Chapter 338 Hide Away

Lu Haochen excitedly went back to the company and called Du Xiaoxian to his office.

He handed the wedding dress album he had just brought back to her. “This is the latest wedding dress of this year. Pick one and I will ask the shop to make it.”

Du Xiaoxian bit her lip and did not open the album. She stammered, “Haochen, I…”

“What’s wrong?” Lu Haochen looked at her gently. “Are you a little nervous? To be honest, I am a little nervous too.”

“I heard that the company broke the contract and has to pay a large sum of money.”

When Lu Haochen heard this, he felt relieved. He smiled and said, “You don’t have to worry about this. I’ve already settled it. Just wait to be my bride.”

“But such a big sum of money, you…”

Lu Haochen walked around the table and pulled her to the sofa. “It’s a lot of money for you, but for me, that bit of money is insignificant, so you don’t have to worry.”

Du Xiaoxian lowered her head and said softly, “Haochen, you might not know, but I am actually a jinx. When I was six years old, my mother died. The people in the village all said that I was a jinx, but I did not believe it. Later, I met Gu Nianbin. He was originally fine, but after being with me, many bad things happened. Now it is your turn. I think…”

Lu Haochen found it funny. “What jinx? Xiaoxian, you are young. Why are you even more superstitious than my parents? That is all nonsense. What happened to Gu Nianbin has nothing to do with you. It is also none of your business that our company breaks the contract. You don’t have to worry about that. Leave everything to me. You can just be my bride.”

His tone was firm and his eyes were gentle. He was truly trustworthy. However, Du Xiaoxian was still uneasy. There was once a man who also told her this, but things turned out to be completely out of control. She was afraid that it would be the same this time.

“Haochen, I, I still need more time to think about the marriage.” Du Xiaoxian finally raised her head.

“But we’re running out of time,” Lu Haochen reminded her, “I won’t be able to protect you and Niannian unless I become Niannian’s real father.”

“But I can’t be so selfish. I can be your burden for the sake of Niannian.”

“Why are you a burden?” Lu Haochen held her hand. “Xiaoxian, don’t you understand what I feel about you? I like you. Even if you really are a burden, I’m willing to take it! Taking care of you and Niannian is what I want to do the most in the rest of my life!”

Du Xiaoxian’s heart was in a mess. She slowly retracted her hand. The more Lu Haochen acted like this, the bigger her guilt became. After all, she only liked Lu Haochen. She did not love him.

Lu Haochen looked at the hand that retracted and the light in his eyes gradually dimmed. “I know that you don’t love me, but I don’t care. In this world, there are many people who get married first and then fall in love. They can live happily. Why can’t we?”

Du Xiaoxian lowered her head and did not speak. If she did not marry Lu Haochen, Gu Nianbin would snatch Niannian away! If she married him, she could not guarantee that Lu Haochen would be happy. She was in a dilemma.

They sat quietly for a while. Lu Haochen finally sighed. “Xiaoxian, I will still prepare for the wedding. You should think about it carefully. Right now, the most important thing is Niannian. Gu Nianbin has already confirmed that Niannian is his child. I think he will definitely make a move. We need to be prepared for that.” He paused, and then he continued. “He knows where you live and Niannian’s kindergarten, so it is possible that he will snatch Niannian away at any time.”

Du Xiaoxian immediately got anxious. “Then what should we do? What should we do?”

Lu Haochen thought for a moment. “How about we hide Niannian away first?”

“Good, this is a good idea. But where should we hide her?” Du Xiaoxian looked anxious. “He is very powerful. Where should we hide Niannian so that he won’t find her?”

“Gu Nianbin may be very powerful in G City, but not necessarily in Yawan.” Lu Haochen said confidently, “Just hide her in my home. I promise you that she’ll be safe there.”

“Your home?” Du Xiaoxian frowned. “It is so easy to enter your home. One time, I forgot the password and climbed in from the window sill. It was not difficult at all.”

“I mean my parents’ house.” Lu Haochen said, “How about I take you to see it today? There are more than a dozen bodyguards and servants in their house. I don’t think Gu Nianbin has the ability to force his way in!”

Du Xiaoxian thought for a moment and said, “I won’t go. You take Niannian to your home in the afternoon. I will inform the teacher and let Niannian stay at your home for a few days. I want to have a serious talk with Gu Nianbin. This matter has to be solved sooner or later.”

“You can rest assured when Niannian stays in my home. She is so cute. My parents will definitely like her, but…” He looked at Du Xiaoxian worriedly. “Aren’t you going? Why don’t you stay with us?”

Du Xiaoxian shook her head. In fact, she should go and greet Lu Haochen’s parents personally. After all, she was to trouble Lu Haochen’s parents. However, Lu Haochen was already preparing for the wedding. His parents probably had known about it. At this critical juncture, she wanted to avoid arousing suspicion. She had not really made up her mind about marrying him.

They made the decision. After work, she and Lu Haochen went to pick up Du Niannian.

