She knew she had been wrong in the past, and she would try her best to save Lu Mingzhe's face in front of outsiders from now on.
She believed that with Lu Mingzhe's feelings for her, it wouldn't be difficult to win back his heart.
Lu Qingxu handed her a wine glass, and she smiled at Lu Mingzhe.
"What should I call you? Mr. Lu, or husband? Let's have a toast."
Lu Mingzhe noticed that Chen Jiaojiao's state had been a bit off lately.
She was being more attentive to him than ever before.
And she was overly attentive to his mother as well.
He thought they had made things very clear between them.
Chen Jiaojiao's intentions had been very clear before.
They couldn't go back to the way they were, and they couldn't be a real couple.
Moreover, she knew very well that he had someone else now, and they were on the verge of divorce.
What was the meaning of this display?
If he drank this glass of wine with her today, it would be tantamount to admitting in front of all their friends that they were going to live together happily.
What about Xiang Wan then?
Lu Mingzhe would never drink it, no matter what.
"There's no need. If we want to drink, we drink. Why all this fuss?"
"Call me brother, you finish a bottle, I finish a bottle, how exhilarating that would be."
This was his refusal.
Chen Jiaojiao had intended to win him back in front of everyone, but he refused.
As a woman, she felt a loss of face.
"What do you mean? You don't want to drink a cross-cupped wine with me?"
It was pointless to pretend to be confused when she knew the truth.
Chen Jiaojiao was a smart person.
Lu Mingzhe couldn't stand smart people acting foolish, especially when they were deliberately foolish.
"Don't you know what I mean? Chen Jiaojiao, helping you was purely out of friendship, nothing more. There's no need to offer yourself in return."
"Others might not know what's going on between us, but don't you know yourself? Who are you putting on a show for?"
If she had only felt a subtle loss of face earlier, this was now completely blatant.
Lu Mingzhe's words caused everyone's expressions to stiffen.
Only Zhan Beijue, who was directly opposite Lu Mingzhe.
He slowly served food to his wife.
"Eat your meal. Why are you watching them so intently?"
At first, no one called her, and she shamelessly came to freeload.
Now Lu Mingzhe was refusing her.
She couldn't stay in this place.
Chen Jiaojiao blushed and grabbed her bag behind him, preparing to stand up.
Zhou Jinbei quickly ran over and hugged her.
"These people's behavior when drinking is worse than each other. They might seem decent normally, but when they're drunk, they're scumbags. Don't pay attention to him."
"We are beautiful and charming, and there are plenty of men who like us. If he doesn't see that, I'll drink with you. Let's go!"
Chen Jiaojiao stuck her neck out, still wanting to leave, unwilling to take this lying down.
Zhou Jinbei quietly whispered in her ear.
"Don't you know my second brother's temper? It's his birthday today."
"You're stealing the spotlight at his event and ruining his plans. Do you want to get fired?"
So it was Zhan Beijue's birthday. Chen Jiaojiao was so scared that she quickly followed her to their side.
Lu Qingxu swapped seats with Chen Jiaojiao, and everyone pretended as if nothing had happened, continuing the party with feigned enthusiasm.
Around ten o'clock, Zhan Beijue spoke.
"I'm not playing anymore. The children need to sleep, and we have work tomorrow. We have families, so we can't compare ourselves to you. We're leaving."
Lu Mingzhe seemed thoughtful, unusually not teasing him.
The others didn't dare to tease him either.
Everyone left the club together.
"Let's go, let's go. It's getting late. Everyone go home."
Since they didn't bring a driver, Jiang Nanfang hadn't drunk, so they drove back.
Lu Qingxu was left as the designated driver, taking the group of drunkards home.
He was truly surprised by Jiang Nanfang's acting today. Coupled with the smooth progress of the financing talks, and the alcohol,
Zhan Beijue was in a very good mood.
As soon as he got in the car, he held Jiang Nanfang's right hand with both of his, and his heavy head insisted on leaning on her shoulder, speaking to her in a muffled voice.
Jiang Nanfang was a cautious person.
She almost never steered the car with one hand.
It felt strange to use only one hand today.
"Can you lean on your own seat for a while? It's uncomfortable to hold onto me."
Zhan Beijue refused.
"If you're uncomfortable, I'm comfortable... What? Are you disgusted with me?"
"No. It's just that my arms are short, and it's really uncomfortable to steer the steering wheel like this."
"Hmph, I think you're just disgusted with me. You want me to get away from you, don't you?"
There was no way to communicate with someone who was drunk, so Jiang Nanfang could only indulge him.
"Alright, alright, you hold on, you hold on. How could I be disgusted with you? Hold on however you want."
With that said, the navigation prompted her to turn right.
The car turned into a dimly lit old street.
There was a narrow pit on the ground, about a dozen centimeters deep, and someone had thrown a broken beer bottle into it.
Jiang Nanfang was only focused on coaxing Zhan Beijue and didn't notice. The wheel happened to go into the pit and got stuck.
She instinctively stepped on the accelerator, trying to force the car out.
However, after a few attempts, the car started to tilt to one side.
"Did something puncture the tire? Is it leaking air? I'll go take a look."
When she got out to check, it was true.
Zhan Beijue, who was drunk, had hazy eyes.
He rolled down the car window, rested his chin on the sill, and looked at her endearingly.
"What's wrong? Is the tire leaking air?"
"Not only is it leaking air, but it's also stuck in the pit. What kind of lousy navigation, what kind of road did it guide us to!"
"Is that so? I'll go take a look."
He got out and hugged Jiang Nanfang, looking at it with her for a moment. It was indeed true.
"How can there still be such a broken road in our Nan Cheng even now? How dare it puncture my wife's tire, that's unacceptable."
"I'll call so-and-so right now and have him send people to fix the road overnight. Don't tell me about funding difficulties or that it wasn't planned for this area."
"I, Zhan Beijue, will fund them!"
"Of course, if you spend my money, you have to listen to me. I want to rename this road."
"Wife, what do you say? How about I name this road after you?"
Seeing that Jiang Nanfang had stopped the car and they were talking outside, everyone rolled down their car windows and looked out.
Hearing Zhan Beijue say that, Chen Jiaojiao was filled with envy.
She couldn't help but ask Zhou Jinbei.
"Is President Zhan always like this? How come he seems to be doting on Nan Fang more and more?"
He even wanted to level the road overnight just because a pothole blocked his wife's path.
The contrast with his usual demeanor was too great.
Zhou Jinbei was very proud.
"My second brother is full of merits. You can't find another person in Nan Cheng who dotes on his wife more than him. My sister-in-law is truly too lucky."
After speaking, they both glanced at Lu Mingzhe beside them.
Lu Mingzhe also felt a sense of emotion.
He had been distracted throughout the meal.
Zhan Beijue had children, a career, and was deeply in love with his wife. It was so enviable.
He actually had that too.
Why didn't he bring Xiang Wan along today?
She was so good, everyone would surely like her.
He had also said he would give her a day off today and wouldn't disturb her at home.
How could he resist?
Zhan Beijue was displaying his charm on the road, presumably calling someone to fix the road. Seeing that they couldn't leave for a while.
He sent his location to Xiang Yang.
"Come pick me up."
Xiang Yang replied immediately with "?".
"I'm drunk and I miss your sister. Hurry up."