You Must Marry Me! - Chapter 10
Chapter 10
The next day, Qi Zhen came to work as usual. Yan Yiyun deliberately arrived ten minutes late. As she passed by the design department, she saw Qi Zhen sitting at her desk, seriously working on a drawing.
Yan Yiyun slowed her steps and saw through the glass that Qi Zhen didn’t look too well.
Her complexion was pale. It was clear she had applied full makeup—blush and lipstick barely propped up her appearance. Without them, she would’ve looked even worse.
Yan Yiyun felt a pang of guilt.
Qi Zhen looked like this all because she’d made her eat something that irritated her stomach yesterday, which had left her so uncomfortable.
She wanted to go in and say a few words to Qi Zhen, but the office was buzzing at that time. Most of the employees had arrived but hadn’t yet focused on work. If she went in now, looking for someone, it would surely distract everyone even more.
After thinking it over, Yan Yiyun returned to her office and told Yu Xiaotao, “Keep an eye on the hallway for me. Let me know when Qi Zhen goes to the pantry.”
Yu Xiaotao almost thought she misheard, but on second thought, it made sense. Qi Zhen came to the office to eat every day, and everyone knew the boss had a good relationship with her. But why keep watch on when she entered the pantry?
Yu Xiaotao’s greatest strength was never asking unnecessary questions. She nodded and moved to the outer office, sitting near the window to monitor. As soon as Qi Zhen entered the pantry, she would notify Yan Yiyun.
Having taken the afternoon off yesterday, Qi Zhen had a backlog of work.
She stayed busy until after ten before she finally got up to get a cup of coffee.
Yu Xiaotao had been keeping an eye on her. As soon as Qi Zhen entered the pantry, she messaged Yan Yiyun.
Yan Yiyun grabbed the mug she had taken from Qi Zhen before and followed her into the pantry.
Qi Zhen was staring blankly at the coffee machine. She was startled when she saw Yan Yiyun suddenly appear.
Yan Yiyun placed her coffee cup on the counter, leaned back against it, and hesitantly asked, “Why did you come to work today already?”
Qi Zhen was stunned. Though she had Yan Yiyun on WeChat, she hadn’t told her about taking leave. She hadn’t known what position she held in her life—were they friends?
Could people who had only known each other for a few days really be considered friends?
Were they superior and subordinate?
There was still quite a gap between her and Yan Yiyun in rank. Once she passed the internal competition, she wouldn’t even need to report a sick day to someone at Yan Yiyun’s level.
Yet Yan Yiyun still knew about her taking leave—how did she find out?
HR wouldn’t have bothered her with such a small matter, and Yan Yiyun had always been cold and distant. No one would go out of their way to inform her about a low-level designer.
Could it be that she looked into it herself?
Qi Zhen found that absurd. Why would Yan Yiyun do that?
Did she really consider her a friend?
“…Well…” Qi Zhen slowly began. She hadn’t come up with an excuse yet. “Too much work to fall behind on.”
Any work missed would have to be made up, and taking a day off meant losing a day’s pay—she couldn’t afford that.
But this excuse felt weak, and she couldn’t quite say it in front of Yan Yiyun.
Yan Yiyun frowned. Why was this person so obsessed with work that she didn’t even care about her health?
Her tone involuntarily hardened: “If you’re sick, you should rest a few more days! Drinking coffee when your stomach’s bad—how can you treat yourself like this?!”
The goodwill Qi Zhen had just started to rebuild, thinking maybe Yan Yiyun did consider her a friend, was instantly crushed by this.
What did her sick leave have to do with Yan Yiyun? Even if she was the boss, her sick leave was docked from her pay! And just drinking a cup of coffee—how did that equate to not valuing her health?
Qi Zhen’s expression darkened, rare for her. She took her coffee from beneath the machine and picked up the mug Yan Yiyun had taken earlier.
Holding the coffee, she prepared to return to the design department and politely said, “Thank you for your concern, Director Yan. I’ll take my mug back now.”
She left without a second glance.
Yan Yiyun stared blankly at her retreating figure. What just happened?
She’d only wanted to talk to Qi Zhen and build some rapport, but after only a few words, not only had she been brushed off, the mug was also taken back? Though technically, that mug belonged to Qi Zhen in the first place.
Now she had nothing of Qi Zhen’s left.
Oh wait, no—she still had the “marriage certificate.”
Yan Yiyun calmed herself slightly. It’s fine. She could still meet Qi Zhen in the cafeteria at lunch. If not, there was also a design department meeting in the afternoon.
She returned to her office and, as soon as lunchtime hit, told Yu Xiaotao, “Let’s go to the cafeteria.”
Yu Xiaotao glanced at the lunchboxes just delivered by the Yan family’s driver and asked, “You’re not eating these?”
Yan Yiyun glanced at them. “I will. I’ll eat them after I come back from the cafeteria.”
Yu Xiaotao: “?”
Yan Yiyun explained, “I’m not used to cafeteria food.”
