"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 108

After Shen Jinrong left, Yan He suddenly felt that the spacious room had become empty. This change was sudden—it began the moment Shen Jinrong departed. Yet, it was also a gradual process, as if, with Shen Jinrong’s departure, the room was slowly losing its vitality.

It felt like a house that had been uninhabited for a long time, slowly decaying with the passage of time, only now, this change had been accelerated.

However, when Yan He looked around, nothing seemed to have changed. The crystal chandelier overhead remained as it was. The shaft of sunlight that found its way through the gap in the curtain happened to fall on the chandelier, reflecting beautiful light in the room, making the entire space shimmer like a rippling water surface.

It is beautiful… isn’t it?

Yan He stared fixedly at one spot until the sunlight slowly deviated from its original path, moving its ‘footstep’ off the crystal lamp and landing instead on other parts of the room.

She blinked, suddenly feeling that this cluster of sunlight was not as bright as before. She stood up, straightened her clothes, and walked toward the floor-to-ceiling window, which was blocked by thick blackout curtains. She did not pull the curtains open, but instead lifted a corner and slipped into the void between the curtain and the glass. Now, she was in the hollow space between the curtain and the glass. Tiny fragments of sunlight fell upon her, yet Yan He suddenly felt a sense of being in another life altogether. The sunlight felt warm on her skin, but Yan He could sense that only the areas being exposed were warm, while the bone and blood beneath her skin held a chill.

This chill could not be warmed by the sun. She reached out and slowly stroked her chest. That place, which had been filled with fervor, was now empty, as if the fire from before had incinerated everything, leaving only empty ashes.

Yan He’s hand stroked the glass. The thick floor-to-ceiling glass was freezing cold. The winter sun was too weak to warm this pane of glass, and it couldn’t warm her either. The spot she touched seemed to constantly draw away her temperature, until her fingertips were icy, indistinguishable from the temperature of the glass.

After Shen Jinrong left, she felt as if she had lost something as well. She didn’t know what she should be doing now—originally, originally according to the plan, what were she and her older sister supposed to do today?

Yan He suddenly remembered that they hadn’t made a list of things to do or a plan for the day. She thought it was possible that the two of them might have stayed in bed all day, or they might have gone out to walk around and see the town during the daytime.

But now, everything was different.

Perhaps it was because her older sister packed her things and left; the entire room felt empty. The spots where her older sister’s luggage case and clothes had been placed were now completely bare, and even the previously comfortable room temperature made her feel cold.

Yan He abruptly drew back her hand, took a step back, and pulled the curtain shut, blocking it tightly to prevent even a single ray of sunlight from entering. Then, she sat by the hot spring, staring at the slightly dark hot spring water, contemplating for a moment. She then squatted down and reached her hand into the water.

The warm hot spring water no longer held the scorching temperature of last night—or rather, the temperature had always been the same; only she and Shen Jinrong had been scorching hot last night. But now?

Yan He wiggled her fingertips, feeling her hand become less icy. She was expressionless and abruptly jumped in. Water splashed onto the surrounding floor. The warm spring water quickly enveloped her, soaking her clothes.

The water-soaked clothes became quite heavy, pulling Yan He continuously downwards. When standing, the hot spring water only reached her abdomen, but she sat down on the side, allowing the hot spring water to rise above her chest.

She looked at everything before her, lifted her head, and exhaled, only to see the rising steam slowly float upwards, disappearing without a trace once it reached a certain point. She watched for a long time, feeling her eyes dry and tears beginning to fall.

Was it really… because of Tan Ning?

Yan He silently began to whimper, and loneliness, like a tide, drowned her.

Tears rolled down her cheeks into the water, stirring only tiny ripples that vanished instantly.

Yan He climbed out of the hot spring pool, dripping wet. The moment she emerged from the water, she clearly felt her clothes pulling her down. She staggered, fell to her knees on the steps, and hit her knee against the hard marble, causing a sharp pain.

She knelt there, hands braced in front of her. It felt as though all the blood in her body had stopped at that moment. She lowered her eyes and didn’t get up, instead letting the droplets of water run down her cheeks. She watched the water slide from her face and drop one by one into the hot spring. She could even feel the path of the water flowing down her face.

The surroundings were silent; everything seemed to have come to a standstill at this moment. The knee area throbbed faintly, but the sharp pain she felt when she first hit it was gone.

She walked barefoot out of the hot spring and stood in front of the bathroom mirror. The scent of Shen Jinrong seemed to linger here, a scent that brought her peace. But now, when her brain automatically identified this signal, her heart produced a sharp, piercing pain, like being pricked by needles.

What should she do? Yan He belatedly realized that she couldn’t do anything for Shen Jinrong; she didn’t even know why her older sister had suddenly returned home.

