, she was increasingly certain that her sudden dream tonight was not a random event and was related to Xiang Kun.

But how exactly do you verify that?