Chapter 91: Restaurant Incident
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Jian Ningxuan was sitting under the shade of a tree, staring fixedly at the stock trend chart on his laptop screen.
An Bu walked over with two drinks in hand and sat beside him, asking, “Don’t you find it boring to look at these things every day?”
“It’s okay. Mainly, it involves market analysis, data recording, and predictive assessments. For me, it’s quite challenging.” Jian Ningxuan took the drinks, feeling the cold touch on his fingers, and relaxed his brows slightly.
“I heard this line of work is quite risky.”
“What we do is control the market, not profit from small price differences. As long as we understand market trends, we can become the biggest winners.”
Jian Ningxuan entered this field at the age of 18, starting as a small trader. Twelve years later, he had earned his university tuition and current wealth entirely on his own, without relying on his family. Almost all of the trades he handled were successful. The most brilliant one was cooperating with a team from Country M, inflating the stock price-earnings ratio to over 1,000 times, a legendary feat in the industry. Of course, it also required some luck.
An Bu, not knowing much about this field and not having much interest, just casually asked. Jian Ningxuan seemed to have thought of something and said to An Bu, “Bubu, do you want to invest some money? I can help you with the operation.”
He wasn’t handling small accounts now, but An Bu was different. He was interested in helping her with financial management.
An Bu laughed, “I only have a little over 20,000 yuan in my account. Do you want it?”
Jian Ningxuan directly reached out his hand, “Bank card, password.”
An Bu took out her bank card from her bag and reported the password to him.
Jian Ningxuan put away An Bu’s bank card, then handed her his bank card and credit card, saying, “You hold onto these.”
An Bu didn’t refuse and put the two cards into her wallet.
The exchange between them was very natural, without any reservations or precautions.
“In the afternoon, let’s go back to the city. We can choose furniture together,” An Bu suggested.
Jian Ningxuan readily agreed.
In the afternoon, after having lunch at a roadside restaurant, they took the car back to Bolin City.
An Bu had already familiarized herself with the nearby environment, leading the way like a local. They visited several furniture stores in a row, with An Bu responsible for choosing the style and Jian Ningxuan selecting the colors. Busy for the whole afternoon, they basically settled on all the major furniture. The only exception was the super king-size bed in the master bedroom, which Jian Ningxuan always felt unsatisfied with. After choosing and picking for two hours, he finally found a double bed that met his criteria of “having both length and depth and being stylish.”
“Forget about the length and depth, what’s ‘stylish’ supposed to mean?” An Bu couldn’t understand.
Jian Ningxuan replied, “It means chic charm.”
An Bu said, “…” From now on, I should call you Mr. Experienced Driver.
Under Old Corpse An’s guidance, Jian Ningxuan had long changed, with his integrity falling like the setting sun, and his routines as deep as the sea.
Leaving the furniture store, An Bu asked, “What do you want for dinner tonight?”
“You decide.” Jian Ningxuan wasn’t very picky about outside food as long as it was clean and tasted decent.
An Bu’s eyes scanned the surroundings, and then, behind her, there was laughter and chatter. A family of three passed by her and headed straight to a nearby buffet restaurant.
“What’s wrong?” Jian Ningxuan saw An Bu suddenly stop and turned to ask.
“Let’s go eat there,” An Bu pointed to the buffet restaurant where the three people had just entered.
“Okay,” Jian Ningxuan had no objections and walked towards the buffet restaurant with An Bu.
As soon as they entered the restaurant, An Bu secretly took a breath of cold air. There were more than 30 customers in the restaurant, and surprisingly, 21 of them seemed lifeless, with their time of death mostly within the two hours.
Originally, An Bu thought it was just a problem with that family, but now it seemed that the real problem was with this restaurant.
An Bu quickly scanned the food selected by these customers, then grabbed Jian Ningxuan’s hand and said, “I suddenly don’t want to eat here anymore, let’s go somewhere else.”
Since she knew there was an issue with this restaurant, she naturally couldn’t let Jian Ningxuan take the risk.
An Bu pushed Jian Ningxuan out of the restaurant, and the cold, lifeless atmosphere was instantly dispersed by the vibrant energy outside.
“What’s wrong?” Jian Ningxuan gazed deeply at An Bu. In that moment just now, he felt like she had seen something.
“It’s nothing. How about we go to that Mansotti place?” An Bu pointed to the specialty restaurant a few dozen meters away. Jian Ningxuan followed her, feeling doubtful but not asking.
Entering the restaurant, guided by the waiter, they chose a window-side table.
After ordering, An Bu stood up and said, “I’ll go to the restroom.”
Jian Ningxuan nodded, silently watching her leave.
An Bu stood in front of the sink, washing her hands while quickly recalling everything she saw in the buffet restaurant earlier. Thirty-two customers, 21 in danger, 9 safe. If it was a food issue, there must be a particular dish that all 21 people ordered but the 9 did not. However, their food had some overlap, and there was no dish that met the mentioned condition.