After a long time, Yan He put on a bathrobe and walked out. The bathrobe she was wearing was the one Shen Jinrong had worn last night; it seemed to still carry her older sister’s body temperature. Then, she placed that bathrobe beside her, lay naked on the bed where Shen Jinrong had been, pulled up the quilt, and closed her eyes.

It was like a form of deliberate self-deception, as if by smelling her scent—she was still right there beside her.

She didn’t know how long she slept this time. The blackout curtains blocked the sunlight, so she couldn’t tell the weather outside. When she awoke dimly from her sleep, her hand instinctively reached out to the side but only touched a bathrobe.

Then, Yan He slowly opened her eyes, only then realizing that Shen Jinrong had left here not long ago.

She stared at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling, and after a long while, she sat up to reach for her phone.

It was 11:40 in the morning. She had woken up after sleeping for a few hours. This sleep was restless; she felt she had dreamt something, but she couldn’t remember anything after waking up.

She instinctively felt that her dream might have been related to Shen Jinrong. She sighed deeply, trying hard to recall what she had just dreamt, but only felt a sense of sadness in her heart. It doesn’t matter—since she couldn’t remember, it wasn’t that important.

She opened WeChat and saw a stream of messages from Li Xiuxi: “Are you awake?”

“Are you with Professor Shen right now?”

“Something happened with Tan Ning. Did you know?”

“Ahhh, if you’re awake, please call me back. Don’t let Professor Shen know!”

It felt like a lifetime ago.

Yan He thought that just last night after she confessed, she was still thinking about how to tell Li Xiuxi, but now, it seemed unnecessary to say anything.

Everything seemed to have returned to its original path, as if her entanglement with Shen Jinrong was just a car accidentally veering onto a side road, and now it had driven back onto the main course.

She called Li Xiuxi on WeChat. It should be a little after 6 p.m. back home. Li Xiuxi quickly answered, and her first sentence was: “Professor Shen isn’t near you, is she?”

“No.”

“Oh, oh, oh, holy cow, did you know that Tan Ning’s husband cheated on her?”

Yan He rubbed her temples. She felt she might have slept too long, and her brain was heavy and throbbing right now, especially the right side of her forehead.

“I just saw the news in the group.”

“It’s bizarre! The mistress showed up with a big belly, and it caused a huge, ugly scene.” Li Xiuxi let out a long breath: “I happened to be at school and saw it live.”

Yan He wasn’t concerned about the incident itself; she was concerned about Tan Ning—concerned about whether Shen Jinrong had gone back for Tan Ning.

“Where is Teacher Tan Ning?”

“I didn’t see her, but after I left, I heard people say Tan Ning rushed over, and then rushed away. I don’t know what for.”

Yan He’s heart sank. She pretended to be nonchalant and said, “Maybe she was waiting for someone to back her up?”

Li Xiuxi was surprised and asked, “Back her up? Who? ” She laughed and asked Yan He: “It couldn’t be Professor Shen, could it?”

Yan He also smiled, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. She softly said, “Yes.”

Li Xiuxi froze: “What the hell? Are you serious?” Immediately, she laughed again, thinking Yan He was joking: “No, don’t talk nonsense! Isn’t Professor Shen on vacation with you?”

“She just left,” Yan He said, turning on the speakerphone and placing the phone aside. She spoke softly, “Four hours ago.”

“Did she say she was going back because of Tan Ning?” Li Xiuxi sighed heavily. “It might not be, right?”

“Tan Ning was the one who called her, and she left in a hurry.” Yan He wanted to laugh, but she felt her smile looked too terrible right now. She tightly pursed her lips, and her voice became lower.

“What if—what if something happened at home?” Li Xiuxi frowned. “Don’t overthink it, it’s just—oh, well, you two haven’t confirmed your relationship yet, have you? This—” “I guess so…” Yan He didn’t want to continue talking. She pursed her lips and whispered, “I don’t really want to go back. Let’s talk again when I return in a while.”

Li Xiuxi subconsciously agreed: “Ah! Okay, then I’ll help you look up what’s going on with Tan Ning lately—” “No need.” Yan He thought, Didn’t older sister say she would have a good talk with her when she returned home?

Then she would obediently wait for her older sister.

The older sister she liked wouldn’t abandon her.

“Alright, then call me if you need anything.” Li Xiuxi felt her condition wasn’t quite right.

Yan He smiled: “What could be wrong with me? I’m going to Naples tomorrow to see the sea.”

Counting the time, her older sister should already be on the flight back home now, shouldn’t she? She would be back in the country soon.

After hanging up the phone, she walked to the curtain, pulled it with sudden force, and opened it.

The sky outside was overcast; dark clouds covered the sun, but a ring of bright light could still be seen hidden within the large expanse of dark clouds.

White flakes were falling scatteringly from the sky, one piece after another. Heavy snow was falling.

Yan He looked up and smiled, but tears were in her eyes.

It was snowing.

It was snowing in Bolzano.

The day after Christmas.

And after Shen Jinrong had already left.