After a Flash Marriage with a Professor - Chapter 34.1

Chapter 34.1: Appeal to the Heart

The scene was momentarily chaotic. Shen Junlan, slumped on the sofa, unconscious, furrowed her brows.

Yu Le frantically covered the phone receiver. She distinctly remembered Shen Junlan telling her that Ming Shu was timid and to not scare her, even initially preventing her from seeing Ming Shu.

But with the receiver covered, she couldn’t hear what Ming Shu was saying, and her immediate priority was dealing with Jiajia, the unexpectedly erupting younger girl.

Zhang Jiajia froze after shouting, her hand involuntarily covering her mouth in disbelief. Yu Le scrutinized Jiajia. Jiajia’s eyes darted away; she offered no explanation, clearly knowing she had done something wrong.

Aunt Zhang emerged from the kitchen with hangover soup, finally bringing the chaos to an end.

“What happened? I heard a lot of noise in the kitchen just now, and the moment I come out, it’s silent?” Aunt Zhang looked at Jiajia, who was avoiding eye contact, then at Yu Le, and asked with a smile, “Ms. Yu, can you tell me? Did Jiajia cause some trouble?”

Yu Le first checked the phone. The call had ended; she had accidentally disconnected it on her end.

The call ending might not have been a bad thing. Yu Le quickly composed herself, looked up at Aunt Zhang, who had just set down the hangover soup and was wearing a reserved smile, while also catching a glimpse of Jiajia, the guilt-ridden culprit whose shoulders had begun to tremble. Yu Le smiled and said, “I’ll feed Junlan the hangover soup first. Aunt Zhang, if you want to know, you should ask Jiajia yourself.”

Yu Le picked up the apple-pear hangover soup Aunt Zhang had made with one hand and lightly tapped Shen Junlan’s face with a clenched fist with the other—it was hard to say if it contained a bit of personal grudge.

“Wake up quickly, Shen Junlan. Your little rabbit wife was just insulted.”

Shen Junlan’s eyelids twitched slightly.

She actually reacted. Yu Le immediately took advantage of Shen Junlan not being fully conscious to “vindictively” pinch her cheeks, prompting her to open her mouth. Jiajia saw this and couldn’t help but say, “Sister Lele, you can’t do that. Let me feed Sister Junlan.”

“No, I’ll do it,” Yu Le refused with a smile.

“Stop causing trouble, Jiajia.” Aunt Zhang grabbed Jiajia’s arm and pulled her aside, her expression serious and authoritative for the first time. “Tell me, what mistake did you make while I was making hangover soup for Junlan?”

“I… I…” Jiajia nervously clutched Aunt Zhang’s wrinkled hand. “Auntie, don’t be so harsh with me. I’m not used to it.”

“It’s because I’ve indulged you too much, and Junlan treats you well out of respect for me, that you’ve become so lawless.”

“I didn’t,” Jiajia said weakly. “I just… I just couldn’t help but insult Yan Mingshu a couple of times when Sister Lele answered the call from her for Sister Junlan.”

“You insulted the Madam?” Aunt Zhang’s unfocused old eyes widened, and the veins on her forehead and temples slightly bulged.

Jiajia had never seen this reaction before. Fearing that Aunt Zhang, due to her age and anger, might suffer a stroke, she immediately confessed her mistake. “I’m sorry, Auntie, I was wrong. Please don’t be angry.”

“You know you were wrong?”

“Yes, I know.” Jiajia nodded without hesitation.

“What was wrong?”

“No matter what, I shouldn’t have insulted Yan Mingshu.”

“You shouldn’t call her by her name. You must call her Madam.”

Jiajia turned her head away. “I won’t call her that.”

“She is married to your Sister Junlan. If you won’t call her Madam, you should at least call her Sister-in-law.”

“I’d rather call her Madam. Sister Junlan married her as her wife, but I don’t think she’s qualified to be my Sister-in-law.”

“You!” Aunt Zhang poked Jiajia’s forehead with her index finger, pressing hard. “What right do you have to say that? It’s Junlan’s freedom who she likes and who she marries. I can tell Junlan likes the Madam. You have no chance at all. I’m your auntie, and it’s because I care about you that I’m advising you.”

Jiajia was stubborn and retorted, “How do you know I have no chance at all? Even someone like Yan Mingshu had a chance.”

“Junlan won’t like you, you silly child.” Aunt Zhang patted Jiajia’s hand, then rubbed the red mark left on her forehead.

Jiajia said, “Auntie, you just wait and see. Even if I don’t do anything, Sister Junlan and Yan Mingshu won’t last long. I’ll naturally have a chance then.”

“Stop daydreaming, child. You’re simply not the type Junlan would like. You don’t understand Junlan at all.”

