Gu Nianbin wanted to take Du Xiaoxian to eat western food, but he changed his mind on second thought. She would resist unfamiliar things out of instinct. He took her to a Chinese restaurant and asked for a quiet private room. He gave her the menu to order. Du Xiaoxian held the exquisite menu in her hand and flipped it over lightly. Then she returned it to him and shook her head shyly. She had never eaten any dish on it before. What if she ordered something that the young master didn't like to eat?
Gu Nianbin didn't force her and took the order. While waiting for the dishes, he slowly told Du Xiaoxian what he had being thinking along the way. There were so many things he wanted her to know. She just listened quietly and occasionally nodded with a blink of her big eyes. Gu Nianbin was rarely so talktive, even himself found it hard to believe. Finally, he stopped and asked, "Xiaoxian, do you understand what I said?"
Du Xiaoxian pursed her lips and said softly, "I'll listen to you, young master."
Well, she was still too submissive. After so much talking, she answered everything in one sentence. "Will you listen to whatever I say?" Gu Nianbin asked her.
She hesitated for a moment, and nodded.
"You have to eat more from now on and gain some weight. You are too skinny."
"OK."
"Be brave and make some friends."
"OK."
"Speak more and laugh more."
"OK."
"Take whatever I give you. Don't refuse."
After a moment of hesitation, she still nodded, "OK."
"Don't take anything from others."
"OK."
"Be attentive in class."
"OK."
"Just like this, answer me with 'OK' instead of 'Yes, Sir'."
"OK."
Gu Nianbin paused for a moment, suddenly an extremely sinister thought popped up, he said, "Take off your clothes."
"OK." She replied out of reflex and was stunned for a moment.
He looked at her silly face. Before he could say "just joking", Du Xiaoxian had already crossed her arms, grabbed her shirt and was about to take it off in the next moment. He hurriedly pressed down her hands and said, "I'm teasing you. Don't take it seriously."
Du Xiaoxian blushed. She believed the Young Master was a good person. Even if she took off her clothes, he would not do anything to her. Although his request was too much, she wanted to show her loyalty by obeying.
"Xiaoxian, don't take off your clothes no matter who asks you to, including me. Understand?" Gu Nianbin panicked just now. He didn't expect her to be so slavish.
Du Xiaoxian nodded and lowered her eyes with her thick eyelashes softly flickering. Gu Nianbin suddenly became worried. Her mother had taught her so many things, why didn't she teach her that men and women should keep distance? Maybe she had gone too early to teach her. Then her second aunt next door should have taught her about this. Otherwise how could she rest assured to let her come all the way to G City alone?
Gu Nianbin told her how to distinguish men with bad intensions. She said immediately, "I knew about this. Second Aunt said that if a man praises me for being beautiful, he must have bad intensions. I have to hide far away from this kind of guys."
"Your aunt was right." Gu Nianbin nodded when he suddenly remembered that he had praised Du Xiaoxian's beauty more than once. He was embarrassed for a moment and wondered if he needed to declare that he was an exception.
However, Du Xiaoxian seemed to have read his mind and said, "But you are different. You are a good person and will not harbor ill intentions towards me."
"Sure," Gu Nianbin agreed hurriedly, "Of course not."
At this time, the door was opened. The waiter pushed the cart in and listed the names of the dishes while placing them on the table one by one. "The dishes are ready. Please enjoy your meal."
Gu Nianbin waved his hand and asked her to leave. He assumed that Du Xiaoxian didn't understand one single name the waiter had said, so he introduced the dishes to her one by one. Du Xiaoxian listened very carefully and ate whatever he asked her to.
After she tried all the dishes, he stopped giving orders and let her eat whatever she liked.
Du Xiaoxian looked tiny and cute, but she did not eat slowly. Before soon, she had finished two small bowls of rice, but the dishes on the table were barely touched.
"Are you full?" "Why didn't you eat more from the dishes?"
Du Xiaoxian put the chopsticks on the bowl neatly to say she had finished, "My mother asked me to eat more rice and less dishes and stop when I'm seventy percent full. Eating this way will keep me full for a longer time."
