Cinderella Innocent and Boss Charming - Chapter 98

Chapter 98 Her Young Boyfriend Looked Not Bad Either

Gu Nianbin did not expect that Xia Xiaowan would go to the ancestral mansion with them. His mother Fang Yaru said she had invited Xia Xiaowan, so he could not say anything about it. He had made it clear with Xia Xiaowan long ago, but she became friends with his mother, which was not something he could interfere.

When Fang Yaru first knew her son’s attitude toward Xia Xiaowan, she became enraged right away and scolded Gu Nianbin. If Gu Guangxian hadn’t tried to persuade her, she wouldn’t have stopped accusing him. She had such high hopes and was only one step away from success. How could all her efforts get wasted? However, Gu Nianbin did not often go home to see her, there was not much she could do about it in that case. She had pestered her husband several times because of this matter, saying that she didn’t know what Gu Nianbin was thinking by giving up such a good girl. Gu Guangxian was not feeling well recently, so he just listened to her instead of expressing his opinion. Without a person to discuss with, Fang Yaru gradually felt it pointless to continue talking about it. She felt at loss because she really liked Xia Xiaowan. Although Gu Nianbin had made it clear, she still had a glimmer of hope. Therefore, when Xia Xiaowan mentioned about the ancestral mansion, she immediately invited her to join them.

The ancestral mansion of the Gu family was located at Fenglei Town, about a hundred kilometers away from City G. It was a long-history town with beautiful scenery, unsophisticated people and convenient transportation. The town was quite prosperous in the past, but later it gradually declined after suffering from wars and disasters. After that, the government financed the restoration of the ancient town and developed it into a tourist attraction. The town gradually became prosperous again. There were many shops on both sides of the streets, which still maintained the ancient style. Some of the young people who had gone to work in cities also came back one after another to run some small tourism-related businesses.

The Gu family’s ancestral mansion was at the southernmost part of the town. Many years ago, the Gu family was the richest who owned more than half of the shops in the town and countless fertile land. After the Gu family made a fortune, they extended the ancestral mansion and encircled it with a large area of mountains and waters nearby. At that time, the family’s glory was unparalleled. Unfortunately, the Gu family suffered a reversal of fortune and had to sell the shops and fertile land in large quantities. Later on, the mountains and waters were nationalized, and only their ancestral mansion remained intact.

Actually, Fang Yaru asked Gu Nianbin to come back in the room for nothing particular. She just wanted him to show Xia Xiaowan around the house.

Hearing this, Xia Xiaowan shook her head at once. “No, no, I can walk and look around myself. Can an adult like me still get lost?”

Fang Yaru smiled and said, “Perhaps. The house is like a maze. Sometimes even I will lose the sense of direction myself, not to mention you.”

Gu Guangxian echoed, “Yes, Nianbin. Xiaowan is our guest, and this is her first time here. Show her around.”

As a courtesy, he should show the guest around their ancestral mansion. So Gu Nianbin said to Xia Xiaowan with a smile, “Then let’s go. It really would take some time to see all these rooms.”

Hearing his words, Xia Xiaowan could only nod with a smile and follow him.

Fang Yaru sat on the carved mahogany sofa and couldn’t stop smiling as she watched Gu Nianbin and Xia Xiaowan walk out side by side.

Gu Guangxian smiled. “You just won’t give up.”

Fang Yaru said, “Don’t you think so? What a perfect match of them! I don’t know what Nianbin is thinking. He had agreed to go on date with her to see if they suit each other in the first place. But now, his attitude has changed. Where can you find such a good girl who is knowledgeable, reasonable, well-educated and of excellent character? Ah! I’m so worried!”

“Don’t worry about them so much,” Gu Guangxian said, “children have their own blessings.”

“Our son is already thirty-two. If he doesn’t seize the day, when will I be able to have grandchildren?” Fang Yaru heaved a long sigh again.

Gu Guangxian was in poor health and lazy to continue this topic with her.

Following Gu Nianbin along the way, Xia Xiaowan found that this place was indeed like a maze as Fang Yaru said. There were doors everywhere, and all the same-looking corridors were connected in every direction. You would really get lost if you didn’t pay attention to the routes.

The antique-styled big house was richly ornamented and picturesque. The mahogany pillars with lacquer coat were so shiny that people’s figures could be reflected upon them. The quiet corridors were reflected on the surface of the pond in the courtyard. The little stone lions in front of the gate were foolishly cute. In the front courtyard, the stone sculptures and decorative walls formed a scene of great magnificence. The deep green bricks and tiles were simple and unadorned, and the eaves were stretching under the blue sky. All of these made you feel that you had time-traveled to a different space.

Along the way, Xia Xiaowan had admired in astonishment. She said to Gu Nianbin, “I never thought your ancestral mansion would be so big and beautiful!”

Gu Nianbin said, “They say it’s a big three-yard house with three entrances and three exits. But actually, if you separate the house into smaller parts, it contains seven or even eight yards. My father said, when my grandfather was young, there were people who lived in every room of the mansion. We had many servants, and they carried my family with eight-people sedans to places. The villagers would hurriedly make way for them on roads. My family’s glory was unparalleled back then. Unfortunately, the family’s fortunes later declined and it ended up like this.”

Xia Xiaowan withdrew her gaze from a carved window bars and smiled. “Your family is not bad now. Haven’t you had already made Gu Group prosperous again?”

“No matter how much money I earn, it’s useless if I can’t take back the property left behind by my ancestors.” Gu Nianbin sighed after saying this.

