Substitute Bride to the Crippled Billionaire-Chapter 190: Consensual

Gu Xiaoxiao walked over, took the documents, skimmed through them briefly, and then handed them to Su Qingnuan.

Su Qingnuan accepted the documents, and upon seeing the bolded words "Project" on the front, her brows furrowed.

"Supervisor, wasn’t this supposed to be a project for the entire department?" Su Qingnuan asked in confusion. "Why has it been assigned to just the two of us now?"

The supervisor sat upright, smiling as he said, "Isn’t this meant to give you two an opportunity? As long as you complete this project flawlessly, you’ll be promoted early without needing a probationary period—you’ll be directly made permanent employees."

The conditions were tempting, but the completion level of this project was far too demanding.

"Supervisor... This seems far too challenging. Xiaoxiao and I might not necessarily..."

"Eh!" The supervisor cut Su Qingnuan off with a light smile and said, "You both were hired for your capabilities. If you didn’t have the ability to handle something like this, I wouldn’t trust it enough to assign it to you two."

Looking at the supervisor’s confident smile, Su Qingnuan frowned. "Supervisor, I’m afraid this might be... quite difficult."

It wasn’t just "difficult"—it was extremely tough.

She spoke politely, assuming the supervisor would understand her meaning.

"Of course, there’s a certain level of difficulty," the supervisor replied, still smiling, "but you need to realize that opportunities like this don’t come often. If you disagree..." He pulled out another contract. "Here’s your internship agreement. I think there are still some details we need to negotiate."

This wasn’t negotiating with them at all—it was clearly coercion!

Gu Xiaoxiao’s eyes flashed with anger, and she clenched her fists tightly.

"Supervisor, going by your explanation, do we essentially not have any choice in the matter?"

"Not exactly," the supervisor said with a smile lingering on his face. "I’ve already given you some space to decide, haven’t I?"

"But you..."

"Xiaoxiao." Su Qingnuan held Xiaoxiao’s hand and gently shook her head.

Gu Xiaoxiao’s words of fury stuck in her throat as she swallowed them back silently.

Seeing that Xiaoxiao had calmed down, Su Qingnuan turned to the supervisor and asked, "Supervisor, so this project is non-negotiable for us, isn’t it?"

The supervisor gave her a meaningful look and said, "Su Qingnuan, you’re a smart person. I’ve laid it out this much already—you should understand what I mean."

Su Qingnuan understood, of course she understood.

It was precisely because she understood that she was perplexed.

Why would someone go out of their way to make things difficult for her?

Suddenly, a flamboyant figure flashed through her mind. Could it be that person...

The supervisor glanced at the two of them, smiling as he asked, "I don’t have much time. Have you made up your minds yet?"

"....."

Gu Xiaoxiao looked at Su Qingnuan, grinding her teeth.

Su Qingnuan pressed her hand lightly, lowering her voice, "Xiaoxiao, do you trust me?"

"I do," Gu Xiaoxiao nodded firmly. "Whatever you say, I trust you."

"Good, then trust what I’m going to do."

Su Qingnuan turned her gaze to the supervisor, smiled confidently, and said, "Supervisor, we’ll take this project."

The supervisor was briefly stunned, a trace of surprise flashing through his eyes before his usual smile returned.

"Alright, since you’ve accepted this project, the rest of the department can return to their regular tasks." The supervisor stood up and extended a friendly hand. "Thanks to you both."

Su Qingnuan returned his smile and reached out to shake his hand briefly.

"You’re too polite, supervisor. As employees of this company, it’s our responsibility to do these things."

...

Leaving the supervisor’s office, Gu Xiaoxiao pouted the whole time.

"Are you worried no one will know we’re in trouble with that expression?" Su Qingnuan teased with a laugh.

Gu Xiaoxiao glared at her and said indignantly, "At a time like this, you still have the mood to joke around with me."

"What else can we do?" Su Qingnuan placed the documents on the desk, sat down unhurriedly, and said, "Now that the situation is here, we can only accept it and figure out how to overcome it."

Hearing this, Gu Xiaoxiao leaned closer and whispered, "Do you already have an idea?"

"An idea?"

Su Qingnuan did have her own thoughts about this project. Previously, everyone worked collaboratively, so while completing her own portion, she had to consider her colleagues’ input.

Now that the whole project was handed to them, it might actually not be a bad thing.

"I’m not sure if it’ll work—we’ll just have to try."

Su Qingnuan looked up at Gu Xiaoxiao and sighed. "I’m sorry, Xiaoxiao. Once again, I’ve gotten you involved."

"What are you talking about?" Gu Xiaoxiao pushed her lightly on the shoulder and said crossly, "We’re a team—don’t divide us like this! If you keep saying stuff like that, I might actually get mad."

"Got it." Su Qingnuan laughed self-deprecatingly. "Then I won’t be polite with you."

Su Qingnuan stood up, leaned close to Gu Xiaoxiao’s ear, and lowered her voice.

Gu Xiaoxiao froze momentarily, looking at Su Qingnuan with surprise.

"What?"

Seeing Gu Xiaoxiao’s astonished expression, Su Qingnuan asked in confusion, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Gu Xiaoxiao’s gaze roamed over Su Qingnuan as she rested her chin on one hand thoughtfully. "I think since you got married, you’re not quite the same as before!"

"...What’s that supposed to mean?" Su Qingnuan asked awkwardly.

She didn’t think she’d changed much. How was it that Gu Xiaoxiao saw a distinct difference?

Gu Xiaoxiao shook her head and smiled faintly. "It’s nothing. This kind of change is good—it’s much better than your previously meek demeanor."

"...I wasn’t meek!" Su Qingnuan said helplessly. "I just didn’t want to argue with them."

"Alright, alright! Whatever you say goes—I’m off to work now."

Watching Gu Xiaoxiao run off, Su Qingnuan couldn’t help but take out a mirror.

Looking at her calm reflection, her complexion still looked pale—she didn’t see any changes.

Because of Gu Xiaoxiao’s comment, when she ran into Ah Qi after work, who came to pick her up, Su Qingnuan made a point of asking him seriously.

Ah Qi only glanced at her expressionlessly and shook his head.

Relieved by this, Su Qingnuan sighed in relief.

Relaxing against the cushion, she looked at the empty seat to her left and asked in confusion, "Where’s Mr. Fu? Isn’t Mr. Fu coming home today?"

"The Eldest Young Master is at home."

"At home?" Su Qingnuan leaned forward and asked, "When did you guys leave today? I didn’t notice anything at all."

After all, Fu Yihan’s movements were always obvious whether he was getting into bed or getting out—and she didn’t consider herself to have the kind of deep sleep that would make her entirely oblivious.

Hearing this, Ah Qi gave her a meaningful look but didn’t reply.

Not getting an answer, Su Qingnuan decisively withdrew her gaze and sighed while gazing outside.

Upon returning home, she indeed saw Fu Yihan sitting on the sofa.

Su Qingnuan stepped forward to greet him.

Fu Yihan’s cold gaze swept over her before he quickly withdrew it.

Su Qingnuan froze momentarily, awkwardly standing in place.

She didn’t move; Fu Yihan didn’t move either.

Su Qingnuan didn’t dare move, worried that if she made another attempt, he might get angry again.

Meanwhile, Fu Yihan sat expressionlessly, yet his peripheral vision kept darting toward her.

In the end, it was Su Qingnuan who broke the silence again.

"Mr. Fu, are you upset about something?"