"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 101

Christmas Day.

“Merry Christmas.”

When Yan He opened her eyes, her Jiejie was smiling as she said this to her.

A large red Christmas stocking was placed on each of their bedside tables. The front desk attendant had given them the stockings when they returned last night, saying it was a gift for every guest in the hotel, and told them that if they hung the stocking by the bed, they would receive a gift from Santa Claus.

The hotel lobby featured a Christmas tree nearly ten meters tall, its topmost star almost touching the ceiling of the lobby. When they returned, it was a bit late, and most of the lobby lights were off, but some small decorative lights on the Christmas tree were still illuminated, their soft glow lighting up a small surrounding space.

Shen Jinrong guessed they might be planning to put gifts in the stockings while cleaning, and perhaps guests would get gifts even without hanging the stockings. However, seeing how happy Yan He was, she couldn’t bear to say anything to spoil the mood.

—So, before going to sleep, Yan He meticulously hung the large red Christmas stocking by the bed. While she performed this task, Shen Jinrong was leaning on the sofa, reading an English book placed in the hotel room. Yan He recognized every word on the cover but couldn’t understand them when put together.

Her Jiejie was reading intently. Yan He saw the dim yellow light falling on the pages, dyeing the naturally white pages yellow, giving it an inexplicably serene atmosphere, like reading on a terrace during twilight.

Seeing Yan He hang the stocking, Shen Jinrong adjusted her glasses, which had slipped down her nose, and quietly said, “Tomorrow is Christmas.” Her words were light, seeming to carry some hidden meaning, yet also like a simple statement.

“Aren’t we still going skiing tomorrow?” Yan He sat on the bed, staring at the stocking in a daze.

“The ski resort might close early,” Shen Jinrong closed the book in her hand, casually placing it on the wooden table in front of her, and slowly said, “Also, supermarkets and other restaurants might close. If we come back tomorrow afternoon, let’s go walk around the city center.”

Yan He sat on the bed, staring blankly at the stocking. She actually didn’t care at all about the plan for tomorrow; she was just thinking about how she should confess to Shen Jinrong tomorrow night—what should I say? Will you be my girlfriend? Can we be together?

No matter what she thought of, it seemed too ordinary. Yan He sighed.

Shen Jinrong took off her glasses and smiled at her: “If you’re tired, go to sleep.”

“Are you still not fully awake?” Seeing Yan He’s drowsy eyes, Shen Jinrong smiled. She patted Yan He’s quilt and softly said, “Get up quickly, it’s Christmas.”

Yes, Christmas.

Yan He sat up and shook her head. The first thing she did after getting out of bed was to look for her clothes. She had put the necklace in her pocket yesterday. After feeling the hard box through the fabric of her clothes, Yan He sighed in relief and put the clothes back neatly.

She turned to squeeze the red stocking by the bed. It was empty inside. Yan He blinked, feeling a slight sense of loss.

They drove to the ski resort today. The atmosphere there was not much different from yesterday, only more people. They easily rented the equipment and began their skiing trip for the day.

However, soon after going up—while sliding down from the very top, Yan He fell while trying to avoid a child. Shen Jinrong skied over to her and asked in a low voice, “Are you okay?”

Yan He patted the snow off her gloves, checked her body, and confirmed that every part was functioning normally. She laughed: “I’m fine!”

Shen Jinrong breathed a sigh of relief, reaching out her hand to pull Yan He up: “Can you stand up?”

“I can, I’m fine.” Yan He repeated that she was okay. She secretly rubbed her waist. When she fell just now, the necklace box in her pocket had dug into her, and it was vaguely painful now.

Shen Jinrong saw her rubbing her waist and frowned: “The medical room is just below. Let’s go check it out.”

Yan He shook her head: “It’s fine, let’s keep skiing.”

Around three in the afternoon, they finished their skiing trip and drove to the city center. Shen Jinrong parked the car in the same spot as before. The old man who opened the door smiled and told them that if they had come any later, there might not have been a parking spot.

Yan He laughed and translated this sentence to Shen Jinrong. Her Jiejie smiled: “The city center must be completely crowded today.” She finished parking and, as she walked towards the front of the car, she held out her hand to Yan He: “With so many people, you have to hold Jiejie’s hand.”

Shen Jinrong pursed her lips and smiled: “What if Jiejie gets lost?”

Yan He took her Jiejie’s right hand, and the two walked side by side toward the outside. There were many more people in the city center than usual. The shops that were open the last time they came now had “closed” signs hanging up, and the area felt much quieter before they reached the main gathering spot.

“It feels like Chinese New Year.” Shen Jinrong moved closer to Yan He, avoiding the oncoming crowd. As she leaned in, she whispered this sentence into Yan He’s ear.

The breath in her Jiejie’s voice fell on her ear, tickling it. Yan He felt her heart skip a beat.

It really did feel like Chinese New Year.

