"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 26

Section 1

That evening, Shen Jinrong  didn’t know how many times she regretted not stopping Yan He from drinking. She had originally just wanted to treat the young woman to a meal as thanks for helping her write a news draft, but now she found that everything was heading in a direction she couldn’t control.

From when, exactly, did things start spiraling out of control? It probably started from—bringing the young woman back to the hotel room in Vienna, right?

“You sleep on the bed; I’ll sleep on the sofa,” Shen Jinrong maintained the perfect decorum of a host, taking another sip of her wine. However, the movement was a little unnatural and stiff, as if to conceal something. She thought calmly, I shouldn’t have given myself away, should I?

The light from the ceiling lamp fell into her wine glass. The amber liquid moved slowly with the ice cubes, where the fine patterns created by the melting water mixing with the wine were faintly visible.

Yan He sat nervously on the sofa beside Shen Jinrong, her hands clasped uneasily. The elder sister’s sofa was leather, and it felt a little uncomfortable to sit directly on it, so she kept shifting her body, subtly changing her posture.

The elder sister should have put a cushion on the sofa.

The young woman secretly glanced at the elder sister but was caught red-handed. Shen Jinrong continually felt a gaze fixed on her face—from her earlobes to the bridge of her nose, from her forehead to her neck.

This made her quite uneasy. Yan He’s gaze was too scorching, like a flame. Where her eyes landed was like a dry prairie where a spark could set off a wildfire. At first, it was just a tiny spark, but then it grew more brazen until it became an all-consuming blaze.

Shen Jinrong sighed and turned her attention to Yan He. After meeting the elder sister’s calm eyes, the young woman’s pupils constricted sharply. Following a brief moment of surprise, she simply cast aside her reserve and looked openly.

The elder sister had already taken off her pearl earrings. Where they had been, there was now only a tiny piercing hole, the surrounding skin radiating a pink glow. Fair—and tender. Yan He felt, perhaps it was just her imagination, that the elder sister’s ear tips were starting to turn red.

Suddenly, she really wanted to bite them.

Yan He licked the tip of her teeth, wondering, If I were to take a bite, would the elder sister get angry?

The bold, yet timid, young woman was met with the elder sister’s threatening look the next second. She shrunk her neck back, thinking, Maybe the elder sister would bite back? With this thought, she tilted her neck up—Come on, bite me!

Section 2

The elder sister’s skin, after showering, had a beautiful rosy color. She placed the wine glass on the coffee table with a clear clink. She put on her glasses, then reached under the coffee table for a book. Yan He squinted and saw that it was an English book, one she remembered seeing Li Xiuxi (李修溪) read, seemingly Macroeconomics.

Yan He didn’t understand economics, but that didn’t stop her from sitting there and looking at the elder sister. Even just sitting there, the beauty looked like a painting.

She watched the elder sister open the book to the place she’d last read, where a small metal bookmark was clipped in the center of the pages. Yan He found the bookmark familiar, but she couldn’t recall where she had seen it before. She just found the reflection of the golden bookmark glaring in her eyes.

The elder sister picked up a mechanical pencil and began sketching lines on that page. Her lips were tightly pursed, and her expression had become serious, giving her an aura somewhat like Professor Shen (沈教授). The refined, cold, detached Professor Shen, wearing glasses with a look of serene indifference, seemed as if nothing could leave a mark on her placid eyes.

After a while, Shen Jinrong seemed to find Yan He’s sparkling eyes a little distracting. She put down her pen and asked, “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

Yan He whispered, “I’m not sleepy.” What time is it! I could watch the elder sister forever! I’m not sleepy at all!

Shen Jinrong smiled, “I seem to have been asking all the questions today.” She placed the book on her lap, pushed her glasses back up onto her nose, and asked, “Don’t you think that’s a bit odd?”

“It is a bit,” Yan He lowered her head to think for a moment, then asked, “Then, may I ask you a question?”

Shen Jinrong looked at her. The lenses reflected the light into a beautiful green color, squarely blocking her eyes, precisely stopping Yan He’s prying gaze. Yan He wondered if it was her imagination, but she always felt the elder sister’s gaze was much sharper when she wore glasses, like a penetrating sword piercing her soul.

Yan He shook her head and shifted her angle to look at the elder sister, avoiding the green reflection. Shen Jinrong’s eyes moved with the shift in the young woman’s sight, her mind calculating what question the young woman would ask.

