"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 124

“I told you I could manage by myself.” Shen Jinrong looked helplessly at Tan Ning, who was standing at the doorway of the hospital room, then turned to her grandmother and said playfully, “Grandma! Look at Tan Ning!”

Granny Shen was putting on her down jacket. Hearing this, she turned to Tan Ning, who had already walked in, and smiled: “Ning Ning came all this way specially. There’s no harm in her coming.”

Shen Jinrong pouted, looking a bit wronged.

“I just came to see if I could help with anything, but mainly to see Grandma. It has nothing to do with you,” Tan Ning walked over and affectionately linked arms with Granny Shen, who then sweetly agreed, “That’s right, that’s right.”

Shen Jinrong sighed helplessly: “Fine, I know, you two have a good relationship.”

Granny Shen didn’t have much luggage. Shen Jinrong and Tan Ning each carried a bag, and they left. Shen Jinrong had completed all the paperwork earlier, just waiting for them to finish packing before leaving.

While waiting for the elevator, Granny Shen smiled towards the nurses’ station next to the elevator, thanking them for their care during her stay. Shen Jinrong was already accustomed to her grandmother’s sociable nature. She rubbed her nose and forced a smile, also offering a word of thanks.

“Ah, I can finally go home. My old bones feel like they’re falling apart after lying in the hospital for so long.”

Tan Ning held her arm and said with a smile, “Nonsense. Our Grandma still looks bright and energetic.”

Granny Shen beamed: “Do I?”

Tan Ning nodded vigorously: “Yes, of course, you do!”

Granny Shen’s smile widened. She glanced at Shen Jinrong next to her and mumbled, “Look how nicely Ning Ning speaks! And look at you, all you do is make me angry.”

Shen Jinrong didn’t know how she had displeased the elderly lady this time. She shrugged, pretending not to hear.

“We’re about to go out. It’s cold outside, so please be careful,” Shen Jinrong said as the elevator doors opened.

The three sat in Shen Jinrong’s car parked at the entrance. Tan Ning sat in the back with Granny Shen. Shen Jinrong adjusted the rearview mirror and turned on the car’s heating.

“Ning Ning, why don’t you come to our house for lunch?” Granny Shen held Tan Ning’s hand, her face showing concern: “You child, why didn’t you tell Grandma about such a big thing happening in your life? I had to find out by forcing it out of Jinrong when I saw her sneaking around the other day.”

Shen Jinrong quickly clarified: “I wasn’t the one who told her! I really didn’t say anything! Grandma guessed it herself initially!” She didn’t know how the elderly lady had found out, as she had directly asked her how things were going with Tan Ning’s family when she saw her.

Tan Ning didn’t mind and smiled: “I knew Grandma cared about me.”

Granny Shen sighed in relief, patted Tan Ning’s hand, and said earnestly, “It’s fine. That kind of person! It’s a good thing you left him. That was just too much!” Still mindful of Tan Ning’s feelings, she didn’t pursue the topic and suddenly changed the subject to Shen Jinrong: “Look at this little rascal. She says she has a partner, but she still hasn’t brought her back for me to meet.”

“I told you, she’s busy lately. I’ll arrange a meeting for you two as soon as she’s back,” Shen Jinrong’s tone was relaxed, but Tan Ning glanced at her and still detected hesitation in her voice.

Tan Ning raised an eyebrow, smiled knowingly, and didn’t comment.

“You always say that. You just humor me.” Granny Shen wasn’t fooled. Instead, she turned to Tan Ning and said, “Will you come to Grandma’s house for lunch?”

Tan Ning chuckled: “Grandma, my mom is already at the market. She said she insists on coming to your house for a proper meal today!”

“Then we thought of the same thing!” Granny Shen clapped her thigh, smiling broadly.

Shen Jinrong saw this in the rearview mirror, a smile on her lips.

If only Yan He were here and could eat with them too.

Yan He was lying on the hotel bed, thinking about how to write the postcard. She twirled the pen in her hand, the postcard she had bought earlier today laid out in front of her. She flipped the illustrated side up, rubbing her chin as she carefully considered what she should write to Shen Jinrong.

She shouldn’t write too much… but she couldn’t just write a few sentences either. Yan He was completely conflicted. She simply stared at the picture and began to daydream. Just then, the doorbell rang. Yan He got up from the bed, put the postcard and pen on the desk, quickly walked to the door, checked the peephole to confirm it was Yao Yao, and opened the door.

“I’m sorry to bother you, I just came to drop off some materials,” Yao Yao apologized with a smile, carrying a stack of documents that looked like about a dozen pages—not very thick.

“Not at all, Teacher Yao, please come in,” Yan He quickly invited her in.

It was 7:30 in the evening, but the sky hadn’t completely darkened yet, and a dark blue light still hovered overhead. Yao Yao casually placed the materials on the nearby desk, then saw the postcard on top of them, and smiled: “Is this the postcard you plan to mail?”

Yan He nodded and leaned closer to ask, “Would you like some water?”

Yao Yao laughed: “No, thanks. I just came to bring you the materials.” She stood there, looking down at Yan He’s postcard, and smiled: “You chose well.”

