You Must Marry Me! - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Yan Yiyun looked at Qi Zhen seriously, and just from her expression, Qi Zhen could tell she wasn’t joking.

A wave of warmth welled up in Qi Zhen’s heart. Since Yan Yiyun had said that, there was no way she could let her concern go to waste.

Qi Zhen smiled and nodded. “Got it. I’ll take better care of myself from now on.”

Even though Qi Zhen agreed, Yan Yiyun was still a little uneasy. This was someone who could go to the hospital one day and show up at work the next. After some thought, she carefully said, “Then… next time you go to the hospital, can you let me come with you?”

That shouldn’t be too much, right?

Weren’t they friends? If they were friends, going to the hospital together was perfectly normal. Back when she was studying abroad, she had accompanied classmates to the hospital too.

Yan Yiyun waited nervously for Qi Zhen’s answer.

These past few days, she could feel that the distance between her and Qi Zhen had gotten smaller—but they still weren’t at the point of sharing everything. At best, it was just that Qi Zhen wasn’t so indifferent to her anymore.

That heart of Qi Zhen’s, which let no one in, had only let her get a tiny bit closer.

Qi Zhen froze for a moment when she heard that Yan Yiyun wanted to go with her to the hospital.

She’d been to the hospital many times—sometimes with her father, sometimes for herself. But… truth be told, no one had ever gone with her.

She used to be healthy and rarely needed the hospital. If it was something minor, she’d just go downstairs to the pharmacy for medicine.

By the time she did need hospital visits, her family was already numb from her father’s illness. A stomachache wasn’t seen as a big deal—not worth troubling others. Besides, she was so familiar with hospitals, it was just like stopping by on the way.

Qi Zhen never said much, but many times, while she was waiting in line to register and enduring the pain in her stomach, she had wished… if only someone could come with her, so she could just sit down and rest for a while.

Unfortunately, when she told her mom about it, all she got was the usual: “Your stomach hurts? Just take some medicine.”

Sometimes there’d be more: “Didn’t I tell you not to stay up late? Now look, you’ve made yourself sick.”

Qi Zhen didn’t like hearing that, so she stopped bringing it up altogether.

But now, Yan Yiyun was actually offering to go to the hospital with her?

Qi Zhen gave a slightly dazed smile. “Wouldn’t that be too much trouble?”

“How could it be?” Now it was Yan Yiyun’s turn to be surprised. “Of course it’s not. Honestly, I think you should get a full check-up.”

As she said this, her brow furrowed. She remembered something about their company benefits…

“Doesn’t the company provide health check-ups? Did you get one? How were the results?”

Qi Zhen replied, “Everything looked pretty normal. Really, no major issues.”

Yan Yiyun fell into thought. “Then it really must be something that needs long-term care. In any case, I’ll take care of your lunch soup from now on. And if possible, we should have dinner together too…”

As she spoke, Qi Zhen’s heart started to warm again. She didn’t know why Yan Yiyun was treating her so well. Was she like this with all her friends? Or just her?

She didn’t know any of Yan Yiyun’s other friends. Otherwise, she might really ask them, Is she this good to you too?

Qi Zhen tried to rein in her feelings, to keep herself from overthinking—but she couldn’t control Yan Yiyun, nor could she stop her from being good to her.

She couldn’t figure out what Yan Yiyun meant by all this. Was she just overthinking it?

That day, when that piece of paper fell out of Yiyun’s bag—“Didn’t you say you’d marry me?”—what had that really meant?

Where exactly was the line between them?

Qi Zhen glanced at her without revealing her thoughts. Yan Yiyun’s smile was bright and her gaze clear—she truly looked innocent.

It seemed like… Yan Yiyun didn’t know what she was thinking. She probably didn’t mean anything by it.

Qi Zhen shook her head and said, “Let’s skip dinner. I need to go home to eat. Sorry.”

Yan Yiyun let out a breath of relief. “That’s okay, lunch together is good enough.”

Just for a moment there—Qi Zhen’s expression…

Yan Yiyun had almost thought she’d been found out.

Her feelings for Qi Zhen were vague and hard to define. But she knew one thing for sure—it wasn’t just friendship. She didn’t want to just be Qi Zhen’s ordinary friend. But if you asked her what exactly she wanted, even she wasn’t sure yet.

She only knew—she wanted to be the most special person in Qi Zhen’s life.

Just like a long time ago, when she’d been the one out of a group of kids that Qi Zhen ignored, who ended up with that little “marriage certificate.” At that moment, her heart had felt full.

And now, what she wanted was simply to be that special again.

She couldn’t stop herself from caring about Qi Zhen, couldn’t stop herself from being kind to her. She wanted to give Qi Zhen everything she had, to accompany her in everything she wanted to do.

Especially when she saw Qi Zhen respond to the things she did—it filled her with overwhelming joy.

Yan Yiyun had never experienced a feeling like this before. She couldn’t control herself. When she’d casually suggested dinner together earlier, she had felt both expectant and afraid.

