Chapter 30 - I'll Listen to You, Young Master

Gu Nianbin wanted to take Du Xiaoxian to eat western food, but he changed his mind on second thought. She would resist unfamiliar things out of instinct. He took her to a Chinese restaurant and asked for a quiet private room. He gave her the menu to order. Du Xiaoxian held the exquisite menu in her hand and flipped it over lightly. Then she returned it to him and shook her head shyly. She had never eaten any dish on it before. What if she ordered something that the young master didn’t like to eat?

Gu Nianbin didn’t force her and took the order. While waiting for the dishes, he slowly told Du Xiaoxian what he had being thinking along the way. There were so many things he wanted her to know. She just listened quietly and occasionally nodded with a blink of her big eyes. Gu Nianbin was rarely so talktive, even himself found it hard to believe. Finally, he stopped and asked, “Xiaoxian, do you understand what I said?”

Du Xiaoxian pursed her lips and said softly, “I’ll listen to you, young master.”

Well, she was still too submissive. After so much talking, she answered everything in one sentence. “Will you listen to whatever I say?” Gu Nianbin asked her.

She hesitated for a moment, and nodded.

“You have to eat more from now on and gain some weight. You are too skinny.”

“OK.”

“Be brave and make some friends.”

“OK.”

“Speak more and laugh more.”

“OK.”

“Take whatever I give you. Don’t refuse.”

After a moment of hesitation, she still nodded, “OK.”

“Don’t take anything from others.”

“OK.”

“Be attentive in class.”

“OK.”

“Just like this, answer me with ‘OK’ instead of ‘Yes, Sir’.”

“OK.”

Gu Nianbin paused for a moment, suddenly an extremely sinister thought popped up, he said, “Take off your clothes.”

“OK.” She replied out of reflex and was stunned for a moment.

He looked at her silly face. Before he could say “just joking”, Du Xiaoxian had already crossed her arms, grabbed her shirt and was about to take it off in the next moment. He hurriedly pressed down her hands and said, “I’m teasing you. Don’t take it seriously.”

Du Xiaoxian blushed. She believed the Young Master was a good person. Even if she took off her clothes, he would not do anything to her. Although his request was too much, she wanted to show her loyalty by obeying.

“Xiaoxian, don’t take off your clothes no matter who asks you to, including me. Understand?” Gu Nianbin panicked just now. He didn’t expect her to be so slavish.

Du Xiaoxian nodded and lowered her eyes with her thick eyelashes softly flickering. Gu Nianbin suddenly became worried. Her mother had taught her so many things, why didn’t she teach her that men and women should keep distance? Maybe she had gone too early to teach her. Then her second aunt next door should have taught her about this. Otherwise how could she rest assured to let her come all the way to G City alone?

Gu Nianbin told her how to distinguish men with bad intensions. She said immediately, “I knew about this. Second Aunt said that if a man praises me for being beautiful, he must have bad intensions. I have to hide far away from this kind of guys.”

“Your aunt was right.” Gu Nianbin nodded when he suddenly remembered that he had praised Du Xiaoxian’s beauty more than once. He was embarrassed for a moment and wondered if he needed to declare that he was an exception.

However, Du Xiaoxian seemed to have read his mind and said, “But you are different. You are a good person and will not harbor ill intentions towards me.”

“Sure,” Gu Nianbin agreed hurriedly, “Of course not.”

At this time, the door was opened. The waiter pushed the cart in and listed the names of the dishes while placing them on the table one by one. “The dishes are ready. Please enjoy your meal.”

Gu Nianbin waved his hand and asked her to leave. He assumed that Du Xiaoxian didn’t understand one single name the waiter had said, so he introduced the dishes to her one by one. Du Xiaoxian listened very carefully and ate whatever he asked her to.

After she tried all the dishes, he stopped giving orders and let her eat whatever she liked.

Du Xiaoxian looked tiny and cute, but she did not eat slowly. Before soon, she had finished two small bowls of rice, but the dishes on the table were barely touched.

“Are you full?” “Why didn’t you eat more from the dishes?”

Du Xiaoxian put the chopsticks on the bowl neatly to say she had finished, “My mother asked me to eat more rice and less dishes and stop when I’m seventy percent full. Eating this way will keep me full for a longer time.”

Gu Nianbin’s heart ached hearing this, “You won’t be starving again from now on. You can eat until you’re full every meal. Let me get you something more, okay?”

Du Xiaoxian smiled, “I can do it myself.” She certainly wanted to eat until she was full if allowed. Looking at the table full of dishes, she asked, “Can we take the dishes away if we can’t finish eating all of them?”

Gu Nianbin barely had food wrapped up to go, but he answered immediately, “Of course, of course you can.”

Du Xiaoxian felt relieved. She added half bowl of rice and started eating again.

Gu Nianbin looked at her and asked suddenly, “Why do you listen to me so much?”

She swallowed the food in her mouth and said, “Because you treat me well.”

Du Xiaoxian had been alone in so many lonely days, so she would remember even a little warmth. Before she met Gu Nianbin, second aunt was her greatest benefactor. But now she was replaced by Gu Nianbin, her young master.

