Chapter 546 - 561: Respective Situations

If Jiang Xia knew what An Ning was thinking, he would surely raise a large banner with a bold slogan written on it: "Support rabbits eating the grass around their own den! I’m the grass right here!"

Unfortunately, although Jiang Xia had figured out his feelings early on, he had never confessed. The longer he waited, the more his courage dwindled.

Every time An Ning emerged from one of those caves, he would summon all his courage to confess, only to be defeated by her innocent gaze.

Sometimes, he even wondered, ’Am I just too wicked?’

And so, over five years, the two of them, who spent more time apart than together, found themselves in a situation where one wanted to confess and the other was just starting to catch on.

After finishing a bowl of dumplings, An Ning felt as content as a little kitten.

When Jiang Xia came out after washing the dishes, he saw An Ning had fallen asleep, slumped over the table.

He stopped at the kitchen doorway, gazing at her sleeping face, unable to look away.

’She... seems to have gotten even more beautiful.’

Jiang Xia was happy at first, but that feeling was immediately followed by worry.

’With her being so beautiful, how many other people must have their eyes on her?’

After watching for a while, Jiang Xia quietly approached, leaned down, and gently tapped An Ning’s shoulder.

"Go sleep in your room. It’s not comfortable out here."

"Mmm."

An Ning murmured like a kitten, let out a lazy yawn, and groggily got to her feet, swaying as she headed next door.

How could Jiang Xia let her go alone? He followed closely behind her, his hands hovering at first, then firmly supporting her, and finally, he just swept her up in a princess carry.

"I shouldn’t have let you walk on your own."

As Jiang Xia carried her, he didn’t see the fleeting smile that touched An Ning’s lips.

’The grass by the den... is about to be eaten.’

Jiang Xia carried An Ning back to her place next door. As for other tricks to make him stay, An Ning didn’t really know any. She had learned that last move from people at the lab.

Playing groggy.

But An Ning was genuinely exhausted anyway. She lay on her bed and drifted off into a blissful sleep, dreaming that she had turned into a rabbit and gnawed her entire den bare.

The next morning, when An Ning woke up, she found that she had chewed the corner of her blanket until it was wet.

’Could it be... I’ve entered my mating season? Am I really this restless?’

An Ning tried to analyze herself but couldn’t figure it out.

Deciding to put aside what she couldn’t understand, An Ning got up early, washed her face, and waited to be fed by her neighbor.

After she finished washing up, she climbed onto the wall separating their yards and saw Jiang Xia hanging a bedsheet out to dry.

"Aren’t we going back to the village today? Will it dry in time?"

Jiang Xia, who was in the middle of hanging the sheet, blushed and quickly hid his face behind it.

"It’s fine. I put it through the spin cycle. It’ll be pretty much dry by the time we finish eating."

"You must be hungry. I’ll go make breakfast right now."

With a few quick snaps, Jiang Xia finished unfurling the sheet and rushed back inside to cook.

"What’s he running for? Am I that scary?"

Perched on the wall, An Ning stared at Jiang Xia’s bedsheet, unable to figure out anything unusual about it.

For breakfast, the two had noodles, a fried egg cooked until fragrant and slightly crispy, and some of Jiang Xia’s homemade pickles.

An Ning ate every last bit of the noodles and even drank all the broth. The sweltering summer heat made her break out in a sweat.

"Whew—that was delicious, but it’s so hot."

"Oh? I’ll make cold noodles next time."

"Okay! But really, you’re such a good cook."

An Ning praised Jiang Xia, which was a rare event. His chopsticks CLATTERED onto the table as he stared at her and asked, "What do you want?"

"I don’t want anything. Can’t I just give you a compliment?"

Jiang Xia blinked.

"It’s not that you can’t... Hmm, no, you can’t. It’s making my skin crawl."

Jiang Xia really wasn’t used to it. He even shivered before looking at An Ning and saying, "Just tell me what’s on your mind. Don’t beat around the bush. This kind of roundabout approach doesn’t suit you."

