Two years had passed since she last returned to Gu Bei's mansion. So much had changed. Every flower, every tree, every brick and tile seemed to have learned from Gu Bei himself and taken on a cold air.
Xie Bingxia followed Gu Bei through the long garden corridor. She looked up at a window on the second floor. That was Gu Bei's bedroom. How many passionate nights had Xia Jingwei spent in that room? Even now, her body seemed to still remember the warmth of their skin touching back then.
Gu Bei strode into the living room on the first floor, took off his suit jacket and threw it to the old butler casually. "Get me a new suit," he said. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he added, "Prepare a guest room for her." With that, he went straight upstairs and plunged into his bedroom.
From the moment they entered the house until now, Gu Bei hadn't even glanced at Xie Bingxia. It was as if she were just a casually bought commodity, and it didn't matter where he threw her at home.
The old butler was startled when he saw Xie Bingxia. Then he came over respectfully. "This way, please."
Xie Bingxia didn't want to look up at the butler. The butler used to dote on her so much. Just seeing his wrinkled and sunken eyes made her nose sting.
"The guest room is arranged in the innermost one on the second floor, Miss..."
Xie Bingxia nodded slightly at him to show her gratitude and then went up to the second floor with ease. The maid Xiaomei came over with new bedding and pillows in her hands. She poked her curious head out from behind the butler and asked, "Has that young lady been here before?"
The old butler shook his head, noncommittal.
Xie Bingxia walked up the stairs briskly. When she passed by the study door, she paused for a moment. The familiar environment and past memories came at her uncontrollably.
"Xia Jingwei!" Gu Bei sounded a bit helpless. "I've told you not to put your little white rabbit on my desk."
"What? Don't you think it's cute?" Xia Jingwei picked up the ceramic sculpture of the little white rabbit and looked at it from all angles, looking very satisfied.
"Like you?" Gu Bei said with a smile on his lips. "Then you can leave it here. I'll look at it every day."
"No," Xia Jingwei pouted. "I'm afraid you'll fall out of love with me if you look at it every day."
Gu Bei hugged her tightly, rubbed his nose against her fair cheek and whispered in her ear, "Whoever falls out of love is a puppy." Then he deliberately barked twice.
Xia Jingwei pinched Gu Bei's cheeks on both sides. Seeing his smile distorted, she found it really funny. "Are you deliberately teasing me?"
From that day on, the little white rabbit sculpture became a regular on Gu Bei's desk. He would even pick it up and rub it from time to time.
Xie Bingxia stood in a daze in front of the study door for a while. Then she quietly pushed the door open and went in. Her eyes fell on the office desk. There was no little white rabbit. She couldn't help but laugh at herself.
What was she thinking? How could Gu Bei still keep that thing?
Since she was already in, she might as well take a look around and see if this cold - faced boss was a man who secretly hid secrets. Xie Bingxia stood in front of the huge bookcase and ran her fingers across the spines of the books.
Every book was spotless. Xie Bingxia knew that Gu Bei had a bit of a cleanliness fetish.
"All books on economics. How boring," Xie Bingxia said disappointedly as she couldn't find any fun. Suddenly, her eyes caught something. Her gaze fell behind a thick dictionary.
She pulled out the dictionary, revealing a little white rabbit sculpture hidden behind it. Xie Bingxia's breathing quickened. She reached out and took out the little white rabbit, examining it carefully.
It was clean, which meant the owner cleaned it regularly. However, a small piece of the gilding on the eyes had fallen off.
For a moment, a pang of sadness welled up in her heart. Xie Bingxia bit her lower lip, but then she heard a sharp shout: "What are you doing here?!"
Gu Bei came up and grabbed Xie Bingxia's hand. Caught off guard, she dropped the little white rabbit, which fell to the ground and broke into pieces. Gu Bei trembled all over at once. His thick eyebrows knitted together, and there seemed to be a smudge of ink between them.
