Yan Shuyu didn’t care much if the boss truly wanted to marry her. In all fairness, she didn’t exactly want to marry him either.

Plus, she had read the novel previously and had a pretty good idea what kind of a person Zhou Qinhe was. It took the original stepmom two years to marry into the prestigious family. That bar was set pretty high. It only made sense that she wouldn’t readily become Mrs. Zhou.

The problem was that the boss shouldn’t have tricked her like that!

That’s exactly right. Yan Shuyu perceived the boss’s pretending to believe in her excuses, quietly letting her act them all out, then dealing her the final blow and taking control of the situation as him messing around with her.

Although she didn’t exactly have a leg to stand on, having looked for so many random excuses to feed to Zhou Qinhe. But she was the textbook case of someone with a double standard! Anything that she had done was white lies, but when it came to Zhou Qinhe, there was only one word – evil.

Growing up, Yan Shuyu had been pampered like a little princess. Nobody had ever fooled her like that before. She was very angry and that had consequences.

Yan Shuyu’s anger completely overtaken her fear for the boss. At this moment in time, she couldn’t even be bothered with looking for more excuses. She said bluntly to him, “No! I will not consider it!”

Zhou Qinhe had been looking very leisurely as though he had the entire situation under control. Perhaps taken aback by her bluntness, his smile lessened a little, and he asked mildly, “Why?”

Yan Shuyu’s eyes flickered. Somehow she felt that the boss’s aura had become sharper, but she wasn’t intimidated by him. She has backbones now. She looked up squarely at him and said brazenly, “I don’t like you, so would I want to date you?”

SMACK! Zhou Qinhe dropped the front of his cellphone flat onto the table. Yan Shuyu felt that the sound almost rattled her soul and made her little heart tremble. In reality, Zhou Qinhe, still expressionless, his tone light, and asked her softly, “So when you said you like me the other day, you were just lying?”

Yan Shuyu, “……”

As the idiom goes, you give it all of your courage the first time, worse the second time, and completely exhausted it all by the third time. And that perfectly describes Yan Shuyu right now. Her courage that was backed by her anger from earlier were already mostly gone after his first two questions. He had voluntarily lowered her noble head. Plus, her hunch had told her that if she admitted to fooling the boss previously, this would go very bad for her. She finally didn’t go down that path all the way but quickly changed her answer to, “No, I didn’t lie to you.”

Zhou Qinhe looked at her coldly.

She had been so cooperative already, but neither the boss’s look or expression changed any. Figuring that he was holding grudges against her, Yan Shuyu became more anxious. Panicking, her mind spun as she tried to come up with what she could say to save the situation – it’s never too late to save your own mess. Once the boss feels that his self-esteem has been preserved, perhaps he’d better let her off the hook.

Yan Shuyu, after all, was a quick thinker. Even under such tremendous pressure, she was able to come up with the perfect excuse immediately. She said, “Of course I like you. You are so handsome; have a nice body; rich and generous. What kind of girl won’t like you?”

Zhou Qinhe raised his brows. He still remained quiet, but certainly looking less annoyed now. Yan Shuyu felt that she had gotten the hang of it and carried on, “But I am the fickle kind that’d get into something quickly and get out of it equally quickly. I truly have no more feelings now. Given that, it’d just be irresponsible for me to be with you.”

Yan Shuyu’s hunch was correct. She had come up with such a dignified excuse and placed all the blame onto herself. Zhou Qinhe’s look calmed. He looked less angry than he was earlier. In fact, he curved his lips a little and said, “So you admit that you are the type who’s always attracted to the next best thing?”

Yan Shuyu, “……”

She didn’t really want to demean herself that much, but if that’s what it’d take for the boss to let her off the hook, she was alright with accepting that label.

After a short silence, she resigned to her fate and nodded at him. That’s when she heard the boss sneer, “Okay, at least you have that much self-awareness.”

Yan Shuyu felt speechless all over again. Now that the boss had totally bought into her story that she was the type who was always attracted to the next best thing, why was he still talking about dating her right here right now? Why? Really, WHY???

