Yan Shuyu almost had a nervous breakdown when she saw the Zhou’s father and son at the Sunshine House again. What was it that was so appealing to them that they would return time and again?

If they kept on coming every week like this, Yan Shuyu would need to seriously consider changing jobs. She might be able to overlook the fact that the boss liked to come here from time to time, but now he was bringing his male lead son with him every time he came. This is the kid who was going to turn into her instant son’s archnemesis when he grew up and grind them up until there was nothing left. She surely had no interest in mingling with her enemies day in and day out.

Unfortunately, she could only afford to think about it. She wouldn’t change her job, probably not in this lifetime. This job was cozy and fun, and her bonus and extras added up to higher than her wages. Not to mention taking her instant son to the shop for free food and drinks every day. Where else would she find another job like that?

Yan Shuyu had her mind set. Until she could find herself an even cozier job by say maybe earning her certificate and teaching at a training facility, she would be staying at Sunshine House. Nobody could make her switch. So, as much as she was grumbling to herself, she complimented the boss in a polite and friendly manner, “Boss Zhou, bring your kid with you again? How very nice of you!”

This time the kiddo didn’t need to be introduced. Blinking his large, round eyes, Zhou Yi greeted Yan Shuyu voluntarily. He didn’t seem as expressionless as he would in front of a stranger, his two light dimples somewhat visible when he said, “Hi, Aunty Yan.”

“Hi, kid.” Yan Shuyu was shocked at the treatment that she was receiving. She was but a cannon fodder stepmother. She felt a lot of pressure when the male lead was so nice to her, much more pressure than when she suspected that his dad was interested in her. In the novel, “she” was, after all, the official Mrs. Zhou, the designated spouse of the boss. So his having some feelings for her was still reasonable. Now that the male lead was so nice to her, wasn’t that starting to deviate from his character setting?

As she was grumbling to herself, the boss, whom she had just “praised” also gone out of character all of a sudden and asked her about what she wanted to avoid talking about, “I’ve heard that you are a single mother. What do you do with your child when you work on the weekends?”

Zhou Qinhe’s tone was casual like they were just two people chit chatting. The topic, on the other hand, almost gave Yan Shuyu goosebumps.

She felt she got it again. The boss didn’t come to the shop time and again for her. It was her son that he was aiming for. The storyline of the novel had proven that point as well; nobody made a better villain cannon fodder than her instant son. The boss man certainly was good at making an accurate and vicious assessment.

Fortunately, her instant son was still rehearsing at the kindergarten. Kids’ performance was much different than that of adults, in that their rehearsals run much longer. The teacher said that’d they take at least 1-2 months. The boss could come as frequently as he wanted, but he wouldn’t meet her son, let alone luring him away from her.

Thinking about that, she straightened her back all over again and put on a fake smile, “Oh, he doesn’t have school on the weekend, so he stays home by himself.”

“Oh, really?” Zhou Qinhe didn’t mean much when he asked, but her answer has now piqued his interest. With a half smile, he asked her, “You feel comfortable not having your kid at the shop with you?”

Yan Shuyu felt that his true intention was finally showing through. She shook her head in a very determinant way and said, “Don’t worry, that’s how he has always been.”

So give it up already. You could come here every day, but you still wouldn’t meet my son!

Boss Zhou didn’t understand that she was being very protective of her son, but the way she tried to bullshit him in the most serious manner caught his attention. He gave her a very meaningful look and said, “I see…”

Yan Shuyu was still maintaining her just and forceful appearance but deep down inside she was already panicking from his look. She quickly changed the subject, “What would you like today? How about an order of the cake that the kiddo had last time?”

Zhou Yi had been the quiet listener to the “cheerful” conversation between his father and Aunty Yan but was suddenly cued without warning. He didn’t know how to respond right away, so he just looked at Yan Shuyu with a cute and baffled look.

Aunty Yan, “……”

The adult and the kiddo looked at each other for a few seconds and finally Zhou Qinhe was the one who broke the silence. He still had the same warm and vibrant look but it was obvious that he was in a good mood now, “Sure, we’ll take one of those.”

