Cinderella Innocent and Boss Charming - Chapter 188
Chapter 188 Some Habits Just Can’t Be Changed
Du Xiaoxian was frozen. This was the first time Gu Nianbin had said these three words to her. In the past, no matter how sweet they were, he only said that he liked her. She once thought Gu Nianbin would never say these three words in his life because he was such a proud man. It was already difficult for him to confess to her. Later, they were as affectionate as honey, and she thought, Gu Nianbin would say those three words, but only until the marriage proposal. She imagined the scene: a man kneeling on one knee, staring at her affectionately and saying to her, “I love you!” And she cried with joy. There were applause and cheers, and that was what she had always imagined because that was how it was played on TV.
But now, he said those words to her on this bright morning, which was completely beyond her expectations. She narrowed her eyes slightly as if the sun was so scorching that made her dazed. Gu Nianbin had slowly pulled her body and kissed her lips.
Looking downstairs, the pedestrians were coming and going endlessly, and traffic was heavy. It looked so lively and noisy, but it was very quiet in the room. Du Xiaoxian could hear no sound at all, except for her intense heartbeat, one after another, like a heavy drumbeat. She stood on tiptoe, wrapped her hands around the man’s neck, and warmly responded to him. It was enough to hear this sentence before she left. She thought that no matter how far she went, these three words would always ring in her ears. She was so happy that she almost fainted.
Gu Nianbin almost lost control because of Du Xiaoxian’s enthusiasm. He sighed softly and released her, caressing her face lovingly. “Little fool!”
“Are you sure I won’t distract you if I go to the company?” Du Xiaoxian looked at him with sparkling eyes.
The man looked back at her and smiled, “I’m sure you won’t.”
“Then I’ll go.” Du Xiaoxian suddenly became lively and scampered into the room.
Gu Nianbin looked at her petite figure and shook his head with a smile.
They got along very well that day, better than any other day. Du Xiaoxian sat on the sofa and watched cartoons. Gu Nianbin was absorbed in work. After he finished writing the last word, he looked up at her. The little girl stared at the computer intently. The light on the screen reflected on her face as if there was a faint halo floating around. Her thick, long eyelashes were hanging down, covering her eyes, but they could not cover the light in her eyes. It was so bright as if there was resplendent starlight within them.
Perhaps knowing that he was looking at her, Du Xiaoxian raised her head and smiled sweetly. It was like a bud suddenly blooming, brightening the room. Gu Nianbin froze there for an instant, and his slightly wrinkled eyebrows stretched subconsciously as if he was bathed in the spring breeze.
“Why do you look at me like this?” Du Xiaoxian said angrily like a spoiled child.
“Because you are pretty.”
Du Xiaoxian was embarrassed. She got affectedly bashful before turning off her computer and standing up to stretch.
Gu Nianbin beckoned her with his hand, “Come here.”
Du Xiaoxian obediently walked over and was pulled to sit on his lap. He asked, “Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?”
“It’s not dinner time yet.” Du Xiaoxian was actually a little hungry. She only thought about love affairs with Gu Nianbin at noon and felt full without eating much. Gu Nianbin even laughed at her for forgetting hunger when she had love.
Gu Nianbin thought for a moment and said, “I know a shop that provides delicious matcha cakes. Let’s go now, okay?”
“Can’t you call them to order a takeaway?”
“That shop never provides food delivery service,” said Gu Nianbin. “Come on. I’m a little hungry, too. Let’s go for afternoon tea.”
Since Gu Nianbin was also hungry, Du Xiaoxian no longer objected. She followed him out and said to Zhou Ting outside the room, “Sister Zhou, what do you want to eat? I’ll bring it back for you.”
Zhou Ting smiled and nodded, “Thank you. Please bring me a latte and a freshly baked pineapple bun.”
Gu Nianbin glanced at her and said, “Freshly baked. You’re quite demanding.”
“It’s fine if they are not freshly baked,” Zhou Ting sneakily stuck her tongue out at Du Xiaoxian. “As long as it’s not the bread of the previous night.”
“Don’t worry,” said Gu Nianbin. “That shop never sells bread of the previous night.”
