That’s right. Instructor Lin, whom Yan Shuyu was dying to meet hasn’t showed up, but the super busy CEO Zhou, on the other hand, came to visit Sunshine house again.

Yan Shuyu felt a complication emotion about the boss’s visit this time. She wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing that he came on a Friday night instead of over the weekend.

She was supposed to meet up with Instructor Lin over the weekend. Whether that would be Saturday or Sunday would be up to Instructor Lin; Yan Shuyu would be at Sunshine House anyway. They had also coordinated with the other party involved in this – Zhang Yuanbao was to hang around the store over the next couple of days, so he could also meet his future teacher in person and bring up any opinions or suggestions that he may have.

Normally, the parents could make these types of decisions, and it wouldn’t matter whether Zhang Yuanjia was there in person. But since Yan Shuyu was new at parenting, she’d like to think of herself as someone who’s awesome and progressive. She preferred to discuss with her son than to make all the decisions for him, even though he was only five years old.

After consulting with her instant son, when Yan Shuyu dropped him off at school the next time, she gave Teacher Lin a heads up. Teacher Lin expressed that their rehearsal was almost done and little kiddo Zhong Yuhuan was one of the ones that picked up the quickest and had the best performance. It would be okay for him to miss one weekend of rehearsal.

That was how happy kiddo Zhang Yuanbao’s weekend plan was set. If Zhou Qinhe also happened to show up over the weekend, he just might run into the kiddo. Yan Shuyu would worry that the story would unfold like it did in the novel and that her instant son would be crazy about the male lead’s father. If she could have her way, the two of them would never meet each other again.

That being said, it was pure luck that the big boss decided to go visit on a Friday instead. If his past pattern held true, he wouldn’t be back again for another 10 days to two weeks. By then, her son would have entered into his new pattern of going between his kindergarten, music school, and home and wouldn’t have time to go to the store anymore. The boss could be there with the male lead every single day, and she would have nothing to worry about.

Thinking of that, Yan Shuyu’s headache was gone. Her heart was no longer pounding. When the boss walked past her, she even gave him a happy smile to greet him before looking down and continuing with her performance.

In the past, Zhou Qinhe had only been here during the afternoon tea time in the past. Today, he came here at almost 8 PM this time, the same as the other white-collared workers.

Sunshine House was very conveniently located next to shopping malls and office buildings, so most of their clientele were the white-collared workers going there to relax for a bit after work and dinner. It was also a favorite spot for meetups for office workers; as such, 7~8 PM was the busiest time of the store.

And, this was also the fixed performance time for Yan Shuyu.

A pretty face was welcomed anywhere. Yan Shuyu had been at Sunshine House for over a month and had became the biggest attraction of the store. Half of the customers during this hour came here to see her perform.

The coffee shop that normally has a quiet ambience was now jammed packed with customers, yet it wasn’t boisterous at all. As soon as Yan Shuyu sat down in front of the piano, everyone would lower their volume in sync and focused their attention at the middle of the room. As concentrated as they were, anyone who didn’t know better would think this was some sort of a concert hall.

Yan Shuyu loved being the center of attention. Even though her salary already covered her performance, and she wasn’t making anything extra, seeing how much fans she had, she put all she has into her performance. She looked so engrossed in her very own melodious performance that once again, she forgot all about the boss.

Zhou Qinhe, as usual, was a very thoughtful person. Seeing how busy Yan Shuyu was, there was no need to ask for her specifically. He ordered a cup of coffee from another server and quietly appreciated her performance just like everybody else.

One side inevitably submitted to the other in any relationships. When the boss was being forceful, Yan Shuyu was very obedient. Now that he was being quiet, Yan Shuyu completely ignored him. When 8 o’clock hit and her performance was done, she stood up, bowed, and stepped off the stage in the midst of the applause.

Yan Shuyu was so eager to go home and didn’t even have time to listen to all the praises from her regular patrons as her shift ended when her performance ended. The time that she spent listening to them, she could have changed and gone home instead.

