"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 13

Yan He  could not help but try to chat more about Shen Jinrong : “Professor Shen also asked me about the double major. But Teacher, you look so young!”

Tan Ning was amused by her: “Do I? I had a child late, so maybe that’s why. Your Professor Shen is very talented. Even when I taught her, I felt her future was limitless.”

The moment she finished speaking, a light knock came from the door. Tan Ning smiled at Yan He and said, “That must be your Professor Shen.” She turned her head and called out clearly, “Please come in.”

The person outside entered.

Shen Jinrong walked in, holding a bouquet of flowers in her left hand and a paper bag in her right.

Yan He instinctively stood up, her gaze focusing on the bouquet of flowers in Shen Jinrong’s arms. Tan Ning, who was beside her, stood up and walked over, saying something that Yan He didn’t clearly hear. All the sound around her seemed to turn into meaningless buzzing. The outside world was rapidly collapsing. In the empty space, only the floor beneath her feet remained.

She watched Shen Jinrong’s lips move, opening and closing with a smile, seemingly talking to Tan Ning. The latter nodded, accepted the flowers from her arms, and patted Shen Jinrong’s shoulder.

Yan He felt like an uninvited guest who had stumbled into a warm scene, watching their conversation from a distance. Her palms were covered in sweat. In a daze, she felt the surrounding air grow thin, as if countless cameras were aimed at her, documenting her current loss of composure from every angle.

Yan He gripped the corner of the desk, nearly tripping over the chair behind her. The chair scraped against the floor, making a considerable noise. The two people standing by the door looked over simultaneously.

Yan He took another step back, forcing out a polite but strained smile.

Then, she met Shen Jinrong’s eyes. Only one thought ran through Yan He’s mind: —Why are Elder Sister’s eyes still so red?

“You came all this way; why bring so many things?” Tan Ning’s tone was one of mild rebuke, yet her words held no actual blame. She reached out and took the flowers from Shen Jinrong’s arms.

It was a large cluster of starry baby’s breath (滿天星), with white, pink, and blue-green tiny flowers mixed together, beautifully elegant.

Shen Jinrong’s face held a faint smile. Her eyes silently rested on Tan Ning’s profile, her voice soft, as if afraid of disturbing the current tranquility: “I originally wanted to buy Oriental lilies, but the shop didn’t have any.”

“This is wonderful already,” Tan Ning’s eyes were bright, and her cheeks were slightly flushed with joy: “It’s already a fortunate thing to be remembered by your own student! And you’ve remembered for so many years; I’ve been lucky for so many years.”

Shen Jinrong pursed her lips, the smile on her face unchanging: “Teacher Tan is always very lucky.” Her tone was neither enthusiastic nor distant, as if she were using this layer of a smile to conceal something.

Tan Ning laughed. Her eyes crinkled when she smiled. She reached out again and patted Shen Jinrong’s shoulder, noticing at that moment that Shen Jinrong looked unwell. Tan Ning’s smile receded somewhat, and she asked, “Why do you look so haggard?”

Shen Jinrong simply said, “I just flew back from abroad and didn’t rest well.”

Tan Ning was about to say more but heard the chair scrape behind her. Only then did she remember Yan He was still in the office. She walked over, affectionately holding Shen Jinrong’s arm, and said gently to Yan He: “Your Professor Shen has arrived.”

Shen Jinrong did not speak, tilting her head slightly to look at Yan He.

Yan He’s breath caught. Her nostrils were filled with a familiar perfume, a light citrus scent, which felt like a hook.

She shifted her gaze away from where Tan Ning and Shen Jinrong were touching and softly said, “Professor Shen.”

Whether it was her imagination or not, Yan He felt that the tear mole at the corner of Shen Jinrong’s eye twitched when she spoke those three words.

Elder Sister wore light makeup today, and her complexion looked much better than yesterday, but the blood vessels in her eyes were still visible, with the corners of her eyes faintly red. That redness seemed to spread, stopping only at the tear mole near her eye.

“Yan He—student.” Shen Jinrong paused after her name and added two more words.

As if to draw a line between herself and Yan He with those two brief words.

“I have a class later. The items are for the child,” Shen Jinrong turned to talk to Tan Ning again, placing the paper bag on the desk. Her face still wore that smile. Yan He always felt that the smile she showed Tan Ning looked pre-designed, with the corners of her mouth and eyes maintaining the exact same curve as the previous smile.

Shen Jinrong then asked Tan Ning, seemingly incidentally: “Did you just move in?”

Tan Ning smiled helplessly: “You’ve spent money on me again.” Looking at her empty desk, she placed the baby’s breath Shen Jinrong brought on the upper right corner: “Yes, I haven’t even finished setting up my things yet.”

The flowers added a little warmth.

Shen Jinrong nodded, then tapped her wrist watch: “I have class, so I’ll leave now.” Her expression was cool, more like she was completing a task.

Yan He opened her mouth but said nothing.

Shen Jinrong looked at Yan He standing next to her, and the corners of her mouth curved up into a faint, shallow smile: “Student Yan He, I’ll be leaving now.”

Yan He gave a stiff nod.

“She’s always like this,” Tan Ning shook her head, her tone indicating helplessness, but it was not hard to hear the pride she felt for her star student: “I’m used to it. Your Professor Shen always acts cool when she cares about someone.”

