Cinderella Innocent and Boss Charming - Chapter 161

Chapter 161 You Are Jealous
When the wind blew the last leaf off the branch, winter quietly arrived.

Du Xiaoxian held a cup of hot tea and sat in front of the window, watching Xiaohei play around happily in the courtyard. After a troubled autumn, everything seemed to have settled.

It was getting cold. The old house of the ancestral mansion, surrounded by mountains on three sides, was warm in winter. Gu Guangxian and Fang Yaru had no intention of coming back. It seemed that they were planning to celebrate the New Year there.

Gu Nianbin knew that their other meaning was that they didn’t want to see Du Xiaoxian. Back then, their approval of him being with Du Xiaoxian was just an expedient measure. Because they knew his personality and didn’t want to cause trouble to both sides. Therefore, they were watching to see how long he would be able to maintain his affection towards Du Xiaoxian. He also hoped that with the pass of time, his parents would see Du Xiaoxian’s merits and accept her. He was a filial son, but he also loved Du Xiaoxian deeply. He didn’t want to see either his parents or Du Xiaoxian hurt.

Therefore, it was better that they didn’t interfere with each other like this. Xiao Bonian sent a chef over and transferred Lanzhi away to have Ah Ling come back. Ah Ling had always taken good care of Du Xiaoxian and knew about what happened between her and Gu Nianbin. She was not a busybody and did not ask anything. She still treated her as her younger sister as before.

Du Xiaoxian was not accustomed to having someone serve her. She had always treated Ah Ling as her elder sister. So, she did chores with Ah Ling whenever it was needed in the house. Ah Ling was a little frightened at first, but when she saw that Gu Nianbin did not care, she was relieved. After getting along like this, the atmosphere at home was quite pleasant. Ah Ling even felt that the expressionless Young Master was much more amiable to others. This was Du Xiaoxian’s credit.

Du Xiaoxian stayed at home every day. Apart from doing housework, she spent the rest of her time painting. Gu Nianbin had found an Art home tutor to teach her. The tutor was called He Sen, in his thirties. He had a gentle look and spoke very softly with patience. Apart from his long hair, everything else about him was normal and fine. Du Xiaoxian liked him very much.

Du Xiaoxian took the painting class four times a week, each time for four hours. Gu Nianbin spared a room for Du Xiaoxian to be her art studio. Apart from the bedroom, this studio was where Du Xiaoxian stayed the longest. On this Saturday, there was originally no class, but because He Sen was busy yesterday, the class was switched to this afternoon. Du Xiaoxian sat in front of the window and watched Xiaohei play while waiting for Teacher He.

Ah Ling walked over and took away the cold tea in her hand. She came back with a small plate of fresh oranges. The oranges were cut into the crescent-moon shape and displayed on the emerald green plate, looking extremely beautiful. The fruit pulp was sparkling and plump, just staring at which would water people’s mouths.

Du Xiaoxian took a piece for Ah Ling first. Ah Ling pushed the orange aside and declined, “I’ve had one when I just cut it. Just feed yourself.”

Du Xiaoxian refused and kept stuffing the piece of orange into Ah Ling’s mouth. Ah Ling had no choice but to open her mouth to eat it. However, her eyes were glancing at the stairs. Gu Nianbin was upstairs in the study. Although he wouldn’t say anything even if he saw this, there was a boundary between the master and the servant. She was still a little embarrassed.

Du Xiaoxian used the orange peel to display all kinds of patterns on the plate, and asked Ah Ling to comment which was the best. Suddenly, then, she saw Xiaohei turning around and running towards the gate. So she smiled and said, “Teacher He is here.”

Ah Ling was just about to ask her how she knew that when the doorbell rang. She walked over to open the gate. It was indeed He Sen.

Du Xiaoxian ran to the gate to welcome him. He Sen was driving a translucent blue car. In the gloomy weather, it really made an impression. He opened the car door to get out and raised the painting scroll in his hand towards Du Xiaoxian, “Xiaoxian, guess what I’ve brought?”

