Chapter 323 Important Guests

After watching Du Niannian enter the classroom, Lu Haochen returned to the car and said to Du Xiaoxian, “I’ll pick up Niannian in the afternoon! I’ve already promised her. I can’t go back on my word.”

Du Xiaoxian looked helpless. “You have doted on her too much!”

“Shouldn’t we dote on the child?” Lu Haochen said confidently.

Du Xiaoxian smiled and shook her head. In fact, she herself was the same. Du Niannian was bold and mischievous. But since she was born, Du Xiaoxian had never punished her. Du Xiaoxian was a kind mother

and always coaxed her softly. Now, as Du Niannian was doted on by both Du Huayue and Lu Haochen, Du Xiaoxian feared that the child would be spoiled.

She also knew that this was not good. But after all, she owed a lot to her daughter. Du Huayue’s reason was even more assertive. He said that he wanted Du Niannian to be strong and brave and must not let Du Niannian become another Du Xiaoxian. Hearing this, she laughed silently. She did not think that there was anything wrong with her being like this. However, she preferred Du Niannian’s optimistic and cheerful personality. After all, the little girl was very happy. Making her daughter happy in her childhood was a goal that she had been trying to achieve.

As the old saying goes, boys could be raised in frugality while girls should be raised in abundance. She was not rich, but she tried her best to let the child live a better life. Now she began to work in Tianchen Company again and was still in the secretariat. She knew that if she wanted to give the child a better life, she had to have a regular job and a stable income.

She was grateful to Lu Haochen. For so long, he had not been clingy and behaved appropriately. He had always maintained a sense of propriety and never gave her any extra burden. Perhaps he still liked her. He sustained contact with her and revealed his sincerity in his daily company. Who could tell what would happen in the future?

When Lu Haochen chased after her, she firmly refused him. But when he stopped doing that, she got over his courting. She could see that Lu Haochen really liked Du Niannian. This man had devoted deep love to the child. Originally, she had accepted her life after leaving Gu Nianbin and had been determined to not have other men. But now, looking at the happy Du Niannian, she was a little indecisive.

She liked this man, but she didn’t love him. Accepting his courting was unfair to him. But she couldn’t bear to see Du Niannian sad. Her heart seemed to be in a mess. Being at a loss, she sighed faintly in her heart.

But Lu Haochen still noticed it. He asked, turning to look at her, “What’s wrong? Is there something bothering you?”

“No,” she was quite satisfied with her life now. With a stable income, the quality of her life had improved a lot. At least, Du Niannian could eat a boiled egg every morning.

She was now a clerk in the secretariat and no longer needed to do cleaning in Lu Haochen’s office. Every morning, she could send Du Niannian to kindergarten on time and did not need to go to work too early. That made her life easier.

Although she was just a junior clerk, everyone would leave things involving Lu Haochen to her. Regardless of whether she was willing or not, they directly put them on her table and said, “Sorry to trouble you, Xiaoxian.” Then they left with a smile.

She knew what everyone meant and always smiled silently.

Because of her return, everyone believed that her relationship with Lu Haochen must have been closer. Although Lu Haochen rarely came to the office to look for her now, she went to his office several times a day. So he could always see her. Later, even Rose asked her to do things such as serving tea in the president’s office. She was easy-going, so she would do these extra jobs when was asked to.

At first, everyone treated her warmly and politely because of Lu Haochen. However, after getting along with her, they felt that she was gentle and willing to suffer a loss. She agreed to everyone’s requests. Therefore, everyone really liked her, which was why they were not as polite as before. When it was inconvenient for them to ask Rose for something, they directly went to her.

In the previous period when the quarterly bonuses were delayed, no one dared to ask Rose about it. But several people surrounded her and urged her to go to ask Lu Haochen. She felt awkward. However, they said plausibly, “You are more familiar with the boss than us. No one is more suitable than you to ask him about this.”

One of them even showed a pitiful look. “Xiaoxian, go ask him for us! I am short of money now!”

She had no choice but to agree. After sending documents to Lu Haochen, she didn’t leave. He naturally asked her if there was anything else. She blushed and stammered out her intention. Then, Lu Haochen directly asked her, “Are you short of money now?”

“No,” She said with a red face, “I just wonder when it will be disbursed.”

