Chapter 9: Meeting the Parents

Lianshan City, East District, 5:30 PM.

Annie arrived once again at Lianshan City First People’s Hospital.

Outside the inpatient building, flowers and trees swayed and bloomed, butterflies fluttering among the leaves.

Without a doubt, Na Gou’s eyes were all around.

The flying insects, the chattering night herons, even the humble flowers and plants—

Na Gou’s abilities were enough to turn them into surveillance tools, and she would definitely do so.

Therefore, Annie knew deeply that no matter what she did, Xia Lan would know it all.

Once she made any unusual move, she would definitely come over to interfere at the first opportunity.

‘Tch, troublesome.’

‘Who knew I’d run into this guy at the hospital that was the mission location? Didn’t the company say they couldn’t track Xia Lan’s movements?’

‘But why did he appear at the hospital at that time, still in his magical girl form? Could it be that his intelligence network had already infiltrated the company?’

‘No, if he had known in advance, given his personality, he wouldn’t have come face to face with me. He would have hidden in the shadows waiting for an opportunity.’

‘So was it really just such a coincidence, running into him?’

Annie sighed.

Before the young lady decided to become the magical girl [Jian Qi] last year, the only magical girls in this world were Xia Lan and Annie.

Over the past ten-plus years, their clashes had been countless.

She still remembered the first time she met him.

Xia Lan was just a pitiful six-year-old boy, with chubby baby cheeks on his face, extremely timid.

If she scared him a little, he would cry.

Annie clearly remembered that at the time, she was furious.

She didn’t understand what Doctor Xia was doing.

Not only had he betrayed the organization, but he also wanted to give Na Gou’s power to such a young child.

It was simply insane.

Unfortunately, Doctor Xia was already dead, and there was no way to punish him anymore.

Annie pulled back her thoughts, looked at the hospital building before her, and said inwardly.

“Annabelle, about how many of Na Gou’s eyes are around me?”

[Calculating… Estimated within a 50-meter radius around you, there are 53 monitoring points]

A deep voice echoed in Annie’s mind.

“Damn, this guy, 360 degrees no blind spots, really going all out.”

Annie was a bit irritated.

If the higher-ups hadn’t demanded that this mission be kept low-key, she would have already transformed into the magical girl [Kong Nue] and swept the surroundings clean.

[Should I apply to headquarters to withdraw the operation? With Na Gou interfering, the success rate of this mission is not high.]

“That would deduct my bonus and vacation time.”

Annie sat down on a nearby bench and thought for a moment.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit her:

“Hey, I have an idea.”

[Huh? Lady Annie also has a plan?]

“Heh heh,”

Annie crossed her legs, a sly smile curling at the corners of her mouth.

“I’ve been reading The Art of War recently.”

[…]

Annabelle was silent for a full three seconds.

[Lady Annie, do you know how to read?]

“…Annabelle, we’ve been together this long, you don’t need to be so sarcastic.”

The cigar case in Annie’s pocket almost fell to the ground.

[Sorry, Lady Annie, so what is your plan?]

“This plan is best carried out at night when there are few people…”

……

Meanwhile, after Luo Xiao left with a resentful look that seemed to say ‘Am I also part of your roleplay?’, Xia Lan finally couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Hahaha, that was so fun.”

Luo Xiao, who had dared to call Xia Lan ‘Mom’ earlier, was now embarrassed.

In front of so many people, it was so shameful.

“Heh heh, now you know how embarrassing it is.”

Xia Lan was extremely happy, pinching Luo Xiao’s cheek.

“Serves you right for calling me ‘Mom’ at the milk tea shop just now.”

“I know I was wrong.”

“Mm, that’s more like it.”

Xia Lan nodded.

The two strolled down the street again.

The afternoon sun was gradually turning into sunset, and the leisurely clouds showed a fish-scale pattern.

Xia Lan surveyed the restaurants along the street, thinking about which one to take Luo Xiao to eat at.

Fried noodles?

Unhygienic.

KFC?

Too greasy.

Sour cabbage fish?

Not quite suitable.

Chongqing small noodles?

Not filling.

Braised pork trotters rice?

Seems okay…

Luo Xiao scratched his head.

At this moment, he really felt like a little kid, trotting along behind his mom to eat out.

Just then, a voice appeared behind them.

“Oh my, Luoluo, is this the girl you said you were going to meet?”

Luo Xiao was stunned.

He knew this voice all too well.

He turned around, and sure enough, Grandma was smiling at him and Xia Lan.

Xia Lan also looked over and immediately greeted Grandma politely:

“Hello, Grandma. Are you someone Luo Xiao knows?”

“I’m Luoluo’s grandma. Little girl, are you a friend of Luo Xiao?”

Grandma walked over with a smile, sizing up Xia Lan.

“Yes, I… my name is Na Gou.”

“Na Gou? A good name, truly a good name. It sounds very caring.”

Grandma said affectionately:

“Oh my, little girl, you are really beautiful. One look and you can tell you’re a proper young lady, like a precious jade. Luoluo, why didn’t you tell Grandma sooner that you had such a friend!”

“Grandma, Na Gou and I haven’t known each other long,” Luo Xiao quickly said.

“By the way, Grandma, why are you out?”

“Of course I came out to buy groceries. We don’t have enough at home.”

‘Really buying groceries?’

Luo Xiao looked at Grandma’s face full of gossip-seeking, her eyes almost glowing, and felt more and more that this was clearly an excuse.

‘Grandma, you just wanted to secretly follow to see what kind of girl your grandson was dating, didn’t you.’

Luckily, Grandma hadn’t seen the ‘being called son’ scene that just happened.

Luo Xiao let out a long sigh of relief.

“Since we happened to bump into each other, Nana, come eat at our place,” Grandma said.

“Grandma, this…”

Luo Xiao wanted to say something, but Xia Lan smiled and nodded:

“Sure, it’ll be a trouble to Grandma. I can help you in the kitchen later.”

“Oh, you can cook too?”

“Just know a little.”

“That’s really great. Let me tell you, these days girls who can cook are getting rarer and rarer. Either they eat instant noodles or takeout, or they wait for their parents to cook…”

“Grandma doesn’t have to be so pessimistic.”

Watching the old and young women chatting happily, Luo Xiao sighed.

Suddenly, at that moment, he somehow felt that the future was going to be tiring.