The CEO’s Substitute Wife Is A Genius
Chapter 275 JL, The Shared Secrets of Lu Xingzhou (Double - )

Chapter 275: Chapter 275 JL, The Shared Secrets of Lu Xingzhou (Double Chapter)

The next morning dawned early.

Jiang Man led Lu Xingzhou to visit Old Master Hu’s hospital room.

The old master had been lying down for too long, so he got up to move around.

However, due to his legs not having moved for a long time, the muscles had almost atrophied.

So now he couldn’t walk like a normal person, even just standing required the assistance of a machine.

The two of them had just walked into the hospital room when they saw a huge walking aid machine positioned in the spacious area of the room.

Old Master Hu’s legs, waist, and shoulders were all bound with elastic bands.

With the help of the machine, he could move a step or two slowly.

This morning, it was Hu Zonghua and his wife’s turn to be on duty.

The second son’s wife had risen early to stew a pot of soup, which she had just finished feeding to the old master, and now she was cleaning up in the kitchen.

Hu Zonghua stood by the window, making a call with one hand in his pocket.

Hu Fangqin wasn’t idle either, tending to the flower pots nearby.

When she saw that the person coming in with Jiang Man was indeed Lu Xingzhou, her pruning actions halted, and she almost cut off an entire branch of flowers with her shears.

Her eyes flickered, and a new scheme came to mind.

"Mr. Lu... you’re here? Please sit down! Would you like some water? I’ll go get it for you!"

She immediately set down her scissors and went up to greet him with eagerness.

Lu Xingzhou glanced at her and then looked at Jiang Man with confusion.

Jiang Man silently pursed her lips, paying her no attention as she passed by without a word.

Lu Xingzhou instantly understood.

Even though Jiang Man was often cold and arrogant, she was certainly not a rude person.

"Uncle, Aunt," she nodded at Hu Zonghua.

She also waved to the woman in the kitchen.

After greeting them, she then approached Old Master Hu: "Grandpa."

Old Master Hu was still taking steps, and he noticed Lu Xingzhou right away.

Although he didn’t recognize him, seeing how well-matched he looked with his granddaughter, he immediately guessed that this was the brother-in-law the grandsons raved about—Lu Xingzhou.

The grandsons praised him again and again, saying their brother-in-law was young and successful, an idol to many young people.

"You must be Xingzhou?" the old master said with a beaming smile.

Lu Xingzhou strode forward, "Hello, Grandpa."

He nodded and greeted him politely, like the boy next door.

Meanwhile, Hu Zonghua became agitated, speaking in English, increasing his pace of speech, and starting to gesture wildly.

"That long? I can’t wait half a year! You find a way, even a second-hand one would do!"

After speaking, he slammed the phone down, paced on the spot, and rubbed his forehead, clearly in a pickle.

"Uncle, what’s wrong?" Jiang Man glanced toward Hu Zonghua.

Hu Zonghua sighed, "It’s about the walking assistive robot your grandfather is using now. I thought of buying one for home. Your grandfather wants to go back, but he can’t do without the machine for his daily rehabilitation."

"I’ve called friends in the medical field all over Hong Kong, and they said these machines are ordered in the name of the hospital; currently, no hospital has spare ones they can sell us."

"I contacted the manufacturer, and they said private orders take at least half a year at the soonest."

"Half a year is very long, isn’t it? So does it mean grandpa has to stay in the hospital for another half a year? He’s already spent enough time here."

Hu Zonghua became more and more exasperated as he talked.

"You two chat. I’ll make more calls to see if anyone can help."

He had many connections and resources in the entertainment industry. He knew a few people in the medical field, but not many.

It wasn’t just him; his other brothers also weren’t familiar with this area.

"Manman, do you have any connections?" Auntie Zhao Huai finished washing the dishes and came over, glancing at the man who had just left the ward, "Your Uncle Huai has been worrying about this all morning."

"Medical equipment purchases are handled by dedicated procurement staff; they’ll have more connections. I’m not very involved in that area," Jiang Man said truthfully.

Her responsibility was only to treat and save people. As for medical equipment, she used whatever was available.

Having machines worth millions at her disposal naturally made her happy; with their help, treating patients could be much more efficient and accurate.

But like when she went to Africa to support the Red Cross, there weren’t even basic machines to speak of—the medical facilities there were decades-old, discarded by other countries. Without expensive machines, she had to rely on the most primitive methods to save lives.

So, for her, machines were something you were lucky to encounter but could not seek out.

"Manman, keep Grandpa company for a bit, I’m going to step out," Lu Xingzhou said at that moment, patting her shoulder.

Jiang Man raised her eyebrows in confusion.

He was leaving just after he had arrived?

She didn’t say anything, just nodded.

After Lu Xingzhou had left, she responded to Auntie Zhao Huai, "Anyway, I’ll find a way."

After speaking, she searched through her phone’s contacts and found a number.

