"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 21

“Why are you home so late?” Hearing the door open, the Grandma  looked up from her short video app, glaring at the tardy Shen Jinrong.

Shen Jinrong put her bag down by the door, took off her coat and hung it up, then pulled out her phone before saying: “There was something at work; I just finished dealing with it.”

The Grandma gave her a look: “You’re already a professor and you’re still so busy! Back when your grandfather and I…”

Shen Jinrong listened to the Grandma reminisce for the nth time while washing her hands, smoothly finishing the sentence: “Back when you and my grandfather were both university teachers, it took until you were forty to be promoted to full professor.”

The Grandma narrowed her eyes and glared. When she knew she couldn’t win an argument with Shen Jinrong, she always chose to change the subject: “…You’re not getting any younger. When are you going to bring someone home to meet us?”

Shen Jinrong suddenly remembered her phone seemed to have vibrated while she was driving. She diverted the topic: “Oh, right! I think I have a message to reply to!”

Seeing her look down at her phone, the Grandma sighed in disappointment, muttering: “You young people nowadays! You get annoyed the moment this topic comes up. I met a very kind young woman at the market today. I didn’t have money to buy fish, and the fish vendor was in a hurry to leave, so that girl actually spotted me the money!”

Shen Jinrong saw the friend request from Yan He. The corner of her lips curved, and just as she was about to tap ‘Accept’, the Grandma suddenly snatched the phone away.

“I’m talking! Are you even listening? Young people today—” Shen Jinrong tried to grab the phone back: “I know, I know, I won’t look at my phone, I’ll just reply to one message and that’s it!” She finally retrieved her phone, muttering softly: “You shouldn’t trust strangers outside so much in the future. What if she was a bad person?”

“No way, that little girl looked so well-behaved and sweet,” the Grandma stroked her chin, smiling: “Speaking of which, her scarf looked familiar. I remember you have one just like it. Oh well! What does an old woman like me have that’s worth stealing anyway!”

When Shen Jinrong heard the word “scarf,” she instinctively thought of Yan He, but then thought that it couldn’t possibly be such a coincidence. She shook her head, and then heard the Grandma say: “Alright! Stop fiddling with your phone! Come eat!”

Shen Jinrong accepted Yan He’s friend request, considered it for a moment, and sent her a smiling face emoji. Then, urged by the Grandma, she put her phone down.

I wonder what the little one is up to right now.

Shen Jinrong found it slightly amusing. I hope Grandma didn’t drag her home and force-feed her fish soup, she thought.

Elder Sister’s message accepting the friend request was slow to arrive. Yan He let out a long breath. Her thumbs flew across the keyboard, typing and revising, typing and deleting the short greeting. She felt herself in a state of extreme silence. Her brain was overexcited, causing a brief moment of vertigo. For a second, she didn’t know where she was or what she should do next.

It was like standing in front of a subway line, with the train roaring past, leaving only a huge black tunnel. What would be inside that tunnel? Darkness was everlasting; the train only occasionally passed through, briefly illuminating a corner.

She pondered for a long time. Just as she was sobering up from the dizziness, Elder Sister sent the first reply: a smiling face emoji.

Yan He was momentarily stunned. She opened her emoji keyboard, found the exact same smiling face, and sent it to Elder Sister: “Hello, Professor Shen! I’m Yan He [smiling face] [smiling face] [smiling face]” After the message was sent, five minutes passed, and Elder Sister didn’t reply.

Yan He’s heart was suddenly in chaos, her mood surging like a roller coaster. All sorts of strange speculations spun in her mind, leaving her in turmoil. A train violently rushed out of her heart, leaving a huge void. She needed to find something to fill it, something to replenish the space in her heart.

I can’t be like this!

She stood up, deciding to find something else to do.

Yan He was momentarily at a loss. The New Year was approaching, and the house had already been cleaned. Ms. He and Mr. Yan weren’t home during this period, so there was nothing to tidy. She had already read all the books in her room, and for the moment, she couldn’t think of anything she wanted to read—preferably something short, not too profound, just enough to pass the time.

—The Little Prince.

