"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 126

Time flew by. On the third Tuesday of Yan He’s external assignment, the Chinese New Year quietly arrived. In Sperato, the busy work continued methodically. Yan He and Yao Yao’s team, guided by local guides, had traveled through almost all of Sperato.

They stood before the ancient Twin Towers, listening to music that spanned centuries, listening to the guide and the people living nearby introduce them to this historic land.

They stood on the reefs on the coast, battered by waves for hundreds of years. Locals said the stones appeared during a major earthquake centuries ago. No one knew where they came from; they had existed there for as long as anyone could remember.

They ventured deep into the desert. Wang Lushan, who had been to the Sahara Desert, told them that during the day, one couldn’t tell the difference between deserts, but only on a clear night could the full starry sky reveal their exact location.

“Watching the stars in the desert is actually very romantic,” Wang Lushan introduced to the group with a reflective smile: “If conditions allow, I will bring my wife to see the desert when she has time off.”

Yan He thought the same, except she realized there was still a long way to go before she could call Shen Jinrong “wife.”

Yao Yao was single, and Wang Lushan joked that she had dedicated herself entirely to the news business.

One of the cameramen had brought a bottle of vodka, hidden away somewhere in the space in front of the passenger seat. When everyone was sitting around the bonfire in the desert, he pulled the bottle out of the car.

Yao Yao laughed and chased him, accusing him of holding out. He cradled the bottle and scampered away, yelling: “I shouldn’t have brought it out! I haven’t even had two sips yet!”

Yan He sat by the bonfire, watching the flames roar. The orange-yellow light reflected on everyone’s faces, and genuine smiles were visible in everyone’s eyes.

She thought again—How wonderful it would be if Shen Jinrong were here too. No one else would be needed; just the two of them would be enough. They could dance around the bonfire, eat some grilled meat that might be a little charred, or lie side-by-side on the cooling desert sand, gazing at the sky full of stars.

If there were shooting stars—they could make a wish on them. The shooting star streaking across the sky probably wouldn’t know how many people’s wishes it carried. If it knew, would it feel heavily burdened?

The vodka looked like a large bottle, but in reality, there wasn’t much when divided among everyone. Yan He was given a small cup of alcohol. She held the cup in both hands, staring intently at the bonfire. Around her were the excited voices of her colleagues; alcohol was always the best catalyst for enlivening a party atmosphere.

She swirled the cup. The transparent liquid rotated within the glass, a beautiful clear color, just like water. Yan He brought the cup to her lips and cautiously took a small sip.

It was a little hot and a little bitter. She only took a small sip, but she immediately felt heat rising from her lips, then spreading from the tip of her tongue, occupying her esophagus, and finally reaching her stomach.

It was fiery.

While she was still immersed in the taste of the alcohol, the tipsiness had quietly spread to her heart.

“Today! Is the Chinese New Year’s Eve!” Wang Lushan raised his cup and laughed. He declared loudly: “We’ll take a few days off, and then we’ll hit it hard! We’ll finish the job! Let’s aim to be home before the Lantern Festival!”

Everyone started cheering.

Sperato time was five hours behind China. It was 9:30 PM local time, so it was indeed New Year’s Eve in China. In China, it should be… 4:30 AM?

Yan He gripped her phone, opened the screen, and found there was still no signal. She turned off the screen, sat next to Yao Yao, and softly sighed.

“No signal, huh?” Yao Yao glanced at her, smiled, and pointed at Wang Lushan: “Go ask him! I saw him bring a satellite phone today!”

Yan He hesitated: “Is that okay?”

“What’s not okay about it? Communication is inconvenient here. It’s New Year’s, so there’s nothing wrong with calling your family or loved one!” Yao Yao chuckled heartily, simply sitting down next to Yan He. She crossed her legs and called out to Wang Lushan, who was talking to the guide: “Old Wang! Old Wang!”

Wang Lushan walked over with the bottle of liquor. His face was flushed from the alcohol, but his eyes were still clear: “What’s up?”

“Lend me the satellite phone. I need to call my family,” Yao Yao smiled and winked at him: “I mean, it’s the New Year. You wouldn’t refuse me a call, would you?”

“Sure, but are you calling now?” Wang Lushan looked at his wrist for the time. “It’s only four or five in the morning in China, right? How about this, I’ll give it to you when we go back, or you can have it after you wake up tomorrow.”

Yao Yao agreed. After Wang Lushan left, she turned and winked at Yan He.

Yan He smiled: “Thank you, Teacher Yao!”

“Oh, please! Don’t mention it!” Yao Yao waved her hand, not minding at all.

On the twenty-sixth of the lunar month, Shen Jinrong flew to Hainan with her grandmother, Tan Ning’s parents, and her child. Before the flight, Granny Shen insisted that Shen Jinrong bring the Italian sausages Yan He had brought over last time.

Shen Jinrong looked exasperated: “Grandma! Why are you bringing those along!”

“Aiya! They’re little Yan’s kind gesture!” Granny Shen looked at her disapprovingly: “Otherwise, we should cook them today! And give some to your Granny Zhao later.”

