"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 112

The plane was preparing for takeoff. Yan He’s seat was next to the emergency exit, and a flight attendant came over to explain what she should do in an emergency. Then, the mandatory safety demonstration began. The seatbacks in front also displayed diagrams, and unlike the other positions, the seats by the emergency exit had an additional sign stating, “Children are prohibited from sitting by the emergency exit.”

Yan He looked at the empty seat beside her. She and Shen Jinrong had purchased a low-cost flight and paid a few extra Euros to select their seats, ensuring they could sit together. Yet, now, the seat that should have belonged to Shen Jinrong was completely empty, having lost the purpose it was supposed to serve.

After a rapid acceleration, the plane finally took to the sky. Looking out the window, a noticeable tilt in the fuselage could be felt. Yan He hadn’t flown on small planes very often, and every time the aircraft shook in the air, it made her heart pound with fear.

She finally breathed a sigh of relief once the flight leveled out.

She propped her hand on the armrest beside her. If everything had gone smoothly, she could have been resting on her girlfriend’s shoulder, asleep, instead of sitting here all alone. She was the only one in this row; loneliness was her constant companion.

Yan He realized that after Shen Jinrong left, she had been unable to shake off this feeling of solitude. Even walking in a crowd, she felt disconnected from everyone else.

Since her phone was lost, she had nothing to occupy the time, so she simply stared blankly at the scenery outside the window. The sky gradually brightened. As the plane pierced through the clouds and reached a higher altitude, the previously overcast sky vanished completely. Yan He looked down, and a vast expanse of dense green mixed with the colours of snow-capped mountains, creating an unexpectedly harmonious sight.

The flight attendants began pushing the service trolley down the aisle. Yan He didn’t request anything; she closed her eyes, hugged herself, and leaned back in her seat, appearing to be asleep.

—In the end, she did drift into a deep slumber, only to wake up again when the plane was jolting upon landing.

The airport announcement came over the broadcast, informing passengers that they had arrived in Naples.

Yan He opened her eyes and looked outside, seeing only a hazy sky, dark and overcast, as if brewing a storm. She frowned, subconsciously reaching for her phone to check the weather, then suddenly remembered she had left it behind in Bolzano.

She vaguely recalled that the previous weather forecast had predicted sunny days in Naples until the end of the month. How could it suddenly be about to rain?

Yan He dragged her suitcase down the metal stairs, which were wobbly and let out a creaking sound with every step. Yan He kept thinking this rickety ladder would fall apart any second, but it didn’t, and she safely reached the bottom.

Following the passengers ahead into the airport lobby, Yan He was surprised to find herself indulging in an unrealistic fantasy—that Shen Jinrong would be there waiting for her. But she quickly realized it was merely wishful thinking; her older lover had already returned to China.

The hotel she booked was not far from the coast; she had originally planned to go see the sea upon arrival. However, now, the clouds were tumbling violently where the sea met the sky in the distance, and magnificent waves crashed one after another.

Seeing Yan He gazing at the sea through the glass, the young man helping her check in smiled: “It’s not a great time to visit the sea; the wind is too strong. It’s winter, and if it were sunny, it would be fine.”

Yan He snapped back to attention, took the room card and her passport he handed her, thanked him, and then asked, “Why did the weather change so quickly?” She remembered it was still bright and sunny when she departed from the north.

“The weather forecast isn’t always accurate,” the young man shrugged, offering her a helpless smile: “Just enjoy a distant view of the sea; it’s a bit dangerous to go when the tide is rising and the waves are high. Perhaps you could visit Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii.”

Yan He hadn’t quite understood his word for “high tide” but gathered his general meaning from his expression and gestures. She thanked him again and planned to take her suitcase up to her room.

She suddenly remembered she hadn’t called her parents, so she turned back to the young man and asked, “Could I please borrow a phone for an international call? My cell phone is lost, and I will pay you for it.”

The young man readily agreed.

So Yan He called Ms. He and Mr. Yan separately to report the incident. Ms. He was startled to hear Yan He had lost her phone, then asked if her daughter was physically okay. After confirming it was only the loss of the phone, Ms. He sighed: “Fine, fine. When is your flight? I’ll pick you up?”

Yan He smiled radiantly and reported her flight number: “Thank goodness I remembered the flight number.”

Ms. He rolled her eyes on the other end of the line: “Right, right, right. Just get back safely. See you at the airport.”

Yan He said the same thing to Mr. Yan. She then called Li Xiuxi, whose reaction was the same as Ms. He’s, followed by bursts of laughter: “Holy cow, Yan He! You’re something else! You didn’t lose your phone once during your year as an exchange student, but you lost it while travelling.”

Yan He replied, “That’s typical of you; a true friend.” She was joking about his immediate laughter at her misfortune.

