Cinderella Innocent and Boss Charming - Chapter 227

Chapter 227 He said I was Hopeless
Gu Nianbin hung up the cellphone and said apologetically to Du Xiaoxian, “I wanted to stay with you for a few more days. But I’m afraid I can’t. We have to go back.”

“Is something wrong?”

“There’s something wrong with the company.”

Du Xiaoxian was a sensible girl and she hurriedly said, “Then let’s hurry back. The company is more important.”

“Xian’er,” Gu Nianbin pulled the little girl into his arms and put his chin on her forehead. “I’m sorry. Next time, I’ll definitely stay here with you for a few more days.”

“It doesn’t matter to me. Let’s go back quickly.” Du Xiaoxian pushed Gu Nianbin into the cockpit.

Gu Nianbin set the boat to the return model and called someone for booking the earliest flight. When the yacht returned to shore, it was dinner time. Because there was no enough time, Gu Nianbin only took Du Xiaoxian to a KFC store at the airport to have a meal.

This was the first time the little girl had eaten KFC. She felt that it was extremely delicious. After eating the drumstick, she also sucked her fingers. However, Gu Nianbin did not give her too much. He was afraid that she would eat too much. Moreover, he thought that she’d better eat less fried junk food.

Du Xiaoxian was like a child. Originally, she was worried about Gu Nianbin’s company. When she saw the food, she put it aside and ate happily. But when she was full and thought of it, she was filled with worry. On the contrary, Gu Nianbin comforted her, “Don’t worry. I will handle it and nothing will go wrong.”

Looking at the man’s bright eyes, the little girl nodded seriously, “With you around, nothing will go wrong.”

It was already late at night when they returned to G City. Shao Boqing and Little Ding came to pick them up at the airport. Young Master Shao’s expression was very calm. When he saw Du Xiaoxian, he even teased her, “Oh, Xiaoxian, you became more beautiful in a few days!”

Du Xiaoxian knew that he had always been glib tongued. So she did not reply and only smiled.

Shao Boqing also asked about her vacation in Yawan and what the weather was like. He also asked whether Gu Nianbin took her to enjoy seafood and whether she went swimming in the sea.

Gu Nianbin always kept silent in front of outsiders. At this moment, he did not say anything as usual. He only hugged Du Xiaoxian and strode forward. The little girl was originally a little worried. When she saw that Shao Boqing still joked and laughed in a casual manner as usual, she unconsciously relaxed. She smiled and answered his questions one by one.

It wasn’t until they got out of the airport gate and were in the car that Gu Nianbin said, “Why do you have so much to talk with him?”

Before Du Xiaoxian could say anything, Shao Boqing, who sat in the front row of the car, chuckled. “Are you envious of me when she talks more with me? You’re such a jealous man!”

Gu Nianbin snorted and ignored him. He secretly pinched the little girl’s waist. Du Xiaoxian was ticklish and couldn’t help but laugh. Then she felt embarrassed and patted him lightly.

Shao Boqing added, “Hey, if the two of you want to show affection, do it at home. At any rate, you should be considerate of others in front of you. Anyway, I have a family. However, Little Ding is still single. Think about how he feels!”

Little Ding also laughed and said, “President Shao, I’m fine. I have gotten used to this kind of torture.”

“Oh…” Shao Boqing said in the drawling tone, “Have you been used to this kind of torture? Just as I said, when President Gu wanted to get intimate with his girlfriend, he didn’t care about where he was. Little Ding, you should excuse him. It’s not easy for your boss to fall in love at his age. As the saying goes, an old man falling in love is like an old house on fire. He’s hopeless!”

Those words made Gu Nianbin laugh. He cast a sidelong glance at Du Xiaoxian. “Did you hear that? He said I was hopeless!”

Du Xiaoxian laughed and threw herself into his arms. She laughed so happily that she couldn’t even lift her head. But in her heart, she felt sweet as if there was a sweet honey pot that had been overturned there.

After returning to the apartment, Little Ding brought the luggage upstairs. Gu Nianbin sent him away and then went into the study with Shao Boqing. Du Xiaoxian was sensible. She made two cups of hot tea and brought them to the room.

Shao Boqing felt flattered. He stood up to pick up the tea and said, “Oops, little sister-in-law, I don’t dare to trouble you for this!”

Because Du Xiaoxian was not so eloquent as him, she only glared at him angrily in protest. Gu Nianbin laughed heartily and took her into his arms. He kissed her and said, “Forget about him. Good girl, go to bed yourself. I need to talk to Boqing about something.”

Du Xiaoxian blushed and said, “Don’t be too late. You have to go to work tomorrow.”

“Look,” said Shao Boqing with a smile, “Little sister-in-law is getting more powerful. You can give an order to President Gu now!”

“Will you feel sick if you don’t wag your tongue one day? If you keep talking nonsense, she’ll really get angry.” Although Gu Nianbin said so, there was a smile at the corner of his mouth. He patted Du Xiaoxian and said warmly, “Good girl, go to sleep.”

When Du Xiaoxian left the study, the smile on Gu Nianbin’s face instantly disappeared. “What’s going on?”

Shao Boqing took a sip of hot tea and said with a serious expression, “It is a bit strange. The letter was received in the afternoon. Then I contacted Gu Nianjing immediately. But his cellphone has been out of service all the time. I also looked for Gu Nian’an. But his secretary said he didn’t come to the office today. Then I felt something was wrong.”

“Have you sent someone to look for him at his home?”

“I went to the homes of both of them. But there was no one there. I asked the security guards in their complexes. They told me that Gu Nianjing’s family left before the New Year and hasn’t returned. Gu Nian’an’s family left last Friday.”

