After a Flash Marriage with a Professor - Chapter 87

Chapter 87: Distrust

Shen Junlan drove Ming Shu to her company, watched her go in, and then drove to the university. She had promised to pick up Ming Shu after work so they could go home together.

Ming Shu took the elevator back to the office, intending to rest her head on her desk for a while. Ling Han stopped her first, saying she needed to talk to her.

The two went to the company’s pantry. Ling Han slowly brewed two cups of coffee and handed one to Ming Shu. Ming Shu held the cup and asked, “What do you want to talk to me about?”

“A new colleague joined the company today, assigned to the office next door,” Ling Han said, taking a sip of coffee. Finding it a little too bitter, she added some sugar and asked Ming Shu if she wanted some. Ming Shu shook her head. At the office, she preferred her coffee bitter for a better stimulating effect.

“Is this new colleague special in any way?” Ming Shu asked curiously. She knew Ling Han was not normally a gossip, and only if the matter affected her to the point where Ling Han felt the need to warn her would she specifically bring it up.

“That new colleague is named Qiao Qian,” Ling Han said, looking into Ming Shu’s eyes. Sure enough, as soon as she mentioned Qiao Qian’s name, Ming Shu’s pupils contracted abruptly, clearly showing a trace of panic.

“The Ms. Qiao who came to the company looking for you before seems to be Qiao Qian’s mother. I took the liberty of looking into it since you took the morning off.”

Ming Shu was a bit shaken. First Qiao Li, and now Qiao Qian.

But why? Ming Shu remembered Qiao Qian studied finance abroad. Why join a translation company? Just to go after her?

Ming Shu found it baffling.

“You seem very surprised,” Ling Han said with a smile.

“A little,” Ming Shu quickly took a sip of coffee to calm her nerves.

Ling Han said, “I have to remind you, Ming Shu, do you know how Qiao Qian got into the company?”

“How?”

“I heard it was through the back door. It’s not hard for the Shen Group to fund a master’s level internship opportunity for their so-called ‘young lady.’ It seems she also leveraged Professor Shen’s prestige a bit. Didn’t our company always want to collaborate with Professor Shen?”

“She’s not the Shen Group’s young lady at all.”

Ming Shu said indignantly. Although Professor Shen despised that title, in a way, Qiao Qian was the cuckoo in the nest, even if the magpie didn’t care for the nest.

Qiao Qian using the back door didn’t concern her, but leveraging Professor Shen’s name made her angry and annoyed.

She herself was reluctant to use her status as Professor Shen’s wife to pressure her into doing anything, yet Qiao Qian brazenly used it as a stepping stone to enter the company.

This was utterly infuriating.

Ling Han rarely saw Ming Shu angry and gently patted Ming Shu’s shoulder as a gesture of comfort.

Just then, accompanied by the click of a camera shutter, Qiao Qian’s voice rang out, “Got it! Yan Mingshu, you’re being unfaithful to Sister Junlan, having an affair with a colleague during your lunch break!”

“Affair?” Ling Han paused for only a moment, reacting quickly. She slowly lowered her hand from Ming Shu’s shoulder, smiling as she said, “If patting a friend’s shoulder in comfort counts as an affair.”

“I don’t care. I saw it, and it’s an affair. Yan Mingshu, you’re married to Sister Junlan and still have physical contact with others? That’s wrong,” Qiao Qian insisted.

Ling Han felt Qiao Qian’s reaction resembled a spoiled elementary school princess she had encountered as a child. She slightly knitted her brow and asked, “Miss Qiao probably doesn’t have any friends, does she?”

“You…” Qiao Qian was momentarily speechless. Ling Han had struck a nerve. Since childhood, moving around with her mother, she genuinely hadn’t had many friends.

But she wouldn’t admit such an embarrassing thing in front of Yan Mingshu.

“Nonsense! Being so protective of Yan Mingshu makes it even more suspicious. You two definitely have something going on.”

“Enough.” Even Ming Shu, with her gentle nature, was angered by Qiao Qian’s baseless accusations, but she still tried to maintain good manners, “Miss Qiao, you are spreading rumors. People must be responsible for their words and actions.”

“I’m spreading rumors?” Qiao Qian looked at the camera in her hand and scoffed, “What about you two secretly spreading and discussing rumors about me here?”

Ming Shu was momentarily at a loss for a counter-attack. Ling Han quickly responded, “Are these rumors about Miss Qiao false? If they are, I apologize to Miss Qiao. I was the one who initiated the conversation with Ming Shu.”

“What if they’re false, and what if they’re not? As long as they cause me emotional distress, you are guilty,” Qiao Qian retorted.

“Miss Qiao, that’s just being difficult and unreasonable,” Ling Han said coldly. She didn’t care who the other person was, the Shen Group’s young lady or whoever. She wasn’t her servant and wouldn’t put up with any slight, nor did she want Ming Shu to suffer any.

“Then we’re even,” Qiao Qian said nonchalantly, then smugly caressed her newly bought camera. She hadn’t expected it to come in handy on her first day at Yan Mingshu’s company.