Ever since they were deep in autumn, the temperature has been dropping. This meant that her work uniform could last a couple more days before washing. After she had changed, Yan Shuyu folded up her uniform and placed them inside her locker before she slugged her backpack over her shoulder and waved goodbye to her buddies.“I am taking off now! See you tomorrow!”

Zhang Mingming asked longingly, “Yan-jie, tomorrow is Saturday. Will you be bringing Yuanbao here?”

“Yes, I will!

“Awesome. Have a good night, Yan-jie!” Waved Zhang Mingming with a smile.

Yan Shuyu left the back room in brisk steps. As she walked past the bar, she smiled brightly at the girl behind the cash register and waved goodbye, “Lili, I’m taking off~”

“Yanyan….” Lili looked up and called out to her as though she had something she wanted to share. Unfortunately, Yan Shuyu, who was eager to go home, thought that her little buddy was just saying goodbye to her, so she didn’t even turn and look at her as she floated past her.

As she floated out of Sunshine House, Yan Shuyu’s bright smile froze all of a sudden. She happened to see the boss not too far from her just opening the driver’s side door. Which meant to say that, had she come out just a few seconds later, he would most likely already be gone.

How could she be that unfortunate? She started to have doubts about her life. The very next second, she seriously considered blocking her face with her purse and hoped to walk past the boss without him noticing. She didn’t care how that’d look in the middle of the street; anything was better than running into the boss.

Sadly, just as Yan Shuyu could see the boss right away, he, too, could see her right away as he was standing facing straight at Sunshine House. Even though he was looking down when he was opening up the car door, his tall and straight body was still an entire head above the car’s body. Just a slight lift of his head was enough for him to spot her. Yan Shuyu’s plan was ruined before she even had a chance to carry it out.

“Just getting off?” smiled Zhou Qinhe calmly at her as he leaned against his car.

A pretty car and pretty girl combination attracts the most attention, but a graceful male god like Zhou Qinhe with his sword-like brows, starry eyes could also attract the attention of the passersby.

As a very superficial person, Yan Shuyu couldn’t help but be distracted by him before she regretted deeply. She just recalled how Lili looked like she had something to say when she walked out of the store. That could very well be what she had wanted to tell her – even if this wasn’t what she was going to say to her, had she stayed for just a few minutes to chitchat with her, she would have missed the boss.

Alas, what was life if it wasn’t full of surprises and awkwardness? As much as Yan Shuyu was mad at how unfortunate she was, she still forced a smile on herself and greeted the boss, “Yes, Boss Zhou, you are taking off too? See you next time then.”

Boss Zhou warmly offered, “Let me give you a ride. It’s on the way anyway.”

“No, no, it’s okay. I live very close by…” Yan Shuyu tried to frantically decline him, but before she was done talking, Zhou Qinhe had already closed the door that he had just pulled over and walked over the passenger side in person.

The boss had personally opened the door for her. Yan Shuyu was so touched that she wished she could cry, but she just stood there dumbfounded.

Zhou Qinhe lifted his brows. As though he was being impatient, he said in a teasing tone, “It has only been a few days. How come you are acting like we are just acquaintances?”

Bro, we have always just been acquaintances, alright? Plus, it had been almost two weeks since she had last saw him. As much as that’s what she wanted to say, Yan Shuyu was a coward. She could merely put up a very touched look as she shuffled closer to the car while making her last ditch effort, “Really, you didn’t need to. I live very close by….”

Zhou Qinhe simply pretended that he didn’t hear her at all. He just waited patiently next to his car while he watched her shuffle toward the car at the speed of a turtle before finally giving up and climbing into the passenger seat. Finally, a smile appeared on Zhou Qinhe’s expressionless face, just merely a flash of it. He then closed the door for her in the most gentlemanly way before walking back to the driver’s side.

This time, the boss drove her back in person. Yan Shuyu hadn’t had the mood to think about the difference between this fancy car versus the previous one that the boss had. Forget about the fact that she was very much treated like a lady; she felt so uncomfortable that she might as well have been pricked by a thousand needles. She recalled reading on the internet that the passenger seat was reserved for girlfriends; she felt extremely awkward sitting in that spot.

