"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 30

Section 1: The Divorce Plans

Early on the second day of the New Year, Yan He  was dragged out of bed by Madam He. After pressing her to wash up, Madam He and Mr. Yan  packed her into the car and drove her to her maternal grandparents’ house.

Madam He had two older brothers, who were Yan He’s two maternal uncles. As soon as Yan He entered the door, she saw her cousin and younger cousin sitting together watching TV. She glanced over; the TV was showing a rerun of yesterday’s Spring Festival Gala.

“Little Yan He is here?” Yan He’s maternal Grandmother  smiled, pulling her down onto the sofa, looking her over: “You look thinner.”

Yan He actually wanted to say she had already gained two jin over the New Year, but thinking that no matter how much weight you gained, elders would always only say you looked thinner, she smiled brightly and agreed: “Thinner, thinner.”

Yan He’s older cousin raised her eyes and glanced over: “You’ve turned into a stick.”

Grandmother glared at her: “What’s wrong with that! We are healthy!”

Yan He quickly offered a conciliatory smile. Madam He washed her hands and went into the kitchen to help.

Yan He’s maternal Grandfather  saw her come in, and noticing she was with Yan Guangming  again today, he asked, “Haven’t you two finalized your separation yet?”

Madam He began to chop meat with decisive movements: “We’ll go right after the New Year. Our assets are basically all divided up. One house for each of us. The remaining one goes to Yan He.”

“Good. It’s dragged on for so long; it’s time to get it done.” Grandfather turned his head and looked through the glass door at Yan He, who was chatting on the sofa, and asked, “Does the child know?”

He You’s hand, which was chopping meat without mercy, paused: “No.”

“You’re keeping it from her?”

“I haven’t figured it out yet. Let nature take its course.” He You put the cleaver aside and, while washing her hands, asked, “What else needs to be prepared? Should I deal with these shrimp?”

“You handle them. Make oil-braised shrimp. Just de-vein them.” Grandfather sighed: “It’s a little late for me to say this, but you two shouldn’t have dragged it out for so long. Better a short sharp pain than a long drawn-out one.”

He You nodded. She didn’t want to discuss the topic, only saying, “Well, it’s already come to this, so it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Grandfather agreed. He turned on the stove to blanch the prepared vegetables. An idea struck him, and he suddenly asked, “It’s not that he has someone else, is it?”

He You replied, “No.” Her denial was too swift and definitive. Before Grandfather could speak, He You added, “And it’s not me, either.”

She and Yan Guangming simply didn’t get along. They were introduced by their parents and managed to coexist peacefully for a period before and after Yan He was born, but as time went on, they realized they were incompatible.

He You and Yan Guangming had originally agreed that if they couldn’t get along, they would separate. But both were somewhat indecisive, thinking they should try harder for the sake of their child, but in the end, they couldn’t make it work.

“Fine. It’s your marriage; you decide. Your mother and I won’t say anything.” Grandfather turned his head to look at Yan He again, sighing: “But the child…”

“Yan He has grown up,” He You only said this much.

Grandfather nodded.

Section 2: The Eavesdropped Argument

After lunch, and after a round of polite refusals with her two maternal uncles, Yan He smilingly tucked the hongbao (red envelopes) into her pocket, while still pretending to decline: “Aiya! You’re being too polite! I told you I don’t need—” Her eldest maternal uncle rolled his eyes at Yan He and held out his hand: “Do you want it or not? Give it back to me.”

Yan He quickly clutched her pocket: “Thank you, Eldest Uncle! Thank you, Youngest Uncle!”

Yan He’s youngest maternal uncle asked, “Where are your parents? Didn’t you say you were all going to the temple fair together later?”

Yan He remembered her parents seemed to have gone out a moment ago. She quickly stood up, nearly tripping over the small stool behind her: “I’ll go call them!”

Yan He’s maternal grandparents lived in a siheyuan (quadrangle courtyard). She walked to the courtyard gate and happened to hear her parents talking. She had intended to just walk over, but then heard Madam He seemed to be arguing with Mr. Yan—He You coldly snorted: “What is your attitude right now? Are you giving me the cold shoulder?”

Yan Guangming’s voice didn’t sound very gentle either: “I have something to deal with.”

“Stop talking nonsense, Yan Guangming. I played out the whole act for your parents; what’s your problem now?”

Yan Guangming said, “Didn’t I come today too? I—” Before they could finish, Grandmother’s voice called out from inside: “Hurry up, hurry up! Are we going out or not!”

Yan He’s heart jumped. She immediately pretended to be walking toward the door. Yan Guangming and He You happened to step inside the door and were surprised to see Yan He just a few steps away from them. They exchanged glances, both seeing shock and confusion in the other’s eyes.

Yan Guangming asked gently, “What’s wrong?”

Yan He also pretended that nothing was amiss: “Youngest Uncle just said he wanted to go to the temple fair and asked me to call you.”

Yan Guangming and He You both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw her face was normal. He You said, “Alright, but your dad seems to have something to do and has to leave first.”

“I also arranged to meet Li Xiuxi. Her family is out, so I’m going to her place to hang out.” Yan He had no interest in visiting the temple fair now. She casually found an excuse, pulling out Li Xiuxi as a shield.

“Where did you agree to meet? I’ll drive you there later,” Yan Guangming asked.

“Lakeside Park,” Yan He named a random place.

