Chapter 2514: Non-human: Xiao Chen

The restaurant was brightly lit.

Liang Yanzhe sat at the long table, a cup of black coffee in front of him.

He tried to focus, but the strange events of last night kept intruding into his mind at the worst moments.

Liang Yanzhe lifted the coffee and took a sip, barely suppressing the uneasy feeling in his chest.

At that moment, Zhou Chengjun walked over, frowning, and tapped his finger on the white‑tablecloth‑covered table, clearly displeased.

"The hotel prepared these, but Xitang doesn't really like them. Clear them away and set another table."

Liang Yanzhe: "……"

Isn't this what you ordered?

He set down his coffee cup as usual, stood up, and showed no extra emotion.

"All right, Chief Zhou, would you like to switch to a more Chinese‑style congee and dim sum, or have the Western kitchen prepare a new menu?"

His tone was calm as he handed the decision back to his superior.

The core staff from the group sitting at nearby tables all cast admiring, accustomed glances his way.

Probably only Assistant Liang could stay so composed when Chief Zhou's domineering CEO behavior flared up.

They tacitly sped up their meal, preparing to leave first.

"Do you want it or not?" a somewhat cold, weak voice interjected.

Zhao Xitang walked over, her face a little pale, but her spirits were much better.

He glanced briefly at Zhou Chengjun.

"Let's eat; I think this is fine." Zhou Chengjun went along with it, sat down, picked up his utensils, as if the picky person from moments ago weren't him.

"Xiao Liang, no need to change it."

"All right, Chief Zhou." Liang Yanzhe replied.

Finally they could enjoy the breakfast that was about to go cold.

During the meal, Zhou Chengjun wiped his mouth and told Liang Yanzhe, "Arrange a helicopter; this afternoon Zhao Xitang and I will go to South Island to visit her uncle."

"All right." Liang Yanzhe noted, "Do you need bodyguards for you and Chief Zhao?"

Zhou Chengjun thought for a moment, waved his hand, and said, "No need, it's just a casual visit."

He turned to Zhao Xitang, softened his tone, and said, "Honey, rest assured—I'll definitely behave well this time and won't get chased out by your uncle with a broom again."

Zhao Xitang didn't speak, just gave a soft hum and took small sips of warm water.

Ling Gun Gun reminded Jin Chen, 【Host, this is a crucial plot point!】

【Zhou Chengjun has never gained the approval of Zhao Xitang's uncle, because Zhao Xitang took a bullet for him abroad years ago, leaving her with lasting injuries; after this visit, the two will fall into a cold war, and the rift in their relationship will start from now.】

【Back at the group, this will give Ye Lu the perfect opening to exploit; we'd better find a way to prevent their cold war!】

The black mist lay lazily on Liang Yanzhe's shoulder, pondering for a second after hearing that.

It would be best if they couldn't go.

He still had to follow his wife, but he had no time to stare at this human couple.

Just as that thought formed, a small clump of black mist appeared behind Zhou Chengjun.

Liang Yanzhe sat opposite Zhou Chengjun and happened to see that clump of black mist appear.

His eyelid twitched violently, and he wanted to speak up to warn them.

Above his head, the ornate crystal chandelier suddenly shattered and plummeted downward at astonishing speed!

【Ahhhhh!】 Ling Gun Gun screeched.

【Host! It's going to hit your wife! Why do you lash out over nothing?】

Jin Chen made a sound, and his tentacles shifted slightly.

At the last instant, the falling chandelier's trajectory jerked sideways, just grazing Zhou Chengjun's shoulder before smashing into the chair beside him with a boom.

Crystal shards scattered everywhere with a crash.

Zhou Chengjun was knocked over by the impact, grunting as he fell; his shin banged against flying debris and the overturned furniture.

Liang Yanzhe, who had witnessed the whole scene again: "……"

In the air, that strange black mist had vanished without a trace.

"Chengjun!" Zhao Xitang cried, her face turning pale as she sprang up to steady him, voice trembling, "How are you?"

The restaurant descended into chaos.

The hotel manager and staff came running, panicked, apologizing repeatedly, scrambling to help them up.

Zhou Chengjun was helped to sit in an intact chair, his face dark as iron, with waves of pain shooting through his shin.

Liang Yanzhe endured his headache and called the private doctor.

The doctor was summoned quickly; after a preliminary check, he found it utterly unbelievable.

"Fortunately… truly fortunate, Chief Zhou—such a heavy chandelier dropping straight down caused only scrapes and soft‑tissue bruises; you're incredibly lucky."

The hotel staff were terrified, hurriedly saying they'd inspect whether the equipment was aged and offer compensation.

But Zhou Chengjun kept a stern face, his sharp gaze sweeping over the chaotic scene, regal aura leaking out—he simply didn't believe it was merely an accident.

He said in a low voice, "No need to check for equipment aging; such a coincidence means someone must have tampered behind the scenes."

Jin Chen, hidden on Liang Yanzhe's shoulder: "？""

Zhou Chengjun spoke decisively, his eyes deep.

"It must be one of my business rivals who found out my schedule and deliberately pulled this trick!"

Jin Chen: "……"

Hmph, foolish.

In the end, although Zhou Chengjun's leg injury wasn't serious, the plan to visit his uncle had to be postponed.

Zhao Xītang anxiously followed to the hospital; before leaving, he hastily told Liang Yanzé, "Xiao Liang, please take care of this."

Liang Yanzé nodded. "All right, Manager Zhao, no worries."

Looking at the chaotic restaurant, Liang Yanzé raised a hand to pinch his brow, feeling a headache mixed with an indescribable strange sensation.

He took a deep breath, quickly entered work mode, found the hotel's person in charge, and spoke in a calm tone.

"Hello, could we pull up the restaurant's surveillance footage? We need to confirm the cause of the accident."

"Of course, I'm very sorry this happened!" The hotel manager replied repeatedly, immediately taking him to the surveillance room.

Jin Chen followed along without a care.

How could human electronic devices possibly capture his presence?

As expected, the surveillance footage clearly recorded the chandelier's screw loosening, its natural break and fall, with no trace of human interference, and no blurry shadow captured.

Liang Yanzé gazed silently at the screen; the surveillance showed nothing, but he knew it wasn't an illusion.

This hotel…

It's indeed not clean.

As a senior general assistant, Liang Yanzé believed he could account for 99% of contingencies in his work.

But he never imagined that the remaining 1% would include this sort of non-scientific surprise.

The hotel's attitude was sincere, repeatedly apologizing and promising to fully inspect all facilities and assume full responsibility.

After Liang Yanzé quickly put forward several handling suggestions and demands, he finally said: "For safety reasons, please change our hotel; arrange transportation—we will move immediately to Azure Joy Hotel."

"Sure, sure! We'll arrange it right away!" The hotel manager eagerly agreed.

Ling Gun Gun muttered softly in the sea of consciousness.

【How pitiful, he thinks changing hotels will get rid of you.】

Jin Chen's mist wrapped around Liang Yanzé's neck, feeling the warm blood flow beneath the skin.

【This won't do; Zhou Chengjun is all lovey-dovey with his wife, and I want that too.】

Thus, as Liang Yanzé led his team away in the hotel-arranged convoy from this place of right and wrong, that mass of black mist steadily perched on his shoulder.

Following him, they headed to the next six-star hotel.