As the newest staff member of the musical institution and the one lightest in experience, Yan Shuyu's sales were pathetic. Luckily, she had the little male lead, her built-in customer, who had wanted to learn cello from her since way back when, on her first day of work. After such a long wait, not only did the little male lead not lose his patience, he was even more enthusiastic about it and asked to go to the institution for lessons with her daily, possibly because he was too bored over the winter vacation.

Zhou Yi was only taking cello lessons with his Aunty Yan and at most practicing his piano from time to time accompanied by Aunty Yan. Even so, he still expressed that he'd "be a team player" and wait for them to take off together.

As he insisted on hanging out at the musical institution, Yan Shuyu would be responsible for taking care of him. Nevertheless, Yan Shuyu did not complain too much this time. In addition to being compensated for it, she also noticed that as long as the little young master was with her, the boss would not only pick them up and drop them off at work every morning, but would also pick them up after work and drop them off home after dinner.

With all the fringe benefits, Yan Shuyu now willingly babysit for the boss.

***

Their new lifestyle quickly fell into a routine, and the next order of things would be to look for a new place.

Looking for places was a very physically demanding activity. Yan Shuyu had experienced that with her friends before graduation. With two little baggage in tow, the challenge would at least be increased by multiple folds. She decided to drag Yang Zifeng along to help with some physical labor.

Nevertheless, Zhang Yuanjia and Zhou Yi truly surprised her. After they had walked around most of the little district and both Yan Shuyu and Yang Zifeng were already out of breath, the two little brothers with their short little legs had never asked for a break or to be carried. In fact, they were happily discussing the move.

"The little kiddos are so full of energy." Even Yang Zifeng was amazed.

Zhang Yuanjia was very excited about their new place with Zhou Yi almost being as excited. When they went to tour the first place, Zhang Yuanjia pointed at the smaller bedroom and shared with his little buddy, "Mom said that when we move to a bigger place, I'll have my own room. So this one will be mine."

The little young master quickly added after him, "Then I can sleep with you and daddy can sleep with Aunty Yan. That way we won't have to fight over the blanket."

The quiet little male lead rarely talked so much. As such, it was obvious to see how excited he was. Zhang Yuanjia, too, nodded nonstop happily. "That's what I am thinking too!"

And that was how the two boys had it all figured out. Yang Zifeng, after hearing all of the gossip, finally couldn't help but give his little buddy a profound look and said, "No wonder you are rushing to look for a new place. Your old place is kind of challenging."

The smile froze on Yan Shuyu's face. She shook her hands frantically at her little buddy. "No! Not true! We didn't!"

What she really wanted to tell the little male lead was that: Baby, you are overthinking this. She would only be spending more time keeping the father and son away from them. After all, just like he had pointed out, it'd become much more convenient with more rooms. If she had inadvertently let them in, they'd be very difficult to get rid of.

The boss might appear to be gentle and approachable, but Yan Shuyu had it figured out a long time ago, he was everything but gentle and approachable. He may seem like he was well adjusted to the lifestyle of a normal peasant, but after a while, Yan Shuyu had picked up some hints here and there. Take the other night when the boss had stayed over for example. The boss seemed perfectly okay with staying over at her place and had someone bring over a hot and steamy breakfast the next day as though he was very accustomed to this. But, Yan Shuyu noticed that the boss had changed into new clothes without a word.

The boss, as someone who paid so much attention to the details in life, would he really be okay with her kind of simple lifestyle?

Of course not. With the difference in their intelligence, if the boss truly enjoyed being over at her place as much as his son did, would she have been able to stop him? No. Yet, she was able to somehow. That could only mean one thing. The boss was not serious in this relationship.

They were looking at the area that Yang Zifeng lived in. That was his suggestion. His reason being that if they were going to move, might as well move to the same area as him. It'd make it easier for them to help out each other.

Yan Shuyu agreed with him wholeheartedly, but unfortunately, the two 2-bedroom places that they have looked at were not suitable. This area was already expensive and the district that Yang Zifeng resided in was the worst of it all. The rent there was higher than the other districts around.

The rent there was higher than what Yan Shuyu was comfortable with.

Yang Zifeng understood her situation and also agreed with her assessment. "You are right. This area does have a lower benefit-cost ratio. Even at 80 sf you still only get 2 bedrooms. That's excessive for you. We should look at something smaller."

Checking out the time, Yan Shuyu said regretfully. "It's getting late. I don't think we have enough time to check out the district next to here. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Sure. I am free tomorrow as well," said Yang Zifeng before he warmly extended an invitation to her, "My place is right ahead. Why don't you c'mon up and have some water. Yuanbao and Xiao Yi's faces are red from all the walking."

As energetic as Zhang Yuanbao and Zhou Yi were, they were still tired from all the walking. Yan Shuyu gave it some thought. The boss said he was very busy today and wouldn't be able to come over till around 6 o'clock. Liu Ci had some personal matters today, so Yuanbao was done by 4 o'clock and Yan Shuyu got to take off earlier as well. She had declined the boss's offer to send his chauffeur over to pick them up as she figured she'd use the extra time to look at apartments.

