Cinderella Innocent and Boss Charming - Chapter 198

Chapter 198 Did You Quarrel with the Boss?
After work, Gu Nianbin was still sitting in the office. Zhou Ting wandered around outside for a long time and didn’t see him come out. After thinking for a while, she walked up to the door and knocked, “Boss, it’s almost time for your appointment with Miss Xia to have dinner tonight.”

Gu Nianbin responded with an okay. He slowly stood up and put on his coat. As he walked out, he asked, “Have you delivered my clothes over?”

“I’ve only bought a few new clothes for you to change. The coat you usually wear just happens to be sold out in your size. The new ones won’t arrive until tomorrow, so…”

“It doesn’t matter. It’ll be fine as long as I have clothes to change tonight.” Gu Nianbin came to her side and stopped. He seemed to have something to tell her. But he frowned and walked out without saying anything.

Zhou Ting knew that he must be trying to talk about Du Xiaoxian, so she summoned up the courage to chase after him, “Boss, Xiaoxian…”

Gu Nianbin originally had a calm expression, but when she mentioned Du Xiaoxian, he had a hint of anger on his face, “Don’t worry about her.”

His words were very short and his voice was very cold. Zhou Ting knew that she should not continue the conversation. She stood at the door and watched as Gu Nianbin strode away. She could not understand what Du Xiaoxian had done to make the boss so angry. It wasn’t that Du Xiaoxian hadn’t caused trouble before, but no matter how willful she was, they had never lived separately. This time, the thing was really serious.

She hesitated for a long time and called Du Xiaoxian. “Xiaoxian, did you quarrel with the boss?” she asked straightforwardly.

Du Xiaoxian was silent for a moment before softly answering yes.

Zhou Ting said, “Xiaoxian, how can you argue with the boss at this point? You’re pushing him over to Xia Xiaowan. Do you know they’re having dinner tonight?”

“Sister Zhou,” said Du Xiaoxian calmly from the other end of the phone, “it’s okay. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m fine.”

Zhou Ting was so furious. “You are fine? How can you be fine since you two have quarreled? Xia Xiaowan has always been coveting the boss. But you seem to be so cool about that. Let me tell you, call the boss quickly or go to him directly. I’ll send you the address later. You have to show your presence at this time. Last time Nina and I taught you what to do, remember? Have you forgotten?”

“Sister Zhou, I cooked noodles and haven’t eaten it yet. It’ll be cold later. Thank you for telling me this.” She meant to end the conversation, but she did not hang up. She was still used to waiting politely for Zhou Ting to hang up first.

Zhou Ting heaved a deep sigh and tried again, “Xiaoxian, men are like women, they need to be coaxed. The boss loves you so much, as long as you…”

“Sister Zhou, the noodles are really getting cold.” Du Xiaoxian interrupted her. She really didn’t want to hear it anymore.

Zhou Ting knew that she couldn’t make sense of Du Xiaoxian. The little girl was so stubborn that no one could do anything about it. She could only say, “Think about it yourself. Lock the doors and windows at home by yourself. Be careful.”

“I know,” Du Xiaoxian seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Sister Zhou.”

After hanging up the phone, she sat blankly and looked at the noodles on the table. She knew that Gu Nianbin would not come back for dinner, but she did not expect him to ask Xia Xiaowan out for dinner as soon as they separated. Sure enough, he still had feelings for Xia Xiaowan in his heart. After he had talked so much and made so many love confesses to her, it was all in vain. All in vain.

Although she knew that she was no worthy of him, it wasn’t that she didn’t take it to heart when Gu Nianbin confessed his feelings to her time and time again. During these days when she was hesitant, she had hoped that everything would suddenly be resolved and return to the days when there was no Xia Xiaowan, returning to the days when Gu Nianbin wasn’t in pain. But all of this was in vain!

She felt so desolate in her heart that it was as if she was standing in a desolate wilderness. There was nothing but her standing alone in the wind, trembling. She stared fixedly at the bowl of beef noodles and finally blinked, with a drop of a tear falling into the bowl very gently without even ripples, like nothing had happened.

The bowl of noodles was actually cold before Zhou Ting called. She didn’t touch it even for a single mouthful. Because she had added some lard to the noodles, the cold temperature caused some white spots of oil to appear and float in the soup. But it didn’t ruin the look of the whole bowl of noodles. She had secretly learned how to cook noodles. Every time Gu Nianbin cooked noodles, she would watch in the kitchen and carefully memorize the cooking steps. When Gu Nianbin saw that she was willing to learn, he would teach her some tricks. For example, the beef should be minced, the chopped green onions should be sprinkled on the food in the bowl, and lard would add more fragrance…

Making such a small bowl of beef noodles was not simple. She had memorized every step in her mind but had never practiced it before. She didn’t know why she remembered to do it today. She cooked very slowly as if it was some fine work that didn’t allow a tiny bit of carelessness. Finally, the noodles were cooked and fished out in a bowl with green vegetables and tender beef, and the fragrance was refreshing. Regardless of whether it was delicious or not, at least it looked good, much better than the dough balls she cooked in the past.

Such a bowl of tempting noodles was before her eyes. Normally, her appetite would have been stimulated and she could not wait to eat it with chopsticks. But today, she was just sitting there in a daze. It was as if making such a bowl of noodles was just enjoying the cooking process, not for eating.

When she was cooking, she was concentrated and did not think of anything. She felt very peaceful in her heart, but once she finished, she jumped out of the state of concentration and returned to reality. Then she could not help but start to think nonsense.

