What It's Like Being a Vampire

After Yang Zhen Er tossed the coin and hit the disposable paper cup, she excitedly showed off to Little Fatty Girl.

However, she noticed that Little Fatty Girl was just staring at the cup with wide eyes. The response was very different from the “Wow, you’re amazing, Ms. Fairy!” that she had envisioned, so she repeated herself:

“Xiao Lingdang, am I cool or not?”

It was then that Little Fatty Girl finally uttered an “Ah?”, quickly nodding in agreement, “Uh-huh, Ms. Fairy is cool.” She then got up and went over to the TV stand, looking at the coin in the cup.

Yang Zhen Er caught Little Fatty Girl’s perfunctory “astonishment”. Thinking that she didn’t understand why she was so amazing, she quickly went over and picked up the coin, returned to her previous position, and said, “Xiao Lingdang, this move is super hard to practice. It’s not just tossing a coin, it’s like this, ‘Ding’, use your thumb to flick it straight away, look! It’s still spinning in the air!”

With that, Yang Zhen Er demonstrated again, flicking the coin from the doorway into the cup with her thumb.

“It’s so hard! Xiao Lingdang, this is even harder than flipping a coin with your fingers! If you don’t believe me, you try.”

So Liu Shiling stood next to Yang Zhen Er, took a coin out of her pocket, and mimicked Yang Zhen Er’s movement: she placed the coin on her thumb, clenched the other four fingers loosely, and bent her thumb and index finger into a “launch rail”.

When she flicked the coin, Liu Shiling seemed to be afraid that she wasn’t strong enough, she even thrust her entire arm upwards as if giving a thumbs up to the air.

The arc of the coin she tossed was much larger than the one Yang Zhen Er had just flicked, and the spinning coin nearly touched the ceiling before neatly dropping into the cup.

Watching the coin fall into the cup, Yang Zhen Er’s mouth slowly opened and she was momentarily stunned.

So… is coin flicking actually easy?

Could a preschooler randomly do it?

Did… she make a big deal out of nothing?

As she contemplated, Liu Shiling took another coin out of her pocket and placed it in her hand, “Ms. Fairy, try it with my…my coin.”

Yang Zhen Er shook her head after receiving the coin, “No, I can only get it in with the coin Brother Xiang gave. The coins he gave me are perhaps lighter or something; it’s hard to get other one-yuan coins in, and neither five cents nor five-yuan large commemorative coins work.”

“Mine was also given by Bald Uncle. Ms. Fairy, give it a try.” Liu Shiling said.

Yang Zhen Er had no choice but to take a deep breath and flick the coin in the same way as before, but this time the coin missed the cup and clinked twice on the TV stand, rolling under the coffee table.

Liu Shiling didn’t rush to fetch the coin, but instead consoled Yang Zhen Er, who looked a little vexed, “It’s okay, Ms. Fairy. Try again with this one. It’s also from Bald Uncle.” She took another coin from her pocket.

Yang Zhen Er felt the atmosphere was a bit weird. Did her and Little Fatty Girl’s positions get reversed?

She subconsciously accepted another coin from Little Fatty Girl, made a ‘ding’ sound and shot the coin out. As soon as the coin left her hand, she felt like she missed again. ʀ₳ŊοᛒЕꞨ

To her surprise, however, the coin spinning in mid-air, as if it had a precise guidance system of its own, yet again managed to fall accurately into the cup.

The entire process looked extremely smooth, and the trajectory was even better than that of the coin she initially shot out.

“Huh?” Yang Zhen Er looked at her fingers in surprise.

Liu Shiling picked up the coin that had rolled under the coffee table and the one in the cup, walked back to Yang Zhen Er’s side, and handed over the four coins, “Ms. Fairy, which coin is yours?”

Yang Zhen Er fumbled in the coins and selected one, saying, “This one is mine, mine is from 2011. Hey, Xiao Lingdang, do you usually bring so many coins with you to kindergarten?”

“Yes, I take them everywhere.” Liu Shiling nodded seriously, then said, “Ms. Fairy, hand me your coin.”

Yang Zhen Er paused, looked at the coin in her hand and at the adorable Little Fatty Girl, hesitated, and said, “Xiao Lingdang, do you have any other toys you like? How about your big sister buy them for you? This coin was given by Brother Xiang, and I only have this one. If I give it to you, I won’t have one…..”

