Transmigrating into the Genius Cannon Fodder’s Aunt

Chapter 98 – I’m Planning to Start Dating Next Year

Rong Xin thought Ning Shaobai was talking about his current situation and sighed. “Exactly. I even told my dad to look at you—you don’t even have a girlfriend! With how you completely avoid women and are so pick—… so high standards, you might not even get married by forty. If you’re not in a rush, why should I be?”

“But do you know what my dad said?” Rong Xin said angrily.

Ning Shaobai said expressionlessly, “What?”

“My dad actually said, ‘Can you even compare yourself to Xiao Bai? If you were even half as outstanding as him, I wouldn’t care if you stayed single forever.'”

“Listen to that—he’s not actually in a hurry for me to settle down; he just thinks I’m useless. He wants a grandson so he can finally raise an outstanding heir from scratch!”

“You don’t know how scary he is right now. When I’m home, he makes me watch Calabash Brothers every day just so he can hear those little colored gourds call ‘Grandpa.'”

He shuddered at the thought, then said in relief, “Seriously, Brother Bai, thank goodness you haven’t started dating yet. My dad said if you get a girlfriend before I’m married, he’ll break my legs and drag me to the altar.”

“You don’t know his taste,” Rong Xin said in horror. “He likes that Tang family girl who’s even fiercer than Gao Qiongying! He said only someone that tough could keep me in line.”

“Keep me in line? That’s not keeping me in line—that’s killing me!” Rong Xin grabbed Ning Shaobai’s hand. “Bro, my good brother, you absolutely can’t start dating! The day you do is the day I die!”

Ning Shaobai: “…”

He gave the other party a bright smile, “Then you’d better enjoy your last year on earth. I’m planning to start dating next year and get married the year after.”

Rong Xin froze, stunned. “No way, Brother Bai—you plan your dating and marriage like that?”

“No, I shouldn’t care about this,” Rong Xin said, “Brother, you can’t do this to me, postpone it for another two years, no, postpone it for five years…”

Ning Shaobai sneered. “Keep jinxing me, and I’ll start dating this year.”

Rong Xin instantly shut up. Realizing he couldn’t change Ning Shaobai’s mind, he thought of a solution for himself, slapped his hand, and said, “What am I afraid of? There’s still a year—plenty of time to win over my goddess. Then I can just marry her.”

He ran a hand through his hair like a confident peacock. “With a handsome guy like me…” Then he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror, noticing the solitary earring, and grinned as he bargained, “Brother Bai, for my birthday, can you give me a pair of ear piercings too?”

Ning Shaobai paused, turning his head. “What?”

“I saw Xia Mian’s earrings the other day,” Rong Xin complained. “Brother Bai, you’re too biased—you not only pierced her ears, but you also gave her the prettiest earrings.”

Then, with an air of generosity, he waved a hand. “Ah, never mind—it’s fair enough, since it was her birthday…”

He laughed. “Still, giving her a medical procedure as a birthday gift? That’s totally—”

Seeing Ning Shaobai’s expression turn dangerous, Rong Xin quickly gave him a thumbs-up. “Totally fits your identity as a doctor—practical and unique, a gift no one else could give! I guarantee Xia Mian will remember it forever.”

So this is where the secret slipped out…

Ning Shaobai narrowed his eyes, considering whether to have a word with Mr. Rong now and hand Rong Xin over to the Tang family’s fierce daughter early. Better than letting him run amok!

Rong Xin, who hadn’t yet realized the approaching danger, kept on babbling, grinning from ear to ear, “So I want a gift like this, too, okay?”

He touched his unpierced ear. “Even just one would do—at least it’d be symmetrical…”

Ning Shaobai’s eyes narrowed as he smiled. “Sure. No need to wait for your birthday—I can do it for you right now.”

“Really?” Rong Xin was pleasantly surprised.

“Of course,” Ning Shaobai said. “A man should get a last meal before execution. With all our years of friendship, if you’re about to die, how could I refuse you such a small wish?”

“Bro, can you not make it sound so creepy?” Rong Xin hugged his arms and rubbed them. “At least before you get married, I still have a chance to fight my fate.”

Ning Shaobai curved his lips but said nothing.

Five minutes later, Rong Xin’s miserable scream echoed loudly. “Bro! Bro, be gentle! It hurts!!! I don’t want it anymore!!!”

