He didn’t think that he would be put in a tough spot, and caged at this point. He could probably overpower her and push her off from him, but he didn’t think that it would make a way to leave a good impression—and yet he didn’t want to get caught by Bo Lifen’s great-grandmother in this position. How much time did he have left before Granny Lanfen comes back? He glanced down to his watch—

And soon found her fingers grasping his chin, her dark eyes narrowing at him. “Too busy to even answer my question, Mister Li? Do you have an appointment with someone else, or is there someone else I’m competing with?”

Yang Li’s thoughts flickered to his secretary—she promised to return his suit coat—but he sighed and jerked his chin away from her, “I know that you’ve experienced some horrible things with other men, but it doesn’t give you the right to harass me either. I have my rights too.”

She blinked.

He sighed and pushed her shoulders lightly, “I don’t want to be the one saying this to you, and it’s no way to demean you and claim that this is hysteria. But I frankly think you need therapy.”

She didn’t actually budge and stayed rooted in her same spot—she was still caging him with her arms. .

Was she frozen in shock?

“Well, damn, I wouldn’t stick myself with crazy either—well, actually, it’s kind of hot in my view.” The Panda was currently seated away from them and at an angle that probably allowed the creature to admire the woman’s curves and ass sticking out their way. “If you kiss her right now, I bet it’d be the one met with resistance, but she’d quickly indulged you due to her massive range of emotions, and then you can have hot sex on the table—at least until her grandmother walks back in.”

All of the things that the creature was spouting right now—it didn’t actually help. It just distracted them from thinking clearly. He considered his words. Yang Li coughed lightly, “You don’t need a boyfriend, but you need a good person to talk to and vent your problems, Miss Lifen. I can see that you’re a headstrong woman.” That was one way to put it lightly for him, but he continued. “You’re the one that your family relies on. They must be quite proud of you and I can imagine that the same goes with your employees, they look up to you, and it places a heavy weight on your chest.”

She wasn’t saying anything. And as he glanced down, it was there that he’d see that her knuckles were white as she gripped the armrest tightly. He looked up and met her eyes to check if she hadn’t actually passed out in shock. Her lips were pursed together tightly, and there was a look of restraint and defiance in her eyes, “We’ve only met for less than thirty minutes, and you think you can read me like a book now? CEO Li? Quite good with talking to your own employees, huh?”

He stared at her expression, at the mix of rage mixed in with the fear. He shook his head and sighed, “I don’t even know the half of it.”

Her lips parted, and her eyes widened in surprise, but she nodded and glared at him, “That’s right—you don’t even know the half of it!” Bo Lifen raised her chin, but her shoulders shook slightly.

She was a truly proud woman.

It wasn’t actually far from what he had experienced before. The pressure that buckled them down, and from one leader to another, he understood the sheer weight. He carefully lifted his hand and reached for her shoulder. She stiffened at his touch but didn’t recoil as he thought she would. “If you don’t think you can handle this right now, then that’s fine—”

Her gaze fell to him at his words, and her voice held a tinge of incredulity. “It’s fine?”

And he wasn’t sure, but there was a glistening in the corner of her eyes. He patted her shoulder, “I’m not a doctor or psychologist, so I can’t exactly help you. I don’t even need to know half of these things, and even if you tell me, I wouldn’t understand it as you said. But I would appreciate it if you don’t pour your misdirected anger at me.”

A shaky breath escaped her lips. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and tilted her head back up away from him. The anger that seemed to bubble around her faded away.

Until she finally stood up and returned back to her seat. Her head was still gazing away from him as she brushed her face with her sleeves. A loud sigh escaped her lips, and she covered her face with a hand.

Yang Li gave her a minute.

The woman soon recomposed herself and cleared her throat. Bo Lifen ducked her head and picked up the teapot, and her fingers shook slightly but soon settled down. When she looked back up at him—no, she was looking past his shoulders. “I’ll refill your cup, Mister Li.”

Was she alright now? He rubbed the back of his neck and nodded, “I could use a drink. Please don’t pour it on my lap, though.”

A flicker of emotions changed the look in her eyes as her nose wrinkled at his words. Yang Li was a bit worried that his words wouldn’t actually be taken well like Ying Yue He did, but the corner of her lips twitched. “Perish the thought. It’s not boiling hot enough.” She poured him a cup of tea and picked it up and offered it to him, “And you are an important guest of my great-grandmother. I couldn’t ruin your relationship with her.”

“I see.” He accepted the teacup tentatively.

He would have told her that her outburst was an example of something that could ruin relationships—but Yang Li didn’t want to entertain the likelihood of tea spilling all over his face. It was troublesome. The prospect of changing his outfit even if his house was in the neighborhood was too time-consuming. He instead nodded at her and finally took a sip as a silence emerged between them.

In a way, he didn’t come here for this kind of experience, and he still wished he could have avoided this…

But c’est la vie.

She was too proud to say her own apologies through words—but her actions were enough. At least Yang Li didn’t expect much. She had her own troubles, and so did he. He glanced at his watch and checked the time, and though he didn’t want to complain—time was ticking. He cleared his throat, “Do you think your great-grandmother needs help with the collecting of bamboo? I can help her if needed.”

Her eyes widened as she pulled herself to her feet, “You can stay where you are, and I’ll go look for her myself.”

“I don’t think you’d like to soil your hanfu in the dirt.”

She gave him a sideways glance and shook her head, “It’s not a problem, you can wash your clothes, but the traffic back to Shanghai is terrible—”

“Phew!” A loud sigh interrupted them as Grandma Lanfen finally walked in and wiped the sweat off her brows. She gave them a smile, “How did the date—er, breakfast go? I’ve got your bamboo, Yang Li.” She called out behind her, “Lei, hurry up, bring the pot in. I think your big brother—Mister Li is leaving.”