Lu Yanzhou was mid-conversation and turned at the voice.
The man he was talking to turned too. “This the little wife your dad picked out for you?”
Lu Yanzhou ignored him and wheeled toward Lin Juan.
“Hey, don’t move. I’ll come to you.” Lin Juan picked up the pace, hurrying over in a few strides to take the handles.
Up close, Lin Juan eyed the man in the pavilion.
Mid-forties or so, dressed in a retro long robe, frameless glasses, looking quite refined.
“A relative, here to see Dad,” Lu Yanzhou said without further detail. “How long you been up? Eaten breakfast?”
Lin Juan loved food, and Lu Family breakfasts were a feast—never repeating in a month, his one consolation for early rises.
“Not yet. What’s on the menu today?” At the thought of all those mouthwatering options, Lin Juan’s focus snapped right over.
“There’s cherry cheesecake you said you liked last time, and some savory ones too. You can pick what you want to eat.” After he finished speaking, he had Lin Juan push him toward the dining area.
He paid no attention at all to the man behind him.
After walking a short distance, Lin Juan looked back and saw that the man was still standing there. He asked, “Do we really not need to deal with him?”
“No need. Someone will escort him out.”
Since Lu Yanzhou said so, Lin Juan ignored it. In this vast world, nothing mattered more than eating. Everything else could wait until after the meal.
Breakfast was as sumptuous as ever. Lin Juan ate until he was stuffed to the brim. Once full, he remembered the important matter. “Aren’t we going to the company today?”
“We are.” Lu Yanzhou handed the napkin from beside him to Lin Juan.
Lin Juan wiped his mouth. “Going at this hour—won’t that be too late?”
“We’ll go this afternoon. I just got a call from the police station. They caught the person who instigated Li Yang based on the clues and want me to come in.”
“Oh, oh. Then let’s hurry over. We shouldn’t keep the police uncles waiting.”
The person who instigated Li Yang was a middle-aged man, and he confessed to the crime without hesitation.
The police led the way ahead and explained the general situation on the road.
The man they caught went by Black Bro on the streets. His real name was Liu Dahei, a casino enforcer. He claimed he had learned from Li Yang’s own mouth about Li Yang’s hatred for Lu Corporation and had planned a kidnapping.
“I originally wanted to kidnap the Lu Corporation president—that’s the Lu Corporation Head. The ransom would’ve been substantial. That idiot Li Yang actually brought people straight to the company to cause a scene. He didn’t have a brain cell in his head.”
Black Bro had a black scar that slanted from his left forehead across to his right ear. His face twisted with menace, his expression terrifying.
Even handcuffed, he wouldn’t stay still. He kept yanking at the chair, making it rattle nonstop.
A string of national curses spewed from his mouth—some cursing Li Yang, others cursing Lu Yanzhou.
“Mr. Lu, do you know him?” the police asked.
“No, I don’t.” Lu Yanzhou truly did not recognize the man before him. A scar that distinctive would not be forgotten once seen.
The police nodded and asked no more. They had brought Lu Yanzhou in to confirm the situation. Since he did not know Black Bro, the attack was likely for profit, just as Black Bro had claimed.
After leaving the police station, they headed straight to the company.
Lu Yanzhou had originally planned to eat out, but Lin Juan glanced at the time. “It’s right at company lunch hour. President Lu, why don’t you take me to try the company cafeteria?”
He and Lu Yanzhou had been coming to Lu Corporation Headquarters for work for so long, but he had never eaten in the cafeteria.
Butler Lu had delivered meals every day before, prepared by a nutritionist hired by Old Master Lu specifically for Lu Yanzhou’s nutritional needs.
Lin Juan did not quite believe it, because most of the dishes in the lunchboxes were ones he liked.
Still, since Old Master Lu wanted to send them meals every day, he did not want to refuse the man’s good intentions, so he had let Old Master Lu keep doing it.
Old Master Lu knew they had to go to the police station first today, so Lu Garden probably had not prepared lunch. It was the perfect chance for Lin Juan to try the company cafeteria.
“That works. If Xiao Juan finds anything lacking after trying it, I’ll have them make improvements.”
The cafeteria was packed with people. Standing in the crowd, Lin Juan felt a vague sense of nostalgia, like he was back in school.
The school cafeteria had been the same way—jam-packed with people. But the food aromas here were far more enticing than those in the school cafeteria.
Lin Juan pushed Lu Yanzhou to an empty table. “Wait here for me. I’ll go get the food.”
He carried a large tray and lined up at the back of the queue.
The girl in front of him chatted with her companion while they waited.
“I heard President Lu didn’t come to the company today. Did you know?”
“I heard that too. Apparently, he went to the police station. You know about Li Yang causing that scene last time.”
“This Li Yang is ridiculous. No way he was completely clueless about his dad’s behavior, right?”
“How could he be? Remember? He used to rely on his powerful dad to come to the company and harass Sister Wen. Luckily, Sister Wen stood her ground and didn’t let him take advantage.”
“Not a single good one in that family.”
“Like father, like son. Fortunately, our President Lu is wise and hired a powerful expert, stopping him in his tracks.”
“You mean Assistant Lin, right? Sigh, now everyone in the company wants to see him, but he’s with President Lu most of the time. With President Lu there, no one dares to approach.”
“Yeah, yeah. I heard the chairman of Hongtu Corporation came begging several times, just to see Assistant Lin once.”
