After a Flash Marriage with a Professor - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: White Dress

Shen Junlan remained where she was, only snapping back to reality when someone called her name.

“Professor Shen?”

The staff member who had just helped Yan Mingshu saw Shen Junlan from a distance and immediately rushed over, a radiant smile on her face.

Shen Junlan composed herself and gave the woman a polite nod.

“I have filtered out fifteen clients who are a good match for you based on the criteria you provided. Please come with me and take a look so you can rank them. Then I can arrange one-on-one dates for you.”

“Okay,” Shen Junlan said, following the woman inside. She instinctively paused, realizing she could no longer smell the orchid scent.

“Please, have a seat, Professor Shen.” The woman bowed slightly and gestured for her to sit.

Compared to her earlier interaction with Yan Mingshu, the woman was much more enthusiastic and overtly flattering toward Shen Junlan. After all, it wasn’t easy to find a premium client like Professor Shen on the dating market—someone with good looks, family background, education, career, and manners. The consultant knew she had to secure this client no matter what. It would be a huge boost to her resume and future promotions.

Shen Junlan settled into the soft leather armchair. The woman across from her immediately handed her a stack of printed profiles.

“The ones who meet your criteria are all in here,” the woman said with a bright, toothy smile.

Shen Junlan nodded and cast a casual glance downward. Her mind, however, wasn’t on the stack of carefully selected profiles. It was on the single, curled form on the woman’s desk. It had prominent special markings, with circles and triangles drawn in red pen, and it didn’t look like it had been filed away yet.

“Professor Shen, aren’t you going to look?”

The woman had been so confident, expecting Professor Shen to rank the profiles so she could arrange the dates. A successful match would mean her job was done perfectly.

But Professor Shen didn’t seem interested in the high-quality clients she had painstakingly chosen.

“My apologies,” Shen Junlan said, a faint apology in her eyes. The woman quickly said it was no problem, that it was her fault for not satisfying Professor Shen.

Shen Junlan then said, “Would you mind giving me that form on your desk as well? I’d like to take a look.”

The woman remembered that the specially marked form belonged to Ms. Yan Mingshu, the woman who was in so much trouble. She didn’t even have to look down to confirm it; she simply shook her head and said with a smile, “Professor Shen, you have to trust me on this. I’ve handled so many clients, and she is the least suitable for you. I’ll just pass on her for you.”

“Whether she’s suitable or not, I’d like to see for myself. Please give it to me,” Shen Junlan said with a polite smile, extending her right hand.

“…Okay.”

The woman had no choice but to respectfully hand the form to Shen Junlan with both hands. In the process, she couldn’t help but glance at the two-inch headshot of Yan Mingshu in the top right corner. The photo had a blue background, and Yan Mingshu wore a white shirt and a neat ponytail. The outfit was almost excessively formal, but her face was extremely alluring. The timid look in her eyes evoked pity. All of these contradictions somehow created a strange balance.

In the brief moment she looked at Yan Mingshu’s headshot, several words came to the woman’s mind: gentle, glamorous, melancholy.

When she recalled her face-to-face meeting with Yan Mingshu, the woman couldn’t help but sigh.

Why did Ms. Yan, with a face that seemed destined to get her into trouble and be a heartbreaker, look so pitiful?

The woman felt a pang of sadness for Yan Mingshu, and also a worry for herself. That face wouldn’t have trouble finding someone willing to pay a million yuan, but a generous man might not want her as his wife.

As a woman herself, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of pity after learning about the other’s tragic situation.

After reading Yan Mingshu’s form, Shen Junlan said to the woman, “I’ve made my decision. Please arrange a date for me and Ms. Yan. The sooner, the better.”

“Okay… what?” The woman instinctively answered but then quickly realized what she had heard. “Wait, Professor Shen, who did you say you wanted a date with?”

“Yan Mingshu, Ms. Yan,” Shen Junlan said with a smile, unfazed by the woman’s shock.

“Professor Shen, are you sure?” The woman pointed to the notes on the form. “Dad gambles, one younger brother.” She thought that Professor Shen must have missed the notes and was only now processing them.

But Shen Junlan nodded again and smiled. “I’m certain.”

This time, the woman was too stunned to speak for several seconds. When she finally did, she quickly arranged for the date to be set for tomorrow, since Ms. Yan was also in a hurry. Shen Junlan agreed without hesitation.

After Shen Junlan left, the woman packed up the documents and sighed.

Could Professor Shen have been mesmerized by Ms. Yan’s beauty? Is that why she chose to ignore the red flags that would be fatal for most people?

If that were the case, she couldn’t be sure if Professor Shen’s attitude would remain so firm once she had a chance to calm down.

Sigh.

…

Yan Mingshu left the “True Love Online” office and hailed another taxi. This time, she was going to a nearby shopping mall. She had decided to take the kind staff member’s advice and prepare a dress and shoes for her date.

As she entered the mall, Yan Mingshu felt a little dazed. It had been a long time since she had bought new clothes. First, her family’s financial situation had always been poor, and she had low material demands. Second, she had social anxiety. And finally, for safety reasons, she didn’t want to stand out.

But secretly, she did. What girl didn’t have a dream of dressing up like a beautiful princess?

She had that dream, but it was a dream she only dared to have in secret. She wanted it to come true, but she was also afraid for it to come true.

It was Friday, a workday, and the mall was very empty. Yan Mingshu felt a slight sense of relief. She glanced at the stores around her and chose one with no customers and no staff in sight. The thing she feared most when shopping was having someone follow her.

Yan Mingshu walked into the store and went straight to the area for plain-colored dresses. She quickly picked out a round-neck white dress that fell below her knees and had a simple cut. The only special detail was the small orchid embroidered on each sleeve, which gave it a unique and elegant touch.

