You Must Marry Me! - Chapter 29
Chapter 29
After finishing the hot pot, it was already close to 9 PM.
Yan Yiyun stepped out of the hot pot restaurant, still feeling unsatisfied. She tugged on Qi Zhen’s sleeve and asked, “Are you going home now?”
Qi Zhen could tell by her expression that she wanted to walk around a bit more.
Her heart softened, and she tilted her chin slightly, saying, “How about we walk around a bit?”
She had originally planned to go home. When she got off work, she had called home to say she wouldn’t be home for dinner, and her mom had scolded her a little — “It’s not a holiday, why aren’t you coming home for dinner?” She brushed it off at the time. Now that it was already 9 PM, she’d be nagged anyway when she got home, so she might as well stay out longer — at least Yan Yiyun would be happy.
Sure enough, the moment she heard that, Yan Yiyun’s eyes lit up and she looked like she was glowing.
“Really?”
Yan Yiyun remembered that Qi Zhen wasn’t supposed to be home too late, so she asked cautiously, “Won’t it be bad if you get home too late?”
Qi Zhen smiled and said, “It’s fine, I already told my family after work.”
She was only saying that to comfort Yan Yiyun. Of course it wasn’t really “fine” — there would definitely be some scolding waiting.
Qi Zhen shook her head, deciding not to think about that now. In this moment, watching Yan Yiyun smile beside her was the most beautiful thing.
She had always been someone who lived in the moment. Since she agreed to hang out with Yan Yiyun, she wouldn’t let unpleasant things ruin the mood.
They first strolled through the mall. Although this mall was also located in a busy downtown area, unlike the one they visited last time which had more brand-name shops, this one focused more on restaurants. They walked from the second floor up to the fourth but didn’t find many shops worth browsing.
“I’m too full now. Otherwise, we could’ve had some dessert.”
Yan Yiyun glanced around, still interested, and said:
“Next time we can come back before eating.”
“Sure,” Qi Zhen nodded, “Or we can come back here for dinner next time.”
Along the way, they had passed all kinds of restaurants — hot pot, barbecue, Japanese, Southeast Asian, Western. Judging by how Yan Yiyun wanted to try everything, they wouldn’t need to look for new places anytime soon.
Qi Zhen genuinely enjoyed eating with Yan Yiyun. After realizing that her feelings were becoming harder to resist, she stopped trying to fight it.
When it comes to liking someone, it’s not something you can hide — no matter how much she tried to suppress it, she couldn’t control her heart.
After they finished wandering the mall, Yan Yiyun finally calmed down a little. She held onto Qi Zhen’s arm as they walked out, looking at the flickering neon lights on the street, her mind full of thoughts about how she didn’t want Qi Zhen to go home. But her rational side reminded her that it was already late and they had to work tomorrow.
Qi Zhen saw right through her thoughts and didn’t want her to feel conflicted. She said, “See you tomorrow — we’ll be going to work together.”
Yan Yiyun pressed her lips together. Qi Zhen was right.
It was late. If she still kept her from going home, it would be too much.
“I’ll take you home,” Yan Yiyun said.
She still couldn’t quite let go. Even though they’d see each other tomorrow, seeing Qi Zhen during work wasn’t the same — it felt completely different.
Qi Zhen nodded. “Okay.”
She was originally going to hail a cab herself so Yan Yiyun wouldn’t have to go out of her way. But how could she bear to refuse those hopeful eyes?
Besides, she also wanted to spend a little more time with Yan Yiyun.
Qi Zhen felt that her protective shell had been cracked by her. The heart she had long frozen over for the sake of survival was being slowly thawed by Yan Yiyun’s smile.
She couldn’t resist her presence.
In the car ride back, Yan Yiyun didn’t speak.
Her mood had dipped a little. As happy as she was eating hot pot with Qi Zhen earlier, she now felt just as disappointed.
Why did time have to pass so quickly?
She sneaked a glance at Qi Zhen. Qi Zhen noticed and gave her a soft smile — just as gentle as always.
They weren’t sitting far apart. Yan Yiyun could smell Qi Zhen — a faint cold fragrance unique to her, mixed with the lingering scent of hot pot — smoky and comforting, addictive even.
Yan Yiyun tried her best to regulate her breathing. Her heart was beating faster again, and it annoyed her.
She really didn’t know what was going on with herself anymore.
Just as she was deep in thought, the car stopped.
Street lamps lit up the residential complex in a warm yellow glow — the comforting feeling of home.
Qi Zhen saw Yan Yiyun was still spacing out. She reached out and lightly touched the back of her hand, saying, “I’m heading in now.”
Yan Yiyun jolted as if she’d been shocked. She clutched her hand — the dim light hiding her flustered expression — and tried to remain calm as she replied, “Oh— okay. See you tomorrow.”
“Mm.” Qi Zhen waved at her. “See you tomorrow.”
After Qi Zhen left, Yan Yiyun’s heart pounded even harder.
The spot on her hand where Qi Zhen had touched tingled. It wasn’t uncomfortable — more like a subtle burning sensation. The feel of Qi Zhen’s skin had left her cheeks warm; it was soft and dry, like a cloud.
Inwardly, Yan Yiyun screamed: What is wrong with me?!
Just this afternoon, she was still leaning against Qi Zhen to look at her phone. So why was she blushing just from a simple touch on the hand now?