“I think seeing him is fake. Poaching our talent is the real goal. Our President Lu won’t let them steal him away.”
“Assistant Lin belongs to Lu Corporation!”
“Exactly!” The girl got worked up and turned back for agreement. “Bro, don’t you think so?”
Lin Juan, who had overheard the entire gossip about himself, kept a straight face. “You’re right.”
The girl wanted to say more, but her companion, who had also turned and gotten a clear look at Lin Juan’s appearance, nudged her excitedly with an elbow and whispered, “Stop talking.”
“Why can’t I? It’s not a secret in the company. Even if Special Assistant Liang shows up, it won’t stop me. I didn’t say anything bad about the company.”
The anxious girl pulled her companion behind her and apologized to Lin Juan. “Assistant Lin, sorry. My friend didn’t realize it was you.”
With that, she yanked hard at her companion. “Xiaoxiao!”
Huh???
Her friend had called that long-haired young man what?
Assistant Lin?
Was it the Assistant Lin she had been talking about???
Yes—it was. This young man also had that signature long hair. As far as she knew, there was no other guy at Lu Corporation Headquarters who kept his hair long.
Oh god, what had she done?!
Her gossip had been overheard by the man himself. Was there anyone more socially mortified than her?
At that moment, one young girl silently crumbled.
“Sorry, sorry,” Xiaoxiao finally reacted and apologized repeatedly. “I didn’t know you were here—no, I mean, I shouldn’t gossip behind people’s backs. Sorry, sorry.”
A hole in the ground to crawl into, please—
“It’s fine. No need to apologize. This doesn’t count as gossip,” Lin Juan said, deliberately easing her tension since she seemed so nervous. “If we have to label it, it’s at most just speaking the truth.”
“I am pretty awesome. I took down a whole bunch with ease, didn’t I?”
Just then, Lin Juan happened to have his business cards with him. He took out two and handed them to the girls.
What was this?
The two girls took them blankly.
Seeing their confusion, Lin Juan explained, “This is a little side gig of mine. Oh, no—actually, being an assistant is the side gig. This is my main page. Contact me if you need anything.”
The cards were jet black all over, with simple patterns at the bottom. In the center was Lin Juan’s name and contact info, and below that: Professional Solver of Non-Scientific Events. Inquiries Welcome.
Non-scientific events—what did that mean?
The two girls looked at each other, both utterly baffled.
After handing out the two cards, Lin Juan felt quite pleased as he carried his lunch back.
He had loaded up his tray with a ton of dishes, piled high. “President Lu, I think our cafeteria food is really great.”
From the moment Lin Juan left, Lu Yanzhou’s gaze had followed him the whole time—watching him line up in the crowd with his tray, chatting with two female employees, handing them something.
An inexplicable irritability brewed in his heart.
It did not clear until the young man finished getting food and walked straight toward him with purpose, saying “our” again. The annoyance vanished completely.
“You haven’t eaten yet. How do you know?”
“I can smell it,” Lin Juan said as he unwrapped the chopsticks and handed them to Lu Yanzhou. “A real foodie can tell just from the aroma whether the food will be good.”
Everything Lin Juan brought over smelled delicious to him from the start.
“If the tray weren’t so small, I could’ve grabbed more.”
Two grown men had big appetites, and Lin Juan was a big eater too. But he had already piled on plenty—enough to satisfy.
“Not enough? Get more later.”
As expected of Lu Corporation’s cafeteria, a must-have perk for new hires. Every dish had its own unique flavor, clearly different from the Lu Garden chefs’ cooking, but delicious in its own way.
“President Lu, I think we should come here to eat more often from now on.” Lin Juan remembered there were still a bunch of dishes he had not tried this time. He wanted to taste them all.
Once full, Lu Yanzhou handled work while Lin Juan opened the forum that Zhuang Yufeng had sent him. It was a special forum developed by the Anomalous Affairs Bureau for weird phenomena events. Inside, one could check records of weird phenomena occurrences everywhere or post their own.
Lin Juan searched for familiar names like 【Impermanent Snail】 and clicked in. It contained an official detailed introduction.
There were also some he had never heard of—some discovered in the Imperial Capital, some in other places, even some from abroad.
Following the prompts, Lin Juan registered an account named LIN. After verification, a private message arrived.
Lin Juan opened it. It was from Zhuang Yufeng.
[Mr. Lin, the Apocalypse Forum is currently open to all registered ability users. If we get any info on healing ability users, we’ll notify you.]
Lin Juan replied with a single “Good.”
He compiled some tips for dealing with weird phenomena, based on his experiences from the recent incidents, and posted them.
Before long, his phone buzzed. He opened it to see replies pouring in, all “Thanks for sharing, big shot.”
Late at night, in the prison.
Black Bro and Li Yang were locked in the same cell. In the dead of night, rustling sounds came from the bunk opposite.
Li Yang rolled over, covered his ears, and tried to sleep.
But the noises grew louder—like countless centipedes crawling inside the sheets, their myriad legs scraping against the fabric.
It was impossible to ignore.
Li Yang endured it for a bit but finally could not take it anymore. He threw off the covers, about to unleash a tirade, only to be stunned speechless by the sight before him.
He saw Black Bro standing rigidly at the foot of his bed, his face deathly purple. The black scar on his face writhed like living worms.
No—not like worms!
They were worms!
Li Yang’s eyes bulged as he watched a centipede-like creature covered in legs detach from Black Bro’s face and crawl toward him.
“AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!”
