The next morning, as soon as Gu Nianbin left, Du Xiaoxian got up and cleaned up. Then she went to the noodle restaurant to see Du Huayue. Although she arrived early, Du Huayue had already been eating there. He calmly looked at her and said, “Order whatever you want.”

Du Xiaoxian asked for a bowl of noodles. Seeing that Du Huayue kept eating noodles and didn’t speak, she knew that he was angry. So she explained, “Brother Ah Yue, listen to me. It’s really not what you think. You misunderstood him. He’s not that kind of person, and…”

“Enough.” Du Huayue said in a muffled voice, “You should not disturb me when I am eating. You are usually a person of few words. Why are you talking so much now?”

Du Xiaoxian could only stop speaking. This was the first time Brother Ah Yue had been so angry with her. The little girl was panicked. She did not know what to do. So she could only sit quietly.

A large bowl full of noodles was served. There were also peanuts, minced meat, diced pickled vegetables, and minced onions on it. Du Xiaoxian used the chopsticks to pick up a few noodles and put them in Du Huayue’s bowl. She smiled flatteringly. “Brother Ah Yue, you shall eat more.”

Du Huayue did not appear grateful and said angrily, “Have you been so accustomed to the delicacies when travelling with Gu Nianbin that you don’t like this simple diet?”

Du Xiaoxian wanted to argue with him. But when she glanced at Du Huayue’s expression, she gave it up. She was not eloquent at all. She was afraid that if she said something wrong, Du Huayue would get even angrier.

Du Huayue was indeed angry. He saw how sad Du Xiaoxian was when Gu Nianbin two-timed her. Du Xiaoxian managed to make up her mind to break up with Gu Nianbin and move out. But she still wept every day, causing him to feel uncomfortable. In just a few days, Du Xiaoxian lost her mind and left with Gu Nianbin after he just gave her a ring and said a few sweet words.

Seeing that Du Xiaoxian had lowered her head as if she made a mistake, he couldn’t bear it anymore and slightly relaxed his expression. “Tell me, what are your plans?”

“I,” Du Xiaoxian looked up at him and carefully said, “I want to marry him.”

“Are you crazy?” Du Huayue cried, “You want to marry him. Does he want to marry you? Don’t think you’ll get married just because he proposed to you. It’s just a trick used by rich people to coax little girls. Xiaoxian, I told you, you two were not a good match. Not at all. Why don’t you listen to me?”

“Brother Ah Yue. But I like him and he likes me too. Why can’t we be together?”

“You know why you can’t be together.” Du Huayue was disappointed. “Wake up, Du Xiaoxian. You have managed to get rid of him. Why are you so hopeless? When he coaxed you, you went back to him obediently. Don’t forget the pain he brought to you. I’m telling you, if you don’t listen to me, you’ll definitely suffer.”

Du Xiaoxian understood what Du Huayue worried about. However, how could she bear to leave him? Gu Nianbin was so kind to her. It was just like what Zhou Ting said, he took extremely good care of her. He loved her so much that it made others enviable.

Every time she left, he would be so sad. But no matter how sad and angry he was, he would still find her and take her back.

She grew up amid contempt and loneliness. She didn’t have enough food and clothes. She lived in a leaky and shabby house. Her aunt always sighed when seeing her. But no one was happier than her now because of Gu Nianbin. He created a perfect world for her, sheltering her from the wind and rain, allowing her to live in peace and contentment. Most importantly, he loved her more than he loved anything else in the world just as she loved him. Therefore, this time, she would not leave him. Even if the sky was to collapse, she would still stay with him.

Even Du Huayue said so much that his tongue turned dry, Du Xiaoxian just lowered her head and did not say a word. She came with a hat on her head. When she walked in, she took it off and put it on her chair. Her hair was a little messy. As the cold breeze blew in from the door, a lock of her hair fluttered in the wind. Du Huayue looked at it several times and finally couldn’t help but reach out to tidy it up.

Du Xiaoxian seemed to be frightened. Her neck shrank and she raised her head to look at him.

Du Huayue smiled unnaturally. “Your hair is messed up.”

Du Xiaoxian answered, raising her hand to tidy up her hair. Then she said softly, “Brother Ah Yue, I know you’re doing this for my good. But without him, I can’t live. I know I’m hopeless but I can’t do anything about it. I believe he will always be nice to me. If in the future,” she bit her lip, ” he really doesn’t want me anymore, it doesn’t matter. As long as he still wants me now, I won’t leave him. Brother Ah Yue, don’t blame me. I’m really hopeless. ”

Du Huayue stopped talking and looked at the stain on the table in silence.

When Du Xiaoxian and Du Huayue fell in silence, Gu Nianbin was overseeing the battle in the financial department. As soon as the stock market started trading these two days, he would personally keep an eye on it. After all, his opponent was Jiang Kaiwei. So he couldn’t afford to be careless in the slightest way.

When the trading started in the morning, Gu Group’s stock rose by more than a point. But the good situation did not last long. Soon, it started to drop again. Shao Boqing pushed open the door and came in. He whispered, “How was the stock today?”

Gu Nianbin shook his head. “Jiang Kaiwei is truly worthy of his title as a genius trader. He is indeed superb, making me unable to understand his intentions.”

“Don’t be afraid.” Shao Boqing said. “It’s just the beginning. We’ll find out his rules and know his intentions. Even if he wants to collect funds from the stock market, what he gets will be just a drop in the bucket. He won’t be able to shake us.”