Liu Shiling paused, realizing that she had been misunderstood, and quickly said, “Ms. Fairy, I don’t want it as a gift. I’m just asking for the coin so we can play a game.”

“Oh, okay.” Yang Zhen Er sighed in relief.

After Liu Shiling took the coin, she quickly spun it between her fingers on the back of her left hand, quickly covered the coin with her right hand, and asked, “Ms. Fairy, is it ‘small one’ or ‘small flower’ now?”

Yang Zhen Er blinked, saying uncertainly, “Is it… small one?”

Liu Shiling lifted her right hand, “You’re wrong, Ms. Fairy, it’s small flower.”

Yang Zhen Er stroked her chin and said, “What I meant was, it’s a little one….. flower, hehe.”

But Liu Shiling ignored Ms. Fairy’s mischief, clenched the coin in her hand, and put both hands behind her back. After a little fiddling, both arms clenched fists and stretched out at her sides, making her look like a “big” character, and said, “Ms. Fairy, which hand is the coin in now?”

“Is there a reward if I guess right?” Yang Zhen Er asked with a giggle.

Liu Shiling thought for a moment and replied, “When Bald Uncle comes over next time and makes buns, I’ll give Ms. Fairy one from each meal.”

“Deal!” Yang Zhen Er immediately said, “Also, you have to call me Fairy Sister, Xi Yi An Xian, Ne Fish Fairy, Fairy! Sister!”

Liu Shiling nodded, “Okay, Ms. Fairy.”

Yang Zhen Er then contentedly started observing Liu Shiling’s clenched little fists on both sides. She didn’t rush to guess. Instead, she first positioned herself on the left, extended her finger and tapped on Little Fatty Girl’s clenched little fist, which looked like little white buns. Then she walked to the right, tapped the bun-like fist on this side too, and confidently said,

“It’s in your left hand!”

Sure enough, the coin was lying on Liu Shiling’s left hand.

Yang Zhen Er teasingly explained with a hint of smugness, “Xiao Lingdang, your hands are too small. When you hold the coin, you squeeze it hard, and your tiny fists are too obvious! Ha-ha!”

Liu Shiling helplessly said, “Ms. Fairy, no cheating.”

Yang Zhen’er reached out to gently squeeze her face, puckering her lips: “I don’t care, you lost the bet! What do you call me?”

“Old…Ms. Fairy, Ms. Fairy!”

However, having learned her lesson, Liu Shiling changed her tactics. This time, she kept her hands hidden behind her back to prevent Yang Zhen’er from touching her small fists. Sure enough, in three trials, Yang Zhen’er guessed wrong twice.

After confirming that Yang Zhen’er could not guess where the coin was located, Liu Shiling took out a crumpled A4-sized paper from her small backpack and folded it into a paper plane for Yang Zhen’er.

“Good old fairy sist… er sister, you launch this paper airplane.”

Yang Zhen’er accepted the makeshift paper airplane, and could not help but laugh, “This feels like I am being tested. I suppose I need to pass before I can join your coin and origami hobby group?”

Wasn’t it she who started off bragging about her “Flying Coin Into Cup” skill? But now, it appeared as if she had flipped a switch in Xiao Lingdang, with the young girl taking control. But she did not understand what Xiao Lingdang was up to.

“I’m just playing a game with Fairy Sister, Fairy Sister, give it a go. Don’t worry, it won’t fall off the balcony,” Liu Shiling said.

“That’s right, Ms. Fairy~,” Yang Zhen’er corrected.

“Yes, yes, Ms. Fairy!” Liu Shiling nodded emphatically, raised her arms in a flight gesture, signaling Yang Zhen’er to launch the airplane.

…

Around eleven at night, after saying goodbye to Zhang Qian, Tang Baona stepped out of the building and walked home.

The apartment complex she and Yang Zhen’er were renting was very close to the “Teng Jiao Interactive” building, about a fifteen-minute walk, so she didn’t call a ride but decided to enjoy the evening breeze on her own.

Back when they were in Peng City, their hotel was nearby. Yang Zhen’er used to accompany her during walks to and from the hotel, no matter how early or late it was.

Although Yang Lao San loved to chat nonstop along the way, the sudden solitude of walking alone, having gotten used to his company, felt…somewhat lonely.

But considering that Yang Lao San had gone to pick up their beloved Little Fatty Girl, she wasn’t “jealous” anymore.