Du Xiaoxian’s eyes lit up and she cheered and ran over to grab the painting scroll. But He Sen raised his hand and said smilingly, “You want to snatch it without even guessing?”

Du Xiaoxian said, “It’s a portrait of me!” Teacher He had promised to draw a portrait for her a long time ago. Although she didn’t urge him to do that, she thought about it every day and night. Since Teacher He had asked her to guess now, it must be the portrait.

He Sen’s hand was still high, but he forcefully threw the painting scroll downward, and the entire painting got unfolded. It was a sketch of Du Xiaoxian. The black lines on the white paper were simple and clear, but the figure looked exactly like her.

Du Xiaoxian was extremely happy and she carefully examined the painting while holding the bottom of the drawing paper.

“Isn’t it cold standing outside?” Gu Nianbin’s voice came from the door. Du Xiaoxian hurriedly showed him the painting as if she was offering a treasure, “Teacher He painted this for me. It really looks like me!”

Gu Nianbin glanced at the painting and then looked at He Sen who was walking towards them with a faint smile. “Teacher He, is the class time a little too long? You actually have time to paint a portrait for her?”

“It wasn’t painted during class, it was painted after I returned home,” He Sen said.

“Oh, you can draw a portrait without even needing the model. It’s indeed a superb skill, Teacher He. No wonder that my friend recommended you to me.”

“I’ve learned painting for quite some time. So I have a good memory.” He Sen recognized the displeasure in Gu Nianbin’s tone, but he didn’t understand what was wrong with drawing a portrait for his student. However, since Gu Nianbin paid a high price, he still explained with patience, “I promised to draw a portrait for Xiaoxian a long time ago. It took me a few days to finish it, so I brought it over to her today.”

Of course Du Xiaoxian didn’t sense anything wrong. She happily said to He Sen, “Teacher He, let’s begin the class.”

“Alright.” He Sen nodded at Gu Nianbin before following Du Xiaoxian away.

Gu Nianbin stood there, staring at their backs. His expression was a little gloomy. Ah Ling was about to bring him a plate of oranges. Seeing that his expression was not sunny, she quickly put the plate on the table beside him and said softly, “Young Master, have some fruit.”

Gu Nianbin didn’t seem to have heard her, but he slowly lifted his foot and walked towards Du Xiaoxian’s art studio. Ah Ling hadn’t seen Gu Nianbin like this for a long time, and she felt a little uneasy in her heart. She could tell why Gu Nianbin was unhappy. Because he was jealous!

Gu Nianbin was really jealous! Very much! Du Xiaoxian had never been so close to other men. Even Shao Boqing, Shen Li, and Ling Yun, who were already familiar to her, kept a safe distance from her. Why was her so intimate with He Sen? Gu Nianbin was upstairs when he heard Du Xiaoxian cheerfully shouting from below. He popped out his head from the window and immediately felt something jumping violently in his temples. He saw that He Sen raised the painting scroll, and Du Xiaoxian held onto his arm to try to snatch it. The relationship between the two of them seemed to be very close.

When he came downstairs and heard He Sen say that the portrait was painted at home, he felt even more uncomfortable. He Sen had to remember Du Xiaoxian’s appearance deeply before he could draw it, right? Why was he so impressed with Du Xiaoxian? Could it be that he had some thoughts about her? Thinking of this, he couldn’t sit still any longer and directly went to the art studio to sit and watch Du Xiaoxian study.

He Sen was an artist, who was naturally with a bit of romantic features; he had a gentle personality and his class was vivid and interesting, rich in emotion. Du Xiaoxian liked to listen to him in class. She held her chin and looked at He Sen without blinking.