“Alright, alright, I won’t laugh at you,” Li Xiuxi said. “When is your flight? The day after tomorrow, right?” He asked her, “Should I pick you up?”

Yan He told him, “My mother is coming.”

“Oh, that’s fine; it doesn’t matter. I must have a meal with you; otherwise, I don’t know when you’ll be back after your overseas assignment!” Li Xiuxi also confirmed the flight number with her and then hung up.

Yan He looked at the desk phone in front of her, thinking, Should I call my older lover?

As if noticing her hesitation, the young man leaned on the counter and asked her, “Why aren’t you calling?”

Yan He pursed her lips and smiled shyly: “I’m debating whether to call my girlfriend.” She used the word “Ragazza” again, but this time, Shen Jinrong wasn’t by her side, so she couldn’t tell her the meaning of the word in person.

“Go ahead and call her!” The young man smiled, his two dimples appearing on his cheeks: “Why hesitate when you can just do it?”

Yan He smiled at him, took a deep breath, and after dialling the country code, she slowly began to punch in the sequence of numbers she knew by heart. By the fourth digit, she noticed her hand was shaking, and only after pressing the last digit did she let out a long breath.

International calls can be slow to connect, and the signal wasn’t very clear. Yan He’s hand, holding the receiver, was sweaty and felt clammy. She counted the rings; the phone “beeped” seven or eight times, but Shen Jinrong didn’t answer.

The warmth on Yan He’s cheeks gradually receded, and her wildly beating heart sank as well.

Even after a minute, Shen Jinrong still hadn’t picked up, and the call automatically disconnected.

Her slightly raised lips slowly dropped, and the smile in her eyes vanished. She felt like a cluster of flowers that hadn’t waited for spring, having barely survived the severe winter only to wither at the onset of the spring rain. As she wilted, she felt as though her body was covered in icicles.

“She probably has something important going on.” The young man, who had been standing at the front desk, had somehow stepped away. Yan He comforted herself with this thought. She pursed her lips, left a five-Euro note on the counter, and walked away.

It was two o’clock in the afternoon, Beijing time.

Shen Jinrong raised her hand to hit the snooze button on her phone, her hair a bit messy. She leaned over the edge of the bed to reach for her phone, and once she had it, she squinted to check the time.

Oh, it’s two in the afternoon, she thought. The timing is just right.

She yawned, slumping lazily on the bed, soft strands of hair falling casually over her back. Shen Jinrong buried her face in the pillow and instinctively called out: “Yan He, time to get up!”

There was no response.

Shen Jinrong abruptly lifted her head. Only then did she remember that Yan He was still in Italy, and she herself had left her there alone. A wave of guilt, stronger than before she went to sleep, assailed her heart. Her heart also started beating rapidly, as if hinting that something had happened.

She opened her phone and saw the three characters Yan He had sent: “Are you okay?” Looking at these three words, she could almost see the young girl’s cautious expression.

Shen Jinrong smiled softly.

You don’t need to be so cautious, Yan He.

She squinted and messaged Yan He back: “I’m alright. I’m about to leave to handle things.” She calculated the time in Italy, realizing the young woman should have arrived in Naples by now, so she asked again: “Did you arrive safely? How is Naples?”

Yan He did not reply.

Shen Jinrong then got up and changed her clothes. She deliberately chose a commanding, casual suit and a pair of high heels, then sat down at the vanity to apply her makeup. Coincidentally, Tan Ning called her. Shen Jinrong answered the phone, and Tan Ning chuckled on the other end: “Good, I’m relieved to know you’re up.”

“I’m up,” Shen Jinrong replied while meticulously drawing her eyebrows, taking a break to say, “I’m heading over shortly. Are you coming with me?”

Tan Ning hesitated, seeming to talk to someone next to her, and then said, “I think I’ll skip it for now.”

Shen Jinrong replied: “Okay, then I’ll go by myself. I’ll let you know the situation after I’ve dealt with it.”

Tan Ning gave a soft affirmation.

It wasn’t until Tan Ning hung up that Shen Jinrong noticed a missed call on her phone from an Italian landline number. She frowned, hesitated for a moment, and tried calling back, but it went straight to a busy signal.

Shen Jinrong looked at her phone in confusion. Seeing that she was running out of time, she didn’t dwell on it but put the phone aside to continue her makeup, planning to try calling again when she returned.

Twenty minutes later, she finally finished a sophisticated and glamorous makeup look. Her features were already striking and elegant, and with the added enhancement, she looked even more imposing. Shen Jinrong rarely tried to appear intimidating, but for the sake of confronting Wang Dingyun, she was attempting it for the first time.

Satisfied, Shen Jinrong changed into her clothes, picked up her phone, took a selfie, and sent it to Yan He. She then sent a voice message: “Little one, your older lover is off to the battlefield. Wait for me to come back~” followed by, “Be a good girl~”