Yan He offered a polite smile. She didn’t know how to agree with Tan Ning’s words. Fortunately, Tan Ning didn’t seem to be waiting for her agreement. Tan Ning’s tone carried an undetectable intimacy, which, for Yan He, was grating.

After the two finished discussing the topic selection, it was already eleven in the morning. Yan He stood up and slightly bowed: “Thank you, Teacher! I’ll be leaving now.” She glanced at the bouquet again, noticing a small, round sticker on the flower wrapping that looked like the name of the flower shop. She silently memorized the name.

Tan Ning sat in her chair and took a sip of water, smiling brightly: “Good, let me know when you start writing.”

Leaving Tan Ning’s office, Yan He took a long breath. The corridor was slightly dim. The office doors on both sides were staggered, creating a subtle sense of oppression. Yan He wondered which one was Shen Jinrong’s office—or rather, was her office not even here, and she had only come upstairs this time to find Tan Ning?

The temperature had dropped significantly today, and Yan He felt a bit cold.

Walking out of the South Gate of the school, and past the snack street, there was a flower shop to the west. Yan He looked at the address Li Xiuxia had sent her on her phone, confirming it was the right place.

When she pushed the door open, the wind chimes hanging on the door rang clearly. A blast of warm air rushed toward her.

“Buying flowers?” The owner was a young woman with fair skin and her hair tied up high, revealing a slender neck. She stood up to greet Yan He: “What kind of flowers would you like?”

Yan He saw the circular logo sticker on the woman’s computer and knew she had found the right place: “Baby’s breath.”

The woman nodded, led her to the baby’s breath, and asked: “Baby’s breath? What color would you like?”

Yan He tried hard to recall the appearance of the bouquet earlier: “Um… white, pink, and blue?”

The woman raised an eyebrow, pausing the hand she was about to use to pick the flowers: “Are you giving them to someone?”

Yan He was momentarily stunned and answered somewhat confusedly: “No… not exactly.”

The woman understood: “Just for yourself to enjoy? Then I’ll pick out the pretty ones for you!” As she reached in to pick the flowers, she explained to Yan He how to make the baby’s breath look good: “Baby’s breath will dry out if kept too long. It’s best to put them in a vase.”

“Baby’s breath is relatively cold-tolerant, but in winter, the temperature is best kept around 15 degrees Celsius.” The woman finished picking the flowers and showed them to Yan He: “See, how are these?”

The flower shop had the heating on, and the nearby greenhouse area kept the temperature quite high. Yan He nodded, a thin layer of fine sweat forming on the tip of her nose. She casually glanced at the flowers and asked, “Could I have a bit more?” She recalled the size of the bouquet Shen Jinrong gave Tan Ning today and gestured with her hands: “About, this much?”

“Sure!” The woman’s eyebrow twitched slightly. She finished picking the flowers and let Yan He choose the wrapping paper.

After the flowers were wrapped, Yan He scanned the code to pay. Having not used mobile payment for a long time, she was a bit fumbling.

The owner leaned lazily against the counter, and while waiting for Yan He to pay, she smiled softly and asked, “Do you know the language of baby’s breath?”

Yan He looked up at her.

“Purity, care, longing.”

“…And, love willing to be a supporting role.”

As soon as Yan Guangming  returned home, he saw the transparent vase on the living room coffee table. He was slightly surprised and asked Yan He, who was sprawled on the sofa watching TV without any concern for her image: “Did you buy that?”

Yan He didn’t move, lazily giving an affirmative response.

“When does your holiday start?” Yan Guangming asked her.

Yan He thought for a moment: “In about two weeks? I don’t have to take final exams this semester, but I have a make-up exam next semester.”

Yan Guangming added: “We’ll go to your Grandpa and Grandma’s place on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, and we’ll go to your Maternal Grandpa and Grandma’s on the second day of the New Year. You can arrange the rest of your time yourself.”

Yan He was used to the identical New Year arrangements every year. She shifted her position and gave another acknowledging hum.

Yan Guangming changed his clothes and prepared to cook. While tying his apron, he asked Yan He: “Where’s your mother?”

Yan He picked up the remote control and changed the channel: “I don’t know.”

Yan Guangming shook his head and went into the kitchen to cook.

At 8:30 p.m., after dinner, Yan He returned to her room and opened her laptop to read the information her club advisor had just sent her.

The PDF contained the names and profiles of seven young teachers. Yan He scrolled from top to bottom and saw Shen Jinrong listed fourth.

Shen Jinrong’s photo was there. Professor Shen, wearing a formal shirt, was smiling slightly at Yan He—the same photo she had seen on Baidu Baike. Yan He took a deep breath and, driven by an impulse, clicked to enlarge it. Shen Jinrong’s smiling face grew larger and larger until Yan He could clearly see the tear mole near her eye.

“Ding—” Her phone rang again, startling Yan He. It was the advisor sending the contact information for these teachers: “These are the contact details for the teachers. The interviews are now up to you. Please be polite when calling the teachers to schedule a time, and check the school’s official website in advance for the teachers’ class schedules. Call them on working days when they don’t have class.”

Yan He replied: “Okay [OK]” She swiped the phone screen.

Shen Jinrong: 13xxxxxxx

Elder Sister, I have your contact information now.

What about the next meeting?