You Must Marry Me! - Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Qi Zhen had already closed the door and didn’t hear what Yan Yiyun said at the end. When she came out, she saw Yu Xiaotao squatting in the corner by the CEO’s office wall, holding her laptop with a face full of excitement as she stared at the screen.
Feeling a little awkward, Qi Zhen cleared her throat lightly to get her attention.
Yu Xiaotao quickly closed the laptop and tried to wipe the excitement off her face, putting on a deliberately calm expression—which somehow looked even more awkward.
“You two made up?” she asked.
The moment she said it, she wanted to slap herself.
Made up? That made it sound like Qi Zhen and Yan Yiyun had been doing something inappropriate in the office! Clearly, they had just had a… very intense discussion!
But Qi Zhen didn’t mind. She nodded and said, “It’s fine now.”
Then she gestured toward the office door and told Yu Xiaotao, “Wait a bit before going in.”
She was worried that Yan Yiyun might still be crying, and if Yu Xiaotao walked in and found the boss in tears, that would be super awkward.
Yu Xiaotao nodded repeatedly, her mind already spinning out a dramatic love story from that single sentence.
After all, no one else heard Yan Yiyun say, “Weren’t you the one who promised to marry me?” But she heard it loud and clear.
Yu Xiaotao thought she was probably the person in the company who understood Yan Yiyun best. She had received her on her first day at work, and since becoming her assistant, she’d been in charge of most of her affairs. She could swear that Yan Yiyun wouldn’t say something like that unless there was serious emotional history involved.
Following Qi Zhen’s advice, Yu Xiaotao waited another five minutes before pushing open the office door and going in.
Yan Yiyun was sitting behind her desk, looking no different than usual.
When she saw Yu Xiaotao enter, she pointed to the mess on the desk. “Help me clean this up.”
Yu Xiaotao looked and saw the Oreo package Qi Zhen had thrown earlier still lying there. Her heart skipped a beat—so things had gotten a bit dramatic.
She tidied up the desk. Seeing that Yan Yiyun didn’t seem to have any more tasks, she went back to her own desk, opened her laptop, and saw that the group chat was still buzzing with gossip about what had happened.
“Qi Zhen’s back. Looks like she’s in a good mood. Doesn’t seem like she got fired.”
“@LittleTaoTao What’s the word from the boss lady?”
“That scene just now seriously scared me.”
“Qi Zhen always seems so calm, but she really snapped—right in front of the boss!”
“I’m impressed. Sister Qi is badass.”
Yu Xiaotao snuck a glance at Yan Yiyun, who was holding a file and staring at her screen, her expression unreadable.
After thinking a bit, Yu Xiaotao typed in the group:
“The boss looks totally fine.”
The chat immediately exploded again. The flashing orange icons on her screen felt as exhilarating as fizzy soda on a summer day.
Qi Zhen wasn’t in the chat, but judging by the looks from her coworkers, she could tell they’d been gossiping about her and Yan Yiyun nonstop.
She couldn’t be bothered to care. After what had happened, no matter how she reacted, it would only fuel more gossip.
Earlier, she had let her emotions get the better of her. She was already exhausted from a long meeting when she reached for a snack to recharge—only to find that her Oreos had been swapped with toothpaste-flavored cookies. Who wouldn’t be mad?!
Without thinking too much, she had stormed into Yan Yiyun’s office with the Oreo bag and slammed it down—only to realize afterward how rash that had been.
But it was too late to leave quietly. Yan Yiyun had already started crying.
Qi Zhen sighed. This person… after all these years, she’s still that same little crybaby.
By the time the dust settled, the afternoon had already flown by.
Qi Zhen opened her laptop and quickly got to work on some graphics. After all, she had promised to have dinner with Yan Yiyun tonight—she couldn’t let work make her late.
Hou Yunlan had been waiting for Qi Zhen to return all afternoon with a stomach full of questions, but the moment Qi Zhen came back, she dove straight into Photoshop, working like a machine.
Hou Yunlan was stunned—was this woman some kind of robot?!
Given all the drama lately, she didn’t dare interrupt. Instead, she turned to the group chat, where someone asked:
“What’s Qi Zhen doing now that she’s back?”
“Packing up to leave or prepping for her grand exit?”
Hou Yunlan smirked and typed furiously:
“She’s making graphics.”
She even attached a meme: “Working seriously.jpg”
The group chat went dead silent. After a solid ten seconds, someone finally responded:
“What?!”
“She just stormed into the boss’s office, and now she’s calmly making graphics?!”
“That’s some next-level professionalism.”
