Chapter 10

Not to mention how a big shot like Lin Juan could be treated as a servant—even if Lin Juan were utterly useless, he still had a marriage certificate with Little Uncle as proof of a proper wedding. The Lu Family hadn’t fallen so low that they couldn’t afford even a caregiver!

Lu Mingxuan looked utterly indignant.

The term “little aunt” jolted Lin Juan. “Don’t call me that.”

Lu Mingxuan shut his mouth, but his expression screamed defiance.

Lu Yanzhou seemed to react belatedly. “Little aunt?”

Old Master Lu and the Lu Family’s eldest brother arrived a step behind and were startled by the standoff. They asked, “What happened?”

“Grandpa,” Lu Mingxuan huffed indignantly as he complained, “Little Uncle’s treating Little Uncle-in-law like a servant!”

“Hm?” Old Master Lu was puzzled. “What did he do?”

Lu Mingxuan was about to continue his complaint when Lu Yanzhou cut him off. “Hold on a second.”

“Dad?” Lu Yanzhou turned to his father. “What exactly is going on here?”

“This…” Old Master Lu’s gaze fell on Lin Juan, who was pushing the wheelchair. “Didn’t Xiao Juan tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Lu Yanzhou glanced back at Lin Juan with a half-smile. “That he’s the caregiver you hired?”

“I never said that.” Lin Juan refuted.

“Then who said the word ‘caregiver’?” Lu Yanzhou asked.

It was him.

Lin Juan felt guilty.

He hadn’t expected Lu Yanzhou to take it seriously.

Even less had he expected Lu Mingxuan to misunderstand and chew out his little uncle on his behalf.

He felt ashamed.

“What exactly happened?” Lu Yanzhou tapped the armrest of the wheelchair as he asked.

It was a habit of his when he was thinking.

Realizing he’d gotten the situation wrong, Lu Mingxuan clamped his mouth shut, head bowed so low he wished the ground would swallow him up.

He already feared his little uncle more than anything. If not for wanting justice for Lin Juan—and worrying that his little uncle would anger Lin Juan and get beaten—he never would have disrespected his little uncle like that.

Old Master Lu glanced from one to the other, realizing there’d been a misunderstanding. He cleared his throat. “Let’s go to the study first. I’ll explain everything in detail.”

The bedroom wasn’t the most convenient spot, after all.

The group moved to the study.

Lu Yanzhou’s courtyard had a dedicated study room, which was spacious with an antique-style setup. Bookshelves lined up neatly, filled with books.

On the desk, several books were stacked perfectly straight, edges aligned precisely.

It matched the neat, upright impression Lu Yanzhou gave.

It was Lin Juan’s first time there, so he looked around curiously, left and right.

Once everyone was seated, Lu Yanzhou learned the full story from Old Master Lu.

It included the fraudulent master, the desperate marriage as a last-ditch effort to save him, and the shocking events on the wedding night.

When it came to that, Lu Mingxuan forgot his embarrassment. “Little Uncle, Little Uncle really is super strong. He beat down all those weird giant frogs.”

After finishing that tale, Lu Mingxuan animatedly recounted what happened in the park, using every word he could to describe how powerful Lin Juan was.

Boys his age admired strength the most, and Lin Juan’s display of combat prowess had thoroughly conquered him.

It was obvious from his tone.

Still not satisfied, he cautiously checked his little uncle’s expression.

Lu Yanzhou’s face remained impassive—whatever expression he’d had before was still there now, giving nothing away.

“Lu Mingxuan, we signed a confidentiality agreement.” Lin Juan had tried interrupting several times midway but failed. Seeing the puppy-dog look begging for praise, he spoke without mercy.

“Holy crap!!” Lu Mingxuan jumped up, clamping a hand over his mouth as he nervously scanned the room. “Little Uncle, I didn’t mean to. It’s okay, right?”

In his excitement to tell Lu Yanzhou how awesome Lin Juan was, Lu Mingxuan had blurted out the crucial confidential matter.

Old Master Lu showed little shock on his face. The Lu Family’s eldest brother listened in stunned confusion with many questions, but seeing Lu Mingxuan’s worry, he didn’t ask outright.

“I’ll talk to Doctor Zhuang.” As the employer’s younger generation, Lin Juan wouldn’t just sit idly by.

“Thanks, Little Uncle.” Having caused trouble, Lu Mingxuan wilted like a frostbitten eggplant.

With Lin Juan stepping in, Old Master Lu wasn’t too worried. He turned to the main matter. “Anyway, that’s how it is. Yanzhou, Xiao Juan is your wife now. You can’t bully him.”

Before Lu Yanzhou could respond, he continued. “We’re an upright family in the Lu Family. We wouldn’t kick away a benefactor after asking for help. You’ve been sensible since you were young—you won’t do anything improper, right?”

“I know, Dad.” Though he found the whole marriage-as-cure dubious, he didn’t refute Old Master Lu.

Old Master Lu was pleased with his attitude. Worried he might hold the fake master’s involvement against them, he added, “I know this isn’t very scientific, but after the marriage, your condition really improved. I have all your checkup results from before and after the wedding. I’ll show them to you later.”

“Yeah, Little Uncle, you don’t know—before Little Uncle arrived, your complexion was awful. After he came, it got better and better, and you even started responding to the outside world. The world’s already unscientific enough. You waking up must be Little Uncle’s credit!” When it came to Lin Juan, Lu Mingxuan perked up.

“Is that so?” Lu Yanzhou was noncommittal. “I understand.”