“Alright,” Yan Shuyu quickly wrote that down. She had given up on making him order a table of food this time. She just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, “What would you like to order, Boss Zhou?”

“Oh, same as last time as well.”

Upon hearing that, Yan Shuyu’s immediate thought was: Who the hell would remember what you ordered last time?

But as she gave it some thought, she actually remembered that he had ordered a drink last time, the most popular coffee at their shop. It wasn’t cheap either, but, most importantly, the boss didn’t touch it at all. How wasteful was that?!

Grumbling to herself, she nodded professionally and said, “Okay, a cup of Irish coffee, anything else?”

The boss seemed to be very impressed by her memory. His smile deepened as he shook his head gently.

“I will bring your order shortly,” Yan Shuyu deftly picked up the menus and was about to take off when the boss smiled and asked, “Will you be the one bringing us our food?”

Yan Shuyu paused for a bit after he said that. Man, this boss man was so petty, she thought to herself.

But, since he had already called it out, she couldn’t possibly slack off again. She could only nod and smile. “Of course.”

After that, Yan Shuyu busied herself getting water and tea for the male lead and his dad, all the way until everything that they have ordered were served. She felt that she had accomplished lots. When the burden has been unloaded, she relaxed and said, “Enjoy.”

After she said that, she was about to slip away, but before she could even take her first step, she heard the boss’s caring voice asking, “Oh, I forgot to ask. How are you feeling now?”

Yan Shuyu remembered her previous lie and had a bad feeling all of a sudden. Losing her courage, she replied, “Perhaps…. I have recovered.”

“Perhaps?”

“…..” Yan Shuyu had no choice but to give a definitive answer, “I feel much better recently.”

Then, she heard the boss politely asking her to perform for the little male lead.

Oh, so you are that interested in “The Little Leaping Frog” huh? She really wanted to ask. But, she had always been inexplicably intimidated and had weakened knees in front of the boss, including today. So she finally chose to remain silent.

More importantly, she worried that the boss was very fixated on listening to her perform “The Little Leaping Frog” again. He didn’t get to listen to her performance last time and said he’d be back, and he had, indeed, returned a week later. If she looked for another excuse today, would the big boss, again, considerably expressed that he would be back again?

Well, that just might go on indefinitely. The boss has both time and money, he could totally afford this kind of entertainment during his free time, but she couldn’t. She needed to pretend to be innocent, unpretentious woman who had no interest in the boss. She needed to hold her ground and not continued to mingle with them. Her best move was to give the boss whatever he asked for, that way he’d lose interest and not return again.

Once she had that figured out, she gave them a very enthusiastically smile and said, “Okay, you want me to perform ‘Little Leaping Frog’ right? Let me go get ready.”

When she was talking to the boss, Yan Shuyu’s enthusiasm was mostly fake, but once she sat down in front of the piano, it turned into genuine enthusiasm. It was because she has come to realize that the only way to send this VIP away was to give him what he wanted. And she could make some extra income at the same time. That’s what one’d call killing two birds with one stone. She was such a genius!

As she was very pleased with herself, her cheerfulness could be felt directly in each note that she played.

She had only performed “Little Leaping Frog” for the first time in this refreshing and romantic coffee shop to annoy the boss enough that he’d leave. It had never crossed her mind whether this type of music would jive with the ambience of the shop, but sometimes unexpected events take place in life. What she had done at the spur of the moment had turned into a new trend for the shop.

Sunshine House was a small café made popular by the internet. Even though it was only well-known among a specific circle, as a café that was raved about on the internet, it had always drawn trendy young people to go there and check in. When Yan Shuyu performed “Little Leaping Frog” on that Saturday afternoon, it just so happened there were some of these trendy young people there. They had subsequently shared the “surprising performance” on the net. In the week that followed, Yan Shuyu had received two separate requests for her to perform “Little Leaping Frog”.

Yan Shuyu was quite proud that her performance was sought after. More importantly, it meant more money. She was happy, and her fondness for this song continued to grow. As she was happily performing away, she even started singing alone. Before she even realized it, a small kiddo snuggled right up against her.

