Chapter 17: Chapter 17: A Narcissistic Person

Conceited Yang Jianguo noticed the squatting An Ning was completely ignoring him. He found it amusing, assuming she was playing hard to get. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

He pretended to casually walk over and squatted down next to An Ning to pick mushrooms.

An Ning sensed someone squatting beside her. Like a crab, she scuttled sideways for several steps, instantly putting some distance between herself and Yang Jianguo—at least three meters by the looks of it.

An Ning’s logic was simple. There were plenty of mushrooms, and picking them close together could easily lead to conflict. By keeping her distance, everything she found would be hers to pick however she pleased.

Having just squatted down, Yang Jianguo looked up and scoffed. ’Still pretending?’

’Did she really think he wanted to bother with her?’

Yang Jianguo tried to reason with himself, but the more he did, the angrier he got.

He glanced at An Ning, who was picking mushrooms, and snorted coldly.

Nearby, Zhou Guifen was close to Yang Jianguo. After seeing his expression, she slowly edged over to her sister-in-law’s side.

"An Ning, that guy isn’t right in the head. Stay away from him."

After she spoke, Zhou Guifen discreetly used her body to block his view, then pointed a finger in Yang Jianguo’s direction.

An Ning looked over and made eye contact with Yang Jianguo.

When Yang Jianguo met An Ning’s gaze, his eyes held an ’I knew it’ expression. ’Caught you staring at me, didn’t I?’

By then, An Ning had already turned back and whispered to her sister-in-law, "I got it, Sister-in-law."

The two of them continued picking mushrooms, moving in the opposite direction from Yang Jianguo.

But Yang Jianguo was extremely narcissistic. Coupled with the fact that he wasn’t bad-looking and several village girls had a crush on him, he was convinced that An Ning was secretly in love with him too.

So, he deliberately followed them in An Ning’s direction.

When his sister-in-law saw this, she thought, ’This guy can’t be a creep, can he? What does he want? The forest is huge, but he insists on following us and keeps stealing glances at An Ning.’

She didn’t dare to relax one bit. Her mushroom-picking slowed as she remained tense, warily keeping an eye on Yang Jianguo.

"Sister-in-law, what’s wrong?"

An Ning noticed her sister-in-law’s tension; the cheerful mood from before was gone.

"It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Let’s stop picking. There aren’t that many left anyway, and more and more people are showing up."

The sister-in-law decisively gave up on the profitable mushrooms. She wanted to get An Ning out of there; it would be best to find An Guoqing. Then they would be safe.

An Ning didn’t realize her sister-in-law was thinking so much. She just glanced around and saw that it was indeed getting crowded.

"Okay, let’s go."

An Ning stood up, and her sister-in-law followed close behind. She stood at An Ning’s side, blocking Yang Jianguo’s line of sight, and pulled An Ning along to circle around him from the other side.

Unfortunately, the narcissistic Yang Jianguo blocked their path.

He placed his back basket in front of him, his tone flippant and smug.

"Hand it over."

"Hand what over?" An Ning racked her brain. Neither the original owner of this body nor she herself owed this man anything.

"The mushrooms, of course. You went through all this trouble to ’run into’ me, wasn’t it just to get to know me?"

Yang Jianguo gave his hair a flamboyant toss, which made An Ning extremely uncomfortable. She had a strong urge to cut it off.

’But, he wants my mushrooms?’

"Are you trying to rob me of my mushrooms?"

An Ning’s expression turned serious. She placed a hand protectively over her back basket, ready for a fight.

"Tch— Who wants to rob you? You’re the one who wants to give me mushrooms to get to know me."

Yang Jianguo’s words didn’t make An Ning lower her guard. Instead, she looked at her sister-in-law and said, "Sister-in-law, you were right. There really is something wrong with his head."

After saying that, An Ning turned back to Yang Jianguo and very seriously advised, "There’s a high probability you have a cranial disease. It’s also possible you have an abnormal growth somewhere in your body."

"You should start making preparations. Final affairs are a serious matter."

Yang Jianguo stood there, stunned speechless by An Ning’s retort. ’Who needs to prepare for their final affairs?’ His mind was reeling with the thought that a village girl was looking down on him.

A mere village girl actually dared to look down on him!

"Stop!"

Yang Jianguo shouted, but unfortunately, An Ning and her sister-in-law, who were already walking away, didn’t stop. They just kept going.

"I told you to stop!"

Clutching his back basket, Yang Jianguo ran a few steps and got in front of An Ning, blocking their path once again.

The sister-in-law stepped sideways, shielding An Ning, and whispered, "If a fight breaks out, you run first. Go find your big brother."

’Run? Impossible.’

From birth to adulthood, the combat doctrine drilled into all interstellar people had one core tenet: never surrender without a fight.

Besides, she loved to fight.

An Ning stepped out from behind her sister-in-law and reassuringly patted her arm twice.

She stomped her foot on a branch on the ground, causing it to flip up into the air. She caught it with one hand and flung it forward with all her might.

SWOOSH—

The branch grazed past Yang Jianguo’s face. The gust of wind from its high-speed flight ruffled those bangs An Ning found so annoying, causing several strands of hair to fall out.

The sound of the branch slicing through the air still echoed in Yang Jianguo’s ears.

THUD!

The high-speed branch embedded itself in the dirt some distance away, the exposed end quivering rapidly.

An Ning had held back. She could have embedded it in a tree.

"We’ve stopped. Do you want to fight?"

Yang Jianguo might be a narcissist, but he wasn’t stupid. Moreover, he could see the anticipation in An Ning’s eyes.

After that display, he knew for certain that this village girl truly did not like him.

Not only did she not like him, but she could probably beat him up like it was a game.

"Haha, a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! I called for you to stop because I wanted to give you the mushrooms I picked. I misspoke just now and was thinking of apologizing."

"Apologize?" An Ning said, lecturing him meaningfully. "Next time, try a different approach. Apologizing like this could get you hurt."

"It was my fault. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It was all my bad."

Yang Jianguo’s attitude was extremely sincere, mainly because the forest was full of "hidden weapons," and a man had to know what was good for him.

"Hm... move."

"Right away!"

The moment An Ning spoke, Yang Jianguo immediately stepped aside to let them pass, without the slightest hesitation.

This time, An Ning actually gave Yang Jianguo a second glance. ’Her teacher used to say that people who could change their tune so quickly, especially those who could do so willingly, tended to live longer.’

With that little episode over, An Ning had also picked about enough mushrooms. However, she was still thinking about her second brother getting revenge for their little brother, so she simply poured all the mushrooms from her basket into her sister-in-law’s.

"No, An Ning! These mushrooms can be sold for money. What’s yours is yours, don’t pour them in here."

Zhou Guifen loved money, but she was principled. She wouldn’t take a penny less than what she was owed, and she wouldn’t take a penny more than she deserved.

The appeal of selling them for money was less to An Ning than the appeal of working in the fields. Ignoring her sister-in-law’s protests, she dumped the mushrooms in and said, "I’m not selling them. I’ll just eat some."

Zhou Guifen couldn’t stop An Ning, so she could only think that she would have to sort them out back home.

"Sister-in-law, you head back first. I’m going to look for Second Brother."

"Absolutely not!"

Zhou Guifen’s immediate reaction was to refuse, but then she met An Ning’s gaze and remembered what she had just done.

"Can you really handle it on your own?"

"Don’t worry. Big Brother said I have a really strong build, super sturdy!"

In the end, An Ning went off by herself with an empty back basket to search for An Guoming on the mountain. After scanning the area with her spiritual power for the nth time, she finally found him.

’But... what is Second Brother doing? Is he dancing?’