You Must Marry Me! - Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Yan Yiyun played with the wind chime for a while before suddenly remembering that the clothes she bought for Qi Zhen were still sitting on the passenger seat.

She reached out and grabbed the big shopping bag, excitedly handing it to Qi Zhen, her eyes sparkling:

“This is for you!”

Qi Zhen looked at the logo on the bag, but instead of surprise, she felt a bit heavy.

What else could be in there? Of course it was the dress she had just tried on in the store but didn’t buy.

No wonder the store clerk didn’t ask her if she wanted to keep the dress—turns out, Yan Yiyun had bought it while she was in the fitting room.

Qi Zhen felt a little conflicted. She didn’t want to accept such an expensive gift from Yan Yiyun, but she also couldn’t bring herself to refuse. When she gave Yan Yiyun the inexpensive wind chime just earlier, her face had been full of joy.

She knew she should return that same happiness to Yan Yiyun. Because regardless of a gift’s price, the thought behind it mattered just as much.

Besides, Qi Zhen understood very well that to Yan Yiyun, there was no real difference in the cost between the dress and the wind chime. Money to her was just a number—liking something was what really mattered.

She hugged the bag and smiled at Yan Yiyun. “Thank you. I really like it.”

Yan Yiyun nodded, but for some reason, even though Qi Zhen said she liked it, she felt Qi Zhen didn’t really mean it.

Was Qi Zhen unhappy?

Did she not like the dress?

A little worried, Yan Yiyun asked, “You really like it?”

“I do,” Qi Zhen hesitated for a moment. She wasn’t sure whether she should tell Yan Yiyun the truth. After all, she really didn’t want Yan Yiyun to see her embarrassment—especially now, sitting downstairs at her home, in one of the city’s most high-end residential areas. It made her feel like she was trying to fool even herself. “I really do.”

Perhaps because Qi Zhen’s voice sounded much softer this time, Yan Yiyun finally relaxed.

When she’d handed the bag to Qi Zhen earlier and saw no reaction, she had worried she’d made a mistake—maybe Qi Zhen didn’t like the dress and didn’t want this gift at all.

“Don’t worry,” Qi Zhen got out of the car and said through the window, “I really like it.”

Seeing Yan Yiyun breathe a long sigh of relief and return to her usual bubbly self, she waved energetically and said, “Alright, I’m heading off now~”

Even the way her voice trailed off was filled with boundless happiness, making Qi Zhen’s heart feel warm.

She stood in the wind holding the paper bag for a moment, watching Yan Yiyun’s car turn a corner and disappear before finally turning and heading upstairs.

Qi Zhen was indeed in a bit of a dilemma. Once she went inside with the bag, she knew she’d be bombarded with questions. But even so, when she thought about the disappointed look that might appear on Yan Yiyun’s face if she refused, she still couldn’t bring herself to reject the gift.

A part of her was anxious—Yan Yiyun had given her such an expensive gift so quickly. Could she even afford to return the favor?

In the past, Qi Zhen wouldn’t have cared at all about the price of the dress.

To her, it was just a regular piece of clothing. If a friend bought it as a gift, next time she saw something nice, she’d buy it and return the gesture. But things were different now—buying a dress like that was a huge burden.

Either she gave her parents less money and faced their disapproval, or she took on more work she couldn’t handle.

But how could she say no to Yan Yiyun? The moment she looked into those eyes, Qi Zhen felt like none of that mattered anymore.

She just wanted to make that person happy.

In the elevator, Qi Zhen looked at the bag in her hands and let out a helpless smile. This really was a sweet burden.

When she got home, the dining table was set for three, with all the dishes covered to retain some warmth.

Qi Zhen wanted to go to her room to drop off the shopping bag, but her mom spotted her immediately and called out, “Where did you go?”

Then, noticing the bag in her hand, she asked, “You bought more clothes again?”

Qi Zhen brushed it off with a couple of vague hums and hurried into her room. From behind, she could hear her mom complaining in a resentful tone:

“Why are you buying more clothes? You have more than you can wear…”

“It was bad enough when you used to shop all the time, but now you’re still doing it. Spending money like it’s not your own—you don’t even think about your parents.”

“When are you ever going to grow up…”

Qi Zhen shut the door, hugged the dress to her chest, and curled up in her chair. The dress still smelled like fabric dye, but thinking of how it was a gift from Yan Yiyun made it feel like it had absorbed sunshine.

The fabric was soft. Qi Zhen buried her face in the hem of the dress and slowly calmed her heart.

Outside, her mother knocked and asked, “Why’d you close the door, huh?”

Qi Zhen put the dress away in her closet, took a deep breath, and got up. “I’ll be right out.”

She joined her mom at the dinner table. The dishes had been reheated but looked quite unappetizing. Qi Zhen had little appetite and only picked at her food before preparing to get up.

Out of nowhere, her mom asked, “What did you do this afternoon?”

Qi Zhen paused mid-step and said, “Nothing.”

“‘Nothing, nothing’—it’s always nothing,” her mom said with a sarcastic laugh. “Buying expensive clothes again. Tsk.”

