Chapter 59 Not Competing With You

"Brother Jiang, look, I really wasn't lying to you. You really should come over here..."

Seeing Xiao Zhu continue to plead with me, I resigned myself to hailing a taxi to the club to pick up Xu Zhixia.

The owner of this club was an acquaintance of Xu Zhixia, so the manager recognized me immediately. Upon my arrival, he proactively led me to Xu Zhixia's private room.

Aside from a heavily intoxicated Xu Zhixia and a flustered Xiao Zhu standing nearby, there was no third person in the room.

Judging by the wine glasses scattered across the table, Xu Zhixia had come here to drink alone today without ordering any of those questionable companions. That certainly was a rarity.

Seeing me arrive, Xiao Zhu looked as though he had spotted a savior and hurried over.

"Brother Jiang, you're finally here!"

I nodded at him, walked straight up to Xu Zhixia, and grabbed her arm to pull her up.

Xiao Zhu pressed his lips together, hesitating as if he had something to say, before finally murmuring, "Brother Jiang, y-you be careful not to hurt President Xu, otherwise she'll throw a tantrum..."

Xu Zhixia raised her head, squinting in an attempt to see who I was. Her gaze was scattered and completely out of focus, showing she was quite heavily drunk.

"Jiang Jian, I knew you'd come. You wouldn't dare, cough, cough, you wouldn't dare disobey me!"

Xu Zhixia began to laugh triumphantly and heartily. Too lazy to argue with a drunkard, I scooped her up directly into my arms and headed for the exit, turning back to tell Xiao Zhu.

"Gather all of Xu Zhixia's things. Don't leave anything behind."

"Got it, Brother Jiang."

Xu Zhixia was far from cooperative in my arms, twisting and turning continuously. "Put me down! I don't want you holding me!"

"Don't you dare touch me... disgusting!"

Annoyed by her fuss, I gave her a firm upward toss. The brief sensation of weightlessness elicited a frightened gasp from Xu Zhixia.

Naturally, I had no intention of dropping her onto the floor, and I caught her securely. Terrified, Xu Zhixia wrapped her arms tightly around my neck, burying herself in my embrace, her voice trembling slightly.

"Bastard!"

"I advise you to behave, or I'll throw you right out."

"Y-You wouldn't dare!"

I let out a dismissive, cold chuckle. "Want to test that?"

Faking another motion to toss her up, Xu Zhixia shook her head frantically in fear. "Don't do that, I'm scared..."

***

After placing Xu Zhixia in the back seat of the car, I prepared to close the door and take the front passenger seat when my lapel was caught by slender, pale fingers. Following the hand, I met Xu Zhixia's rabbit-red, watery eyes.

"Stay with me!"

That was bizarre. Knowing she was drunk, anyone unaware would think she had undergone a complete personality transplant.

I raised an eyebrow slightly. "Xu Zhixia, what kind of stunt are you trying to pull now? Let me tell you, I'm not falling for your tricks this time."

Her only response, however, was the sight of Xu Zhixia having already lapsed into unconsciousness.

Tsk, this woman really was too much.

Ignoring her further, I climbed directly into the front passenger seat.

"Brother Jiang, thank you so much for coming today. Otherwise, I honestly wouldn't have known what to do."

"What's wrong with Xu Zhixia today? Why did she run over here to drink again?"

"Originally, President Xu was supposed to head straight back to the villa this evening. But right before leaving, Chairman Xu called her. I don't know what was said, but after hanging up, President Xu flew into a massive rage in her office."

"After that, she changed her mind and came here to drink. But Brother Jiang, you can rest assured—President Xu didn't hire any male host companions today; she was just drinking away her sorrows alone."

Chairman Xu—Xu Zhixia's father, the Mr. Xu who had funded my education, and concurrently, my father-in-law.

Why would he suddenly call Xu Zhixia and provoke her to this extent?

Back when I was an undergraduate at Tianhai University, I had no plans to pursue a master's degree. I had no particular interest in academic research, nor was I any sort of academic genius.

During the campus recruitment drive in my senior year, Mr. Xu had contacted me once, saying he had reviewed my profile and found it impressive, and asked if I was interested in working for the Xu Group.

Since Mr. Xu had sponsored me, and given that I was capable of working for the Xu Group, it stood to reason that I should have accepted his proposal and served the company.

However, the predecessor to Jianhai had already taken initial shape by then, and I really did not want to abandon the fruits of our joint, hard-fought labor. In the end, I turned Mr. Xu down.

Mr. Xu hadn't said much at the time. I couldn't tell from his tone over the phone whether he was angry; he simply told me that it was a good thing for young people to have ideals and goals, wished me success, and added that if I ever changed my mind in the future, the doors of the Xu Group would remain open to me.

With that, he hung up, and to this day, I had never received another call from Mr. Xu.

Thinking of this, my curiosity only deepened. Ever since I first interacted with Xu Zhixia, I noticed she wasn't someone who constantly flaunted her family background—especially her parents. Unless someone else brought it up first, she wouldn't utter a single word about them.

She only ever brought it up to humiliate me, purely to make me see the vast gulf between us.

My intuition told me that Xu Zhixia was not someone who had grown up in a happy, complete family.

Ah well, countless poor and ordinary people already fought tooth and nail for mere profit, let alone wealthy magnates sitting atop boundless fortunes.

***

Before long, Xiao Zhu pulled the car directly into the garage, and I carried Xu Zhixia into the living room sofa first.

"Xiao Zhu, it's getting late. I remember there's a room specifically kept for you in the villa—you should stay over tonight."

"Okay, Brother Jiang."

Just as he finished speaking, Xiao Zhu's stomach let out a hungry rumble, and he looked at me with an embarrassed expression.

"You've been following Xu Zhixia around all evening, so you definitely didn't have time to eat. I'll go to the kitchen and whip up something simple for you to tide you over."

"Ugh—"

Before Xiao Zhu could reply, Xu Zhixia suddenly leaned against the sofa and vomited. I frowned as I looked at her; if this soiled sofa wasn't cleaned up promptly, it probably wouldn't be salvageable by tomorrow.

Whatever, it wasn't bought with my money, nor was I the one who made a mess. Xu Zhixia had more than enough money to replace it entirely.

"Xiao Zhu, help her to the restroom first and let her get it all out."

"Okay, Brother Jiang."

I walked into the kitchen and, with practiced ease, cooked a simple bowl of noodles for Xiao Zhu. I placed a spoonful of lard and two spoonfuls of soy sauce at the bottom of the noodle bowl beforehand, added the freshly cooked noodles, and poured in hot broth until it was about seven or eight parts full.

Finally, I topped it with two poached eggs, three slices of luncheon meat, and a couple of scalded baby bok choy.

When I brought the noodles out to the table, Xiao Zhu was just helping Xu Zhixia back into the living room. Having finished vomiting, Xu Zhixia's eyes had regained a trace of clarity.

Her nose twitched, and her gaze landed on the steaming bowl of noodles on the table. I saw a spark of light flash in her eyes.

"This was cooked for Xiao Zhu."

Xiao Zhu possessed good situational awareness. Seeing that Xu Zhixia looked like she wanted to eat after throwing up, he took the initiative to say, "President Xu, I'm not hungry. Please go ahead and eat."

Xu Zhixia still felt somewhat dizzy. She brushed Xiao Zhu's hand away and steadied herself by holding onto the edge of the table.

"I haven't sunk so low as to steal food from my executive assistant. I'm going back to my room; nobody is to disturb my rest."

With that, Xu Zhixia staggered toward the stairs, leaving Xiao Zhu and me looking at each other in bewilderment.