Cinderella Innocent and Boss Charming - Chapter 348

Chapter 348 There Are No Kind Stepmothers

Du Xiaoxian thought that Gu Nianbin would stand them up the next day. After all, he had said such heartless words last night. But in the afternoon, Xiao Bonian informed her that Gu Nianbin had called. Gu Nianbin asked her and Gu Niannian to get ready to go out as the driver would be coming to pick them up very soon.

Du Xiaoxian was elated. She quickly went back to her room to get changed. She then grabbed her bag and sat in the living room to wait. After a while, Gu Niannian, who was beautifully dressed up by Fang Yaru, also came downstairs.

“Xiaoxian, have fun tonight. No need to hurry home.” Fang Yaru brought out a stack of money and stuffed it into Du Xiaoxian’s hands. “Buy Niannian whatever she likes.”

“It’s okay, Madam. I have money.” Du Xiaoxian declined.

“It’s not for you,” Fang Yaru forcibly stuffed the money into Du Xiaoxian’s bag, “it’s for Niannian.” Right now, she couldn’t figure out what was going on with her stubborn son at all. He was extremely hot-tempered, while Du Xiaoxian was not very bright. Fang Yaru was worried that Du Xiaoxian would say something wrong, and Gu Nianbin would fly into a rage and abandon the mother-and-daughter duo. That was totally possible, which was why Fang Yaru found the need to give Du Xiaoxian and Du Niannian more money just in case.

“Mom, take the money.” Du Xiaoxian wanted to return the money to Fang Yaru, but Gu Niannian held her back. “Grandma said that all the money in our family will be mine in the future. Whatever’s mine is also yours. So take the money, Mom.”

“Niannian, don’t spew nonsense.” Du Xiaoxian looked at Fang Yaru in embarrassment.

“That’s not nonsense. Of course all the money in our family will be hers. Who else can we give it to?” Fang Yaru sighed. “Unless you and Nianbin give me a cute and chubby grandson. That way, Niannian will have a companion too.”

“Madam, Young Master and I… We…” Du Xiaoxian became even more embarrassed and lowered her head.

“I know that Nianbin hasn’t changed his mind yet. That’s why you must do your best.” Fang Yaru encouraged her. “You have all of us at your back.”

Du Xiaoxian nodded shyly. In the past, when she and Gu Nianbin had been on good terms, the whole world had been against their relationship. She fought alone and had to consider Gu Nianbin’s feelings at all times. She had been truly physically and mentally exhausted. Now, everyone was on her side, but Gu Nianbin stood against her. It was like the two of them were separated by a vast ocean. No matter how treacherous the waters were, she wanted to bridge the ridge between them and seek her happiness.

The driver, Little Ding, arrived on time and drove them to a pizza restaurant. A waiter in a red uniform opened the door for them with a smile. The moment Gu Niannian stepped inside the restaurant, she cried out in surprise. The restaurant was catered to children, with its interior decorated with cartoon characters on the walls. The dining tables and chairs were also in vibrant colors such as red, green, and blue. The lamps on the ceiling were shaped like mushrooms of various sizes. It was a whimsical sight.

Sitting at an arc-shaped table, Gu Nianbin was looking down at his phone. Du Xiaoxian threw Gu Niannian a meaningful glance, and Gu Niannian called out, “Dad, Mom and I are here.”

Gu Nianbin looked up at Gu Niannian and smiled. He patted the chair beside him. “Take a seat.”

Since Gu Nianbin was being pleasant, Gu Niannian acted amiably too. She hopped over to the table. Du Xiaoxian followed her. There was a smile on Du Xiaoxian’s face. No matter how her relationship with Gu Nianbin was, it comforted her to see that the father-and-daughter duo was getting along well.

Gu Niannian looked at the menu in Gu Nianbin’s hand and started pointing at various items. “I want this, this, and this! I want ice cream too!”

Du Xiaoxian said, “Niannian, isn’t it a little too cold out for ice cream today?”

Gu Niannian hummed and said despondently, “No ice cream for me, then.”

“Go ahead and have some. I will order it for you.” Gu Nianbin raised his hand and beckoned the waiter over. He ordered the items that Gu Niannian wanted and some other stuff. The waiter took down the order on his tablet and bowed respectfully. “Got it, sir. Would you like anything else?”

From the moment Du Xiaoxian came in and sat down, Gu Nianbin had not looked at her. It was only then that he glanced at her nonchalantly. “Do you want ice cream too?”

“No, thanks. Children like it. I…”

Before she could finish speaking, Gu Nianbin impatiently waved for the waiter to leave. “One more ice cream.”

Gu Niannian covered her mouth and giggled. “Mom likes ice cream too.”

Neither Gu Nianbin nor Du Xiaoxian spoke much, but the atmosphere was quite lively because Gu Niannian chattered on and on. She asked Gu Nianbin to pour her some juice, and then asked Du Xiaoxian to wipe her mouth. Whenever she found one of the dishes delicious, she would feed it to both her parents.

Gu Nianbin didn’t have experience interacting with children. Moreover, because of Du Xiaoxian, Gu Niannian had always been hostile toward him. It was rare for him to get along so well with Gu Niannian, and he couldn’t help but feel happy. After all, she was his daughter, and blood was thicker than water. The smile on his face broadened.

As long as Gu Nianbin’s expression was not dark, Du Xiaoxian was not that afraid of him. When she saw that his glass was empty, she extended her hand to grab it. “I’ll get you a refill.”

“There’s no need.” Gu Nianbin reached out to grab the glass and stop her, but Du Xiaoxian was a bit faster. He ended up grabbing the back of Du Xiaoxian’s hand. As if he had just got a shock, he immediately retracted his hand.

