Naturally, Yan Shuyu had no idea that any minute now, a prominent family check-flinging scene would be enacted in her life. She continued to go about her happy and uneventful ways – going to work everyday and being a mother, going out to grab lunch and shopping with her little buddies from work occasionally. Her days were both busy and fulfilled.

Having joined the activities and being able to convert her prize into a bonus of 20,000 or so yuan only kept Yan Shuyu happy for only a few days. When she realized that it was going to be another 2 or so more months away before she would actually receive the money, the time frame was so far away that the not-to-patient Yan Shuyu had temporarily set her excitement aside.

Naturally, since it’d take equally long before the male lead would be covering for her rent and living expenses, Yan Shuyu had also conveniently forgotten all about the little walking RMB male lead and his father.

Perhaps, the Zhou’s father and son had too much fun the other day, they did not disturb Yan Shuyu again since then. Yan Shuyu was worried that the boss and the male lead would return week after week and expected her to take them places, but until the next week, she had heard nothing from the boss, not even a message on WeChat.

Welp. That was a bit awkward. Now she felt like she was the one who was looking forward to it. That made Yan Shuyu feel a bit disgruntled about it, and all she could do was to complain about the boss’s “bad habit” of being unpredictable.

This was, after all, not a big deal. After her usual disgruntlement, Yan Shuyu moved on from it.

Just when she felt that she wouldn’t be seeing the boss for a long time, he showed up again without warning. Like a cat toying with a mouse, one could never predict his next move.

This time, Zhou Qinhe did not show up inside Sunshine House, but under the coffee shop, sitting inside his car alone. It was impossible to tell how long he had been there.

Yan Shuyu was the only one who took off at 8 PM; as such, she could only go home by herself. She did notice the somewhat familiar luxurious car as soon as she walked out of Sunshine House, but she didn’t pay it too much attention. This was, after all, a tier-one CBD district and the boss was not the only rich man in town. Just because there’s a luxurious car there didn’t necessarily mean it was his.

Yan Shuyu merely glanced over at it before she continued on her way home in a very carefree manner. What she hadn’t expected was that the car window would roll down as she walked past it. Under the street light, the boss’s face, which was so handsome that it was hated by heaven and earth, lit up.

Smiling at her, he said, “Just getting off work?”

Yan Shuyu was so shocked that she didn’t even know how to respond to him. The boss was outside the coffee shop… waiting for her?

While she was still questioning life, Zhou Qinhe unlocked the passenger’s side door and said to her, “C’mon in. Let me take you home.”

Perhaps the boss’s attitude was too overly matter-of-factly or that Yan Shuyu was too dumbfounded, it didn’t even occur to her to turn him down. When she came to, she was already sitting in the passenger’s side with the boss gesturing to her to put her seatbelt on with his look.

She had a déjà vu about this scene. Dazed, Yan Shuyu buckled herself up before she recollected herself enough to turn and ask, “What a coincidence. How come you didn’t come upstairs if you were here?”

Zhou Qinhe started the car and said nonchalantly, “I got here a bit late so I decided against going upstairs.”

Yan Shuyu was even more baffled. It was only a little bit past 8 PM. It will be a while before the closing time of the shop. How was it late?

But now that she was getting a ride from him, she must keep the conversation going no matter what. A little awkwardly, she said, “I didn’t know you were in the car when I walked past it. I was almost startled. Haha.”

Zhou Qinhe turned, gave her a look, and asked, “How have you been?”

“Not too bad.” Yan Shuyu worked with him on the awkward chitchatting. “How about you?”

“I have been a little bit busy as of late. I just came back from a business trip.”

Yan Shuyu nodded with a solemn look before she realized afterward that what the boss said sounded a little like… telling her where he had been?

But how could she possibly be important enough for the boss to tell her his whereabouts? Yan Shuyu was startled by her own imagination, so she resorted to just nodding and acknowledging.

She dared not continue down this line of awkward chitchatting with the boss anymore. She worried that the boss would say something else that made her speechless. That would truly be awkward.

Yan Shuyu remained quiet for a little bit, and the car had arrived at her building. She quickly thanked the boss before she happily opened the door and got out of the car. Yet, when she turned around, she saw that the boss had gotten out of the car as well. Dumbfounded, she said, “Boss… Boss Zhou?”

Zhou Qinhe locked the car.

Perhaps seeing that she was truly startled, Boss Zhou didn’t point out the way she addressed him. He merely explained himself gently, “I’ll walk you up.”

Yan Shuyu didn’t want to owe him that favor at all. She was practically declining him frantically. “No, no. That won’t be necessary. This is a very safe area. I can go home on my own.”