Yu Xiaotao once again employed her strength of never asking questions. She brought Yan Yiyun to the cafeteria, where Yan Yiyun’s eyes quickly scanned the lines and chose one to join.
Yu Xiaotao looked up at the dishes—Sweet and Sour Meatballs, her least favorite.
She wanted to remind Yan Yiyun that the non-spicy dishes at the cafeteria were awful, but remembering she said she’d eat the lunchboxes later, she held her tongue.
Yan Yiyun hadn’t even looked at what dish the line served. She had simply spotted Qi Zhen, standing alone in the line, clearly unfamiliar with those around her.
As expected, after getting her food, Qi Zhen sat alone in a corner.
Yan Yiyun picked up her tray and told Yu Xiaotao, “I’ll go find someone to sit with. You go sit with your friends.”
Yu Xiaotao didn’t dare ask anything. She watched as Yan Yiyun confidently carried her tray straight toward Qi Zhen in the corner.
As expected—Qi Zhen again!
Yu Xiaotao was now fully convinced: Qi Zhen and the boss must be close. At least the boss clearly favored her!
Everything Yu Xiaotao saw was seen by the whole cafeteria.
And now, all the previous rumors were confirmed.
Everyone used to say the heiress was a cold-hearted robot. But although she was aloof with them, she was clearly very kind to Qi Zhen!
Turns out those rumors—about Qi Zhen eating in the office, being invited to go home together in the elevator, and Yan Yiyun anxiously asking why she took leave—were all true.
Everyone at Xingyun Entertainment felt their worldview collapsing.
That little designer who only cared about work, never joined lunch gatherings, never chatted about gossip—
wasn’t clinging to the heiress for status—
it was the heiress chasing her!
After lunch, the entire staff felt mentally disoriented.
During the design department’s afternoon meeting, some were still reeling from the lunchtime shock. There were constant mistakes in the reports, and it took a harsh scolding from Xu Haiyang to get everyone back on track.
Hou Yunlan wasn’t qualified to attend the project meeting. During times like this, she would just hunch in her seat playing on her phone—no one cared.
But to her shock, the heiress actually came to the design department office herself today.
Hou Yunlan panicked, not knowing if her slacking was caught—but surprisingly, Yan Yiyun didn’t even seem to notice.
She quietly walked over to Qi Zhen’s desk and asked, “Is this Qi Zhen’s seat?”
After Hou Yunlan confirmed it, she watched as Yan Yiyun took out a pack of Oreos and placed it in Qi Zhen’s snack box—then took Qi Zhen’s existing pack of Oreos away.
Soon after, Hou Yunlan understood why she did it.
When Qi Zhen came back from the meeting, the first thing she did was check her snack box. She picked out the new Oreos and started eating.
Watching nervously, Hou Yunlan saw that after only one bite, Qi Zhen spat it out immediately, then split the cookie open and frowned deeply at the filling.
Since learning that Qi Zhen might get promoted, Hou Yunlan had been waiting for a chance to cozy up to her.
She hurriedly stepped over and whispered, “The heiress came by your desk earlier.”
Qi Zhen had wanted to let this prank slide, but when she learned it was Yan Yiyun who did it, she felt like exploding.
What the hell did she want?!
Before, to avoid embarrassing her, she had agreed to have lunch with her twice. Qi Zhen admitted she had felt a warmth she hadn’t in a long time, but she had paid a price for it!
People whispered about her in the company, stared at her in the hallway, even created a group chat just to gossip about her!
She could tolerate all of that.
But if Yan Yiyun thought having lunch was a hassle, then why keep inviting her again and again? Did she enjoy seeing her anxious and uneasy?
This morning in the pantry, then lunch in the cafeteria—everything Yan Yiyun did made Qi Zhen the center of attention. She felt like she was walking on pins and needles. Just imagining what those people would say in their group chats made her skin crawl.
And yet after all this—Yan Yiyun pulled a childish prank with Oreos?!
She switched out the cream filling with toothpaste?! What was she, a grade-schooler?!
Qi Zhen had had enough. She grabbed the pack of Oreos and stormed into Yan Yiyun’s office.
When Yan Yiyun heard that Qi Zhen had come to see her, she was actually happy.
Today, no matter where they “accidentally” crossed paths, Qi Zhen had been cold and dismissive toward her. She didn’t know what else to do, so she had searched online for how to get a girl’s attention. Cautiously, she made that toothpaste Oreo and slipped it into Qi Zhen’s snack box.
And hey—it worked. Qi Zhen really came.
Qi Zhen walked into the office and slammed the Oreos onto Yan Yiyun’s desk, her face full of anger:
“Yan Yiyun, what exactly do you want?!”
Yan Yiyun didn’t expect her to be so upset. She just wanted Qi Zhen to notice her, not to make her angry…
Her eyes immediately reddened. Thinking of how Qi Zhen had ignored her all day, she finally pulled out the “marriage certificate” she’d kept in her bag and tearfully cried out:
“Didn’t you say you were going to marry me?!”