After a Flash Marriage with a Professor - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Warm Soup

My wife. Upon hearing these words, Yan Mingshu was stunned for a moment. Her tears were still flowing, seeping into Professor Shen’s shirt as she leaned against her.

Tears from someone who has been abandoned are dirty. Yan Mingshu immediately felt a sense of retreat, wanting to pull away from Professor Shen’s embrace, but she was held even tighter.

Shen Junlan felt as if she was holding a broken skeleton, with some soft flesh losing its warmth. With a little effort, she lifted Mingshu onto her lap. Pushing open the car door, the auntie who had been waiting for a long time came over with a large black umbrella.

Holding Mingshu under the umbrella, Shen Junlan called out to Auntie Zhang. Auntie Zhang responded with a smiling “Eh,” and eagerly pushed the umbrella toward them, curiously examining the shrinking Mingshu in her arms. It was dark, so she couldn’t see clearly.

“Junlan, you’re finally back. You suddenly went out in the rain, and I was worried you’d catch a cold, so I made some ginger tea. Drink some before you rest.”

“Okay.”

They walked into the house together. As they reached the villa’s corridor, the lights suddenly brightened. Auntie Zhang finally saw the tearful Yan Mingshu in Shen Junlan’s arms. The smile on her face abruptly vanished. She chose her words carefully and asked, “Junlan, this young lady is…”

Yan Mingshu instinctively feared strangers and shrank further into Professor Shen’s arms.

Shen Junlan said succinctly, “Auntie Zhang, this is Mingshu, my wife. It’s not a good time right now. I’ll tell you the details later.” With that, she carried Mingshu into the house.

Auntie Zhang had been with Shen Junlan’s mother, taking care of her while she was still alive, so she was like a half-relative to her. She initially called her Miss Shen, but as they grew closer, she simply called her Junlan.

Auntie Zhang stood frozen. She knew Junlan was going on a blind date today, but she never expected her to bring back a wife so quickly. What’s more, she went out in the rainy night to pick her up, and the person she brought back was teary-eyed. She didn’t know what had happened.

Worrying was useless. Auntie Zhang wanted to help and remembered the ginger tea still warming on the stove in the kitchen. She hurried to get a bowl.

Shen Junlan placed Mingshu on the sofa and reached out to touch her forehead. Her temperature was normal, but her eyes were still shedding tears.

“Here’s the ginger tea.” Auntie Zhang brought out two steaming bowls of ginger tea and placed them on the mahogany coffee table by the sofa. She then stood to the side, quietly observing Mingshu on the sofa, wondering why this young lady was crying so sadly. She then looked at Junlan, whom she had cared for since she was a child. Could it be…

“Auntie Zhang, you should go rest now,” Shen Junlan interrupted Auntie Zhang’s thoughts.

“But…”

Shen Junlan placed her hands on Auntie Zhang’s shoulders and personally led her back to her room. Auntie Zhang’s room was on the first floor, near the stairs.

Auntie Zhang was confused and kept looking back. “Junlan, what are you doing? Your wife doesn’t seem well. I can help take care of her.”

“That’s not necessary, Auntie Zhang. I’ll do it myself. Mingshu is shy around strangers. She’ll be uncomfortable if there’s someone she doesn’t know nearby.”

“Oh, I see.” Auntie Zhang nodded, and her doubts vanished. It was good that Junlan hadn’t done anything to force the girl.

“Auntie Zhang, what were you thinking just now?” Shen Junlan asked helplessly.

Auntie Zhang raised a hand to her temple, evading the question. “I guess I’m getting old and muddled, Junlan. You’re just so different from Mr. Shen.”

Shen Junlan was silent. Auntie Zhang realized she had said the wrong thing, pursed her lips, and said, “Then I’ll go rest. I’ll help take care of your wife tomorrow.”

The door closed, and Shen Junlan turned back to the living room, seeing that Mingshu had sat up on the sofa and was holding a bowl of ginger tea with both hands. She wasn’t drinking it, but just staring blankly at the rising steam as it dissipated.

“Mingshu.” Shen Junlan walked over quickly, took the hot bowl from Mingshu’s hands, and gently touched them. Mingshu’s palms were already red from the heat. “Mingshu, why didn’t you say it was hot?”

Mingshu looked up at her, her red eyes still shedding tears, like two waterfalls of blood-tears.

Worried she might get dehydrated from crying so much, Shen Junlan got up to pour a glass of warm water. She handed it to Mingshu, who drank it all in one gulp.

“Do you want more?”

Mingshu shook her head, still crying.

“Don’t you like ginger tea?”

Mingshu nodded, tears still flowing. She wasn’t a picky eater, but she was afraid of ginger, both fresh and old. She had just taken a small sip because she thought Auntie Zhang had gone to the trouble of making it. Her taste buds didn’t register the flavor, as if they were broken. That’s why she had been staring blankly at the ginger tea and hadn’t noticed her hands getting burned.

