Chapter 52 – “You’re back—does your dad know?”

After holding it in for a long time, Lu Zeyuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He could finally let it all out.

But just as he was about to speak, there was a knock on the private room door.

He thought it was the waiter bringing drinks, but instead, two people he didn’t recognize walked in.

One of them was, in fact, the very person Lu Zeyuan had been ranting about earlier today.

As soon as Lin Xiu’er stepped inside, about to speak her line, she spotted the girl sitting on the sofa.

“Xiao Jiu? What are you doing here?”

She was followed by Liu Li, who also looked surprised. “Idol!”

Tu Shanju, who had just been about to stand up, froze in place. “…?”

Idol? What the heck?

But then she suddenly remembered something Lin Xiu’er had said before and sighed inwardly—wanting to cover her face in embarrassment.

Xie Shiyu had been present during the incident with the demonic Gu master, so he was aware of their identities.

And since he was considered “family,” he hadn’t needed to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Xie Shiyu frowned. It was obvious they hadn’t come to see Tu Shanju.

Just as he was wondering what was going on, Lu Zeyuan—still seated on the sofa—finally recognized Lin Xiu’er after staring at her for a while. He shot up like a cat with its fur standing on end, pointing at her in shock.

“You! Y-you…!”

He stammered for a long moment before blurting out the next line:
“You’re that woman!”

Everyone turned to look at Lu Zeyuan.

Tu Shanju also stood up and walked over to Lin Xiu’er.

“What’s going on between you two?”

Lin Xiu’er shrugged. “He saw me getting struck by lightning this afternoon. I came to have him sign a confidentiality agreement.”

Just one sentence, and Tu Shanju immediately understood.

She shook her head helplessly. “Didn’t I already warn you?”

“I got too caught up in the fight with that fierce ghost.” Lin Xiu’er tilted her head and then asked,
“So? You know him? If you do, then I won’t make him sign it. Anyway, if he’s close to you, he’ll probably find out sooner or later.”

Tu Shanju thought for a moment and said, “Better to have him sign it.”

Lu Zeyuan, from what she could read of his face, had a decent character. But his drinking habits were another matter—when drunk, he loved to ramble and could easily spill everything.

And the confidentiality agreement issued by the underworld’s “Yin Office” was no ordinary agreement. Whether electronic or on paper, once someone signed it, it was bound by heavenly law.

Like Zhang Yue and Song Guogang, disciples of Zhang Xuefeng—even if they wanted to speak, they simply couldn’t.

Few people might believe such things, but the procedure still had to be followed.

Lu Zeyuan looked between the two of them. “Sis-in-law! You know them?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Just a small thing. These people are from the South City field office—they’re metaphysical investigators. What you saw earlier was her fighting a fierce ghost—official duty. It’s not something regular people should know about, which is why we need you to sign the agreement.”

Tu Shanju explained it clearly, afraid he wouldn’t understand.

But unexpectedly, the one who spoke first was Qi Chen, who had been silent the whole time.

He said, “Is that the underworld’s field office?”

“You know about it?” Lin Xiu’er looked at Qi Chen curiously.

Qi Chen replied calmly, “I’ve signed before. Just not in South City—in Jiangcheng.”

Lin Xiu’er raised an eyebrow. “Then you don’t need to sign again. One signature is enough.”

She glanced at the aura of righteous energy around him and casually asked, “Military?”

Qi Chen nodded.

“Oh, that explains it.”

Because of their frequent missions, military personnel often encountered strange situations. Regardless of the theater they served in, some of them would have signed the agreement.

Lu Zeyuan scratched his head. Seeing how familiar everyone seemed, he couldn’t hold back anymore and shouted,
“What do you mean ‘not surprising’? What are you guys even talking about? What about me—the one who actually saw it?!”

Wasn’t he the one supposed to sign the agreement?

Tu Shanju’s earlier explanation was clear enough.

