What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 634: Chapter 634: You Guard the World

Looking at the playing trio of Yang Lao San, Little Fatty Girl, and Alice, Tang Baona laughed and shook her head, and remembered the time when they all went for a BBQ at Chongyun Mountain, before Xiang Kun left.

At that time, Xiang Kun was preparing the barbecue grill and she was helping him. Xiang Kun very naturally raised the plan and mentioned a piece she needed to create called “March of Fear and Invigoration”.

And Xiang Kun’s words hit Tang Baona’s deeply hidden otaku spirit quite accurately:

“Nana, I am about to save the world, and I need your help.”

His words made Tang Baona’s blood boil. She felt as if she was holding a holy sword, with a mission on her shoulders. After all, Xiang Kun wasn’t just boasting or joking. He really was going to save the world.

So she naturally nodded her head repeatedly, agreed, and then asked in detail what she should do and what she should pay attention to.

As for this, Xiang Kun didn’t have much specific requirements, she just had to create it based on the feelings. For the fear emotions, due to the terrible weather and the appearance of the Antarctic monster, she should be able to find related emotional melodies quite easily. And while finding melodies for the invigorating emotions could be quite difficult for others, it would be easy for Nana. She wouldn’t even need to sense others’ emotions, her own feelings at the moment were quite invigorating.

In the end, Xiang Kun suddenly said, “Nana, I’m going to Antarctica this time and I might not be back for a while, so for the following …”

But at that time, Tang Baona was thinking about the emotional melody and suddenly heard this. She didn’t hear the word “short-term” clearly, but she only noticed the phrase “won’t be back”. Coupled with the previous statement about “saving the world”, she had a sudden heroic sense of Xiang Kun sacrificing himself and saving the world, and subconsciously grabbed Xiang Kun’s hand.

“Is it very dangerous?” Tang Baona asked a bit nervously and worriedly.

It was at this time that Yang Zhen Er and Xiao Pingguo, who had gone to fetch food, came over and saw this scene.

Yang Lao San immediately sat up as if he had discovered a new world: “Nana! Chef Xiang! You guys …” Then, noticing Xiao Pingguo standing next to him, he let out a cry, helped Xiao Pingguo to put down the things in her hands, and pulled her to run back: “Oh, we forgot to bring some food! We didn’t see anything, we didn’t see anything, you guys continue, continue ha …”

Tang Baona suddenly noticed that she had unknowingly grasped Xiang Kun’s hand and quickly let go. She didn’t originally think much of it, but after making a fuss with Yang Lao San, she also felt embarrassed and for once was at a loss for words, feeling a little awkward.

Xiang Kun, on the other hand, very naturally said, “Don’t worry, there’s nothing dangerous about it, it’s just that when the time comes, I might disappear for a while, just like the times when I used to ‘isolate’ myself when I was making video games, but this time the ‘isolation’ would last longer. It could be a few months if its quick, and if it’s slow, it could be a few years.

“You should also have felt that the whole world is different now. After the ‘Ultimate Predator’ completely disappears, there will be even more changes. So during the time when I’m not here… I hope you can help me look after Xiao Lingdang, Xiao Pingguo, and my parents a little more. If anything happens, I also hope you can give them some more care. Old Xia will be watching the research base, the official connection, and the cooperation with ‘Divine Technology’. If there’s anything related to ‘mutants’, you can ask Old Xia, she will decide. If there’s a problem related to abilities, you can ‘call’ Alice at any time, she can solve most problems, and if she can’t solve it, then contact Old Xia. As for the company’s affairs, Zhang Qian will help out, and with the cooperation of ‘Divine Technology’, you won’t need to worry too much.

“Nana, your power, together with Old Xia, Old Three, Xiao Pingguo, Xiao Lingdang, your powers, are linked with my power, and I am destined to become stronger and stronger, and so will you. So… when there are some situations in this world, when people are under huge threats, we also need to do something.”

Tang Baona was also very excited and forgot about the awkwardness just now. She joked: “Hey, how come it feels like, summarized from your words, if there’s a problem in the company, Zhang Qian will deal with it; if there’s problem related to power, just ask Alice; while research and cooperation, it’s Old Xia; as for me, I’m just babysitting kids?”

Xiang Kun was also taken aback by her words, then he laughed out loud: “Those are no ordinary kids. They are ‘superheroes’ who will protect the world with you.”

Tang Baona knew that when Xiang Kun asked her to look after Little Fatty Girl and Xiao Pingguo, he didn’t mean for her to take care of their daily lives like a nanny, or simply to protect their safety. Rather, he hoped that she could accompany and guide their growth, to ensure that the two extraordinary individuals who were destined to transcend their current state in the future would have a relatively normal growth process. Also, she believed that Yang Lao San must also be included in the “children” that Xiang Kun asked her to take care of.

