You Must Marry Me! - Chapter 28

Chapter28

Yan Yiyun’s face turned beet red after hearing that.

Wasn’t Qi Zhen’s implication… that she had been staring at her so intently she zoned out?!

She noticed!

Qi Zhen had figured it out—she knew she had been watching her so much she couldn’t even focus on eating!

Yan Yiyun was both embarrassed and annoyed at herself. How could she have so little self-control? All it took was a wink from Qi Zhen, and she was completely out of it.

But what did Qi Zhen mean by saying that? How did she see her?

Yan Yiyun waited for Qi Zhen to continue, but after commenting on her lack of focus, Qi Zhen just lowered her head and went back to eating, saying nothing more.

She was practically demonstrating what it meant to be “focused.”

So… it seemed like Qi Zhen didn’t mind?

Well, there was nothing to mind, really. So what if she stared a bit longer? It wasn’t like Qi Zhen would lose a chunk of flesh or something.

Besides, people online drool over pretty girls all the time shouting, “I’m in!” and no one ever actually gets in—Qi Zhen probably wouldn’t overthink it.

As Yan Yiyun absentmindedly fished around in the hot pot for some luncheon meat, one question was resolved, but another immediately arose.

Why did she care whether Qi Zhen would overthink it? What was there to overthink anyway?

Yan Yiyun stared at Qi Zhen thoughtfully. After a while, Qi Zhen noticed her gaze and, seeing the pile of luncheon meat sitting untouched in Yan Yiyun’s bowl, finally spoke up: “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Yan Yiyun already felt guilty, and now with Qi Zhen calling her out, she panicked even more.

She quickly straightened up, shoved her earlier thoughts aside, and declared righteously, “Nothing! Just thought you looked pretty.”

Qi Zhen gave her a warm smile and dropped another slice of kidney into Yan Yiyun’s bowl, saying breezily:

“You said that at lunch already.”

Yan Yiyun’s face hadn’t cooled down the entire time. She unbuttoned the top button of her shirt and changed the subject: “This hot pot place is really warm.”

“Is it?”

Qi Zhen looked at her flushed cheeks and glistening eyes, her heart giving a slight flutter. She opened the window a little and said:

“You look beautiful today too.”

Yan Yiyun blushed even deeper. The outfit she had on was something she quickly threw together in the office earlier that afternoon. Originally, she just felt that wearing a business suit was inconvenient for eating, so she changed into something else. But now that Qi Zhen said that, it almost felt like she had dressed up just to have dinner with her.

“I only changed because the outfit earlier wasn’t practical for hot pot,” Yan Yiyun explained seriously. “Don’t overthink it.”

Qi Zhen smiled even more gently. “Why would I overthink?”

Yan Yiyun fell silent and started eating the luncheon meat quietly.

She didn’t know what was up with her today. Just because she changed outfits, would Qi Zhen overthink? And yet she had gone ahead and said that out loud.

Yan Yiyun felt like her IQ was plummeting.

Qi Zhen watched her sullen little expression, and her heart softened even more. She knew exactly what Yan Yiyun was feeling right now. Yan Yiyun must be confused, unsure of what was going on with herself—just like Qi Zhen had once been.

Qi Zhen cooked a shrimp paste ball in the tomato broth, placed it in Yan Yiyun’s bowl, and smiled: “It’s not every day we get to eat hot pot. Let’s enjoy the meal.”

Yan Yiyun gave a small “mm,” then looked up. Through the steam rising from the hot pot, she saw Qi Zhen smiling warmly at her. Her heart gave a little skip. Yeah, she might be acting a little weird today, but since it was a rare hot pot meal, she should just enjoy it and save the thinking for later.

She said sheepishly, “Okay.”

Qi Zhen really did have a knack for cooking hot pot. The shrimp paste ball she had cooked was just right—tender and bursting with flavor the moment it hit the tongue. Combined with the tomato broth’s sweet and tangy taste, it was so delicious that Yan Yiyun’s eyes widened.

“This shrimp ball is amazing,” Yan Yiyun said.

She normally liked spicy hot pot and rarely chose other flavors because she found them bland, with tasteless ingredients.

But this one shrimp ball that Qi Zhen had cooked for her? Absolutely delicious. Her curiosity piqued, she started placing more ingredients into the tomato broth herself.

Qi Zhen, while eating her own shrimp paste ball, told her, “The tomato base here is really flavorful. They use a lot of ingredients, and I even added two extra tomatoes. It won’t taste bland.”

She used to be a spice addict too—how could she not understand what Yan Yiyun was thinking? It was nothing more than assuming non-spicy broths would taste flat and boring.

Yan Yiyun fished out a slice of white radish, dipped it in the sauce, took a bite, and exclaimed in surprise, “I thought it was just you cooking it well, but I’m doing fine too!”

The radish had a refreshing crunch, soaked up all the tangy tomato flavor, and when dipped in the sauce Qi Zhen had mixed for her, it had a unique umami taste.

Hearing that, Qi Zhen paused and smiled. “What, are you saying I didn’t cook it well?”

Yan Yiyun quickly shook her head. No way. Everything Qi Zhen cooked, whether meat or veggies, was always perfectly tender and flavorful.

And the dipping sauces she made were top-notch. One was for the tomato broth—based on light seafood soy sauce, with scallions, garlic, and chili. Simple, but it paired perfectly with the tangy soup. The other was for spicy broth—sesame oil as a base, scallions, garlic, chili, oyster sauce, and a pinch of salt. It was aromatic and helped ease the heat, preventing that end-of-meal burn.