What goes around comes around. Now that she was so upset that she didn’t even want to talk anymore, Zhou Qinhe seemed to have regained his interest. He said proactively, “You seemed to have emphasized repeatedly that my qualities were good looking, rich, and generous. As such, can I interpret that as you will only be attracted to men who possess these qualities?”

I don’t recall saying that repeatedly. Yan Shuyu was baffled about that for a little bit, but she must admit that his overall conclusion was accurate. Yup, she only liked them if they are Tall, Rich, and Handsome, that was precisely how shallow she was~

As she lamented on the boss’s incredible ability to grasp the gist of the matters, Yan Shuyu happily admitted to it, “Yeah, more or less.”

“Well, then…” Zhou Qinhe leaned in a little and looked at her squarely before he asked, “Then, who is your new love interest right now?”

Yan Shuyu blinked at him, dumbfounded. She followed his logic. He was such an outstanding man that there was no way she just lost interest in him all of a sudden. After all, she had just added the like-next-best-thing label on herself. Meaning, there must be a more outstanding man who made her lost interest in him.

The boss’s logic was very cautious and very okay. The problem was where was she going to find a man that’s more outstanding than the boss.

They were in the world of a novel and the boss’s elegant demeanor rivaled his male lead’s son in every way. Not to mention that the male lead was still just a child right now. Meaning that the boss was, no doubt, standing on the very top of the pyramid. Not like his 4-year-old son could compete with him right now. Who else could she bring up? The original owner’s late husband?

But that wouldn’t make sense either. If she was still so fixated on her late husband, there would never have been the one-night stand to begin with.

While Yan Shuyu was struggling to come up with an answer limited by the boss’s specifications, the boss brought up the gist once again. He leisurely asked, “Is it Manager Yang or Instructor Liu?”

That was for sure a trap! Yan Shuyu caught onto that one and shook her head immediately, “Not them.”

Zhou Qinhe looked at her dubiously. “Really?”

Yan Shuyu had no idea where his outrageous speculations came from, but she knew one thing for sure. She would not drag any innocent people into this “love and hate matters” that have been going on between the boss and herself, especially Manager Yang, who had helped her in so many ways. She’d be repaying his kindness with malice should the boss decide to hold grudges against him because of her as well.

Meeting his dubious gaze, Yan Shuyu replied very definitively, “Yes, I have my principles in life. I don’t shi*t where I eat!”

Zhou Qinhe raised his brows and looked somewhat amused, “Is that so?”

Yan Shuyu suddenly recalled that the original owner bedded him using an opportunity through her job. Welp, that was a little bit of a faceslapping. She quickly added, “I would never do that to a friend.”

“Alright,” said Zhou Qinhe with his lips curved slightly, but mostly it was more a let’s-see-where-you-are-going-with-this.

Judging from his look, Yan Shuyu let out a sigh of relief. She had made it through finally.

But the very next second, the boss asked again, “So who is your new ‘love interest’?”

The boss even suspected her purely platonic relationships with Manager Yang and Instructor Lin, that ought to tell you how active his imagination was. Yan Shuyu really didn’t want to expand the war zone. Mainly because she really didn’t have a new lover and couldn’t just make stuff up out of thin air, nor would she be able to provide him with an answer that fit his specifications. Yan Shuyu shook her head determinately, “No new love. My love is just that short lived.”

Having said that, Yan Shuyu gave the boss a light look. She thought to herself; go ahead, show me what you got. But she would never betray her little buddies!

Unfortunately, her self-sacrifice was entirely in vain. Zhou Qinhe, having heard her explanation, wasn’t angry at all. He merely asked gently, “Meaning you are not interested in anyone right now?”

The boss was so good at getting the gist of the discussion! Yan Shuyu contemplated for a few seconds before she connected all the dots and nodded happily.

Yes. Credit where credit is due. There was, indeed, no third person between them.

Zhou Qinhe looked at her intensely and said, “You are single. You currently have no subject of interest. There’s no reason why I can’t pursue you then.”

“……” The slow Yan Shuyu finally realized that she had walked into the boss’s trap again?

At this point in time, she could no longer rebut what the boss had said, but she had also noticed the focus of the point he made. She replied intelligently, “Yes, you can pursue, but I can turn you down as well.”

