Zhan and Yibo both looked at the new arrival. Yanli stood there staring at the two and beside her was A-Xiang.

Yanli eyed Zhan before she went near Yibo and asked, "Is everything alright dear?"

Yibo smiled and said, "Yeah, mother everything is fine."

"Are you sure, no one is bothering you?"

Yibo nodded and said, "Yes, I am sure... he and I were just talking."

"But you looked very upset."

"It's just lover's quarrel mother, nothing too serious, petty arguments, nothing else." Yanli looked at Yibo observing him, Yibo just smiled and after a few seconds, Yanli smiled as well and said, "Your exams have ended today, right? So, I came here to take you to lunch, you must have been under a lot of pressure."

Yibo smiled, "Thank you very much, mother."

Zhan observed the interaction and he couldn't help but notice Yanli, the woman looked young beautiful, and elegant, she wore classy clothes and had a calm expression on her face her eyes held mystery, her tone held calmness, and was stable, her posture was confident. Zhan couldn't help but think that Yanli must have been very young when she adopted the three children.

While he was looking at her, she suddenly directed her gaze towards him and he stiffened, the woman's gaze was no longer gentle instead it was sharp as she eyed Zhan, she smirked as he saw him and said, "How about you join us as well."

Yibo looked at Zhan and then Yanli before he said, "Mother there is no need for that, he has some other commitments and..."

"Sure." Zhan replied, "I'll be happy to accompany you."

Yibo clenched his fists as he looked at Zhan, who just gave him a smile, Zhan looked at Yanli and said, "If you please excuse me, I have to make a call, I'll join you soon."

Yanli nodded and Zhan left to call Ziyi telling her that he wouldn't be able to come with her and asking her to go back home, Ziyi agreed and left. After calling Ziyi he kept his phone on silent as he didn't want any calls from Gina or anyone else

Meanwhile, Yibo looked at Yanli and said, "Mother you didn't have to invite him."

"Am I wrong for wanting to know more about your boyfriend? I think that I should know a little bit about the person my darling son is dating and is head over heels for right? Or are you not ready to introduce him to me? You have already introduced him to A-Xiang and Haoxuan, right?"

Yibo sighed and said, "It's not like that." He then gave her a gentle smile.

Soon Zhan joined them as well, Yibo glanced at A-Xiang who gave him a small smile.

~~

Yanli took them to a very luxurious restaurant and asked everyone to order whatever they wanted, after everyone had given their orders Yanli focused on Zhan and asked, "So Zhan tell me something about your family. What do your parents do?"

Zhan smiled and calmly answered, "My father owns the Xiao corporation. And my mother is a homemaker."

Yanli drank her wine and nodded, "That's impressive, do you have any siblings?"

"I have an elder brother."

"And how is the relation between you and your brother, are you two close?" she asked.

"Yes, we are, infact I am closer to my brother than my parents."

"That's good to know, so tell me Zhan, what are your plans for the future? And what do your parents know about Yibo?"

Zhan chewed the food inside his mouth but found it hard to swallow, he hadn't really thought about his future, before he met Yibo he was okay with continuing his profession but after meeting Yibo he wasn't sure if he wanted to continue being an assassin, for Yibo he was willing to risk it all. However, it was not that simple, after his brother went against his father and married Ziyi, Zhan's father was not very fond of Cheng.

And so Zhan's father would want him to take over the business and Zhan was quiet sure that his parents were not going to like Yibo.

"Zhan." Zhan was brought out of his train of thought but Yibo who gently touched his hand, Zhan looked at him and then back at Yanli who was still staring at him waiting for an answer.

Zhan swallowed his food and said, "Well, I will most probably work in the company as well."

Yanli just stared at him and her stare made him feel intimidated, this woman was really something, to make a strong assassin like him feel small and intimidated was not something that anyone could do, but something about Yanli made Zhan's senses alert. The way she stared at him as if she was staring into his soul and the way she talked, everything about her had a mysterious air.

A-Xiang and Yibo looked back and forth and then at each other, the two felt bad for Zhan, they knew that Yanli could be a little intimidating.

Yanli finally said, "So you will work in the company because you want to, because you are ambitious about it, or because it is being given to you on a silver spoon and there is nothing else you can do because you are not very talented."

"Mother..." Yibo spoke, and Yanli looked at him, Yibo gently spoke, "Zhan works really hard with his father, he often accompanies him on trips and meetings and I have seen him work really hard."

Yanli took another sip of her wine and said, "oh... is that so? On how many projects has he worked on? What valuable things has he produced for the company? Now I know that you cannot just disclose your company secrets in front of others but I am just asking in general.

What kind of projects and deals did you work on? And what did you learn in the meetings?"

Zhan wanted to get the fuck away from her, this woman was seriously dangerous and was staring into his soul, people like her are very hard to deal with because he knew that she can detect his lie and he also knew that she was already doubting him and she didn't trust him at all.

Zhan knew that Yanli didn't like him at all and was full of doubts.

"Mother please." Yibo pleaded, "Can we talk about something else."

"But I am just asking normal questions."

"Mother." A-Xiang said, "he is Yibo's boyfriend and not fiancé, the questions you are asking are often asked when a person brings their partner to their parent to get permission for the marriage."

Yanli smiled and said, "Oh I am sorry, I thought that you guys were in a serious relationship that could go far but it seems that's not the case, it's rather casual."

"That's not the case!" Zhan said quickly, A-xiang's face dulled as her attempt to lighten the mood backfired and even Yibo looked at Yanli and then at Zhan.

He gently held Zhan's hand from beneath the table and gave it a squeeze.

Zhan calmed down and Yanli just smirked, "You get agitated easily that's not a very good habit and it can cause trouble for you in the future."

This woman was after his blood and Zhan was sure of it.

Yanli seemed like she was enjoying messing with Zhan but after seeing Yibo and A-Xiang's discomfort, she finally decided to stop but she was not done with him.

"Alright, I won't mess with you anymore, enjoy your food."

Zhan smiled, how kind of her to say that, after she ruined his appetite, but on the bright side he was glad that Yibo was holding his hand beneath the table.

Seeing that things had calmed down, Yibo loosened his grip on Zhan's hand but the latter tightly held his hand and refused to go.

Yibo glanced at him and tried to take his hand back but it was useless because Zhan refused to let go and in the end, Yibo gave up.

Author's note: There are many times in the book where Yibo calls Yanli aunt, well that's a mistake because this Yanli reminds me of Yanli from bad boy's rich kid so I often I type 'aunt' instead of 'mother'