Boss Zhou, nonetheless, calmly walked in front of her. There was an authority in his voice that could not be denied. “Let’s go.”

Yan Shuyu really wanted to look for an excuse that parking was horrid in this area but even the heaven seemed to be working against her. The streets that were normally parked full of cars so happened to have an open slot and the boss’s luxurious car was parked squarely between the white lines.

Even her very last excuse was gone. Yan Shuyu had no choice but to let the boss walk her home. Fretting, she decided to remain silent. However, as they were walking forward, the boss decided to break the silent and asked all of a sudden, “How come you are not talking?”

Yan Shuyu: “……”

The boss was sure to be difficult to appease. She couldn’t even remain silent. Yan Shuyu tried hard to look for a topic. “That, um. I am just very touched. Boss Zhou found time in his busy schedule to give me a ride home and to walk me upstairs…”

Zhou Qinhe stopped in his steps abruptly. Looking at her profoundly, he said, “Is that all it takes for you to be touched?”

Yan Shuyu had a bad feeling. She reflexively took a step backward and answered his question with a question, “Should I not be?”

“Of course that’s not the case. I just didn’t think it’d be so easy for you to be touched.”

Easy? Yan Shuyu was baffled. The way the boss talked was so cryptic. She had no idea what he was trying to get at.

At the very moment, an idea flashed through her head and she had a bold speculation. On top of that, she just blurted it out, “You are not interested in me, are you?”

Zhou Qinhe raised his brows. “Interested?”

“No, no, what I meant was…” Yan Shuyu quickly shook her hands then shamelessly repeated her speculation. “Boss Zhou, you are not trying to date me, are you?”

Zhou Qinhe nodded and chuckled. “Be more confident. You can remove the ‘not’ in your statement.”

Yan Shuyu: “……”

Under any other circumstances, she would probably tease him a bit, something along the line of “Hey, have you been online a lot lately? I noticed that your internet slangs are getting better.”

But now Yan Shuyu was totally stunned by what the boss had just said. It took her quite a while before she found her own voice again. Closed to tears, she asked, “Why?”

She almost wanted to ask him what was it about her that piqued his interest. She’d go fix that right away.

There seemed to have been a role reversal. Yan Shuyu, who was the subject of the pursuit, was frantic, and the suitor was calm and relaxed. With a slight smile on him, he said to her, “I like you and want to be with you. Do I really need a reason?”

Speaking of, Yan Shuyu has had plenty of suitors in her two lives combined but nowadays boys were way less straightforward than girls when it came to relationships. All these times Yan Shuyu were pursued, very few of her suitors had openly said that they liked her, even less said it to her face. She never would have thought that she would hear it clearly from a man like Boss Zhou in this lifetime.

It’d be lying if she said she wasn’t touched. As much as she didn’t think he was too overly serious about it, the original stepmom had to pull out all of her tricks and spent two years’ time to hook the boss. Even when she became Mrs. Zhou, a title that was envious by all, she figured she was the side who’d give in most of the time. Yet, after she had transmigrated over and barely paid the boss any attention at all, that had somehow made the boss become progressively more interested in her and even courting her like mad. That ought to show how charming she was.

Then again, thinking about the ending of the stepmom, there wasn't much to brag about. Yan Shuyu came to her senses in one second or less. She decided to put her foot down and asked, “I thought I had already made it abundantly clear last time and you had accepted as well. So why this all over again?”

“Last time?”

“When we were over at Starbuck,” replied Yan Shuyu seriously. “You said we are both single and you have the right to court me and I have the right to turn you down. But I really don’t think I deserve your attention.”

“That’s alright.” Zhou Qinhe took a step forward and chuckled at her. “I can wait for you to change your mind.”

Yan Shuyu looked up abruptly: Say what???

Their eyes met and she suddenly understood what he was saying – she had turned him down last time, and he had accepted it, but that didn’t mean that he was going to give up. He has time and money. Failing once didn’t mean he couldn’t give it a second or third try. Eventually, he’d be able to change her mind.

Suddenly how persistent the boss was about her, Yan Shuyu only felt that she was about to black out. At this rate, she’d never be able to get rid of him.

Disturbed and distressed, something else occurred to Yan Shuyu. “Pardon me for asking, have you ever courted a girl before?”

Zhou Qinhe reacted quickly. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, I am just curious.” Yan Shuyu shook her head. Even though he didn’t exactly answer her question, given the boss’s status, with the exception of a different-colored firework that stood out like her, there probably was never another woman who needed to be courted as far as he was concerned. She was probably the first woman who has ever turned him down to his face.