Even though she was smiling, Qi Zhen felt deeply uncomfortable.

She put the dishes in the sink and fled. “I’m going back to work.”

Behind her came the comment: “Never see you work during the day. It’s always at night?”

Back in her room, the video she edited that morning had finished rendering. Qi Zhen reviewed it, and once satisfied, she drafted an email and sent it off to the client.

As soon as that was done, she opened a new project and began editing the next video.

Her eyes stared blankly at the editing software, hands moving mechanically, while her mind wandered back to earlier.

She had such a good time with Yan Yiyun that afternoon—eating, shopping, having afternoon tea and dessert. Yan Yiyun even drove her home.

More than once, under the soft night breeze, Qi Zhen found herself looking into Yan Yiyun’s eyes and getting the illusion that Yan Yiyun liked her too.

But the next moment, she would shake that thought away. How could that be? She couldn’t think of a single reason why Yan Yiyun would like her.

She didn’t even know what kind of life she was living anymore.

Her time was filled entirely by work—besides her full-time job, she had countless side gigs, but no matter how hard she worked, it was never enough. Every month, her money disappeared soon after transferring it to her mom’s account.

High medical bills and living expenses weighed her down, and even then, every time she came home, all she got was blame. Why?

Qi Zhen couldn’t understand it.

Before her dad got seriously ill, her parents didn’t really care about her, but they’d still grant her requests. But somehow, overnight, not only had she lost their support and become the family’s pillar—she also became the target of constant blame.

What had she done wrong?

Sometimes, she was angry and felt her parents were being unfair. But then she would think about how they had raised her, and remember her once-proud father now bedridden, and her heart would ache like it was being stabbed with needles. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything hurtful.

All she could do was silently bear the endless pressure passed down onto her.

She was nearly hollowed out by all this heaviness. How could someone like that—an empty shell—possibly be liked by someone like Yan Yiyun?

This video wasn’t long. Qi Zhen finished editing it quickly.

When she finally lifted her head from the screen, a sharp pain stabbed her neck, reminding her that she’d been working for over three hours.

Qi Zhen looked at the rendering progress on screen and picked up her phone to take a break.

There were over a dozen unread messages on WeChat. Most were ads, a few from irrelevant group chats, and several from Yan Yiyun.

Her eyes immediately found Yan Yiyun’s messages, but she didn’t know what they said—because the last one only read “[Image].”

Qi Zhen’s gloomy mood vanished instantly. Her heart pounded with excitement, and pure happiness bubbled up inside her. Trying to act calm, she deleted all the junk messages, skimmed the group chats, then took a deep breath and opened Yan Yiyun’s chat.

Yan Yiyun: Have you tried on the dress yet?

Yan Yiyun: I want to see~

Yan Yiyun: Send me a pic!

Those three messages had been sent half an hour ago—when Qi Zhen was busy and hadn’t checked her phone.

After not getting a reply, Yan Yiyun sent two more messages:

Yan Yiyun: >_<
Yan Yiyun: [Image]

The image was of Yan Yiyun wearing the same dress in a different color. The soft smokey pink shade looked playful and cute on her.

Qi Zhen stared at the photo for a long while before saving it.

They actually had matching dresses now…

Turns out, using the same thing as someone you like really did feel special.

It was like drinking a glass of honey lemonade in summer—cool, tangy, and sweet.

Qi Zhen replied: “You look great.”

Yan Yiyun instantly replied: “Really? I was afraid this style didn’t suit me.”

Qi Zhen: “No way. You’re so beautiful—anything looks good on you.”

Holding her phone, Yan Yiyun smiled like an idiot. Qi Zhen said she was beautiful! That anything looked good on her!

Yan Yiyun continued to act spoiled: “I really want to see you wear it too~”

Qi Zhen hesitated for a moment and, for the first time, refused: “My parents are already asleep—it’s not convenient to take photos.”

Yan Yiyun sounded a bit disappointed: “Okay~”

She could understand, though. Since Qi Zhen had to go home for dinner, it made sense that her parents slept early and she couldn’t take photos.

After thinking it over, Yan Yiyun said: “Then how about this! Wear it to the office and show me!”

Qi Zhen wanted to say no. The dress was a new seasonal item and not cheap—if people at work saw it, gossip would be inevitable.

But… this was a dress that Yan Yiyun had gifted her. If she kept refusing, it would really seem too rude.

Besides, she could already imagine Yan Yiyun’s pouty, disappointed face behind the phone screen—and she didn’t want to make her sad.

Qi Zhen gritted her teeth and said: “Alright, I’ll wear it Monday.”

Then a thought struck her—if Yan Yiyun wore the same dress too, what would the others in the company say?

She added: “But you can’t wear yours. Otherwise, people will start talking again.”

Yan Yiyun sent a kitten sticker looking sad and asked: “Then when can I wear it?”

Qi Zhen’s heart softened again. Looking at the little kitten, she thought Yan Yiyun was just like that—soft and clingy. She replied: “You can wear it whenever you want. I just mean… don’t be too close to me at work. People love to gossip.”

Yan Yiyun quickly replied: “Then we can be close in private, right?”