It was already 5:30 PM. Yan Shuyu figured that she could go and hang out with her little buddy for about half an hour. She accepted Yang Zifeng's invitation and walked forward with one kiddo in each hand.

The "up ahead" mentioned by Yang Zifeng was still a bit of distance away. They walked through a garden and then there was a lake. There were many beautiful structures surrounding the lake including rock gardens. The buildings were farther apart from each other, allowing for better lights and privacy. These apartments were almost like single family houses, except that they could have more floors.

As there was more space around the single family homes, there were also more parking spots. Yan Shuyu could see Manager Yang's car parked outside from afar. And there was a white BMW parked next to it.

"My place is right over there. Lower floor," said Yang Zifeng as he pointed at the building across from his car. He then studied the BMW for a few seconds. It wasn't that he was envious of it. His family has a few BMWs and Mercedes as well, but they were meant for business use so he much preferred to drive his own little beat-up car.

He looked at the BMW some more and said definitively, "I don't think I have seen this car before. The license plate is unfamiliar as well. Am I about to get a new neighbor?"

Yan Shuyu was thoroughly impressed. "You could tell that too? Bro, you surely are awesome."

And his mightiness did not stop there. He could further deduct more information from the color and accessories from the car. "I am guessing that the owner of this car is a female, in her mid-thirties. Hmm, most likely a career woman..."

What he said earlier was at least sensible and logical. When it came to the car owner, Yan Shuyu just assumed that he was rambling now. Anyways, she was bored, so she entertained him by going along with it.

Low and behold, Yang Zifeng wasn't even done talking when the car owner walked out of the building. Exactly like Yang Zifeng had predicted, she was an elite career woman in her thirties.

And just how did Yan Shuyu know that? Because, coincidentally, this was Secretary Lu. Naturally, the secretary of the boss would doubtless be an elite.

Yan Shuyu, being caught red-handed checking out her car with her little buddy, felt slightly embarrassed. She held onto her son and the little young master's hands tighter and pretended to greet her as nonchalantly as possible. "Hi, Secretary Lu. What a coincidence. Do you live here as well?"

Secretary Lu seemed to feel slightly awkward as well. She looked over at Yan Shuyu, then at their little young master before she smiled and said, "This is a coincidence, indeed. What are you doing over here, Miss Yan?"

Yan Shuyu had already been embarrassed in front of Secretary Lu in the past and now, looking at her BMW and living at luxurious places, and that Yan Shuyu couldn't even afford a 2-bedroom place, she was too embarrassed to tell the truth. Finally, she pointed at her little buddy and said, "I'm here to visit."

That's when Secretary Lu gave Yang Zifeng a smile. It was a polite smile, and she showed no intention of getting to know her new neighbor better. At the same time, she studied him a little and thought to herself that this man looked young and handsome, but if Miss Yan could bring two children with her to visit him, they must be close friends.

That thought made her feel better, and she said politely to Yan Shuyu, "Then you have fun. I have something else to take care of."

Yan Shuyu, too, smiled politely. "It's fine. Bye then."

After Secretary Lu took off in her car, Yan Shuyu and her little buddy walked inside of the elevator. The curious Yang Zifeng stuck his head over and asked, "That's Boss Zhou's secretary?"

Yan Shuyu nodded. Yang Zifeng commented in a low voice. "That's truly high and mighty."

Shouldn't she try to kiss up when she ran into her boss's girlfriend?

Truth was, Yan Shuyu had picked up on that as well. She whispered to him softly. "She was quite enthusiastic the last couple times that we met."

"You think she didn't bother trying too hard because Boss Zhou wasn't around?"

Yan Shuyu thought about it for a little bit and shook her head. She was quite fond of Secretary Lu. One is always envious of what one doesn't have. Yan Shuyu has already been a pretty girl, born into a decent family, and things have always gone smoothly for her. The only thing that she lacked was ambition. Nor was she particularly outstanding and knew that she would never be a career woman. As such, she was particularly envious of these female elites. She had a very good first impression of Secretary Lu, so she was also a bit bothered by this.

"I'd say her being irked by us checking out her car was more likely. Aren't there men who think of their cars like their lovers? Perhaps Secretary Lu, too, does not like others talking about her lover."

Yang Zifeng tried to put himself in her shoes and could relate to that. "I guess that makes sense."

As this wasn't a big deal, the two of them immediately put that behind them. Most likely, Secretary Lu would move on. In the unlikely event that it still bothered her, they could always apologize next time they run into her.

Yan Shuyu didn't give it too much thought after that. As such, when the boss came to pick her up and brought up the fact that they had ran into Secretary Lu, she was a little surprised. "Really? She needed to report that up to you as well?"

She was still a little bit worried. She wasn't sure whether Secretary Lu was complaining behind her back or voluntarily mentioned it to the boss. She felt embarrassed in either case. =.=

When she was thinking about all sorts of random things, the boss smiled helplessly. "That was very unfortunate. I meant that to be a surprise for you."

Yan Shuyu was baffled. "Say what?"

The boss explained nonchalantly. "You mentioned that you wanted to live in that area so I had Secretary Lu keep an eye out. She had already found a unit in that district. The remodeling was completed last month and we are working on the furniture right now. I am just about to take you there to check it out."