“Don’t underestimate our opponent.” Gu Nianbin said, “Since he has already set up a trap long ago, he must be well-placed to win. We have to act according to the situation.”

As he spoke, Gu Nianbin’s cellphone rang. It was a call from Zhou Ting. When Gu Nianbin answered the call, he frowned. “Is there anything she wants to talk to me?”

“No,” said Zhou Ting, “she’s here. Do you…”

Gu Nianbin thought for a moment and said, “Alright, I’ll return.”

Shao Boqing asked, “You look embarrassed. Who’s here?”

“Xia Xiaowan.”

Shao Boqing was a little surprised. “What is she doing here at this time? Your proposal to Du Xiaoxian has hit the headline. Everyone knew this. Why does she still come to see you? Besides, you already knew what she did. You didn’t care about that. Why does she still have the face to come looking for you?”

“That’s why I have to see her and make myself clear, so as to save trouble in the future.” He patted Shao Boqing on the shoulder and said, “Stay here and keep an eye on the stock. Notify me if something happens.”

When he returned to the office, he saw Xia Xiaowan sitting on the chair opposite Zhou Ting. She lowered her head and was playing with her phone. Hearing the sound of the door, she looked up at him and smiled faintly. “It’s not easy to see you now.”

Gu Nianbin did not look straight at her. He only said to Zhou Ting, “Bring a cup of tea and a cup of coffee.” He then walked into the office inside first.

Xia Xiaowan followed him and walked into the office. Gu Nianbin gestured to her to sit down. Then she sat on the sofa and sighed with emotion, “Brother Nianbin, when did we become so unfamiliar? If it were in the past, I would never have dreamed that our relationship would become like this.”

“Xiaowan, we could have been as close as before.” Gu Nianbin stared at her eyes. “It is you who made our relationship like this. Even if we can’t be husband and wife, we can still be brother and sister. But now…”

“What’s wrong now?” Xia Xiaowan suddenly laughed, “Is it right to abandon your former love when you get a new one? A saying holds: A man only attends to the smiles of his new love and never cares whether the former one will cry.”

“Xiaowan, don’t be unreasonable. Tell me, why do you come here to see me today?”

“I,” Just as Xia Xiaowan was about to speak, Zhou Ting opened the door and came in. So she had to stop and wait. She didn’t say anything until Zhou Ting left, “Brother Nianbin, of course, I come here to see you because I have something very important to say.” She took out an envelope from her bag and handed it to Gu Nianbin. “Anyway, you have to admit what happened that night.”

Gu Nianbin lifted his eyelids and cast a cold gaze at her. Xia Xiaowan felt a lack of confidence but still looked at him. “Why? Don’t you dare to take it?”

Gu Nianbin lowered his eyes and looked at the white envelope. He finally received it. But he didn’t open it and threw it on the coffee table.

“Aren’t you going to open it and take a look?” Xia Xiaowan’s lips curled into a sarcastic smile.

“I know what’s in it.” Gu Nianbin leaned against the back of the sofa. He made an indifferent expression and lazily crossed his legs.

Xia Xiaowan rarely saw him like this. She couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment. “Do you know it?”

“Yes.”

“Since you know what is inside, then you have to give me an explanation.” Seeing that he put aside all considerations of face, Xia Xiaowan simply showed her cards. “If you don’t agree to marry me, I’ll disclose these photos. What do you think will happen if your parents see these photos? What will happen if my parents and elder brother see them?”

Gu Nianbin took out a cigarette pack and lit it. He took a puff and narrowed his eyes to look at Xia Xiaowan. After a while, he said, “Xiaowan, you’ve changed. You’ve changed so much that I feel I don’t know you at all.”

“People are bound to change.” Xia Xiaowan snorted. “Brother Nianbin, we have talked about this last time. Let’s get to the point.”

“Yes, we talked about it last time. But I didn’t expect you to be like this.” Gu Nianbin flicked his cigarette ash. Looking at the girl in front of him, he saw that she was still the same as she used to be. Her white jade-like face was full of brilliance, and her smile was gentle. However, something was different. Her appearance did not change but what he felt about her changed.

Under his gaze, Xia Xiaowan lowered her eyes. She gently stirred the coffee in the cup and said softly, “Brother Nianbin, if you knew what happened to me, you wouldn’t be surprised by the changes I’ve gone through. The original Xia Xiaowan is already dead. She was too stupid and deserved to die. But the new Xia Xiaowan is different. She’s smarter and stronger than before. You should be happy for me.”

“You’re wrong, Xiaowan.” Gu Nianbin slowly exhaled a mouthful of grey smoke. “I know you’ve gotten hurt seriously. But you can’t hurt others just because you’ve been hurt. I know a person. She had suffered a lot since her childhood. She grew up amid ridicule and went through all kinds of contempt and bullying. However, she never changed her mind. She never remembered how bad others treated her but only be grateful for them. With her, I forget the darkness of this world but only see the beauty…”

“Enough.” Xia Xiaowan smiled coldly. “I know who you’re talking about. It is Du Xiaoxian, right? It is really true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When you liked me back then, you felt good about whatever I did. Now you like Du Xiaoxian, so everything she did was good. Brother Nianbin, stop talking the nonsense. Just tell me, are you going to marry me or not?”

“No.” Gu Nianbin looked at her calmly and glanced at the envelope. “You can do whatever you want!”

“Alright.” Xia Xiaowan grabbed the envelope and stood up angrily. “I hope you won’t regret!”