“Want to take a hot shower?” Shen Junlan asked.

Mingshu nodded, raising a hand to wipe away her tears. “I’m sorry, Professor Shen. I’ve been a lot of trouble today. Did Lingyu contact you to pick me up?”

“Yes.” Only then did Shen Junlan remember Jiang Lingyu. She had an impression of her; Jiang Lingyu and Mingshu were always together in her class.

“Professor Shen, could you please tell Lingyu I’m safe? I don’t want to turn on my phone just yet.”

“Okay. I’ll take you to the bathroom. You can take a shower and then get some rest.”

Yan Mingshu nodded, following behind Professor Shen, wiping away her tears. She had cried before, and she was used to the sadness, but she had never been unable to stop crying like this before.

She had been carried away from Lingyu’s apartment by Professor Shen, and she was still wearing Lingyu’s slippers. There was a small, three-dimensional white bunny holding a carrot on the top of the slippers, a design that shouldn’t get wet.

“Professor Shen.”

Shen Junlan heard Mingshu call her name. After pushing open the door to the bedroom’s bathroom, she turned her head and asked what was wrong.

Yan Mingshu looked down at her feet. Shen Junlan followed her gaze and smiled, “They’re very cute.”

“They’re Lingyu’s. I wore her slippers here.”

Shen Junlan smiled again. “There are spare slippers at home. I’ll get you a pair.”

After changing into the new slippers, Yan Mingshu realized she was in a simple, blue-themed room. The room was connected to a bathroom. Professor Shen smiled and explained that this was the master bedroom on the second floor. Mingshu nodded and went into the bathroom. Before she closed the door, Professor Shen paused in the doorway and told her there was a new bathrobe in the bathroom cabinet. She also asked if Mingshu was okay on her own and if she was feeling dizzy from the alcohol.

She was a little dizzy, but she thought she would be fine. Yan Mingshu shook her head firmly. Professor Shen was probably just asking out of concern. It wasn’t like she would say she was in trouble and Professor Shen would come in and help her shower, right?

Impossible. She couldn’t even imagine the gentle and proper Professor Shen from the podium coming in to help her.

After entering, Mingshu didn’t shower immediately. She leaned on the sink by the door, examining the bathroom. It was very spacious, much bigger than the living room of her family’s rental apartment. It was tiled with beige tiles, and the lighting was slightly yellow, looking as if it had been specially designed to feel warm.

The bathroom was also very clean and separate from the toilet area. A painting hung on the wall. The woman in the painting was unclothed, holding a piece of smooth, silk-like white satin that barely covered her private parts. Yan Mingshu’s face suddenly flushed red. She quickly looked away, turned around, and found the shower. She took off her white dress, carefully placed it in the laundry hamper, and turned on the shower. The warm water, at a comfortable temperature, poured over her, washing her thoroughly from head to toe.

Perhaps it was the warm and comfortable environment of Professor Shen’s home and the kindness of the people in it, but Yan Mingshu felt safe, and her tears of sorrow gradually stopped.

Outside the bathroom door, Shen Junlan felt a little disappointed. She saw no problem with helping her wife shower.

Hearing the sound of the water, and with Mingshu not calling for her help, she felt relieved and went downstairs to the living room.

Shen Junlan sat in the living room and sent a message to Jiang Lingyu, letting her know that Mingshu was safely home and that she didn’t need to worry.

Jiang Lingyu had been waiting for a message from Mingshu. When she received the message from Professor Shen, she stared at it for a long time before she could confirm that “home” meant Professor Shen’s home, which was also Mingshu’s future home.

She was still worried about Mingshu. Even though she was afraid of Professor Shen, Jiang Lingyu mustered up the courage to make a voice call.

“Professor Shen, is Mingshu with you?” Jiang Lingyu asked nervously. At that moment, she really wanted to hear Mingshu’s voice.

“Mingshu is in the bathroom. She asked me to tell you that she’s safe.”

“Oh…” Jiang Lingyu choked up. “Then… is Mingshu doing better now?”

“Yes. Don’t worry, I will take good care of Mingshu.”

Jiang Lingyu listened to Professor Shen’s voice on the phone, and a wave of sadness welled up inside her.

She couldn’t help but wonder: Was Mingshu willing? She remembered that Mingshu was also very afraid of teachers, and Professor Shen was a teacher.

Mingshu had already made her choice, and she was a step too late. Was it still meaningful to ask now?

After a long silence, Shen Junlan, not knowing what Jiang Lingyu was struggling with, cautiously asked, “When Mingshu is done with her shower, should I have her call you herself?”

“No, that’s not necessary, Professor Shen.”

Jiang Lingyu was very confused herself. If she talked to Mingshu, she was afraid she would say something she shouldn’t.

The situation was already chaotic enough.

“Mmm, is there anything else?” Shen Junlan asked.

