"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 132

There was a large market near Shen Jinrong’s (Professor Shen’s) home, and Yan He arrived just when it was most crowded. She carefully steered clear of the fishmonger who was expertly cutting off fish heads, and then headed to the vegetable stall to pick out vegetables.

Her phone vibrated again. Yan He sighed and decided not to buy groceries for now. She needed to find a place to sit and deal with the incoming messages.

So, she walked to a nearby milk tea shop. The shop had just opened, and the staff were wiping down equipment. Seeing Yan He approach, one of them smiled apologetically: “I’m sorry, we just opened. If you want milk tea, you might have to wait a little while.”

“Can I place an order now?” Yan He thought for a moment and asked.

“Yes, you can, but it will take a bit longer.”

Yan He ordered a pearl milk tea and sat down at an inner table to open her phone.

First were the messages from Madam He (He-nüshi, her mother), asking if she had arrived. Yan He called back, but Madam He (He-nüshi) seemed to be in a meeting and didn’t answer. Yan He sighed and sent a WeChat message: “Arrived, arrived, I’ve landed safely.”

Next, she called Mr. Yan (Yan-xiansheng, her father) and briefly told him that she had landed. Mr. Yan (Yan-xiansheng) seemed to be on a business trip, as the background noise was very loud.

“Ah! You’ve arrived! Good, good. I’m on a business trip now! I’m out of town, so I can’t come to pick you up.”

“It’s alright, Dad. I can get back by myself,” Yan He said.

“Ah! Good! I’ll be back in about two days.” Someone on the other end seemed to be urging him. Yan Guangming (Mr. Yan) said, “Hey, daughter, I can’t talk now! I have work to do here.”

Yan He then hung up the phone.

Just then, her milk tea was ready. The staff member leaned over the counter and called her. Yan He took the milk tea and returned to her seat.

Li Xiuxi’s call came in. Yan He wondered how she knew she was back. She answered the phone, only to hear Li Xiuxi’s surprised voice on the other end: “Hey, what the heck? It’s going through?”

Yan He: “…What do you think?”

“Well, I’ll be! When did you get back? Why didn’t you say anything about returning?”

“I just got back. I was about to call you.” Yan He punctured the milk tea and took a sip. She asked, “What made you think of calling me?”

“Oh, right, right. You met our classmate in Siena, didn’t you! We were chatting a couple of days ago, and she said your girlfriend’s Italian was really good.” Li Xiuxi burst into laughter: “She was talking about Professor Shen, right? So, how are things between the two of you now?”

Yan He was drinking milk tea when she heard the phrase “your girlfriend’s Italian was really good.” Hearing this, the pearl almost went down her windpipe. Yan He coughed for a long time before she could catch her breath. She widened her eyes and asked Li Xiuxi, “What did you just say?”

“Huh? Did you choke?” Li Xiuxi was completely unaware of which sentence had shocked Yan He so much: “What did I say? I asked how things were between you and Professor Shen…”

“No, no, the sentence before that! The one where that friend said her Italian—what was it?” Yan He took a deep breath, feeling a chill run up her back: “Italian was good?”

“Yeah, she said your partner talked very well with those Italian friends.” Only after saying this did Li Xiuxi feel that Yan He’s tone was off. She asked, “What’s wrong?”

Yan He forced a smile: “Nothing.” She confirmed it with Li Xiuxi again and then hung up the phone while Li Xiuxi was still confused.

—Jie-jie (Sister/Elder Sister) actually understands Italian?!

Then—then when I introduced her to others, saying, “This is my friend”—she knew all along?

Yan He felt like hitting her head against a wall.

She recalled Shen Jinrong (Professor Shen) asking her what “Ragazza” meant, and she had only said it meant “friend.” So—so Jie-jie (Sister/Elder Sister) knew my little secret thoughts back then?

Yan He found it bizarre and awkward. She sighed heavily, leaning back against the chair, constantly internally berating her past self—What were you thinking back then? Why did you introduce her like that?

Yan He remembered Shen Jinrong’s (Professor Shen’s) subtle smile. At the time, she didn’t understand what her Jie-jie (Sister/Elder Sister) was laughing at. Now she understood.

She was mortified.

Yan He vigorously rubbed her throbbing temples and took a large gulp of pearl milk tea to suppress her embarrassment.

After the wave of embarrassment subsided, she opened her phone and began to reply to her friends one by one. Some said they had seen her on the news and asked about her current situation; some asked when she had returned; and some were concerned about her and asked if she needed help.

Yan He replied to them all, saying that she was now home, thanking everyone for their concern, that Sperando was lovely, and that she had completed her overseas assignment.

Finally, she saw a message from Sister Wang, asking about her well-being in Sperando with concern. Yan He was touched and replied: “Thank you, Sister Wang~ I’m already home! [Heart] Please take care in Sperando!”

Sister Wang did not reply, of course. Yan He thought they must be starting to help with the post-disaster reconstruction in Sperando now. However, Teacher Yao had mentioned plans to film a documentary about Sperando. Now it seemed that this plan would not be realized anytime soon.