Tang Baona nodded her head steadily: “Uh huh, I get it. While you are not here, we should be responsible for protecting the world. But what if we encounter really formidable opponents in the future that we can’t deal with?”

Xiang Kun smiled and said, “Don’t worry, even though I will be in hibernation, the power system won’t be. You guys protect the world, and I’ll protect you.”

“Sister Nana, you look really beautiful when you laugh.”

A voice from the side suddenly interrupted Tang Baona’s recollection and made her laugh, saying to her, “Xiao Pingguo, you look even more beautiful when you laugh.”

Xiao Pingguo laughed: “When Sister Nana laughs, she’s like warm honey water, sweet and warm. When Sister Zhen’er laughs, she’s like iced-cola, refreshing and happy. When Xiao Lingdang laughs, she’s like chocolate ice cream, cute and silly. Alice…hehe, Alice is like lemon tea, so good that once you start drinking, you can’t stop, haha.”

“What about you, Xiao Pingguo? What beverage do you resemble? Apple juice?” Tang Baona asked laughing.

“I’m hot milk, haha, it can warm the stomach, it’s nutritious and goes well with everything.” Xiao Pingguo laughed and then appeared to have thought of something. She continued: “Unfortunately, I haven’t seen Sister Bing’s smile. I bet her smile must be super amazing.”

“Oh, that’s right. She did smile during her last birthday, but you didn’t have these glasses yet. It’s okay. We’ll perform a special crosstalk to make her laugh when she comes to Pengcheng next time, or when we go back to Chongyun Village. Or next time it’s her birthday, we can smear her face with cake cream again, hehe.” Tang Baona laughed, “By the way, what about Xiang Kun? What beverage do you think he is?”

“Uncle Xiang…” Xiao Pingguo touched her chin, then suddenly she could not help laughing herself, laughing so hard that she held her stomach, which confused Tang Baona who was standing beside her.

Xiao Pingguo laughed for quite a while before she collected herself, then tried to look serious, but she couldn’t help laughing again and said, “Uncle Xiang is the big hero who saves the world. He is very awesome and can drive away evil, annihilate monsters, represent justice, and carry an aura of righteousness, so… he should be righteousness water, hahaha…”

Xiao Pingguo’s analogy was a bit inexplicable, but Tang Baona, who already had a low threshold for laughter, was induced into laughter by her, laughing until she had to bend over.

The two big people and two small people who were originally discussing how the barbecue tasted were attracted by their laughter and all came over.

“Nana, Xiao Pingguo, what are you two laughing about?” Yang Zhen Er curiously asked.

“Righteous… Xiao Pingguo said Xiang Kun is ‘righteous water’, hahahaha.” Tang Baona laughed so hard her stomach hurt.

Yang Zhen Er exchanged perplexed glances with the Little Fatty Girl sitting next to her. She didn’t understand why Xiao Pingguo would say Xiang Kun is ‘righteous water’, let alone what’s so funny about it.

The two then turned to look at Alice, who scratched her head and pointed at Tang Baona. “Xiao Pingguo said Nana is ‘honey water’,” and then pointed to Yang Zhen Er, “Zhen’er is ‘ice-cold cola’, Little Bell is ‘chocolate ice cream’, Xiao Pingguo is ‘hot milk’, the boss is ‘righteous water’.” Then she pointed her thumb at herself and slightly vamping, “I am ‘lemon tea’! So tasty!”

Yang Zhen Er now understood what they were talking about, but didn’t get why it’s hilarious referring Xiang Kun as ‘righteous water’. Was this punchline downplayed by Nana?

She tousled Alice’s hair, “Why are you being smug about lemon tea? Cola is the forever elder brother—or rather, sister! Now, say sister!”

“I’m hungry…” the Little Fatty Girl whispered.

“Oh right, it’s almost 1 o’clock. Let’s quickly prepare some food.” Tang Baona finally stopped laughing, wiped away her tears, and called Yang Zhen Er to the kitchen to help prepare lunch.

Due to the severe weather fluctuations, only a few restaurants remained open. Dine-in was certainly off the table, and even delivery had mostly halted. Only places within a couple hundred meters and that were on the same street still offered delivery, and it wasn’t through an app; deliveries were done by the restaurant’s own employees.

The two restaurants operating in their district had delivered as recently as yesterday. However, with the torrential rain, delivery would undoubtedly be inconvenient. Thus, they settled for the frozen fast food they had in the refrigerator.

“Nana, should we learn to cook? If Brother Chef Xiang takes a few years to return, we can’t just gather and order takeout, eat at diners, or consume fast food all the time, right?” Yang Zhen Er grumbled while she unpacked the food.

