After all, they had all witnessed with their own eyes how painful it was for the Monster Vine to crawl out of Su Min’s body.
Could Weird Phenomena… cry?
Lin Juan was curious and voiced the question.
“Probably not… right?” The several Ability Users looked at each other, all wearing blank expressions.
They had never seen such a thing.
Not getting an answer, Lin Juan did not press the issue. He picked up the even smaller 【Water Tower】 and placed it into the Containment Box. “Let’s first see the effect on Su Min. If it’s useful, we’ll continue treating the others.”
It was as if the 【Water Tower】 understood. More water flowed out from the large hole on its body, and before long, it filled the entire box.
Lin Juan watched as the water flowed out and the 【Water Tower】’s volume shrank accordingly. He pondered, “If the water runs dry, will it just disappear?”
This Weird Phenomenon that they had gone to such lengths to capture wouldn’t be a one-time consumable, would it?
That wouldn’t do.
Lin Juan reached into the box, grabbed the 【Water Tower】, and squeezed it, as if threatening it or muttering to himself. “If you’re no longer useful, I’ll dismantle you into eight pieces.”
The 【Water Tower】 immediately stopped releasing water.
“It really understands human speech?” Lu Mingxuan watched with a face full of astonishment.
“Why are you here?” Lin Juan turned around. Shouldn’t Lu Mingxuan have been waiting in Director Liu’s or Zhuang Yufeng’s office?
“I’m not reassured…” Under Lin Juan’s gaze, Lu Mingxuan’s voice grew smaller and smaller. “Not reassured about myself…”
In this bizarre place, only staying by Little Uncle’s side gave him a full sense of security.
Lu Mingxuan silently swallowed the latter half of his words, too embarrassed to admit in front of so many people that he was a coward.
To make the 【Water Tower】 more durable, Lin Juan suggested building it a swimming pool where it could absorb water and perhaps grow a bit larger. That way, they could draw out all the Pollutants from the bodies of the several infected individuals.
Zhuang Yufeng got to work on the arrangements.
After handling these matters, they studied the type of Weird Phenomenon parasitizing Su Min’s body.
“It has parasitic abilities and strong concealment. It looks like some kind of seed…” Zhuang Yufeng analyzed one by one. “Not many clues, so we can’t determine it for now.”
The Research Institute held a meeting on the incident. Lin Juan lost interest halfway through and left early.
Director Liu interrupted the meeting and personally saw him out. “Mr. Lin, we’ll have to trouble you for the next few days.”
No one else could guarantee resolving the parasitic Weird Phenomenon without harming the host, like Lin Juan did.
“We’ll settle the payment all at once.”
“No problem,” With payment involved, Lin Juan was very agreeable. “Call me anytime if you need anything.”
Over the next month, sometimes every other day, sometimes every two or three days, a dedicated car picked Lin Juan up to go to the Research Institute. Compared to his idle days before, he suddenly became busy.
Occasionally returning to the bedroom and not seeing the quiet youth reading on the tablet on the bed or sofa, or one less person at the dinner table, Lu Yanzhou felt unaccustomed.
“You’ve been awake for over a month now, and lately many people have been inquiring. When do you plan to show up at the company?” During afternoon tea time, Old Master Lu and Lu Yanzhou sipped tea together.
As per usual for such a massive corporation, both father and son were busy. The time they had spent together in the past few years combined didn’t add up to this past month.
“Probably in the next few days.” Lu Yanzhou’s body had recovered well. Apart from not being able to walk for long periods, his leg strength was also recovering. The fake master who had deceived the Lu Family hadn’t been found yet, but he wasn’t one to shrink back from danger. He already had leads on those who set the trap, and it was time to settle accounts one by one.
Before anyone could react, a massive purge swept through the upper echelons of Lu Corporation.
Lu Yanzhou had never been one to show mercy.
Old Master Lu was getting on in years, and the younger generation of the Lu Family had no notable achievements in business. Countless people eyed Lu Corporation’s fat meat, waiting for the aging old wolf to fall so they could take a vicious bite.
Those covetous gazes came to an abrupt halt after Lu Yanzhou took over.
Lu Yanzhou’s methods were ruthless and precise. Upon taking office, he boldly reformed the group’s internals, changed the course of Lu Corporation’s giant ship, latched onto nationally supported new projects, and in less than a year, breathed new life into the decrepit behemoth.
Knowing his youngest son was capable, Old Master Lu decisively handed over power. During the reforms, some people were eliminated. Those old-timers in the corporation tried to use Old Master Lu to pressure Lu Yanzhou and were thoroughly crushed by him, leaving them with no further ambitions.
“My Little Uncle is amazing,” In the tea room, Lu Mingxuan seized every chance to tout Little Uncle to Lin Juan, hoping to boost Little Uncle’s impression score in Lin Juan’s mind. “In the business world, no one can match him. In relationships, he’s also very clean-living.”
“From childhood to now, he’s never fallen for anyone. No boyfriends or girlfriends, no ambiguous objects, no scandals.”
From business to personal matters, Lu Mingxuan talked for nearly two hours straight, his mouth going dry. He picked up his water cup and gulped down several large mouthfuls.
He had always admired his Little Uncle the most. Now with Lin Juan added, they were powerhouses in different fields. In Lu Mingxuan’s view, they were a perfect match!
“My Little Uncle’s money-making ability is like this.” Lu Mingxuan gave a thumbs up. “After Lu Corporation fell into his hands, annual net profits more than doubled tenfold. We used to joke privately that Little Uncle is a money-making machine.”
“It’s good to be good at making money,” Lin Juan held his crystal cup, smiling brightly. “No one dislikes money.”
