"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 42

Shen Jinrong  was in a meeting when she received Yan He’s  message.

It was already lunchtime, but the issues hadn’t been resolved, and Shen Jinrong kept delaying the adjournment. The attendees sitting on both sides exchanged glances, all seeing helplessness in each other’s eyes.

We’re so hungry. Can’t we have an intermission so we can grab a bite to eat?

Shen Jinrong stood next to the slides, arms crossed, her expression severe. After the presenter finished, she took two steps forward in her high heels, sat down in her seat, and the tap-tap of her heels sounded somewhat oppressive at the moment.

The sharpness in her gaze was magnified through her thin lenses as she looked at the people seated on both sides, heads bowed and silent. She suddenly smiled: “This is the proposal you came up with?”

Shen Jinrong took off her glasses, holding the pair with the delicate silver frames in her hand, fiddling with them: “It’s been a week. This is the result?” She casually singled out a person: “Peng Lu, you speak.”

The person called upon stuttered and couldn’t find his words. The smile on Shen Jinrong’s lips faded a bit. Just as she was about to speak, she felt the phone in her suit pocket vibrate.

Her expression softened slightly. She took the phone from her pocket and saw the message was from Yan He.

—Shen Jinrong’s staff didn’t know how to describe the scene before them. Although Shen Jinrong hadn’t said anything, the look on her face had unexpectedly softened a great deal. It was like—oh dear, how should they describe it? It was like receiving a message from a crush.

Shen Jinrong glanced at the time, only then realizing it was already lunchtime. She rarely got angry; her previous speech was mostly meant for deterrence, as she knew that anger wasn’t a method for solving problems.

“It’s getting late. Meeting adjourned,” she waved her hand, revealing a smile: “Sorry for delaying your meal.”

The colleagues exchanged glances again, afraid to move, fearing Shen Jinrong had gone mad with rage.

“The meeting is adjourned, adjourned,” Shen Jinrong tapped the table with the knuckle of her right index finger, offering a helpless smile: “I apologize for keeping everyone from eating. Little Peng, your proposal needs revision, but I don’t want the result to be like this next time, alright?”

Peng Lu nodded hastily.

Once everyone had dispersed, Shen Jinrong spun around once in her swivel chair, rubbing her slightly throbbing temples. Things have been really too busy lately, she thought.

She picked up her phone to reply to the young one’s message: “I was just in a meeting.”

She saw the picture of the flower Yan He had sent and smiled: “The flowers are very beautiful.”

“Have you eaten yet?”

Yan He glanced at the clay pot rice noodles in front of her, regretting the speed with which she had ordered. She replied honestly: “Yes, I have.”

“But we can still meet.”

Shen Jinrong gently stroked the side of her phone.

Good, let’s meet.

At 1:30 p.m., many restaurants were no longer taking new orders, so the two had no choice but to meet at the KFC near the school.

Yan He actually felt meeting at KFC wasn’t the most thoughtful choice. Since it was near the school, they might run into someone they knew. However, she reasoned that it was holiday time, so the chances of meeting an acquaintance were low.

She waited for ten minutes on the second floor, enduring the scrutinizing gazes (or perhaps that was just her imagination) occasionally thrown her way, and finally got up to go downstairs to the counter to order two egg tarts.

Carrying the still-steaming egg tarts back to her seat, Yan He messaged Shen Jinrong: “I’m on the second floor of KFC.” Just as the message was sent, she heard the WeChat notification tone.

There was a children’s play area on the second floor of the KFC. Since it was the summer holiday, many five- or six-year-old children were playing there, occasionally emitting scattered screams.

The environment was a bit noisy, but Yan He clearly heard that notification tone. Somehow, in her subconscious, she felt certain that the person arriving was her sister.

Yan He’s seat was facing away from the staircase. Upon hearing the sound, she straightened her back and turned around, just in time to see her sister, dressed in a suit, walking toward her.