It was the contact information for the president of the International Red Cross.

Beyond that, she also came across the number for the president of the International Medical Association.

She made calls to both numbers one after another.

The responses from the other end promised to contact her immediately, and they would reply as soon as there was any news.

"If we really can’t buy the equipment right away, then I’ll just continue to stay at the hospital," the old master said, looking a bit tired. He gestured to Jiang Man, "Help me sit down for a while."

Jiang Man quickly walked over, unfastened the straps from the old man, and helped him into a wheelchair.

"Grandpa, shall I take you out for some sun?" she offered.

"Manman, teach me how to use the smartphone," the old man suddenly requested, "Fangqin, bring me my phone."

"Grandpa, you’re pretty fashionable, using a fold-screen phone?" Jiang Man joked, glancing at the phone handed to her.

"Xiao Ming bought it for me," the old man said proudly, "your third brother."

"Third brother, huh," Jiang Man hadn’t expected that.

The one who usually messed around the most actually showed such filial piety?

"You teach me how to shop online. You can actually buy things on the internet?" the old man was incredibly eager to learn.

Despite having fallen out of touch with society for so many years, he talked about modern things without any barriers.

"Alright, I’ll teach you," Jiang Man readily agreed, pushing the old man outside.

...

Half an hour later.

The old man had successfully placed an order, buying a record player for himself.

He was amazed and delighted throughout the process, hardly believing it.

Modern society had made shopping this convenient?

Jiang Man was very patient, explaining to him the developments of the last two decades.

High-speed trains, magnetic levitation—he listened in utter disbelief.

"Magnetic levitation is that fast?"

"Our country has astronauts who have been to space?"

Jiang Man didn’t stop explaining, showing him Baidu searches, and presenting news articles for him to read.

Holding his reading glasses, the old man was thoroughly engrossed.

"There’s news, there’s news!"

At that moment, Hu Zonghua came over, beaming with joy, followed by Lu Xingzhou.

"Xingzhou got in touch with a wealthy overseas friend of his, who has connections at Hill-Rom. They said that custom-made equipment could arrive within a week."

"Lu Xingzhou, you did well," Jiang Man exclaimed, delighted.

She still hadn’t received any news from the International Red Cross or the Medical Association.

She never expected that one day Lu Xingzhou’s efficiency would surpass her own.

"It’s good to have many friends," Lu Xingzhou smiled lightly, not looking for praise.

"Grandpa," he bent down, his hand somehow holding a paper bag.

On the bag, the letters "JL" were written.

"This is a new smartphone developed by our branch company, suitable for the elderly, with full voice control accessibility."

The old man already had a phone, but to not embarrass his granddaughter’s husband, he received it with a beaming smile.

He played with it in his hands, gesturing for Jiang Man to teach him.

Jiang Man picked up the smartphone with its large screen and big buttons, surprised by the design.

The buttons were very simple: ’Call’, ’Camera’, ’Pay’, ’Shopping’, ’Entertainment’, ’Reminder’.

Just these six buttons.

She first pressed ’Call’, and the screen immediately provided a voice prompt.

Offhandedly, she said, "Call Jiang Man."

To her surprise, the call really went through, and her phone immediately rang.

"I had Zhao Huai add to the contacts list; it should be sufficient," Lu Xingzhou said nonchalantly.

Jiang Man then pressed ’Pay’, and a face-scanning prompt popped up on the screen without delay.

She also tried the camera and found that the lens would autofocus and automatically capture faces.

"It is quite convenient," she noted.

After playing with it for a while, she felt this phone was even more suitable for the elderly.

It didn’t have too many functions, but it was enough for the elderly, and very easy to use.

The market demand for smartphones is geared towards younger people; no company specializes in phones for the elderly, and even if they did, such phones would not sell well and would eventually lead to losses and closures.

"You said this phone was developed by a new company under your name?" Jiang Man asked, very curious. Was Lu Xingzhou foolish to engage in such a losing business?

But Lu Xingzhou just smiled: "Yes, it’s newly developed; it took a month, and we’re currently developing other products."

"What other products?" Jiang Man’s interest was instantly piqued.

"For instance, the robotic walking aid Grandpa uses, and then there’s..." Lu Xingzhou’s lips curved into a smile: "a bicycle that can ride itself, and a very functional automatic stir-fry machine, of course, different from what’s sold on the market, JL’s will be much easier to use."

"A self-riding bike? Isn’t that a motorbike? Or an electric bicycle?"

"Not quite," Lu Xingzhou shook his head, feigning mystery: "You’ll know once the product is out."

"Alright, I’m looking forward to it," Jiang Man said, arching her brow with a lively spirit.

She was proficient in many things, but for some reason, bicycling escaped her; she just couldn’t get the hang of it.

Even though her balance wasn’t bad, she inevitably wobbled and swayed on a bicycle.

And when it came to cooking, she really didn’t have an iota of talent.

