Cinderella Innocent and Boss Charming - Chapter 365
Chapter 365 I Want to Keep You Company
Gu Nianbin took Du Xiaoxian away from the stone steps and turned to a mountain path.
Du Xiaoxian had been to Yuefeng Mountain a few times, but she had no impression of this place. It seemed that there was no road ahead. But as they kept walking forward, she saw the road was right under her feet.
The ground was covered with a thick layer of leaves. The weather was clear in the last few days, so the leaves were a little dry. When they stepped on the leaves, the leaves made crunching sounds. It was quite fun.
Du Xiaoxian thought that few people walked on this path, which was why there were so many leaves here. She stepped on them very slowly and carefully, listening to the sound of the leaves crunching under her feet.
Gu Nianbin had been walking slowly, and they were even slower now with all the leaves. His hand that was holding Du Xiaoxian was sweating, so his palm was wet. His hand had always been warm and dry, so she did not know why he was sweating now. It felt slippery and made it difficult to hold, so he let go of her hand and took out a packet of cigarettes.
Du Xiaoxian glanced at it and said, “You’re coughing! Don’t smoke.”
Gu Nianbin did not listen to her and put the cigarette in his mouth. Du Xiaoxian was a little timid. She lowered her eyes and stepped on the ground several times.
They continued to walk forward. Gu Nianbin held the cigarette in his mouth, but he did not light it for a long time. He suddenly muttered to himself, “It’s dry here. Beware of mountain fires.”
When Du Xiaoxian heard him say this, she thought it was strange. Suddenly, she saw a sign on the side of the road. It read, ‘It’s dry here. Beware of mountain fires.’
Gu Nianbin took the cigarette, twirled it between his fingers, and then threw the crushed-up cigarette on the ground.
The mountain path was long and winding. Du Xiaoxian looked back and said worriedly, “We’ve come a long way. Do you still remember the way back?”
“Are you afraid that I’ll get us lost?” The man narrowed his eyes at her.
“No, it won’t matter if I’m lost when I’m with you.”
Gu Nianbin looked at her and seemed to be waiting for her to continue. Du Xiaoxian said, “After all, wherever you are, I’ll be there too.” She said her real thoughts without any intention of currying favor.
His face was dark and unreadable. After a long time, he snorted. “I was in G City, so why did you run to Yawan?”
This was a taboo topic that could not be broached. His tone was a little menacing when he said that. Du Xiaoxian was in the wrong, so she lowered her head without saying a word.
Although her initial intention was good, which was to sacrifice herself for his happiness, things went against her wishes and only brought him more pain.
The sun had already risen above their heads. Sunlight poked through the gaps between the leaves like resting butterflies. When the wind blew, they seemed to fly into the air.
They did not feel hot as they walked under the shade of the trees. It was only when they saw a familiar roof that Du Xiaoxian suddenly realized that they had returned to the back of the villa after walking around in a huge circle.
For safety reasons, no one could enter through the back, so there was no road. They had to jump down from the high slope. This was not difficult for Du Xiaoxian at all. Although it was high, she would be fine if she rolled on the ground after jumping down.
She often did this when she was chased by the children in the village as a child. When she jumped down and fell to the ground, the children would clap and laugh excitedly. She needed to escape before they could throw stones at her.
“I’ll jump down and catch you.” She stuffed the jacket in her hands into Gu Nianbin’s arms.
Gu Nianbin could not help but laugh out loud, probably because he had never seen such an overconfident woman. He grabbed her and said snappily, “Are you sure you can catch me?”
Du Xiaoxian said, “Yes, I can! It doesn’t matter even if you squash me!”
Gu Nianbin didn’t want to talk to such a brainless woman anymore. He threw his clothes down first and then jumped. His vigorous leap made Du Xiaoxian gape slightly. A handsome man looked really handsome no matter what he did!
“Come down.” Gu Nianbin opened his arms.
Du Xiaoxian’s heart warmed. She threw herself into the man’s warm embrace. She was slender and petite. Gu Nianbin caught her in mid-air. Gu Nianbin held her and shook her in his arms before putting her down. He said in a slightly mocking tone, “I thought you’d have a good life after leaving me. It turns out you’re still skin and bones!”
Du Xiaoxian landed on the ground and quickly picked up the jacket on the ground. She patted the dust off and said, “I actually have a huge appetite. I just don’t gain any weight.”
“So you mean you did have a good life?”
“I was doing okay!” Du Xiaoxian told the truth. She really felt that she was living a good life.
His face sank. He flicked his sleeves and left. Du Xiaoxian followed behind with a sullen face. Did Gu Nianbin really want her to suffer so much?
Gu Nianbin entered the house and went straight to the kitchen. He rolled up his sleeves and prepared to cook.
“Let me do it!” Du Xiaoxian said.
“Is the food you cook edible?” Gu Nianbin asked as he opened the fridge and took out the ingredients.
His sentence made Du Xiaoxian speechless. She knew he was very picky when it came to food. Although she had much practice while she was away in the past few years, there was still a world of difference between her cooking and Gu Nianbin’s.
Since he would not let her cook, she could only help him obediently. They worked in the kitchen for more than an hour and cooked a table of delicious food.
The man did not drink any wine and just ate silently. Du Xiaoxian did not usually like to talk, but today, she tried every possible way to find a topic to talk about. Gu Nianbin did not say anything. His expression was calm and his gaze was gentle. He lowered his long eyelashes and narrowed his deep eyes. He was such a quiet handsome man no matter how she looked. He would only occasionally look up and glance at Du Xiaoxian, who was talking to herself.
