Chapter 640 - 655: Perfect

An Guoping followed An Ning, his steps slightly awkward. He didn’t know what to do with his hands, his eyes darting all over the place.

"What’s with you? Aren’t you a doctor? You see guts and organs every day, yet you’re this awkward over a little thing like this?"

"Sis... that’s not the same thing."

An Guoping sat down across from An Ning, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"How is it any different? Just be straightforward. If you have something to say, say it."

"Sis, how did you know I had something to tell you?"

An Ning just gave An Guoping a look, letting him figure it out for himself. He responded with a silly grin.

"An Guoping, you aren’t usually this dense, are you? If you are, as a doctor, you make me fear for your patients."

An Guoping took the water An Ning handed him and gulped down half the glass in one go.

"Of course not. I’m a total professional."

An Guoping set down the glass and, with an exceptionally eager smile, invited An Ning to sit.

After An Ning sat down, she waited for him to speak.

"Sis... there’s something I want to tell you. It’s just that I..."

An Guoping trailed off and lowered his head, looking sheepish.

"Are you going to say it or not?"

"I will! I have a girlfriend, and I’d like you to meet her."

This time, it was An Ning’s turn to be dumbfounded.

"A girlfriend? Since when? The last time I left, you were still a bachelor, a motivated young man dedicated to your career. How did you find a girlfriend in such a short time?"

It was no wonder An Ning was surprised; she was completely unprepared for this.

"Well, I was just thinking... we’re both busy with work, and I didn’t want to drag things out like you and Jiang Xia, so I decided to just go for it—hey, why are you glaring at me?"

An Guoping immediately waved his hands and explained, "No, Sis, what are you thinking? I didn’t do anything! I mean, we just made our relationship official, that’s all."

An Ning didn’t say a word, letting An Guoping explain himself fully.

They were originally classmates. A couple of years ago, the girl had gotten the opportunity to study abroad. Back then, they had mutual feelings for each other but had never confessed.

This time, the girl returned from overseas, they met again, and one thing naturally led to another.

An Ning understood now and leaned back in her chair.

"You two are dating. Why do you need me to meet her?"

"It’s not that we’re specifically trying to meet you. She’s my classmate and already knew you were my sister. You’re her idol. I thought that as a sign of how serious and committed I am, meeting my sister would be a good step. We’re not at the ’meet the parents’ stage yet."

An Ning understood.

"Fine. Just arrange a time and let me know."

"Okay!"

An Guoping happily said, "Thanks, Sis!" to An Ning, who replied with a single word: "Scram."

An Guoping left first. After seeing him off, An Ning stood by the corner of the wall. On the other side was Jiang Xia.

"So, the silly kid’s in a relationship. He’s pretty fast."

"Yeah. Do you think I should run a check on this girl?"

As soon as she asked, she muttered to herself, "’Maybe that’s not a good idea.’"

"Why not? Anyone who gets close to you should be checked out."

Jiang Xia’s words dispelled An Ning’s last bit of hesitation. She made a call to Yu Zheng. It was better to be safe.

Next, the two of them stayed by the wall, discussing plans to have dinner with Hua Cheng and the others tomorrow.

"Yu the Elder’s banquet is in five days?"

"That’s right. How about I formally invite Mr. Jiang Xia to attend with me?"

"It would be my honor."

Once they settled their plans, they stopped feeding the mosquitoes outside and went to their respective rooms to rest early.

「The next day」

The two went for a run together and ate the breakfast Jiang Xia had prepared.

After breakfast, Jiang Xia went to work, while An Ning, with nothing to do, browsed through some books at home.

Not long after Jiang Xia left, Yu Zheng arrived with the file on An Guoping’s girlfriend.

After An Ning had looked through everything, she asked, "So, there are no issues?"

Yu Zheng shook his head.

"For now, it looks like there are no problems, but we can’t be certain there really aren’t any."

"Oh..."

An Ning put down the documents. "Everything feels too perfect, doesn’t it?"

"Yes. Too perfect."

This was what made Yu Zheng suspicious as well.

"When a person who seems perfect for you appears, you shouldn’t be happy. You should run away immediately, right?"

An Ning’s words made Yu Zheng nod. "Indeed. Perfect situations only arise from careful scheming."

An Ning sighed. "It’s not that perfection is impossible, just that the chances are infinitesimally small."

"I’ll know once I meet her."

An Ning felt she had to meet the girl in person to know the truth.

After Yu Zheng left, An Ning felt uneasy. She felt a little bad for An Guoping.

’Is his first love going to end just like that? It seems a bit cruel.’

That evening, Jiang Xia organized a dinner gathering.

His two childhood friends, Hua Cheng and Cheng Jun, were there, along with An Ning’s two friends, Luo Li and Hei Niu.

The six of them met at a hot pot restaurant and ordered a split pot—half mushroom broth, half spicy broth.

Hua Cheng, the most talkative and outgoing of the group, was the first to raise his glass. He congratulated An Ning and Jiang Xia for finally taking the first step, their years of pining for each other at last culminating in a happy union.

The six of them toasted, sat down, and prepared to eat.

The steaming hot pot got everyone excited as they ate.

An Ning’s gaze wandered as she looked at Jiang Xia, pointing at him repeatedly.

"Jiang Xia, your words have subtitles! And they’re waving at me."

"Don’t move, don’t move! There’s a snake on you! Stay still, I can catch it!"

The snake-catcher was Hei Niu. She stood up, aimed for an unspeakable area on Hua Cheng, and—SMACK!—brought her hand down. She didn’t catch any snake, but Hua Cheng was probably half-crippled.

Cheng Jun and Jiang Xia, who had only been eating from the spicy side of the pot, now realized something was wrong.

"This mushroom broth... what kind of mushrooms did they use?"

Jiang Xia held onto An Ning, who was busy trying to pick imaginary fish scales off herself. Meanwhile, Cheng Jun was trying to help Hua Cheng, who was rolling on the floor, convinced he was on fire.

At this point, Hei Niu and Luo Li were also on the verge of losing it, dazed and half-crazed.

As Cheng Jun made a call and opened the door to their private room, he was surprised to see even more people in the main hall showing signs of poisoning. It was a mass poisoning event.

The hot pot dinner came to an end, all because of the deliberate revenge of a fired employee.

「The next day at the hospital」

An Ning and the others finally learned what had happened. A disgruntled employee who had been fired from the hot pot restaurant, feeling resentful, had sliced up some wild mushrooms known to cause hallucinations that he’d had mailed from his hometown and tossed them into the mushroom broth.

Everyone who had eaten from the mushroom broth that day was poisoned.

Fortunately, the amount wasn’t large, so there were no fatalities.

Learning the truth, An Ning recalled the taste of the mushroom hot pot.

"No wonder it was so delicious. I ate a lot of it."

Jiang Xia, sitting by her hospital bed, peeled a banana and handed it to An Ning. "You can say that again. Your case was the most severe."

"Heh, it’s fine. I have a high tolerance."

An Ning jokingly took the banana. She learned that the others were also fine, with the only injury belonging to Hua Cheng, a victim of Hei Niu’s "snake-catching."

Hearing this, An Ning felt a strong urge to laugh.

"Sis, are you okay?"

An Guoping had arrived. As it happened, An Ning was hospitalized in the very hospital where he worked.

An Ning was about to say she was fine when she saw the young woman behind An Guoping—the "perfect" one.