Section 3: Questions and the Drive

Yan He’s mind was in turmoil.

She sat in the passenger seat, occasionally glancing at Mr. Yan who was driving beside her. The questions she wanted to ask circled in her mouth several times, but she didn’t voice them.

Instead, Yan Guangming sensed her restlessness. He stopped the car steadily at a red light, turned his head, and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you hot? You look fidgety.”

Yan He knew her dad’s keen intuition. Facing the two reflective lenses that shone with intelligence, her long-term experience in their ‘battles’ told Yan He that saying nothing wouldn’t pass muster. She casually found an excuse: “It’s a little hot.”

“It’s not just the heat, is it?” Yan Guangming smiled and asked her, “Something on your mind?”

Yan He pursed her lips and said, “I remember my cousin seems to have a partner.”

Yan Guangming was surprised, clearly not expecting his daughter’s preoccupation to be about this: “I think so. I heard your Eldest Uncle say they’re getting married, scheduled for May this year, I think.”

Yan He concocted a lie in her mind and spoke impulsively: “I was thinking, my cousin will definitely have a child when she gets married, right? How much hongbao should I give then?”

Yan Guangming raised an eyebrow, surprised: “That’s the problem you’ve been agonizing over all this time?”

Seeing Yan He nod, Yan Guangming laughed. Just then, the green light turned on. He started the car and said, “Your mom and I will give it then. You don’t need to worry.” Yan Guangming turned the steering wheel to the left: “Lakeside Park, right? Are you two going to watch a movie?”

Yan He knew there was a screening hall in the center of Lakeside Park. She nodded, answering distractedly: “Probably.”

Yan Guangming looked at her, said nothing, and dropped her off at the entrance of Lakeside Park. Yan He closed the car door and had only walked two steps when she heard the car window roll down behind her. Mr. Yan’s voice rang out: “Go home early after the movie! Don’t walk back in the dark. It’s not safe at night.”

Yan He casually replied with an affirmative sound.

Section 4: A Meeting by the Swings

It was New Year’s, and Lakeside Park was deserted. There was hardly anyone around. Yan He sat by the lake in her black down jacket, thinking, My parents actually believed I was coming to Lakeside Park.

Yan He had never been to Lakeside Park in the winter. In fact, the park was in the suburbs, and she had barely been here since high school. What was there to explore in the park during winter? The icy surface, embedding dead leaves, was messy and disorganized.

There were a few evergreen trees by the lake, but they clashed with the overall bleak environment of the park, giving the momentary illusion that it was still summer.

Just a false prosperity, Yan He thought.

She pulled her neck in. The cold wind relentlessly poured down her collar. The zipper was pulled all the way up, and she buried her face in the collar, but she still couldn’t block the cold wind.

Their conversation… what did it mean?

Yan He couldn’t figure it out. What did playing an act mean? What did having something to deal with mean?

For a while, all kinds of messy thoughts were as pervasive as the wind blowing in her face. Yan He began to recall how her parents interacted from childhood: it seemed—was it a little too polite? But wasn’t that normal?

Yan He didn’t know what a normal parental interaction looked like. After thinking for a long time, she recalled what Madam He had told her on New Year’s Eve—Was she really just talking about me? Was Madam He hinting at something?

She didn’t want to overthink it anymore. If her parents had really decided something, there was nothing she could change.

The benches in Lakeside Park were all made of marble. They looked nice and were cool in the summer (though Yan He didn’t think anyone would want to come to the lake to feed mosquitoes in the summer), but sitting on them in winter was quickly unbearable. Yan He’s legs felt a little numb, so she stood up and walked around to warm herself up.

It had been too long since she had been here. Looking around, many places still looked as they did in her memory, but some places had changed. Yan He thought, Nothing is permanent. People and things changing is the norm.

Lakeside Park wasn’t small. Yan He had nothing else to do, so she walked around the park once, not forgetting to send Li Xiuxi a WeChat message to remind her not to give away their cover.

The park had amusement facilities, but there was hardly anyone there. The children’s carousel was covered with a plastic sheet, looking odd and, under the gloomy weather, strangely reminiscent of a doomsday scene. Not far away, there was a swing set and a seesaw. Yan He walked over and sat on a swing, dangling her legs.

She remembered the swing ropes used to be iron chains, but at some point, they had been replaced with thick nylon material. It wasn’t as icy to the touch, and you wouldn’t get rust all over your hands. She hooked the nylon rope with her elbow and put her hands back in her pockets.

The young woman, swinging gently, thought, I wonder what the elder sister is doing right now? She pulled out her phone, tapped the elder sister’s profile picture, and opened her Moments. Shen Jinrong’s Moments background was incredibly simple: a person standing on a grassland, riding a horse. The person wasn’t facing the camera, but Yan He somehow felt the figure was the elder sister.

“Hey?” A person bundled up tightly walked by. Seeing Yan He on the swing, they stopped, walked up to the swing, and tentatively asked, “Kiddo?”

Yan He was startled. She looked at the fully armed person standing in front of her, only recognizing the voice as that of an elderly lady. Had she seen her somewhere before?

“Buying fish?”

Grandmother Shen  clapped her hands. Code correct!

Yan He smiled: “Happy New Year! Why are you wandering outside in this cold weather?”

Grandmother Shen smiled sheepishly, adjusted her wool hat, and said with slight embarrassment: “I lost too badly at mahjong. I came out to get some fresh air.”