The CEO’s Substitute Wife Is A Genius
Chapter 87: The Big Shot’s Bravado, Random Shots?

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: The Big Shot’s Bravado, Random Shots?

"Okay, junior! Well, let’s fill out this enrollment form."

Fang Yuheng took the top form from a stack and passed it to Jiang Man together with a pen.

He was the vice-captain of the Mengyin Music Club.

Actually, he didn’t play any instruments; his college major was classical dance.

It was only because Wen Jingya had given a speech on behalf of the freshmen that he had fallen for her at first sight.

Later, he found out she was no ordinary person, but a child bride adopted by the city’s leading Lu Family and was destined to become the wife of the Lu Corporation’s president.

Since then, he sealed his heart and locked his love away, burying his admiration for Wen Jingya deep inside.

Joining the Mengyin Music Club was just a way to be closer to his goddess.

"Yuheng, Manman doesn’t understand musical instruments. If you let her join our music club, do you expect her to do the menial tasks?"

Wen Jingya glared at Fang Yuheng with feigned annoyance.

Fang Yuheng felt a bit embarrassed upon hearing that.

He reached out to take the enrollment form back.

But Wu Yingfan snatched the form away and began to write energetically, hunching over it.

When Fang Yuheng saw a long list of specialties written down, he was first shocked, and then he thought Wu Yingfan was writing nonsense.

"Sis Man, there isn’t enough space to write," Wu Yingfan said, scratching his head and looking perplexed.

Jiang Man glanced over and tapped the back of his head: "Are you trying to list my ancestors back eighteen generations? Keep it simple."

"OK, OK," Wu Yingfan nodded, took a new form by himself.

In the special skills section, he simply wrote a few words: Knows all instruments.

After filling it out, he passed the form to Fang Yuheng.

With the form in hand, Fang Yuheng frowned and asked a bit awkwardly, "Junior Jiang Man, do you really know how to play all instruments?"

"It’s okay to boast, it livens up the atmosphere, I like that too," piped up a helpful senior from the side.

Wen Jingya glanced at the form and suggested kindly, "Manman, Mengyin participates in the city’s competition every year. We require new members to have a certain level of proficiency with classical instruments like the pipa, guzheng, konhgou, and erhu. So, which instrument do you play?"

Since Jiang Man was so eager to join their club under false pretenses, fine, she wouldn’t give her any face!

"A little bit of all of them," Jiang Man said casually, hands in her pockets.

The sunlight shone on her, as if dusting her with a thin layer of gold powder, making her already bright expression even more sparkling.

Hearing her claim to know a bit of every instrument, more and more people gathered around.

Someone started to egg her on: "We’ve got plenty of instruments here, why not show us a little something, junior?"

"Wow, which club is this? Why is it so lively?" a newcomer asked curiously, craning his neck to squeeze in.

Wen Jingya saw the crowd growing and curved the corners of her mouth in satisfaction.

Her eyes swept over the instruments set aside and picked the most difficult one.

"How about the konhgou? Manman, want to give it a try?"

Wen Jingya’s lips curled up with a smile, but her heart was filled with sneering, waiting to see Jiang Man make a fool of herself.

The konhgou is relatively obscure, with few learners.

Firstly, because of its size, it can’t be carried like a guitar or violin. It has to be stored in a fixed place and learned at a set time.

Secondly, the konhgou is quite expensive. Normal families consider the cost-performance ratio. Very few would choose to learn it.

She knew somewhat about Jiang Man’s family situation, aware that since childhood, Jiang Man had been abandoned by her family and grew up roaming the streets, raised on meals from many households.

For such a girl, learning the erhu or guitar from street performers might be possible, but the konhgou? That was pure fantasy!

"The captain, right?"

Jiang Man looked at the badge hanging on Wen Jingya’s chest and let out a slight chuckle.

"How well must I play before you’ll let me join the club?"

She spoke lightly, a playful look in her eyes.

In truth, she had no interest in joining Mengyin; she was merely annoyed by Wen Jingya and wanted to mess with her.

"Sure, ’Fishing Boat Sings in the Evening’. If you can play just one phrase from the score, we’ll take you in our club," Wen Jingya declared, prompting murmurs from the new viewers surrounding them.