Gu Nianbin watched from behind, feeling uncomfortable. It was as if other than him, the little girl had never looked at another man with such an adoring gaze. He Sen was also an extremely serious person. Although Gu Nianbin was sitting in the back, he did not distract him in the slightest. He Sen looked straight at Du Xiaoxian with two sparkling eyes. To Gu Nianbin, this kind of eye contact was truly an eyesore. He coughed lightly. But those two teacher and student didn’t hear him at all and still looked at each other, as if nothing would stop them from looking into each other’s eyes. Gu Nianbin then coughed heavily. Now the two of them heard him. He Sen quickly glanced at Gu Nianbin before continuing his class, as if nothing had happened. While Du Xiaoxian turned around and made a “hush” gesture to Gu Nianbin. She completely ignored the sullen expression on his face and quickly turned around to continue taking the class.

This was the first time that Gu Nianbin had been disliked by the little girl, and he felt a little sullen in his heart. He stood up and walked out until he reached the courtyard. He saw that Xiaohei was chasing after a ball happily on the lawn. The dog hadn’t been here for a long time, but it was already very pleased with itself here, running around on the lawn every day.

Du Xiaoxian educated it very well. The dog was not allowed to go into the house, urinate and defecate anywhere or bite anything at will. If it wasn’t raining, Du Xiaoxian would play ball and frisbee with the dog on the lawn every evening, or take it out for a walk. Xiaohei liked Du Xiaoxian the most. When it saw her from afar, it would run over happily and wave its tail affectionately. When hearing her voice, it would look for her everywhere. Du Xiaoxian often hid behind the door and called out Xiaohei’s name to make it look for her. When Gu Nianbin was upstairs, he could often hear the noise of Du Xiaoxian and Xiaohei playing together happily.

He didn’t feel bad at first, but afterwards, the first thing Du Xiaoxian did when she woke up every morning was running to the balcony to greet Xiaohei. In the past, though, when Du Xiaoxian woke up, she always liked to snuggle into his arms and act like a spoiled child. He lay on the bed and listened to the clear and crisp voice of the little girl fading far away in the morning breeze. He couldn’t help but feel somewhat disappointed.

Xiaohei had already occupied a certain position in Du Xiaoxian’s heart, and now there was an extra Teacher He. Gu Nianbin stood in the porch and lit a cigarette mopishly. When Du Xiaoxian was a piece of white paper, he wanted to paint the most vivid colors on it. Now, his original intention did not change, but… when the colors really became rich, there would be more troubles coming along.

He flicked the ashes and suddenly smiled bitterly. What was wrong with him? Why was he being jealous pointlessly? As the saying goes, there is no gain without a loss. Because Du Xiaoxian had more things in her heart, there was less room left for him.

After waiting patiently for Du Xiaoxian to finish her lesson, he watched He Sen leave. Gu Nianbin wanted to take the little girl upstairs, but Du Xiaoxian smiled apologetically at him, “I promised to take Xiaohei out for a walk.”

She had promised a dog? Like Xiaohei could understand human language? Gu Nianbin was speechless. Seeing that he was unhappy, Du Xiaoxian could only say, “You can come with us. It’s getting dark early now. Let’s go out for a walk and then come back for dinner.”

Gu Nianbin was unhappy, but he had no choice but to ask Ah Ling to get their coats, and put on the coat before going out with Du Xiaoxian.

Xiaohei was very smart. Seeing that Du Xiaoxian put on her coat, it knew that they were going out. It was so excited that it ran wildly towards the door like an arrow leaving the string. Du Xiaoxian chased after it and shouted, “Xiaohei, slow down, slow down…”

Gu Nianbin shouted from behind, “Let it run. Why are you chasing after it! Slow down, be careful not to fall!”

When Xiaohei arrived at the door, it barked wildly, as if someone was outside. It was already a little dark. Du Xiaoxian did not know who was outside, nor did she dare to open the door. She was afraid that Xiaohei would rush out and frighten the person. She was also afraid that it might be bad people. The incident Xia Manyin caused last time had indeed left a shadow on her more or less.

She turned around to look at Gu Nianbin, wanting to wait for him to come over and take a look. But then, someone called out her name from outside the gate, “Xiaoxian!”