Please Marry Me (GL) - Chapter 5

“President Shen?” Ding Lanqi pushed the door open upon hearing the noise. She caught sight of the mangled phone on the floor but didn’t dare ask questions. “The earliest flight is tomorrow morning at seven.”

Ding Lanqi stole a glance at Shen Siyun’s profile; she was unusually pale. Wrapped in a bathrobe with her wet hair still undried, Shen Siyun kept her long lashes tightly shut and her arms crossed, as if exerting every ounce of strength to restrain herself.

“Get out!”

The cold fury in the woman’s voice made Ding Lanqi’s scalp tingle. Knowing better than to provoke her now, she retreated from the room without a word to go book the tickets.

“Bring me my spare phone.”

Before she could take two steps, Shen Siyun’s voice came from behind again. “Yes, ma’am!”

Ding Lanqi hurried to the living room to dig out the spare phone and handed it to her. As soon as it was taken, she didn’t dare linger for a second and exited the room.

With a dark expression, Shen Siyun turned on the phone and dialed Jiang Yi’s number. Perhaps because the wedding had already concluded, the call actually went through.

“Song Rao, I’m going to take this call.”

“Okay, don’t be too long, we still have to go out and toast the guests.”

Those few words were enough to confirm the identity of the person on the other end. The image of the woman kissing Jiang Yi on stage flashed through Shen Siyun’s mind, and the fire in her chest surged again. She forced herself to suppress it.

She was waiting for Jiang Yi to explain!

“Hello? This is Jiang Yi. Who is this?” Jiang Yi asked, seeing the unfamiliar number.

“It’s Shen Siyun.”

Jiang Yi was stunned for a moment, then her lips slowly curved into a soft, bright smile. “President Shen, what is it?”

“What is it?” The woman on the other end echoed the question weirdly, sounding as if she were laughing from pure rage. “You’re asking me what it is? Jiang Yi, have you lost your mind?”

Jiang Yi lowered her eyes, quietly listening to the anger that the other woman could no longer contain. Her beautiful, watery eyes remained calm and undisturbed.

“Jiang Yi, you’re doing this to get back at me, aren’t you? What kind of marriage is this?!”

The hand-tailored wedding dress bloomed like a flower around Jiang Yi’s feet. Her exquisite figure had drawn many admiring glances today.

“Shen Siyun, do you know how beautiful I am today?” Jiang Yi called her name softly in her usual gentle tone. The two whole years of love and humility stored within her fragile body suddenly felt light, as if she had finally found closure at this moment.

After two years, there would be five more. After those five, would there be another five? If she stayed, would she ever see the day she wore a wedding dress for real?

“What are you trying to say?” Shen Siyun’s thin lips were pressed into a cold line.

“Jiang Yi, our parents want us to come over and toast. Are you done talking?” Song Rao walked over.

Jiang Yi looked up, smiling at Song Rao. “I’m done.”

“Who was that on the phone?”

As Song Rao took her hand to lead her out, Jiang Yi thought for a moment before replying, “…Just a friend.”

Shen Siyun was so furious she hung up immediately.

Ding Lanqi entered with the suitcases, bracing against the heavy atmosphere. “President Shen, should I help you pack?”

“No.” Shen Siyun was radiating a low-pressure aura, her index finger tapping incessantly against her arm. Her entire face was a portrait of impatience. “Find out who this ‘Song Rao’ is to Jiang Yi.”

“Uh, alright.” Ding Lanqi set the suitcase aside and asked before starting the search, “President Shen, what does this Song Rao look like? How tall?”

“Tall, thin, beautiful.”

Ding Lanqi wondered if it was her imagination, but she felt as though President Shen was gritting her teeth while saying those words.

“Ask Sun Zhi! She knows what that woman looks like!”

“Oh! Right, okay. Thank you, President Shen!”

The banquet finally ended, and the guests had mostly departed. After changing out of her wedding dress, Jiang Yi looked at the closet and realized all her clothes were still at the apartment.

“What’s wrong?” Song Rao asked as she came out of the bathroom, drying her hair. She saw Jiang Yi staring blankly at the wardrobe.

“It’s nothing. You’ve worked so hard this week. I need to go back to the apartment tomorrow to pack my things and bring them over.”

During this past week, in addition to wedding preparations, Song Rao had been busy with her lab research. She had barely rested.

“Do you want me to drive you tomorrow?” As Song Rao finished drying her hair, a wave of exhaustion hit her; she looked like she could fall asleep the moment she touched the bed.

“No need. You’re exhausted, go to sleep.” Seeing the dark circles under her friend’s eyes, Jiang Yi felt guilty. She pressed her down onto the bed and tucked her in. “Go to sleep, now.”

Song Rao couldn’t argue, and the overwhelming drowsiness took over as she drifted off.

In the middle of the night, Song Rao was nudged awake by the dim light of a small desk lamp. She yawned and opened her eyes to see Jiang Yi in her pajamas, her silky black hair held up by a claw clip, revealing her porcelain-white swan neck. The soft lamplight cast a gentle, shimmering glow over her face.

A small notebook was spread out before her, and she was meticulously calculating the wedding gifts and return favors line by line.

“Didn’t our parents handle all of that?” Song Rao threw off the covers, walked over to her mug for a sip of water, and sat beside Jiang Yi.

“I can’t trouble them with this,” Jiang Yi replied without looking up, her eyes focused on the ledger.

“Well, you calculate then. This stuff gives me a headache. I can’t do it, I really can’t.” Song Rao kept her distance from the numbers. Then, she suddenly remembered. “Oh right, did Shen Siyun call today?”

Jiang Yi’s pen paused. Song Rao knew immediately that she had.

“How did she react?” Song Rao asked, suddenly intrigued. At this stage, it was like a chemistry student who had added a specific reagent according to the steps and was now full of hope, waiting for a reaction.

Jiang Yi bit her lip, looking at the gift amounts in front of her. Memories of Shen Siyun’s barely-contained rage involuntarily resurfaced. “She seemed very angry.”

“Did she scold you?” Song Rao frowned.

Jiang Yi shook her head. She couldn’t tell if Shen Siyun was actually “scolding” her. The woman could be quite sharp-tongued; none of her subordinates were ever spared. “She asked if I was doing this to get back at her. She asked if I was crazy.”

Song Rao went quiet, pondering. “How should I put this… I feel like she’s like potassium permanganate.”

Jiang Yi: “?”

“Let’s put it this way: potassium permanganate is an oxidizing agent that is extremely sensitive to pH levels. When it encounters an acidic substance, its reaction is more intense than ever. This proves that your marriage really did stimulate her.”

Jiang Yi still didn’t quite understand. Wasn’t it normal for her to be “stimulated”? Shen Siyun was so proud and cared so much about her image. She was used to being superior. Their high-profile wedding was a direct slap to her face.

Song Rao told her to relax and take it one step at a time. “I can’t say for sure. We’re still in the early stages of the reaction. Until the final moment, no one can guess what kind of precipitate will form.”

But at least there was a reaction—and that was a good start.

“Jiang Yi, I have some sad news to tell you,” Song Rao said suddenly, looking mournful.

Jiang Yi looked at her. “What is it?”

“My wedding leave is over. I have to go back to the lab tomorrow. Sometimes I’ll be back late, or I might just sleep there—I have a dorm room, so don’t worry about my food or housing.”

“I can take care of myself,” Jiang Yi reassured her.

“What I mean is… if Shen Siyun comes over to act crazy, I might not be able to rush back in time to save the day.”

“…”