Shen Jinrong cooked and replied: “Yes, yes, I know! Didn’t we already give some to her when we brought them back last time!”

“Oh, right. Do you have little Yan’s phone number?” Granny Shen suddenly thought of this: “She brought me a specialty gift, so I should call her for the New Year and ask how she’s doing.”

“She’s not in China right now, and calling isn’t convenient,” Shen Jinrong instinctively said. She realized the slip-up after speaking, but luckily Granny Shen didn’t catch the anomaly, only saying: “Oh, well tell me when little Yan returns!” Granny Shen walked away with a smile.

New Year’s Eve, Hainan.

“What are you thinking about? You look so spaced out,” Tan Ning lay side-by-side with Shen Jinrong on the beach, watching Granny Shen and Mother Tan playing with the child on the sand. Tan Ning casually turned back and saw Shen Jinrong staring intently at one spot, daydreaming.

Shen Jinrong came back to her senses and shook her head: “Nothing.”

“You don’t look like nothing’s wrong.” Tan Ning was in a good mood. She pushed her sunglasses up and smiled: “Professor Shen looks like she’s suffering from lovesickness.”

Shen Jinrong put on her sunglasses to cover her eyes: “Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Am I wrong?” Tan Ning sat up, waved to the two elders who were watching the child, and then turned to Shen Jinrong: “Aren’t you going to call your partner?”

Shen Jinrong pouted: “She’s working, and the signal isn’t good.”

Tan Ning asked deliberately: “Is she out digging in some deep mountain forest?”

Shen Jinrong didn’t fall for it: “I’m not telling you.”

Tan Ning suddenly laughed: “Shen Jinrong, honestly, I truly think you’ve become a lot more childish since you started dating.”

Shen Jinrong “hmph’ed” and still didn’t take her bait.

“Fine, I won’t talk about this topic with you. Go enjoy yourself,” Tan Ning put on a jacket and walked with a smile towards the group playing on the beach.

Seeing Tan Ning leave, Shen Jinrong secretly pulled out her phone. She expertly opened the chat window with Yan He but didn’t see any messages from her little friend. Professor Shen pouted miserably and began to type: “I came to Hainan with Grandma and the others.”

“The weather is great.”

Shen Jinrong wanted to send “I miss you,” but those two words only existed for a brief second in the green chat box before turning into the gray “withdrawn” text. Shen Jinrong closed her phone and thought petulantly, You won’t call me, so I won’t tell you I miss you!

Although she was sulking, Professor Shen still lifted her phone and took a photo of the coast to send to Yan He.

Hmph, you naughty little dog!

“Jinrong! There are shells here!” Tan Ning waved and called her from a distance.

Just as Shen Jinrong was about to leave, her phone rang. The caller ID was a string of unfamiliar numbers. Shen Jinrong hesitated for a moment and answered the call.

Initially, the line was a mixture of noisy human voices and static. Shen Jinrong heard someone speaking Chinese on the other end, seemingly asking, “Is it connected?” “Is it through?” “Is the signal stable?”

Shen Jinrong said “Hello” a few times.

And then came Yan He’s voice.

It was—Yan He’s voice, which Shen Jinrong had only heard in past chat logs during this time, and sometimes secretly listened to after self-comforting late at night.

“Hello? Can you hear me?” Yan He’s voice was slightly distorted by the static, but it was still the tone Shen Jinrong was extremely familiar with.

Shen Jinrong wanted to say she could hear her, but the words were stuck in her throat. She found herself unable to utter a single sentence, as if her windpipe were gripped by something. She could only listen but couldn’t speak.

Her Yan He.

Her heart pounded wildly, as if it wanted to leap out of her body and follow Yan He—only then did Shen Jinrong realize that Yan He had already merged with her body.

The signs had been there for a long time.

“Hello?” Yan He on the other end received no response and seemed to be turning to ask the person next to her: “Teacher Yao? What’s going on? Is the signal bad?”

“Yan He.”

Shen Jinrong heard her own voice, hoarse. She felt the vibration in her chest when she called her name, and the breath she expelled when she called out to her.

She could only say those two words, as if she were under a spell—and the words “Yan He” were her antidote.

“I can hear you.”

“Yan He.”

She called her name again.

A name is the oldest spell.

There was a brief silence on the other end, as if her little friend were shy. Shen Jinrong heard subtle footsteps, and then, Yan He’s soft voice: “I miss you.”

Shen Jinrong laughed. She coaxed Yan He: “What?”

“I miss you.” This was said slightly louder than before.

“Say it one more time.”

Shen Jinrong’s voice, transmitted through the current, carried an unexpected seduction to Yan He’s ear—she was tempting Yan He, tempting her to utter those shy words.

“I miss you.”

Yan He laughed. She said: “Jiejie, you can’t bully people like this.”

Shen Jinrong laughed. Their laughter blended together, as if they were already in the same time and space.

“I miss you too.”

“Is it… fair now?”

Yan He suddenly desperately wanted to kiss her, to look into her eyes, to get close to her, to—possess her.