Basically, it meant there were a lot of things in this world he didn’t know about. If he hadn’t stumbled upon this by chance, everyone else here would’ve known—except him!

Lu Zeyuan didn’t know whether he should feel lucky or unfortunate.

The agreement was signed in just a few quick strokes, and the official procedure was complete. Lin Xiu’er and Liu Li still had work to do, so after exchanging a few words with Tu Shanju, they left.

Once the outsiders were gone, Lu Zeyuan immediately rushed to Tu Shanju’s side and started asking endless questions about ghosts.

Tu Shanju answered every single one.

Eventually, it was Xie Shiyu who—worried she’d get tired of the chatter—handed her some fruit wine and told her to eat something.

Lu Zeyuan was right in the middle of his excitement when Xie Shiyu cut him off. His eyes turned resentful, but his tone was teasing:
“Eh~ having a fiancée really changes a man. Look at you—protecting her like she’s your eyeball!”

Xie Shiyu didn’t bother arguing. He didn’t deny it either—in fact, he looked quite smug.

Lu Zeyuan: “…”

The three of them moved on to other topics, chatting about this and that.

Tu Shanju shifted her gaze downstairs.

The second-floor private room had two large floor-to-ceiling windows—one-way glass—giving a full view of the first floor below.

Suddenly, Tu Shanju spotted something and made a puzzled noise:
“Huh?”

She tapped the glass with her finger and focused her gaze on the bartender she’d been observing.

The bartender looked young, probably a university student, and was currently mixing drinks.

Hearing her little sound of surprise, Xie Shiyu looked over and asked, “What’s wrong? You know them?”

Tu Shanju shook her head. “Do you remember that rose-patterned qipao?”

She pointed downstairs—at a woman sitting at the bar, drinking glass after glass—and said,
“She’s the one who embroidered it.”

“What rose qipao?” Lu Zeyuan, curious, leaned in to look as well.

After glancing a few times, he asked,
“Why is that woman staring at the bartender like that?”

Tu Shanju didn’t respond. She only sighed softly and said,
“Let’s hope she doesn’t do anything rash.”

No matter how passionate or tragic a past-life romance may have been, that was still the past.

In this life, that man had his own destined path.

If she tried to forcibly interfere, she would never have a good ending.

Tu Shanju retracted her gaze. Xie Shiyu and the others, seeing this, didn’t look any further either.

They continued chatting while Tu Shanju, like a little hamster, nibbled on snacks and listened.

Qi Chen asked Lu Zeyuan,
“You’re back—does your dad know?”

“He doesn’t. We fought before I went abroad,” Lu Zeyuan replied with a look of disgust, taking a big gulp of alcohol.
“I don’t know what kind of pillow talk that woman’s been giving him lately, but somehow she convinced my dad to give her 1% of Lu Group’s shares.”

“Old Master Lu agreed to that?” Xie Shiyu asked.

“No way! Even though my mom’s passed away, the old man has always only acknowledged her as his daughter-in-law. All those other women my dad messes with? They’ll never be presentable.”

“Seems like the old man’s still got a clear head.”

“Yeah.” Lu Zeyuan suddenly paused, his expression dimming a bit.
“Since the New Year, the old man’s health has been getting worse. Just a few days ago, he fainted and ended up in the hospital.”

Xie Shiyu frowned. “When did that happen?”

“A month ago. He kept it from me. Didn’t want me to worry.”

The three fell silent for a moment.

Then Xie Shiyu patted Lu Zeyuan’s shoulder.
“You’ve played around enough. Time to take the reins. Don’t make the old man wait too long.”

Lu Zeyuan nodded. “I know.”

Even if he didn’t like the business world, he still had to take up the burden of the Lu family. It was his responsibility.

On the other side of the sofa, Tu Shanju held a piece of crispy pork between her fingers, slowly nibbling at it.

Her gaze remained fixed on Lu Zeyuan.