With the same seasonings, in her hands, it was either too much of this or too little of that.

Even if she measured precisely and got the seasonings right, the food she made just wasn’t fragrant; the taste was very ordinary.

She was also very much looking forward to the automatic stir-fry machine.

"With this phone as a wonderful precedent, I believe your products will succeed, and sell well," Jiang Man said, shaking the phone in her hand and casually asking, "The company is called JL, what does it stand for?"

"Don’t you think these two letters together look like a Chinese character?" Hu Zonghua, who usually couldn’t keep up with their young people’s conversation, finally caught on.

"The character ’son’. Xingzhou is full of metaphor here, hoping you two will have a son soon," he added.

Jiang Man was speechless and gave Lu Xingzhou a blank look.

If that were the case, the name of this subsidiary would be embarrassingly low.

Lu Xingzhou just smiled and said nothing, offering no explanation.

JL was not the character for ’son’, but rather the initials of Jiang and Lu in pinyin.

This company was the birthday gift he gave Jiang Man.

December 21st, the Winter Solstice, was Jiang Man’s birthday and the day they became confidantes.

He watched as Jiang Man patiently taught old Mr. Hu how to use a mobile phone while bending over.

At that moment, the sunlight fell just right, a golden hue covering both the grandfather and granddaughter.

He believed love would not disappear.

The love her biological parents failed to give her, he would provide.

He hoped that every day from then on, Jiang Man would be happy and joyful.

"This phone is more user-friendly than the one Xiao Ming gave me!" After learning, old Mr. Hu sincerely lamented, "This phone is good; it’s sure to be liked by the elderly!"

"As long as Grandpa likes it," Lu Xingzhou replied with a smile.

The old man looked at him, his eyes growing fonder of his granddaughter’s husband with each glance, liking him more and more.

"What your second uncle said is right, it’s time to add to the family. Grandpa wants to hold another great-grandson!"

"Let your grandsons have kids first," Jiang Man coolly retorted while pulling a face, "If they don’t have kids, neither will I."

"You," Old Mr. Hu exclaimed, "are so stubborn. You’re married, while they’re still bachelors. Waiting for them to marry and have children, that could take forever."

"I’m not in a hurry anyway," said Jiang Man, crossing her arms and shrugging her shoulders.

Lu Xingzhou quickly spoke up, "I’m not in a hurry either. Manman is still young; we can talk about this in a few years."

"You," the old man shook his head, "just spoil her."

...

Meanwhile, over two thousand kilometers away in Beicheng.

Jiang Man returned from a business trip, having purchased a lot of gemstones and jade.

The gifts she brought made the women of the Lu Family very happy, especially the old lady, who couldn’t let go of a vibrant green jade bracelet.

"Manman, you don’t have much money on you, these must have cost a lot, right? Do you still have enough to spend? If not, grandma can transfer you a few million," she offered.

"I have enough, I’m working now, earning a salary," Jiang Man reassured.

"Your salary isn’t nearly enough. Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll transfer you one million for now, and then give you a monthly allowance of one hundred thousand, how does that sound?"

"Umm...okay..." Jiang Man nodded, appearing obedient and well-behaved.

The bracelet she bought for the old lady had been reimbursed by Nan Juefeng.

As for the gemstones for her foster mother and aunt by marriage, they only cost tens of thousands of yuan.

"Oh, by the way," Jiang Man mentioned casually, "I ran into Brother Xingzhou and sister-in-law at the gambling stone field over there."

Mentioning Lu Xingzhou prompted no surprise among the crowd.

He went there to conduct business.

And as for Jiang Man, she had participated in a variety show for several days before suddenly withdrawing. It turned out she had gone off with Zhou’er.

"These two kids, really. They go to Thailand and don’t even think of calling us," Meng Lian couldn’t help but grumble.

"If they don’t call, we can just call them. With calling being so easy nowadays, what’s the issue?" Lu Xuemei retorted, unable to withhold a considering glance.

Meng Lian was about to add something but then, recognizing the moment, she wisely shut her mouth.

Just as the room grew silent and the conversation turned awkward,

That’s when Jiang Man, with innocent enthusiasm, seemingly without a care, asked, "Mom, do you plan to stay single forever? Don’t you want to find someone?"

Meng Lian was stunned, looking at her as if she were crazy.

Everything was fine, so how did the conversation veer in this direction?

Not just her, but the old lady and Lu Xuemei also wore expressions of surprise.

"Oh, it’s like this, when buying gemstones, I heard some really romantic love stories, and I immediately thought of you, mom. Even though you have me now, kinship and love are always different, aren’t they? Mom, why have you been single for so long? Have you ever been in love before?"

Jiang Man maintained her innocent and sweet demeanor, blinking her eyes rapidly.

She wanted to test the waters, to see if the old lady still harbored any resentment towards that man, Jiang Man’s foster father, from those days.