With such delicious sauces and perfectly cooked ingredients, how could Yan Yiyun say it wasn’t good?

In fact, she didn’t even want to.

She batted her eyes at Qi Zhen and said sincerely, “No, no, the stuff you cook is the best. I’ve never had hot pot this good before.”

She took another bite of the shrimp ball, still craving more, and searched the pot with the skimmer.

“There’s no more,” Qi Zhen said, taking the skimmer from her and fishing out two burdock meatballs instead. “I kept track of them all. Next time, I’ll take you to a different hot pot place.”

Yan Yiyun bit into a meatball, speaking with her mouth full: “Okay, okay! I want to try clear broth next time.”

She never realized until now that hot pot had so many varieties. Now that she knew, of course she wanted to try more.

The meatballs Qi Zhen gave her were also delicious—finely chopped pork and burdock mixed and seasoned, then shaped into little balls. They looked plump and adorable. Qi Zhen had fished them out at the perfect moment. The pork and burdock were cooked through but still juicy, with the crisp bite of the burdock mixing beautifully with the meaty flavor. Yan Yiyun’s eyes curved with joy.

Only after eating those did she realize she hadn’t cooked anything herself in a while. Aside from the kidney slices early on, everything else had been cooked by Qi Zhen and placed directly in her bowl.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Yan Yiyun bit her chopsticks and said, “Zhenzhen, you should eat too.”

Qi Zhen calmly dropped a ladle of baby bok choy into her bowl. “I am eating.”

Yan Yiyun peeked at her bowl and, sure enough, Qi Zhen had a fair share—shrimp balls, meatballs, eel slices, duck bl00d, and greens, all neatly arranged. She felt relieved. She had worried that Qi Zhen might be so busy taking care of her that she forgot to eat.

Qi Zhen caught her looking and raised her brows. “Want some?”

Before Yan Yiyun could respond, Qi Zhen had already picked out a shrimp ball from her own bowl and placed it in Yan Yiyun’s, saying, “If you want to eat, then eat.”

Looking at Qi Zhen’s warm smile, Yan Yiyun blushed again.

She knew Qi Zhen was a considerate person, but this was too much! This was totally flirting!

Yan Yiyun lowered her head and bit into the shrimp ball. It had come from the same pot, tasted the same sweet and tangy way, and yet… her heart felt sweet now too.

By the time she finished the shrimp ball, Qi Zhen had already taken out some pig brain from the spicy broth, placed it into two small bowls, and poured dipping sauce over them.

This dipping sauce was Qi Zhen’s special mix just for pig brain: sesame oil base, half a spoon of soy sauce, a generous amount of cilantro, diced pickled radish, finely chopped scallions and garlic, and some chili peppers. A bit of oyster sauce on top added the finishing touch. It smelled heavenly.

This was Qi Zhen’s go-to pig brain setup. Just a spoonful over freshly cooked pig brain and the flavor level skyrocketed.

Pig brain was tricky—if cooked in tomato broth, it might be okay but would carry a slight off-taste. In spicy broth though? Entirely different story.

The two servings she made now were just right. The textured surface had soaked up all the spicy, savory hot pot flavor. Pouring the sauce on top made it look irresistible.

Qi Zhen gently broke off a corner with her chopsticks. The inside was as tender as freshly made tofu. One bite in, the rich flavor hit first, followed by the creamy texture and satisfying oiliness. Utterly indulgent.

She slowly finished her bowl. When she looked at Yan Yiyun again, the girl had already closed her eyes in bliss.

“You’re too good at this, Zhenzhen,” she said, full of happiness. “I wanna eat with you forever.”

Qi Zhen’s heart skipped a beat. She knew Yan Yiyun meant it as a casual comment, but she couldn’t help feeling stirred.

She calmly replied, “Sure. What do you want to eat next time?”

Only after saying that did Yan Yiyun realize how ambiguous her earlier words sounded. It almost came off as a confession!

But judging by Qi Zhen’s calm demeanor, she didn’t take it that way at all.

Yan Yiyun felt a little let down. Suddenly, even the food didn’t taste quite as good anymore.

Still, after hearing Qi Zhen’s response, her mood lifted again.

It wasn’t like she was actually confessing. Qi Zhen not thinking much of it made sense. If she had asked what she meant, she wouldn’t even know what to say. After all, Yan Yiyun didn’t even know for sure whether she liked Qi Zhen or not.

But she did know what she wanted to eat next time. Yan Yiyun quickly said, “Let’s have barbecue next! And I also want to try Hong Kong-style hot pot, you know, with clear broth—I’ve been curious about that one for ages. How do people even eat hot pot with just water?”

“Okay,” Qi Zhen nodded. “Then next time, we’ll go for barbecue.”

Yan Yiyun was delighted. Having Qi Zhen take her out for delicious food? Nothing could be better.

Even though she was born in B City, she didn’t know the area well at all. She only came back once a year, mostly eating at home. If you asked her to find a good restaurant, she wouldn’t know where to start.

But seeing the place Qi Zhen picked today, and watching her handle hot pot with such skill, it was obvious: Qi Zhen really knew her food!

Having someone like that to take her around? A dream come true.

What’s more, Yan Yiyun had wanted to be friends with Qi Zhen for a while now. And now, with a vague sort of attraction growing too, it made her all the more excited that Qi Zhen wanted to spend time with her.

Smiling with eyes curved like crescents, Yan Yiyun said to her, “Then it’s settled—you’re taking me out for barbecue next.”