Zhou Ting was surprised. Gu Nianbin was not a talkative person. Why was he willing to have small talk with her?
When they got to the elevator, Du Xiaoxian smiled and said, “Sister Zhou must be surprised at the way you talked to her.”
Gu Nianbin glanced sideways at her and said, “I regard her as your friend.”
“Actually, this is quite good,” Du Xiaoxian said, holding his arm and acting coquettishly. “Sister Zhou said you only gave instructions and never said anything unnecessary. She’ll be happy if you treat her kindly.”
“What about you? Are you happy with that?”
“Of course, if she’s happy, I will be happy.”
Gu Nianbin pinched her face and said, “Silly girl.”
He took Du Xiaoxian to an old-fashioned cake shop that had existed when Gu Nianbin was a teenager.
He didn’t like sweets. He knew this shop because Xia Xiaowan liked the matcha cakes here. At that time, matcha cakes were rare, expensive, and limited in supply. He always arrived on time and bought a small piece packed in an exquisite small paper box with a transparent spoon. It was tied up with translucent ribbons outside and wrapped as a small gift. Whenever he took out the small box, Xia Xiaowan would be pleasantly surprised and cheerfully shouted, “Brother Nianbin, you are so kind!”
For him at that time, Xia Xiaowan’s smiling face was the best reward.
Past events vanished like smoke. But now when he thought back, he could only sigh.
He suddenly stopped. Looking through the big glass window of the cake shop, he saw Xia Xiaowan sitting at the table and she was using a small mold to imprint the pattern of a heart shape on the cake with a lonely expression. When Du Xiaoxian saw him stop, she looked up, and then her heart sank deep into the abyss. She was so excited all day that she almost forgot about Xia Xiaowan.
Probably noticing that someone was looking at her from outside, Xia Xiaowan looked up. She was stunned for a moment but then immediately smiled and waved at them.
Gu Nianbin took Du Xiaoxian in. “What a coincidence. We meet you here.”
“What a small world,” said Xia Xiaowan. “It’s unavoidable to meet each other somewhere.”
Gu Nianbin asked Du Xiaoxian, “What do you want to eat? I’ll buy it for you.”
Du Xiaoxian had wanted to say matcha cakes, but when she opened her mouth it became like “whatever you buy.”
“Why don’t you share this with me? I was worrying that I couldn’t finish it by myself.” Xia Xiaowan looked at Du Xiaoxian and said, “The matcha cakes here are the best. You can have a try.”
Du Xiaoxian used to eat those small square matcha cakes covered with a thin layer of light green chocolate powder, without any fancy decorations, but fresh and elegant. However, the one Xia Xiaowan ordered was round, about four inches in size, and the top was also covered with light green chocolate powder, but with several heart-shaped patterns printed on its flat face.
It turned out that the reason why Gu Nianbin knew this shop was because Xia Xiaowan liked matcha cakes. Du Xiaoxian instantly lost interest. She remained silent while looking at the cake. Xia Xiaowan thought that she disliked the cake, so she explained, “It’s freshly baked and I haven’t started eating. I just printed a few patterns on it.” As she spoke, she scooped up a spoonful of the cream and delivered it to Du Xiaoxian. She looked at her with a light smile and said, “Let me treat you this ‘heart’.”
The cream with a heart-shaped pattern was sent to Du Xiaoxian, which made it hard for Du Xiaoxian to refuse. However, at this time, Gu Nianbin said, “Why do you still like to play this kind of game as you did in childhood?”
Xia Xiaowan giggled, “Some habits just can’t be changed.”
Du Xiaoxian put the spoonful of cream into her mouth. Although it melted in her mouth quickly, it seemed she tasted a faint bitterness. The cake was not as delicious as they said.
Xia Xiaowan saw her frowning and asked, “How is it? Not good?”
Du Xiaoxian forced a smile, “Not bad.”
Xia Xiaowan scooped out another spoon of cream and put it into her own mouth. She then said in confusion, “It’s the same taste as the past. It hasn’t changed.”
