Chapter 520 - 456: Always Waiting for Her (Part 2)
Chapter 520: Chapter 456: Always Waiting for Her (Part 2)
’Next time I run into any of my female friends or classmates, I’ll have to introduce him myself,’ Xiao Man secretly decided. ’I’ll say, "This is my fiancé, Mr. Gu Shaojun. Just call him Mr. Gu!"’
Gu Shaojun stood up and moved his chair right next to Xiao Man’s, making room for the waiter to clear the table. His expression was unchanged, and he didn’t say a word, acting as if he hadn’t just done something to Gongsun Ruxue. Although he really wanted to intimidate Gongsun Ruxue with his Suppression, break through her "protective layer" to see her cultivation, and ascertain just how dangerous she was to Xiao Man, Xiao Man had said she still needed to confirm something. ’So, I’ll just have to be patient and spend a little more time on this,’ he thought.
At that moment, Gu Shaojun also realized that Gongsun Ruxue was surely connected to the Cultivator who had fled the day before. They were both "relatives" of the Bai Family.
Gongsun Ruxue had called out in a delicate voice, but Gu Shaojun still hadn’t responded. She was still looking at him expectantly, her eyes wide and pleading. With no other choice, Xiao Man expressed concern in Gu Shaojun’s stead. "What’s wrong, Ruxue? You look pale. Did you get burned by the soup?"
Only then did Gu Shaojun add a comment, but he directed it at the waiter. "Do you have any burn ointment here?"
Gongsun Ruxue completely ignored Xiao Man, her heart filled with joy at Gu Shaojun’s concern. She looked at Gu Shaojun with a bashful gaze, waved her hand, and said, "I’m fine. My hand just slipped. I’m so sorry. Don’t worry about this soup. I also ordered some individual stews. That’s an excellent soup as well, and it should be out soon."
As she spoke, a waiter came in carrying a large tray with four stew pots, each containing a soup slow-cooked with a variety of mushrooms. Gongsun Ruxue stood up to serve them herself, once again giving the first one to Gu Shaojun, followed by Xiao Man, Sun Yiming, and finally, herself.
Xiao Man stirred the stew in front of her with a spoon. Inside were a chicken leg, a wing, pieces of chicken meat, a chicken foot, and four or five types of mushrooms, along with a small slice of ginger. The steaming, fragrant aroma was incredibly appetizing.
Sun Yiming was already starving. He scooped up a spoonful of hot soup and was about to eat it when Xiao Man stopped him. She asked if he was allergic to wild mushrooms. Sun Yiming said no, explaining that he often ate soups made with wild mushrooms and loved them. He’d never even met anyone who was allergic to them.
Xiao Man smiled. "The mushroom soups we usually eat are relatively simple, using only one type of mushroom. This soup, however, mixes several kinds together. The flavor is undoubtedly exquisite, but this method of preparation is actually a little risky. It can trigger some minor problems, like allergic reactions, stomach discomfort, or even brief dizziness and fainting. That’s because when you mix four or five or more types of mushrooms, they can produce a very small amount of toxins. Of course, most people aren’t affected. Only those with a particular constitution, or people who already have a certain latent toxin in their system, are guaranteed to have a reaction!"
As she spoke, Xiao Man looked at Gongsun Ruxue. "I’m right, aren’t I, Ruxue?"
The color that had just returned to Gongsun Ruxue’s face drained away again, leaving it pale. She tried to compose herself, struggling to maintain her dignified and elegant demeanor, but she stammered when she spoke. "Th-th-that’s just fearmongering, isn’t it? If what you say is true, then nobody should ever eat wild mushrooms again! Zhenwei Restaurant serves hundreds of customers every day, and there has never been a single incident. My family and I have eaten here several times as well."
Xiao Man smiled. "Is it really fearmongering? You’re a highly skilled doctor of Chinese medicine, an expert in pharmacology. Your knowledge of traditional Chinese herbs is profound and extensive. If you were to add just a tiny bit of a certain herb to these five wild mushrooms, this soup could be used as a sleeping potion. Drink it, and you’re guaranteed to get drowsy and fall into a deep, unconscious sleep for about half an hour! But don’t worry, that’s highly unlikely to happen. The herb I’m talking about is very rare, needs to be synthesized, and is quite expensive. It wouldn’t be used unless someone had ulterior motives. If they tried to drug the soup on the spot, everyone would see it. No fool would dare drink it then, right? Right now, this is just mushroom soup without that herb, so it’s quite safe. Unless... the four of us had already unknowingly ingested that specific herb beforehand, and its components are now stored in our blood. That’s what I meant earlier by ’already having a certain latent toxin’ in our system. In that case, if we drink even half of this stew, the drug will quickly take effect. It won’t cause any major physical harm—we’d just get drowsy and fall asleep for twenty to thirty minutes. But if we were being set up by someone, those twenty to thirty minutes would be anything but ordinary. To put it bluntly, it would be long enough to ruin a person’s entire life!"
Sun Yiming frowned slightly, his expression growing serious. "Isn’t that the same as a knockout drug? That’s incredibly dangerous. In certain situations... the consequences would be unimaginable!"