But once the bow was drawn, there was no turning back. Ning Shaobai was highly efficient—last time it had taken him over half an hour to finish piercing ears, but this time he got it done in under ten minutes.

Rong Xin covered his ear, eyes brimming with tears. “Bro, this isn’t fulfilling my last wish—this is sending me straight to my early grave!”

While packing the medical kit, Ning Shaobai smiled lazily. “Want me to give you another pair for your birthday?”

Rong Xin quickly shook his head. “No, no, no need. I think living is just fine.”

Always the type to bounce back quickly, once the pain subsided, he stood in front of the mirror admiring himself. “Not bad, not bad—definitely looks better as a pair.”

“Oh, right—since I just got them, I can’t get them wet, right?”

Ning Shaobai said, “Touch water all you want if you’re not afraid of infection.”

Touching his burning earlobes, Rong Xin said regretfully, “What a pity! I wanted to try out that water slide with my goddess tomorrow.”

Ning Shaobai paused mid-action. “Water slide?”

Rong Xin nodded. “Yeah, that leisure hotel the Zhu family owns is set to open next month. Recently, they’ve invited a bunch of people to try it out early, you know, ‘soft opening’ and whatnot.”

“Gotta say, it’s pretty nice—built along the Ning River, quiet but close to the city, modeled after Western resort hotels. Food, drinks, entertainment—it’s all there. The back garden on the first floor has a big swimming pool and a water slide. I saw that the girls all love playing on it.”

He got a dreamy look. “Just imagine—my goddess in a sexy swimsuit, sliding down from the top, gently swallowed by the water… then emerging from the ripples, hair cascading over her shoulders… like a lotus rising from the water…”

He swallowed unconsciously, then caught sight of Ning Shaobai also smiling. Startled, he blurted out, “Brother Bai, what are you thinking? You’re not thinking about my goddess too, are you? You can’t!”

Ning Shaobai shot him a glance. “I was thinking—evenly coated, ready to go straight into the deep fryer.”

Rong Xin: “…”

The image was so horrifying that his first thought was of his goddess sliding into sticky batter and coming out golden and crispy after frying. He quickly shook the mental picture away and cried, “Bro, even if you’re not into women, you can’t be this twisted! Who thinks about frying a beauty?!”

For some reason, this made Ning Shaobai’s lips curl up again. He asked, “Did they send me an invitation?”

At first, Rong Xin didn’t get it. Then, after a pause, he said incredulously, “Brother Bai… you actually want to go?”

It was well known that Ning Shaobai never attended these kinds of leisure events—many people had tried to invite him without success.

“If Zhu Jiadong finds out you’re going, he’ll be over the moon.” Rong Xin immediately picked up his phone and called.

In their circle, the most mysterious figure was unquestionably Ning Shaobai. Two years ago, he had burst onto the scene, single-handedly and with thunderous force, toppling both the Huo and Ning families, leaving a lasting sensation.

Afterward, many tried to dissect every move he’d made and concluded: this was someone you wanted as a friend, and unless absolutely necessary, never as an enemy.

Just as everyone was eager to seize the opportunity to get close to him, he quietly returned to the hospital to work as a doctor again.

Aside from necessary meetings and banquets, he never showed up. Recreational gatherings? Forget it. As a result, people who wanted to befriend him were left with no openings—especially in the past two years, as Mohe’s rapid rise left everyone sighing in admiration whenever his name came up.

“Sure enough, Zhu Jiadong’s thrilled,” Rong Xin said after hanging up. “He’d thought about inviting you, but didn’t want to bother you in case you didn’t like it. He said—If you want to go, just call him anytime.”

Ning Shaobai was noncommittal. Rong Xin, however, rested his chin in his hand, frowning and full of questions. “Why are you suddenly going out to play? This is totally not your style.”

Ning Shaobai couldn’t be bothered. “Go to bed. Stop bothering me.”

“The sudden interest came right when I mentioned… water slide… pool… girls…” Rong Xin muttered. Then he clapped his hands. “I get it! You’re going to check out the girls, aren’t you?!”

“If you’re planning to start dating next year and get married the year after, then knowing you, this is exactly the time you’d start scouting,” he said excitedly. “Am I right?”

Ning Shaobai: “…”

<  >

Author’s Note:

Ning Shaobai: “Xia Mian, get back here right now.”

Xia Mian: “Nope.”

Rong Xin: “Brother Bai’s gonna check out on girls.”

Xia Mian: “Wait there—I’m coming back!”