You Must Marry Me! - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Yan Yiyun stared at her in a daze, not understanding what she meant at first. Did it mean the company workload was too much and employees were being overworked? That couldn’t be allowed—overworking affected efficiency… Her thoughts as a manager had just started, when a sudden realization struck her: the company was about to hold internal promotions. Could it be that Qi Zhen planned to compete?

That would be great! The current head of the design department did seem to be considering resignation. If Qi Zhen took over, that would be the best outcome.

At least future meetings would be more pleasant.

The current senior staff and their proposals were giving her a headache—outdated and wasteful.

Yan Yiyun let out a soft “Oh” and gave Qi Zhen an encouraging smile. “I understand. Then have lunch in the cafeteria tomorrow.”

After all, Qi Zhen could still be “coincidentally” bumped into in the pantry. And there was always afternoon tea on the weekends.

“Go ahead,” Yan Yiyun said. “We’ll have our afternoon tea on the weekend.”

Qi Zhen was taken aback by her smile. She didn’t understand what Yan Yiyun was thinking—why was she still smiling?

Did she not realize she was being turned down?

Should she also turn down the afternoon tea invitation? Would that be too harsh?

Just as that thought arose, Qi Zhen firmly shut it down.

“Too harsh” or not didn’t matter. She was only struggling now because she’d previously thought rejecting Yan Yiyun wasn’t nice!

If she was going to refuse, then she needed to do it cleanly and decisively. With that in mind, Qi Zhen shook her head and said, “Sorry, I have something on the weekend.”

Yan Yiyun asked, “What is it?”

Qi Zhen showed a hesitant expression but didn’t answer. What could it be? Either taking her father to the hospital or staying home doing freelance work. On rare occasions, she’d rest, sleep in, and ease her fatigue.

She said nothing, but Yan Yiyun, observing her expression, suddenly realized something—Qi Zhen had a life of her own. She wasn’t the most important person in it.

This realization hit Yan Yiyun like a blow to the head, leaving her momentarily dizzy.

Yes, they had known each other for many years, but during all those years, they had been apart for almost all of it!

They had missed each other’s most important life moments: school, graduation, coming of age, graduation trips… and so on.

And wasn’t life made up of these very moments? Without sharing them, could they really say they had a meaningful bond?

Yan Yiyun thought about that “marriage certificate” she carried every day—it had been her strength and spiritual support through countless days and nights, almost like a talisman. But to Qi Zhen, what did that piece of paper even mean?

Now wasn’t the time to ask. She looked at Qi Zhen and suddenly found her unfamiliar.

Qi Zhen was dressed as usual in dark tones, a long-sleeved, long dress revealing a delicate collarbone. Her sharp jawline marked her as a true beauty. She had applied light makeup today—refined brows and soft pink lipstick, giving her a gentle and elegant look.

At this moment, it was impossible to associate her with that little girl in a leaf-colored sweater and braided pigtails.

Yan Yiyun began to panic a little. She forced herself to calm down, reminding herself that they were working at the same company, and there would be many chances to interact.

“Alright,” she said, without pushing further. “Next time, then.”

Yan Yiyun watched Qi Zhen walk out of her office, then collapsed onto the sofa, burying her face in her hands, waves of helpless emptiness surging over her.

For the rest of the afternoon, Yan Yiyun only dealt with some simple emails.

Near the end of the day, she deliberately walked by the design department, hoping to bump into Qi Zhen and go home together.

When she got there, she learned some news: Qi Zhen had taken the afternoon off.

She had just had lunch with her, and now she’d taken the afternoon off?

Yan Yiyun felt a surge of anxiety. She casually asked a design department staffer, “Why did Qi Zhen take leave?”

Hou Yunlan, rarely seeing the legendary young lady in person, was just about to flatter her when she heard her asking about Qi Zhen. She was stunned—Qi Zhen really had a connection with the heiress?

Deliberately wanting to make Qi Zhen look bad, she replied, “She went home. Said it was a stomachache. She was fine this morning, then suddenly it got so bad she needed to go to the hospital.”

The implication being: she was faking it.

Yan Yiyun’s face changed instantly.

She was fine in the morning, but so sick by the afternoon that she had to go to the hospital? That must mean something had gone wrong with lunch!

Yan Yiyun remembered inviting Qi Zhen to try the spicy stir-fried beef. Thinking back, Qi Zhen’s expression when she first tasted it really hadn’t looked excited—maybe she had known it would upset her stomach?