“Alright, what do you want to ask?”

“Can I sleep with the elder sister?”

Why this question again.

Shen Jinrong sighed and rubbed her temple, thinking, Tonight, work is probably not going to happen.

“Elder sister.”

The young woman’s address of “elder sister” was sticky and sweet, and her eyes were full of expectation. Shen Jinrong was momentarily lost in thought, but the lapse was only for a second; she quickly refused: “No, you can’t.”

“I won’t do anything!” the young woman protested with a pouting mouth.

Shen Jinrong was amused, starting a childish conversation with her: “I don’t believe you.”

The young woman’s eyes widened, full of heartache—Why don’t you believe me? I really won’t do anything! I’m a good doggie!—After all, I don’t know how to do anything.

“Be a good girl and go to sleep. I have work tonight,” Shen Jinrong leaned over and patted her shoulder, gesturing towards the book in her hand, “I have lesson preparations to do.”

The school had assigned her to teach Macroeconomics to the incoming freshmen next semester. Although it was still early, Shen Jinrong habitually prepared everything in advance. She liked to be in a state of having the upper hand, making it easy to deal with any unexpected events that might occur.

—However, today, the young woman sitting next to her in an oversized T-shirt and constantly shifting around had clearly become that “unexpected event.”

Section 3

The young woman had moved closer at some point. Shen Jinrong regretted for the first time why she had turned the heater up so high. It was too hot. A flame was igniting from somewhere inside her body, one that even the cool wine couldn’t suppress. Instead, under the catalysis of alcohol, it intensified.

How can you use alcohol to put out a fire?

A thin sheen of sweat had appeared on the elder sister’s nose tip at some unknown time. Yan He leaned closer, looked up at the elder sister, then lowered her head and carefully poked the back of the elder sister’s exposed hand. Immediately, she saw a thin layer of tiny goosebumps appear on the elder sister’s hand and even her arm.

Shen Jinrong, of course, noticed the condition of her hand. She quickly retracted her hand, trying to find an excuse: “I have a slight allergy.”

Yan He raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting the elder sister to explain it this way: “An allergy?” She paused, not believing the explanation, and instead felt the elder sister was covering up the truth: “Like my mango allergy?”

“Mmm, something similar. I have a bit of a dust allergy,” Shen Jinrong’s expression didn’t change, and her tone became concise and serious, just like in class—lecturing with brief and definitive language. However, at this moment, the earnest and serious Professor Shen’s ears were red.

Yan He didn’t believe a word she said. How could someone get a dust allergy from being touched by her? Plus, she had taken a shower! She smelled lovely!

“Elder sister, I am not dust,” Yan He exposed the elder sister’s lie without changing her expression.

Shen Jinrong nodded, genuinely annoyed that the lie she’d just told was so clumsy she couldn’t even convince herself. She hesitated for a long time, thinking she had overreacted just now. She wanted to apologize to the young woman but thought better of it.

She waited for a while and didn’t hear the young woman speak. Shen Jinrong pursed her lips, her heart pounding, wondering, Could she be angry?

Angry was not the case; the contrite Professor Shen caught a young woman dozing off, leaning askew on the sofa.

Shen Jinrong was amused. The young woman falls asleep right after a drunken frenzy? Her drinking etiquette isn’t great.

She smiled, shaking her head. She got up, turned off the lights, and walked to the study with her book and wine glass. After placing the items on the desk, she leaned against it and thought for a moment. Then, she walked into the bedroom and retrieved a pillow and blanket for the young woman. She walked to the living room sofa and found the young woman had already adjusted herself and was sound asleep, her head resting on the armrest, sleeping like a log.

Shen Jinrong straightened her out. In the process, her fingertips inevitably brushed against the young woman’s bare skin. She pretended not to notice, positioned the pillow correctly, and made sure the young woman’s head was resting obediently on it. Then, she picked up the blanket and gently covered her.

Young woman, don’t drink anymore, okay?

Sleep well.

I wish you sweet dreams.

Shen Jinrong sat on the coffee table, looking down at Yan He. Moonlight streamed through the window and fell on her, adding a touch of loneliness. The silver-white moonlight could sometimes be soft, but on her, it only brought desolation.

