186 ‘if you don’t lock it down then you are dead to me’

Her good impression of Zi Han greatly increased after this. The fact that her son hadn’t yet won this young man’s heart made her anxious.

“So do you have a girlfriend.... or maybe boyfriend?” she casually asked while he was pouring the cream into the saucepan.

Zi Han was a little surprised she would ask this. It seemed the entire Yi family was curious about his relationship status. He might think so but he wasn’t resistant to it. He answered honestly, “I am absolutely single... I thought I should focus on my career first.”

Lin Ruoxi nodded her head in acquiescence. As long as he was still single then her son had a shot.

“How about your mother... does she have a problem with you befriending my son?” she asked while placing the ramekins inside the baking dish.

Zi Han whisked the cream, vanilla bean, and salt together while responding, “She said she won’t interfere... and she has kept her word so far.”

Lin Ruoxi seemed satisfied with this response. It seemed Zi Han really valued her son which was a good thing.

It didn’t take long for them to finish making the custard. While Zi Han was placing it in the oven, the main door was pushed open and a deep voice was heard calling for Lin Ruoxi with a hint of coquetry.

“Ru baby, I am home,” said the voice causing Zi Han to purse his lips stifling his laughter.

.....

Lin Ruoxi, “....”

She hastily left the kitchen to stop her husband but who would have thought he would grab hold of her waist and pull her closer plastering his lips on hers?

Lin Ruoxi pushed him away while whispering angrily, “Stop messing around, we have a guest.”

Marshal Yi’s body stiffened hearing this. His warm expression from just now disappeared as he looked in the direction of the kitchen. It had to be that Zi kid but what was he still doing here?

He was about to walk into the kitchen when Zi Han came out and stretched out his hand to greet the Marshal. But instead of shaking his hand the Marshal just intently gazed at him as though scrutinizing him.

Meeting those sharp eyes that seemed to be piercing through his soul Zi Han could feel the hostility and strong dislike coming from the Marshal making him wonder if this stemmed from his dislike of Zi Xingxi or his grandfather.

Best

Zi Han had never met anyone’s father before and from this experience, he found himself resistant to fathers. It wouldn’t be far-fetched if he said he was terrified of him. Maybe it was the overbearing aura or the hostile energy surrounding the Marshal. Whatever it was Zi Han knew he wouldn’t get along with this man ever.

Marshal Yi shook his hand under the urging of his wife. “You must be Zi Feiji’s grandson. You look like him,” said Marshal Yi as he tighten his grip slightly.

Zi Han didn’t back down. He matched his momentum but internally he just wanted to run away.

“Daddy is here... yay!!” yelled Ming Ming as she ran down the stairs shattering the tension in the room. Zi Han heaved a sigh of relief as the massive pressure stifling him vanished.

He doesn’t know how he managed to leave that house after that. All he knew was that after his experience with the Marshal he might not be coming back anytime soon.

Lin Ruoxi had also noticed her husband’s ill-mannered behavior thus she reprimanded him as soon as Zi Han left the house.

“What the hell was that? You could have at least been nice to him,” she said while walking to the kitchen to check on the creme brulee in the oven.

Marshal Yi grabbed the game out of Yi Youxi’s hand while saying, “What? He is just like his grandfather inserting himself into other people’s business. He had Zi Feiji pressure me into letting Yi Chen off. What business do they have interfering with the way I discipline my son.”

Lin Ruoxi looked at him with a hint of annoyance. She slammed the baking tray on the kitchen counter her expression ugly. She opposed it strongly when he punished Yi Chen and his reasoning back then was that he wouldn’t interfere when she disciplines Ming Ming and Yi Youxi.

Lin Ruoxi grabbed the game out of the Marshal’s hand and gave it back to Yi Youxi who looked aggrieved. “Go wake your brother,” she said to him before picking up Ming Ming and making her sit on the barstool.

Marshal Yi scratched his head a little flustered. He knew his wife was pissed off but he had no idea how to coax her.

She was so angry that she refused to sit next to him and when it was time for dessert he didn’t get one. Yi Chen who didn’t eat dessert much got two ramekins in front of him.

“Ma, one is fine,” said Yi Chen about to push it over to his father but Lin Ruoxi pushed it back and said,

“Han Han made it and since your father doesn’t like him he can’t eat it.”

Yi Chen looked at his father and so did the other Yi siblings. Who the hell in their right mind would dislike Zi Han?

Yi Chen glanced at the dessert in front of him and pressed his lips into a thin line concealing the smile on his face. When he woke up and found that Zi Han was gone he was a little upset. Turns out Zi Han made him a tasty dessert before leaving.

Lin Ruoxi was about to put a scoop of pistachio ice cream on top of his dessert but Yi Chen refused. He ate happily ignoring the stares he was getting from his father.

“That kid is so nice. He is also great at making desserts,” she said staring at Yi Chen with an expression that seemed to say ‘if you don’t lock it down then you are dead to me’.

Marshal Yi, who had to settle for ice cream suddenly said, “Is it just me or his eyes are so familiar? Those eyes are so unique but I can’t for the life of me remember who has those kind of eyes.”

Yi Chen’s dessert spoon froze mid-air when he heard his father say this. It would be in Zi Han’s best interest if he never meets his father at least not on a regular basis. Since his father didn’t like him to begin with then it would be easy to keep them apart.

“You are overthinking it. They are just eyes,” said Lin Ruoxi before feeding him one spoonful of the creme brulee just to give him a taste of what he was missing.

“Mm, that’s really good,” he said forgetting who made it.

“Well, you only get one spoonful,” said Lin Ruoxi as she sat back down after feeding him from across the table.

“Yi Youxi how about you give dad a taste,” he said to his son sitting to his left. Yi Youxi deliberately scrapped all of the custard and bits of the crystallized sugar out of the ramekin and ate all of it.

Marshal Yi, “....”

“Ming Ming how about you? Spare some for daddy,” he asked but Ming Ming was more protective of her food than anyone else in this house.

She hugged the souffle bowl as though afraid she would get robbed. “Daddy doesn’t like jie jie so no dessert for you.”

Okay, his family had chosen an outsider over him. Just like every Zi family member, that boy had messed up his evening.