What It’s Like Being a Vampire - Chapter 539

Chapter 539: Chapter 539 Am I Awesome or What?

When Joel’s body disintegrated and was reduced to ashes, John, who was under the Brilliant Fortune Building in Pengcheng City, also felt a strange sensation, as if a hat that he had gotten used to wearing on his head had suddenly been taken off.

He knew Joel had tampered with him, so when he sensed the unusual feeling, his first reaction was that Earl Joel had arrived and was determining his location or status!

If it had been when he had just been captured by Mr. Liang, he would have been somewhat worried if he knew that Earl Joel was right behind him. That was because he knew Earl Joel could easily find out he had betrayed the “Red Rose” and him.

But after gaining a better understanding of Mr. Liang’s power and influence, John no longer worried, prioritizing saving his own life first. Even if Joel did come, he wouldn’t stand a chance against Mr. Liang and his allies. If Joel did arrive, he might even be able to use the situation to raise his own status in Mr. Liang’s favor.

However, after spending those three sunless months beneath the Brilliant Fortune Building and defeating two “blood beasts” through arduous fights, using their fresh blood to aid his two phase transformations, John’s thoughts had changed again.

He now felt much stronger, and Mr. Liang hadn’t thoroughly examined or understood his changes resulting from the two phase transformations.

Against Mr. Liang, he believed that he had a few “tricks up his sleeve”.

He was sure that, at the right time, if he launched a surprise attack, he might have a chance to inflict heavy damage on Mr. Liang and seize an opportunity to escape or even consume Mr. Liang.

And now, if Earl Joel really had come to China, it might provide him with that “opportunity”.

So, within the entirely closed room, he got up, ran to where the surveillance camera was located, and jumped up and down shouting, “Lord Liang! I have something to report! Important news!”

After his victory over the “mutated giant serpent” and the completion of his phase transformation, he had been confined in this enclosed room like the rest of the “blood beasts”. To be precise, apart from him, there should only be one other blood beast left in this underground space.

“Speak.” Mr. Liang’s harsh and unpleasant voice came from the speaker.

John hurriedly said, “It’s about Earl Joel who I told you about before… Old Joel! He’s the oldest ‘bloodline vampire’ in the ‘Red Rose’, and he is over two hundred years old. I came to your country this time to help him look for the ‘Blood Source’. He should be here now. I can feel it…”

“Where?” Mr. Liang’s method of communication was straightforward.

“I can’t confirm his location at the moment… But! Based on our habits, if we were to enter your country, we would usually not come by sea. The probability of entering through the land borders is higher, so like me, he probably sneaked in from the southwest border. But now, the strange sensation I am experiencing should mean he isn’t very far from me! He has a method to confirm the locations where his ‘prosthetics’ have disappeared. He probably found his way here based on where you ate his ‘prosthetic’. He should already know our location! Lord Liang, you must prepare. He will come knocking.” John spoke in a loyal and dutiful tone, “If you don’t want this place exposed, you could move me somewhere else. I am sure that, when he comes knocking, I can help you catch him. Joel is over two hundred years old. I think his phase limit must be nearing, which is why he might have come himself.”

Mr. Liang still spoke nonchalantly, “Understood.”

John sighed in relief. It seemed that Mr. Liang really didn’t take the vampires of the “Red Rose” seriously.

But from a certain perspective, his underestimation was a good thing for John himself.

Just wait, I’ll certainly surprise this “monster”.

While he was thinking this, Mr. Liang’s voice suddenly rang out again, startling him:

“Are you ready?”

“Eh?” John looked up at the surveillance camera and said blankly, “Ready for what?”

“You should know what’s staying next to you, right? You’ll be staying with it next, are you ready?”

John immediately understood, and quickly said, “Of course I’m not ready yet. Give me some more time.”

But the “time” Mr. Liang gave was clearly limited, “One more day.”

…

In a modestly scaled but locally renowned kindergarten in Pengcheng City…

In a classroom, a young and pretty female teacher was introducing the characteristics and habits of some animals to a group of children using projected images.

Sitting amid the children, Liu Shiling was somewhat lost in thought.

Indeed, while this kindergarten was rather “advanced” in its teaching approach, the content still couldn’t quite keep up with her pace.

Usually at this time, she’d be learning words and various fun facts with Alice, or studying mathematics and drawing with Ms. Fairy and others.

And if it was about fun, the stories and knowledge shared by Sister Xiao Pingguo, and the fun sketch comedies and crosstalk they prepared together, were much more fun than what the teacher taught.