Her back was not as straight as it was during the day. The alcohol was rising, and an unspeakable emotion firmly occupied her heart. The night always makes people vulnerable, even with lights on. Her silhouette was thin and fragile. Looking at Yan He lying on the sofa, she suddenly thought, Perhaps this is not bad, either. In the long night, at least it won’t be so lonely.

Shen Jinrong lowered her eyes and saw the dark grey carpet on the floor.

It’s not red.

She smiled, but the smile was strained, so much so that she could clearly feel her facial muscles being manipulated. A forced smile was more like something pre-programmed, false and ugly.

She stood up, drew the curtains, and walked toward the brightly lit study.

Section 4

When Yan He woke up in the morning, the sky was just barely getting light. Through a gap in the curtains, she saw the sky outside was a soft, gentle blue. She got up, pulled back the curtains, and saw a thin fog outside, enveloping the lower floors. The mist gathered at a certain level, but the upper floors were clearly visible. The city’s high-rise seemed to be completely segmented by this fog.

The chill of the early morning invaded through the double-paned soundproof glass. Yan He’s head throbbed with a sudden feeling of coldness, and she quickly drew the curtains again.

After washing up and changing into her clothes, she realized it was seven o’clock on a Saturday morning. For Yan He, whose vacation routine was virtually non-existent, a seven a.m. sky basically only existed after pulling an all-nighter.

Yan He sat on the sofa, staring blankly.

The memories of the previous night gradually surfaced. Her eyes widened in horror, and she looked in shock at the elder sister’s tightly closed bedroom door.

Holy cow! Holy cow, holy cow, holy cow!

What did I do?!

Yan He desperately wanted to forget what she had done the night before, but the more she tried, the clearer the memories became—”Elder sister, the plum wine is sweet!”

“Elder sister’s earrings are so beautiful.”

“Shouldn’t the elder sister take the lost puppy home?”

“Jinrong.”

“I want to know which is sweeter, it or the elder sister’s kiss.”

“Can I sleep with the elder sister?”

“…Elder sister.”

“Elder sister…”

Aahhh!

Yan He screamed silently in her heart, utterly mortified. She vigorously messed up the hair she had just combed—Aahhh! How could I have said so many weird things! How could I be so embarrassing! Aahhh!

It’s over. The elder sister won’t think I’m a pervert, right? I, I, I! I only drank alcohol… Little Yan He collapsed onto the sofa, crestfallen, her heart filled with despair—The elder sister won’t be angry, will she?

She let out a long sigh, thinking, If I make breakfast for the elder sister, will she forgive me?

Section 5

Shen Jinrong emerged from her room at exactly eight in the morning after washing up, yawning. The first thing she saw was a table set with an exquisite breakfast, and right next to it, the young woman sitting obediently at the dining table, her face full of flattery and her eyes shining brightly.

Thinking about the young woman’s actions the previous night, Shen Jinrong was amused, wondering, Does she even remember it?

She sat down to Yan He’s right, crossing her legs, her voice filled with laughter: “You’re up so early?”

Yan He smiled shyly: “It feels wrong to sleep in when staying at a teacher’s house.”

Shen Jinrong felt a sting from the word “teacher” in her sentence. She raised an eyebrow in surprise and looked at her with a scrutinizing gaze: “Last night, when you were drunk, you called me ‘elder sister.’ Now that you’re sober, you call me ‘teacher’?”

Yan He hadn’t expected the elder sister to directly bring up the events of the previous night. She lowered her eyes and flatteringly pushed the fried egg towards the elder sister, trying to avoid the topic: “Elder sister, have a fried egg.”

Please! Don’t say any more! It’s too embarrassing!

Shen Jinrong didn’t pick up her chopsticks. Instead, she leaned over toward Yan He and narrowed her eyes to examine her.

Yan He was a little flustered by the scrutiny: “What’s wrong?”

“I’m checking to see if the young woman this morning is the same as the young woman from last night,” Shen Jinrong’s beautiful eyebrows rose. “I need to see if a little dog kissed me last night.”

She was fine until she mentioned “little dog.” At that, Yan He’s heart was filled with shame—What was I thinking last night! How could I have—save me, save me!

The elder sister was too close.

So close it felt unreal.

“It seems there was also a young woman last night who clamored to sleep with me, only to fall asleep by herself. I wonder who that was,” Shen Jinrong raised her hand and scratched the young woman’s chin, her eyes full of laughter: “Was it you?”