Under little kiddo Zhang Yuanbao’s persistent whining, Yan Shuyu finally gave in to his unreasonable request.

When she nodded her agreement, she had found herself a few great excuses such as the little kiddo was particularly stubborn and refused to go to bed if she didn’t agree. The closer her son was to the little male lead, the better it was. In comparison, what’s hurting her reputation a little bit? Not to mention that time would prove the rumors wrong anyway. So on and so forth. All in all, she refused to admit that she has a soft spot and that she couldn’t turn down her young son.

As usual, Yan Shuyu was not one who dwelled on things that were in the past. Once she had promised her instant son, she stopped dwelling on it. Patted the little kiddo on his head, she said to him, “Are you happy now? Can we go to bed now?”

Zhang Yuanjia looked up and smiled.

Yan Shuyu said again, “As you have not been a good boy tonight, we are cancelling story-telling. Now close your eyes and go to sleep.”

Zhang Yuanjia was pretty sleepy after the whole fiasco. He didn’t object much to his mother’s punishment and just closed his eyes docilely. Seeing how cooperative he was, Yan Shuyu felt a sense of achievement as well. She felt that she was a good parent who used a good balance between rewards and punishments. She, too, quickly turned the lights off and happily went to sleep.

When the mother and son duo were sound asleep, Zhou Qinhe, who was waiting in the VIP lounge, never received a reply on WeChat. He couldn’t even get upset anymore but just shook his head and smiled. Then he sent over two more texts. “I’m boarding now. Estimated arrival time is tomorrow afternoon. Sleep tight.”

As usual, Yan Shuyu didn’t see the WeChat texts till the next morning, at least she docilely checked her cellphone first thing in the morning. Sure enough, she saw that the boss had sent her quite a few messages. Yan Shuyu smiled sweetly. She could feel her head getting bigger and bigger. The boss had never texted her so much at one go before.

Now that she was appeased, it was necessary for her to appease the boss as well. Yan Shuyu quickly typed up the content: “I accidentally fell asleep last night again. Do remember to give me a call after you have landed.”

Whether she looked too smug or that Zhang Yuanjia was a very sensitive boy, the little kiddo pitter pattered in front of Yan Shuyu immediately after she sent out the texts and asked in anticipation, “Mommy, are you chatting with Uncle Zhou?”

“I have just sent him a text on WeChat. Your Uncle Zhou is still on the plane right now and can’t chat.”

The little kiddo let out a disappointed “Oh”, then asked again, “What time is Uncle Zhou getting off the ploane?”

“When will Uncle Zhou get off the ploane huh…” said Yan Shuyu as she mimicked her son’s pronunciation in bad taste. Nevertheless, Zhong Yuhuan was already used to his mother making fun of him and only looked at her calmly, showing no signs that he was being made fun of. Not getting the reaction that she had anticipated, Yan Shuyu gave up and switched back to her normal self. “I heard in the afternoon. The flight is over ten hours long. Tsk tsk tsk. That’s such a tough trip.”

It wasn’t easy being a domineering CEO, needing to fly all over the world on business trips.

She felt compassion for the boss half-heartedly for about a second, but Zhang Yuanjia, on the other hand, chimed in sincerely, “Yeah. Uncle Zhou works so hard.”

Yan Shuyu, “……”

He might work really hard, but he’s still a domineering CEO who determined the fate of millions of yuan every second. Darling, you should save your compassion for your mother who has to work really hard for her money!

Nevertheless, Yan Shuyu did not say that out loud. She worried that the little kiddo would, once again, take her rambling seriously.

Zhong Yuhuan’s focus wasn’t there anyway. After he was done lamenting, he asked again, “Will Mommy be chatting with Uncle Zhou again this afternoon?”

Yan Shuyu had an idea of what he was trying to get at, so she gave him a very vague answer. “It’s not even noon yet. How’d Mommy know?”

That didn’t bother Zhang Yuanjia much. He gave her a very serious look and said, “If Mommy talks to Uncle Zhou today, be sure to let him know that we want Xiao Yi to come play with us!”

Sure enough, he still remembered it.

Yan Shuyu, unsurprised, said, “Okay.”

Probably feeling better after Yan Shuyu had nodded seriously, Zhang Yuanjia pitter pattered back to the bathroom to finish getting ready.

Nevertheless, the little kiddo only felt reassured for about an hour. When he was about to part with his mother at the kindergarten, he added again worriedly, “Mom, don’t forget to tell Uncle Zhou that we want Xiao Yi to come play with us!”

Being reminded like that as though her reliability was being doubted, Yan Shuyu waved without wanting to dignify it. “Okay, okay. Your mom is not that forgetful yet.”

Little kiddo Zhang Yuanbao, on the other hand, still didn’t feel too overly reassured. He turned around several more times as he walked inside of the school structure.

Then, by noon, he called Yan Shuyu up from his smart watch. Sounding like a broken record, he said again, “Mom, Mom. Don’t forget to tell Uncle Zhou, okay?”

“Mom” was very irritated and didn’t want to respond to him at all. Three times was a lot already, and this little kiddo had already nagged her 3 ~ 4 times. Yan Shuyu finally came to the realization of exactly how unreliable she was in the little kiddo’s mind.

Nevertheless, she refused to admit to the truth. She merely told herself that her instant son was persistent and had a good follow through. That’s a very important quality for a successful individual. And that she should be happy about it.