What did he understand?

“Wait a minute,” Lin Juan cut in quickly as they kept binding him and Lu Yanzhou together with their words. “This is modern society—marriage should be consensual. Besides, I really didn’t do much. At most, I dealt with some mutated giant frogs, and you’ve already paid generous compensation. I…”

“Oh, Little Uncle, no need to be so formal in the family. Can you ask Doctor Zhuang for me first? I’m really panicking.” Lu Mingxuan feigned fear to interrupt Lin Juan. “They have those methods. If I breach the agreement, will something bad happen to me?”

Lin Juan’s instinct said no, but seeing how worried he was—and with Old Master Lu and the Lu Family’s eldest brother chiming in, the whole family looking at him pleadingly—he relented. “Fine, I’ll call and ask.”

He’d exchanged contact info with Zhuang Yufeng. The call connected quickly.

“Mr. Lin, is this about Mr. Lu Mingxuan?”

Zhuang Yufeng was at the Anomalous Affairs Bureau Headquarters, in Director Liu’s office, mid-conversation when the phone rang. His first instinct was to hang up, but he paused upon seeing the name on the screen.

“An important call?” Director Liu noticed and asked.

“It’s Lin Juan.”

Director Liu straightened up, his expression turning serious. “Take it.”

They’d already set their top priority: Lin Juan above all else.

Zhuang Yufeng answered and hit speaker.

He’d chosen to start with Lu Mingxuan, and sure enough, Lin Juan’s voice came through.

“It’s related to him. He accidentally spilled what happened yesterday. Is it a problem?”

Zhuang Yufeng and Director Liu exchanged a glance. “How many people heard?”

Director Liu held his breath, listening to the exchange.

Lin Juan: “Not many. His grandpa, his dad, and his little uncle.”

Zhuang Yufeng: “All Lu Family members?”

Lin Juan: “Yeah.”

Zhuang Yufeng: “No issue, but for safety, everyone who knows should come to the hospital for a checkup.”

Lin Juan: “A checkup?”

Zhuang Yufeng: “Yes. Some weird phenomena have special powers—even just knowing about them can cause pollution. The Fantastical Mushroom was our first C-Rank Anomaly, and it’s a mental ability user. To be safe, we need to ensure every citizen’s protection.”

Lin Juan got it. “Alright, Doctor Zhuang. Set a time.”

Zhuang Yufeng looked to Director Liu, who gave a thumbs-up. “Tomorrow’s Tuesday, 3 p.m. work?”

“Sure.”

Hearing agreement, they both relaxed. Zhuang Yufeng added, “I’ll arrange a car to pick you up via the special channel.”

After hanging up, Director Liu chuckled. “See? Not sealing Lu Mingxuan’s mouth back then was the right call. Now we have a chance to meet him.”

For social stability and to avoid panic, ordinary people involved in weird phenomena incidents were typically treated by ability users using the mental ability Co-Frequency after rescue, influencing their subconscious to keep quiet.

After his rebirth, Zhuang Yufeng proposed to the Anomalous Affairs Bureau a plan to gradually inform the public of the truth. He knew better than anyone that weird phenomena would only increase, and early awareness meant early prevention.

The proposal hadn’t passed yet, but restrictions had loosened. The confidentiality agreements now allowed Co-Frequency only if they encountered another incident; otherwise, they could share prior events.

Headquarters was still debating when to publicly announce the existence of weird phenomena.

Lu Mingxuan’s agreement hadn’t used the ability—Zhuang Yufeng’s deliberate choice.

Lin Juan seemed to get along well with the Lu Family, so hiding the weird phenomena from them was unlikely with him around.

The prior incident at the Lu Family hadn’t required agreements either, thanks to Lin Juan’s presence. Unsure of his abilities at the time and to avoid alerting them, they’d skipped the D-Rank Co-Frequency rather than risk it.

Lin Juan relayed Zhuang Yufeng’s message. The Lu Family had no objections, though Lu Mingxuan grumbled, “We’re practically hospital regulars now.”

Old Master Lu’s approach hadn’t worked, but now that Lu Yanzhou was awake, Lin Juan wanted to discuss divorce with him.

Unfortunately, Lu Yanzhou was swamped.

The massive corporation was under his management, and after his coma, there was a mountain of work.

Several assistants came and went repeatedly. Lin Juan stayed in the study, watching the man work.

Lu Yanzhou wore a custom-tailored suit, a blue tie draped over his chest, looking exceptionally handsome.

In work mode, his expression was stern. He spotted issues in proposals with a single glance. His imposing presence kept subordinates tense throughout their reports, terrified of a single mistake.

By the time he finished, it was evening.

At mealtime, Lin Juan pushed Lu Yanzhou to eat. With just the two of them on the way, it was a good chance to talk.

“Lu Yanzhou,” Lin Juan poked his shoulder. “What do you think about the divorce? You don’t want to be tied to a stranger for life, right?”

From Lu Yanzhou’s work ethic, it was clear he was highly disciplined, dominant, decisive, and perfectionistic—a man who brooked no opposition. Someone like that would never accept having his life’s major decisions manipulated.

Divorce seemed promising.

“No divorce.”

The man’s indifferent voice shattered Lin Juan’s hopeful fantasy.

“Huh?” Lin Juan was baffled. “Why?”

“I don’t want to become someone with a divorce on my record.” Lu Yanzhou turned, his dark eyes fixed on him. “No one can ruin my perfect marriage.”

Lin Juan: ???

…Huh?