Hou Yunlan, who had been at odds with Qi Zhen ever since she joined the company, finally felt vindicated. Everyone always thought Qi Zhen was so cool and aloof—now they knew she was a terrifyingly dedicated workaholic!
She leaned back in her chair, scrolling the chat with a smug smile, waiting for the clock to hit quitting time.
Normally, when six o’clock came, the whole office would shift—people would start packing up, grabbing coffee, or preparing for overtime.
But today, even past six, no one in the design department moved.
People from other departments passed by the glass doors, peeking in curiously.
Hou Yunlan was starting to get creeped out. She thought about packing up and sneaking out, but then looked over and saw Qi Zhen still working away, completely unfazed by the time.
Over in her office, Yan Yiyun had been watching the clock. She waited until six, hoping for a knock on the door. Through the glass, she saw the girls in the assistant’s office getting ready to leave—but no sign of Qi Zhen.
She stared at the door expectantly, hoping it would open at any moment.
Even though Qi Zhen didn’t answer her earlier, they were at least friends now, right?
At least now Qi Zhen remembered who she was. That was already better than before, when Yan Yiyun had foolishly believed they both remembered everything.
After staring for several minutes, it wasn’t Yan Yiyun who broke first—it was Yu Xiaotao.
Her desk was right by the door, directly in the line of fire from her boss’s intense gaze. Her nerves were fraying.
She suddenly stood up. “Want me to go check?”
Yan Yiyun quickly waved her off. “No need!”
Yu Xiaotao was her assistant. If she showed up at the design department’s door, it would be the same as Yan Yiyun going herself. Wouldn’t that just make Qi Zhen uncomfortable?
Yu Xiaotao sat back down with a grimace, silently watching the door along with Yan Yiyun, wondering when Qi Zhen would finally show so she could be released from her suffering.
Qi Zhen finished her final design and only then realized it was well past six.
She started packing her things and looked around—why was everyone still here?
The design team did tend to work later than other departments, but this kind of mass overtime was rare. Even the usual slackers—who normally bolted at 6:01—were still glued to their desks.
Qi Zhen picked up her bag and glanced over.
Even Hou Yunlan was still there, staring intently at her screen. That made Qi Zhen feel uneasy.
Hou Yunlan was famously uninterested in work. If she was still here at this hour, something was definitely off. Had the department issued some notice she hadn’t seen?
But she wasn’t exactly a loner at the company—surely someone would’ve told her…
Pushing aside her doubts, Qi Zhen slung her bag over her shoulder and left.
After all, Yan Yiyun was waiting.
The moment she stepped out, the office, which had been eerily quiet, came alive. People looked up from their monitors, quickly packed up, and began chatting casually as they prepared to leave—relieved at last.
“I thought we were going to witness something juicy today. But nope, she just spent the whole afternoon making graphics.”
“Sister Qi is hardcore. If it were me, I’d have died from stress.”
“Well, she has only been here a short time, but she’s already racking up awards.”
The design team headed for the elevators, chatting and laughing as they wrapped up the day.
Hou Yunlan swayed side to side, trying to pass the time while waiting. The elevator was taking forever.
As she idly looked around, something caught her eye.
“Hey, look—isn’t that the boss lady?”
She nudged her friend and gestured down the hallway.
Her friend, who’d just gotten new contact lenses and could see perfectly, nodded firmly. “That is the boss lady. And… is that Qi Zhen next to her?!”
“What?!”
Their surprise caught everyone else’s attention. Half the people waiting for the elevator turned to look.
“…It really is.”
“Didn’t Qi Zhen already leave? Why’s she with the boss now?”
“I have a crazy theory…”
“She didn’t go home—she went to find the CEO!”
Before they could finish speculating, Yan Yiyun and Qi Zhen walked into the elevator lobby. Yan Yiyun was completely unfazed by all the stares. She nodded politely to the staff, looking entirely at ease.
She was clearly in a good mood. She even raised an eyebrow at them and asked, “What are you all talking about?”
In the past, this would’ve been the perfect opportunity to cozy up to the boss. But now, everyone went completely silent—no one dared say a word.
What a joke. Gossiping was fun and all, but if the boss found out you were the one gossiping about her? That was career suicide.
“Nothing, nothing,” someone chuckled awkwardly, trying to change the subject. “You’re working late today, huh?”
At the mention of this, Yan Yiyun’s expression turned a little smug.
She’d told Qi Zhen earlier to come find her after work so they could go eat together. And what happened? Qi Zhen was half an hour late!
Thank goodness she hadn’t scheduled the dinner too tightly, or they would’ve missed the reservation.
Yan Yiyun tilted her head slightly and smiled as she looked at Qi Zhen beside her. “Waiting for her.”