“I at least understand Sister Junlan better than Yan Mingshu does.” Jiajia held her ground. Even if her auntie didn’t support her, she was determined to stick to her own opinion.

Aunt Zhang was at her wit’s end. Although Jiajia had been slightly erratic during adolescence, she wasn’t rebellious. Yet now, she was contradicting her at almost every point.

Frustrated, she could only use her elder’s privilege to suppress her. “I’ll have Old Liu drive you home, Jiajia. You need to calm down. Don’t come back until you truly understand your mistake. It’s best if you never come back.”

Jiajia’s round eyes widened in disbelief, the fine glitter near the corners of her eyes sparkling. Aunt Zhang couldn’t help but try to wipe it away. Jiajia didn’t dodge, silently feeling wronged for a moment. Then, ignoring all sense of familial propriety, she turned and walked toward Shen Junlan and Yu Le, loudly protesting, “Auntie, you can’t drive me away! Sister Junlan hasn’t asked me to leave, so you can’t either!”

Aunt Zhang froze, helpless. It was all her fault. She had always thought that although Junlan seemed normal and was the perfect child in everyone else’s eyes, her personality was overly repressed, even somewhat melancholic. Fearing she would follow her parents’ path, she had brought her lively niece along, hoping to positively influence Junlan and help her live a less burdened life. She never expected to sow the seeds of such a complicated entanglement.

How could Jiajia like Junlan? In terms of age, Jiajia wasn’t much younger than Ming Shu, but Junlan had watched Jiajia grow up. The thought was simply awkward.

Yu Le was still feeding the unconscious Shen Junlan the hangover soup, but she could hear some of the conversation between Aunt Zhang and Jiajia. To be precise, she could hear everything Jiajia said. The young girl was in a terrible mood tonight and was speaking loudly, so Yu Le could hear her even while focusing on feeding Shen Junlan.

“I must have owed you a debt in a past life, serving you in the middle of the night. Wake up, Shen Junlan. Wake up.” The hangover soup was nearly finished. Yu Le put down the bowl and spoon, then thought about using some “violence” to wake her up. She was about to land a punch on Shen Junlan’s sharply defined, dignified face when the loose hair near Shen Junlan’s temples fluttered from the air movement, and she opened her eyes.

Yu Le sheepishly withdrew her fist and asked with a smile, “When did you wake up?”

“A little while ago.”

Yu Le cursed inwardly, but her expression remained cheerful. “Why didn’t you react just now?”

“I wanted to seriously listen to your complaints about me. You seemed to have more to say. Do you want to continue? I’m all ears.”

Yu Le couldn’t smile anymore. She secretly swore to herself, feeling the terror of being a high school student caught by the dean of students while badmouthing a teacher after getting caught dating.

Thinking fast, Yu Le tossed Shen Junlan’s phone back to her. “There was a slight accident when I answered your call earlier. You should call Ming Shu yourself,” Yu Le paused, couldn’t help but smile, “Call your little rabbit to make amends.”

“Wait.” Shen Junlan shifted her posture on the sofa, her brows still tightly knit. The painful effects of the alcohol hadn’t fully passed. She rubbed her forehead and spoke to the person who had frozen in place and didn’t dare to move after seeing her wake up. “Jiajia, come here.”

“What do you need me for, Sister Junlan?” Jiajia’s smile was extremely forced, and her steps were frantic. She nearly slipped, but she reacted quickly enough not to fall. Yu Le subconsciously reached out to steady her, but Shen Junlan was focused on her forehead and didn’t see her.

This scene reminded Jiajia of when her parents would reprimand her. It was humiliating. Sister Junlan wasn’t just her non-blood relative elder; she was also the person she liked. To expose her secret feelings, and with such a fierce expression, in front of the person she liked was mortifying. Maybe Auntie was right. She really had nothing to do with this.

“Jiajia, what exactly is your problem with Ming Shu?” Shen Junlan cut straight to the chase.

Jiajia didn’t dare to respond directly, testing the waters by asking, “Sister Junlan, did you hear that just now?”

“I only had my eyes closed. My ears weren’t deaf.”

The tone was so strict and unfamiliar that Jiajia was startled. Sister Junlan was truly angry with her.

“I… I don’t have a problem with her. I just think… she’s not worthy of you, she doesn’t care enough about you, and she’s not qualified to be your wife.” Jiajia lowered her head, gritting her teeth as she spoke the truth, awaiting judgment.

There was silence for several minutes. Jiajia thought she could hear the ticking of the second, minute, and even hour hands of the watch on her wrist. This was a gift Sister Junlan gave her the summer she got into university, both to congratulate her and to encourage her not to relax too much after getting in, but to continue studying hard. She had listened.