Shiling’s Mom indeed had a hard time juggling everything. It was already past eleven, and she was still at work. She probably wouldn’t be able to get home until around midnight.

Initially, Zhang Qian had arranged a very easy job for Shiling’s Mom. She could pick up Liu Shiling from school early everyday and then go home to cook dinner. However, after diligently learning and working, she had secured a genuine position in her department. To justify her generous salary and the opportunity given by Zhang Qian, she worked even harder.

This trip to Peng City, upon meeting Shiling’s Mom, Tang Baona was taken aback. Compared to when they met in Star City, Shiling’s Mom had lost a lot of weight and seemed more capable and energetic. She looked as if she had always been a working woman and not a housewife.

Recently, with the game officially launched and mass promotions underway, they had to prepare and push for new projects, recruit more manpower, expand several project teams, and establish new departments. Therefore, everyone was particularly busy and she felt embarrassed to leave work early to pick up her daughter.

Initially, she thought of hiring someone to pick her daughter up from school and cook dinner. However, once Yang Zhen’er arrived in Peng City, she assertively took over these responsibilities.

Basically, if Shiling’s Mom was busy, it would be Yang Zhen’er picking up Little Fatty Girl from school, feeding her, and taking her home to wait for Shiling’s Mom. Of course, sometimes Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er would go together, and sometimes the three of them would go together.

Tang Baona knew that Yang Zhen Er really loved taking care of the Little Fatty Girl. It was a delight for her. The Little Fatty Girl was lovable, sensible, and well-behaved. Taking care of her was not trouble at all, but only fun.

Yang Zhen Er even often moaned that Xiao Lingdang was too studious. Once she got home, she would start studying and barely had any time to play, so she had to take her out as much as possible and come back home later.

She thought about what Yang Zhen Er had said before: if she had a daughter, she would want her to be like Xiao Lingdang.

Just as she was wondering if her own daughter would be as adorable as Xiao Lingdang, she suddenly heard a frivolous whistle from a distance, followed by a clearly drunken voice:

“Beauty! Let’s go drinking! We should go to the PUB. I’ll buy! Order anything you want!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Tang Baona observed three men of approximately 20 or 30 years old walking together. One of them seemed highly drunk and was shouting her way, while the other two laughed and tried to pull him away.

Tang Baona didn’t react, decided to just speed up and walk away.

She wasn’t afraid. The safety of this area was great, cameras lined the streets, even finding a blind spot was hard. Despite being past eleven, there were still many people around, and a police kiosk within close proximity. At most, the drunk man would only shout a few words, making a fool of himself. If Yang Zhen Er were here, he would have probably talked back. But she just couldn’t be bothered.

However, just as she took a few steps, there was a sudden ear-piercing alarm from the drunkard’s place, startling her enough to make her instinctively turn back.

Not only Tang Baona, but the drunkard and his companions were also taken aback, prompting passersby and local security guards to turn their attention to them.

“Holy shit, what’s up with your phone? Is it about to explode? Why is it making that kind of noise?” one of his companions yelled after confirming that it was the drunkard’s phone.

The drunk man looked at his phone, grumbling and unlocking it. But as soon as the noise stopped, it automatically switched to the calling screen with the speaker on. Maybe the phone speaker was too strong or that the surroundings were too quiet at this time of night, but the voice from the call was clearly audible:

“Mr. Wang! What the fuck! You said you were working overtime and would be sleeping in the office! I fucking bought your lies and was worried about your health! Who were you really calling, sending the call to me instead?”

“Wife…I didn’t…I was…just kidding…”

“Kidding my ass! Even over the phone, I can tell you’re drunk! Roll back home now, immediately!”

Under that commanding roar, the drink in the drunk man seemed to sober up instantly. Amidst his companions’ laughs, he slunk away and made a run for it.

Tang BaoNa continued walking home, but something about the weird encounter didn’t sit well with her.

She paused under a streetlight and asked in a light whisper, “Was that you, Little Elf?”

The streetlight suddenly dimmed a little and then brightened back up half a second later.

Tang BaoNa adjusted her glasses, squinted up at the light, and exclaimed happily, “So you came to Peng City with me!”

She gently patted the light pole, “Thank you, Little Elf.”

With lighter steps, Tang Baona continued walking home. She found herself unable to resist walking with a skip in her stride that she hadn’t done since her childhood. Despite her professional attire and bun hairstyle, she exuded a youthful, lively charm.

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