Chapter 233 - Yan Shuyu felt that she might never be able to get out of the shadow of the little male lead and his dad
Their voice could bring tears to anyone who heard them. Yan Shuyu stretched, scooted over to the edge of the bed, and gave in. "Bring your clothes over. I'll help you put them on."
Zhang Yuanjia and Zhou Yi pitter pattered over to Yan Shuyu with their clothes that they couldn't figure out how to put on. Yan Shuyu put them on in two minutes or less. After all, she had already been an instant mother for months.
And that was how two identical-looking little princes came about. Yan Shuyu clapped her hands together with a sense of accomplishment and said, "Okay, now go and have fun."
Yan Shuyu had given up on lazing in the bed after all the ruckus. She got up to get ready to start her day and Zhang Yuanjia, much like he had promised the night before, took his little buddy to start practicing on the piano.
After Yan Shuyu was all dressed up, it was already almost 8:30 AM. Normally, she'd be taking her son to school and the two of them would grab something for breakfast on their way. She suddenly recalled what the boss said the night before and hesitantly asked the little male lead, "Xiao Yi, what is your plan now? Should we have Uncle Zhang come pick you up?"
The little male lead looked up and said with self-awareness, "I promised Yuanbao that I will take him to school."
Zhang Yuanjia, too, went along heartlessly. "Yeah, and we will visit the place that we normally go for breakfast."
Looking at the time, Yan Shuyu did not object to their suggestions. Had the little young master chose to stay and wait for Zhang Yang, her son would probably be late for school.
What she didn't know was what would happened after that. "What are we doing after we have dropped Yuanbao off? Are you coming with me to the coffee shop to wait for Uncle Zhang?"
"Sure." Little Zhou Yi nodded without hesitation.
Yan Shuyu never thought that she'd one day take the little male lead to work with her, but it wasn't like she has a lot of options right now. She left with both children nonchalantly. Zhang Yuanbao had on his little backpack. Little Zhou Yi wasn't going to school, but he had his favorite backpack on as well.
When they arrived at the kindergarten, Teacher Xiao Lin praised, "Ah, I see that Yuanbao's good friend is also here to drop Yuanbao off today. What a nice kid."
Seeing how Teacher Xiao Lin wasn't surprised by this at all, Yan Shuyu felt that she might never be able to get out of the shadow of the little male lead and his dad.
No, that couldn't be right. Yan Shuyu shook her head decisively before watching the back of her instant son disappear into the school and headed in to work with the little male lead in tow.
This time, Yan Shuyu knew better. She texted Zhang Yang directly and let him know that the little young master would be heading to the coffee shop with her and that he could pick him up from the coffee shop directly. Yet, she waited for over an hour but still had not heard back from Zhang Yang nor did he show up. She finally realized that someone wasn't right. There was no way Zhang Yang would just ignore his little young master like this.
Yan Shuyu thought about reaching out to Zhang Yang one more time, but once she picked up her cellphone, she felt that she shouldn't do that. She was neither Zhang Yang's employer nor was she close to him. It wasn't right for her to rush him like so.
She reached out to the boss for the first time since she had gotten up. The process was smooth as usual and the boss picked the phone up quickly. He never knew that she didn't call him at this hour because she missed him, but for another reason. He asked gently, "What's the matter, Yanyan?"
Yan Shuyu told him point blank that nobody was there to pick his son up and asked him what she should do?
Boss Zhou smiled nonchalantly and said, "I think Zhang Yang has the day off today. That was probably why he never got back to you."
"His day off?" Yan Shuyu was baffled. "So nobody is coming to pick your son up?"
"Of course there is someone." Zhou Qinhe acted like he had heard a very funny joke. Clutching the cellphone for a while, he finally said, "There's a relief chauffeur."
"Oh, there's a relief chauffeur," said Yan Shuyu, looking embarrassed. These wicked wealthy people, she thought to herself. She quickly added, "Who is his relief then? Can you have him come and pick Xiao Yi up soon?"
Yan Shuyu didn't think there was anything wrong with what she had said, but the boss, who had been easy going this entire time, suddenly refused to play along anymore. He asked her abruptly, "Are you rushing to send Xiao Yi off?"
Naturally, Yan Shuyu immediately got the subtle accusation in his tone.
The boss used to use this tone with her all the time a while back, but he had "fixed" this issue ever since the two of them have been together, and he pretty much let her have her ways all the time. As someone who was very good at pushing her luck, Yan Shuyu had long forgotten the days when the boss would always make her knees feel weak from her fear of him. Hearing his accusation all of a sudden, she reflexively reflected upon herself. Was it that obvious?
Yan Shuyu could swear that even though she was anxious to send the little male lead home, it was not because she resented him. He's the male lead of this book, the chosen one. As the cannon fodder stepmother, who was she to resent him? She wanted to send him on his way as soon as possible because of some uneasy feelings that she had. After all, being close with the male lead and avoiding her fate as a cannon fodder was one thing, but she also didn't want to be too close to him as she didn't have the intention to become his stepmother.
Besides, Yan Shuyu never intended to have the little male lead stay over at her home. He invited himself. She had already let him spend the night. And now he didn't even want to leave?