—It was a kind of joy that was hard to describe.

The surrounding environment was loud, and you could barely hear her footsteps as she ascended, yet a wonderful intuition let you know that the person arriving was her.

When she walked toward you with a smile, you suddenly felt that everything around you didn’t matter—the noise, the clamor, even the smell of fried potatoes lingering in the air. Everything seemed to vanish in an instant. The entire world was reduced to a single path connecting you and her.

Everything around was empty space; time seemed to stand still. You looked at her, and she looked at you, as if an explosion occurred the moment your eyes met, and a new universe was born out of the chaos.

Shen Jinrong was wearing high heels. Yan He suddenly found the sight of her sister in high heels to be very sensual. The black high heels contrasted wonderfully with the fair skin of her instep. Black and white, like the most fundamental colors of the world.

Her breathing seemed to stop.

But she had already walked right up to her.

Shen Jinrong let out a long breath and placed her bag on the table: “It’s so hot today. It was so hot just parking the car and walking up.” Fine beads of sweat dotted her nose. Yan He took a pack of tissues from her pocket and handed it to her.

“Thank you!” Shen Jinrong thanked her, took the tissues from her hand, and carefully wiped her forehead and the tip of her nose. Her smile was bright, and her tone carried a hint of coyness, like someone sweet-talking and complaining about her work to her beloved: “I was so angry today. They couldn’t even prepare a decent work report.”

She pouted slightly. Yan He noticed the color of the slightly glittering lipstick on her lips.

Shen Jinrong sighed, continuing: “They have to report to the big boss next week. This just won’t do.”

Shen Jinrong wrinkled her nose. Yan He suddenly wanted to kiss her forehead, but the scream of a child behind her interrupted the thought.

—Courage is only momentary. It wanes after the second and third attempts, and it becomes very hard to muster it again later.

However, Yan He thought, luckily they would still have time, a long, long time.

“What did you order?” Just as Shen Jinrong asked, she remembered that Yan He had already eaten. She smiled, slapping her own head: “Oh, right, you ate already. Then I’ll order for myself!”

While she looked down at her phone, Yan He stood up and quietly sat next to her. Due to the surrounding environment, Shen Jinrong only realized Yan He was sitting beside her when the area next to her darkened.

She widened her eyes and glanced around. Before she could speak, Yan He seemed to know what she was thinking and said: “No one is looking here, and there’s no one we know.”

Shen Jinrong felt her phone was a bit slippery, as if she couldn’t hold it anymore.

Yan He deliberately lowered her voice, which was deep yet light as air, sounding in her ear. Her ear, flushed pink from the deliberate teasing, softened her whole body.

Yan He held her hand. Shen Jinrong turned her head and met a pair of bright, smiling eyes.

“Sister, I’m very happy.”

“Truly very happy.”

How happy Yan He was, Shen Jinrong didn’t know. She only knew that if she didn’t place her order soon, she would starve.

“I’m hungry.” Shen Jinrong leaned back, rescuing her ear from the young one’s lips.

“I ordered egg tarts.” Yan He leaned in closer: “You can eat one first.”

“They’re fattening.” Shen Jinrong glared at her: “I don’t want to get up early on a weekend morning and run three to five kilometers.”

“One won’t hurt.” Yan He brought the egg tart closer to her, her face showing encouragement.

Shen Jinrong: …

She sniffed the air, not detecting any smell of alcohol. She raised an eyebrow at Yan He, cautiously asking: “You haven’t been drinking, have you?”

Yan He blinked: “No.”

“Really no?” Shen Jinrong didn’t believe her. If she hadn’t been drinking, the young one wouldn’t be so bold!

“If Sister doesn’t believe me, you can taste it!” Yan He smiled: “I really didn’t drink.”

Shen Jinrong grabbed her collar and sniffed, then quickly backed away a step: “You ate clay pot rice noodles! The ones from the back gate of the school!”