Just then, a sales assistant returned from the restroom. Yan Mingshu took the dress to the counter and handed it to the assistant to wrap up. As she did, she lowered her head and pulled up her payment QR code. The assistant suddenly asked if she wanted to buy a pair of white shoes to go with the dress.

Yan Mingshu instinctively wanted to shake her head and refuse, but she looked down at the black heels she was wearing. She thought about the pair of white sneakers at home, which were already a little yellowed and had a thin sole.

She really did need a new pair of white shoes.

The sales assistant smiled. “We have a promotion today. You get 20% off when you spend over 300. If you get a pair of white shoes, you’ll be just over that amount.”

Yan Mingshu nodded, her eyes still downcast. The sales assistant, seeing her social anxiety, didn’t interfere with her choice. She picked out a simple pair of white flats with no patterns.

After paying and leaving the store with her bag containing the dress and shoes, she received a text message alerting her that the transaction had gone through, and her balance was now less than 10,000 yuan.

She had been working for a year, but most of her money had gone to her mother for rent and living expenses. The small amount of money left was what she had set aside for unexpected situations.

But she never imagined that the “unexpected” would be so large—her father’s gambling debt of one million yuan was far beyond her current means.

Yan Mingshu blinked her tired eyes. She then went to a pharmacy on the first floor to buy some medicine. She needed to get better quickly to face her potential date in the best possible state.

But even if she looked well, her family’s situation would surely scare the other person away.

Yan Mingshu felt disheartened for a moment, holding the bag with her new clothes and shoes for the date. But then she remembered something.

The staff at “True Love Online” had already taken note of her basic situation. The person willing to go on a date with her must be willing to accept her as she was.

Thinking of this, Yan Mingshu felt a small glimmer of hope.

A few minutes later, she received a call from the staff member. The woman told her that a very high-quality client—a kind and polite university professor—was willing to go on a date with her and asked if she was willing to meet the next day.

Of course, she was.

She never dreamed that someone would be willing to go on a date with her so quickly. She thought her situation would scare away a lot of people.

Yan Mingshu composed herself and took a taxi home to rest.

The lingering fear from seeing Mr. Huang at her house a few days ago made her cautious. This time, she pressed her ear against the door for a while to make sure he wasn’t inside before she went in.

“Mom,” Yan Mingshu said softly as she passed the kitchen, where her mother was already stir-frying dishes.

Qin Shu responded with a happy chuckle, clearly in a good mood.

Yan Mingshu was also happy for her. “Mom, did something good happen today?”

“Of course! Your dad and I have confirmed that Mr. Huang is willing to marry you. Isn’t that wonderful news?”

The smile froze on Yan Mingshu’s face. Mr. Huang’s willingness to marry her was good news for the family, but not for her.

“Mingshu, dinner will be ready soon. Can you call Wenxuan? He disappeared somewhere today. Tell him to come back quickly. He’s been throwing a tantrum at your dad and me for the past two days. He only listens to you, so you should talk to him and make him more sensible.”

Yan Mingshu agreed, went back to her room to drop off her bags, and then called her brother.

The call connected, and she could hear a lot of noise on her brother’s end. She couldn’t hear what he was saying and had to text him instead. Her heart felt heavy. She wasn’t sure if her brother, who had initially stood up for her, had also sided with Mr. Huang.

Yan Mingshu was exhausted. She didn’t want to think about anything else. She just wanted to fast-forward to tomorrow. She prayed that the person she was meeting tomorrow would be willing to marry her.

…

The next day, Yan Mingshu woke up early. Although her date was at ten, she woke up at six and restlessly paced her room.

Afraid of being late, she got dressed in the white dress and shoes and carefully styled her hair. It was still too early.

Because she was so nervous about being late, she took a taxi an hour early.

The blind date was at a Western restaurant with an ocean view. Yan Mingshu got out of the taxi at 9:30, half an hour early. She stood on the side of the road, unsure of what to do. Should she go in and book a table herself?

As she stood there, feeling helpless, she received a text message from her date, making her even more nervous.

She only knew that the other person’s last name was Shen and that they were a professor.

“Are you sure you don’t need me to come pick you up?”

“No, thank you. I’m already at the entrance.”

Yan Mingshu’s hands trembled as she typed.

“Then just come on up. I’m on the second floor. Just give them my name, and a server will lead you to my table.”

Yan Mingshu was startled. She looked up. The view from the second floor must be great for seeing the ocean.

As she entered the restaurant, a server in a white suit and tie pulled open the glass door for her and leaned in to ask if she had a reservation.

Yan Mingshu, with her head down, said she was with Professor Shen. The server immediately understood and gestured for a female server to lead her upstairs.

“Please follow me.”

Yan Mingshu nodded and followed. When they turned left on the second floor, her temple twitched twice.

It must be because she was about to meet her date. She was just too nervous.

You can do this, Yan Mingshu!

Just think of Mr. Huang. You can do this!

Yan Mingshu used the terrifying thought of Mr. Huang to force herself to calm down.

Just then, the server told her they had arrived at her table.

“Please, have a seat.”

After years of social anxiety, even when she was calm, Yan Mingshu found it difficult to look a stranger in the eye. She used the elegant motion of smoothing out her white dress to hide her panic, not looking directly at the person across from her.

However, a single sentence from the other person made her composure break.

“Mingshu, long time no see.”

The soft voice was far too familiar. Yan Mingshu’s eyes shot up like a startled cat, her lips parted in shock. She couldn’t say a word.

Her blind date was actually Professor Shen?

The Professor Shen who had taught her in college?

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