She recalled Qi Zhen saying she’d been eating cold leftovers recently. That must’ve already worsened her stomach condition, and then she had pushed her to eat something so spicy… No wonder she ended up in the hospital!

Overcome with guilt, Yan Yiyun anxiously grabbed Hou Yunlan’s shoulders. “Which hospital did she go to?!”

Hou Yunlan was dumbfounded. She’d just seen Yan Yiyun’s face go pale and thought she was about to punish Qi Zhen for laziness. She’d even felt a little satisfied. But then—why was she suddenly so concerned?

And that look of sincere worry… it wasn’t fake.

Wasn’t the young heiress known for being cool, aloof, and strictly business with everyone?

Hou Yunlan’s worldview felt shaken. She replied reflexively, “Maybe the Third Hospital? It’s the closest.”

Watching Yan Yiyun release her grip and rush toward the elevator, clearly agitated, Hou Yunlan began to doubt her own eyes.

In a daze, she opened the group chat:

“Young Lady Yan just asked me which hospital Qi Zhen went to. Do you think she really likes her?”

“More than just likes! Yesterday we saw her personally invite Qi Zhen to go home with her in the elevator.”

“?????”

“!!!!!”

“Why didn’t anyone mention this yesterday???”

“It was so shocking I forgot…”

“+1”

“Feels so unreal…”

“I just saw Qi Zhen go to Young Lady Yan’s office for lunch again today…”

“????? So they eat together every day???”

“Report! Just ran into Young Lady Yan in the elevator. She was twirling her car keys, looked pissed.”

“Is she going to the hospital to see Qi Zhen??”

Messages flooded the chat. But Hou Yunlan stopped reading. She gripped her mouse tightly, an overwhelming sense of resentment bubbling up.

They were all human—so why was Qi Zhen so lucky?

Just as she was fuming, a close friend messaged her privately:

“Yunlan, if Qi Zhen really gets in with the Young Lady… do you think she’ll take revenge on us?”

That message was like a bomb, detonating something deep inside Hou Yunlan.

She had never considered that possibility! To her, Qi Zhen had always been a silent, hardworking pushover. Despite winning awards, she hadn’t been promoted—still just a low-level designer, scraping by on a modest salary. And clearly, her life was harder than theirs—she couldn’t even afford the cafeteria and brought lunch from home every day.

She never imagined… Qi Zhen might one day rise above them all.

Meanwhile, Yan Yiyun had arrived at the Third Hospital, rushing into Internal Medicine, asking the nurse to check for Qi Zhen’s name.

The nurse flipped through the admissions log but couldn’t find her.

“Sorry, no such patient was admitted this afternoon.”

Yan Yiyun stood in the hospital’s waiting hall, that same emptiness from earlier swelling in her chest.

Qi Zhen wasn’t here…

She had taken leave without telling her—clearly didn’t want her to know.

And yet Yan Yiyun had to go to the design department and ask others to find out. If she now used her connections to track which hospital Qi Zhen had really gone to, Qi Zhen probably wouldn’t be happy.

Wouldn’t that be just like a stalker?

Still, the thought of not knowing where Qi Zhen was made her miserable.

It was as if there was no real connection between them—everything was built on memories, a mirage.

Yan Yiyun opened WeChat and went to her chat with Qi Zhen, thinking she’d just ask directly.

If Qi Zhen replied, that wouldn’t count as invading her privacy, right?

But when she opened the chat, what she saw struck her like lightning.

It was the system message:

“You are now friends. Start chatting!”

She and Qi Zhen had never actually spoken.

That message mocked her. Were they really friends? Had they ever talked?

Feeling bitter and dejected, Yan Yiyun didn’t message Qi Zhen. Instead, she opened her Moments, hoping to find a clue.

Qi Zhen’s feed was just like her—clean and quiet. With no time display set, it only had a few photos: endless blue skies meeting the sea, pristine snow-capped mountains, flaming red maple leaves… and in one, Qi Zhen smiling peacefully, as if the world held no troubles.

Yan Yiyun was captivated by that photo.

There was a rare clarity in Qi Zhen’s smile that defied description.

She saved the picture, starred it, and locked it to prevent accidental deletion. Then she returned to the underground parking lot and prepared to drive home.

Even though she couldn’t see Qi Zhen today or comfort her, tomorrow, and the day after, and in all the days to come, she would see Qi Zhen.

She would do her best to comfort her, care for her, and protect her—

Just like Qi Zhen once protected her, all those years ago.