After dinner, Gu Nianbin was going to clean up the dishes and wash them. However, Du Xiaoxian snatched them away and pushed him out of the kitchen. Gu Nianbin did not try to force her. He took the cup of tea that Du Xiaoxian had brewed for him and slowly went upstairs.
It was normal to feel sleepy in the afternoon. He sat by the window for a long time before he heard the sound of Du Xiaoxian coming upstairs. He walked over and opened the door. He then stood there and waited.
When Du Xiaoxian arrived upstairs and looked up, she saw him standing there. She found it a little strange. “Why are you standing by the door?”
Gu Nianbin called her into the room and pointed his chin toward the bedside table. “Take your phone. I won’t keep you here anymore. You can leave now and go wherever you like!”
If he had not mentioned it, Du Xiaoxian would have forgotten about it. It was not as bad like being in prison as she had imagined.
He looked fine, but there was something off about his last sentence. Du Xiaoxian pretended not to understand. She smiled and said, “I know that you were just angry yesterday. You didn’t mean what you said. I won’t take it to heart.”
Gu Nianbin smiled as well. “I’m keeping my promise. Since Lu Haochen leaves, there’s no need for me to lock you up here.”
“Ah,” Du Xiaoxian said, “Have they really left?”
“You can’t bear for him to leave? If you can’t bear it, you can call him back again. Anyway, I’ve returned your phone to you.”
“I didn’t mean that.”
“Then what did you mean?”
Seeing that they were about to fight again, Du Xiaoxian quickly stopped arguing with him. After yesterday’s lesson, how could she dare to go against him again? She had repaired their relationship a little on the mountain walk today, so she was not going to let it go to waste!
She put her phone into her pocket and said, “I’ll get you some water for you to take your medicine.”
“No need. I have water here,” Gu Nianbin said calmly.
Du Xiaoxian saw that there was still more than half a bottle of water on the table and said, “Then remember to take your medicine and get some rest after that. I’m going back to my room.”
Gu Nianbin asked, “Are you leaving? I’ll ask Little Ding to pick you up and take you down the mountain.”
Du Xiaoxian asked him, “Are you leaving?”
“I’m not leaving. It’s rare that I get a chance to stay in the mountain and relax over the weekend.”
“Then I won’t leave either.” Du Xiaoxian was going to say that she would stay to keep him company, but she was afraid that they would clash again. Hence, she said, “You’re still sick. I have to take care of you.”
Gu Nianbin smiled. “It’s just a small cold. I can take care of myself.”
Du Xiaoxian lowered her head and rubbed her fingers. After thinking for a while, she said, “Even though I’m not a good cook, I can help you wash your clothes.”
“There’s a washing machine here.”
Du Xiaoxian was a little upset. She actually forgot that there was a washing machine. She then said, “I can clean up the house.”
“I’m only staying here for two days. It doesn’t matter whether it is cleaned up or not.”
Du Xiaoxian racked her brain, but there was really nothing else she could do for him. Finally, she stammered, “I… I want to keep you company.”
She was a little uneasy as she said that. She was afraid that he would bring up how she had left him back then.
Fortunately, he just said softly, “Up to you.”
Du Xiaoxian felt relieved and went back to her room with a flushed face.
After that, they got along well. He was more emotive and spoke more. However, if Du Xiaoxian wanted to get closer to him, he would immediately pull away. His expression would also turn a little colder. This was to remind Du Xiaoxian that their relationship could not return to how it was in the past, at least not now.
Du Xiaoxian was a little depressed. She missed his warm embrace so much. Also… she suddenly blushed. The scenes of their past together flashed through her mind. At that time, the man was always tireless and passionate with her. They made love almost every night. Why couldn’t they go back to how it was? As a normal woman who had not experienced it for five years, she surely had desires.
On Monday morning, Little Ding came to pick them up and take them down the mountain. He planned to drop Gu Nianbin off at the company first and then send Du Xiaoxian back to the Gu family’s residence. When they were almost at the entrance of the company, Gu Nianbin suddenly said that he wanted to go back home first. He needed to get something.
Therefore, Little Ding turned the corner and headed for the Gu family’s residence.
When Gu Niannian saw that Du Xiaoxian had returned, she opened her arms and ran over like a little bird. She had not seen her mother for two days and really missed her mother.
Du Xiaoxian picked her up and kissed her. Du Xiaoxian smiled and said, “Have you been good while you were with your grandparents in the past two days?”
Gu Niannian replied sweetly, “Of course!” She then asked Du Xiaoxian, “Did Dad bully you the last two days?”
She asked so directly and loudly that it made everyone laugh.
Fang Yaru smiled and said, “Your dad loves your mom. Why would he bully her?”
Gu Niannian looked at Gu Nianbin suspiciously. Everyone was laughing. He was the only one who stayed expressionless. Compared to Father Lu, she really didn’t like this father!
“Get down. Why do you still want to be carried when you’ve already grown up?” The not-nice father spoke to her.
Gu Niannian made a face at him, and then slid down from Du Xiaoxian’s arms. In fact, she rarely let her mother carry her because her mother was so petite. It did not feel very safe to be carried by her mother. She liked being carried by Lu Haochen the most. He was tall and big. She could sit on his neck and ride around like a horse!
Gu Niannian thought sadly, ‘Why doesn’t mommy choose Father Lu?’
