The CEO’s Substitute Wife Is A Genius
Chapter 110 Lu Xingzhou Pretends to be Drunk

Chapter 110: Chapter 110 Lu Xingzhou Pretends to be Drunk

Fuck!

He felt something suddenly go limp.

He Xiuyan blinked, noticing his abrupt halt and looking puzzled.

Song Xiao became instantly irritable, stood up, pulled open the drawer of the bedside table, and fished out cigarettes and a lighter.

He Xiuyan immediately took the lighter and kindly lit it for him.

When the pale blue flame illuminated half of Song Xiao’s face, He Xiuyan saw the restlessness in his eyebrows.

"Xiao Brother, what’s wrong?"

She asked tentatively.

In the past, when they met, weren’t they always like tinder and flame?

"I don’t know." Song Xiao couldn’t explain it clearly himself, biting on his cigarette and grumbling, "Let’s just call it a night, you go wash up and sleep. I’ll go out for a walk."

By "going out for a walk," he most likely meant going to a nightclub.

He Xiuyan opened her mouth to speak but then hesitated. Could it be that Song Xiao was no longer interested in her?

On the other side, Jiang Man brought the three of them to Happy Valley and took the initiative to pay for four night tickets.

They had student IDs, so they got half-price tickets.

Wen Rui visited such an amusement park for the first time and couldn’t help but feel excited to the point of his heart pounding uncontrollably.

Zhang Ziqi and Mao Lili were used to this and were quite excited too.

"Man Sister, which one should we ride first?" they asked.

Jiang Man pointed to the most eye-catching structure: "Roller coaster."

"Ah, I’m scared of that." Mao Lili immediately waved her hands in refusal.

Zhang Ziqi was also somewhat afraid; she had ridden it once before and was nearly scared out of her wits.

Jiang Man hadn’t planned on having them accompany her; having them along was more of a burden: "I’ll go by myself."

She said coldly and then strode toward the queue entrance.

Wen Rui looked up at the towering tracks, swallowing nervously.

She felt both freshness and fear.

Zhang Ziqi and Mao Lili linked arms and decided to go on the pirate ship together.

Wen Rui thought for a moment, clenched her fists, and took on a determined look.

"Cousin, wait for me... I want to try it too."

"You?" Jiang Man raised her eyebrows with interest.

Looking at the little girl’s eyes brimming with anticipation and her pitiful look, she couldn’t help feeling a sense of pity and affection.

"Alright, just don’t cry out loud when you get scared."

"Can I hold onto you if I get scared?" Wen Rui blinked her large eyes that were like black grapes—very dark, yet also very pure.

Jiang Man, unable to resist such a soft girl, gave a reluctant smile and offered her arm.

The little girl immediately latched on, joyfully, pressing her face against Jiang Man’s shoulder.

During the ensuing roller coaster ride, Jiang Man was unfazed.

Feeling her heart seem to leap out of her chest as the car descended, that sense of weightlessness created a thrilling sensation she had never experienced before.

The little girl beside her screamed continuously in fright, gripping onto Jiang Man tightly.

When the roller coaster finally came to a smooth halt, the little girl dashed for the trash can and vomited everything she had.

Jiang Man coolly stood behind her, took out a tissue and handed it to her: "I’ll go get you some water, wait here."

She turned around and bought a bottle of soda water from a stall.

Wen Rui, face pale from vomiting and illuminated by the moonlight, appeared ethereal and luminescent.

After taking a few sips of water, she finally felt better.

"Cousin, weren’t you scared?"

Earlier on the roller coaster, she had heard various shrill screams, but her cousin beside her remained unshaken as a rock.

Jiang Man curved her lips into a slight smile.

A roller coaster? What was that in comparison?

She had piloted fighter jets and had wilder times with Wu Yingfan in her early years.

Her eyes were deep, her expression bold and reckless: "I’m not afraid."

"Cousin..." Wen Rui looked at Jiang Man, wanting to say something more.

Her mother had told her about her cousin’s tragic history—she was born with a weak heart and was abandoned by her eldest uncle and his wife.

Later on, her uncle and his wife adopted a daughter.

It was only recently that her cousin had been found and brought back home.

"Cousin, your heart is okay, right? Playing such thrilling rides, won’t it be..."

The little girl’s eyes were full of concern.

Jiang Man saw in the little girl’s gaze a sincerity she had never before witnessed in the eyes of a relative.

It was also the first time she felt the presence of familial love.

"My heart condition has been cured long ago." She smiled.

Wen Rui then patted her chest in relief: "That’s good."

But she was still worried: "Cousin, let’s not ride this again next time. Even normal people might risk heart issues, let alone you."

She spoke cautiously and, fearing that Jiang Man would find her annoying, immediately looked down: "If you think I’m nagging, just ignore what I just said."

