Grandpa's Pressure to Marry and the Figure in Her Mind

On the weekend, Yan Qingyue had a rare break from work and was enjoying a lazy day at home.

She was reclining on the sofa, leafing through a financial magazine, when her phone rang.

Seeing the name on the caller ID, she smiled, a trace of warmth softening her cool, striking face.

"Grandpa." She answered the phone, her voice much gentler than usual.

A booming yet kindly voice came from the other end of the line:

"Qingyue, are you busy? I'm not interrupting my precious granddaughter's work, am I?"

"No, Grandpa. I'm taking the day off."

Yan Qingyue smiled. "How have you been feeling lately? Have you been taking your medicine on time?"

"Good, good, good! I'm doing great! Your Uncle Zhang keeps an eye on me every day. I couldn't skip my medicine even if I wanted to!"

Old Master Yan's voice was full of vigor. Then he changed the subject. "Qingyue, how about coming home for dinner tonight? I had the kitchen make your favorite braised pork knuckle and steamed leopard coral grouper. It's been so long since you came back to have a meal with your grandpa."

Yan Qingyue's heart softened a little.

Her parents had died when she was young, and her grandfather had raised her himself. The two were very close.

Lately, she had been busy with work and all sorts of... "games," and she really had neglected the old man.

"All right, Grandpa. I'll come back tonight," she readily agreed.

That evening, at the Yan Family's old residence.

The dining room was brightly lit and the table laden with dishes, but only the two of them were dining, making the place feel a little empty.

Old Master Yan kept putting food on Yan Qingyue's plate. As he looked at her, his eyes were full of affection and... a barely perceptible trace of worry.

"Qingyue, eat more. Look how thin you've gotten. No matter how busy you are, you have to look after yourself. There's no end to the company's work."

"I know, Grandpa. I know my limits."

Yan Qingyue answered obediently.

After they had eaten for a while, Old Master Yan set down his chopsticks and sighed as if in passing:

"Ah, the old fellows in other families are already holding great-grandsons and great-granddaughters, showing off pictures of the little ones on their Moments every day. I'm so envious..."

Yan Qingyue paused as she reached for a dish and thought to herself:

Here it comes, here it comes. Here we go again.

She pretended not to understand and continued eating:

"Grandpa, isn't the one in Grandpa Li's family his grandson? I remember he's two years younger than me. Isn't it a little early for you to be envious?"

"Sooner or later, I'll be envious anyway!"

Old Master Yan widened his eyes. "Qingyue, it's not that I'm rushing you, but you're not getting any younger. You've built such a big business, and you've made a name for yourself. Isn't it... about time you started thinking about the big matter of your own future?"

He leaned closer and lowered his voice, his eyes full of expectation:

"Tell Grandpa the truth. Is there a boyfriend you get along with? Bring him home so I can meet him.

"Family background and all that doesn't matter. As long as he's a good person and treats you well, I'll be satisfied!"

Yan Qingyue set down her chopsticks, feeling somewhat helpless:

"Grandpa, I really don't have the mind for that right now. The company has so many projects lately that I'm run off my feet. Where would I find the time to date?"

"Work, work! All you ever think about is work!"

Old Master Yan was getting anxious. "Would the company stop running without you? Find a reliable manager to help you handle some of it! A woman's youth only lasts a few years; you can't afford to waste them! I don't ask for anything else. I just want you to find someone who'll care for you, someone you can rely on in the future. Better yet, give me a big, chubby boy soon, so this old house of ours can have a little more life in it!"

A big, chubby boy...

The corner of Yan Qingyue's mouth twitched.

She truly couldn't imagine herself pregnant and having a child.

"Grandpa, what age are we living in? Who still has to rely on a man? I'm doing just fine on my own."

She tried to brush the subject aside.

"What's so fine about it?"

Old Master Yan was genuinely anxious now. "Look at you, wearing that cold face all day. It's work, work, and more work, and you don't even have anyone you can confide in!

"I've been through it, and I know what that loneliness is like!

"Just listen to your grandpa's advice. Don't set your sights so high. Try getting to know someone..."

The old master began rattling off the outstanding young men from the families he knew: one was a doctorate who had returned from overseas, another a young entrepreneur, another came from a respectable family and had an upright character...