“What did the finance department say?”

Shao Boqing hesitated for a moment and said, “Manager Liu did not come to work today, either. His subordinates know nothing about the fund flow of the Eco-Park project. It has been handled by Manager Liu himself.”

Gu Nianbin didn’t say anything for quite a while. He just held the cup and drank the tea slowly.

Shao Boqing added, “I also sent someone to Manager Liu’s house. He was told that Liu’s family also left last Friday. But he couldn’t find their flight information at the airport. They probably left the city by car.” After a pause, he said in frustration, “It’s my fault. I misjudged Gu Nianjing.”

Then Gu Nianbin looked up at him and said, “It’s too early to make a conclusion. I treat Gu Nianjing so well, why did he want to stab me in the back.”

Shao Boqing was silent. Who knew? As the old saying goes, time tries all. Gu Nianjing had been scheming for so many years, and he had deceived them all. Shao Boqing was the most disappointed and regretful person. He thought that he had been in the business world for many years and had long had a pair of discerning eyes. He didn’t expect that he would indulge an enemy!

“What is Jiang Group’s attitude?”

“It is strictly businesslike.” Shao Boqing took out a letter from his pocket. “But the content of this letter is wrought and aggressive and doesn’t show the slightest sense of tolerance.”

Gu Nianbin lit a cigarette and took a puff of it. He squinted his eyes and slowly blew out the smoke. “Is Jiang Kaiwei involved in this?”

“I can’t tell now. Since the project began, Jiang Group has cooperated quite well with us. We haven’t had any disputes. They even adopted a tolerant attitude toward some small issues. But this time, their attitude is exceptionally tough, which is rather interesting.”

Gu Nianbin thought for a moment and said, “We don’t have such a large sum of money at the moment, right?”

Shao Boqing shook his head. “I have examined the accounts of the company. We don’t have such a large sum of money. But we are not at the end of our rope. Last time, I collected the idle funds from the subsidiaries and kept them as backup funds. Later, you asked me to transfer them to your father’s account. If the funds are not spent, we can use them to solve our urgent needs.”

“Alright, I’ll go home tomorrow and ask him for them. But such a sum of money is so little and will run out very soon.” Gu Nianbin frowned. “We have to think of another way to get money.”

Shao Boqing said, “Good. We should solve the most important problem first. Then we can think of a way to handle other issues slowly.” He stood up. “You must be tired after the long journey. Go to bed early and we’ll meet again tomorrow when you get to the office.”

Gu Nianbin saw him off at the door. He suddenly asked, “How is the stock market today?”

Shao Boqing was stunned for a moment and said, “It’s quite normal. What’s wrong? Do you think… No, Gu Nianjing doesn’t have that capacity. I think he just wanted to get some money.”

Gu Nianbin shook his head. “I always feel that it’s not a simple event. We’d better be careful. It is easy to get money. We can surely raise that money. It just takes more time. But if someone is plotting against us in the stock market, I’m not sure what will happen.”

When Shao Boqing heard what he said, his expression became serious. But he didn’t say anything. He sighed and silently walked out of the room. If it was really as Gu Nianbin said, Gu Group would be in trouble.

After seeing Shao Boqing off, Gu Nianbin did not go upstairs. He stood on the balcony for a while. The night wind blew on his face and it was a bit bone-piercing. It had been a long time since the Beginning of Spring. But the temperature had always been low and the spring seemed to be far away.

The sky was pitch-dark. The crescent moon that hung in the sky was faint like a shadow. The stars seemed to be hiding. After looking at the sky for a long time, he could vaguely see one or two of them.

Gu Nianbin thought that if they hadn’t returned, they would surely enjoy the beautiful moon and the starry sky over the sea in Yawan. Although it was just a thousand miles away from G city, he felt that it was far away as if it was in another world.

He rubbed his face that had been blown cold by the wind. Then he turned around and entered the house. No matter how he thought of it, the event was strange because it happened so suddenly. In his impression, Gu Nianjing was a low-key, reserved, and progressive man. He had a good reputation in the company, so Shao Boqing strongly recommended him.

When Gu Nianjing first came to the company, Gu Nianbin was on alert. After all, there was such a fallout between them. Gu Nian’an had never let it go. When his father was in charge of the company, he had repeatedly spoken rudely. His father was kind-hearted and didn’t bother about what he had done. Only when he took over the company did Gu Nian’an restrain himself a little.

However, Gu Nianjing never showed the slightest hatred. Even he must start from the bottom, he did not make any complaint. Day after day, year after year, he had been working diligently. Gradually, he dispelled Gu Nianbin’s concerns and was finally entrusted with heavy responsibility.

If Gu Nianjing had plotted his scheme since then, then what he wanted to do was not as simple as taking away a sum of money.

When he pushed open the door, he saw the quilt on the bed was spread flat. There was a small arch in the middle of it. It was not like the little girl sleeping but a pillow that was stuffed in it. He knew that she must curl up again. She liked to sleep like that, with her legs bent on her chest and her hands on her chest. As long as she slept alone, she would surely sleep in this way. But when he was by her side, she would stretch out her body and lie in his arms.

He had made some online research and found out that persons sleeping in this manner were extremely insecure. Therefore, he always held her in his arms all night long. After a long time, it gradually became his habit. It seemed that if he did not hold her, he would not be able to sleep anymore.

He went to the bathroom to take a shower and changed into his pajamas. Then he quietly uncovered the quilt and lay down. When he held the little girl in his arms, his chaotic heart strangely calmed down. He gently kissed her cheek. As long as she was with him, even if heaven was about to collapse, he would not be afraid.