Lu Haochen said, “I have approved it. It might be disbursed on the weekend.”

“Oh.” She quickly left. When she told everyone about this good news, they began to banter with her, saying that as long as they asked Du Xiaoxian to go to the boss for things, she would surely get them done!

So today, little Min, who was sitting diagonally opposite her, mysteriously gave a leave application to her, asking her to get it signed by the boss.

Du Xiaoxian asked. “Shouldn’t you go to Miss Rose first when you want to take a leave?”

Little Min said, “I have already asked for a leave this month. So Rose definitely won’t approve it. But I really have an emergency to deal with. You can just ask the boss to sign it. If he signs it, Rose won’t say anything.”

She was a little hesitant, but she finally agreed to help when little Min pleaded with her in a piteous tone. When she sent documents to Lu Haochen, she put the leave application on the top. When Lu Haochen saw it, he was stunned and said, “Why do they entrust this kind of thing to you?”

She said with an embarrassed smile. “It’s just a lift of the finger!”

Lu Haochen was agreeable to the leave application. He signed it without hesitation. When Du Xiaoxian handed it to little Min, the latter hugged her happily and jumped. “Xiaoxian, you have done me a great favor. I will treat you to dinner later!”

Du Xiaoxian said with a smile, “You don’t have to be so polite. It was just a lift of the finger!”

She was now the most popular person in the secretariat because she always agreed to everyone’s requests. However, the people from other departments still criticized her. People often talked about her in the pantry. But as soon as she came, they would stop immediately. She understood in her heart, but she did not care about it. After all, she grew up in criticism, and she was already used to it.

On the weekend, when she worked overtime, she brought Du Niannian to the company. Only then did everyone know that she had a daughter. They were shocked so much. However, Du Niannian was lively, cute, and honey-tongued. She greeted everyone when she went upstairs and downstairs. Soon everyone liked her. Before Du Xiaoxian started her work, she told Du Niannian to play in the company and not run out. Du Niannian agreed and said that she would go downstairs to play with Du Huayue. Then she ran away.

The news that Du Xiaoxian had a daughter had already spread through the internal network. So when the people downstairs saw Du Niannian, they all knew that she was Du Xiaoxian’s child.

Huang Yali was chatting with someone in the corridor. She looked at the child who was following behind Du Huayue and sneered. Her face was full of disdain. “So she is a burden.”

Du Niannian’s ears were keen, and she heard it immediately. She turned around and stared at Huang Yali with her big eyes. “Who is the burden?”

Huang Yali was shocked. She did not expect Du Niannian to hear it!

Ordinary children might ignore it when they heard this, but Du Niannian was different. She quickly walked to Huang Yali and asked seriously, “Why did you insult me?”

Huang Yali sneered again, “Who insulted you? By the way, you are much better than your silent, boring mom!”

Du Niannian glared and pointed at her. “How dare you insult my mom?”

“Did I insult your mom?” Huang Yali spread out her hands with an innocent look. “Child, please don’t be so sensitive, okay?”

Du Huayue came over to pull Du Niannian. “Forget it, Niannian. She was just joking!”

“She clearly said that I was a burden and my mom was a silent, boring woman!”

Du Niannian was very sensitive because she had no father since childhood. When others called her a wild child without a father, she would fight with them. When she was said to be a burden, she would also be very angry. Now, this aunt even said that Du Xiaoxian was a silent, boring woman. She was even angrier!

“You must apologize!” She looked at Huang Yali righteously.

“Apologize?” Huang Yali laughed and said, “I didn’t do anything wrong. Why should I apologize?”

“Hmph!” Du Niannian glared at her fiercely. “If you don’t apologize, I will tell my dad. He is the boss here!”

When Huang Yali heard this, she got angry. She was the happiest person when Du Xiaoxian left. But Du Xiaoxian came back soon afterwards and still worked as a clerk in the secretariat. It seemed that Du Xiaoxian was getting even closer to Lu Haochen. Now, even Du Xiaoxian’s daughter was so arrogant. Huang Yali snorted coldly, “Who is your dad? How dare you call the boss your dad?”

When Du Huayue saw that Huang Yali got angry with a child, he tried to persuade her, “Alright, stop. This child will be really terrible when she gets serious!”

