With that thought, Lu Yanzhong asked as much.
Lin Juan: “Didn’t they tell you?”
Lu Yanzhong: “What?”
Lin Juan looked toward Lu Yanzhou. Lu Yanzhou shook his head. He then looked at Old Master Lu, who looked utterly confused.
It seemed they truly hadn’t told him.
“It’s like this. Your wife…”
“She’s not my wife.” Lu Yanzhong’s expression darkened. Thinking of the deception over these years, he couldn’t control his anger.
“OK,” Lin Juan changed his wording. “For some reason, Qiu Lishu turned into a Weird Phenomenon. The three children turned into Weird Phenomena along with her. The two young ones became two giant spiders and were taken away by the Anomalous Affairs Bureau.”
Lu Yanzhong lowered his head and said no more.
He had once felt fatherly love toward the three children, but with the truth laid bare so abruptly before him, he found it hard to see them the same way as before.
Lu Yanzhong’s injuries were severe and required plenty of rest. Lin Juan and Lu Yanzhou didn’t stay long and soon rose to leave.
A few days passed, and they learned the full story through the 【Eye of Recollection】.
After Qiu Lishu won Lu Yanzhong’s love, his childhood sweetheart refused to believe that the man she had loved for so many years would betray her. She went to confront him time and again.
When luck was on her side, she ran into Lu Yanzhong. More often, though, she encountered Qiu Lishu.
Qiu Lishu acted like a triumphant victor, looking down on her with smug superiority as she wallowed in her misery.
Finally, the wedding day arrived.
Lu Yanzhong’s childhood sweetheart knew this was her last chance.
Once Lu Yanzhong married Qiu Lishu, regardless of any hidden truths, she would not allow herself to continue like this.
Since Old Master Lu had not approved, the wedding was not particularly grand.
She arrived at the wedding venue, hoping for one last meeting with Lu Yanzhong, only to be stopped by Qiu Lishu in her pristine white wedding dress.
Qiu Lishu held her neck high like a beautiful, elegant swan, but the malice hidden deep in her eyes did not escape Lu Yanzhong’s childhood sweetheart.
“No matter your reasons, I hope you stop disturbing Yanzhong. An ex like you makes things very difficult for me as the current one.”
“I want to talk to him.” Lu Yanzhong’s childhood sweetheart insisted.
“He won’t see you,” Qiu Lishu sneered at her. “Whatever you have to say, you can tell me, and I’ll pass it on for you.”
Lu Yanzhong’s childhood sweetheart clenched the hand hanging at her side. She used all her strength not to lose composure. She had already lost utterly and completely; she refused to give the victor the satisfaction of seeing her break.
“Fine,” Knowing she wouldn’t get to see him, Lu Yanzhong’s childhood sweetheart took a deep breath and pulled an envelope from her bag. “Then please give this to him.”
The light green envelope carried a faint fragrance. Qiu Lishu took it and held it between two fingers. “You can go now.”
Lu Yanzhong’s childhood sweetheart stood stunned for a moment before slowly turning and walking away a few steps. Suddenly, she looked back.
Just in time to see the envelope slip lightly from between Qiu Lishu’s fingers.
It fell to the ground, covered in dust.
Just like her at that moment.
Without thinking, Lu Yanzhong’s childhood sweetheart spun around, rushed over, crouched down, picked up the envelope, and carefully brushed the dust off it.
“If you didn’t want to help, you could have just said no.”
Qiu Lishu stood there, looking down smugly at her defeated rival’s misery, her eyes brimming with malice. “I only agreed to pass on a message. I never said anything about delivering items.”
How pitiful.
Qiu Lishu gazed at the pitiful girl in the white dress, malice surging uncontrollably within her.
Why did she keep bothering them?
She hadn’t planned to hurt her, but if she kept this up, it caused her too much trouble. Every time Lu Yanzhong got entangled with her, signs of clarity appeared in him.
Qiu Lishu had no doubt that if this continued, Lu Yanzhong might fully awaken one day.
What would she do then?
Give up the good life she had claimed?
Impossible!
