Gu Nianbin came home very late. He opened the door and saw that Du Xiaoxian was sitting on the sofa in the living room, looking at him blankly.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” Gu Nianbin frowned as he changed his shoes.

“Is Master alright?” Du Xiaoxian’s voice was soft and gentle, slightly hoarse, and it sounded like a veil in the silent night, which gently slid over Gu Nianbin’s eardrums. When she went downstairs, she heard Fang Yaru’s shout. It was as if it wasn’t good. She stopped and saw a group of servants standing downstairs, and their eyes were filled with disdain. Those gazes were too familiar, so she chose to flee.

“He’s alright. He took the medicine and has already fallen asleep. Doctor Liang is also there. Everything will be fine.” He walked over and sat beside her, unable to conceal his deep fatigue between his eyes. He knitted his brows and turned to look at her. Out of the corner of his eye, however, he saw a suitcase beside the wall and his expression changed slightly, “Are you really leaving?”

But Du Xiaoxian said, “Let me see your back.”

“No need, I’ve already applied the medicine.” Gu Nianbin looked at her red and swollen eyes. He knew that she must have cried again when she came back. His heart ached, and whispered, “I’m sorry, I…”

“You don’t need to say sorry to me. You should be sorry for Master and Madam.” Du Xiaoxian didn’t look at him. She stared indifferently at the cup on the coffee table. There was still half a cup of water in it, but it was already cold.

Gu Nianbin suddenly panicked. It was as if he was standing on the edge of a cliff. If he took another step forward, he would fall and break every bone. He tried to shake her hand and said, “Xian’er …”

Du Xiaoxian retracted her hand and looked up at him. Her cold gaze made the man even more nervous. “It could have been not like this. However, now I must leave since you made a scene like this.”

“Xian’er,” Gu Nianbin sighed, “this is not fair to me.”

“If I knew you were going to do this, I wouldn’t go back with you,” said Du Xiaoxian, “You should know that the last thing I want to do is to hurt Master and Madam. They are your parents. Don’t you understand? Hurting your closest people would eventually hurt yourself.”

“I’m sad too,” Gu Nianbin scratched his hair, looking a little dispirited, “I just don’t want you to leave.”

After saying this, both of them fell silent. In the quiet room, there was only a light breathing sound. The air seemed thin, and Gu Nianbin felt suffocated. He silently leaned there, and some chaotic scenes flashed through his mind, like extremely slow scenes: his mother’s angry face, his father’s despair falling, Du Xiaoxian dragging her luggage out of the apartment door …

After an unknown amount of time, Du Xiaoxian finally stood up and said, “Do as I say. You know where I live. If you miss me, call me. I’ll wait for your good news. Go to bed. You still have to fight against Jiang Kaiwei tomorrow.”

After taking two steps, she did not hear the man following her. She paused and looked at him, “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

Gu Nianbin took out his cigarette case and said coolly, “You go to bed first. I’ll come up after a cigarette.”

Du Xiaoxian nodded and silently went upstairs, touching the cool solid wooden handrail.

That night, Gu Nianbin did not go upstairs until dawn and took his clothes to take a bath. Du Xiaoxian didn’t know whether Gu Nianbin slept on the sofa downstairs last night, or he didn’t sleep all night, just like her.

She had been staring at the glass vase by the window with her eyes wide open. The sparkling sapphire blue under the lamp was like a deep sea, as well as the deep eyes of her man. She stared blankly at it, not thinking of anything, just staring at it…

The sound of the running water in the bathroom stopped. When Du Xiaoxian heard Gu Nianbin open the door and walk to the bedside step by step, she closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. After a while, the man did not come around the end of the bed to her. Du Xiaoxian waited patiently, but there was not a single sound. She almost thought that he was not around. She was about to turn around when she heard him sigh softly. And he sighed again. Then she heard his footsteps slowly walking towards the door.

Actually, this was also good. If they didn’t meet, they wouldn’t be so sad.

After hearing the sound of the door being closed, Du Xiaoxian sat up from her bed. She put on her slippers and opened the curtains first. Unexpectedly, there was sunlight, which was a little faint. The sunlight timidly stayed on the windowsill, as if it did not dare to enter the room.

She changed her clothes and went downstairs. She didn’t know how much Gu Nianbin had smoked last night. The living room still smelled of tobacco. The ashtray was full of cigarette butts and ashes. There were also a lot of gray ashes on the white wool carpet beside the sofa. It looked very dirty. She cleaned the ashtray, vacuumed the carpet, pushed open half of the window, and let the air out, so that the smell was not so strong.

This time, she left very decidedly, as if she was just going out to relax, and would be back soon.

When she reached the lobby downstairs, the butler saw her and smiled and asked if she would like his help to call a taxi. Seeing a smiling face in the morning was really a warm thing. Du Xiaoxian’s heart didn’t seem to be so heavy anymore. She smiled and said no. She was going to the restaurant at the corner to eat wontons. The butler said that the food at that restaurant tasted fantastic. As he spoke, he sent her to the door.