As though he had heard a very funny joke, Zhou Qinhe’s brows unfurrowed and he showed the first genuine smile of the night. His profound eyes, touched by his smile, seemed even brighter.

He laughed for a long time. So long that Yan Shuyu started wondering if she had truly told a joke when he finally said in a soft and gentlemanly way, “Yes. You are right. We are both single. I can pursue you and you have the right to turn me down.”

Meaning? Yan Shuyu really wanted to ask him what exactly he meant by that, but Zhou Qinhe had already stood up. “It’s getting late. Let me walk you back.”

Yan Shuyu took a look at her watch. It was almost 10 PM and even Starbucks was about to close. She had no choice but to put aside all the questions that she had and said politely, “There’s no need. I can go home by myself.”

Zhou Qinhe, looked down at her gently, talked a beautiful talk, “I must at least wait until you get inside the elevator.”

The boss, who had picked back up his chivalry, most certainly could make one feel like one was basking in the warm spring breeze. Yan Shuyu’s ex-boyfriend was already considered very pampering in the eyes of her friends. Song Minghao, however, being just a tad over 20, was no match to the sophisticated Zhou Qinhe when each movement of his radiated charm. This was also the first time the inexperienced Yan Shuyu came across a sophisticated man who could conquer her with just his bearing. She couldn't help but waver a bit. When she came to, she noticed that she was already nodding happily as she said, “Yes, yes.”

After she had come to, Yan Shuyu looked something like this: “(-ロ-)”. She had made herself speechless. Not wanting to let the boss bewitch her further, Yan Shuyu decided to remain silent on her way home from the coffee shop.

For some inexplicable reasons, Zhou Qinhe didn’t engage in chitchatting on their way back as well. The two of them walked quietly inside of Yan Shuyu’s building.

Yan Shuyu clearly recalled what the boss had said earlier. As soon as she arrived at the front of the elevator, she couldn’t wait to say goodbye. “I am here. You should take off now~”

Zhou Qinhe seemed to be in a good mood since he had laughed out loud. Even now, still with a smile on his face, he said agreeably to her, “Okay, good night then.”

He turned around and started walking away soon after he had said that. Yan Shuyu stood at the same spot to see the boss off. He had only taken a few steps away before she heard the “Ding!” signaling to her that the elevator has arrived. Yan Shuyu walked inside of the elevator without any hesitation.

She carefully stepped inside her house and immediately could hear the little kiddo’s rhythmic long breathing throughout the house. Obviously, he was in a nice, deep sleep.

The boss had taken up so much of her time, so Yan Shuyu wasted no time before heading into the bathroom, quickly removing her makeup, showering, and did her skincare routine. All of this took less than 20 minutes total. She rolled into bed and was about to have a good night's sleep before she darted straight up in bed – she had such a good opportunity when the boss walked her back. Just why didn’t she ask him what his intention was?

She flopped back into bed in two seconds. She replayed the last piece of the conversation between the boss and her again and felt optimistic all over again. She has, after all, explicitly turned him down. And the boss had also agreed that she has all rights to turn him down. That must mean he had accepted the reality finally.

Come to think about it, Boss Zhou was such an outstanding man, girls who were interested in him must line up from the front of his house all the way to the other side of the Pacific Ocean. He was in no shortage of women. For sure there was no need for him to spend too much time on one girl like any regular person.

And even after she had explicitly turned him down, he was still so friendly to her and walked her home like a true gentleman. All of them had proven her point that she couldn’t be that important in the boss’s eyes. As for him teasing and toying her at the beginning, he was probably just punishing her for being dishonest. All the crazy excuses she had used at the beginning, the boss, as smart as he was, must have seen through her the entire time and decided to punish her in the exact same way. Yup, made total sense!

Once she had it all figured out, Yan Shuyu felt much better and fell asleep the very next second.

Without any pressure, Yan Shuyu had a good night's sleep. She might have gone to bed later than she had wanted, but the quality of her sleep was good. She felt very refreshed after she had woken up the next day and even coached the little kiddo on the piano while she applied her makeup.

Zhang Yuanjia only practiced on his piano after 8 AM in the morning and at night stopped at 9 PM at the latest, so none of her neighbors ever complained about it. In fact, the young couple next door even chatted her up one time and asked if she has a kid who’s taking piano lessons and that her son was very good at playing the piano.