It was just like that one chance to escape the deep mountains.
If she wanted it, it should be hers.
Her malice took physical form. Round orbs rapidly grew beneath the skin of her forehead, arms, and other exposed areas.
Finally, they burst through her skin—one eyeball after another, staring malevolently at the girl crouched on the ground.
Feeling the gaze full of malice, the girl looked up.
“You—”
Qiu Lishu acted as if nothing happened. She walked over and seemingly affectionately helped the girl to her feet. The eyeballs sprouting from her body touched the girl and rolled around.
The girl felt the person touching her body was unusually cold—especially those eyeballs brushing her skin. They came alive, trying to burrow into her.
She struggled free with all her might and ran outward. “There’s a monster!!!”
She wanted to tell Lu Yanzhong that his new bride was a monster, but she couldn’t escape that lounge clearly. She could only watch helplessly as the door slammed shut before her.
She was trapped in that lounge forever, forever immersed in despair and suffocation.
The one who walked out was merely an empty shell.
Seeing this, Lu Yanzhong clenched his fists. His hatred for Qiu Lishu reached its peak.
“I’ll make her pay!”
His wounds split open, blood soaking through the white bandages. Lu Yanzhou pressed down on his shoulder. “Relax. Your wounds have reopened.”
Lu Yanzhong couldn’t relax.
With his misplaced affections realigned, he wished it had been him who suffered all this.
“I hate myself so much. It was my fault—I fell for that venomous woman’s tricks and ended up turning Xiao Wan into what she is now.” Two streams of clear tears flowed from Lu Yanzhong’s eyes. His heart ached beyond measure.
Old Master Lu sighed, unsure what to say.
He had always thought his second son’s change of heart had come too abruptly. He never imagined there was such a story behind it.
“The Weird Phenomenon Qiu Lishu turned into has already been killed by Xiao Juan,” Lu Yanzhou said, holding Lu Yanzhong down to keep him from moving.
“Not enough.” Lu Yanzhong gritted his teeth. It was far from enough. He would set everything right and make Qiu Lishu pay back a thousandfold everything she had wrongly taken!
The 【Eye of Recollection】 activated once more.
They saw how Qiu Lishu had set up the trap, putting Old Master Lu in mortal danger and allowing Lu Yanzhong to appear just in time to save his life.
They saw how Qiu Lishu obtained a finger-sized eyeball from a man in a black trench coat, finely chopped it up, mixed it into a homemade cake, and had her eldest daughter deliver it to Lu Yanzhou.
Lu Yanzhou’s expression turned grim.
Anyone who learned they had eaten food laced with eyeballs of unknown origin would look grim.
The fact that he didn’t vomit on the spot showed impressive self-control.
After all, the scene of Qiu Lishu chopping up the eyeball delivered a massive shock.
Lin Juan took his hand proactively and gave it a comforting squeeze.
Lu Yanzhou turned his head. The expression on his face had eased. He gripped the hand in his palm in return. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
“If I’d known, I should’ve made Qiu Lishu taste what it’s like to eat a big eyeball too.” Lin Juan grumbled.
The giant spiders had plenty of eyeballs on them. She liked eyeballs so much? He’d make sure she ate her fill!
Seeing the young man indignant on his behalf warmed Lu Yanzhou’s heart. That earlier scene didn’t seem so disgusting anymore. Instead, he began to comfort Lin Juan.
“No, you need to get a full checkup.”
The Lu Family members and Director Liu, who had seen the same recollection, nodded in agreement.
Lu Yanzhou was pulled off for a full-body examination.
Contact with Weird Phenomena caused pollution, let alone directly consuming one.
Lin Juan waited outside the examination room.
The rest of the Lu Family was there too, except for Lu Yanzhong, who was still bedridden and unable to move easily.
Lu Yanzhou’s checkup involved many tests and took half a day to complete.
The results came out via the express channel.
Zhuang Yufeng flipped through the fresh report page by page.
“Doctor Zhuang,” Old Master Lu approached. “Is Yanzhou alright?”