"You..." Jiang Man shook her head.

What kind of family environment had this girl grown up in to be so self-effacing and sensitive?

"Alright, I’ll be careful and play less in the future."

"Really? That’s great!" Wen Rui looked up with eyes sparkling with delight, as happy as a three-year-old child.

Jiang Man smiled helplessly.

The little girl was really easy to console; who knew which guy would benefit from her simplicity in the future.

For the next few hours, the four of them watched the parade, ate some snacks, played water games, and watched a 3D live-action movie.

Around ten o’clock, Jiang Man finally urged everyone to leave.

The dormitory closed its doors at eleven, and while she had other places to go, those three didn’t.

With Wen Rui around, she felt okay, but Zhang Ziqi and Mao Lili were a nuisance.

"Let’s go, take a taxi back."

The three of them complied obediently. Since Jiang Man was a year or two older, they naturally treated her as their elder sister.

About forty minutes later, Jiang Man dropped them off at the bottom of their dormitory but showed no intention of going in.

"Man Sister, not coming back to the dorm again tonight?" Zhang Ziqi asked with a gossipy look.

But after spending the day with Jiang Man, she had become more restrained and seemed to understand the big shot’s temperament better.

"It’s really late." Mao Lili commented as well.

"The dormitory beds are too small, and it’s troublesome with everyone coming and going." Jiang Man’s eyebrows were furrowed with irritation, her expression cold: "Also, you’re too noisy."

The two exchanged awkward glances and laughed hesitantly, saying nothing further and waved goodbye.

Before leaving, Jiang Man gave a warning: "Don’t bully Wen Rui."

"Don’t worry, Man Sister." Zhang Ziqi pulled a face.

How could she dare now?

In the past, she bullied Wen Rui because she thought she was just a country bumpkin and despised her.

Now that she knew she had Jiang Man as a cousin, she wouldn’t dare offend them even if she had ten times the courage.

"Ruirui, is your cousin some kind of rich heiress? Otherwise, how could she know the grandson of Song Wenzhi, and even become his goddaughter?"

"I’m not sure either." Wen Rui shook her head.

She wasn’t one to gossip.

Since her cousin hadn’t told them, she didn’t want to talk too much.

Her mother had said that her cousin had four powerful uncles in the city, all as wealthy as tycoons.

...

Approaching midnight, Jiang Man finally took a cab back to Rong Mansion.

Lu Xingzhou usually had a busy workload and would continue to work in his study for a while after returning home at night.

However, generally by eleven o’clock, he would go to bed on time.

As Jiang Man walked towards the villa, she looked up at the second-floor study.

The light was on in the study; so late at night, he hadn’t slept yet?

"Madam, you’re back."

As soon as she entered the house, she could feel the servants trembling with caution.

It seemed like something had happened in the villa earlier that made everyone wary.

Jiang Man shrewdly noticed everything, her brows lifted, "What’s the matter? You all look quite upset."

The servant lowered their head, "The young master came back early in the afternoon, and as soon as he got home, he flew into a terrible rage, even had the workers come over to dismantle the laundry pole on his balcony."

"Dismantle the laundry pole?" Jiang Man didn’t think that was a big deal.

That laundry pole on his balcony indeed looked quite out of place.

"Anything else?" she continued to ask.

"The young master drank quite a bit..."

"Drowning his sorrows in alcohol?" Jiang Man frowned.

It seemed that Lu Xingzhou truly encountered some vexing issue.

She didn’t say much more and took steps to head upstairs.

Just then, her phone rang in her pocket.

She took it out to see it was an unfamiliar number, with a local area code for the northern city, ending with four sixes—a number that clearly belonged to someone of significant status.

"Hello?" she answered the call.

"Manman, it’s me, your second aunt-in-law."

Hearing Meng Lian’s voice, Jiang Man was quite surprised, and she didn’t speak immediately.

Meng Lian’s voice was low, even carrying a hint of caution, "I’m in the hospital right now, Jingya took an entire bottle of sleeping pills, she was just saved by stomach pumping..."

At this, Jiang Man’s mouth dropped open in surprise.

She had not anticipated Wen Jingya would resort to such drastic measures.

"Second aunt, if you want to say something, just say it."

"Jingya left a suicide note apologizing to you, and now that I think about it, I can’t completely blame her. She was raised in the Lu Family from a young age, and everyone told her that she would be Xingzhou’s wife in the future. But suddenly one day, everything changed, and I can understand why she would act so rashly. After all, I’ve raised her for twenty years, and when I heard the news of her attempting suicide, I truly..."

Meng Lian couldn’t help but sob, "I apologize on her behalf, and once she wakes up, I will certainly educate her properly. Please persuade Xingzhou not to send her to Africa; she said she’d rather die than go."