So, she often daydreamed in class. She participated superficially in the teacher-student interactions; her real thoughts were elsewhere, either considering a jumble of ideas such as her “magic training plan”, “return to Chongyun Village plan”, her “new duo act with Sister Apple”, “conceptualization of Barbie Warrior’s new skin”, “Custard Pie’s weight loss plan”, “plan to graduate from elementary school early and enter junior high”, “plan to finish nine years of compulsory education in five years” and so on, or she was practicing controlling her magic quietly.

For instance, at that moment, she was quietly controlling two coins to “scratch her back”.

However, her absent-minded state or rather, her adorably lit expression, caught the teacher’s attention.

“Shiling, do you have any questions about what the teacher just explained?”

All of the other children turned to look at Liu Shiling. But the current Little Fatty Girl was not the same as before. Despite the other children’s gazes, she calmly hid the two coins that were scratching her back into her sleeves, and let them climb back into her pocket before shaking her head blankly, “No, I understood everything. Teacher explained it really well!”

“Then… Do you have any questions about the giant panda?” the teacher asked again.

Liu Shiling shook her head.

“Does Shiling know a lot about pandas now?”

Liu Shiling nodded.

“Then Shiling, come up and teach the other children about pandas again, okay?” The teacher said with a smile, “If you do well, I’ll reward you with two little red flowers!”

Liu Shiling scratched her head and obediently walked up to the projection screen. She looked up at the big panda face and after hesitating for two seconds, she began to speak, “Wow, the panda, it has a round head and a round belly, with short arms and legs, and even a short tail. When it’s young, it’s especially small, and when it grows up, it’s especially big, but it’s always round. Hey? Don’t be fooled by its roundness, it’s great at climbing trees, whoosh up a tree, just like a golden monkey among bears. Pandas love to eat bamboo, so they stay in bamboo forests, but they can also eat meat, even munching on big pig trotters. Pandas are our national treasures, we must take care of them…”

What she was rambling about was certainly not what the teacher had just explained. She hadn’t really heard much of what the teacher had said. These were all things that Sister Xiao Pingguo had told her about different animals in the past. Of course, she couldn’t fully repeat it all, and could only give a general idea, sometimes pausing in between, but her performance was already more than enough. Not only were the kids below listening intently, even the teacher was dumbfounded—She originally thought she could use this method to make the new student Liu Shiling understand the principle of paying attention when the teacher is giving a lecture, but as soon as this young lady opened her mouth, she performed a seemingly educational stand-up show? The most amazing part was that her accent had even changed!

In the past, if the Little Fatty Girl had to speak or perform in front of so many unfamiliar faces, she would be very nervous and not know what to do, not even knowing where to put her hands.

But after forming the “Bell Apple”, “Ring Apple” duo with Sister Xiao Pingguo in Chongyun Village, she would often perform in front of the Chicken Wing Sister and Pretty Sister.

In particular, when Sister Xiao Pingguo helped her and Old Fairy Sister prepare a comedy sketch, and later when Old Fairy Sister came to Pengcheng City, she would take her out to play every few days, then they would perform together for others to watch.

Although those uncles and aunts, grandpas and grandmas, looked very kind and treated her especially well, in the beginning she was indeed very nervous and would often mess up or mispronounce her lines. However, they were always especially happy every time, regardless of whether she made a mistake, they would praise her and tell her she did a good job. Gradually, she was no longer nervous.

So now, facing a group of children and a teacher, she could remain calm and was not afraid of making mistakes or forgetting her lines.

After Liu Shiling finished speaking about pandas, the female teacher intended to praise her and let her return to her seat. However, when the teacher clicked her remote, the image of the panda baby on the projection screen changed to an ant.

Liu Shiling looked back and said quite naturally: “This is an ant… It’s called a Big-headed ant, because its head is especially big! Ants have six legs, three on each side. It moves very fast, but because it has two legs less than a spider, it’s not as fast as a spider.

“Not every ant can become a mother, only one ant with a particularly large belly can become an ant queen. Its belly is filled with ant eggs, giving birth to a bunch of little ants every once in a while. Little ants can help everyone find food and fight, and the ant queen just keeps giving birth to little ants.

“I also know about a kind of really cute ant called the N-…Glowing, Belly, Bow, Back, Ant. The ‘N’ is not ‘you’ in ‘you and me’, it has a hand radical on the left and on the right is ‘yi’ as in ‘to think’. Can you guys write ‘yi’? ‘Yi’ is written like this. ‘Glowing’ is the ‘glow’ in… no, it’s the ‘glow’ in ‘Bright’…”

Teacher was standing aside looking shocked, with her mouth slightly agape and a surprised expression on her face. She instinctively felt that something Liu Shiling said seemed off, but on closer thought, she couldn’t point out what was wrong.