“Don’t worry, no major issues.” Zhuang Yufeng was somewhat surprised. They had seen with their own eyes how Qiu Lishu mixed the chopped eyeball into the cake, which Lu Yanzhou then ate. Yet Lu Yanzhou’s pollution value hadn’t risen much.
He kept his doubts to himself. Director Liu had instructed them not to spread this. Only Director Liu, Zhuang Yufeng, and the Lu Family knew for now.
“Doctor Zhuang purified Lu Yanzhou several times before. His pollution value is low because of those purifications,” Lin Juan said at the right moment.
Zhuang Yufeng was confident in his supernatural ability and nodded. “Indeed. One eyeball is just a tiny part of a Weird Phenomenon. The pollution is limited, so it’s no surprise my supernatural ability purified it.”
Eating a Weird Phenomenon was still a tough pill for anyone to swallow, though.
For the next few days, Lin Juan closely monitored Lu Yanzhou’s eating habits, worried it might affect him and cause him to lose his appetite.
He also skipped desserts after meals.
Politely refusing the post-meal cakes, Lin Juan said, “No more cakes or similar desserts for a while.”
He feared Lu Yanzhou had developed a psychological shadow.
Lin Juan, who had seen the scene, had a bit of a shadow himself. The Lu Family needed no mention.
Lu Yanzhong had recovered enough to be discharged.
Lin Juan went with the Lu Family to pick him up.
In the ward, besides Lu Yanzhong, there was a middle-aged man wearing glasses.
“This is Lawyer Chen,” Lu Yanzhong introduced proactively.
After a few days of recuperation, he seemed to have adjusted. He was no longer as listless as when he first awoke, and his complexion had improved.
“I’ve liquidated all my assets. Half goes back to the Lu Family, and the other half is a gift to Mr. Lin as compensation.”
Lawyer Chen handed over the neatly organized documents.
Lin Juan took them in bewilderment. “No need. Lu Yanzhou already paid me.”
The day they returned, Lin Juan discovered a six-figure sum in his account.
The transfer came from Lu Yanzhou.
Lin Juan clutched his phone, kneeling on the bed as he asked the man, now changed into loungewear. “Why’d you suddenly transfer so much money?”
“For Second Brother’s matter—I couldn’t let you work for nothing.” Lu Yanzhou walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.
“But this is way too much.” Lin Juan counted the balance in his card and clicked his tongue.
“Not at all. Mr. Lin’s services are worth every penny.”
“Don’t tease me.” Lin Juan happily accepted it.
He discussed it with Lu Yanzhou. “I’m planning to take half the money in this card to set up a foundation dedicated to aiding victims of Weird Phenomena incidents.”
Weird Phenomena incidents would become more frequent in the future. There was only so much one person could do. Lin Juan loved money, but he had no desire to hoard it recklessly.
“What brought this on all of a sudden?” Lu Yanzhou knew how much of a money-lover Lin Juan was, yet he also knew Lin Juan wasn’t overly materialistic. He’d always thought he was the type who never let go of what he took in.
“I can’t spend all this money anyway. Using some to help others is also accumulating merit.” Lin Juan liked this world and hoped it would get better.
“Right, a big company like Lu Corporation must have a dedicated charity division, yeah?” The idea had come to Lin Juan partly because of Second Brother Lu’s incident. Even though the Lu Family’s aid recipients had been impersonated, the act itself was good.
After this, Lu Yanzhou thoroughly investigated the Lu Corporation’s past aid lists. They sponsored many people each year—checking over a decade’s worth was no small task.
The relevant departments worked overtime for a month to finish verifying the lists.
Lu Yanzhou also improved the relevant processes to prevent another Qiu Lishu incident.
Lin Juan fully supported this and spent several days running around with Lu Yanzhou.
If not for Lu Yanzhong’s discharge today, he would still be at the company helping Lu Yanzhou review reports.
The Lu Family already had a mature charity organization with well-established processes. Lin Juan didn’t know how to manage one, so he simply attached the Weird Phenomena special charity fund under Lu Charity and had Lu Yanzhou handle it together.
