Chapter 61 Don’t scare me. I’m not someone who can be scared.

Currently, Luo Qianyun had only regained her basic senses. Even now, she occasionally saw all kinds of animals appearing before her eyes.

“Tell me, how did I end up poisoned out of nowhere?” Luo Qianyun asked, unable to resist flicking a small mushroom that had grown on Lu Yunzhen’s arm.

“It was probably that wild mushroom hotpot,” Lu Yunzhen replied.

“But didn’t you eat it too? Why are you fine?” Luo Qianyun asked, puzzled.

“Minor toxins don’t affect me,” Lu Yunzhen answered vaguely.

Luo Qianyun still found the situation suspicious. “The owner looked like a local. How could someone like that fail to cook wild mushrooms properly?”

“When you’re done with the IV drip, we’ll go back and ask the owner what happened,” Lu Yunzhen suggested.

Thinking it over, Luo Qianyun agreed and stopped dwelling on the issue.

“By the way, was that big white chicken from earlier Pei Xianxian?” Luo Qianyun recalled the earlier events and pieced things together.

Lu Yunzhen: “Yes, it was her.”

“Could she have been the one who poisoned me?” Luo Qianyun mused.

Just then, a short-legged corgi ran toward them.

However, this corgi was much larger than normal, making it less cute and somewhat intimidating.

“Hey, girl, feeling better yet?” the corgi said, speaking like a human.

Luo Qianyun belatedly realized that the figure before her was a person.

After recalling the earlier events, she pinpointed his identity. “The restaurant owner’s brother-in-law?”

“Thank goodness you’re conscious again! I was worried you were too deeply poisoned,” the brother-in-law said with relief.

“I’d say I’m half-conscious. My mind is clear, but I’m still hallucinating,” Luo Qianyun replied helplessly.

Hearing this, the brother-in-law reassured her, “Don’t worry. You’ll probably be fine after this IV bag. Get some rest tonight, and tomorrow you’ll feel like new.”

“Did the owner figure out how I got poisoned?” Luo Qianyun couldn’t help but ask.

“My brother-in-law examined the kitchen ingredients. The only possible issue might be with the mushrooms I picked this morning. But we didn’t put those into your food, so I don’t know how…” The brother-in-law scratched his head, also confused.

He quickly added, “Don’t worry. We’ll cover all your medical expenses and give you a red envelope as compensation for your trouble.”

Luo Qianyun had picked the restaurant herself because of its high local ratings and its 20-year reputation. It seemed unlikely for such a place to make this kind of mistake.

Yet somehow, this time, it happened—to her, of all people. And Pei Xianxian just happened to be around too…

It was hard not to overthink it.

Seeing the big white chicken reappear in the distance, Luo Qianyun called out, “Hey, Big White… I mean, Pei Xianxian.”

Oops. Slip of the tongue. “Big White” just rolled off the tongue so naturally.

Pei Xianxian, who was filming something, initially ignored her. But after some thought, she paused the shoot and walked over.

When she approached, she sneered at Luo Qianyun. “Finally dropping the act? I was wondering how long you could keep it up.”

“Thanks to you, I’ve had a lovely experience exploring the psychedelic world of mushroom poisoning,” Luo Qianyun said, staring at the big white chicken and imagining Pei Xianxian’s original form.

Well, imagination didn’t make the hallucination go away.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Pei Xianxian said with a cold smile.

“Tell me this—how does a 20-year-old restaurant make its first mistake, and I’m the one to run into it? You expect me to believe you didn’t pull any strings?” Luo Qianyun asked.

“Believe whatever you want. I don’t have time to mess with you,” Pei Xianxian replied.

“What if… there’s surveillance in the kitchen?” Luo Qianyun speculated aloud.

Pei Xianxian froze mid-step, but before she could leave, the brother-in-law chimed in, “How did you know my brother-in-law installed cameras in the kitchen? We had a theft issue before, so he set up surveillance just in case.”

“Well, that makes things easy. Have him check the footage, and we’ll know who’s been up to no good,” Luo Qianyun said.

“Don’t try to scare me—I wasn’t raised to be afraid,” Pei Xianxian huffed. Despite her unease, she managed to keep her composure and left with a cold snort.

After she was gone, Luo Qianyun turned to the oversized corgi and ignored its current form. “Did your brother-in-law really install cameras in the kitchen?”

“Of course not… I was just bluffing to see if she’d slip up,” the brother-in-law admitted, shrugging helplessly.

Though his tactic hadn’t worked, Luo Qianyun smiled at his dejected look. “It might still be useful.”

After finishing her IV drip, Luo Qianyun returned to the hotel with Lu Yunzhen.

By this time, she was fully lucid and no longer stuck in her “realistic” hallucinations.

Still, perhaps due to the IV drip, she felt tired and took a nap upon arriving at the hotel. By the time she woke up, it was already dark.

When she stepped out of her room, the living room of their suite was empty.

Assuming Lu Yunzhen was in his room, she knocked on his door—but got no response.

“Where did he go?” Luo Qianyun wondered aloud but didn’t dwell on it.

She sat down in the living room and was about to call him.

Meanwhile, in the hotel gym, Lu Yunzhen was being approached by someone.

This wasn’t the first time someone had struck up a conversation with him, but this woman was particularly persistent.

Even though Lu Yunzhen ignored her completely, it didn’t shake her confidence. In fact, as he left the gym, she followed him.

“So, which room are you staying in? Don’t get me wrong—it’s just that this place is no fun alone. How about we hang out together?” The woman, Gao Li, looked at Lu Yunzhen with determined confidence.

Just then, Lu Yunzhen’s phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, a rare warmth appeared in his eyes. “Qianqian.”

Watching this, Gao Li couldn’t help feeling envious and deliberately said, “Is that your little sister?”

Hearing a stranger’s voice, Luo Qianyun paused. “Is someone with you?”

“I just left the gym and was heading back. She’s just a passerby,” Lu Yunzhen explained, ignoring Gao Li completely as he quickened his pace toward the elevator.

Gao Li, however, was undeterred. Confident in her looks and figure, she stubbornly followed him into the elevator.

“Why were you at the gym?” Luo Qianyun asked softly.

“I didn’t want to disturb your rest, so I found something to do,” Lu Yunzhen replied.

Hearing this, Luo Qianyun couldn’t help but smile.

Through the phone, she could hear the other woman’s voice, which was still clear as if Gao Li was also on a call.

With that, Luo Qianyun made up her mind. “Are you almost back?”

“The elevator’s almost there,” Lu Yunzhen said, glancing at the floor indicator. They were approaching the 15th floor.

“Alright,” Luo Qianyun replied. She slipped on her slippers and walked out of her room, heading toward the elevator.

As Lu Yunzhen stepped out of the elevator, with Gao Li trailing behind him, they were greeted by Luo Qianyun, who jogged over to meet them.