Yan Qingyue listened until her head felt twice its size. All she could do was give noncommittal hums, but another face involuntarily surfaced in her mind—

Lin Chen's face: sometimes shrewd, sometimes foolish; trembling with fear in front of her yet unable to stop himself from mocking her wildly in his thoughts; shouting that he wanted to protect her when drunk; blushing and getting a nosebleed at the sight of a sexy photo...

Especially when she thought of his inner monologues:

Did Yan Iceberg take the wrong medicine again today?

Holy shit, those legs, that waist...

I want to marry her... but I can't, I have Little Moon...

I'll protect you! I'll protect you!

Those scenes and voices flashed through her mind, so vivid and lifelike, and even a little... funny?

He was completely different from the so-called "outstanding young men" she usually met.

They were either overly respectful and timid around her, or they approached her with an agenda, exchanging empty pleasantries.

Only that guy, though outwardly scared to death of her, dared to judge her in his thoughts and even had some... bold ideas.

Though he was a little stupid, a little slow, and sometimes brazenly lustful, at least he was... real.

And he also seemed to be hiding quite a few interesting secrets.

As her thoughts wandered, the corners of Yan Qingyue's mouth rose involuntarily into a faint smile, and she almost laughed aloud.

"...Qingyue? Qingyue!"

Old Master Yan's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "I'm talking to you! What are you smiling at? Could it be... there's really someone?"

Old Master Yan was a shrewd man, and he immediately caught that fleeting, extraordinarily rare smile on his granddaughter's face, as well as her distraction.

This was far too unusual!

Yan Qingyue abruptly came back to her senses. Startled, she hurriedly composed her expression and returned to her usual cool demeanor:

"It's nothing, Grandpa. I just remembered an employee at the company making a fool of himself today."

She picked up her teacup and took a sip to hide her expression, but she felt somewhat annoyed with herself.

What was that? Why did I suddenly think of that guy? And even smile? What the hell!

But Old Master Yan looked as if he had discovered a new world, his eyes lighting up:

"An employee? A man or a woman? What kind of joke was it? A joke that can make my iceberg granddaughter smile must be something special! Come on, tell Grandpa!"

Yan Qingyue: "..."

I picked up a rock only to drop it on my own foot.

She could only give a vague answer:

"He's a young man who graduated not long ago. He's a bit of a greenhorn, clumsy and careless, and he's made quite a few blunders."

She tried to steer Lin Chen's image in the direction of "unreliable."

"Young people are bound to be a little rash. It's fine as long as they have drive!"

Old Master Yan, however, didn't mind. Instead, his interest was piqued. "How old is he? What school did he go to? What's his character like? What does he do at your company?"

The barrage of questions made Yan Qingyue's scalp tingle.

It's not like I can tell him he's my special assistant and spends all day fantasizing about me, can I?

She could only continue to brush him off:

"He's just an ordinary college graduate. He's my assistant and runs errands for me. His character... is all right, I suppose. He's just a little silly."

"An assistant is good! The pavilion closest to the water gets the moonlight first!"

Old Master Yan slapped his thigh, growing even more excited. "He follows you around every day, so you know him inside and out! A little silly is good. Silly people are honest and don't have so many schemes! Qingyue, do you think he..."

"Grandpa!"

Yan Qingyue hurriedly cut him off, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "What are you thinking? He's just an ordinary subordinate of mine! Besides... besides, there's someone he likes!"

In her haste, she brought up "Little Moon."

"There's someone he likes?"

Old Master Yan felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured over him. He smacked his lips in disappointment. "Ah, what a shame... But it doesn't matter. As long as he isn't married, there's still a chance! My granddaughter is so outstanding. Surely you can win him over?"

Yan Qingyue was utterly speechless, wanting to ask the heavens why.

The meal finally ended amid Old Master Yan's relentless pressure to marry and his various "sales pitches."

It took Yan Qingyue the strength of nine oxen and two tigers to barely manage to change the subject, and she fled the old residence as if escaping.

On the way back, she drove past the flowing neon lights outside her window, but Lin Chen's face once again surfaced in her mind against her will, along with her grandfather's words: "A little silly is good. Silly people are honest."

She shook her head, trying to shake that figure out of her mind.

I'm crazy, I'm crazy. Why would I think of him? And even think he's... a little interesting?

I must have gotten too absorbed in that game lately... Yes, that's it.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

Yet in some corner of her heart, a voice quietly said: that guy seemed... genuinely different from the people she had met before.

That realization left her feeling a trace of inexplicable... irritation, as well as an even fainter flutter of... feeling that she herself was unwilling to examine too closely.