After a Flash Marriage with a Professor - Chapter 92

Chapter 92: Love Taming

Ming Shu was initially gasping for air with her head down, but then she looked up and was startled to see Professor Shen’s eyes completely glazed with desire, so thick it wouldn’t dissolve, like a dense blackness that even the flashing neon outside the car couldn’t hide.

The darkness enveloped the brightly lit city. Ming Shu and Professor Shen were trapped in the car, and they could clearly hear their own heartbeats.

Ming Shu didn’t know how to react. She thought Professor Shen had been captured by desire and was about to use that desire to capture her, but Professor Shen did nothing, only staring at her quietly.

Through Professor Shen’s eyes, Ming Shu was sure she saw the seething, swirling clouds of anger and frustration beneath Professor Shen’s calm exterior.

Why isn’t Professor Shen continuing to take from me? Ming Shu was completely baffled.

Although she knew about Professor Shen’s addiction and had experienced it firsthand, this time, Professor Shen’s behavior was completely different from before.

Ming Shu parted her lips, paused for a second, and then asked, “Professor Shen, are you okay?”

Shen Junlan nodded slightly. The veins beneath her forehead seemed to pulse faintly, as if a gu spell had been planted in her.

She thought self-mockingly, If I truly were under a gu spell, it must be a love gu. Only the person I love can love me back and cherish me to break the spell.

The person she loved was already her wife, a very cute, beautiful, and delicious little rabbit.

The only flaw was that her little bunny wife didn’t seem to love her with the same unwavering conviction.

As a professor at a higher education institution with considerable academic achievement, her areas of study were vast. Knowledge had provided solace during her past empty life, but it also bound her, forcing her to analyze the existing issues between her and her little bunny wife not just emotionally, but also rationally, comprehensively, and dialectically.

Emotionally, she was angry with her little bunny wife—angry that her little bunny wife didn’t have enough faith in their future, angry that her little bunny wife doubted her love. Thinking she might fall for someone else is surely doubting her love.

But rationally, stepping into her little bunny wife’s perspective, she could clearly see that her little bunny wife’s actions were completely understandable. As a result, Shen Junlan experienced an internal conflict: a small part of her was angry, but the greater part was understanding and pitying her little bunny wife, followed by self-reproach for the problems her own family had caused.

In this state, she had momentarily ignored the flare-up of her physical addiction, simply gazing at Ming Shu by instinct. If she couldn’t immediately find a solution to the problem, she would just look at her little bunny wife a little longer.

Ming Shu was utterly helpless. She felt Professor Shen was definitely in no condition to drive home.

“Let’s just stay in a nearby hotel for the night,” Ming Shu suggested after a long thought.

Shen Junlan also nodded. She decided to follow her little bunny wife’s arrangements tonight.

Ming Shu felt Professor Shen had suddenly become so obedient, like a successfully tamed wolf. She was an inexperienced tamer, and the wolf had no experience being tamed.

It just happened that they met: an inexperienced, gentle wolf, and an inexperienced, muddled rabbit.

In this moment, it was the wolf who was muddled. Ming Shu saw a flush of crimson on Professor Shen’s face, like a growing fiery cloud, spreading from her cheeks all the way down to her neck.

Ming Shu proactively took the lead. She held Professor Shen’s hand to find a hotel and check-in. Throughout the process, Professor Shen leaned closely against her. Ming Shu felt a sudden shift in dominance.

For the first time, Ming Shu felt a sense of being depended upon by Professor Shen, and for the first time, she felt a sense of responsibility toward her spouse.

The feeling didn’t seem bad. Although Ming Shu’s eyes were uneasy and her voice trembled slightly when she communicated with the hotel receptionist, she felt more of a joy of growth.

Professor Shen had entrusted her most “vulnerable” self to her, completely and wholeheartedly. How could she disappoint Professor Shen? She couldn’t. And she didn’t. She overcame her discomfort, even offering a small nod of response when the receptionist girl gave her a knowing look and wished her a pleasant night.

Heaven knows her heart was pounding, almost bursting, being looked at with such an expression and spoken to with such an ambiguous tone.

I can’t burst. Ming Shu tried hard to maintain the persona of the leader. Tonight, no matter what, she should bear the responsibility of taking care of Professor Shen, whether it was out of gratitude for all Professor Shen had done for her, or because she was Professor Shen’s wife, or because she truly wanted to find more of her own presence in their relationship.

Being passively Professor Shen’s medicine and actively becoming Professor Shen’s medicine and taking care of her seemed similar, but they were completely different.

Ming Shu led the seemingly boneless Shen Junlan to the room they had booked. Professor Shen still leaned on her, but wasn’t fully bearing her weight on her.

“Does Professor Shen want to take a shower first?” Ming Shu asked.

Shen Junlan nodded. Before, she always let Ming Shu shower first and wait for her. Tonight, she would wait for Ming Shu.

Under the warm stream of water, Shen Junlan felt the raging fire in her heart gradually turn into a gentle flame. She began to consider why she had caused Ming Shu such worry that she might fall for someone else in the future.

Was it because her dependence on Ming Shu was solely manifested in physical intimacy and unrestrained plundering?

Other than that, it was the gap in their circumstances. After being together for so long, Ming Shu should know that she didn’t care about the difference in circumstances. If she did, they wouldn’t have gotten married.

Then the problem must lie in the single way she expressed her love. In modern society, sex is still heavily tabooed, viewed as something bad, shameful, and evil. There are many who think this way, and Ming Shu was once one of them. After her late-night class instruction, Ming Shu’s sense of shame seemed to have lessened, but to completely erase it would be a long-term battle.

People believe that being too obsessed with sex is problematic, and Shen Junlan admitted she did have a problem. But she also felt that the general inability of people to openly confront sex was equally a problem—a universal one.