Jiang Lingyu was silent for a few more seconds before speaking.

“Professor Shen, can I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you like Mingshu?”

Shen Junlan didn’t answer. Jiang Lingyu quickly asked again, “Then will you be good to Mingshu?”

“I will fulfill my obligations as Mingshu’s partner.”

“Do you know about Mingshu’s family situation?”

“I know a little.”

“Can you accept it? If not, I hope you can stop in time. I will help Mingshu pay back the million yuan.”

Shen Junlan understood. She said calmly, “Do you like Mingshu?”

“Only… as a friend. I am heterosexual.” Jiang Lingyu’s hand holding the phone was shaking slightly, and her voice was barely steady. “Professor Shen, you still haven’t answered my question.”

“I can give you a clear answer now. Since I have chosen Mingshu, she is my wife, not an object. I will never casually discard her.”

Jiang Lingyu, who had been clenching her teeth, could no longer hold back after hearing this. Her teeth chattered, and she held the phone farther away.

It was too late. It was still a little too late.

Even if it wasn’t too late, it seemed she would never have a chance.

Calming herself down, Jiang Lingyu forced a cheerful tone. “Professor Shen, Mingshu hasn’t eaten anything tonight, and her stomach is not well. Please persuade her to eat something.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Lingyu couldn’t hold on any longer. After a hasty farewell, she didn’t even bother to be polite and was the first to end the call she had initiated with Professor Shen.

It’s good.

It’s good that there’s one more person who will be good to Mingshu from now on.

Shen Junlan smelled something unusual in the conversation. She thought for a while and decided to check what ingredients were in the kitchen to make something for Mingshu to eat. She turned and saw Auntie Zhang had come out of her room at some point and was standing a few steps behind her, smiling.

“Junlan, I’m worried. Is there really nothing this old lady can do to help?”

Shen Junlan frowned, disliking her use of the word “old.” If anyone was getting old, it was the person who was heartless and merciless.

Auntie Zhang knew she had said the wrong thing again. She twisted her head and smiled like an old child. “Where is your wife?”

“She’s taking a shower.” Shen Junlan saw that Auntie Zhang was full of energy and wouldn’t go back to rest, so she let her come to the kitchen to help, and they discussed what to make.

Considering that Mingshu probably didn’t have much of an appetite today and to avoid making her feel pressured, she decided not to make anything fancy. Instead, she chose to make a simple cream of corn soup to fill Mingshu’s stomach and warm it up.

Shen Junlan personally cooked, with Auntie Zhang as her assistant. The only ingredients were potatoes, carrots, corn, cheese, and purified water. She washed, peeled, and chopped the potatoes, shredded the carrots, and removed the corn kernels. Everything was ready. Shen Junlan put the potatoes, some of the corn kernels, two slices of cheese, and a cup of water into a blender and mixed it. She paused here, and Auntie Zhang reminded her of the next steps. She then started a new burner, put a soup pot on it, added an appropriate amount of water, and brought it to a boil. She then added the shredded carrots and the rest of the corn kernels. After it boiled, she added the mashed potatoes to thicken the soup. It was finally done.

“Junlan, you haven’t cooked in a long time,” Auntie Zhang said, watching from the side with a smile.

Shen Junlan poured the corn soup into a bowl, relieved that it had turned out well. She smiled and replied, “It’s a good thing Auntie Zhang was here to help.”

“Auntie Zhang, want to try a taste?”

“No, let your wife try it. I’ll go back to my room to rest.” Auntie Zhang finished her task and scurried away.

Shen Junlan looked at what she had made a few times, not knowing how it tasted. She didn’t dare to try it herself. She couldn’t remember how long it had been since she last cooked.

She looked at the time and saw that Mingshu had been in the bathroom for over an hour. She hadn’t come out yet. Shen Junlan didn’t care about whether her cooking skills had deteriorated. She hurried upstairs to find Mingshu.

“Mingshu!”

Shen Junlan knocked hard on the door, feeling worried. Thankfully, a weak response came from inside the door.

“Professor Shen.”

“Mingshu, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you done? Why don’t you come out?”

The door opened from the inside, and Mingshu poked her head out. Her cheeks were pink, and her wet, black, curly hair hung in the air. Her body was hidden behind the door.

Water droplets, carrying a faint scent, dripped onto the floor with a “drip.” Shen Junlan looked away and asked Mingshu what was wrong.

Mingshu lowered her eyes, not daring to look at her. She fidgeted and asked, “Professor Shen, did you… get the bathrobe wrong?”

Shen Junlan went over it in her mind, but she couldn’t remember which one she had put in the bathroom.

Yan Mingshu secretly glanced at Professor Shen’s expression and breathed a sigh of relief.

It must have been the wrong one.

“Professor Shen, look.”

Shen Junlan looked back and saw Mingshu’s hand reach out from behind the door, holding a semi-sheer off-white bathrobe draped over her thin, pale wrist.

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