Gu Nianbin's heart ached hearing this, "You won't be starving again from now on. You can eat until you're full every meal. Let me get you something more, okay?"
Du Xiaoxian smiled, "I can do it myself." She certainly wanted to eat until she was full if allowed. Looking at the table full of dishes, she asked, "Can we take the dishes away if we can't finish eating all of them?"
Gu Nianbin barely had food wrapped up to go, but he answered immediately, "Of course, of course you can."
Du Xiaoxian felt relieved. She added half bowl of rice and started eating again.
Gu Nianbin looked at her and asked suddenly, "Why do you listen to me so much?"
She swallowed the food in her mouth and said, "Because you treat me well."
Du Xiaoxian had been alone in so many lonely days, so she would remember even a little warmth. Before she met Gu Nianbin, second aunt was her greatest benefactor. But now she was replaced by Gu Nianbin, her young master.
Du Xiaoxian almost didn't dare to imagine that such a noble and handsome young master would treat her so well. He didn't look down on her at all. He talked to her, smiled at her, bought her delicious food, let her ride in his car, send her to school, take her to buy clothes, and even treat her to lunch now. Gu Nianbin seemed to be a magician and opened a new world for her, making her experienced a completely different life.
The wonders in the new life weren't important to her. The most important thing was that he gave her warmth. It was like a person who walked in the darkness all the time was suddenly given a lamp that could illuminate the path. From now on, she didn't need to feel her way in the darkness. Gu Nianbin was that lamp. The warmth he brought to her was unimaginable to outsiders. Even second aunt couldn't compare to him. Therefore, she relied on him and believed in him. She had no reservations about him and was completely unguarded.
Gu Nianbin thought for a moment and asked again, "If other people were to treat you well, would you listen to him as well?"
Du Xiaoxian frowned and shook her head, "No one will treat me like you do. They don't like me and don't talk to me."
"They..." Gu Nianbin asked, "Are they the ones from your hometown?"
Du Xiaoxian nodded.
"Why?" Gu Nianbin was puzzled. Everyone should feel sympathy and pity for such a weak little orphan. How could they still dislike her?
Du Xiaoxian bit her lip and slowly lowered her head. Her voice was nearly inaudible, "They said my mother was a bad woman…"
Gu Nianbin felt that she was going to cry next minute. He quickly patted her hand and said, "Alright, let's not talk about this."
He didn't want to know about the Du Xiaoxian's past. He only knew that from now on, he would protect this little girl, make her happy while growing up. He thought he only wanted to do this out of sympathy.
After lunch, he brought her back to his office to rest for a while, and sent her to school later. Along the way, he told her about the important things she needed to know patiently all over again. Du Xiaoxian still listened quietly and patiently, taking everything he said seriously.
Gu Nianbin arranged a private school for her in which the Gu's Company held a large share. So in other words, Gu Nianbin was the school's big boss. The big boss entered the principal's office in a low profile. The shrewd principal noticed something from the big boss's detailed order. He nodded and bowed blindly, patting his chest and guaranteed, "President, you can rest assured to give Student Du to me, President. I will definitely take good care of her."
Gu Nianbin nodded. He smiled at Du Xiaoxian and left. He couldn't guard her forever. She had to learn face everything herself.
Du Xiaoxian felt extremely uneasy watching Gu Nianbin disappeared at the door. She was going to face all those strangers alone.
"Here, Du Xiaoxian." The principal handed her a heavy backpack, "Take your backpack and I'll guide you to the classroom."
Du Xiaoxian looked at the new schoolbag with a cartoon pattern on but did not reach out to receive it. She bit her lip and said timidly, "I...I have a schoolbag." She showed her little cloth bag to the principal.
The principal laughed, "Your bag is too small to hold so many books. Use this."
Du Xiaoxian asked again, "Does the school give students schoolbags for free?"
The principal was stunned for a moment and said, "Ah yes, this is from the school. It's free."
