"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 107

A jolt went through Yan He’s heart. She looked at Shen Jinrong’s face, which had instantly turned deathly pale, and an inexplicable, strange feeling arose in her heart. It was as if after taking this phone call, her older sister was going to leave her forever and would never be with her again.

This realization tightened her heart, which felt as if it had been firmly seized by something in an instant. She struggled to break free from this restraint, yet the binding force grew stronger and stronger, making her feel utterly unable to escape.

Shen Jinrong’s face was ashen, and the hand gripping her phone also began to tremble involuntarily. Yan He could see her trying desperately to hold the phone close to her ear, but it was only shaking unconsciously.

“How could this happen?”

She heard Shen Jinrong’s voice, a tone completely different from her usual one. Her voice was hoarse and filled with disbelief, distorted, as if two iron objects were grinding against each other: “I’ll go back now.”

Tan Ning on the other end of the line seemed to say something, and Shen Jinrong furrowed her brows, her beautiful eyes widening into round circles, as if she had heard a joke: “If she dares to do that, she should know the consequences!”

They probably exchanged a few more sentences; what they specifically said, Yan He could no longer recall. She put on her clothes and sat in place, watching Shen Jinrong take the call, watching her lips open and close, watching the expression on her face change from grayish-white to shock, and finally to fury.

What is Tan Ning saying to her? she wondered. Why is she so angry? What kind of matter could make her older sister lose her composure and become so furious?

Yan He couldn’t figure it out.

She suddenly felt like an outsider. She looked up in a daze at the ceiling and saw the beautiful crystal chandelier. That lamp had emitted a dim, warm glow last night, but now it was no longer illuminated.

She felt her perspective seemed to shift from looking at Shen Jinrong horizontally to looking down at her, her view becoming that of the chandelier suspended mid-air. That gaze looked down from above, and Yan He saw herself sitting blankly in her original spot, and saw Shen Jinrong taking the urgent phone call, her lips rapidly opening and closing.

Yan He lowered her head, her two hands unconsciously rubbing against each other. Her furiously pounding heart gradually calmed down, as if a basin of cold water had been thrown over her.

She lifted her eyes and looked at her older sister again—her older sister was still so beautiful, with her long hair softly framing her face. It seemed that no circumstances could impair her beauty. She discovered that her older sister at this moment possessed a fractured beauty, as if… it were the moment the crystal lamp overhead had shattered.

She knew, of course, that the crystal lamp overhead had not shattered; when she looked up, it was still firmly in place. Yet, Yan He felt that things should not be this way. The night after the confession, the morning of waking up together, which she had envisioned, should not involve Tan Ning’s presence, nor any needless disruption.

She quickly felt ashamed for having such a selfish thought, but this thought stemmed from a possessiveness toward Shen Jinrong, burning like a fire in her chest, growing fiercer and fiercer.

She still looked at Shen Jinrong with conviction, recalling the scene of Shen Jinrong hugging and kissing her last night.

Was it a dream?

Yan He thought in a trance.

The fire in her chest was finally extinguished when Shen Jinrong finished dressing and told her: “I need to return to the country immediately now.”

In the three minutes while she was dressing, the only sounds Yan He could hear were the friction of Shen Jinrong’s clothes and her own shallow breathing. She sat in place, watching Shen Jinrong—straightforwardly, passionately—wanting to tell her with her eyes that she would give everything for her.

But… Why did she have to say that?

The void and ashes resulting from the burning almost filled her. Yan He heard her own dry voice: “What happened?”

She figured it must be a very important matter, which was why her older sister had to abandon her and rush back—it couldn’t be called abandoning her; she could go back with Shen Jinrong.

Yan He stood up. The sudden dizziness caused by rapidly standing made her vision black out. She instinctively reached out and gripped the nearby wooden table, her body swaying.

Older sister will come to steady me, won’t she? She looked at Shen Jinrong with expectant eyes, but Shen Jinrong was only tidying her clothes and did not direct her gaze toward her.

Immediately after, Yan He heard her gentle voice—It’s strange, she thought, her older sister’s voice is still so gentle, yet I heard a trace of apology in that tenderness. Why apologize? Is it because you are leaving me now?

Shen Jinrong’s mind was in chaos; all her thoughts were interrupted by this sudden call from Tan Ning. She was full of panic and anxiety, and didn’t even have the presence of mind to care about Yan He’s feelings at the moment, naturally failing to notice the sadness and emptiness in Yan He’s eyes.

“It’s—” Shen Jinrong started to speak, then abruptly stopped. She thought, This sordid matter shouldn’t be known to Yan He—this damn, disgusting thing is enough for me to know alone; there’s no need to say it out loud and make Yan He worry.

She pursed her lips and simply said, “It’s a very important matter that I must rush back to handle.”

Yan He nodded, stepped forward, and hugged her, softly asking, “Are you leaving right now?”

She could only express her affection in this way. She kissed Shen Jinrong’s corner of the mouth and tightened the embrace. Shen Jinrong drew warmth from it, and so did she.

