Cinderella Innocent and Boss Charming

Standing in the luxurious and spacious living room, Du Xiaoxian was so nervous that she didn't know where to place her hands and feet. She lowered her head and looked down at her tattered cloth shoes. Although the shoes were old with a few small holes on the surface, they were clean and even the blue cloth was washed to the point of looking white.

Xiao Bonian looked at her up and down. She wasn't tall, and was extremely thin. She stood there like a junior middle school student. Her hair was fine and smooth but slightly yellowish, and she seemed to be malnourished. She was pretty and clean, and had the look of an honest girl.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen." The little girl was very nervous and her voice was timid.

Xiao Bonian smiled gently and said, "I'm the housekeeper here. Just call me Uncle Xiao. Don't be nervous. The Master and Ladyship are always nice to servants. The young lady is easy to get along with. But the young master has some special rules that you need to remember. The young master likes to be quiet. You should stay away from his room. If he doesn't call anyone, try not to appear in his sight. Also, you can't enter his room or mess with his things without his order. And there is nothing else. Other servants here are also good-tempered. You should get along well with them in the future."

"Yes, Uncle Xiao, I understand."

"You have just come here and have no prior experience. So you just start by cleaning the yard. There is a parasol tree in the front yard. When autumn comes, leaves fall everywhere. The Ladyship doesn't like that. Make sure you do a good cleaning job."

"Yes, Uncle Xiao, I remember." She hung her head, and her voice always sounded timid.

"Ah Ling, take Xiaoxian to her room and find a uniform for her."

"Yes, Uncle Xiao." The maid named Ah Ling had been here for almost five years. She smiled at Du Xiaoxian and bent down to pick up her luggage. Du Xiaoxian rushed to snatch it. "I, I'll do that myself."

"It's okay. I'll take it for you." Ah Ling felt a little pity for her when she saw her thin and timid appearance.

Du Xiaoxian insisted on taking back her luggage from her hands. Ah Ling said jokingly, "Xiaoxian, is there any treasure in your bag that you keep such a close eye on it?"

Du Xiaoxian's face flushed instantly, and her voice was as low as a mosquito's. "No."

Xiao Bonian smiled and said, "She's new here and so young. Don't tease her. Ah Ling, take good care of her in the future."

"Don't worry, Uncle Xiao. I'll take care of her."

Du Xiaoxian followed Ah Ling and peeped around. When she first came in, she kept her head down. Now that she saw everything, she felt as if she was dreaming: High carved hall, clear Italian crystal chandelier, magnificent European furniture and marble floor as clean as a mirror. Not daring to breathe, Du Xiaoxian walked on tiptoes, afraid that she would leave footprints on the clean floor.

Ah Ling took Du Xiaoxian to the servant's room. She pointed to an empty bed and said, "You will sleep here from now on."

It was a one-meter-wide single bed with a light-colored sheet. There was a blue quilt on it. Although it was not a new one, it was already very good for Du Xiaoxian. They were at least better than the bed and quilt in her home.

Just as she was about to bend over and get her luggage under the bed, Ah Ling stopped her and pointed to the wardrobe by the wall and said, "That's your wardrobe. You can put your things in it."

Du Xiaoxian was stunned, not expecting to have a wardrobe of her own since she had been given such a good bed. After a moment of hesitation, she walked over and opened the wardrobe. It was empty, and there was a good smell of wood. She gently touched the wood plate with her hand. It was very smooth, really good. There was no burr at all so clothes would not get worn out.

"What are you dazing for? Put all your clothes in the wardrobe!"

Ah Ling urged her. "I'll get you a uniform so that you can change your clothes." She added.

Du Xiaoxian turned to look at her with an embarrassing smile. She whispered: "Thank you, Sister Ah Ling."

When Ah Ling brought her the uniform, Du Xiaoxian had paced all her clothes in the wardrobe. She didn't have much clothes, and they only occupied a small corner of the wardrobe.

Ah Ling pulled the curtains around the bed and asked Du Xiaoxian to change her clothes. She sat on the chair at the table, telling her the rules and terms of employment: maids got up at six in the morning; they could only use the public restrooms. Breakfast was at 6:30, lunch at 11:00, and dinner at 5:00. If you were late, there would be no dishes.

You could take one day off each week: you could stay in the room or hang out. On your birthday, the master and the lady would give you red envelopes. During the Spring Festival, you would receive red envelopes not only from the master and the lady, but also from the young master and young lady....

Ah Ling added, all the Gu's family were good people and easy to get along with, especially the kindhearted lady, who chanted prayers and meditated every day in the family Buddha Hall, not daring to trample even an ant.

The master was ill and always taking medicine.

The young lady was lively and cheerful. She worked at the television station, and was seldom at home.

The young master was a good man as well, but he was too busy. He did not talk or laugh a lot, and was a little bit weird. So, it would be better not to hang around before him.

Uncle Xiao was the fairest person. Tell him when you felt you were unfairly treated.

Anyway, as long as you did a good job here, you could live comfortably.

Du Xiaoxian listened to Ah Ling carefully as she was changing clothes, and kept all her words in mind.

Her second aunt had told her to be especially careful when working in such a family: have keen eyes and a good memory, be quick to do errands and talk less. These were the tips.

The second aunt had begged to get the job for her, so she must cherish the chance and not let down the second aunt.