He grabbed Xie Bingxia and threw her aside. Then he squatted down to pick up the pieces of the little white rabbit and added, "Get out! You're not allowed to enter my study from now on!"
Xie Bingxia staggered a few steps. Looking at Gu Bei's trembling back, she said guiltily, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
"Get out!" Gu Bei didn't even want to talk to her. He picked up the pieces of the little white rabbit one by one and put them in his palm.
"Really sorry," Xie Bingxia raised her voice. "How about I be your little white rabbit from now on as an apology?"
Gu Bei's hand froze for a moment. He gritted his teeth and said, "Do you think you're worthy?"
"Whether I'm worthy or not, you'll know if you try," Xie Bingxia retorted.
"Humph, you're quite bold!" Gu Bei walked over. He was used to using his tall figure to intimidate his opponents and make them feel timid. But Xie Bingxia wasn't afraid at all. Instead, she said sincerely, "I'm sincerely apologizing to you."
"I'm not interested in little kids!" Gu Bei turned around and was about to slam the door and leave. But when he reached the door, he paused for a moment and then walked back straight away.
Xie Bingxia was still standing there nervously, with her head down, showing her well - defined cheeks. Gu Bei grabbed her chin and lifted it up. He looked at her for a while and saw the lively eyes behind the glasses lenses, which reflected his confused expression.
After looking at her for a moment, Gu Bei snorted from his nose. "You're really not worthy."
Xie Bingxia was almost so angry that her face turned red. After a while, she managed to say, "Is one of Brother Gu's hobbies pinching other people's chins?"
Gu Bei immediately let go of his hand and said crossly, "It seems I have to set some rules for you. Here, you can't do whatever you want. Do you understand?"
Just a short while later, a set of rules was sent to Xie Bingxia.
Xie Bingxia sat cross - legged on the edge of the bed, looking at the words on the paper with a look of disbelief.
"1. You're not allowed to go out without permission."
"2. You're not allowed to rummage through anything in the house without permission."
"3. You're not allowed to speak loudly without permission, which may disrupt Boss Gu's work and rest."
"4. You're not allowed to buy any non - essential items through any means without permission."
"5..."
The more she read, the angrier Xie Bingxia became. She quickly scanned to the last rule. In big red letters, it said: The study is a restricted area. Absolutely no entry! No excuses!
Look at Gu Bei. He really held a grudge. Was he like this before? Xie Bingxia sighed, waved the paper in her hand and complained to the maid Xiaomei standing beside her, "Tell me, am I cohabiting with him or serving time in jail?"
"C - C - Cohabiting?!" Xiaomei was so shocked that her mouth could fit a light bulb. She stared at Xie Bingxia with wide - open eyes and stammered, "You, you and the young master are, are, are..."
Xiaomei swallowed her saliva and leaned over to ask Xie Bingxia, "May I ask how old you are, Miss?"
"Seventeen."
Xiaomei burst out laughing. "Don't tease me, Miss. Our young master likes girls like..." She gestured at her chest, "like..." She patted her hips, "and like..." Finally, she pretended to smile charmingly and blinked her eyes.
"Oh, so he likes girls like that," Xie Bingxia said with a meaningful smile. "It seems I have no chance."
"Miss, you..."
"Hahaha, I'm just teasing you. You're so cute!"
This was the first time Xie Bingxia had really laughed in so many days. Xiaomei was stunned for a moment. Then she slowly scratched her face with her fingertips and said shyly, "Actually, Miss, you're very beautiful."
"Thank you," Xie Bingxia patted the fluffy pillow on the bed. "Thank you for your compliment and for preparing such a wonderful bed for me."
Xiaomei felt even more embarrassed. She had seen many arrogant and domineering young ladies, but she had never met someone as approachable as Xie Bingxia. Wait, no, there was actually another nice person.
"If you meet Miss Yuan, you'll definitely become good friends," Xiaomei said with a smile. Xie Bingxia asked back, "Miss Yuan?" Could it be...
"Yes, the young master's fiancée, Miss Yuan Yiyun."