Yan He was confused: “Huh?”

“Ah, I mean, this place is very interesting,” Yao Yao smiled, picking up the postcard and explaining to Yan He: “It’s a place we are going to visit. These two—you could call them towers—are naturally formed. No one knows how they were created, and no one knows what they originally looked like. They were already there on the edge of the desert when the locals started keeping records.”

“At the end of every winter, if you’re lucky enough, you can hear the music produced by nature when the wind blows through,” Yao Yao smiled with pursed lips: “I haven’t heard it, but Wang Lushan has. He says it’s the most natural music there is.”

“Is that ‘singing sand’?” Yan He asked with a smile.

“You could say that,” Yao Yao shrugged: “Since I haven’t seen it yet, I can’t say for sure.”

Yan He looked thoughtful. Before she could speak, she heard Yao Yao’s cheerful voice: “However, I have heard that if you can hear the beautiful music, it means the city is very fond of you, and it’s a symbol of good luck.”

Yan He smiled helplessly: “Everything is a symbol.” Most of these were just charming stories invented by local tourism bureaus.

“It’s a symbol,” Yao Yao smiled. She knew, of course, that too many beautiful legends were invented by places to attract tourists: “But this place is excellent. You should go see it, and then decide what to write on the postcard.”

Before leaving, Yao Yao leaned against the doorframe and winked at Yan He: “I bet the person you’re mailing it to will love it.”

Yan He’s face was slightly red. She pursed her lips and whispered, “Will they?”

“They will.” Yao Yao sighed internally, reflecting that youth was wonderful. Unconstrained and joyful love, and travel on a whim.

She can feel your feelings, Yan He.

Yan He placed the postcard solemnly on top of the stack of documents, thinking the same thing.

The three drove back to the community. Granny Shen and Tan Ning got out of the car first, with Shen Jinrong following behind, carrying the bags. She happened to park the car right by the unit entrance. As they were going upstairs together, Granny Zhao from upstairs came down. Seeing Granny Shen returning, she was first stunned, then clapped her thigh: “Aiya! My dear old sister! I finally see you!”

Granny Shen looked vibrant. She smiled and waved at her: “Hello, hello. I wasn’t feeling well a while ago, so I was recuperating in the hospital for a period!”

“How is your health now?” Granny Zhao walked down and exchanged greetings with Granny Shen: “You look quite well!”

“Eating all the time and sleeping all the time, how could I not look well!” Granny Shen said with a laugh.

The two old ladies exchanged a few more pleasantries. Granny Zhao suddenly slapped her forehead: “Aiya! Look at me, I completely forgot about this!”

Granny Shen asked in confusion: “What is it? What happened?”

“Aiya! Do you remember a while ago! That—ah, last month or sometime? You were walking with a young girl, that one! The quick-to-help little girl!” As Granny Zhao spoke, Shen Jinrong, who was behind, froze.

“Oh, oh, oh! I know! You mean little Yan!” Granny Shen realized: “What about that child?”

“That child came to see you two days ago! She was carrying something and told me she was going on a business trip or an external assignment soon—” During the pause as Granny Shen and Granny Zhao spoke, Tan Ning poked Shen Jinrong, who blinked and strained her ears to listen to the two old ladies’ chat.

“Aiya! That child. She didn’t even call me before coming or anything,” Granny Shen sighed, pressing her hand to her forehead: “See, we missed each other!”

“Yes. And I saw that the child was in a bit of a hurry that day, so I told her to give the item to me, and I would give it to you when you came home,” Granny Zhao held Granny Shen’s hand and said: “Sigh, I didn’t tell the child that you were in the hospital either.”

“It’s better not to say, better not to say. That’s not a good thing to tell people!” Granny Shen agreed with a sigh.

“The item the child brought for you is still in my house! Shall I go get it for you?” Granny Zhao asked.

“Sure. Jinrong! Go get it from Granny Zhao,” Granny Shen instructed Shen Jinrong.

Shen Jinrong followed Granny Zhao to her apartment to fetch the item. Granny Zhao took a few vacuum-sealed sausages from the refrigerator in her kitchen, put them into the paper bag she picked up from the doorway, and handed them to Shen Jinrong, smiling: “Here you go. Mission accomplished.”

Shen Jinrong smiled: “Thank you very much!”

Granny Zhao smiled and nodded. Then, as if remembering something else, she said with emotion, “She’s such a good child, especially polite.”

Shen Jinrong smiled along. She realized she now enjoyed hearing people talk about Yan He. That way, during her brief absence, it was almost as if she had never left.

“She really is a very good person.” Shen Jinrong thanked her again and went upstairs with the sausages.

That evening, Yan He sat across from her. The overhead light fell into her eyes, and the weather in Rome that night was gorgeous.

And then, her little friend had smiled and said: “Maybe Grandma would like the sausages here?”

Shen Jinrong clutched the bag in her hand. They had agreed then to buy some when they returned, but she had an incident and returned early. Yet—Yan He still remembered.

Yan He had always been a person of her word.

As Shen Jinrong slowly walked up the stairs, the bag in her hand swayed. She held onto the railing and suddenly smiled.

What she had forgotten, Yan He still remembered.