When she lifted the curtain and got out, Ah Ling couldn't help laughing: "I got the smallest size, but it was still big on you. All right, just wear it for now. You can have additional clothes under the uniform when it's cold. And the next time we have new uniforms, I will ask the tailor to take your body measurements."

Du Xiaoxian lowered her head and uneasily pulled her clothes. They were a little big, but they were brand-new. It was the first time she had put on new clothes, and she felt so nervous that she grabbed the apron with her hand. When she let go, she saw wrinkles, so she tried to get rid of the wrinkles by pulling and scraping.

Ah Ling could not help laughing when she saw how nervous Du Xiaoxian was. She took her hand and said, "It's all right. Clothes will wrinkle. They will be OK later on after being washed and ironed."

With her head down, Du Xiaoxian was still uneasy. She kept pulling the clothes, hoping that with more efforts, the wrinkles would disappear.

Ah Ling led Du Xiaoxian out and showed her around the house. The living room, the dining room, the kitchen, the grocery room, the wing-room, the masters' bedrooms, the study, the Buddha Hall, the wine cellar, and the indoor temperature-controlled swimming pool.

After a tour inside the house, they went out through a side door of the dining-room. There was a back garden which had a set of carved stone tables and stools.

It was just the beginning of autumn, when summer flowers had not faded and autumn flowers had begun to blossom, so the garden looked beautiful and luxuriant.

Du Xiaoxian was instantly fascinated.

But Ah Ling didn't let her stay long. She pulled her to the left, pointing to the swimming pool and tennis court.

Then they went round back to where they had just entered. There was a large lawn, which was surrounded by a brick-paved path, on which both people and vehicles could go.

Where she stood was the open space down the front entry steps of the house. People were used to calling it the front yard, which was paved with larger square tiles, including some colored patterned ones. In the middle there was a fountain, where stood a statue of a Greek bather, who held a water bottle at an angle with the water pouring down from the bottle mouth. Du Xiaoxian was startled at the sight of the statue and then she blushed immediately. She hadn't expected that a statue of a semi-naked woman was erected here for people to see.

She was too embarrassed to look at it, so she simply lowered her head.

Tall and green trees were planted all around with some flowers and plants dotted among them. The branches and leaves brought out the best in each other.

Ah Ling said, "Uncle Xiao must have told you. Your job is to clean the yard."

"Yes, he did." Du Xiaoxian stood upright with her hands hanging down. Her eyes swept over the fallen leaves on the ground.

Ah Ling pointed to the road beside the lawn and said, "The road only needs to be swept once every morning and every afternoon. But you have to pay more attention to a plane tree that loses leaves a lot. The lady does not like fallen leaves. The young lady suggested several times that the tree be cut down, but the young master disagreed. That's why we need someone to sweep the fallen leaves."

"Yes, Uncle Xiao told me about it."

Ah Ling added with a smile, "Don't always say 'yes'. Although there are many rules, you don't need to be so humble. You are not in the old days!"

Du Xiaoxian blushed with her fingers crossed but said nothing. She grew up alone and rarely dealt with others, so she didn't know how to get along with others. Before she came here, her second aunty had taught her how to behave. It wouldn't go wrong to do as she said.

When Ah Ling was about to take her to the utility room to get a broom, she saw a black car coming in through the gate. After taking a good look, she ignored Du Xiaoxian and rushed into the house.

Du Xiaoxian stood still. She didn't know who was in the car nor if she needed to stay away. When she was lost in thought, the car stopped in front of her. Then a young man got out of the car. He was handsome, but his eyes made her feel a little uneasy. The man gave her a quick glance before he walked into the house chillily.

She quietly entered the house by the side door and got a broom from Ah Ling. Before she went to work, she stopped and asked, "Sister Ah Ling, is that man the young master?"

Ah Ling glanced contemptuously into the living room and whispered, "How is that possible? He is a distant cousin of the young master. His name is Gu Niannan. He is as heartless as a wolf. Every time he comes, he not only asks for money, but also says some acid words to make the master angry. He once even made the master ill, and was punished severely by the young master. It has been some days since he last came here. He must have run out of money, so he comes here today shamelessly. Next time you see him come here, tell Uncle Xiao and the lady immediately to make sure the master won't have to meet him. Have you got it?"

Du Xiaoxian nodded. Suddenly she heard the man raised his voice with anger, "Second Aunty, is that all? Do you think I am a beggar? The Gu's company should have been taken over by my branch. If my grandfather hadn't..., how could you be so powerful today...?"

Mrs. Gu sat there, and said to him calmly, "Niannan, it was your grandfather who gave up his right of inheritance, so we can be in charge of the Gu's company today. However, we have never treated you shabbily over the years, have we? To be frank, the money you've taken over these years is more than enough to open another company."

"Don't fool me. The market value of the Gu's company has doubled or even tripled. What I got is nothing compared to it."

"That's right. But don't you know who made it?! Nianbin is gonna come back. How about you stay for dinner and talk to him about it?"

Gu Niannan looked very bad. With an angry glance at the antique Western clock in the hall, he grunted and put the check carefully into the inner pocket of his suit. Then he left without saying a word.

Ah Ling whispered in Du Xiaoxian's ear, "The lady is very kind, but not a duck soup. Can't be softhearted to such a man."

Du Xiaoxian listened to her silently. She thought, "Even a vicious man like Gu Niannan left in disgrace when he heard the young master's name. The young master must be a tougher man. But I don't know what he looks like. What if I fail to avoid meeting when he shows up?"