Yan He quickly finished a cup of milk tea and finally finished replying to her messages. She tilted her head back to stretch and rubbed her sore neck. Only then did she realize it was a little past ten o’clock. She had been sitting in this milk tea shop for an hour.

She stood up, put on her small cross-body bag, left the shop, and went to the market to buy groceries.

As she was buying groceries and preparing to go to Shen Jinrong’s (Professor Shen’s) house, Yan He entered the elevator and pressed the button. Just as the door was closing, someone walked in from the doorway. Because of the backlight, Yan He couldn’t clearly see the person, only hearing an elderly woman’s voice: “Excuse me! Wait a moment!”

Yan He was startled, then immediately realized the woman wanted the elevator to wait. She quickly stretched out her hand to block the elevator door for the elderly woman. The old lady hurried in, let out a sigh of relief, and said to Yan He with a smile, “Thank you!”

Then, she got a clear look at Yan He’s face and exclaimed, “Little Yan (Yan He)?”

Yan He was stunned. Only then did she realize that this elderly woman was Shen Jinrong’s (Professor Shen’s) Grandma—this, this, this—why was this so bizarre?!

Yan He couldn’t figure out how to explain her presence there to Grandma Shen. She opened her mouth but could only manage an awkward smile. Shen Jinrong (Professor Shen) wasn’t home, and she worried about startling the elderly woman, so she couldn’t tell Grandma Shen that she was Shen Jinrong’s (Professor Shen’s) girlfriend. She could only manage an embarrassed smile.

“Little Yan (Yan He)! Do you live here too?” The friendlier Grandma Shen’s smile was, the more Yan He wanted to escape. She met Grandma Shen’s smiling face and said through gritted teeth, “Ah… I—” “Oh dear! You bought groceries too?” Grandma Shen held up the bag she was carrying and said with a smile, “I bought some too. I came to see my granddaughter today; she lives here. I didn’t expect such a coincidence.”

Yan He thought, It is a coincidence, but it’s a bit too much of a coincidence, blocking all her escape routes. Could she find any excuse to run now? Say she went to the wrong place? Or that she was just visiting a friend?

—But why would she bring groceries if she was just visiting a friend?

Yan He smiled awkwardly: “It is quite a coincidence.”

Grandma Shen then noticed the floor button she had pressed on the elevator and said in surprise: “Huh? You live on this floor too?”

Yan He kept up her forced smile, not daring to answer. She continuously looked up at the elevator, wishing that time would stop at this moment and not let her and Grandma Shen stand awkwardly facing each other at Shen Jinrong’s (Professor Shen’s) front door in half a minute.

“I saw you on the news a couple of days ago!” Grandma Shen suddenly remembered Yan He’s time in Sperando: “You were in—what was that place called?”

Yan He said, “Sperando.”

“Ah, yes, yes, yes!” Grandma Shen smiled: “That sounds right. Was there an earthquake there? I saw you reporting. Was it serious?”

“Thank you for your concern,” Yan He smiled a little shyly: “There was an earthquake, but it didn’t cause any severe consequences. I was just filling in temporarily that day. Now, new, more professional colleagues have gone over.”

Grandma Shen nodded, a little wistfully: “When people live to be my age, you learn to take everything in stride. Who can control natural disasters like that!”

Yan He nodded in agreement. Seeing that the elevator was about to reach the floor, Yan He could feel her palms covered in sweat. She wanted to run—even if it meant fleeing in panic. But at that moment, Grandma Shen suddenly turned and asked her, “How about—we have lunch together at my granddaughter’s place?”

Yan He quickly nodded, feeling a wave of relief. She held up the groceries she was carrying: “That’s great. I bought some groceries too, so we can cook together.”

So, after Shen Jinrong (Professor Shen) finished her meeting, besides work-related information, she received messages from two people on her phone. The top message was from Yan He: “Ahhh! Help, help! Grandma is at your place! I’ve been caught red-handed!”

“But don’t worry, Grandma thinks I live here, and we are cooking now.”

Following that was a message from Grandma Shen: “I’m bringing you some things for lunch today. I made spring rolls this morning.”

“What a coincidence! I ran into Little Yan (Yan He) in the elevator. Let’s have lunch together.”

Shen Jinrong (Professor Shen) raised her eyebrows. Although she was a bit surprised, she thought this might be a good opportunity to tell Grandma the truth.

She was still standing in the conference room. The people sitting below who hadn’t left looked at each other, exchanging glances—[Something is wrong. Didn’t the finance department submit the wrong report? But President Shen is smiling. It looks like President Shen is in a good mood today. Ah! That’s great. It feels like she’s in love!]

Shen Jinrong (Professor Shen) was, of course, unaware of her subordinates’ conversation. She put away her phone and, as she prepared to leave, she raised an eyebrow at the room full of people: “It’s lunchtime. Aren’t you going to eat?”

“We’re going now, right now!”

Shen Jinrong (Professor Shen) smiled: “Then I’ll leave first.” Before leaving, she even called out the name of the finance department: “Little Zhou from the finance department, don’t submit the wrong report next time!”

Shen Jinrong (Professor Shen), walking out of the conference room, sent a message to Yan He: “It’s alright. Wait for me to get home.”