After a Flash Marriage with a Professor - Chapter 89

Chapter 89: Not a God

“Professor Shen, you came over?” Ming Shu asked in surprise.

Since the university semester started, Professor Shen had to work every day and no longer had as much free time as during the summer vacation to just come and see her whenever she wanted.

Why the sudden visit today? Ming Shu was a little confused.

Shen Junlan stood by her car, looking up at the tall building, “Wife, I’m waiting for you downstairs.”

“Okay, I’ll be right down.”

Hanging up the phone, Ming Shu was about to tell Ling Han that she might not be able to have lunch with her. Ling Han, who was standing by the window, spoke first, “Go ahead. I saw Professor Shen waiting for you down there.”

Ming Shu nodded, quickly packed her things, and rushed downstairs.

Professor Shen’s voice sounded so anxious when she first spoke; Ming Shu was worried something urgent had happened.

Taking the elevator down, she jogged to Professor Shen’s side. Professor Shen gently embraced her, opened the car door for her, and gestured for her to get in.

Ming Shu sat down, and Professor Shen got in from the other side.

Ming Shu was slightly out of breath, waiting for Professor Shen to tell her what was wrong, but Professor Shen didn’t speak.

The car was moving, and Ming Shu didn’t ask anything, letting Professor Shen focus on driving. She would go wherever Professor Shen took her.

It wasn’t until they reached their destination that Ming Shu asked, startled, “Are we going to a hotel, Professor Shen?”

“Mmm.”

What are we doing at a hotel? Ming Shu wondered inwardly. Does Professor Shen have a relative or friend celebrating a happy occasion today, and is she bringing me to a banquet?

Ming Shu could only think of this possibility, but she soon realized it wasn’t.

While eating in the hotel restaurant, it was just the two of them. Professor Shen didn’t speak, seeming to wait for her to initiate a conversation, but she was also waiting for Professor Shen.

Ming Shu tried to make small talk with Professor Shen, but the conversations were brief and quickly died out.

“Professor Shen, why did you suddenly want to see me?” Ming Shu couldn’t help but ask after they finished eating.

Shen Junlan led Ming Shu to the hotel’s hot spring area for a soak. Ming Shu followed Professor Shen, feeling aimless, until they entered the hotel room. Professor Shen gently pushed her down onto the large bed covered in rose petals, and while kissing her, she asked, “Wife, did Qiao Qian cause you trouble again today?”

“…Mmm, it was this morning before I went into the company.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was fine, and I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Your not telling me worries me more, Wife.”

Ming Shu lowered her head. She figured Old Liu must have told Professor Shen.

Ming Shu said, “I’m sorry, Professor Shen, I didn’t mean to keep it from you.”

“It’s my fault. The reason Qiao Qian is targeting you like this is because of me,” Shen Junlan said rationally.

Even while angry with Ming Shu, Shen Junlan remained objective and absolutely did not take out her anger on Ming Shu.

Ming Shu already felt she was in the wrong, and hearing Professor Shen take the blame made her feel even more guilty.

“But, our initial union was me taking advantage of Professor Shen. I was the one who benefited from Professor Shen first. We became wives, and after that, any issue should be shared and borne together. I have no reason to only reap the benefits without taking responsibility,” Ming Shu said.

“Shared and borne together?” Shen Junlan, who was pressing down on Ming Shu, zeroed in on the key phrase and pointed it out with a raised eyebrow. She was relieved. Although her little bunny wife seemed very fragile and naive, she never shied away from responsibility on critical issues.

Ming Shu paused for a moment. She raised her hand and touched her own lips.

Shared and borne together. Her act of concealment certainly didn’t count as “shared and borne together.”

Seeing her little bunny wife staring blankly, sinking into self-reproach, Shen Junlan leaned down to kiss Ming Shu’s lips, kissing the fingers that were resting near her lips as well.

Ming Shu didn’t respond or pull away. She was still thinking about her mistake. Professor Shen moved away from her lips, but Ming Shu remained in thought.

“Wife.” Shen Junlan gently tapped Ming Shu’s nose.

Ming Shu’s nose tickled, and she snapped back to attention, quickly confessing her mistake further to Professor Shen, “Professor Shen, I’m sorry. I won’t hide anything related to Qiao Qian from you next time.”

“Wife, do you really understand why I was angry?”

“Wasn’t it because I didn’t tell Professor Shen that Qiao Qian came to bother me at the company?” Ming Shu asked confusedly.

Shen Junlan sighed. Ming Shu’s willingness to solve problems with her was excellent, but there was one thing that felt like a hidden danger. In the past, Ming Shu saw her getting jealous of Ling Han, and after that, she would proactively tell her everything, and she would also explain things if she was afraid of being manipulated by Qiao Qian. But when it came to her own safety, Ming Shu chose to bear it alone, as if she, as a wife, had only solved Ming Shu’s financial problems and was only interested in petty jealousies, indifferent to other important issues. This was what she was angry about.

“Professor Shen, besides that, I really can’t think of any other reason. Can you tell me directly?” Ming Shu was now like an eager student, humbly asking her professor where she went wrong on a problem. Her attitude was good, adhering to the principle of immediate correction upon finding a mistake, but her professor seemed tired and helpless due to her lack of “intelligence.” Ming Shu wanted to solve this problem quickly.