An Ning looked at Jiang Xia, who was analyzing the situation so seriously, and felt a surge of frustration.

WHOOSH—SCRAPE.

An Ning shot to her feet and smacked Jiang Xia on the back of the head.

"You blockhead!"

An Ning stomped off in a huff.

Jiang Xia just chuckled foolishly, rubbing his head and muttering to himself, "Now *that’s* more like it. But wait, how am I a blockhead?"

"Hey, hey, hey! That’s a personal attack!"

Jiang Xia watched An Ning leave, then, completely oblivious, went back to eating, washing the dishes, and packing his luggage.

Back in her own place, An Ning carefully reconsidered her strategy. It seemed the path of compliments wasn’t for her.

It wasn’t just awkward for Jiang Xia; she felt pretty awkward herself.

’It just goes to show you can learn from other people’s methods, but you can’t copy them exactly.’

Her strategy of "being nicer to Jiang Xia" had yielded minimal results, so An Ning decided to put it on pause.

She’d made up her mind. She would give it another try, and if that didn’t work, she’d just knock Jiang Xia unconscious, drag him back to the village, and make him her bandit bridegroom.

"Hehehe, that plan’s not half bad either."

An Ning, who had been a little angry at Jiang Xia’s cluelessness, was instantly in a better mood. She quickly finished packing and got ready to go home.

KNOCK KNOCK—

A knock on the door.

An Ning grabbed her luggage and went to open the door. Jiang Xia was standing at the entrance, and behind him was a seven-seater minivan.

"Are you ready?"

"All set. You could have just honked."

An Ning stepped out and locked the door as Jiang Xia took her luggage.

"Why would I honk? I’m not picking up a—"

Jiang Xia swallowed the next word. An Ning’s eyes darted away as a guilty-looking Jiang Xia opened the trunk.

Just then, the rear passenger window rolled down. Da Huang’s head suddenly popped out, and he let out a loud WOOF, which explained a lot.

"Da Huang, don’t cause trouble."

Da Huang shot Jiang Xia an indignant look, then haughtily turned his head away and retracted it as the window rolled back up.

A classic case of "out of sight, out of mind."

An Ning chuckled at Da Huang’s antics and patted Jiang Xia’s shoulder. "How did you manage to offend your brother?"

"How would I dare offend him? Look at my status in this household—I’ve been reduced to being the dog’s chauffeur."

The moment he said that, he saw An Ning, who had been pulling open the passenger side door, freeze on the spot.

The timing of that comment was a little too perfect.

He gave an awkward laugh and tried to explain.

"That’s not what I meant, really..."

"Shut up!"

An Ning got in the car, SLAMMED the door shut, and fastened her seatbelt.

Outside, Jiang Xia turned away and slapped himself across the face. ’It’s like my mouth was cursed today. Every single thing I say is offensive. This is killing me.’

Jiang Xia obediently got in the car and started driving toward Beijing University.

"So... I wonder where Guoping will be doing his internship."

"Guoping graduated?"

An Ning’s question made Jiang Xia want to slap himself again.

"He should have, I think. I don’t remember clearly."

Jiang Xia, who had just been spouting nonsense, met An Ning’s gaze and forced a smile. "It should be this year. He was in a six-year bachelor’s-master’s program. He’ll do his internship first, then continue with his PhD."

"His advisor said that doctors need a lot of practical experience and can’t just stay cooped up at the university."

An Ning nodded in agreement and began asking about their other friends.

"Your roommate, Luo Li, started her hospital internship a while ago. She’s doing that while in a combined master’s-doctoral program."

"After Yin Xuemei graduated, she opened a bunch of braised food shops. It’s a chain now, and business is good."

"After Yang Jianguo graduated, I invested in a small internet company he started. It’s still in the early stages."

"As for your apprentices, I’m not too sure about them."