Du Xiaoxian was relieved and took the schoolbag. She stuffed her small cloth bag inside before going out with the principle. It was the break time between classes. Many students looked at her curiously. Du Xiaoxian was scared by their look and was at a loss. She felt she could not even walk and lowered her head even more like a small ostrich, attracting more people's attention. Even the headmaster had noticed it. He turned around and immediately understood why Gu Nianbin had to say so much before leaving her at the school.
This was the first time he had seen such a timid child!
However, the ultimate goal of education was not to teach specific knowledge, but to teach the most basic principles of being a human: independence, courage, and self-confidence. The principal believed that Gu Nianbin had sent her here for this reason.
The students of this private school were all from rich and important families, and they were familiar with each other. Such a timid girl showed up, it was natural for them to be curious. She looked pretty and dressed quite well, but her behavior was a little strange. When Du Xiaoxian was seated, someone went up to greet her, "Hello, how are you? What is your name? "
Such a direct greeting startled Du Xiaoxian. She held her schoolbag tightly and stared at the classmate with dumbfounded eyes.
It was her deskmate, Yang Liying, a girl from a rich family. Seeing Du Xiaoxian's silly face, she asked strangely, "Is she deaf or mute?"
The student beside her said, "Maybe there is something wrong with her ears."
Another said, "No, look at her shaking hands. She can hear us. She is probably mute."
"I'm not mute." Du Xiaoxian blushed, but her voice was very soft. She was like a grass bud that had just emerged from the ground. Although it was fragile, it was very tough.
"Well, she can speak!" Yang Liying said, "What's your name? Which school did you transfer from? Who are your parents?"
Du Xiaoxian was extremely scared. She tightly held onto her schoolbag. This girl spoke fast and in a high-pitched tone, looking very aggressive. She didn't know if she should answer, but she promised Gu Nianbin to be brave and make more friends. So she managed to reply, "My name is Du Xiaoxian, 'xian' as in fairy."
"Du Xiaoxian? What an old-fashioned name!" Yang Liying twitched her mouth with scorn. She was expecting a dashing rich boy instead of such a bumpkin to be her deskmate.Du Xiaoxian had been used to contempt since childhood and didn't care much about her words. But she was not used to be surrounded like this. She was very nervous and fearful for what would happen next. She looked more and more anxious and could hardly breathe in such an unknown environment.Fortunately, a good-looking young woman came in at this moment. This was their teacher, Ms. Jiang. She had just been summoned by the headmaster to talk about the new student. The headmaster asked her to take care of Du Xiaoxian and repeated Gu Nianbin's words in a more detailed way. She sensed the special background of the new student from the tedious instructions of the headmaster."All of you, back to your seat." Ms. Jiang dispersed the surrounding students and then asked Du Xiaoxian gently
When they returned to the office, Gu Nianbin took the bag that Du Xiaoxian had been carrying and put it on the table. He pulled her to the sofa to sit and pointed at the pile of snacks that Zhou Ting bought, "You must be hungry. Eat something first to stave off hunger. I still have something to do, so we'll go back home later.""Young master," Du Xiaoxian took a look of the snacks and was about to stand up, "Shall I go back first? I have to sweep the courtyard."Gu Nianbin stopped her, "It doesn't matter. Today is your first day of school. Forget about the chore. Leave it tomorrow."Du Xiaoxian had no choice but to stay. Gu Nianbin opened a chocolate bar for her and asked about her day at school. Du Xiaoxian blushed and said slowly, " Young master, I...I can't understand in class."Gu Nianbin stroked her hair with a smile, "Don't worry. Take your time. You'll understand gradually.""OK." Du Xiaoxian nodded, " I will st
From that day on, Du Xiaoxian's life had undergone tremendous changes.Every day, she left home early and returned late, getting familiar with the scenery on streets of G City and environment of the school.Sitting in the car, she tried to memorize the route back to home and the route to the Gu’s Company.She concentrated on classes and never allowed her mind to stray away. Gradually, she was able to understand them. As for classes in sciences, the young master said that she did not need to learn them and she did not understand anything either. Therefore, during sciences classes, she just lowered her head and drew on the notebook.She had always liked drawing. Back when she got bored at her hometown, she would pick up a twig and sat in the courtyard drawing randomly to kill time for the whole morning. She drew flowers, dragonflies, trees and grass as well as chickens, ducks, fish, pigs, sheep, dogs, cats…everything around her.