And lately, she blushed way too easily around Qi Zhen.
Qi Zhen looked at her — she blushed. Qi Zhen said an extra word — she blushed. Qi Zhen touched her hand — she still blushed.
Can I even be considered human at this point?
Yan Yiyun couldn’t make sense of it. She finally gave up and picked up her phone to message her friend abroad:
“I think there’s something wrong with me lately.”
She and Yi Jingyu were now half a world apart — a twelve-hour time difference. Yi Jingyu had just woken up and saw the message from her best friend. She replied with a question mark — “?” — then went off to have breakfast.
By the time she came back from breakfast, Yan Yiyun had already sent a whole string of messages.
“I found the person I’ve been looking for all these years. Turns out she’s working at my company now.”
“Then we became friends.”
“At first I thought she remembered me, so I did a bunch of dumb things.”
Yi Jingyu knew all about that “marriage certificate” Yan Yiyun carried around — she kept it carefully tucked in her wallet, occasionally taking it out to check for damage. At first, Yi Jingyu resisted asking, but eventually curiosity won and she asked what the deal was.
Then she heard the beautiful story of how childhood sweethearts had once saved each other.
Yi Jingyu got excited instantly.
“You found her?!”
If anyone in the world wanted Yan Yiyun to find Qi Zhen the most, Yi Jingyu would definitely be #1.
“What dumb things did you do? Quick, tell me so I can laugh at you.”
Yan Yiyun’s phone showed “typing…” for quite a while before she finally sent a few messages.
“I kept sneaking peeks at her in her office every day.”
“Then I cornered her in the break room and, on a whim, took her mug.”
“When she started ignoring me, I swapped out her snacks, and she got super mad…”
Yi Jingyu stared at her phone in disbelief. What kind of ridiculous behavior is this?
She slowly typed, “What were you even thinking?”
Yan Yiyun replied confidently, “At the time I just thought we were friends! I didn’t know she didn’t remember me at all.”
Yi Jingyu asked, “And now? Has she remembered?”
To be honest, she was a little worried. After all that, Qi Zhen might still be mad — maybe they were still fighting, and that’s why Yan Yiyun came to her for help.
“She remembered,” Yan Yiyun said. “Because I threw the marriage certificate in her face. She couldn’t deny it.”
Yi Jingyu: “…”
Is that really the point here?
You kept that old piece of paper for all these years and still treat it like a treasure — it’s kind of weird, okay?
Yi Jingyu typed listlessly, “So what about now…”
Judging by Yan Yiyun’s tone, she didn’t sound like someone seeking advice.
Besides, this storyline was moving way too fast. She was still stuck on “I found my childhood sweetheart,” and now Yan Yiyun had already thrown out a marriage certificate. Where’s this going next?
When she saw Yi Jingyu’s question, Yan Yiyun held her breath.
She was about to ask something that felt a little… odd. But if she didn’t ask Yi Jingyu, she didn’t know who else she could talk to.
She only had one best friend she could open up to like this.
Yan Yiyun said:
“We’ve made up now, and things are going well. We eat together a lot.”
“We already went to that rooftop restaurant — the one with the amazing city view.”
“And we tried that pink-themed afternoon tea place too — very cute, perfect for photos. But it was so sweet I couldn’t finish it. If Qi Zhen didn’t love sweets, it would’ve gone to waste.”
Yi Jingyu stared at the messages, wondering if she was losing her mind.
Didn’t Yan Yiyun say something was wrong with her? This sounded more like someone happily dating.
If Qi Zhen weren’t a girl, she’d think Yan Yiyun was showing off her relationship.
Then more messages came.
“We just had hot pot together.”
“One tomato broth, one spicy broth — both were amazing. Qi Zhen’s dipping sauce was incredible. It made the tomato broth taste even better!”
Yi Jingyu couldn’t take it anymore. She interrupted: “Hold on, are you trying to make me jealous on purpose because I can’t have hot pot abroad?”
Yan Yiyun froze. Talking about how good hot pot tasted to someone overseas was kind of cruel.
But it felt awkward to just come out and say what she really wanted to ask.
After all, how was she supposed to tell her best friend: I blushed like crazy in front of another girl tonight?
“No, no,” she quickly said. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… ugh, it’s really hard to explain.”
“What’s so hard to say?”
Yi Jingyu’s imagination ran wild and jumped straight into a romance novel. She asked: “Wait — did Qi Zhen’s boyfriend show up in the middle of dinner and confess to you?”
Yan Yiyun stared at the words “Qi Zhen’s boyfriend” and felt increasingly uncomfortable.
It was like a bone stuck in her throat.
She didn’t know if such a person existed, but if he did, she was sure she’d hate him.
That was weird. She’d met Yi Jingyu’s boyfriend before and had no strong feelings. He was just a regular guy. But just thinking about Qi Zhen having a boyfriend irritated her.
“What nonsense are you saying?” she retorted. “Qi Zhen wouldn’t have a boyfriend!”
Yi Jingyu: “…”
She wanted to say: You’ve only just reconnected. How do you know that?
But she decided to drop it and return to the main topic.
“Alright, so what’s this issue you said you’re having?”
This time, Yan Yiyun let it all out:
“I realized I blush every time I see Qi Zhen. I think something’s wrong with me.”
Yi Jingyu: “…”
After a long pause, she finally replied:
“Do you think maybe… you like Qi Zhen?”