What did Gu Nianbin take Xia Xiaowan to eat? Would he take her somewhere they had been? No, the two of them actually had even more places to go to recall the past, and that cake shop was just one of them…

Gu Nianbin and Xia Xiaowan were sitting in a private room of a Chinese restaurant and having dinner while Du Xiaoxian was fantasizing at home.

“Sorry, I don’t know what you want to eat, but I want to drink some liquor, so I booked this Chinese restaurant,” said Gu Nianbin.

“It doesn’t matter,” Xia Xiaowan smiled gently, “I don’t mind.” But in fact, she was a little disappointed. She thought that Gu Nianbin would book a western restaurant because she liked the atmosphere. Yet he just said that he didn’t know what she wanted to eat…

“What do you want to talk to me?” Gu Nianbin poured himself some liquor and said, “You don’t need to drink this. Drink some juice.”

“No,” said Xia Xiaowan, “I’ll drink too. I feel so aggrieved.”

Gu Nianbin glanced at her and said, “Alright, you can drink some too.” He poured a glass of liquor for Xia Xiaowan.

The two of them clinked glasses. Gu Nianbin took a small sip. The liquor was of high concentration and was spicy. He couldn’t help but frown, “What are you feeling aggrieved about?”

“Nothing,” Xia Xiaowan said sullenly. “I just feel that it’s so hard to live.”

“Why are you so pessimistic?” Gu Nianbin picked up a dish with chopsticks and said, “It doesn’t sound like what you will say.”

“People change,” Xia Xiaowan smiled bitterly. “Brother Nianbin, I shouldn’t have asked you out. There are rumors about us everywhere. If anyone sees me showing up with you, won’t they think that the rumors are just true?”

“Do you mind it?” Gu Nianbin looked sideways at her.

“I’m afraid you will mind.” Xia Xiaowan stared into his eyes.

“Me?” The corners of Gu Nianbin’s mouth curved into a smile and he said after a while, “I don’t mind.”

“Great!” Xia Xiaowan suddenly raised her voice, “Here’s to that you don’t mind. Cheers.” She raised her glass and did not reach over to clink his, but she raised her neck and drank up the liquor in one gulp.

Gu Nianbin hesitated for a moment, then drank up the liquor as well and said, “Don’t drink so fast. You’ll get drunk.”

“I was hoping to get drunk,” Xia Xiaowan chuckled, her smile cold and lonely. “Brother Nianbin, I feel that I’m so unlucky in my life. I was ignorant before and didn’t know to cherish, so I missed you. Now I want to accept you, but you’ve fallen in love with someone else. I just hoped that I could eat with you like an ordinary friend. But I was afraid that people would gossip and talk about that I was trying to steal another’s boyfriend. I really don’t know what to do.” She stopped to pour herself a glass of liquor and also filled the glass up for Gu Nianbin, then continued, “I thought I would be happier back home with my family and friends, but I didn’t. I was welcomed only by indifference. They just wanted to laugh at me. People in this world are so cold. Perhaps I’ve done something wrong again. I shouldn’t have come back.”

She smiled again, poured the liquor into her mouth, and filled up the empty glass again. Then, she lowered her eyes and looked at the small glass with golden lines without saying anything else.

Gu Nianbin picked some dishes into her bowl and said, “Don’t just drink, have some food.”

“Thank you, Brother Nianbin,” Xia Xiaowan said as she picked up the dishes into her mouth. “If there was anyone who treats me well now, it should be only you, Brother Nianbin.”

“Why am I the only one? Don’t your parents and Nanze treat you well?”

“Of course they treat me well, but,” Xia Xiaowan drank up the liquor again, “my parents are old and I don’t want them to worry about me anymore. My brother is in charge of the Xia Group and has a heavy burden on his shoulders. I don’t want him to be distracted for me either. So I can’t talk much to them, and I have to hold too much in my heart. Brother Nianbin, I feel like I’m stuck in the mud. I can’t go up or down. I don’t know what to do. ”

“I’m sorry, Xiaowan,” said Gu Nianbin. “I didn’t know it would cause you such trouble.”

“Brother Nianbin, last time you said you could compensate me, right?”

Xia Xiaowan was about to pour more liquor when Gu Nianbin stopped her. “Stop drinking. You’re almost drunk.”

“Let me drink,” Xia Xiaowan looked at him, tears slowly oozing out of her eyes. “I feel so, very bad.”

Gu Nianbin looked at her for a while and let go of her hand. “How do you want me to compensate you?”

“I’m not happy these days,” Xia Xiaowan said with tearful eyes, filling her glass with more liquor. “I always want to talk to someone, but I don’t know who else I can talk to except you.”

Gu Nianbin moved his lips a bit. Just as he was about to speak, Xia Xiaowan continued, “Of course, I know this isn’t the right time. We’re in the center of gossip. I can’t look for you. Besides, you’re so busy. I was just saying, so don’t take it to heart. Forget it, let it be. I’m just upset and it won’t get me sick anyway.”

“Xiaowan,” Gu Nianbin had been unhappy. “I’m very sad to see you like this. I hope you can be as happy as before. You don’t have to care what others say. Even if we meet, we don’t need to explain anything to them. If you’re really upset, just call me and I’ll talk to you, okay?”

Xia Xiaowan wiped away her tears and smiled, “Brother Nianbin, you’re the best.”