Gu Nianbin said, “Different strokes for different folks. You can’t think that everyone else should think it’s good just because you think it’s good.” He also said to Du Xiaoxian, “If you don’t like this, I’ll buy you something else.”
However, Du Xiaoxian shook her head. “It’s quite good. Besides, it can’t be wasted!”
Xia Xiaowan burst into a smile and winked at Gu Nianbin, “Brother Nianbin, you have found such a good wife! She’s unlike me who will only spend money lavishly.”
“How can she compare with you?” Gu Nianbin meant that Du Xiaoxian was from a poor family and had always been used to living a frugal life. But when he said that, he felt that it sounded ambiguous. So he quickly stood up and said, “I’m going to get something to drink.”
In Du Xiaoxian’s eyes, his behaving like this looked like he felt guilty. Hearing they talked about the past, Du Xiaoxian felt as if there was a small needle pricking her and it hurt so much. She didn’t know why she was sitting here. Why did she have to listen to them talking about the past?
Gu Nianbin bought milk tea and a mousse cake for Du Xiaoxian, a latte, and a pineapple bun for Zhou Ting. He walked over and urged Du Xiaoxian to leave with him. She must have thought too much about what happened today since she had just made a scene last night.
Xia Xiaowan said, “Why are you two leaving in such a hurry? We haven’t enjoyed the cake.”
Gu Nianbin said, “Aren’t you still sick? Sweets like this are not good for your stomach. You’d better eat less.”
Xia Xiaowan didn’t take the illness seriously. “I’m fine. It’s an old weakness of mine. It’s scary when it attacks, but it’ll be relieved after I take the medicine.”
Gu Nianbin frowned, “Old weakness? Why didn’t I know this? I didn’t even know you had stomach trouble until you told me yesterday.”
Xia Xiaowan smiled and didn’t answer. She pretended to be pitiful and said, “Forget it. Don’t force Xiaoxian if she doesn’t like this. You guys should go. I’ll stay here and eat alone.”
When she said this, Du Xiaoxian was embarrassed and said, “If you really can’t finish it all, you can cut it in half and I’ll take a half away back home.”
“No need to do so,” said Xia Xiaowan with a blank expression. And she suddenly scooped out another spoonful of cream to deliver it to Gu Nianbin’s mouth. “Brother Nianbin, try this ‘heart’.”
Gu Nianbin seemed to be stunned for a moment before quickly glancing at Du Xiaoxian and saying, “I don’t like sweets, you know that.”
“Come on, don’t embarrass me. I had so many cakes from you when we were young, but now you’re not even willing to have a single mouthful from me?” Xia Xiaowan blinked her eyes and began to act coquettishly in a pleading tone.
Gu Nianbin was a little embarrassed. Du Xiaoxian couldn’t bear it anymore, so she pushed him. “Just eat it. She has sent the cream to your mouth.”
Gu Nianbin was in a dilemma, and as she pushed him, he naturally opened his mouth and ate it. Xia Xiaowan smiled with satisfaction, but Gu Nianbin felt that he did something wrong again. He should have taken the spoon with his hand. Why did he open his mouth to eat it? He was a little guilty and secretly glanced at Du Xiaoxian.
The little girl couldn’t hide her gloomy expression. Gu Nianbin knew that he was wrong. He said to Xia Xiaowan that they were leaving before pulling Du Xiaoxian away.
Du Xiaoxian remained silent until into the car. Gu Nianbin wanted to explain, but he was afraid that would be regarded as chicanery. He hesitated for a moment and said, “Don’t mind, Xiaowan is just such a person.”
Du Xiaoxian still did not say anything. Gu Nianbin thought for a moment as if he had made up his mind on something, “If you mind, I will not see her in the future.”
Hearing Gu Nianbin said this, Du Xiaoxian was embarrassed and hurriedly said, “I didn’t mean that. You two grew up together, and you were so close in the past. How can you not see her anymore?”
He couldn’t hide his true feelings for Xia Xiaowan even in front of her. If he couldn’t see her anymore, wouldn’t it be even more painful? She didn’t want Gu Nianbin to live in pain all day.
