"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 127

Yan He blushed and avoided Yao Yao, who was sitting in a chair, quickly walking out onto the balcony. It was 6:30 AM; the sky was just starting to brighten, and the sun hadn’t risen yet. The sky at this moment was only blue, as if covered by a layer of haze.

Yan He touched the long antenna of the satellite phone and heard Shen Jinrong laughing on the other end. She laughed too, seemingly without reason: “What are you laughing at?”

“I’m thinking about what you are using to call me,” Shen Jinrong said, holding back a smile.

Yan He answered honestly: “A satellite phone.” She paused, then described the phone to Shen Jinrong with amusement: “It looks like a Nokia phone with a very thick antenna on top.”

Shen Jinrong understood. The two chatted casually for a bit. She asked: “When will you be back?”

“Probably around early February,” Yan He leaned on the railing and looked down. There was a small courtyard with a patch of plants in the middle of their hotel. Yan He always felt that the tallest tree in the middle was a banana tree with green bananas, but she also felt like it wasn’t quite right.

“Then you won’t be back for the New Year,” Shen Jinrong said. The sunlight in Hainan was a bit harsh at noon, so she put on her sunglasses again.

“Yes, but if I’m lucky, I should just make it back for the Lantern Festival,” Yan He said softly: “I can’t talk for too long. The signal here is bad. I always have trouble sending messages or making calls.”

Following that, she heard Shen Jinrong let out a faint sigh on the other end, then say: “It will be fine when you come back.”

When you come back, everything will be fine.

Yan He lowered her eyes and smiled gently: “Yes.”

She thought so too.

“Happy Chinese New Year.”

“You be happy too.” Shen Jinrong smiled, her eyes curving: “Grandma and I came to Hainan for the New Year.”

“Is the New Year in Hainan different from back home?” Yan He asked her.

“It’s alright. The weather is much warmer. There isn’t much difference otherwise.” Shen Jinrong’s voice subconsciously softened a lot.

Yan He acknowledged this and then said: “I have to hang up.” She chuckled when she said the next sentence: “Satellite calls are quite expensive.”

Shen Jinrong also laughed: “Okay, then let me know in advance when you’ll be back. I’ll pick you up.”

Yan He pursed her lips and gave a soft “Mm.”

The final sound of her voice floated into Shen Jinrong’s ears, inexplicably causing a slight tingling sensation. Shen Jinrong lightly coughed, then realized Yan He had already hung up.

She pushed her sunglasses up and looked closely at Yan He’s caller ID.

Truly…

“That’s the first time someone has called me on a satellite phone.”

Shen Jinrong shook her head and mumbled to herself.

“Well, all done?” Yao Yao was sitting in a chair looking at documents. Seeing Yan He return, she couldn’t help but ask teasingly.

“Mm, I made a few calls to my family,” Yan He pursed her lips, trying hard not to let her see the blush on her face. Fortunately, the sky was dim, and the lighting was also dim, so Teacher Yao probably couldn’t see her blushing.

“Alright, then I’ll be going.” Yao Yao took the satellite phone Yan He handed her. Before leaving, she leaned on the doorframe and smiled: “I told you, young man, your tolerance for alcohol is poor. It shows on your face. Look how red your face is.”

“Ah!” Yan He exclaimed, instinctively touching her face. Only then did she belatedly feel the heat. Her mind went blank; she truly hadn’t realized her face was this red.

“You get some sleep. Try to wake up in the afternoon, and we can still watch the Spring Festival Gala and make dumplings together.” Seeing the young woman’s face getting redder, Yao Yao suppressed a laugh and said this. Then she added: “It’s fine if you can’t wake up. We can watch the rebroadcast.”

Yan He rubbed her nose.

Shen Jinrong returned home on the fifth day of the lunar new year. At the Hainan airport, she walked behind Granny Shen and Mother Tan, and with Father Tan and Tan Ning, acting as the one who carried the bags.

“Speaking of which, don’t you have to go to school for a meeting on the seventh?” Tan Ning suddenly recalled the opening arrangements she had seen on her phone.

Teachers always return a few days before the students. Shen Jinrong nodded helplessly: “Yes, I have a meeting on the morning of the seventh. School doesn’t start until the fifteenth.”

Tan Ning laughed: “It’s different when you have a professional title.”

“What difference does it make?” Shen Jinrong shook her head, unwilling to continue the topic. She thought of the freshmen she started teaching last year, full of vitality: “But you, once school starts, you’ll have to start reviewing their graduation theses thoroughly, won’t you?”

“That’s a minor issue. I don’t have many students,” Tan Ning shrugged: “You’ll know when you start supervising theses. Students as worry-free as Yan He are the minority. Other students’ theses can make a person’s blood pressure soar.”

Shen Jinrong blinked. She was now able to keep a straight face when Tan Ning mentioned Yan He: “That’s because Teacher Tan is so capable. The more capable you are, the more you have to do. If it’s really too much, I can buy you some blood pressure medication.”

Tan Ning laughed: “It’s fine, I can still control it.” She then deliberately brought up Yan He: “I wonder when Yan He will be back. A student so worry-free and outstanding is truly rare.”

Shen Jinrong raised an eyebrow: “That is true.”