Neither Ming Shu nor Ling Han wished to argue further with Qiao Qian. They returned to the office to prepare for work. Qiao Qian stood alone for a while, feeling slightly awkward, and then sullenly returned to her own desk.

Qiao Qian sat at her desk, again unsure what to do. Her workspace was impeccably clean, devoid of any work-related materials, only personal belongings. She didn’t even pretend to be an intern, naturally attracting a lot of criticism.

In contrast, Ming Shu, as Professor Shen’s wife, was much better than Qiao Qian, the “sister.” However, no one dared to speak ill of the “young lady” in front of her; discussions were strictly private.

Qiao Qian believed everyone succumbed to her status. What did it matter how famous GR Company was? They still had to bow to Uncle Shen.

Qiao Qian was initially repulsed when that thing happened, but she was adept at maximizing benefits, using it time and again to secure advantages for herself.

She wanted her naive mother to stay by Shen Muhua’s side forever, living a life of comfort, while she herself wanted Shen Muhua’s fortune and Sister Junlan. Everything she desired had to be hers.

If it wasn’t hers, she would find a way to snatch it.

Qiao Qian thought she had captured something good and was eager to send it to Sister Junlan, but then realized she didn’t have Sister Junlan’s current contact information and couldn’t reach her. She could only go find Sister Junlan herself.

Going to find Sister Junlan seemed like a good idea anyway, as she didn’t actually need to work.

At the moment the company’s afternoon work hours began, Qiao Qian stood up and left the company with her camera, ignoring everyone around her.

After she left, the entire office was filled with discussions about her.

“She’s too arrogant. It’s a bit much. If you’re going to intern, at least pretend to work.”

“She doesn’t need to pretend. Her rich father is willing to throw money at buying her an internship; she can do whatever she wants.”

“What father? I heard President Shen hasn’t remarried, meaning Qiao Qian and her mother don’t have a legitimate title. At best, she can only call him her rich uncle, not father.”

“No blood relation, so he really is a ‘good uncle.'”

Qiao Qian walked out swaggering. She didn’t mind her colleagues staring at her; she even enjoyed it, assuming they were envious glances. She felt she had almost everything, only Sister Junlan was missing.

Once she got Sister Junlan, she would be the ultimate winner in life.

Qiao Qian felt she needed to strike even harder, at least to conquer Sister Junlan before that old man Shen Muhua reached his limit of tolerance.

With this thought, Qiao Qian instructed her driver to take her to a photo studio. She had the photos developed, put them in an envelope, and then had the driver take her to H University.

H University was a place that made her feel both love and hatred. She had studied diligently but failed to get into H University. Even with Uncle Shen’s connections, she couldn’t get into the main campus, only the branch campus where anyone with money could enter. The prestige difference was huge. Sister Junlan taught at the main campus. If she had been at the branch campus, she wouldn’t even have seen Sister Junlan. What was the point? So, she later listened to her mother and went to college abroad, attending both university and graduate school there. Although they weren’t bad schools and were respectable, at least she had gone abroad to gain prestige. But what infuriated her was finding out during her research on Yan Mingshu that Yan Mingshu had been accepted to H University, met Sister Junlan on campus, and was fortunate enough to be taught by her. Maybe she had intended to cling to Sister Junlan back then.

She was deeply unhappy about this. It was an absolute disgrace to her. She felt this was the only area where Yan Mingshu surpassed her. In all other aspects, how was Yan Mingshu better than her?

On the way to H University, Qiao Qian gnashed her teeth the entire time. So what if Yan Mingshu was better at college entrance exams? That was the past. The one who laughs last is the winner.

She had the Shen family as her backing. Yan Mingshu only had Sister Junlan’s affection. Affection, in her view, was very fragile. Sister Junlan’s affection for Yan Mingshu was definitely not as deep as her love for Sister Junlan. Her love for Sister Junlan was accumulated over years, and she was sure she could win Sister Junlan’s heart.

Qiao Qian became increasingly confident.

Just then, the driver reached the gate of H University, but was stopped. Qiao Qian had no choice but to patiently get out to register as a visitor and ask the security guard for Sister Junlan’s office location and contact information.

The security guard looked at her strangely, “Miss, are you really Professor Shen’s sister?”

“Yes,” Qiao Qian said impatiently. The responsible security guard felt something was wrong. He didn’t let her through, instead asking Qiao Qian and her driver to park the car aside, and then called Professor Shen himself to confirm.

Shen Junlan answered the phone during a class break. It was an unfamiliar number. She hesitated for two seconds, remembering that Ming Shu would answer unknown numbers, and chose to pick up. It was possible to receive work-related calls during work hours.

The call was from the H University security guard. The guard said a young woman claiming to be her sister wanted to enter the campus, and that the person asking for her office location and contact information seemed logically odd. The guard was uneasy and called to inquire specifically.

Shen Junlan said directly, “I don’t have a sister.”

“I’ve confirmed with Professor Shen. Professor Shen says she doesn’t have a sister.” The security guard began to escort Qiao Qian away.

Qiao Qian couldn’t enter and was unwilling to give up. She told the driver to drive straight in. The driver was terrified and refused repeatedly, “Miss Qianqian, please don’t do that. That would be on the legal news. I don’t want my family to see me on the crime channel.” He still wanted to be a good person.

