"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 100

The next morning, it was Shen Jinrong who woke up first. She felt for her phone on the bedside table, squinted at the time, and saw that it was seven-thirty in the morning. Normally, Yan He should have been awake, but she was still deeply asleep.

Shen Jinrong propped herself up and turned her head to look at Yan He. Seeing her peaceful sleeping face, she smiled softly.

Naughty child. Don’t you usually wake up early to wake me up? Why are you sleeping so late today? What were you doing last night?

Shen Jinrong was amused by her own thoughts. She had never imagined she would spend her morning pondering why a person was waking up later than usual, even though it was a normal occurrence. She didn’t know when she had fallen in love with Yan He—she wasn’t sure if her feelings counted as love, but Yan He was the only person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She preferred to have nothing rather than settle for less; if the person she was with wasn’t Yan He, she would rather live out her days alone.

Shen Jinrong reached out her hand and gently tickled Yan He’s chin with her fingertip. Perhaps feeling the itch, Yan He moved her head, seeming on the verge of waking up.

Shen Jinrong quickly stopped, quietly getting up to wash. Yan He only felt the mattress beside her move, and then the original warmth left her.

She couldn’t sleep soundly anymore and subconsciously tried to wake up, but she had slept too late. When she forcibly opened her eyes, her eyelids felt dry, as if they were glued together. Yan He blinked a few more times before feeling slightly more awake.

She rolled over, facing the direction where her Jiejie was washing. There was a faint sound of water in her ears, a rushing sound that was quieter than the one that had made her uneasy last night.

Yan He just lay there with her eyes open, looking at the bathroom. The faint, dark-yellow light was the only source of light in the room at that moment. She struggled to sit up. Coincidentally, Shen Jinrong walked out. Seeing that she was awake, she smiled: “Awake? You little lazy dog.”

Yan He tilted her head and smiled at her: “Why a little lazy dog?”

Shen Jinrong raised an eyebrow. Yan He was briefly lost in the instant of her Jiejie’s charm: “Because you’re a naughty puppy.”

Yan He laughed and didn’t continue the topic of the puppy, instead asking, “What time is it?”

It was strange. Her phone and watch were right next to her, yet she wanted to use this as an excuse to talk to her Jiejie a few more times. This behavior seemed to have the air of being spoiled and self-indulgent; she was taking advantage of her Jiejie’s affection to do whatever she pleased.

Yan He thought about feelings—saying “like” felt too plain, but saying “love” felt too frivolous. She didn’t know how to express it to her Jiejie.

As they left the hotel, the shuttle bus to the ski resort happened to arrive. Yan He and Shen Jinrong got on one after the other. The heater was on in the bus, and the air was filled with a faint smell of petrol. Yan He wasn’t very tolerant of this smell and usually got motion sick, but it wasn’t so severe when she was with Shen Jinrong.

The bus was humid, which made it feel slightly uncomfortable. A young couple followed closely behind them onto the bus. At the next stop, four or five high school-aged boys got on.

Yan He sat in the aisle seat. She looked at the winding mountain roads outside and gently leaned her head on Shen Jinrong’s shoulder, whispering, “Why are there so many people?”

“Everyone must be on holiday,” Shen Jinrong replied.

“Do you think it will snow here? I mean… while we’re still here.”

Shen Jinrong opened the weather app on her phone and said, “Let me see… Ah! It might snow the day after Christmas!”

Yan He thought it might coincide with the day after her confession.

She secretly glanced at her Jiejie, her eyes lingering on her collarbone and then moving down to her hand. She silently intertwined her fingers with hers.

Shen Jinrong was surprised but quickly responded. The two began to whisper softly: “We’re going to the beginner slope, right?” Yan He was worried.

Shen Jinrong answered, “Yes.”

“That’s good.” Yan He visibly let out a sigh of relief: “The second time I went skiing, Li Xiuxie tricked me into going on an intermediate slope. I almost had to slide down on my knees.”

“You won’t have to, don’t worry,” Shen Jinrong smiled and drew a line across Yan He’s palm: “If you really can’t get down, I’ll rescue you.”

Yan He thought that maybe it was because her words were so reliable that she was moved. Her heartbeat was extremely faint, mixed with the not-too-loud sound of the bus engine, but only Yan He herself knew how wildly her heart was pounding.

She said she would come to rescue me!

Even though Yan He was confident in her skiing skills and ensured this wouldn’t happen, she was still overcome by the tenderness in her Jiejie’s words.

—You can do many things by yourself, but when another person says they can be your reliance, that is a different feeling altogether.

“Why are you so distracted?”

Shen Jinrong stroked her hair and asked, “Are you carsick?”

Yan He shook her head: “Not too bad.”

Shen Jinrong then stopped talking.

The ski resort was crowded; it was peak season for winter sports. The equipment rental area also had a long queue outside. Yan He whispered from behind Shen Jinrong, “Are you skiing with a snowboard or skis?”