Du Xiaoxian stood at the door and bowed deeply to him. She said that it was a pleasure to live here and thanked him for taking care of her. The butler politely returned the greeting. When he bent down, his trousers were plastered straight, showing his gentlemanly demeanor.

Watching Du Xiaoxian drag her suitcase along the street slowly, the butler dialed Gu Nianbin’s phone. However, the man on the other end did not have much reaction this time. He answered that he knew it indifferently and hung up. The butler stood at the door. The thin figure in front of him gradually disappeared. It was only after she entered the small restaurant at the corner that he sighed lightly and returned to the lobby.

The residents of this apartment are both rich and powerful. There were also some beautiful mistresses. At first, the butler thought that Du Xiaoxian was also a mistress, but he gradually felt that she was different. Compared to those overdressed mistresses, she was really too ordinary and not remarkable at all. However, he felt that she was very special. Every time he saw her, he would always feel happy. Her clear eyes flashed with ethereal light. When he saw her, the corner of his lips would curl up and he unconsciously wanted to smile.

He could also see that President Gu treated her as a precious treasure, because every time the little girl left, President Gu was so anxious that he seemed to go crazy. A while ago, the news of the proposal had even been reported in newspapers. He thought that they would get married soon, and he was sincerely happy for them. However, he did not expect that the little girl would leave sadly today, while President Gu only responded indifferently when he heard the news. It seemed that what happened to Cinderella was always just a story, and the cruel reality was the most real life.

Du Xiaoxian ate a bowl of wontons, took out her phone, and was about to call Du Huayue. After thinking for a while, she didn’t call. What if Du Huayue had just fallen asleep after the night shift last night? He would be woken up by her again. Anyway, she had the key, so she could go there directly.

Thinking of this, she dragged her suitcase out, stood by the side of the road and called a taxi. After telling the driver the name of her destination, the driver said, “That place is about to be demolished. Haven’t you moved yet?”

“I’ve heard it from the broadcast,” said Du Xiaoxian, “I haven’t seen any movement yet.”

“Don’t you know?” The driver said, “It just happened these few days. I know a fellow-townsman who rents a house there. He won’t be able to live there for long.”

“Well,” said Du Xiaoxian, “Then I’m going to find a place to move into.”

The driver casually took out a business card and gave it to her. “If you want to rent a house, you can call this number. This agency is run by my brother-in-law. He’s honest, reliable and trustworthy. Just say that I introduced you. It doesn’t cost money to view the house. If you like it, the commission won’t be expensive. We are all from other cities. We all know that it’s not easy to earn a living here, so he won’t charge too much immorally.”

The driver chattered for a long time, but he didn’t hear Du Xiaoxian’s response. Then he asked, “Little girl, what do you do?”

Du Xiaoxian thought for a moment and said, “I do painting.”

“Painting?” The driver seemed to be a little puzzled, and suddenly came to his senses, “So you are a painter!” He turned around and looked at her. He said, “Looks like you’re quite young. I didn’t expect you to be a painter!”

“Not a painter,” Du Xiaoxian said embarrassedly, “Just do a little drawing.”

“Sold for money?”

“A little.”

“Is it expensive?”

“Not really,” Du Xiaoxian said. “The pricing was decided by the gallery. I didn’t get involved.”

“So you sell paintings at a gallery. You are indeed a painter,” the driver said with a smile. “You are modest.”

Du Xiaoxian was originally a person who wasn’t good at talking, but she met a driver who was very talkative. She chatted along the way, and the sadness in her heart lessened a lot.

When they reached the intersection of the neighborhood, Du Xiaoxian said, “I’ll get off right here. The road inside is narrow, so don’t go in.”

However, the driver said, “It doesn’t matter. It’s better to send you in. It’s inconvenient for you to walk while dragging a suitcase in such a cold wind.”

In fact, Du Xiaoxian just checked the taximeter. She was afraid that she would have to pay more if they went further, which was not cost-effective. Every time she left Gu Nianbin, she instinctively wanted to save money. Anyway, it wasn’t far from the intersection to where she lived. She could just walk.

She still insisted. The driver seemed to have seen through her thoughts and said, “Just pay me the money according to the current price. I won’t charge you for the journey inside. Is that alright?”

Du Xiaoxian was even more reluctant. She didn’t like to take advantage of others. However, the driver just stepped on the gas and kept going. He insisted on sending her to the downstairs of where she lived. Du Xiaoxian wanted to pay the full fare, but the driver didn’t charge her the extra one buck. When he left, he even poked his head out of the window and said, “If you want to rent a house, call the number on the business card.”

Du Xiaoxian said okay, thanked him again, and then dragged the suitcase upstairs.

She came out this time with a suitcase full of luggage. She didn’t feel heavy when she dragged it, but it was a little difficult to climb the stairs with it. She was originally quite strong, but after living with Gu Nianbin, she was spoiled a lot and got weak. She was so tired that she started to sweat when she went up two floors.

Finally, she reached the door. She took out her key to open it. Before the door was opened, she heard a roar from inside, “Who is it?”