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 on a man!"
At the age of 20, he didn't know how to conceal his emotions. He was stunned as if struck by a clap of thunder. He looked pale and asked, "Who is he?"
The little girl flushed shyly and said hesitantly, "Swear to me that you won't leak it out. Then I'll tell you."
"Ok, I swear!" He put up his right hand and swore to her. He just wanted to know who the man was.
She leaned over and whispered a name in his ear. "Jiang Kaiwei."
Everyone knew this name. As the heir to the Jiang's Group, he was a handsome but arrogant man. But what made him so well-known was that he earned over 800,000 yuan when he first invested in stocks at the age of 15. He was thus hailed by the media as a financial prodigy and a business genius. This remained the hottest topic for quite a while.
He knew that the Xia family was the second-largest shareholder of the Jiang's Group. Besides, Xia Xiaowan and Jiang Kaiwei were also childhood playmates. But how could she get a crush on Jiang Kaiwei? Then what about him? What could he do? What should he do?
He stood still and remained speechless. Xia Xiaowan shook his arms and said, "Brother Bin, why don't you talk to me?"
What could he say? Could he say "No, I don't allow that because I like you"?
His love for her lasted for years, but he didn't know when it had begun. At first, he just thought she was a chubby and lovely girl speaking in a childish tone, always following him and Xia Nanze like a little tail. At that time, he thought the reason why he treated her so well was that he had no younger sisters. But when Gu Shanshan was born, his affection for Xia Xiaowan even increased. When he grew up, he finally realized that his affection for Xia Xiaowan was love, though he shies of admitting it. The love had been natural and cumulative over the years. It also accompanied him through the most disobedient and innocent youth…. He had intended to keep this to himself until he was able to propose to her. And he had even imagined how happy she would be when he proposed to her. But when Xia Xiaowan whispered the name in his ear that evening, he knew that his love would be unrequited all his life.
At that time, he was no match for Jiang Kaiwei in any aspect. Jiang Kaiwei was like a glittering and dazzling diamond, while he was like a piece of jade hidden in a rough stone. No one could see his brilliance.
Fortunately, he did not lose his wits for too long. He remembered that he rubbed her hair and teased her in an adult-like tone. "You are too young to fall in love. You should be bashful!"
Xia Xiaowan glared at him with a pout, and said, "Brother Bin, you are such a bad guy. You're the first one to know my secret!"
He was always the first one to be informed of everything about her. She liked to share all her secrets with him, because he had been pampering her since childhood—he always gave her whatever she wanted. So she felt closer to him than to Xia Nanze. And she even let him know when she first had a crush on a man. At that time, he realized that Xia Xiaowan had always treated him as her brother. Although he had pampered her for so many years, he was just a brother in her eyes….
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
Gu Nianbin was busy with his work all the morning. It was almost noon when Zhou Ting called to remind him that it's time for the appointment with Xia Xiaowan. He put down his pen, took his coat from the hanger, and walked out while taking on the coat.He was always punctual to time. Like last time, Xia Xiaowan was already waiting there and waved to him gently upon seeing him."Have you been waiting for a long time?" Gu Nianbin asked."No, just for a while." Xia Xiaowan replied with a smile.A waiter served the menu and they made order respectively. To his surprise, Xia Xiaowan ordered pork chop instead of steak which was more popular among girls.Xia Xiaowan noticed his surprise and explained, "I preferred pork since childhood, especially streaky pork. Very delicious.""Don't you think it’s greasy?""No," Xia Xiaowan showed her hands and said, "I’m a heavy meat-eater. Fortunately, I never get
Xia Xiaowan smiled gently with a blush on her fair face. She said teasingly, "To be a backup is a great chance for me."Gu Nianbin laughed, "You are interesting.""More interesting than the other Miss Xia?"Gu Nianbin was about to speak when the waiter came to serve the table. He kept the dishes orderly and asked, "Mr. Gu, do you want to use the wine you stored here last time or…"Gu Nianbin turned to Xia Xiaowan, "What do you prefer?""I have to drive later. Please give me a glass of mango juice.""No wine, then. Give me a glass of cucumber juice please.""Yes sir. Just a moment, please." The waiter nodded and left with a professional smile."You set a good example for us to keep off wine before driving," Gu Nianbin said with a smile.Xia Xiaowan sliced her pork chop and said, "It’s better to call me a submissive person. I myself wonder why I have been so obedient to