“You coward,” Qiao Qian cursed.

The driver endured the insult, drove the car to a parking spot further away from the H University gate, parked, and suggested, “Miss Qianqian, if you don’t mind, we’ll wait here for Professor Shen to get off work.”

“I do mind!” Qiao Qian said discontentedly, but there were no other options.

To pass the time, Qiao Qian constantly ordered the driver to buy water, snacks, and fruit. She would only take one bite of the food, then toss it to the driver as if it were a great gift. The driver was equally disdainful and piled the unwanted items in a corner.

Being a worker didn’t mean one had to tolerate such abuse. He decided to quit after this month. He finally understood why this Miss Qianqian’s driver was paid more than a normal driver, yet no one ever stayed in the position for long it was because Princess Qianqian simply didn’t treat people like people.

Shen Junlan only had two classes in the afternoon. After they finished, she returned to her office to organize the research project applications for the semester. When the time seemed right, she prepared to pick up Ming Shu to go home together.

Before starting the car, she thought that since Qiao Qian hadn’t entered the campus, she probably wouldn’t give up and might still be waiting for her outside. Shen Junlan called the earlier security guard to ask for Qiao Qian’s location. The guard said she was at the East Gate, and her car was parked not far away, likely waiting for her.

Shen Junlan thanked the guard and left through the South Gate, taking a slight detour to pick up Ming Shu.

When she picked up Ming Shu, Shen Junlan noticed Ming Shu seemed down, so she asked, “Wife, what’s wrong? Was work not smooth this afternoon?”

“No. Professor Shen, I have something very dramatic to tell you.”

“Mmm.”

“Qiao Qian joined our company today. It seems she also leveraged a little of Professor Shen’s influence.”

Shen Junlan listened very calmly, showing no emotional fluctuation.

“Professor Shen, why aren’t you surprised at all?” Ming Shu asked.

“Because it’s very much like something Qiao Qian would do. She also came to H University to look for me today.”

“Qiao Qian looking for you at H University might be related to me,” Ming Shu lowered her head, saying somewhat nervously.

“Hmm?” Shen Junlan was a little surprised this time and turned to look at Ming Shu.

“Professor Shen, watch the road!” Ming Shu cautioned. Their car narrowly missed a large vehicle.

“Let’s talk about it when we get back,” Ming Shu prioritized safety. Shen Junlan agreed, focusing on driving for the rest of the trip.

Back at the villa, after parking the car, Shen Junlan turned around, “Wife, you can talk now.”

Ming Shu saw Aunt Zhang coming out of the house to greet them, so she said to Professor Shen, “Let’s talk in the room.”

Shen Junlan raised an eyebrow in surprise. The room was a slightly dangerous place for Ming Shu. She usually wouldn’t voluntarily suggest going back to the room until it was time for bed.

“Is that okay, Professor Shen?” Ming Shu was extremely uneasy, wondering if Qiao Qian had twisted the facts to Professor Shen that afternoon.

“Of course, it is.” Shen Junlan agreed with a smile. The room was a great place for her.

The couple went inside. Aunt Zhang said the stove suddenly broke down while she was cooking and that she had called someone to repair it, which might take a while. She said they would probably have to eat out or order takeout tonight.

Shen Junlan said, “It’s good that Aunt Zhang is alright. This villa is a bit old; we should have someone thoroughly check for any safety hazards.”

“As for takeout, Aunt Zhang, please call and order from the restaurant in the villa complex. Ming Shu hasn’t tried their food yet.”

“Alright,” Aunt Zhang agreed happily, asking them to rest for a while, and she would call them when dinner arrived.

Shen Junlan and Ming Shu went upstairs and into the room.

“You can speak now, Wife.” Back in the room, Shen Junlan could hardly restrain herself and raised her hand to caress Ming Shu’s lips. When Ming Shu was about to open her mouth to speak, Shen Junlan smoothly moved down, gently pinching Ming Shu’s chin. Ming Shu didn’t pull away today, looking as if she were at her mercy.

While Shen Junlan was pondering the reason, Ming Shu spoke, “Professor Shen, I have something to confess to you.”

Ming Shu’s tone was very serious. Shen Junlan was momentarily stunned, then said, “Wife, go ahead.”

“Qiao Qian went to see you this afternoon, likely trying to show you the photos she secretly took of Ling Han and me talking and drinking coffee during lunch. She claimed Ling Han and I were being overly intimate and improper, but we weren’t. Ling Han only patted my shoulder to comfort me.” Ming Shu spoke everything in a rush, then focused on Professor Shen’s expression.

Professor Shen’s expression was a little perplexing to her, a faint look that she couldn’t interpret, making her even more anxious.

Shen Junlan pulled Ming Shu closer by the waist. A hint of anger finally appeared on her composed face.

“Wife, are you so afraid that I would misunderstand? Do you have so little confidence in me?”

“No,” Ming Shu denied softly.

Shen Junlan ignored her, cupped Ming Shu’s chin, kissed her, and then gently bit Ming Shu’s lip, saying, “You need to be punished.”

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