The Gu family was among the richest ones in City G and had engaged in trade for generations. They had an ancestral three-yard house outside the city. Born into such a rich and large family, younger Gus, in large numbers, had led an extravagant and idle life. When it came to Gu Nianbin’s grandfather, the Gu family was just an empty shell. And his granduncle, who was then obsessed with an opera performer, stayed in the theater all day and disregarded business deals. Afterwards, he even voluntarily gave up his right of inheritance.
His grandfather struggled to support the family business and passed on it to his father. At that time, it happened to be the peak period of domestic investment. Thanks to the good foundation, the Gu’s company grasped the opportunity and rose gradually. At one time, it even matched the Jiang’s company—the leader in City G.
However, the Gu family was different from the Jiang family which had definite successor with only one heir for three generations. While the Gu family had so many descendants that they kept contending for power and wealth, making quite a scene among themselves. As the head of the Gu family, his father was too softhearted to constrain his brothers, sons, and nephews. Suffering from both internal and external conflicts, his father finally fell ill due to heart problems, and left him the rotten legacy.
At that time, he didn’t like the Gu’s company, so he didn’t hold any post in it. Instead, he intended to start from scratch and thus opened a small company with his schoolfellows. However, when his father fell ill, he had to take over the family business because he was the only male heir in the family. Gradually, he developed a sense of mission as a descendent of the Gu family. After all, the Gu’s company was a family legacy passed down through generations. Even if he couldn’t make it flourish, he must pass on it to the next generation safe and sound. But who would be able to give him an heir?
Therefore, he made a five-year commitment to himself. If Xia Xiaowan didn’t return in 5 years, he would not wait any longer. As his father said to him, he had to be responsible for many people as the head of the Gu’s company. He was old enough to get married and give birth to a child as his heir. It wouldn’t matter if he loved the woman as long as she could be a virtuous wife to take good care of his family. Only in this way could he devote all his energy to work with no worries, so that the Gu’s company could flourish in his hands.
Nevertheless, he sighed. For him, the happy life he had been dreaming of might just be an unreachable dream.
When he was lost in thought, the phone rang. He glanced at it and then picked it up, "Mom, I’ve met her. Not bad...I’ve asked her for a date... Why would I lie to you? I know...I’ll hurry up. Okay. I see...Talk to you later...I'm busy now...I’ll come back at noon... "
Although Gu Nianbin had promised to go back at noon, he failed to do so for a temporarily arranged lunch, but he cancelled another invitation to a dinner party tonight. Now he was on the way home to have dinner with his parents and his sister who rarely returned home. After he took over the Gu’s company and Shanshan was transferred to another city, there were rare chances for them to have a reunion dinner.
As soon as the car went through the iron gate, Gu Nianbin saw a slender girl sweeping the ground with her body bent. She was too absorbed in to notice the car coming from behind.
Gu Nianbin asked Xiaoding to honk the car horn. At the sound of the honk, the little girl turned around and saw the car. She was scared out of her wits and immediately ran away dragging the big broom….
But how could a girl run faster than a car? When the car drove past her, Gu Nianbin looked back at her through the window. The little girl stood blankly at the roadside, and she was chewing her fingers! She was too old to do such a thing! What a freak!Xiaoding was quite puzzled. "It was a strange thing. Why did she run away?"Gu Nianbin didn't speak, but he caressed his forehead and smiled. Seeing the smile from the rear-view mirror, Xiaoding was startled. The young master rarely smiled. What happened today? Maybe the blind date was a success?Gu Shanshan bounced out of the house and said, "Thank God, you're finally back. Mom has been nagging all afternoon.""You deserve that. You were away from home too often these days." Gu Nianbin mounted the steps leisurely."Come on! She was nagging at you." Gu Shanshan took Gu Nianbin's arm and walked alongside him into the house. "What concerns her most is whether your blind da
After dinner, Gu Nianbin felt it was too stuffy in the house, so he went for a walk in the front yard. After walking down the steps, he saw the little girl, who happened to straighten up. The girl looked up and was shocked at the sight of Gu Nianbin. Dragging the broom, she ran away again. Gu Nianbin raised his hand and called out, "Hey!" However, the little girl ran as fast as a bunny, probably not hearing him. Gu Nianbin dropped his hand, not knowing why he wanted to stop her.It was in early autumn. Although it was past 7 pm, but instead of getting dark, the sky was reddish, like the color of the sunset's afterglow. He lit a cigarette and looked quietly at the tall plane tree. It seemed as if a young girl was standing under the tree with her head tilted. Then she smiled at him and said, "Brother Bin…"At that time, she was just a 16-year-old girl who started to yearn for love. One day, she came to tell him her little secret. "Brother Bin, I have a crush