Shen Junlan sighed again. She was above Ming Shu, looking down at her little bunny wife lying on the big bed covered with rose petals. This should have been an extremely romantic scene for them as wives, perfect for deep communication and shared ecstasy.

But now was clearly not the right time for that kind of thing.

Shen Junlan composed herself, no longer pressing down on her little bunny wife. She rolled over to the side, lying down next to her little bunny wife.

In a way, she still unconsciously exerted pressure on the little bunny. This was a problem that would emerge whenever she wasn’t careful.

When solving major problems, they should strive together, equally.

Ming Shu, on the contrary, felt a little uneasy. It seemed that Professor Shen’s authoritative presence gave her more security. Deep down, she still felt she owed Professor Shen, so she unconsciously put in more effort in some of their interactions.

Often, it seemed like Professor Shen was demanding from her, but was she not also demanding from Professor Shen? Professor Shen helped her, liberated her, loved her, and cherished her. She suddenly transformed from a broken little flower battered by the wind and rain into a greenhouse flower carefully tended and nurtured. Without the external storms, she inadvertently sought storms from the person who protected her, as if only this could balance her past and present and give her a better future.

Being uprooted and shaking off her native soil was painful, and Ming Shu had endured that pain. But she still had some acquired “soil,” a fundamental part of her soul that was harder to let go of.

She treasured everyone who was kind to her and tried hard to please them and maintain the relationship. Although she often told herself that if she were to be abandoned and had to leave one day, she wouldn’t be too sad and would wish Professor Shen well.

No one but herself knew that her soul had been in this state of fragmentation.

Wanting but being afraid—that was a past-created low self-esteem that gave her a deep sense of unworthiness, especially when someone pointed it out. First, there was Jiajia, who said she wasn’t worthy of Professor Shen. She hadn’t even fallen in love with Professor Shen then. While Jiajia’s words hurt, she could process them on her own. Later, there were Qiao Li and Qiao Qian. When Qiao Li offered her money to leave Professor Shen, she felt humiliated, but she could handle it.

But when Qiao Qian stood before her as a love rival, she couldn’t help but compare herself to Qiao Qian. In her eyes, Qiao Qian was better than her in many aspects: the favored daughter of the Shen Group, a foreign education background, and higher academic qualifications. The only thing she had over Qiao Qian was Professor Shen’s affection. Other than that, Ming Shu felt she truly had nothing to compare with Qiao Qian.

Ming Shu had put herself down like this. She was a little flower accustomed to bowing her head. She had a beautiful appearance, but she didn’t want people to notice it, as that was the better way to protect herself.

When a gentle, proper, and polite professor plucked her, saying she would take good care of her, her heart was also full of apprehension. It wasn’t until the gentle professor showed her wolf’s fangs, revealed her hunger, and asked for something from her, that Ming Shu could give a little of what she had. Only then did she feel somewhat balanced.

Later, she learned that this professor could be said to have an addiction in that area. This pulled the professor down a notch from the unreachable pedestal, and she could be the professor’s “medicine,” making the professor’s body and mind healthier and happier.

This was a sacrificial mindset. Ming Shu was perfectly willing to devote herself to those who were kind to her.

Shen Junlan was not unaware. She could feel that Ming Shu’s giving always carried a sense of sacrifice: You want something? I have it, and I’ll give it all to you.

Only when she was asked for too much would the little bunny close the door and refuse. Even a wolf gets tired, let alone a little bunny whose stamina was inferior to hers.

Shen Junlan turned sideways, looking at Ming Shu beside her with a complex expression. Ming Shu was already looking at her, hoping for the answer to why she was so angry today.

“Professor Shen.” Ming Shu looked at her, her eyes red, her gaze eager, and her heart fluttering, as if Shen Junlan’s lack of candor brought her great anxiety.

“Wife.” Shen Junlan took Ming Shu’s hand. “Perhaps I wasn’t angry with you. I was angry with myself. Angry that I brought you a string of troubles, and that I temporarily don’t have a foolproof way to solve them.”

“I’m sorry, Wife.”

Ultimately, what Shen Junlan was angry about was her inability to shield Ming Shu like a goddess, and her inability to smoothly resolve the issues Ming Shu was facing now, unlike when she first helped her.

She was confident in helping Ming Shu solve her most pressing problems then simply because she happened to possess what Ming Shu needed at the time. That was all.

And now, the crises Ming Shu faced because of her were uncontrollable and often outside her line of sight. She couldn’t guarantee one hundred percent protection for Ming Shu, nor could she predict what kind of harm a deranged Qiao Qian would inflict on Ming Shu. She felt utterly useless.

The last time she felt so useless was when she was a child, unable to mend her fractured family through her own efforts. Later, she became independent and cut ties with Shen Muhua.

Now, what could she do to completely protect Ming Shu and shield her from the risk of harm?

Hearing Professor Shen’s words, Ming Shu was stunned. She was speechless for a long moment.

After recovering, she squeezed Professor Shen’s hand tightly and said, “Professor Shen, you have already given me so much security. Actually, I am not as fragile as you imagine. I can now be stronger against danger because I know I have you.”