Du Xiaoxian almost didn’t dare to imagine that such a noble and handsome young master would treat her so well. He didn’t look down on her at all. He talked to her, smiled at her, bought her delicious food, let her ride in his car, send her to school, take her to buy clothes, and even treat her to lunch now. Gu Nianbin seemed to be a magician and opened a new world for her, making her experienced a completely different life.

The wonders in the new life weren’t important to her. The most important thing was that he gave her warmth. It was like a person who walked in the darkness all the time was suddenly given a lamp that could illuminate the path. From now on, she didn’t need to feel her way in the darkness. Gu Nianbin was that lamp. The warmth he brought to her was unimaginable to outsiders. Even second aunt couldn’t compare to him. Therefore, she relied on him and believed in him. She had no reservations about him and was completely unguarded.

Gu Nianbin thought for a moment and asked again, “If other people were to treat you well, would you listen to him as well?”

Du Xiaoxian frowned and shook her head, “No one will treat me like you do. They don’t like me and don’t talk to me.”

“They…” Gu Nianbin asked, “Are they the ones from your hometown?”

Du Xiaoxian nodded.

“Why?” Gu Nianbin was puzzled. Everyone should feel sympathy and pity for such a weak little orphan. How could they still dislike her?

Du Xiaoxian bit her lip and slowly lowered her head. Her voice was nearly inaudible, “They said my mother was a bad woman…”

Gu Nianbin felt that she was going to cry next minute. He quickly patted her hand and said, “Alright, let’s not talk about this.”

He didn’t want to know about the Du Xiaoxian’s past. He only knew that from now on, he would protect this little girl, make her happy while growing up. He thought he only wanted to do this out of sympathy.

After lunch, he brought her back to his office to rest for a while, and sent her to school later. Along the way, he told her about the important things she needed to know patiently all over again. Du Xiaoxian still listened quietly and patiently, taking everything he said seriously.

Gu Nianbin arranged a private school for her in which the Gu’s Company held a large share. So in other words, Gu Nianbin was the school’s big boss. The big boss entered the principal’s office in a low profile. The shrewd principal noticed something from the big boss’s detailed order. He nodded and bowed blindly, patting his chest and guaranteed, “President, you can rest assured to give Student Du to me, President. I will definitely take good care of her.”

Gu Nianbin nodded. He smiled at Du Xiaoxian and left. He couldn’t guard her forever. She had to learn face everything herself.

Du Xiaoxian felt extremely uneasy watching Gu Nianbin disappeared at the door. She was going to face all those strangers alone.

“Here, Du Xiaoxian.” The principal handed her a heavy backpack, “Take your backpack and I’ll guide you to the classroom.”

Du Xiaoxian looked at the new schoolbag with a cartoon pattern on but did not reach out to receive it. She bit her lip and said timidly, “I…I have a schoolbag.” She showed her little cloth bag to the principal.

The principal laughed, “Your bag is too small to hold so many books. Use this.”

Du Xiaoxian asked again, “Does the school give students schoolbags for free?”

The principal was stunned for a moment and said, “Ah yes, this is from the school. It’s free.”

Du Xiaoxian was relieved and took the schoolbag. She stuffed her small cloth bag inside before going out with the principle. It was the break time between classes. Many students looked at her curiously. Du Xiaoxian was scared by their look and was at a loss. She felt she could not even walk and lowered her head even more like a small ostrich, attracting more people’s attention. Even the headmaster had noticed it. He turned around and immediately understood why Gu Nianbin had to say so much before leaving her at the school.

This was the first time he had seen such a timid child!

However, the ultimate goal of education was not to teach specific knowledge, but to teach the most basic principles of being a human: independence, courage, and self-confidence. The principal believed that Gu Nianbin had sent her here for this reason.

The students of this private school were all from rich and important families, and they were familiar with each other. Such a timid girl showed up, it was natural for them to be curious. She looked pretty and dressed quite well, but her behavior was a little strange. When Du Xiaoxian was seated, someone went up to greet her, “Hello, how are you? What is your name? ”

Such a direct greeting startled Du Xiaoxian. She held her schoolbag tightly and stared at the classmate with dumbfounded eyes.

It was her deskmate, Yang Liying, a girl from a rich family. Seeing Du Xiaoxian’s silly face, she asked strangely, “Is she deaf or mute?”

The student beside her said, “Maybe there is something wrong with her ears.”

Another said, “No, look at her shaking hands. She can hear us. She is probably mute.”

“I’m not mute.” Du Xiaoxian blushed, but her voice was very soft. She was like a grass bud that had just emerged from the ground. Although it was fragile, it was very tough.

“Well, she can speak!” Yang Liying said, “What’s your name? Which school did you transfer from? Who are your parents?”

Du Xiaoxian was extremely scared. She tightly held onto her schoolbag. This girl spoke fast and in a high-pitched tone, looking very aggressive. She didn’t know if she should answer, but she promised Gu Nianbin to be brave and make more friends. So she managed to reply, “My name is Du Xiaoxian, ‘xian’ as in fairy.”