The better Lu Yanzhou was at making money, the more valuable the shares in Lin Juan’s hands became. Thinking of the steady stream of money flowing into his pocket every year from now on, Lin Juan smiled even happier.
“Yeah, Little Uncle is too good at making money. Whether inside Lu Corporation or outside, especially Lu Corporation’s competitors, none of them want Lu Corporation to have such a money-making leader,” Lu Mingxuan said bitterly. “Little Uncle’s strange illness before is definitely connected to them!”
“They were jealous of your Little Uncle. Jealousy is the emotion most likely to breed the dark side of the human heart and lead to irredeemable actions.” Lin Juan had seen all kinds of human nature and understood this well.
“Heh heh,” Lu Mingxuan’s anger faded upon seeing Lin Juan sitting across from him, his mood improving. “They probably never imagined that not only did they fail to harm Little Uncle, but they also delivered a fated connection to him.”
“If they knew how awesome Little Uncle is, they’d regret it so much their intestines would turn green.” Imagining that scene, Lu Mingxuan burst into laughter.
During this time, Lu Mingxuan praised Lu Yanzhou to Lin Juan at every opportunity. Lin Juan knew what Lu Mingxuan was up to—nothing more than trying to increase his fondness for Lu Yanzhou.
So far, Lin Juan didn’t dislike Lu Yanzhou’s presence. As for love, he had seen too many cases where former lovers turned against each other over trivial matters or deeply loving couples ended up despising one another. Compared to relationships full of variables, money was far more reassuring.
Things were pretty good like this.
Just after finishing talking about Lu Yanzhou with Lu Mingxuan, Lin Juan returned to his room and saw Lu Yanzhou there.
So early today?
Lin Juan was puzzled.
Ever since Lu Yanzhou returned to the company, the time Lin Juan saw him at Lu Garden had drastically decreased. What he didn’t know was that previously, for convenience, Lu Yanzhou spent most of his time at a place near the company rather than returning to Lu Garden, especially during busy periods.
Logically, after months away from the company, even handling over a month of business from home, he should have a busy period upon truly returning, especially since he needed to deal with disloyal elements inside the group and external threats.
Old Master Lu was delighted to see this and said nothing.
Often, when Lin Juan woke up, Lu Yanzhou had already gone to the company. By the time Lu Yanzhou returned at night, Lin Juan was about to sleep. Today, so early, was a first.
“Not busy today?” Out of concern for his “gold master,” Lin Juan noticed the faint dark circles under his eyes and added, “Your body hasn’t fully recovered yet. Don’t overwork yourself. Work is never-ending; you need to balance labor and rest.”
Don’t wear yourself out; he was still counting on him to make money long-term.
Suddenly hearing Lin Juan’s concern, Lu Yanzhou paused in untying his tie. “I’ll pay attention.”
“I see you haven’t been paying attention at all.” Lin Juan muttered softly.
His voice wasn’t loud, but Lu Yanzhou had good hearing and caught it. He neatly set aside the loosened tie and explained in a low voice, “These past few days’ matters have wrapped up, so it won’t be this busy anymore.”
“The business cards you mentioned to Mingxuan last time—the company made them. There are several versions. I brought back the finished products for you to see if you like any.” Lu Yanzhou took out a rectangular box.
Lin Juan took it and opened it. Good grief, there was a whole stack. The cards had a black background with excellent texture. Lin Juan took them out and roughly counted.
Good grief, over thirty cards.
“Why so many?” Lin Juan was shocked.
“They weren’t busy lately, so giving them something to do is fine.” What Lu Yanzhou didn’t say was that he worried Lin Juan might not like them, so he had multiples made.
With more choices, there was bound to be one he liked.
Lin Juan flipped through them one by one. He had to admit, a big company delivered differently. There were minimalist and grand styles, intricate and mysterious ones, low-key luxurious ones—no matter the preferred style, he could find one that suited him.
Lin Juan looked them over back and forth several times.
He habitually sat on the bed. The canopy bed in the bedroom was enormous, with soft bedding. Lin Juan sat cross-legged on the dark gray sheets, his fair skin almost glowing.
Lin Juan’s hands were very attractive—slender fingers, distinct knuckles. The dark cards flipped between his fingers, a visual feast.
Lu Yanzhou stared intently for a moment, his expression gradually softening. He sat on the edge of the bed and asked, “None you like? I can have them make more.”
“No need, no need.” It wasn’t that Lin Juan didn’t like any; he liked too many. “I think they all look good. I don’t know which to pick.”
“Then pick them all.”
“Huh?” Lin Juan was tempted for a moment. “Nah, I’ll mull it over.”
Lin Juan continued selecting as Lu Yanzhou removed his suit jacket. “I’ll go wash up.”
Water sounds echoed from the bathroom. Lin Juan spent nearly an hour selecting and picked three. Just as he turned to ask Lu Yanzhou which was best, he saw no one there.
He got off the bed. The bathroom door was still closed, with no water sounds.
Lin Juan’s heart skipped a beat. Had something happened?
“Lu Yanzhou, aren’t you done washing? Why no sound?”
In the bathroom.
Lu Yanzhou leaned against the wall, chest heaving dramatically. He gritted his teeth and turned on the shower.
The icy water rushed over his body but couldn’t dispel the scorching heat rising from within. Lu Yanzhou looked down—something was faintly emerging from his flesh on both legs.
Tearing pain shot through his legs. Lu Yanzhou couldn’t hold steady, swayed, and crashed into something, making a loud noise.
“Are you okay?” The voice outside grew anxious. “I’m coming in!”
“Don’t come in!” Lu Yanzhou stared at his legs, his face ghastly.
At that moment, he had only one thought: he absolutely could not let Lin Juan see his monstrous, wretched state!