"Okay," Jiang Man responded succinctly.

Actually, she had never intended for things to get this far.

She was someone who really couldn’t stand being slighted—if anyone dared to mess with her, they had to face the consequences.

But then she thought, she only had a one-year marriage contract with Lu Xingzhou, and because of this one year, she had disrupted the peace of his family—which seemed rather unkind.

After hanging up the phone, she strode upstairs and came to the study door, knocking.

"Come in."

A man’s deep voice came from inside, not sounding very pleased.

Jiang Man stepped in with haste, a strong scent of alcohol wafting towards her.

She waved her hand in the air.

She noticed that Lu Xingzhou hadn’t actually drunk that much, just about a bottle of foreign liquor.

But that bottle was high in alcohol content and had a strong smell.

"Drinking alone? Is this because of the Wen Jingya issue?" Jiang Man glanced at the empty bottle.

Lu Xingzhou was sprawled on the sofa, supporting his head with his hand, while a turntable in the room was playing soft music, though the sound was very low.

"You know to come back? I thought you weren’t coming home tonight!"

The words carried a strong scent of jealousy.

Back at home, he asked Zhao Huai to look into the man Jiang Man had dined with.

Later on, when Zhao Huai reported back his findings, it turned out that the man was none other than his archrival, Nan Juefeng.

He had initially thought that this was just a new trick played by Nan Juefeng, who couldn’t beat him in business and wanted to infuriate him on a romantic level.

Yet, as Zhao Huai discovered, that was not the case.

All these years, Nan Juefeng had been searching for a girl, and the whole business world knew about it.

But it never crossed his mind that the very person Nan Juefeng had been looking for was Jiang Man!

There were rumors that the girl was Nan Juefeng’s "white moonlight," someone who he met as a child in the hospital and with whom he shared a harmonious and extremely happy past.

The thought of Jiang Man having fond memories with another man, while he himself had none, left his heart inexplicably irritated.

Jiang Man was somewhat speechless, "Of course I would come back. Why wouldn’t I return home just because you’re acting all weird?"

Lu Xingzhou narrowed his eyes and suddenly struggled to rise from the sofa, swaying.

"Jiang Man, I... I think I’m drunk."

With that, he collapsed heavily onto Jiang Man.

Jiang Man was a bit speechless, "You’re so heavy, Lu Xingzhou, get up."

But the man acted as if he hadn’t heard her, muttering, "Want to sleep, I’m drunk, so drunk."

"Your tolerance for alcohol is really nothing to brag about," Jiang Man said, rolling her eyes with disdain, but still she draped his arm over her shoulder and helped him through the connecting door between the study and bedroom to the edge of the bed.

"I’m not going to take care of your washing up," she stated preemptively.

The man plopped onto the bed and with a big hand, pulled her down with him.

Jiang Man, losing her balance, fell directly on top of him.

"Lu Xingzhou, what are you doing? Don’t think I won’t hit you because you’re drunk. If you don’t stay still, I’ll turn you into a pig head!"

The person beneath her stopped moving, and soon Jiang Man could hear the even sound of his breathing.

She stood up, tilted her head, and glanced over.

Well done, falling asleep in a second.

She took off his shoes and looked at the impeccably tailored suit he was wearing.

Originally, she wanted to leave it be, but considering Lu Xingzhou was rather decent to her, she sat back down and stripped off his suit jacket and pants for him.

After tucking him in and seeing his cheeks flushed, she went to the bathroom to fetch a basin of warm water, and wiped his face and hands.

Having done all this, Jiang Man couldn’t help feeling agitated, "This is the first time I’ve ever taken care of anyone like this. Lu Xingzhou, just try getting this drunk again. I really will beat you."

Cursing under her breath, she didn’t forget to adjust the air conditioner to a comfortable temperature before turning off the light and leaving.

Hearing the sound of the door closing softly, the man in the darkness suddenly opened his eyes.

He wasn’t actually drunk; he had just used the guise of alcohol to do some things he couldn’t bring himself to do sober.

...

That night, he slept soundly.

Without any dreams, he woke up the next day feeling fully rested.

After freshening up, he went downstairs to the dining room.

Unlike before, the household staff would usually be up and about at this hour.

But today, they stood in two rows, exchanging puzzled looks.

"Good morning, Young Master."

"What’s going on?"

Lu Xingzhou was about to ask when the girl came out of the kitchen, calling to the staff, "It’s ready. Bring it over."

"Yes," the staff members replied in unison, moving towards the kitchen in a swift and orderly fashion.

Before long, they efficiently served up breakfast one after another.

A full table, plentiful and without any duplicates.

Lu Xingzhou remembered Jiang Man once confessed that she wasn’t without flaws; there were two things she could never learn.

One was that she couldn’t ride a bicycle, and the other was that she couldn’t cook...