Zhang Yu Han picked up the teacup and drank elegantly to calm down as he continued to observe the woman in front of her.
Xu Yilan might be in her early fifty, but she was still as beautiful. At one look, Zhang Yu Han could see that Li Qin Yao inherited most of her features from her mother. But perhaps, her eyes were probably similar to her father and most of her family members in Li's family.
Just like Zhang Yu Han, Xu Yilan too was observing the man silently.
The first time Xu Yilan saw Zhang Yu Han, she had a feeling that the man was had other intentions towards her daughter.
At that time, her daughter had just broken up with Chen Hao. Because of that, she was wary of any guy who was any man that tried to get close to her daughter.
It was unexpected for Xu Yilan that her daughter would suddenly come up to her and announced that she was seeing someone.
Xu Yilan thought that it was too soon.
However, since her daughter had decided to be with this guy, Xu Yilan could tell that the person that her daughter had chosen would not be too bad. After all, she always trusted her daughter's judgment.
Xu Yilan had thought that it would be a while before her daughter will start to see someone new.
This was why he was curious about the man that her daughter was seeing. Even though the two were still in the early stage of their relationship, Xu Yilan had made her daughter bring her boyfriend back home for her to see.
Her first impression of Zhang Yu Han was pretty good. The first time they met downstairs, he was polite to her and Xu Yilan could see that he was not pretending. Though he looked a bit cold and hard to approach, it did not look as if he was putting on airs.
In the past, when Xu Yilan was still married to Li Qin Yao's father, she had met a lot of people from the upper class. It was not something that she enjoyed. Despite having her husband as her support, most people looked down on her. In front of her husband, those people would show the brightest smile, but once he looked away, Xu Yilan found out that they were all pretending.
Just now, when the two were at the door, Xu Yilan has been spying on her daughter. Naturally, she could see that at least right now, Zhang Yu Han was treating her daughter good.
However, whether he will continue to treat her daughter well or not, was a different story.
After a long silence between the two of them, Xu Yilan decided that it was time for her to start her interrogation before her daughter would return from Uncle Wu's place.
"Since you are also Yao Yao's business partner, I'm guessing that you already know that she is a granddaughter of Chairman Li Ren Xin."
Zhang Yu Han nodded. "I know."
"Then, did you know about the scandal in the QL Group two years ago? A building of QL Group collapsed, and killed several people," Xu Yilan said. "After investigation, they found out that it was due to the use of cheap materials.
"Qin Yao has mentioned that," Zhang Yu Han said. "Because of that incident, she had to leave QL Group as well as Capital City."
Xu Yilan looked at him with a hint of a surprise however, she quickly masked her expression. She did not expect her daughter to talk about that incident.
After all, until the day she broke up with Chen Hao, her daughter had not told his ex-boyfriend about that matter.
"Qin Yao said that she didn't do it," Zhang Yu Han continued to speak. "I believe her."
Xu Yilan's lips curved into a smile that did not reach her eyes. "You might have believed in Yao Yao, but will your family feel the same way?"
"Before Zhang Group chooses to work together with QL Group, we have investigated a little bit about the company as well as Qin Yao," Zhang Yu Han gave an apologetic look. "Of course, my grandfather and the rest of my family members knew about the scandal, but we too choose not to believe it."
"My family, they did not mind much about a person's past or their background," Zhang Yu Han said.
After listening to Xu Yilan's words for a while, he could guess what she was worried about.
"A person's past and background is what shaped someone to become who they are now," Zhang Yu Han said. "No matter what is Qin Yao's background or what was in her past, those things were what make her who she is today. And I think the present Li Qin Yao is a great person."
Xu Yilan looked at the man in front of her with a bit of skeptical but soon thought that Zhang Yu Han had no reason to lie about this matter. Besides, Xu Yilan had heard from her daughter that she was quite close to Zhang Yu Han's grandfather even before the two of them started dating.
If Zhang Yu Han's family didn't think that her daughter was good, then Zhang Yu Han's grandfather would not treat her daughter nicely, right?
Whatever it was, Xu Yilan was relieved to know that the Zhang family did not disdain her daughter's background or history.
Xu Yilan picked up the tea and took a sip. A small smile appeared on her lips. After a brief silence, she spoke again. "I can see that your parents had taught you well." Her expression gradually warmed.
Zhang Yu Han smiled at Xu Yilan's comment. "Auntie, you're a great parent to Li Qin Yao too. For her to become who she is today because of your teaching."
Xu Yilan narrowed her eyes at Zhang Yu Han's attempt to butter her up. However, her impression of Zhang Yu Han gradually increased.
"Or perhaps, you just have a sweet mouth," Xu Yilan observed the man's expression and stifled her laugh when she saw the smile on his face froze. "Don't be so stiff, I was only joking."
Zhang Yu Han did not think that his future mother-in-law was joking. In fact, right now he feared that he had said something that has messed up her opinion towards him.
"I hope you don't mind me asking these few questions," Xu Yilan said. "As a parent, I will always worry about my daughter. Not a lot of people would treat Yao Yao well after they heard about the incident."
She let out a soft sigh as she thought of the reason her daughter broke up with Chen Hao. She did not want others to look down on Yao Yao's background or her past.
Xu Yilan too had a shadow in her heart because of her background. What she did not want the most is for her daughter to experience the same thing that she had.
She closed her eyes briefly and smiled when she looked at Zhang Yu Han again. "I just didn't want my daughter to hurt again. She has gone through so much."
Zhang Yu Han clenched his hand into a fist as he met with Xu Yilan's gaze. "Auntie, you don't have to worry. I won't do anything that will hurt Qin Yao."