Xia Xiaowan said, “Are you referring to the Gu Group’s Centennial Building?”

“So you also know about it.” Gu Nianbin smiled bitterly and continued, “That’s truly something my father worries about. He always wants to take back the building in his lifetime. Unfortunately, we can’t find out who the owner is right now.”

“Not even with your connections?” Xia Xiaowan asked.

Gu Nianbin shook his head. “He is an extremely low-key person. He has entrusted all the formalities to an intermediary. I have been investigating for the past few years. The only thing I know about him is that he is not from G City, nothing else.”

“Maybe I can ask my family to investigate with our connections. But I guess there’s little chance since even you can’t find anything.”

“No need,” Gu Nianbin said, “I just mentioned it casually. You don’t have to worry.”

Xia Xiaowan nodded and continued following him. Gu Nianbin pushed a wooden door open and pointed at the big, empty courtyard. “This is where our family used to hold wedding receptions. It’s said that it can contain twenty tables.”

This place was truly big, but could it really be set up with twenty tables? Xia Xiaowan didn’t believe it. Gu Nianbin read her mind and said, “Of course it’s not the kind of big round table we use now. In the past, they used the square table around which eight people could sit. Check out the square bricks on the ground. When the house was built, they were carefully measured to be as big as a square table for the banquets.”

Only then did Xia Xiaowan understand, and she said admiringly, “In the old days, people devoted particular care to things than us. Nowadays, people will hold a banquet or have a ball in just an open space.”

“Speaking of balls,” Xia Xiaowan continued, “I saw Du Xiaoxian at my cousin’s Debutante Ball last time.”

“Oh? Really?” Gu Nianbin’s indifferent tone showed that he clearly didn’t want to talk about this.

Xia Xiaowan seemingly didn’t notice his tone and said, “At first glance, I almost didn’t recognize her. She was totally a different person at that time. I didn’t expect her to be a young beauty when she dressed up.”

Gu Nianbin snorted. “She’s just okay.”

“Her young boyfriend looked not bad either. He is very handsome. The two of them made a good match standing together.”

Gu Nianbin’s mouth corners rose to curl into a faint smile. “You think they’re a good match?”

Xia Xiaowan smiled and said, “Not only me, their classmates felt the same way. My cousin told me that it hadn’t been long since they were together but they had a good relationship. They often go with each other all the time as lovers on campus.”

“Really?” Gu Nianbin said indifferently, “She doesn’t study hard at such a young age, but finds herself a boyfriend? I need to talk to her.”

Xia Xiaowan pretended to be shocked, “What? You don’t know anything about it? I thought she had told you!”

“Why would she tell me such things?” Gu Nianbin stepped on a small pebble on the roadside and said, “I won’t know if you don’t tell me.”

“Ah!” Xia Xiaowan stuck out her tongue and said, “Then I shouldn’t have told you, I…”

“It’s fine, I have to thank you for telling me this.” Gu Nianbin pointed at a door in front of them as he spoke. “This is the back door. Behind this door is a mountain. In the past, all the nearby mountains belonged to our family, but they were taken back by the government then. Now I have bought the mountains back, built roads and pavilions on it and planted some ornamental trees. The scenery is good. Do you want to go up and take a look?”

Although he said this with the meaning of an invitation and inquiring, his tone was indifferent. Xia Xiaowan then said, “You don’t need to go with me anymore. I’ll go up and take a walk myself. Anyway, it’s still early for lunch.”

Gu Nianbin nodded and said okay, then turned around and left. Xia Xiaowan looked at his back and revealed a faint smile, gentle and quiet, like a rose blooming in a dark corner.

Gu Nianbin sat in the corridor, smoking a cigarette. The reflection of the carved window bars on the ground made him feel the warmth and beauty of the old days. He followed the reflection and looked up at the wooden window bars. On them were carved with cranes on the pavilion. The cranes were standing on one foot, and clouds were surrounding the pavilion. It was complex and exquisite, which must have taken a lot of effort to carve such window bars! Gu Nianbin stared blankly at the complicated pattern. Suddenly, his heart was a swirling maelstrom of chaos. Thousands of strands of thoughts were messing with his head…

After throwing away the cigarette butt, he sat silently for a while before getting up and heading to the living hall. Gu Guangxian lay in the mahogany rocking chair and closed his eyes to have some rest. Fang Yaru saw him coming back alone and asked in confusion, “Where is Xiaowan?”

“She went up the mountain.” Gu Nianbin sat down and took a sip of the tea Ah Ling handed to him. “She’ll be back at lunch time.”

“God!” Fang Yaru cried out, “How can you let her go up the mountain alone? What if something bad happens? She is our guest, and she is a girl, you should go with her!”

“The roads on the mountain are simple and flat. What can happen to her?” Gu Nianbin lowered his head and drank tea calmly, ignoring his mother who was making a fuss.

Fang Yaru glared at her son, then found that Gu Guangxian was still resting with his eyes closed. She was afraid of disturbing him, so she didn’t say anything more.

However, they had been waiting for Xia Xiaowan until Xiao Bonian came to say that lunch could be served, Xia Xiaowan still did not return. Fang Yaru blamed Gu Nianbin, “What did I say? It’s already this late but she hasn’t returned yet. Hurry up and look for her. Old Xiao, send some people up to the mountain to look for her. In case something really has happened to her.”

Gu Nianbin also found it strange, so he went up the mountain with some men to look for her hurriedly. They had walked halfway up the mountain when they saw Xia Xiaowan sitting on the ground with a painful expression.