“I remember she seems to have audited your class?” Tan Ning recalled last year’s incident.

Shen Jinrong smiled: “Didn’t I tell you? She was substituting for another student in class back then. It just so happened that it was my first class roll call, and that student’s name was at the very end.” However, she didn’t tell Tan Ning that the first time she saw Yan He was at the theater in Rome.

The theater in Rome… I should have gone one more time when I went with my little friend.

There were many people in the airport lobby, mostly people returning home after a vacation in Hainan. Father Tan pushed the luggage cart, dodging several waves of people.

“It’s quite an awkward way you two met,” Tan Ning chuckled: “I knew it. I always felt she was a bit timid when she first saw you.”

“She was guilty at the start, wasn’t she?” Shen Jinrong turned and smiled, the tear mole at the corner of her eye also carrying a gentle smile.

The plane took off and then landed. In the moment of turbulence upon landing, Shen Jinrong couldn’t help but wonder, Was it the same feeling when Yan He came home alone? She recalled her conversation with Yan He when they landed in Rome—[“Are you nervous?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I’m so scared.”

“Jiejie is here. Don’t be afraid.”]

The captain’s voice from the broadcast interrupted Shen Jinrong’s thoughts. The taxiing stopped. Tan Ning, sitting beside her, stood up to retrieve her carry-on luggage from the overhead compartment.

“What do you want to eat after we get off the plane?”

Tan Ning asked her.

Shen Jinrong blinked, suddenly feeling a little distracted.

The seventh day of the lunar new year—work resumed.

Shen Jinrong drove to school early in the morning. While waiting for the guard at the gate to open it, she saw the large red couplets pasted on the security room door. Shen Jinrong smiled and said: “Happy New Year.”

The security guard cheerfully replied: “Happy New Year to you too.”

After a few pleasantries, Shen Jinrong drove to the parking lot. The campus was deserted. When students were not in session, the campus seemed to have fallen into a brief hibernation. Large couplets were also pasted in front of the office building, looking festive.

When she parked and walked out, Shen Jinrong encountered Professor Zhao. Seeing Shen Jinrong, Professor Zhao smiled: “Jinrong, you’re here for the meeting too?”

“Happy New Year, Professor Zhao.” Shen Jinrong smiled: “Yes, I’m rushing over for the first day of work.”

“You look very well,” the two walked side-by-side toward the office building. Professor Zhao chatted with her, smiling: “You had a good New Year, didn’t you?”

“It was great. I took my grandmother to Sanya,” Shen Jinrong subconsciously touched her face.

“I feel like your entire spirit and energy are different,” Professor Zhao asked enthusiastically: “What, did you settle a major life event during the New Year break?”

Compared to other professors, Shen Jinrong was young and not married. She was often approached by professors, whether they knew her well or not, who offered to introduce her to potential partners, but Shen Jinrong had always declined, saying she was focused on her career and didn’t have plans to marry yet.

“Yes, I suppose you could say that,” Shen Jinrong smiled.

“Ay-ya-ya, you really are different!” Professor Zhao’s spouse was from Shanghai, so his words sometimes carried the soft, lilting dialect of Wu Chinese. He laughed heartily: “I look forward to drinking your wedding wine!”

“It hasn’t reached that stage yet,” Shen Jinrong blushed slightly but didn’t outright refuse.

“The first stroke of the character is down, so the second stroke isn’t far off,” Professor Zhao teased her with a smile.

The department head called a group of faculty members for an early meeting. After discussing the plan for the year, he started rambling. Shen Jinrong felt a bit impatient. She felt restless, unlocking and locking her phone screen repeatedly. After several times, Professor Zhao beside her noticed her impatience and whispered: “It’s like this every year. This year is actually better. You didn’t come the first two years, so you don’t know.” Professor Zhao shook his head: “Just bear with it a little longer; it will be over soon.”

Shen Jinrong still had projects on hand, waiting to be resumed once school started. Seeing that the meeting wouldn’t end anytime soon, she looked around. Seeing that most of the professors nearby weren’t paying attention and were engrossed in their own things, she simply pulled out the documents a student had sent her before the New Year to review.

She couldn’t focus; it was as if something was preventing her from concentrating.

Fifteen minutes later, the department head, who had been speaking at length on the stage, finally concluded his speech. The meeting ended. Shen Jinrong let out a long breath, stood up, and went to the parking lot to drive home.

When she reached the entrance of her community, the security guard called out to her: “Professor Shen, you have mail!”

Shen Jinrong rolled down her car window, took the mail, and drove home.

When she arrived home, before putting the letter on the table, she glanced at it. The handwriting was somewhat familiar, and the stamp on the envelope was very unfamiliar. She placed everything on the table, casually turned on the TV, and went to wash her hands.

When she came out after washing her hands, the TV was broadcasting the clear and precise voice of the news anchor—”According to reports from our station, at 4:32 AM local time in Sperato, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurred. The epicenter is unknown.”

“Currently, we are trying to establish contact with our correspondent stationed in Sperato.”

Shen Jinrong stiffly turned her head, her gaze falling on the envelope she had casually placed on the table moments ago.

She remembered.

That was Yan He’s handwriting.