Chapter 20 - I Don't Know How to Chat

Gu Nianbin took a bottle of water from the cabinet with one hand, and stretched out the other to pull her up.

Du Xiaoxian blushed and quickly got up. She was about to dust her clothes, but her hand stopped in the air. She smiled at him embarrassedly.

“What’s the matter?”

“Your room is very clean, and there is no dust at all,” said Du Xiaoxian.

Gu Nianbin handed her the water bottle and said, “Take it. Drink the bottled water instead of tap water from now on. Understood?”

Er… drink the bottled water? Du Xiaoxian dared not to take the bottle. This was for the masters only, and servants drank barreled water. She heard that even barreled water cost 20 yuan each. It was too expensive, so she often drank from the tap. Anyway, it was sterilized and wouldn’t cause loose bowels. But now the young master asked her to drink bottled water. Well…

Seeing that she didn’t take the water, Gu Nianbin opened the bottle and put it near her mouth. “Drink it. It’s not poisonous. What are you afraid of?”

As soon as Gu Nianbin’s voice became a little louder, Du Xiaoxian was scared and instinctively followed the order. She took the bottle and had a sip. It was slightly sweet, tastier than tap water and barreled water as expected. She took another sip, capped the bottle and bowed to Gu Nianbin. “Thank you, young master!”

“Don’t mention it. It’s just a bottle of water.” Gu Nianbin said, “Also, there’s no need to bow or do anything like that in our family.”

Du Xiaoxian nodded, but thought to herself that second aunt told her to be grateful for the kindness of others, especially in wealthy family like this. Only bowing could show her sincerity.

Gu Nianbin sat down, leaned on the sofa and asked, “Are you busy?”

“No. Is there anything I could do for you, young master?” Du Xiaoxian’s eyes suddenly lit up. She wanted to repay Gu Nianbin because he had shown kindness to her.

Gu Nianbin’s heart suddenly skipped a beat because of her clear and bright eyes. How could this happen? It was so unusual, maybe he was really drunk. He stroked his forehead and pointed to the sofa. “Take a seat. If you are not busy, have a chat with me.”

Du Xiaoxian hesitated for a while. She could do a lot of things, but she was not good at chatting. Normally she was a silent listener while others did the talking. Even her second aunt said she was half a dummy.

“Young master, I…I don’t know how to chat,” muttered Du Xiaoxian.

“It doesn’t matter,” Gu Nianbin smiled gently, “how about sitting down first? It made me tired looking up with you standing there like this.”

Du Xiaoxian surely didn’t have the nerve to make him tired, so she had to sit down. She had been here for more than a week but had never sat on a sofa before. To her surprise, the sofa was so soft. She was startled and sprang up immediately.

“What is it? Are there nails on it?” Gu Nianbin raised his eyebrows and looked at her smilingly. Although the little girl was weird, she was very interesting to him.

“No, no…” Du Xiaoxian blushed. She only sat on wooden stools before. This was the first time she had sat on such a soft sofa, which made her very uneasy. But she dared not keep standing because the young master would get tired looking up to her. So she had to sit on the edge of the sofa with a straight back, supporting her weight on her legs.

Seeing her sitting so rigidly, Gu Nianbin couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t be nervous. It’s just casual talk. Is there anyone else in your family?”

“My dad.”

“Where is your hometown?”

“Daliang Mountain.”

“Daliang Mountain is really far away from here. Did your dad send you here?”

Du Xiaoxian shook her head. “I came here by myself. My dad wasn’t at home.”

Gu Nianbin asked curiously, “You were far away from home, why didn’t your dad stay at home?”

“My dad is often away from home,” said Du Xiaoxian. “Usually I am alone at home.”

“Doesn’t your dad take care of you?”

“My dad only comes back once a year when we sell pigs. He will collect the money and leave. He doesn’t stay at home for long.” Du Xiaoxian threw out her chest and smiled proudly. “I have been taking care of myself since I was a child. I can cook, wash clothes, feed pigs and grow vegetables.”

Gu Nianbin was surprised and raised his eyebrows. If what she said was true, she would be so pitiful, but she didn’t make any complaint at all.

“Your dad takes all the money away. How do you make a living?”

“Dad needs a lot of money outside,” said Du Xiaoxian. “I can support myself by growing and selling vegetables at home.”

Looking at her simple and childish face, Gu Nianbin was speechless.