The Male Lead’s Villainess Stepmother

Chapter 174 - Just like that, her first kiss with the boss engrained deeply into her mind. (3)

Chapter 174 – Just like that, her first kiss with the boss engrained deeply into her mind. (3)

But it was alright that she wasn’t able to maintain her persona, so long as the boss was maintaining his. Zhou Qinhe, looking just like normal, gave her his other hand and easily cupped both of her hands inside of his like he was coddling something precious. He even asked attentively at the same time, “Are you cold?”

“No,” said Yan Shuyu in a fluctuating tone. “But I feel so happy this way~~”

Zhou Qinhe, “……”

He quietly studied her for a while. After confirming that he was overthinking it, his smile returned. He asked her softly, “It’s the weekend tomorrow, do you need to go to work?”

Yan Shuyu nodded. As though figuring out something else, she looked up, smiled at him, and asked, “Are you trying to ask me out?”

Zhou Qinhe looked down at her cooperatively. “May I have that pleasure?”

Yan Shuyu was appeased by how respectful he was and said to him solemnly, “Not tomorrow. It’s too late now to disturb Manager Yang and the others. We will see about Sunday.”

If they were talking about a workday, things would be much simpler. Yan Shuyu could let Manager Yang and the others know on the day of. But the weekend was the busiest time at the shop. Even Yan Shuyu didn’t want to abuse her relationship with Yang Zifeng to get her way. Mainly that Manager Yang had already made a lot of exceptions for her. She wanted to do what was necessary until her last day during her final month at Sunshine House.

Needing to juggle both her career and her romance, Yan Shuyu felt that it was a lot to ask for. She couldn’t help but gripe to the boss. Zhou Qinhe’s reaction was to pat her on her head, chuckled lightly, and said to her, “You poor thing.”

They have already walked into the lobby. The cold wind couldn’t get in, and the inside was somewhat warm. Zhou Qinhe pulled his left hand free. After all, it was bright inside the lobby of the building with a steady flow of people. It didn’t look good to maintain how they were outside.

Yan Shuyu, too, took her hand back and naturally put her arm inside the nook of his. She obviously liked the boss’s action and tone very much. She smiled so much that her eyes were but one straight line. Then she heard the boss asked, “What time are you starting work tomorrow?”

“I’ll work in the afternoon and the evening tomorrow. I start at 1:30 PM.”

Zhou Qinhe didn’t seem to be surprised at the awkward start time at all. Without missing a beat, he asked, “Can we have lunch together tomorrow then?”

Now that they were a couple, Yan Shuyu nodded without giving it too much thought. “Sure, where are we going?”

“What would you like to eat?”

Yan Shuyu actually didn’t have an answer for that. She thought about it for a bit and said, wisely, “Anything that’s tasty.”

Zhou Qinhe chuckled. “Okay, we will decide tomorrow then.”

Yan Shuyu did not object to that. She hasn’t noticed it yet, but every time she went out with the boss, he would already have everything planned and every time the food was good. Without realizing it, she was already very dependent on Zhou Qinhe. She did not have to worry about anything when she went out with him.

Nodding happily, Yan Shuyu smiled and said, “I have to bring a third wheel tomorrow.”

“Yuanbao?” Zhou Qinhe, who has always had a mild temperament, raised his brows and objected surprisingly. “I thought it was going to be a date with just the two of us.”

Yan Shuyu was baffled all of a sudden. “But Yuanbao has no school tomorrow, and I can’t just leave him home by himself when I go out to have fun.”

Zhou Qinhe gave her a deep and meaningful look and finally smiled in resignation. He rubbed her on her head and said, “I am just kidding. I’ll bring Xiao Yi with me as well. He hasn’t played with Yuanbao for a while.”

Yan Shuyu, “……”

She felt that the boss had just looked down on her IQ. Yan Shuyu, with her bad temperament, immediately felt unhappy.

Up until now, he was the high and mighty boss and she was just the stepmother who’d meet her pitiful fate. The gap between the two of them had her stepping tiptoe around him all the time. Now things have changed. They were now a normal couple who were dating each other. She did not need to grovel to him in order to marry him, so the two of them were on equal ground. To be precise, the boss had been pursuing her, and she had been turning him down even.

All of these had given Yan Shuyu a sense of superiority in front of the boss. Now that she was unhappy, she immediately planned to pout and complain. Yet, the very next second, she heard a “Ding” and the elevator was there. Yan Shuyu decided immediately to let it go. She let go of the boss’s hand and said, “Okay, I am going to go now. Goodnight~”

She went inside of the elevator with no hesitation, but when she turned around, she saw that Zhou Qinhe had followed her inside. Yan Shuyu panicked all of a sudden. “What did you come in here for?”

Even though he had only been there once, Zhou Qinhe pressed the button to her floor naturally and the elevator door closed slowly. He said casually, “Walking you all the way back. Is that a problem?”

Yan Shuyu blushed all of a sudden. She was more than happy about it, but there’s a little kiddo at home. This was not PG13 rated. She took a look at the two others inside of the elevator and both of them were standing with their backs to them. They probably didn’t even notice them. She whispered slowly to the boss, “Yuanbao is home. It’s not a good time.”

Zhou Qinhe, “……”

This time he was certain. Her mind was in the gutter.

Zhou Qinhe had always thought that he much preferred lady-like and conservative women as that would translate to less hassles. But now, looking at Yan Shuyu’s sparkling eyes, it was obvious that all sorts of scenes were already playing through her head. Zhou Qinhe did not feel any of the awkwardness that he imagined he’d feel. Quite the contrary, he found it even more interesting.

With a smile that wasn’t a smile, he leaned down and whispered into her ears, “What’s not good about it?”