When Du Niannian saw that Du Xiaoxian and Lu Haochen came together to pick her up, she was extremely happy. As she ran towards them, she shouted in high spirits, “Dad, mom, dad, mom…”

Lu Haochen picked her up and kissed her. After Du Xiaoxian asked the teacher for leave for Du Niannian, the three of them chatted and laughed as they walked out.

When they reached Lu Haochen’s car, Du Xiaoxian said to Du Niannian, “Niannian, I will be very busy these days, so you will live in dad’s house for a few days, okay? When I finish working, I will come to pick you up.”

Du Niannian blinked her big black eyes and asked, “Who else is in dad’s house?”

“There are Grandpa and Grandma,” Lu Haochen smiled and said, “They will like you.”

Du Niannian tilted her head and smiled. “Will they like me like Granny does?”

“Of course, as long as you are a good girl.” Du Xiaoxian touched her daughter’s head. “They will like you like Granny does.”

Du Niannian nodded seriously. “Yes, I will surely be a good girl.”

Du Xiaoxian leaned over and kissed her. Then Du Xiaoxian opened the car door and let her sit in.

Lu Haochen walked around the front of the car, got into the driver’s seat, and waved at her. “Xiaoxian, we’re leaving.”

Du Xiaoxian also smiled and waved her hand. She watched the car leave, but she was a little sad. Du Niannian was going to leave her for only a few days, but she was already so sad. She dared not imagine what she would do if Gu Nianbin really took Du Niannian away. Could she live with that?

Back at home, Du Xiaoxian sat alone in the living room for a long time. She was thinking about how to beg Gu Nianbin to show mercy and to let her and Du Niannian go.

She knew Gu Nianbin. No matter how he changed, his heart was not bad. Even though Gu Nianbin had never given her a smile so far, she still wanted to try to communicate with him again.

Du Huayue would not come back tonight and she didn’t want to bother to cook a few dishes for herself. She simply made a bowl of noodles. Then she sat in the living room and watched TV. As Du Niannian was not at home, the house seemed to have lost its vitality and was cold and cheerless.

Her mind was not on the TV at all. She randomly changed the channels with the remote control and finally stopped at the Children’s Channel. Although she was already a mother and had experienced many hardships in life, she did not lose her childish disposition. She still liked watching cartoons and often watched with Du Niannian. Sometimes, they would even argue about which character was more powerful. Every time, they had to rely on Du Huayue to reach a conclusion.

She was also worried that Du Niannian would cause trouble in the Lu family. Although Du Niannian was a good girl, she was very daring. Sometimes, she would do something that made people not know whether to laugh or cry. One time, Du Xiaoxian tore her dress on a nail. Du Niannian quietly stuck her own sticker to the hole and proudly showed it to Du Xiaoxian, telling the latter that it had been fixed. As a result, the glue on the sticker stuck to the cloth. She wiped it for a long time but could not clean it. Finally, Du Huayue searched online and went to buy some essential balm to wipe off the glue. Later, she took the dress to the tailor’s to sew it up, but there was always a smell of essential balm.

There was also one time when she had just been transferred to the secretariat. Du Huayue specially bought her a pair of high heels to match the skirt. He said that all the female employees in the company wore that way. She wore it for a day and her feet hurt badly. When she returned home, she told Du Huayue that the shoes were a waste of money as she really couldn’t wear them. Somehow, Du Niannian heard it. While they were cooking in the kitchen, she secretly took the shoes to the room and used her pencil-sharpening knife to cut the high heels bit by bit. By the time they found out, one of the shoes was still fine, and the other one was cut into a mess.

She was more worried that Du Niannian was not used to being in the Lu family. After all, the Lu Family was rich and had many rules. Du Niannian was used to being free and unconstrained at home. She was afraid that Du Niannian would not be used to it.

In fact, Du Xiaoxian’s worries were unnecessary.

Du Niannian’s social ability and adaptability were excellent!

She was not afraid in face of strangers. When she entered the Lu Mansion and saw Lu Dingshen and Xiao Meiyuan, she called them grandpa and grandma. Her voice was clear and melodious, like a little skylark. The two elders of the Lu family were so happy that their eyes narrowed into slits. The little girl in front of them had a pair of big black eyes. When she smiled, she revealed a pair of big dimples. She was very beautiful like a doll.

They only had a child, Lu Haochen. He had been strong and independent since he was young, and he rarely stuck to them. Now that there was such a beautiful and sweet little girl at home, it was impossible for them to not like her. Especially Xiao Meiyuan. In the morning, she had harbored a slight objection to Lu Haochen marrying a single mother. But now when she saw Du Niannian, she even had a better impression of Du Xiaoxian, whom she had never met.

She happily said to Lu Dingshen, “The daughter is taught so well. The mother must be a good woman as well.”

Lu Dingshen had been looking at Du Niannian with a puzzled expression. He muttered to himself, “I feel that she looks familiar. Have we met her somewhere before?”

Lu Haochen smiled and said, “Dad, how come you meet her? You must remember wrongly.”

Xiao Meiyuan put Du Niannian on her lap and carefully looked at the latter. “She’s so beautiful, just like the little actresses on TV.” She smiled and said to Lu Haochen, “With your dad’s poor memory, any pretty girl would seem familiar!”