Huang Yali was full of anger. She sneered at Du Huayue, “Vice-captain Du, what’s the matter with you? Don’t lecture me before you get related to the boss!”

Du Huayue didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. What did she say that? He reminded her out of good intentions, but Huang Yali flew into a rage out of humiliation and vented her anger on him. Du Huayue didn’t want to argue with her. He held Du Niannian’s hand and wanted to leave.

But the child was just as stubborn as her mom. “Uncle, she hasn’t apologized to me yet!”

Du Huayue had to persuade her as well. “Children shall not go against adults. Let’s go find your mom.”

Du Niannian glanced at Huang Yali hatefully. When she looked up and saw a man coming over, she immediately ran over and shouted happily, “Dad, dad!”

Lu Haochen had just returned from outside. He did not expect Du Niannian to come. He squatted down and picked her up. “Why are you here, my dear?”

“Mom brought me here. She had to work today and no one could take care of me, so she brought me here,” Du Niannian suddenly pointed at Huang Yali and said, “Dad, she called me a burden, and mom a silent, boring woman. I asked her to apologize. But she refused to do so. She even said that Uncle was lecturing her before he became related to you!” The little girl had a sharp tongue and told the whole story very clearly.

Huang Yali stood there, and her expression changed. Lu Haochen slowly walked over and looked at Huang Yali coldly. “Did you call my daughter a burden?”

“Boss, that’s not what I meant.”

“You even said that her mom was a silent, boring woman in front of her. You quarreled with a child. It can be seen that there is a problem with your character.”

“Boss, I really didn’t mean that.” Huang Yali felt so ashamed.

“Does a child tell lies? You shall have the courage to accept the consequence of what you have done. Apologize to her immediately!”

Huang Yali got awkward. She really wanted to slap the table and say that she would resign! But with such a high salary and such a good working environment, she didn’t want to leave. She could only hold back her anger and say to Du Niannian, “I’m sorry, child. I was wrong to speak that just now.”

“Alright, I accept your apology,” Du Niannian waved her little hand and said, “Mom said that a person could be forgiven if they apologized for what they did wrong.” She hugged Lu Haochen’s neck and smiled sweetly. “Dad, let’s go find mom!”

Everyone in the Administration Department saw this incident. Lu Haochen left with Du Niannian, and the news spread throughout the company. Everyone felt that Lu Haochen had accepted Du Xiaoxian’s daughter, and their relationship was so intimate. Then, it was a matter of certainty that Du Xiaoxian would become the wife of the boss.

After that, no one dared to look down on Du Xiaoxian anymore.

In a flash, it was the summer of the next year. In fact, Yawan didn’t change with seasons. What changed was the dates on the calendar.

The relationship between Lu Haochen and Du Xiaoxian was still tepid. They were like two parallel lines that had no intersection. But the distance between the two lines was much closer than before.

Lu Haochen believed that it would not be long before the two parallel lines merged into one.

Du Xiaoxian seemed to be used to his company. Sometimes, when Du Niannian asked him to stay in her home, he would stay for a night. He often used Du Niannian as an excuse to invite Du Xiaoxian out for dinner. She also gladly accepted the invitation. In the eyes of outsiders, they were a happy family.

He occasionally sent her clothes that were not very expensive. Du Xiaoxian declined a few times and accepted them in the end. He knew that Du Xiaoxian’s heart had begun to waver. Moreover, Du Huayue and Du Niannian often tried to persuade her. Everything was going in the right direction.

Thinking of this, Lu Haochen smiled. He picked up the intercom and dialed Du Xiaoxian’s number. “Come to my office.”

The person on the other end of the line replied “okay” softly, and soon she came.

“I have important guests tonight. I want you to come with me!”

“Important guests?” Du Xiaoxian frowned. “Is it appropriate for me to go with you? I don’t know how to talk.”

“You don’t need to say anything. Just stay by my side,” Lu Haochen pointed at the large paper box on the table. “I have prepared the clothes for you. Because the other party comprises of a man and a woman, it is only polite for me to attend with a partner. Although you are not my wife, you are my daughter’s mom. Just do me a favor, okay?”

Du Xiaoxian did not like this kind of entertainment, but she still reluctantly agreed. However, she had never expected that she would meet him!