As the night grew darker, everything became blurry shadows before his eyes. The plane tree swayed in the wind and shed its leaves. The next morning, leaves would pile up on the ground. Somehow, Gu Nianbin thought of the lean and small figure of the girl who dashed away from him. Then he couldn't help smiling. It seemed that she would be very busy tomorrow morning.Gu Shanshan came out of the house and asked, "Brother, why are you standing here blankly ? What are you thinking about?"Gu Nianbin took his last puff of the cigarette and flicked it far away. The butt flew across the sky in an arc and then landed on the patterned tiles.Getting no response from him, Gu Shanshan went on to ask, "Are you thinking about Xiaowan?"Gu Nianbin shook his head and asked, "What's the name of the new girl?""Du Xiaoxian." Gu Shanshan became a little curious. "Why do you care about her?""Nothing. She seems to fear me and
It was on the night of the Lantern Festival. All his family members were invited to the Xia's to celebrate the festival. After dinner, Gu Nianbin, Su Chen, Xia Xiaowan and Gu Shanshan sat together chatting. It seemed that Xia Xiaowan mentioned there were shows of festive lanterns and dragon and lion dances outside. They all heard about the lively scene, but never saw it before. As soon as Xia Xiaowan mentioned it, Gu Shanshan suggested that they should go out to have a look.However, their parents didn't allow them to go to such crowded places. Gu Shanshan was frustrated but she didn't give up. Among all the kids, she was the youngest but bravest one. She said that they could sneak out to have a look when their parents were playing cards. Nobody would discover it as long as they came back quickly.Gu Nianbin was then 18 years old and could be counted as an adult. However, he acquiesced their adventure as he saw the eagerness in Xia Xiaowan's eyes. They snea
Gu Nianbin started to read a book on bed after entering the room. He was quiet in nature and reading was his way to relax after a busy day working in the company. He read for pleasure and thus was not very picky with what he was reading. He was even fond of novels that Shao Boqing despised most. After a while, he got up to get some water, only to discover that his cupboard was empty. No one was allowed to enter his room while he was away, so nobody filled the cupboard for him. He had no choice but to go to the kitchen downstairs. When walking by the dining room, he heard a sound from the side door, very slight but quite clear on such a silent night. He roughly knew who it was and thus ran after to check it out. As expected, the figure of a little girl flashed by under the dim moonlight, as fast as the wind. What was left was only a faint fragrance, which smelled like shampoo. It was faint but pleasant, lingering around him.He stood still for a while. It s
Yes, that was what Gu Nianbin felt exactly. She enjoyed sweeping the ground.With her eyes looking down, she was at ease without fear or panic. The scene looked quite pleasant as if she was dancing instead of sweeping the ground.In fact, Gu Nianbin could not see her expression. He even had no chance to look at her face carefully because she always ran away at the sight of him, or lowered her head like now. He could only see the top of her head, which was shimmering under the golden sunlight.Suddenly, she straightened up. Gu Nianbin dodged behind the curtains. Seeing her remove the leave on her hair, Gu Nianbin smiled silently. She finally came to realize that. But he didn't know why he had hidden himself. He was the young master. Why had he hidden from a maid?After getting changed, he went downstairs for jogging on the lawn. When going out, he coughed deliberately. As expected, he heard a train of footsteps. With a snicker, he d
"Don't be afraid of others. Everyone is equal. Although we are domestic servants, we make money honestly rather than steal anything or rob anyone. We are not inferior to others. What’s there to be afraid of?"Was that so? Du Xiaoxian was a little confused because her words were different from what her second aunt had said. According to her second aunt, people were divided into different social classes. The upper class was born to lead a rich life, while the lowest class had to suffer from cold and hunger and even sleep on the street or under a tree. Therefore, she needed to do better so that she would be born into a rich family in the next life.Ah Ling saw that Xiaoxian was in a daze and even forgot to eat the buns, so she patted her hand, only to find it as cold as ice. She then pulled her and walked her out. "Don't stay here. You need to bask in the sunlight. Your hands are too cold."When they came out, Gu Nianbin was still jogging there. D
"Mom, shall I supervise them and record the whole process for you tomorrow?" Gu Shanshan said with her eyebrows raised to Gu Nianbin."You're not much better!" Fang Yaru pointed her finger at her daughter, "You are well past twenty. Your friend Su Anqi has married and will be a mother soon. What about you? Why don't you learn from her?""Fine." Unlike Gu Nianbin, Gu Shanshan behaved more freely in front of her mother, "She got married at 30 and had a baby at 31. I will do the same. Satisfied? It's still early cause I'm only 26 now.""What?!" Fang Yaru choked with anger and glared at her, "You are really my enemy from previous life!"Gu Guangxian said to his wife with a smile, "Don't be so harsh to her. I don't believe you can bear the departure when she really gets married someday.""Are you sure?" Fang Yaru said, "I wish she would get married and move out as soon as possible. I can't wait to get rid of this noisy girl