Last time, after Liu Ci had Lin Shuwen brought over the cello, he had straight up given the cello to Yan Shuyu. Liu Ci had said that Yan Shuyu was very talented and shouldn’t let that go to waste. If Zhang Yuanjia was interested, he could pick up cello as well. Of course, they would also train him on it once the musical institution opened up. They would do whatever in their power to build Zhang Yuanjia into a multi-talented piano prince.

Yan Shuyu was quite happy getting a free cello. After all, she was truly poor now, which made her shallow. She liked to weigh things by their value. Take the cello given to her by Liu Ci for example, she could tell it was quite similar to the one she had in her previous life. She figured they cost about the same. Some 20,000 yuan. She had definitely come out ahead on this one.

What’s even better was that with the cello, she had one more instrument to perform with at the shop, meaning more chances for extra income. How amazing was that?

But since Liu Ci said to teach her instant son from time to time, Yan Shuyu still needed to keep her end of the bargain. She had been tirelessly carrying the cello to work during the day time and carrying it back at night. So, for the last couple of days, in addition to the usual piano, there was also a cello sound coming from her house occasionally.

She ran into the young couple again that morning when she was leaving her house. The girl smiled and greeted her, “Hi, big sister. Are you taking your child to school?”

Yan Shuyu nodded and waved to her in high spirits. “Yes.”

Zhang Yuanjia, standing next to her, also looked up and greeted them with all his cuteness, “Good morning, big brother and big sister.”

“Little cutie is very cute today too.” The young couple patted him on his head happily. The girl scooted over closer to Yan Shuyu, smiled at her, and asked, “Big sister, I think I heard a cello from your place in the last couple of days? Are you teaching that to the little kiddo too?”

Yan Shuyu acknowledged it and asked anxiously, “Were we being too noisy?”

“No, no. You always avoid the time when we’re sleeping. Not noisy at all. Plus, you play the instruments very well.” The girl explained. “I was just impressed. You are so multi-talented. Do you think you can teach me when you have free time?”

Probably realizing that it wasn’t easy for Yan Shuyu to raise a child as a single mother, the girl quickly added, “I will pay tuition.”

As happy as Yan Shuyu was about being praised for being multi-talented, she declined her request after some consideration. She liked money, but now that she wasn’t so poor that she couldn’t afford to eat, there was no reason to break her back over it.

As Yan Shuyu was turning her down, she didn’t forget to advertise for Liu Ci and his partners. “If you are interested, you can go check out Fengyu Musical Institution. They will have a grand opening next month and should have some promotional activities. Most importantly, all of their instructors graduated from musical academies. You know you will be able to learn a lot from them.”

Yan Shuyu only learned of the magnitude of Liu Ci’s organization at a later time. They opened up both Fengyu and Galaxy Musical Institution. The first one geared toward adult hobby classes and the latter only accepted kids or students in art schools with careers in the fields in mind.

It was very appropriate to refer her neighbor there.

After hearing her introduction, the girl asked Yan Shuyu for the address of the location as well. Yan Shuyu felt that she would be a potential customer. After they had parted ways, she texted Liu Ci via Wechat to brag about her accomplishment. “I talked up your musical institution to my neighbor today~”

Liu Ci’s response came quickly, “We have activities this weekend. Would you like to bring Yuanbao to join us?”

That was perfect. Both Yan Shuyu and Zhang Yuanbao would love to network with them some more. She switched to voice chat and let the little kiddo come over to reply. The little kiddo said happily into the phone, “Yes! Yes!”

***

Later on, after Yan Shuyu had figured out the nature of the activities, she asked Manager Yang while asking for the time off, “Will Tongtong be there as well? I’ve heard that there will be a lot of kids there.”

“My sister hadn’t mentioned anything about it. She probably didn’t have time anyway, but I can take Tongtong. She’d be happy when she finds out there Yuanbao will be there as well.”

And that’s how the two of them had happily made plans for the weekend. What Yan Shuyu had never expected was that the boss would be bringing the male lead with him to attend this little activity at the musical institution.