"Why does this club act so high and mighty? Other clubs try their best to recruit new members, but they seem so unapproachable?"

"Junior, you’re out of the loop. Mengyin participates in the city’s music contest every year and always wins awards. The club members can earn extra credits through those awards, and on top of that, the school gives them scholarships."

"Wow, that’s great! No wonder they have high standards."

"I’ve heard ’Fishing Boat Sings in the Evening’ played on the piano and the hulusi, but never on the konhgou. Aren’t there very few konhgou players?"

"Right, this instrument is quite niche."

A group of people were chattering.

The more intense their discussion became, the happier Wen Jingya was.

If Jiang Man had any self-awareness, she would scram before making a fool of herself!

Jiang Man heard the discussions behind her.

Her expression hardly changed, all cool and detached, she walked over to the Konghou (Chinese harp).

She sat down on the wooden stool next to the Konghou, her eyes sparkling with life, immediately getting into the zone.

She casually plucked the strings a few times, and a clear, piercing sound cut through the air, making the surrounding onlookers fall silent instantly.

Wen Jingya sneered and had someone place the sheet music in front of Jiang Man.

Jiang Man smiled, tilted her head back to face the sunlight, and closed her eyes.

"Why did she close her eyes?"

"Uh, playing by ear?"

As soon as the onlookers finished speaking, they saw Jiang Man lightly flicking her fingertips, plucking the strings.

The melody at first was like a gentle breeze, flowing and soft.

Like a stream trickling through a ravine.

Butterflies dance among the flowers by the water’s edge.

But as the performance reached its peak, the rhythm suddenly surged like waves, mournful and emotive.

A breeze brushed by, lifting a few strands of the girl’s bangs.

It was unclear whether it was the sound that had touched the hearts of the audience, or if it was the girl’s ethereal beauty that had captivated them.

With eyes closed, one could almost believe themselves truly amidst the sunset, on a flat boat, with the fisherman leisurely singing a tune, rocking the oars.

She was supposed to play just one phrase, but Jiang Man ended up playing the entire first half of the piece.

When the music ended, the audience was left wanting more.

It wasn’t until Jiang Man stood up and bowed with her hands clasped that the people realized, and suddenly began applauding vigorously.

The applause was thunderous; freshmen, seniors, juniors, it didn’t matter who, all clapped heartily to express their admiration for Jiang Man.

"Junior Sister Jiang Man, with your skill level, you could totally compete! Even Linlin doesn’t play as well as you do!"

Linlin was Mengyin’s Konghou player, having studied the Konghou for 16 years, attending classes since kindergarten.

But even with all those years of learning, it was clear that she wasn’t as fluid in her playing as Jiang Man.

Jiang Man seemed not so much to be playing the Konghou, but to become one with it.

As if she was part of the music herself.

"Captain, Jiang Man is amazing! With her joining our band this year, winning the championship will be a breeze!"

Mengyin had always been the eternal runner-up, beaten by the Tsinghua Luo Shen Music Club every year.

At the root of it, Mengyin’s members had varying levels of skill; aside from Wen Jingya, no one else could match her.

Although Wen Jingya had never studied the Konghou, stringed instruments, especially classical ones, were essentially similar in nature.

She was well aware that Jiang Man was very skilled!

So skilled that she couldn’t even begin to critique.

Because Jiang Man’s level was far above hers!

If Jiang Man were to join Mengyin, her position as captain would probably not last much longer before she would have to step down and yield to a more worthy person!

"Manman, welcome! I really didn’t expect you to be so talented," Wen Jingya said, her smile forced and insincere.

Jiang Man just smiled back at her.

Help them win the championship? Earn more scholarships and credits?

She wouldn’t be making a wedding dress for Wen Jingya to wear!

"Sorry," she raised her eyebrows with a devil-may-care look and disdain filling her eyes, "I’ve changed my mind about joining Mengyin."

She touched her temple, "Wu Yingfan, didn’t we pass by a guitar society just now?"

"Right," Wu Yingfan blinked.

"I’ll join that guitar society!"

As soon as Jiang Man spoke, the entire place exploded...

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.