Thinking of that, Yan Shuyu straightened up her back again. She couldn't be straightforward and crude with the boss, but she could at least subtly express her thoughts. "I only have Xiao Yi's best interest in mind. My place is so small and the three of us shared one bed together last night. What if Xiao Yi didn't have a good night's sleep? I figured once he gets home, he can take a nap or something if he wants to."
Finally, Yan Shuyu stressed that, "Besides, we have already reached an agreement this morning."
The little male lead did not object when she suggested having Uncle Zhang pick him up and take him home. Yan Shuyu assumed he had agreed to that arrangement. The more she talked, the more confident she felt. The boss, on the other hand, only chuckled inexplicably and said, "Perhaps we should ask Xiao Yi again what he wants to do?"
Yan Shuyu had a bad feeling all of a sudden. The boss was not the kind who would suggest anything that he didn't already know the answer to. Something must be going on there. She shook her head reflexively, "No, I am not asking him that..."
Zhou Qinhe merely gave a nonchalant "Mmm." Yan Shuyu, who was just shaking her head, was intimidated immediately. She immediately gave in and said, "Eh, okay, let me go ask him right now. You are right, we should find out what it is that he wants to do."
Having said that, Yan Shuyu went over to Manager Yang's office to look for the little male lead. She comforted herself on her way; as scheming as the boss was, he could not see into the future. And she did confirm with the little male lead this morning, so her odds were still very good.
Nevertheless, when she squatted in front of the little young master, who was playing the Rubik's cube by himself, and asked him with a smile, he gave her a cute look and said to her, "Aunty Yan, can I stay with you?"
Yan Shuyu felt that she could only see darkness in front of her. She wasn't going to give in just like that, "What, what do you mean by that?"
Zhou Yi put down the Rubik's cube, slid off the couch, looked at Yan Shuyu eagerly and said, "I want to stay over at Aunty Yan's today also."
As he had gotten closer, Zhou Qinhe had also heard his answer. He smiled calmly and said, "Thank you in advance for taking care of him then, Yanyan."
Yan Shuyu, "......"
She was now sure that she had invited a wolf into her house. The little male lead had brought plenty of clothes with him – let along other necessary items. He even brought with him an extra set of change of clothes. He'd be able to stay whenever he wanted to and for as long as he wanted to. Yan Shuyu couldn't even come up with an excuse to turn him down.
And just like that, Yan Shuyu underwent two more awful days of not only taking care of her own child but also someone else's. Yup, once the little young master started staying over at her place, he continued staying over at her place. Not only did the father and son duo have a very good tacit understanding and were able to come up with all sorts of reasons to delay his departure, even her son was heartlessly helping the outsiders. He said that since they would be going to the amusement park over the weekend anyway, might as well have Xiao Yi leave after that.
Yan Shuyu, "....."
With someone like that on her side, how could she not give up any thoughts to resist?
Yan Shuyu had never missed the boss more than she did in the last few days, during this period where she was babysitting for him. After all, had he been around, he wouldn't have her take care of his kid for him.
By Thursday of the week, she finally couldn't help but eagerly ask the boss for his flight information and what time he'd be arriving the next day. The boss told her apologetically that there had been a change of plans and that he would be taking a trip to Paris.
Yan Shuyu was stunned. She asked reflexively, "Then when will you be back? Will you be able to make it back this weekend?"
"I'll be spending a day or two in Paris..." Seeing that his girlfriend was missing him so much, Zhou Qinhe contemplated seriously over this and said, "I'll see what I can do. With my private plane, I should be able to get back by Sunday night."
If it was any other day, Yan Shuyu would for sure be envious of the boss for having a private plane but that was not her main focus right now. She simply blurted out, "By then everything will be done and over with. Aren't you going to take your son to the amusement park?"
The sooner they head to the amusement park, the sooner he could bring the prince home, jerk!
Boss Zhou, who thought she was missing him deeply, "......"
"Well, we can always take them out the week after."
As such, Yan Shuyu had no choice but to accept the boss's suggestion. What other choices did she have? The boss was already in Paris... ╮(╯3╰)╭
That being said, she knew full well that the two kids who had become more and more wild when they were together would probably not be as understanding as she was, so she wisely handed the issue over to the boss. "This was all because of you. You tell them yourself."
Boss Zhou was an excellent schemer. He even used his good look just to get out of it this time. He said to her in his deep and magnetic voice, "You won't help me this time, Yanyan?"
Yan Shuyu already had PTSD from being around the two smart boys. As such, the boss's charm failed miserably. "Sorry. Not much I can do here."
You made the bed, now you laid in it too. That was what was going through Yan Shuyu's mind. She was going to start watching out for it now, so that the little kids couldn't latch onto her.
Yet, things did not work out the way she had hoped. After Daddy/Uncle Zhou had explained that he would not be able to make it back this weekend to accompany them to the amusement park and that they'd have to postpone it by a week, Zhang Yuanjia and Zhou Yi looked at each other for two seconds and looked back over at Yan Shuyu. Her real son suggested happily, "We can wait for Uncle Zhou for next week but Mommy can take us this weekend!"
Zhou Yi, too, chimed in happily, "Aunty Shuyu promised to take us to the amusement park over the weekend." He didn't seem to care too much whether his own father would be back in time.
Yan Shuyu, "WTF?"