“Is that so? Then is Jiejie going to give me some New Year’s money?”

Yan He deliberately held out her hand to Shen Jinrong. Her Jiejie gave her a look and patted her open hand: “No.”

She didn’t use much force, but Yan He felt a tingling sensation in her palm.

Although the supermarkets were closed, there were temporarily set-up stalls everywhere in the streets and alleys, selling drinks, bread, and some flowers. Yan He’s gaze swept over the flower stalls but did not let Shen Jinrong notice her looking.

They came back to the place where they had skated last time. The sports goods store they had visited was still open. Shen Jinrong narrowed her eyes, looked at the store, and then checked her phone for a moment.

Yan He asked, “What’s wrong?”

Shen Jinrong put her phone back in her pocket, saying calmly: “Nothing, I was just checking what food was nearby.”

Yan He thought for a moment: “Let’s go look at the market over there. I just saw many people walking from that direction.”

Shen Jinrong smiled and agreed. They happened to pass the skating rink railing and then saw a young couple leaning against the railing, whispering something to each other, seemingly sharing secrets.

—Yan He remembered the time they kissed in the corner when they were skating together. Shen Jinrong clearly remembered it too. She turned her head and, seeing Yan He smile at her, gave her an annoyed look.

Yan He felt her hand being squeezed tightly in return.

“No more inappropriate thoughts,” Shen Jinrong mouthed to her.

Yan He raised her hands in surrender: “Okay, okay, okay! I won’t think about it anymore!”

After they walked past, she couldn’t resist turning her head to look at the young couple again, but what she was thinking was—could she and her Jiejie be like this afterward?

She subconsciously ignored the possibility of failure and deeply hid that possibility in her heart. At this point, any hesitation would only confuse her.

They walked down a narrow alley, with people in front and behind them. Yan He and Shen Jinrong walked shoulder to shoulder, close together. Even though they were in the middle of a bustling market, Yan He felt that only the two of them were left in this small space—they held hands and leaned against each other, exchanging intimate words. This alone made her feel satisfied. She thought about how happy she would be when she was lucky enough to have Shen Jinrong.

They arrived at the entrance of a drink shop. Next to it was a small fountain, probably a carving of the sea god Poseidon. Yan He glanced at it, only finding it similar to the Trevi Fountain in Rome, and didn’t think much of it. Shen Jinrong held her room-temperature drink, looked up, and smiled: “Very interesting architectural style.”

However, neither of them were architecture students, so they glanced at it and moved on.

The sky gradually darkened, and the familiar pink appeared on the horizon. The weather had been nice these two days. Although it hadn’t snowed, the sky was as clear as ever. The white clouds on the horizon were also dyed golden-red and golden-pink. Occasionally, a few pigeons flew past, their wings also colored by the sunset.

Shen Jinrong looked up at the sky. Many shops had already turned on their lights. She adjusted her clothes, turned, and asked, “Do you want to go see the Christmas tree in the center?”

Yan He was already planning how to lead Shen Jinrong to that Christmas tree. Hearing her Jiejie say this, she smiled: “Okay, let’s go see the Christmas tree together.”

So they walked, fingers intertwined, to the Christmas tree in the city center. It was now five fifty-five in the afternoon. Yan He heard the Italian people nearby say that the Christmas tree would light up promptly at six o’clock, which was five minutes away.

Yan He looked up at the enormous Christmas tree. Only up close did she realize the tree must have been cut down recently; it was about ten meters high. Standing beneath it and looking up, she couldn’t see its full appearance, and when standing far away, she was completely blocked by the crowd.

It was hung with decorations of various colors. The top was the familiar star, but it was not the ordinary one they had seen before. Instead, it looked like it was carved with exquisite patterns, which made it even more brilliant under the lights.

After walking through the crowd to get closer, they could smell the fresh scent of pine mixed with the cooking smoke from the city center. Yan He touched the necklace in her pocket, thinking to herself, three more minutes.

Shen Jinrong’s gaze shifted to the distant church. It was covered with pigeons. In the afterglow of the sunset, the shadows of the pigeons were infinitely long, and the scene seemed frozen in time.

They looked in different directions, but their hands were clasped together.

Yan He counted down silently in her heart—Five, Four, Three, Two, One.

Immediately afterward—the scene suddenly brightened. The Christmas tree in front of them lit up. At the same time, the melodious sound of the church bells came from nearby. Each chime was like a beat on her heart, and also like a silent urging.

Yan He turned to look at Shen Jinrong. Coincidentally, Shen Jinrong also turned her head to look at her at that moment. Yan He took the necklace out of her pocket. She opened the box, revealing the rose-gold World Tree.

The crowd was noisy, and Yan He had to lean close to Shen Jinrong to ensure she could hear what she was about to say.

“Jiejie,” Yan He heard herself say. Shen Jinrong stood there, smiling at her, as if she had already anticipated all of this—”Can you be my girlfriend?”