Even Auntie and her parents said she listened to Sister Junlan more. But what was the use? Sister Junlan never gave her a second glance, treating her only as a child. Even when she deliberately wore bold, sweet-yet-spicy outfits, Sister Junlan seemed to ignore it. When she asked about it, Sister Junlan only said she respected the dressing styles of young people, seemingly determined to build a chasm between them—a chasm of time.

Now, she had finally broken the chasm and was standing on the edge, teetering, waiting for Sister Junlan to pull her up and accept her.

But Sister Junlan still hadn’t responded.

“Sister Junlan, why aren’t you… saying anything?”

“I’m thinking about how I can clearly and logically explain this to you all at once. Jiajia, I’m only going to say this to you once: We are impossible. I cannot like you.”

“Why?”

“There is no ‘why.’ I simply don’t like you in that way. I can only accept your presence as a lively younger relative.”

Jiajia’s lips instantly turned downward, her face crumpling with bitterness.

Shen Junlan was unaffected and continued, “And your point that Ming Shu is unworthy of me is invalid to me. On the surface, Ming Shu needs me more, but in reality, I need Ming Shu more. I like her. During the blind date, Ming Shu had other options besides me. I was the one who had the staff adjust the order. If I hadn’t gone on the blind date with Ming Shu first, Ming Shu might have met someone better. I owe Ming Shu on that account. As for your assertion that Ming Shu doesn’t care enough about me, how can I expect someone I secretly pursued to be wholeheartedly devoted to me from the very beginning?”

Jiajia was too astonished to speak. She had instinctively assumed that Yan Mingshu had deliberately tried to snag Sister Junlan, but the truth was that Sister Junlan had manipulated the situation.

“Well done, Junlan.” Yu Le was very impressed with her approach this time. “Very strategic. You waited until the right moment to make a splash. Thumbs up.”

Jiajia was still in shock, and Aunt Zhang was also startled.

Shen Junlan, without changing her expression, finished revealing her slightly less-than-honorable courtship tactics. She continued, “Jiajia, you cannot stay here. I’m having Old Liu drive you home.”

“Sister Junlan, Auntie drove me away, and now you’re driving me away too?”

“Yes.” Shen Junlan was direct.

“It’s so late now. You’re making the little sister leave now?” Yu Le was shocked. “Ming Shu isn’t coming back until the day after tomorrow, right? Why the rush? You can let Jiajia leave tomorrow. Besides, it’s late. It’s not good to make Old Liu drive when he’s tired.”

Shen Junlan remained unmoved. Jiajia had lost all face and dignity and felt too embarrassed to stay any longer. “No need to drive me. I know how to drive.”

“Let Old Liu drive you,” Shen Junlan insisted, frowning.

“No need,” Jiajia turned her back. “I haven’t been drinking, and I’m not tired today. I won’t drive while fatigued.”

Jiajia ran out after saying this. Shen Junlan didn’t move, only looked at Yu Le. Yu Le pointed to herself in confusion. “No way, Professor Shen, me again?”

“Will I get paid?”

“Yes.”

Yu Le was speechless. While feeling like a huge sucker, she genuinely couldn’t ignore the situation.

“Ms. Yu, I’m counting on you to watch over Jiajia tonight,” Aunt Zhang pleaded with her.

“It’s no big deal. Don’t worry, all of you. I promise to get her home safely.”

This really feels like being a bodyguard. Yu Le sighed and quickly chased after her. Only an unpretentious, easy-going rich second-generation like her could put up with this kind of trouble. Trouble at night, then just catch up on sleep during the day, right?

She managed to catch up to the car. Jiajia was a little disappointed to see that it was her who followed, but she kept quiet.

“Little sister Jiajia, are you looking down on me so much?”

“No.” Jiajia didn’t start the car, only fiddled with the steering wheel.

“Listen to your sister. What’s so great about Shen Junlan? Go find someone else to like.”

“Who? You?”

“There are so many beautiful women in the world. Anyone is fine, but you’d have good taste if you picked me.” Yu Le was a professional conversationalist. Little sisters need patience, and their anger quickly fades.

“Why aren’t you talking anymore?”

“I have nothing to say to you.” Jiajia was unhappy and didn’t want to give Yu Le face. “You’re Sister Junlan’s good friend. Seeing you reminds me of sad things. It’s awkward.”

“Young people need the courage to face setbacks.”

“I don’t drink self-help clichés. They don’t work for me.”

“Then what works for you?”

Jiajia suddenly smiled at her, slammed the accelerator, started the car, and then sped onto the main road.

Yu Le was caught off guard and thrown forward, barely managing to brace herself with both hands. She hadn’t even had time to buckle her seatbelt. She quickly fastened it. The wind rushed past her ears, and her body moved with the rapidly accelerating car. Her adrenaline spiked. Yu Le felt like she was flying.

“I can tell… you have personality. I just didn’t realize you had this much personality, huh?” Yu Le laughed calmly once she adjusted.

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