Du Xiaoxian blushed. With her head down, she walked away with the glass. Gu Niannian giggled. “Dad, you have to treat Mom better. She is afraid of you.”

Gu Nianbin smiled and asked, “Are you afraid of me?”

“I am, sometimes,” Gu Niannian said honestly. “But right now, I’m not.”

“Niannian, you’re still young, so you don’t understand the world of adults.” Gu Nianbin tried to explain things to Gu Niannian. “No matter what my relationship with your mom is like, you’ll always be my daughter.”

“I want the two of you to be together. I don’t want you to find a stepmother for me!” Gu Niannian pouted. “Snow White’s stepmother is always trying to harm her!”

“Of course that won’t happen.” From the corner of his eye, Gu Nianbin saw that Du Xiaoxian was walking over. “I’ll definitely find you a kind-hearted one.”

“There are no kind stepmothers.” Gu Niannian was skeptical. “Only my mom is kind! Father Lu said that Mom is the kindest person in the world!”

Gu Nianbin’s expression darkened, and his voice became even colder. “Father Lu? You only have one father!”

“If you have something to say, say it nicely. Don’t scare Niannian. She’s just a child and didn’t say it on purpose.” Hearing how frigid Gu Nianbin’s voice was, Du Xiaoxian got scared and quickly came up to smooth things over.

Gu Niannian did not fall for Gu Nianbin’s trick. Her voice was even louder than his. “Father Lu has never raised his voice with me! He’s much better than you!”

“Niannian!” Du Xiaoxian scolded her daughter in a low voice. “Stop talking.”

Gu Niannian snorted indignantly and kept quiet.

Gu Nianbin looked at Du Xiaoxian with a sarcastic smile. “It seems that it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t collaborated with Tianchen Company, I wouldn’t have met you, and I wouldn’t have come between you and Lu Haochen. If I had known that the two of you liked him so much, I would have given you my blessing.”

“You know that’s not the case. He treats Niannian and me very well, and he’s a good person.” As Du Xiaoxian spoke, her eyes turned red. “But in the end, he can’t replace you. You are Niannian’s biological father!”

Gu Nianbin sneered. “So what if I’m her biological father? Does blood matter so much? You almost married him anyway.”

“I didn’t know that you…”

Gu Nianbin interrupted her. “Does it matter that you didn’t know? What’s done is done.” He laughed self-depreciatingly. “I don’t know why I agreed to have dinner with you two. What a terrible meal!” He stood up, grabbed his coat from the back of the chair, and left.

Du Xiaoxian tried her best to hold back her tears, but they leaked out anyway. Whenever something like that happened, Gu Niannian was the brave one. She grabbed a tissue and wiped away her mother’s tears before comforting her mother softly. “Mom, don’t cry. Dad is a bad guy. Let’s not spend time with him anymore and go back to Yawan. You can marry Father Lu. Father Lu would never scold us. And there’s Grandpa and Grandma at Father Lu’s place too. They like me very much. Mom, let’s stay with Father Lu, okay?”

Du Xiaoxian sniffled and shook her head. “Niannian, don’t say words like that again in the future. Your father will be angry if he hears it. Your surname is Gu, and you’re a member of the Gu family. You can’t just leave like that. You can’t leave, and I won’t leave either.”

“But Dad is always bullying you,” Gu Niannian pouted and said angrily. “I feel bad about you!”

“I know,” Du Xiaoxian gathered her daughter in her arms, “but I let him down. It’s only right for him to be angry. You shouldn’t provoke him anymore, okay?”

“I’m not afraid of him.” Gu Niannian was still fuming. “Auntie said that he’s just a paper tiger!”

“But Mom will be sad if you make Dad angry.” Du Xiaoxian caressed her daughter’s hair. “Do you want to make me sad?”

“No, I don’t.” Gu Niannian sighed like an adult. “Alright. For your sake, I won’t argue with him anymore.”

Du Xiaoxian was tremendously sad that Gu Nianbin left, but Gu Niannian seemed indifferent about it. She took Gu Nianbin’s almost untouched pizza and said, “Mom, let’s eat Dad’s pizza too. We shouldn’t waste food.”

“You’ve already eaten a lot. Be careful not to overeat.”

“It’s okay. Uncle said that my stomach is like a black hole!” Gu Niannian giggled and started eating again.

Du Xiaoxian smiled morosely. Gu Nianbin used to spoil her a lot in the past too, and she had become a glutton because of it. She loved all kinds of delicious food, including ice cream. Sometimes, Gu Nianbin was worried that she would overeat and tried to stop her from eating even more. She would giggle like this and say “my stomach is like a black hole” too.

There was once when she really overate and ended up hiccupping non-stop. Gu Nianbin had been so anxious that he had dragged her to the hospital. Another time, to help her digest the food in her belly, they had taken a stroll on the cold streets. He had wrapped her up in his coat, only revealing her eyes. They had stuck close to each other. Even though it had been winter, she had not felt cold at all because there had been warmth in her heart.

That was in the past. Back then, she had still been a young woman. She had been the apple of Gu Nianbin’s eye, and he had doted on her like a princess. Who would have thought that, in a few years, things would turn out like this between them? As long as there was a small disagreement, Gu Nianbin would get up and leave.

Du Xiaoxian sighed a little gloomily. When she came back to her senses, she realized that Gu Niannian had almost finished eating the entire pizza. She quickly stopped her daughter. “That’s enough, little glutton. You’re going to get a stomachache if you keep eating.”

Gu Niannian licked her lips and wiped her hands clean with a napkin. “Mom, are we still going to watch the puppet show?”

“Of course we are. Auntie has given us the tickets.” Du Xiaoxian put on Gu Niannian’s coat for her. “It’s almost show time. Let’s go.”