“The flight has been booked. I’m heading to the airport now.” Shen Jinrong stroked her head, trying hard to make her voice gentle, but Yan He still detected the suppressed emotion in her tone. This emotion seemed to have a strange infectious quality, causing Yan He herself to begin empathizing with it.

Yan He pressed her head against Shen Jinrong’s shoulder hollow, her eyes tightly closed. She softly called her: “Older sister.” She wanted to ask, Can I go back with you? Can I help you with anything? But she didn’t ask.

Shen Jinrong held her and, after a long while, softly said, “I have to go, or I’ll miss the flight.”

They ended the embrace.

Yan He stepped back, her eyes slightly red. She nodded and softly said, “Okay.”

“I’ll return the car when I get to the airport later,” Shen Jinrong said slowly, picking up her luggage case. “The hotel is paid through tomorrow, so rest well.”

The moment Shen Jinrong opened the door, Yan He finally couldn’t hold back. Lowering her head, her expression became dark and unreadable in the alternating light and shadow, and she opened her mouth to ask: “Do you absolutely have to leave?”

Even Yan He herself didn’t know why she said that; she merely subconsciously wanted to hold Shen Jinrong back, perhaps due to the selfish thoughts in her heart playing tricks.

“Yes.”

Shen Jinrong’s hand on the doorknob paused. She didn’t know what was wrong with her; ever since learning about this matter, her heart had been filled with anxiety, which had also affected her tone. She looked down at the time; the wristwatch on her left hand was still perfectly in place, seemingly unchanged.

Yan He said, “I’m still going to Naples as planned.” What did that sound like? The childish retention of a young child? She still harbored unrealistic fantasies.

She looked at Shen Jinrong with a hint of expectation, as if waiting for her response.

But Shen Jinrong avoided her eyes—she truly couldn’t bear to look directly at Yan He’s expectant gaze.

She turned her head and softly said, “Then… see you back home.”

The moment she turned away, the tears in Yan He’s eyes finally fell. Was last night really just her illusion? Were those sweet words, those kisses, all fake?

Dark thoughts were everywhere. The cynical ideas she had previously thought she would never believe gradually occupied her heart now.

“Then—are we considered to be together?” Yan He asked her again.

She knew she probably shouldn’t be asking this, at least not now. But looking at Shen Jinrong, who was about to leave, she still spoke the words aloud.

This question came so abruptly, yet it was filled with youthful passion. Shen Jinrong opened her mouth, intending to say that since they had slept together, of course they were. But, she thought, that burning love shouldn’t be responded to at this time—at such a rushed moment.

“Wait until I finish handling things, and we’ll have a good talk, okay?” Shen Jinrong thought she needed to find a perfect moment to solemnly tell Yan He that they were, of course, girlfriends—just like when Yan He had confessed to her under the Christmas tree.

But she was too flustered, so much so that she forgot Yan He also needed her response. A puppy’s affection is loyal and passionate, but a puppy is also insecure; she would wonder if she wasn’t worthy of the person she liked.

Shen Jinrong smiled at her, put down her luggage case, and walked back to hug her.

Yan He watched her leave, heard the sound of the door opening and closing, and heard Shen Jinrong’s footsteps on the thick carpet of the hotel hallway.

Older sister, what did you want to say to me?

Yan He sat on the bed where Shen Jinrong had been lying. She took off her clothes and lay there, as if wrapped by her older sister.

—The same as last night.

Then… did older sister agree, or did she regret it again?

Yan He wondered uncertainly, It shouldn’t be regret, should it?

She pulled out her phone, opened WeChat, and intended to send a message to her older sister, asking her to call when she arrived. But then she saw the messages in her class group, which she had set to ‘Do Not Disturb,’ flashing rapidly.

What’s wrong?

Yan He frowned. After sending the message to Shen Jinrong, she clicked into the class group.

“Holy sht, holy sht! Massive, shocking gossip! Jiang Qiang’s mistress came to confront him!”

“? Holy sht, holy sht? Mistress?”

“Yeah! She’s at our department right now! Jiang Qiang just got back, and his mistress showed up at his office with a big belly. I was right next door, I swear, I heard them arguing.”

“No way? Doesn’t he have a wife? It couldn’t be his wife, could it?”

“Isn’t his wife Tan Ning? That person definitely wasn’t Tan Ning.”

“Save us! What kind of massive, shocking gossip is this!”

The faint smile on Yan He’s face suddenly froze.

Because—Tan Ning? So—Shen Jinrong left me because of her?

She thought she must have been mistaken. She was so desperate to hold everything in her grasp, but the wind blew, and the sand slipped through her fingers. She should not have deluded herself into trying to catch a self-possessed cloud; she should not have fantasized about a plot that never truly belonged to her.

She saw her vision blur, felt a sourness in her nose, and felt hot droplets fall onto the back of her hand. Yan He realized belatedly that she was crying.

It shouldn’t be like this.