From a certain perspective, Zhong Yuhuan has chosen the correct strategy. Had he just waited quietly for good news from his mother, as much as Yan Shuyu wouldn’t go back on her words, she wouldn’t be too active about it either. It’d probably be a couple of days before she’d remember to mention it to the boss. Yet, but being nagged so much that she was irritated, Yan Shuyu couldn’t wait to bring it up to the boss as soon as he contacted her after he had landed.

After exchanging some pleasantries, she asked, “Ever since Yuanbao found out that you will be gone for several days leaving Xiao Yi home by himself, he has been very worried about him and wanted me to ask you if Xiao Yi can come play with us.”

For the sake of avoiding any unnecessary misunderstandings, Yan Shuyu made it very clear that it wasn’t her idea at all.

Zhou Qinhe had a pretty good idea about what kind of a person she was. Not only did he not overthink what she said, he even kindly said to her, “Both Yuanbao and Xiao Yi are young and need a lot of attention. Will it be tiring for you to watch over both of them?”

Yan Shuyu couldn’t have agreed more. “Yes, I would think so.”

It was hard enough to be watching over one rug rat. He had almost cured her of her cellphone addiction. Now there would be one more, why was she doing that to herself?

Her reaction was unexpected. The boss chuckled helplessly from the other end before asking tenderly, “Then what should we do?”

Thinking about how stubborn her little kiddo was, Yan Shuyu finally gave in and said, “It’ll be fine. I am very experienced with children. Besides, Xiao Yi is a very well-behaved kid as well.”

See how determined she was, Zhou Qinhe smiled and said, “That works. When do you want to meet?"

“How about 4 this afternoon? Yuanbao will be out of school and the two of them can hang out at the coffee shop. I’ll try to get off earlier today and take them to the park or something.”

Zhou Qinhe was very agreeable. “Okay. I will have them drop Xiao Yi off at Sunshine House after 4 then.”

Yan Shuyu and Zhang Yuanjia’s plan was to go and pick up the little male lead from his place. After all, the boss wasn’t home and the little male lead wouldn’t be able to come out on his own.

Hearing what the boss had said, Yan Shuyu realized that poverty had still limited her imagination. Just because the boss was out on a business trip didn’t mean that the chauffeur wasn’t around. There might even be bodyguards who’d follow too.

She happily accepted the boss’s arrangement.

After she had nodded, she noticed that the boss’s words sounded very autocratic, so she reminded him by saying, “Don’t just drop him off. You should at least ask him if he wants to come first.”

Having said that, Yan Shuyu couldn’t help but grumble to herself that with the boss’s uncompromising style, even without the stepmom and the stepbrother in between, the father and son probably wouldn’t have a very harmonious relationship with each other.

A mountain can’t hold two tigers; a household can’t have two domineering CEOs.

Zhou Qinhe didn’t really know what she was trying to get at, but he laughed wholeheartedly. Then, in a somewhat indulging voice, he said, “Okay, I’ll ask him how he feels first.”

That made Yan Shuyu feel better. As much as she felt that the little male lead loved both her and her son and most likely would not turn down their invitation, she still wanted to appear to be a liberal person. “Okay, I’ll wait for your good news then.”

Having said that, she recalled that the boss had just got off the flight and should be plenty tired. Feeling a stroke of conscience, she said to him, “Ah, you can just text me through WeChat. No need to call me again. You should get some rest while you can.”

The boss was, obviously, appeased by her being consideration and his voice went a whole notch softer. “Alright.”

Shortly after they hung up the phone, Yan Shuyu received the WeChat message from the boss and more or less confirmed to her that the little male lead had accepted their invitation. She quickly responded with, “Got it. Now go get some rest.”

After receiving the confirmation, Yan Shuyu informed Manager Yang and her little buddies. “Yuanbao had invited his little buddy Zhou Yi to come play at the shop. They might have to take over Manager Yang’s office again.”

Yang Zifeng knew that his buddy was already a couple with Boss Zhou, but he hadn’t expected her to be able to bring over his prince in such a short time. He raised his brows and said with admiration. “Zhou Yi, right?”

Yan Shuyu didn’t catch the meaning behind his look and was just about to nod when the others already started asking, “Who is Zhou Yi?”

Manager Yang replied for her, “He’s Boss Zhou’s son. You guys have seen him before.”

The crowd had met the wealthy young master before and had a lasting impression of him, but it was today that they found out his actual name.

That being said, the crowd turned their attention onto Yan Shuyu’s and Boss Zhou’s relationship once again. Sherry was the first who put her arm in Yan Shuyu’s and asked her with a smile. “Okay, now spill, little Yanyan. What is your relationship with Boss Zhou now?”

Yan Shuyu knew there would be all kinds of speculation, so she wasn’t surprised by it. She pulled out the excuse that she had prepared ahead of time and said, “We are just friends. Boss Zhou went on a business trip and will be gone for a few days. Yuanbao was worried about his little buddy after he found out and insisted on asking him out.”

Naturally, her little buddies didn’t buy that. “He’s the young master who’s worth hundreds of billions. How’s Boss Zhou feel comfortable enough to let you take him out?”

“Maybe Boss Zhou is just a very trusting person.” Yan Shuyu made up stuff without even thinking. “Plus, I am his young master’s future cello instructor. They have already signed the contract over at the musical institution. Why wouldn’t he trust me?”

The others didn’t know much about music, but thinking that the musical institution decided to hire her after watching her performance, they figured she was good at it. Which would make sense that Boss Zhou would have her teach his child. Her little buddies were half convinced by her and all expressed their enthusiasm. “Okay, we will help take care of them when Yuanbao and the little young master are over.”