Chapter 21 - Who Got Hurt? (1/2)

After talking with Gu Nianbin that night, Du Xiaoxian became less afraid of him and stopped running away when seeing him. She regarded the young master as a kind person because he smiled at her and gave her a bottle of water. She shouldn’t escape from such a kind person anymore. Nevertheless, she was still shy and stood far away. If he drew nearer, she would summon up all her courage to greet him.

Gu Nianbin always held gentle smiles when seeing her. He couldn’t keep a straight face to such a poor girl. To his driver Xiaoding, it was inconceivable that their young master, who rarely smiled, smiled at the new maid.

Du Xiaoxian kept the young master’s kindness in mind, but could not think of a way to repay him. In the end she chose to get up early in the morning and clean his car.

Everyday Xiaoding waited for his master by the car ten minutes in advance. This morning he was shocked by the polished car with dust-free tires. He looked down and found that even the fenders were cleaned thoroughly. What was all this about? Who did this? He walked around the car several times and checked carefully. However, he found nothing abnormal except a shining vehicle.

Therefore, he didn’t think too much about it. But the next few days he found the car was cleaned by someone every morning and felt increasingly uneasy. This day he couldn’t help but tell Gu Nianbin about it.

Gu Nianbin was also surprised. He walked around the car and found that it was clean everywhere. The foot pedal, fender, exhaust pipe and even the bare bottom of the car were dust free. He looked at the thin figure working in the distance. He couldn’t think of anyone else except her.

So he went over and asked, “Did you clean the car?”

Du Xiaoxian nodded. Her cheeks turned red slightly, like wearing a coat of light rouge.

“Why did you clean my car?”

“You treated me well, and I want to do something in return.” Her voice was still timid.

Gu Nianbin was confused, “Did I treat you well?”

“You talked with me gently and gave me water.”

Because of a bottle of water, she got up before dawn every morning to clean his car. The repayment was excessive. If he didn’t know her simple nature, he would be suspicious of her motive. A little maid like her shouldn’t do such things to flatter their master.

“Don’t clean the car anymore,” Gu Nianbin told her, “It’s not your job. Leave it to Xiaoding”

“I just…”, muttered Du Xiaoxian, “…want to do something for you.”

“Really?” Gu Nianbin smiled.

Du Xiaoxian nodded and looked up at him hopefully. She was facing the rising sun and the morning light dyed her hair on her forehead golden. She narrowed her clear eyes slightly, as cute as a kitten.

“Well,” Gu Nianbin thought for a moment and said, “from now on, you are responsible for preparing bottled water in my room. You need to check the cabinet stock every day. Can you do that?”

“Yes!” Du Xiaoxian was excited, and her voice was louder and clearer than usual. “But…” She frowned, “I’m not allowed to go into the young master’s room.”

“I grant you. My room is not locked. I’ll notify butler Xiao later.” said Gu Nianbin, “If you have time, clean the room. Usually butler Xiao does the cleaning himself, but he’s aged. It would lighten his burden if you could help him.”

“Yes, sir.” Du Xiaoxian felt even more excited. The young master was willing to let her clean his room, which was the best praise for her. She was determined to not let him down.

Watching the young master’s car getting out of the big iron gate, Du Xiaoxian squatted down and began to pick up the fallen leaves in the roadside bushes. As time passed by and sunlight became glaring, she began to sweat a little. When she was wiping the sweat off, a black car came in through the gate.

She stood up, squinted, and hurriedly ran inside.

“Master, lady, the young master’s cousin is here.” Du Xiaoxian shouted out as she got into the hall.

Everyone in the hall was astonished. Butler Xiao and Ling helped the master get up and went upstairs right away. Fang Yaru walked to the door in a hurry and saw Gu Niannan getting out of the car. “Niannan, you are so early. Are you planning to have breakfast with me?”

“Auntie, I’m coming to talk to my uncle.” said Gu Niannan with a smile.

“Your uncle is in poor health. You could talk to me.” Fang Yaru stood still at the door.

“You don’t want me to get in, do you?” Gu Niannan looked at her.

Fang Yaru turned back to check the hall and then walked inside, “Nonsense. Come on in.”

Gu Niannan walked in and sat on the sofa, with his legs crossed, “I know my uncle always wants to get back the ancestral property. I’ve got some information about it.”

“Then tell me about it. I’ll tell him later.”

“Well…” Gu Niannan said with a fake smile, “you know, information is money nowadays. It costs almost all my money to acquire useful information. Now it has settled into shape, but I’m short of money for further details. That’s why I’m here.”

“Did you get the information or not?”

“I’ve found the key person,” he said helplessly, “but he won’t tell me anything unless I pay him enough money. So…”