Zhou Yi might only be 4 years old, but as a kid born into wealth, he didn’t have much of a childhood to speak of. Other kids might be listening to kids’ songs, but someone of his status listened only to classical music.

He had recently started piano lessons, and his instructor was a young pianist, the kind who’d very likely become a professional pianist at some point. Perhaps influenced by his instructor, the little young master has always thought of piano as something as noble and refined. To the point that when he witnessed Yan Shuyu performed a cheerful kid’s song with the elegant piano, the little young master was stunned, and his worldly viewpoint almost crumbled.

Quickly, his shock turned into a novelty. The cheerful tunes of the kid’s song relaxed his otherwise stern look. When he saw Yan Shuyu started singing along, he couldn’t help but slide off the couch and looked at his daddy with those big, round eyes.

On a personal level, Zhou Qinhe treated his son the same way as he did anyone else – he looked friendly all the time.

Seeing the longing look in his son, Zhou Qinhe nodded and said, “Go.”

Zhou Yi then waddled over toward Aunty Yan on his stubby legs.

He was still a bit reserved at the beginning, but when he was about a meter or so away from her and perhaps noticing that she hadn’t noticed him at all, he got braver and braver and slowly nudged closer and closer. Finally, he was leaning up against her thigh and closely watching her ten fingers happily bouncing up and down the keys.

Yan Shuyu had been completed absorbed in her performance, but she wasn’t too nervous when she came to. Instead, she looked at him in the same pure way that she looked at her instant son and expressed her welcome, “Sing with me – a happy pond was built, dreams became ocean, round eyes and big mouth, singing loudly….”

Normally, Zhou Yi would have just ignored that. He was the male lead after all, no matter how young he was, he still has his own brand of personality. But, he was overly curious today, and Aunty Yan’s look was too infectious. The little young master started singing with her without even noticing.

He reacted quickly, anyhow. Noticing that he was making a fool out of himself before he finished the first line, he quickly closed his mouth tightly. Aunty Yan, on the other hand, was still singing and playing the piano and showed no signs of stopping. He has already agreed to sing with her, so the polite little young master was too embarrassed to backpedal on his own words. After looking at her face and struggling for a few seconds, he finally hummed along with her.

This time he had learned his lesson. He only hummed with his mouth closed, and only symbolically opened his mouth during the “la la lah” parts, and even so, his voice was so low that only he hear it.

Yan Shuyu didn’t care about those minor details. She could sing along all herself. The little kid joining her would only excite her more. After she finished the song, Yan Shuyu felt that the performance was perfect and high fived her “little partner”.

After the “perfect” partnership between the adult and the child, the “little partner”’s dad chimed in, “Xiao Yi did enjoy it a lot. He just started taking piano lessons. Maybe Aunty Yan can teach you a little bit now?”

Zhou Qinhe’s seat was right next to the piano. Now that the music had stopped, Yan Shuyu could hear him clearly even though he didn’t stand up. She looked down curiously at Zhou Yi and asked, “You want to learn this song?”

Zhou Yi didn’t acknowledge, but his white ears turned a pinkish color. Now that she was well-versed in child-rearing, she could tell by the looks that the kiddo was more than willing to, just too shy to say it out loud. Tsk tsk tsk, each little boy was more shy than the one before, what were girls going to do after they grew up?

Yan Shuyu, who were thoroughly enjoying herself, scooped up the little master directly and plopped him onto her lap. With uplifted spirit, she said, “Okay, let’s begin. Follow my beat!”

Since she has started this job, Yan Shuyu would sometimes teach her son while holding his hand when it wasn’t busy at the shop.

She might not be a very good mother in many other ways, but her desire for her son to succeed in life was stronger than that of anyone else’s. Most parents might have the expectations for their kids to support them when they grew old. However, Yan Shuyu took it a step further. She wanted her son to become an instant millionaire, reached the top of the pyramid, and improve her life right away. She wanted him to be perfect in every way – piano, chess, poetry, painting – so she had no choice but to hold his hand and give him piano lessons.