Could it be a problem with the utensils? Utensils are generally cleaned, disinfected, and stacked uniformly. If someone had poisoned them, all these people should have been affected unless the poisoned utensils were secretly introduced, aiming to randomly harm people.
Of course, besides poisoning, there were other reasons for casualties, such as a sudden explosion in the restaurant or intruders with weapons. An Bu couldn’t determine the cause of death, so she had no starting point. Also, she had a concern: if these deaths were caused intentionally, would saving these people make the culprit change their target and harm others instead? Just like the plane incident she had experienced.
But 21 lives, including several children… could she really stand by and watch them die?
An Bu walked out of the restroom, looking at the man sitting quietly by the window. On one side were dozens of lives, and on the other was the most beautiful and perhaps the only companion she had ever encountered in her life.
An Bu took slow and firm steps, walking towards the man. Life involves choices, and she didn’t have the ability to shoulder everyone’s lives.
“The dishes are all here; let’s eat.” Jian Ningxuan called out.
“Okay.” An Bu sat across from him, picked up her fork and knife, and started enjoying her vegetarian meal.
Tasteless food, but the cat was entertaining.
An Bu asked, “Mr. Jian, which country do you like the most?”
“I don’t particularly like any.”
“Then do you know why I chose to buy a house in Country R first?”
“Why?”
“Because Country R is one of the countries that produce the most seafood worldwide, and it’s close to Country Z.” An Bu’s eyes were full of smiles. “Mr. Jian likes seafood, and living here means you can eat the freshest seafood every day.”
Maintaining an elegant dining posture, Jian Ningxuan casually responded with a simple “Hmm.” People who didn’t know him might think he was indifferent and uninterested in this topic. However, as someone who had been feeding him for over a year, An Bu had long understood his tsundere personality. The most straightforward expression was that he secretly emitted light.
An Bu continued, “Country R is also one of the countries that love cats the most in the world. You will encounter many companions here, like the Fortune Cat, Nine-Tailed Fox, Totoro, Doraemon…”
Jian Ningxuan, “…” Are these things you mentioned real? And Totoro isn’t a cat.
“Mr. Jian is the most handsome one,” An Bu said contentedly. “How did you accidentally fall into my bowl? Let me tell you, once you fall in, you won’t be able to get out.”
Jian Ningxuan glanced at her, “When I fell in, I was only 70 kilograms. Now I’ve gotten so fat that I can’t get out.”
An Bu laughed, “Haha, that’s my plan, fatten you up and then slaughter you. Accept your fate.”
A hint of amusement flashed in Jian Ningxuan’s eyes, and a soft radiance circulated on his face.
They enjoyed the meal leisurely, playfully teasing each other with seriousness.
Forty minutes later, they left the restaurant feeling full.
Just then, a shrill siren approached, and several police cars and an ambulance rushed past, stopping near the buffet restaurant.
Many onlookers gathered, discussing.
“What happened?”
“It seems like food poisoning. Several people in the restaurant are in trouble.”
“No way? I had a meal at this restaurant yesterday.”
“With so many police coming, it’s probably not just ordinary food poisoning.”
“I also think so.”
…
After a short while, the police set up a cordon and controlled the scene. Through the glass, they could see the situation inside. Paramedics examined all the collapsed customers, urgently taking a few onto ambulances while leaving the others at the scene without moving.
Jian Ningxuan turned to look at An Bu, his gaze deep.
An Bu had originally planned to have dinner at this restaurant, but changed her mind as soon as she entered. Jian Ningxuan remembered she had said that she could foresee others’ deaths, meaning she knew in advance that something would happen here. With her personality, she would usually take action to help. Why didn’t she act this time?
Jian Ningxuan’s gaze fell on their intertwined hands, and a hint of realization flashed in his eyes.
It was because of him…
The previous An Bu was fearless, always risking danger for others. But now, to ensure his safety, she chose to give up saving the lives of these people.
A tinge of bitterness rose in Jian Ningxuan’s heart. He felt both happy about her concern for him and reluctant for her to go against her own will, shouldering the guilt of not saving those lives.
Sensing Jian Ningxuan’s gaze, An Bu looked up and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“You said that you can foresee others’ deaths.”
“Yes.”
“But you’re not a savior.” Jian Ningxuan said seriously, “On the premise of ensuring your safety and that of your family, I’m willing to accompany you in anything. In the case of this restaurant incident, if you had told me in advance, I would have made the same choice as you. Because there are too many variables, I wouldn’t let you take risks, just like you don’t want me to take risks.”
An Bu smiled, “I know.” Mr. Jian always knew how to reassure her in the most straightforward way.
“Good to know.” Jian Ningxuan held her hand. “Let’s go home.”
An Bu didn’t move and said to Jian Ningxuan, “Wait a moment. Although I couldn’t save them, I might be able to provide some clues to the police.”
Jian Ningxuan asked, “You have clues?” She had only been in that restaurant for a few seconds. What clues could she have?
An Bu pointed to her head, “I have a good memory.”
Jian Ningxuan thought, ‘A person with memory loss claims to have a good memory…’
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