If it were more than a year ago, she wouldn’t have had this dilemma.

What’s wrong with takeout or dining out? It’s not like they couldn’t afford it or the food wasn’t tasty. Preparing food at home is troublesome, unappetizing, and involves dishwashing, garbage disposal, grocery shopping, ingredient handling, recipe learning, etc. It’s such a hassle. There’s no need!

However, after getting to know Xiang Kun and having had many family meals prepared by him, she started to mind a lifestyle involving only takeouts or eating out.

While living alone in Peng City, she picked up the Little Fatty Girl every day and comforted herself, saying that she would get to feast as soon as Brother Chef Xiang came. So eating takeout was the same as secretly having snacks when she was little.

But if Brother Chef Xiang isn’t able to return for a long while and they have to rely on takeouts or fast food, she won’t mind if it’s just her and Nana, but she’d feel something’s seriously off when Little Bell and Xiao Pingguo are around. It’s as if their life is missing an essential part of their daily ritual.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Pingguo, who was leaning on the kitchen door, smiled. “Sister Zhen’er, I’ve already started learning. I’ve even been studying recipes before bedtime these days. When Uncle Xiang deals with that big monster in Antarctica and the weather gets better, I’ll show off my skills once we can buy groceries! I’m going to make sweet and sour pork ribs—I’m confident they’ll be delicious!”

Kneeling on the other side of the kitchen door, Little Fatty Girl rubbed the custard pie next to her and looked up. “Sister Xiao Pingguo, could you learn how to make fried chicken wings? And then I can be your helper—I am great at washing dishes.”

Alice, who was kneeling beside Little Fatty Girl, exclaimed, “I’ll help Little Bell wash dishes! We are unbeatable at washing dishes!”

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhen Er became anxious. She said to Tang Baona, “Nana, this cannot do! It will be a mess if we wait till Brother Chef comes back. What if Old Xia comes over one day to find a visually recovering Xiao Pingguo cooking and a Little Bell whose head just about reaches the sink washing dishes? What would he think of us then? I can already imagine Old Xia, as she calmly tries the food Xiao Pingguo cooked and checks the dishes Little Bell washed, saying, ‘Great job teaching, cousin and Nana.’ Ahh! That’s so embarrassing!”

Yang Zhen Er dried her hands and walked over to the kneel down. To the perplexed Little Fatty Girl who was petting a cat, she said, “Little Bell, if there’s something you want to eat, just tell me and Nana. We’ll make it! You and Xiao Pingguo, your primary responsibilities are… playing and learning!”

Little Fatty Girl nodded, counting on her fingers, “Then…I want to eat fried chicken wings, spicy rabbit meat, braised rabbit meat, braised pork, teppanyaki beef, garlic eggplant, stewed pork and pickles, black chicken mushroom soup, hot and sour…”

“Stop! Let’s take it slow, I’ll learn two dishes first, the rest later.” Yang Zhen Er interrupted quickly. Little Bell remembered the names of dishes too well.

“I want to eat crispy pig’s knuckle!” Alice exclaimed.

Yang Zhen Er flicked her forehead, “Whatever you want to eat—you morph it yourself!”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Tang Baona was amused. With Yang Lao San around, whether they’re on the roof, indoors, in the living room, or the kitchen, it’s always bustling—never dull.

However, she didn’t think Yang Zhen Er was really going to learn to cook. Because this wasn’t their first attempt. Not just the few of them, but even Old Xia, who’s a fast learner, had tried to learn cooking while in Chongyun Village. But the dishes that came out… let’s just say they were indescribable.

None of them possessed innate talent for cooking, and their taste buds, unfortunately, have been spoiled by Xiang Kun, setting their standards so high. It might be no issue if they had plenty of time to practice making tolerable home-cooked food. But to reach the taste of Xiang Kun’s dish was borderline impossible.

So in her opinion, regardless of whether it’s Yang Lao San or Xiao Pingguo, no matter how motivated or determined they were to learn cooking, it wouldn’t last very long. Because no matter how hard they tried, it wouldn’t taste like the dishes Xiang Kun whipped up for them—which were deeply engraved in their hearts and set an insurmountable standard.

However, she wouldn’t go out of her way to prevent them from learning to cook. In fact, she too would endeavor to learn how to make main courses like ramen, pancakes, and fried rice—although they taste nowhere near the flavors offered by Xiang Kun or even takeout. But like Yang Zhen Er, she agreed that eating home-cooked meals when they are all together makes it feel like home.

Sister Lin and Professor Li entrusted the care of Little Bell and Xiao Pingguo to them, so they can’t always feed them takeout, can they?