Plus, that was the boss’s idea. Never in a million years would she have the courage to sit in the back seat and treat the boss like a chauffeur. She could do nothing but to curl up against the window. It wasn’t her intention, but it almost seemed like Zhou Qinhe was some sort of vicious beast.

Zhou Qinhe skillfully started the car, pulled out of the parking spot, and happened to saw the way that she was sitting and calmly reminded her, “Seat belt.”

“Okay, thank you.” Yan Shuyu finally straighten herself up and clumsily buckled herself up as she explained, embarrassed, “I thought it’d be okay since my place is only two minutes away.”

Basically, she was a good kid that followed the rules all the time.

Zhou Qinhe couldn’t be more serious when he said, “Still have to follow the rules.”

“Okay, I will keep that in mind,” Yan Shuyu replied like a grade school kid being lectured.

She thought to herself that the boss, even though he was of the privileged class, was following the rules; it was certainly wrong for her to be so lackadaisical about it.

During her serious self-reflection, the boss’s voice rang again suddenly, “You work so late, what do you do with Yuanbao?”

Yan Shuyu’s nervousness was all gone when the boss reminded her about the seat belt. Now that he asked her a question casually, she also responded equally casually, “He’s home. I get off relatively early compared to others. The ones that work the night shift have to stay until 11 PM.”

Zhou Qinhe gave her a look and said, “That’s still not great. Have you ever considered switching to a different job?”

Yan Shuyu has certainly accepted Manager Yang’s suggestion and decided to ask Instructor Lin for a job when they meet up. But right now, nothing was set in stone yet, and she hasn’t even told any of her buddies at work, not to mention Zhou Qinhe, who wasn’t even a friend of hers. She merely replied very conservatively, “It’s alright. I just started this job as well.”

Never in a million years would she expect the boss to tell her point blank, “There’s an opening in the administration department at my company. Work hours are 9 – 5 with no overtime and doesn’t require too much skills. That might be more suitable for you.”

Yan Shuyu gulped and asked in disbelief, “Your company?”

Zhou Qinhe nodded.

The Zhou’s Corporation ranked among the top 500 in the world, and one of the top ones at that. They were the kind of company that only accept candidates from the top 3 colleges in the country, not to mention all sorts of prominent universities overseas. Not to mention, there were all sorts of amazing benefits. Once she got in because the boss, as long as she didn’t eff out, she could pretty much stay till the day she retired.

Truth be told, Yan Shuyu was very tempted at the opportunity, much more than becoming Mrs. Zhou. After all, with her qualifications from her previous life, she wouldn’t even dream about ever getting into a company of that caliber. Once she gets in, even just as an administrative personnel, she would still be way ahead of any of her peers, alright?

The temptation was so attractive that Yan Shuyu had to struggle for a few seconds before her rational side finally won over. It was because she recalled the ending story arc of the stepmom and how much effort she had put in since the day she had transmigrated for the boss to forget about the incident where she had bedded him. The little male lead seemed to be friendly to her as well. As long as she remained a safe distance from the two of them, her future was looking quite good.

If she accepted the boss’s favor, she was just walking into the fire herself. Why would she ever do that?

Thinking about the story arc, Yan Shuyu had no choice but to decline the boss’s offer. It felt painful to give this up. Moreover, she came up with a very good excuse, “I’ve heard that the politics at a large corporation could be very daunting. I will have to politely decline. I am quite happy where I am at currently, and everybody there is nice to me.”

Zhou Qinhe lifted his brows and gave her another look as though he was surprised by her final decision. But, they had already arrived at her place, and he didn’t have the opportunity to pursue the subject further. He merely gave a noncommittal “Mmm” and stopped the car.

The next second, Yan Shuyu quickly released the seat belt and more or less scrambled out of the car. She barely remembered to wave goodbye at the boss only after she was standing outside of the car.

The reason she was so frantic was because she had no faith in herself. She might have declined the boss’s help with the best reason, but she just might regret her decision the very next second. The opportunity of working for a large corporation was simple too tempting. =.=