As someone who had been practicing the piano since childhood, giving piano lessons to a child came easily for Yan Shuyu. Her instant son seemed to have inherited her wondrous talen. Even with no background at all, he needed very little guidance. The male lead was even better, having been learning from famous instructors. He picked up even faster than her instant son. Yan Shuyu had only showed him a couple of times before he could perform it on his own, albeit not too smoothly. Filled with a sense of accomplishment, Yan Shuyu gave a round of applause, “That was so wonderful.”

What a loss for all students that she wasn’t an instructor!

Zhou Yi didn’t know that Yan Shuyu’s applause was really meant for herself. Both him and his instructor have very high standards. He was already feeling ashamed of his own performance even after her hand-holding teaching style; Yan Shuyu’s applause made him felt even more embarrassed. Lowering his head, he was just about to try it a couple more times to improve himself, when Zhou Qinhe, who had already paid the tab, stood up and said, “Xiao Zi, that’s enough for one day. Let’s head out.”

This time, the little young master did not just walk away without hesitation like he did last week; instead, he gave the piano another longing look before he slid off of Yan Shuyu’s laps and ran toward his father. Having the shyness like any other child, he grabbed the corner of his father’s clothes before he turned and said goodbye to Yan Shuyu, “Bye, Aunty Yan.”

“Oh, bye.” Yan Shuyu stood up and waved, looking much less happy than she was before.

The big change in her mood made her buddies came up to her and ask, “Yanyan, you were having so much fun with the little young master. Do you miss him already?”

“What happened?” Yan Shuyu pulled her hair in frustration. “I hate babysitting others’ kids. What did I just do?”

Sherry, who happened to walk past her, busted out laughing and said, “You just didn’t want to babysit Boss Zhou’s kid.”

Going from a prominent CEO seemingly interested in her to a prominent CEO wanting her to be his son’s nanny was quite a big plummet. Even though little Sherry-jie jie had already given up on the boss completely, she could stillmock Yan Shuyu.

Yan Shuyu’s response was also simple and crude – with a snort, she turned her head proudly and showed little Sherry the back of her head. Yes, so she was prideful. So what?

Yan Shuyu and Sherry were always bickering with each other, but the two of them were the closest with each other. Everybody else was already used to it, so they just continued to ask, “That’s right. If you didn’t want to babysit others’ kids, how come you’ve had so much fun with the little young master?”

Yan Shuyu, “……”

She didn’t really want to admit to it, but she might be attracted to the little male lead’s pretty face.

Speaking of, her instant son was quite kawaii too, arguably the cutest kid she had ever seen in her two lives combined. Most importantly, he looked like how she used to look, making her naturally finding him cute.

She must say, however, that it wasn’t a good thing for her instant son to look more like her in her previous life rather than his birth mother. Compared to the male lead, he was less elegant and pretty. Male lead was stunning, making someone who was such a fan of good looks stayed motionless in the same spot. Last time, Yan Shuyu didn’t spend too much time with him, so she could still resist him. Today, the little male lead had switched out of his usual cold demeanor, snuggled up to her leg, and blinked those large eyes that were cuter than Barbie at her. She was defeated immediately.

That was such an embarrassing conclusion that she’d just keep it to herself and never share that with anyone else. As for the curiosity from her little buddies, she pretended to give it some thought, and finally came up with something somewhat reasonable, “Probably because that could bring me extra income?”

That sounded quite reasonable. Just when her little buddies were about to nod in agreement, Lily, one of the cashiers, came to see what all the ruckus was about and delivered the not-so-good news to Yan Shuyu, “Sorry, Yan-jie, no tips this time. Your boss only paid the exact amount on the tab.”

“What??” Yan Shuyu was so distressed that she didn’t even correct the mistake in Lily’s word choice. She looked at her painstakingly, “How could you let him leave without paying his bill? Did you fall for his attractiveness as well?”

“Hey, he might be handsome, but I have my principles too, okay? Of course I didn’t let him leave without paying the bill.” Having said that, she said somewhat remorsefully, “But after I told him the amount, he just said to put it on his card. He didn’t seem like he wanted to tip you so I felt bad about asking. After all, he’s someone of such high status. I didn’t want to offend him…”

Yan Shuyu, “…..”