As for the other children, they listened intently, their eyes full of admiration when they looked at Liu.

In fact, they were already very curious about this new little girl who had just transferred to the kindergarten not long ago. Because, after Tang Baona and Yang Zhen Er arrived in Pengcheng, “Old Fairy Sister”, who loved to dress up children and buy clothes for them, simply lost control and completely let loose. As a result, Little Fatty Girl appeared in new clothes and beautiful shoes every day, dressed so delicately that she looked like a little princess.

Plus, she wasn’t very proactive in talking to other children, nor did she like to play the family games or other games that other children enjoyed. She preferred to be alone and quiet, which gave a very special “cool” feeling. This made the other children keep a certain distance from her, but also sparked a desire to get close to her and know her better.

And today’s performance had elevated Liu Shiling’s mysterious status among the children even further.

In the afternoon, after school, Liu Shiling walked out carrying her little backpack, and immediately saw Old Fairy Sister stretching her neck to look for her at the kindergarten gate.

Recently, Yang Zhen Er would always volunteer to pick up the Little Fatty Girl. She would then take her out for meals, shopping, and playtime.

Liu Shiling naturally reached over and held Yang Zhen Er’s hand, bidding goodbye to the teacher at the door.

“Xiao Lingdang, your teacher just praised you! She said you are amazing, even knowing a lot about ants. Today, you received two red flowers in class!” Yang Zhen Er spoke excitedly while holding Little Fatty Girl’s hand, as if she was the one who received the red flowers, not Little Fatty Girl.

Liu Shiling tilted her face up and said, “Sister Xiao Pingguo and Sister Luosi taught me.”

Yang Zhen Er knew that Sister Luosi was a little girl that Little Fatty Girl frequently chatted with online. Even though she had never met her, she knew this little girl was exceptionally knowledgeable.

“Regardless, Xiao Lingdang is the best! Well, you received three red flowers today, sister will reward you with three sets of new clothes!” Yang Zhen Er said joyfully. As she spoke, she was already considering where to take Little Fatty Girl shopping.

“Ms. Fairy, stop buying clothes. It’s too wasteful, I have more clothes at home than I can wear. Mom also said, I can’t accept any more clothes from you. Otherwise, she will spank me.” Liu Shiling said with a pained expression.

“How could it be wasteful! Xiao Lingdang, you are so cute hence you deserve the best clothes! Ok, alright, no clothes this time. How about hats? I found an online brand that sells beautiful kids’ hats.”

Upon seeing Little Fatty Girl’s look of despair, Yang Zhen Er could only relent: “Ok, ok. No clothes, no hats, and no shoes either. Let’s go have something tasty!”

Naturally, Little Fatty Girl was delighted with this suggestion, bobbing her head in agreement. Then, both of them went to a restaurant with good reviews that Yang Zhen Er had found online.

This restaurant genuinely did have good food. However, after finishing their meal, Yang Zhen Er habitually said: “Although it’s not bad, it still pales in comparison to what Brother Xiang cooks. I miss his boiled fish fillets and dry pot rabbit meat!”

As she said this, Liu Shiling who was sitting opposite her, was rubbing her tummy and nodding her head like a pecking chicken.

After their meal, Yang Zhen Er took Liu Shiling back to the house she and Tang Baona had rented – their place and Liu Shiling’s were in the same complex and building.

During this period, Tang Baona was always in the “Teng Jiao Entertainment” coordinating with Zhang Qian on some matters. Shiling’s mom, due to her hard work, had started doing some real work in the administrative department, instead of just running errands. So, both of them often had to work until late to return home.

As for Yang Zhen Er, her main role at “QianKun Technology” was Tang Baona’s “executive assistant” and also covered some financial tasks. Usually, there was not much to do, so naturally, she took over looking after Liu Shiling – which allowed Shiling’s mom to wholeheartedly put herself into work, or more accurately, to start working truly.

Of course, in Yang Zhen Er’s own words, spending time together with Little Fatty Girl made her incredibly happy.

Back at home, noticing that Little Fatty Girl was about to take her IPAD out to study, Yang Zhen Er quickly pulled her onto the sofa and said: “Xiao Lingdang, don’t rush to study. Watch your fairy sister perform some magic!!”

Saying so, she took out a disposable cup, placed it on the TV cabinet, then retreated to the doorway. She placed a coin on her thumb and announced triumphantly: “Behold the miracle!” Then, she flicked the a coin towards the TV.

The coin spun through the air, tracing a long arc before accurately falling into the disposable cup.

Yang Zhen Er jumped excitedly and shouted at Liu Shiling, who was staring wide-eyed at the cup on the sofa: “Xiao Lingdang, am I amazing or what!”