“We old folks will stick to the safer skis,” Shen Jinrong smiled and turned to look at Yan He. The young girl was wearing a light-colored ski jacket and had her neck tucked into the collar because of the cold. Her exposed face was excessively pale, which now made her eyes seem less sharp and more innocent.

She’s just a child, Shen Jinrong sighed inwardly.

“Jiejie is not old at all!” Yan He objected to what she had just said: “You’re clearly not old!”

Shen Jinrong just smiled: “Compared to you, I’m older, of course. I’m eight years older than you, aren’t I?”

Yan He paused: “Mhm.”

Shen Jinrong changed the subject: “Are you going to snowboard?”

Yan He nodded, looking a little shy: “Yes.”

Her Jiejie smiled: “That must be pretty cool, right?”

Yan He puffed out her chest: “I’ll show Jiejie later!”

While trying on the ski boots, Yan He changed faster. Snowboard boots are quicker to put on than ski boots. After changing her shoes, she squatted next to her Jiejie, checking her ski boots. Finding them satisfactory, she looked up and asked, “Are they okay?”

Shen Jinrong frowned: “The arch feels a bit tight.”

Yan He half-knelt and helped her adjust the buckle on one boot. After adjusting it, she asked, “Is that better?”

Shen Jinrong nodded, smiling: “Yes, it’s good now!”

Yan He stood up and extended her hand to her: “Stand up and walk around to try them out.”

Shen Jinrong took her hand and walked a couple of steps. She didn’t take large steps. Feeling no discomfort, she paid and took the fitted skis and helmet outside.

There was still snow on the distant Alps. Looking up from the foot of the mountain, there were large swaths of white snow mixed with the colors of deep green and earth. In the early morning, the mountaintop was still shrouded in a thin mist, making it difficult to see its shape clearly.

The beginner slope already had quite a few people. The area slightly above looked like a gentler intermediate slope. Yan He saw several children skillfully skiing down from the very top.

Yan He: Eyes wide with astonishment.

Shen Jinrong held her shoulder, laughing wildly: “Don’t you think those children are all great at skiing?”

Yan He nodded, hugging her snowboard and shivering.

Shen Jinrong put on her gloves and patted Yan He’s shoulder again: “Alright, in Jiejie’s heart, our little puppy is the best!”

Yan He proudly wagged her tail again—See! See! Even though she didn’t ski as well as those children, she had her Jiejie by her side! Those children probably didn’t!

They took the cable car up one after the other. When they got off at the top, Shen Jinrong grabbed her two poles with one hand and adjusted her gloves with the other. She put on her ski goggles, leaving only her pale, straight nose bridge and lips lightly coated with lipstick exposed. Her lips were tightly pursed, suggesting nervousness or perhaps anticipation.

“Want to race?”

Through the goggles, Yan He saw her Jiejie smile at her, her lips gently pressed together, curving into a beautiful arc.

“Race to see who falls first?” Yan He asked her, smiling.

“Of course not.” Shen Jinrong raised an eyebrow, though Yan He couldn’t see it clearly beneath the helmet and goggles. “See who gets to the bottom first.”

Yan He watched as she smiled at her the next moment and then slid away. She saw her knees slightly bend as she turned, saw the snow spray up when she changed direction, and saw her slender waist even through the thick ski suit. The cold wind blew, leaving only the whooshing sound of the wind and faint human voices in her ears.

Yan He pursed her lips and smiled, adjusted her goggles, and slid out. She stayed right behind Shen Jinrong, and when she overtook her, she deliberately showed off, jumping high where the slope changed.

The thought that her Jiejie was right behind her and could see her made Yan He grit her teeth. She displayed nearly every technique she knew. Human muscle memory was incredibly reliable; she hadn’t skied in a long time but still remembered the movements she had practiced countless times.

Finally, she and Shen Jinrong reached the foot of the mountain together.

Yan He pushed her goggles up onto her helmet. Shen Jinrong gave her a bright smile. She saw her Jiejie holding something in her hand, and the next second, the small snowball in her Jiejie’s hand flew toward her.

The man-made snow was slightly hard. It hit her ski jacket with a dull sound. Yan He looked down and saw that the snowball left a white mark on her clothing before crumbling into small fragments and falling off.

Shen Jinrong narrowed her eyes in laughter: “Why didn’t you dodge!”

Yan He also bent down and packed a snowball, then threw it accurately and forcefully onto Shen Jinrong’s shoulder. A part of it, with the impact, flew inside her Jiejie’s collar. Shen Jinrong shivered and chased after Yan He: “Hey! Hey! It went down my neck! You stinky puppy!”

Yan He quickly grabbed her snowboard and ran. Nearby was a patch of man-made snow that hadn’t been packed down by a grooming machine. It was soft to step on, the snow almost submerging Yan He’s lower legs.

Finally, they lay in the snow in front of the nearly deserted small wooden hut, simultaneously bursting into laughter.