As a professor, Shen Junlan even felt like writing a thesis specifically analyzing this issue.

Identify the problem, analyze the problem, and then solve the problem. How to solve it? Shen Junlan seriously adopted a thesis-like approach to finding a remedy for her slightly fractured marriage.

As the warm water flowed continuously over her and dripped down, she was determined to figure out a solution.

Ming Shu, waiting outside, grew anxious. The soundproofing was excellent, and Ming Shu could only hear a faint sound of running water. An hour had passed, and Professor Shen still hadn’t come out. In all the time they had been together, Professor Shen had never stayed in the bathroom for so long. Ming Shu worried that Professor Shen hadn’t gotten timely relief from her addiction and had fainted in the bathroom.

“Professor Shen,” Ming Shu knocked on the door anxiously.

The sound of water stopped. Ming Shu called out Professor Shen’s name again. The next second, the bathroom door was pulled open from the inside, and a dripping wet Professor Shen came into view. At this moment, Professor Shen didn’t look like a wolf at all, but more like a wet dog.

Ming Shu suddenly recalled something she had heard—that dogs were domesticated from wolves, and wolves in TV dramas were often played by dogs. Ming Shu didn’t know if this saying was true and credible, but in this second, she found it believable.

“Wife.” Professor Shen called her name, her deep-set eyes as wet as her hair.

“Mmm,” Ming Shu responded and said, “I’ll help you blow-dry your hair.”

“Okay,” Shen Junlan smiled and agreed. She felt her little bunny wife was being telepathic with her.

Ming Shu found a clean white towel and draped it over Professor Shen’s shoulders like a shawl to prevent water droplets from dripping into Professor Shen’s bathrobe. She took another dry towel to absorb the water from Professor Shen’s hair before using the hairdryer.

The moment the hairdryer started buzzing, Ming Shu felt a sense of déjà vu. Professor Shen had once blown-dried her hair. Ming Shu’s fingers ran through Professor Shen’s hair, feeling the warmth of the air.

The moment the sound of the air stopped, Ming Shu took her hand out of Professor Shen’s hair. As she pulled her hand away, Ming Shu noticed a single white hair on Professor Shen’s head.

Ming Shu’s hand paused. She gently touched the white hair and then fully withdrew her hand, not wanting Professor Shen to notice.

Professor Shen was still young, and it was normal for a person to have one or two white hairs, but Professor Shen was already conscious of the seven-year age gap with her. Ming Shu chose not to tell Professor Shen, so as not to add to her worries.

“I’m going to take a shower,” Ming Shu said to Professor Shen after tidying the hairdryer and putting it back in place.

“Mmm,” Professor Shen smiled gently at her. Ming Shu noticed the redness on Professor Shen’s face and neck still hadn’t subsided, unsure if it was due to the ongoing addiction or the hot shower Professor Shen had just taken.

Regardless of the reason, Ming Shu rushed through her shower.

Before, Ming Shu would only try to stall, slowing down. Speeding up was a first. She was worried about Professor Shen.

However, when Ming Shu finished her shower and came out of the bathroom, she was stunned. She found Professor Shen already lying down, tucked under the covers, with her eyes closed, seemingly asleep.

“Did Professor Shen fall asleep?” Ming Shu subconsciously softened her steps and walked to the bedside.

“Not yet.” Shen Junlan merely parted her lips to speak, without opening her eyes, but Ming Shu was still startled and recoiled slightly.

“Can’t Professor Shen sleep?” Ming Shu sat on the edge of the bed and asked.

“Mmm. And I wanted to wait for my wife to sleep together.”

Professor Shen still waited for her. Ming Shu felt both happy and afraid—happy that Professor Shen thought of her, even if it was just longing for “deep communication” with her. Afraid of too much deep communication, which might make her look odd at work tomorrow.

Despite this, Ming Shu still prioritized Professor Shen’s physical health.

“Professor Shen, do you want to be taken care of now?”

“Or be taken?” Ming Shu corrected herself, seeing Professor Shen still hadn’t opened her eyes.

Professor Shen gave her an answer she hadn’t anticipated.

Professor Shen, with her eyes closed, said to her, “Wife, read me a bedtime story. Wen Xuan told me you used to read him stories when he was little.”

It took Ming Shu a moment to process that this was Professor Shen’s request. Read a storybook?

However, Ming Shu quickly understood. Professor Shen’s mother passed away early, so it wasn’t strange for Professor Shen to make this request.

Ming Shu asked, “What does Professor Shen want me to read?”

“A fairy tale, your favorite fairy tale.”

Ming Shu searched her phone and found The Little Prince, a fairy tale written for adults.

This book had been Ming Shu’s companion for many years. She reread it every so often. She read Professor Shen her favorite chapter.

[1] “Hello,” said the fox.

“Hello,” the little prince replied politely, turning around but seeing nothing.

“I am here,” the voice said, “under the apple tree.”

“Who are you?” said the little prince. “You are very pretty.”

“Come and play with me,” the little prince suggested. “I am very unhappy.”

The fox said, “I cannot play with you. I have not been tamed.”

“What does that mean—’tame’?”

“It means to establish ties.” said the fox. “To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. I have no need of you, and you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world.”

“Do you see the grain fields over there? I have no need of grain. The grain fields mean nothing to me. But if you tame me, your hair is the color of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will remind me of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat…”[1]

Ming Shu paused here. She saw Professor Shen’s eyes were still closed. She thought Professor Shen must have fallen asleep.

“You tamed me,” Ming Shu whispered.

Shen Junlan opened her eyes, “You tamed me too, Wife.”

Ming Shu blinked, and then she heard Professor Shen say, “Since it’s a mutual taming, Wife, can I be taken care of now?”

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