Just as Xia Xiaowan had expected, the news of her accompanying Gu Nianbin to the banquet made the headline in the entertainment section of Morning Post the next day.In the published picture, she smiled sweetly and gracefully, looking even more gorgeous than usual.Gu Nianbin beside her was also smiling gently and elegantly. He looked extremely handsome with deep eyes, a Roman nose, thin lips, and a firm chin slightly hold up.Xia Xiaowan took a sip of coffee. She spread the newspaper on the dining table and pondered over the picture in the newspaper.Du Xiaoxian also saw the picture.Standing in the corridor outside the dining room, she beheld her ladyship, with the newspaper in her hands, cheerfully talking with the master about the perfect match of their son and Miss Xia. She couldn't understand why the young master and Miss Xia were reported by the newspaper. When the master and lady went upstairs, she slipped into
Sitting in the car, Gu Nianbin asked seriously, "Now tell me. Why did you walk away alone?"Du Xiaoxian lowered her head and bit her lips. Blood seeped from the cut lips into her mouth. It tasted sweet.She didn't expect that she caused so much trouble for the young master and even bothered the police.She didn't expect the young master was so angry either. She was a fool. No wonder no one liked her. No wonder she had no friends.Now even the young master wouldn't like her. She was a nit, simply mindless. If she told the young master or Xiaoding beforehand, things would not be like this.So many people, including the headmaster, were bothered to look for her. How could she have the nerve to go to school tomorrow? The young master used his connections to send her to school, but...look at what she had done.Du Xiaoxian felt so guilty that even her guts were twisted and her body further shrank."
Du Xiaoxian felt something wrong when entering the classroom, as almost everyone was looking at her.Contempt and disdain were all over their faces, which Du Xiaoxian had been used to since childhood. She didn't care much about it and sat on her seat quietly.She assumed that they looked at her this way because of the incident yesterday. Even the headmaster was bothered after all.Yang Liying was not in her seat. She was chattering in a low voice with some girls. She snorted contemptuously at Du Xiaoxian and asked a girl in whisper, "Are you sure about what you saw yesterday?""Of course. She got on a bus and sat by the window and then got off and walked. I followed her all the way. Nobody came to pick her up.""What happened afterwards?""She was on foot while I rode in a car. It's hard to follow, so I left then.""What a pity," said Yang Liying, "If you followed her home, you would find out
It was already dark when Gu Nianbin returned home.He looked through the car window as the iron gate slowly opened, but the lawn was empty with nobody there.The path had been cleaned up, however, and in the grass, there were few leaves, which probably had just fallen.The car stopped under the tree. A gust of wind swept over, and palm-sized leaves started falling, some yellow and some yellow and green, all wilted and lifeless in the dusk. Gu Nianbin picked up a fallen leaf on top of the car and looked up at the tall phoenix tree. For the first time, he felt annoyed about the falling leaves.Some branches, bare with no leaves, were swaying in the wind like tentacles of a monster.He gazed at it for a while, and then threw the leaf and entered the house.Fang Yaru was glad to see him back, "It's just time for dinner. Perfect timing."Gu Nianbin smiled, "There is a boring business dinner. Baiqin
Gu Nianbin called Xia Xiaowan before leaving the office and said he would pick her up later.Xia Xiaowan held breath for two seconds and then answered readily, "OK."There was no reason to decline. Things would be much different if she went to his home by herself.Did this mean that they got closer to each other?Gu Nianbin showed up at the office building of Xia Xiaowan's company on time. He was handsome with an imposing appearance, like a shining star in the bustling crowd.Soon he became the object of many admiring sights.Xia Xiaowan came out along with the crowd and spotted him immediately.There were quite a few rich guys waiting for their lovers in luxury cars. But Gu Nianbin was undoubtedly the most outstanding one, overshadowing all the others."Look! It's President Gu. Why is he here?" A girl who often read financial news exclaimed with surprise.Office buil