A small part of her had hoped Qi Zhen would say yes… but she was also scared that Qi Zhen might see through her feelings and withdraw that little bit of warmth she had finally shown.

When Qi Zhen declined dinner, she smiled and said it was fine—but inside, she felt a little disappointed.

So it’s a no, after all…

Yan Yiyun didn’t dare say anything else. She already felt like she was being way too obvious!

If Qi Zhen noticed—someone as distant as her might just stop talking to her. That would be a total loss!

She remembered there was an internal promotion coming up, and she had seen Qi Zhen’s name on the list. So she quickly changed the subject: “You’re joining the internal competition this weekend, right?”

“Mm.” Qi Zhen wasn’t surprised she knew. “I’ll go over my materials tonight.”

Qi Zhen straightened up slightly. Now that Yiyun had brought up work, she naturally shifted into work mode. The look in her eyes also shifted—from friend to boss.

Seeing her demeanor suddenly turn cold, Yan Yiyun instantly regretted it. Why did I bring up work during such a nice lunch!?

“Alright.” Yan Yiyun nodded casually. “No worries, as long as you make it in time. No need to rush.”

Qi Zhen knew she was worried about her staying up late and hurting her health. She couldn’t help but smile. “Got it.”

But seeing how casually she responded, Yan Yiyun grew a little uneasy. She had high hopes for Qi Zhen becoming the head of the design department—so why did she sound so laid-back?

She steeled herself and hinted, “You’ve gotta give it your all.”

She pointed toward the office next door and said, “I really hope we can be neighbors.”

Naturally, Yan Yiyun would be one of the interviewers for the promotion. But there were also other board members—she couldn’t decide everything alone.

She felt conflicted. She really wanted to give Qi Zhen a leg up, but was afraid it would affect their work in the long run.

Qi Zhen looked at her conflicted expression and couldn’t help but laugh. Her face softened, making her look even more beautiful.

“Don’t worry,” Qi Zhen patted her shoulder, “I won’t embarrass you, Vice President Yan.”

Yiyun’s face flushed. Everyone in the company called her that, and she never minded—but hearing it from Qi Zhen made her feel a bit shy.

“Why are you calling me that?” Yiyun mumbled. “Wouldn’t something like ‘Yunyun’ sound better?”

She suddenly remembered—Qi Zhen used to call her “Miss Yan.” Every nickname she used sounded distant!

Unhappy, she said, “You always call me such formal names. I even call you Zhenzhen…”

Qi Zhen saw her slightly furrowed brow and exasperated look. “When did you start calling me Zhenzhen?”

She deliberately put on a cool expression—and sure enough, Yiyun looked nervous.

Yiyun asked, “Can’t I?”

She’d seen even the convenience store clerk downstairs call her that! Clearly, anyone slightly close to her could use that nickname—so why couldn’t she?

They ate lunch together every day, watched the moonlight, went on walks, shopped, exchanged gifts. They’d done all the things friends were supposed to do. Even if they weren’t the most special kind of friends, they should at least be close enough to use nicknames, right?

Yiyun’s eyes reddened with frustration, on the verge of tears.

Weren’t they even friends? The convenience store clerk could call her Zhenzhen, and she only said it twice—and Qi Zhen still had to point it out? That was way too much!

Qi Zhen had only meant to tease her, but seeing tears actually well up in her eyes, she panicked and quickly handed her a tissue.

“Why are you crying? That’s not what I meant… I was just joking. Don’t cry, okay? We’ll go buy some oden later.”

But the more she tried to comfort her, the more Yan Yiyun cried.

She slapped Qi Zhen’s hand away. When had she ever been this wronged? She’d always been treated like a princess. These past two weeks, Qi Zhen had ignored her, fought with her, and made her walk on eggshells—and now, even a nickname was too much?

Even as a joke, it was too much!

Seeing her tears falling nonstop, Qi Zhen was flustered.

“I didn’t say you couldn’t call me that—you can call me Zhenzhen. You can call me whatever you want…”

As she spoke, she cautiously reached out and gently patted her back.

“I’ll call you by a nickname too, okay? Don’t be mad anymore. I shouldn’t have teased you.”

This girl, honestly—such a crybaby, even at her age.

Qi Zhen’s heart melted. She hadn’t expected Yiyun to care so much about something so small. But the fact that she did… meant she really cared about her.

Yan Yiyun grabbed the tissue from her hand, wiped her face messily, and snapped, “Who said you could call me by a nickname?! You’re not allowed!”

“Okay, okay, I won’t.”

Qi Zhen helplessly pulled out a wet wipe and gently cleaned her face. “Vice President Yan, shall we go downstairs and get some snacks?”

As soon as Yiyun heard “Vice President Yan,” her temper flared up again.

“You’re not allowed to call me Vice President Yan!” she said, tilting her head, still trying to look fierce—but there was no real threat in her tone. In fact, it just made her seem even more adorably fake-angry. “Only you’re not allowed to call me that!”

“Okay, okay,” Qi Zhen replied, smiling warmly. “Then tell me—what should I call you?”