Yan He walked into her room, bent down, and pulled a thin book with a light yellow cover from the lower bookshelf. The lower shelves contained the books she had read in elementary school, covered with a layer of dust. She hadn’t read these books in a long time. Next to The Little Prince was a copy of Robinson Crusoe with a red cover.

Yan He simply sat down on the floor. The little boy with golden hair smiled at her, holding a balloon. This smile felt tangible, as if crossing the pages. The blond boy walked up to her, tilted his head, and smiled.

Yan He couldn’t help but smile too. She randomly flipped open a page, not so much turning a page as revisiting a memory.

“‘Tame’? What does that mean?”

“‘Tame’ means to establish ties.”

The two lines were enclosed in quotation marks, stacked together. On the right side of the page was a drawing of a tree, with the red little fox and the little prince sitting side-by-side beneath it.

Yan He could almost see a fox with a fluffy red tail narrowing its eyes and saying this to the little prince. What was the little fox thinking at that time? In that field of golden wheat, would it occasionally curl up under the tree, look down the slope, and wonder who would come and establish a bond with it?

Yan He closed the book, letting out a soft sigh.

Elder Sister, you have tamed me.

“Has that woman been looking for you lately?” Halfway through dinner, looking at the dishes, Shen Jinrong remembered her father’s former lover and suddenly asked the Grandma.

The news was playing on CCTV-13. The Grandma was focused on eating. At the question, she said dismissively: “She came by. Spouted some nonsense, and I chased her out.”

Shen Jinrong frowned, feeling agitated by the trouble her father had left behind. She had thought that cutting ties with her father would avoid all problems, but she hadn’t anticipated that, while she avoided the troubles of his life, she now had to contend with his lover over the inheritance.

Shen Jinrong was a person who disliked trouble—in her view, the root cause of all trouble was property. Wang Dingyun  was harassing them for property, and Shen Jinrong was contending with her to keep some property for the Grandma.

Shen Jinrong sighed silently. She felt she was merely standing on a reef about to be submerged. This reef was now precarious; the tranquility and successful escape she had once believed in were only temporary. When the storm came, no one could escape.

“…What did she say?” Shen Jinrong decided to listen to her “nonsense.” Wang Dingyun wasn’t completely stupid and might genuinely come up with a way to claim a portion of the inheritance. However, Shen Jinrong couldn’t immediately imagine what she would do.

“Her? She was spouting all sorts of strange rubbish—she even said she wanted to give Shen Shijun a child.” The Grandma didn’t take Wang Dingyun’s words seriously, considering them just nonsense. The Grandma snorted: “The man is dead. What’s there to cling to? Is she going to have a child with a ghost?”

Shen Jinrong’s heart sank. A thought lingered in her mind, and she dared not dwell on it. She only smiled in agreement: “Exactly, that’s just nonsense! Have some vegetables! Don’t just eat meat! I heard Dr. Gao say your blood pressure has gone up recently!”

The Grandma secretly tucked a piece of braised pork under her rice in the bowl, grumbling: “Little Gao is too nosey. It’s only slightly high! I’ll walk around for a bit, and it will drop!”

Shen Jinrong found it amusing: “Dr. Gao is just looking out for your health. What do you mean ‘nosey’?”

“Fine, fine! I won’t eat meat, alright!” The Grandma reluctantly picked up a piece of green vegetable with her chopsticks.

Shen Jinrong raised an eyebrow: “Not just meat, but smoking, too. Why do you and your group of old ladies smoke while playing Mahjong? It’s so bad for your health!” She narrowed her eyes, drawing out her voice: “Grandma—I saw it! That piece of meat under the rice is the last one! No more eating!”

The Grandma pouted. Just as Shen Jinrong finished speaking, her phone chimed. The Grandma, who normally wouldn’t let her use her phone during meals, immediately pointed to it and said: “Your phone rang! It must be work! Go look at it quickly!”

As she spoke, while Shen Jinrong was looking down at her phone, she quickly grabbed another piece of meat and stuffed it into her mouth.

Shen Jinrong found it slightly funny and pretended not to notice. Her phone showed a new WeChat message. She opened it. It was from Yan He: “Hello, Professor Shen! I’m Yan He [smiling face] [smiling face] [smiling face]”