Yan He froze, raising her arm to sniff her clothes: “Is it that obvious?”

Shen Jinrong poked her shoulder with her fingertip: “You! Go sit across from me!”

Yan He looked at her with a wronged expression: “Sister, I just ate a mint.”

Shen Jinrong thought, What does eating a mint have to do with me? That clay pot rice noodle place always puts cooking wine, or even strong white liquor, in their seasoning. You did drink!

Seeing Yan He obediently sitting across from her, Shen Jinrong casually placed her hand on the table: “Why did you come to school today?”

“Teacher Tan asked me to come, saying she’d help me finalize the thesis details before I start my internship.”

While saying this, Yan He subtly observed Shen Jinrong’s reaction. She wanted to discern some clue from her sister’s reaction after mentioning Tan Ning (譚寧), but she only saw her sister lowering her eyes, with little change in her expression.

This was the last attempt, the very last.

Yan He could only see her eyelashes tremble slightly, casting a small shadow beneath her eyes. Nothing more could be discerned.

She suddenly wished she could read others’ emotions like Teacher Tan.

She used to think it wasn’t important, but now she wished she could know what her sister was thinking.

Shen Jinrong’s expression was too composed, revealing no unusual reaction. Yan He’s probing heart felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over it. She suddenly understood that if her sister didn’t want her to know, she wouldn’t know—at least not from Shen Jinrong herself.

Since that was the case, she would just pretend not to know.

Shen Jinrong’s expression was normal: “Is that so? Teacher Tan is always very responsible.”

Yan He nodded, smiling: “Yes! And Teacher Tan’s professional level is excellent.”

Shen Jinrong asked: “How is Teacher Tan feeling?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she seemed worried that Yan He might misunderstand and quickly added: “Something happened in Teacher Tan’s family recently.”

Yan He’s highly raised heart instantly dropped.

It was just concern, nothing else.

Her sister hadn’t lied to her.

Shen Jinrong saw her look of relief, raising an eyebrow in surprise. After a moment, she blinked and asked: “Tell me… you didn’t think I like Tan Ning, did you?”

Her sister’s question was too direct. Yan He felt like her carefully hidden secret had been caught out by her sister. She bowed her head, not daring to meet Shen Jinrong’s eyes, and whispered a quiet “Mm.”

Shen Jinrong’s mouth was slightly agape. Just as she was about to explain something, her phone rang, notifying her that her order was ready. She sighed, got up, and walked over to Yan He, placing one hand on her shoulder.

Yan He turned her head to look at her sister. The slightly heavy weight on her shoulder seemed to reassure her.

Shen Jinrong smiled helplessly, gently rubbed Yan He’s head, and seeing that no one around was paying attention, she lightly kissed her near her ear, whispering: “Wait for me to come back and explain.”

Then, she straightened up. Before the sound of her high heels completely faded away, Yan He caught her hand, her ear tips bright red: “I’ll go.” She whispered: “It’s inconvenient for you in high heels.”

After getting her sister’s order number, as she walked downstairs, Yan He belatedly touched the spot where her sister had just kissed her. The warmth there seemed higher than elsewhere. It was as if a kind of magical mark had been left behind. As long as this mark existed, she would be able to find Shen Jinrong.

As Yan He went downstairs, Shen Jinrong was already thinking about how to bring up this matter. She remembered she had explained her relationship with Tan Ning to the young one before, but perhaps it had been too ordinary and brief, and the young one clearly hadn’t believed it.

Shen Jinrong wasn’t angry. She knew the strange relationship between her and Tan Ning was difficult to explain, but it definitely didn’t involve romantic love. The difficulty lay only in how to explain it—how to tell Yan He about her own past shames.

Shen Jinrong wasn’t ready to lay all her past experiences bare to Yan He yet.

She intended to tell her, just not right now.

That’s what she thought.

Yan He carried the tray back to the second floor. Shen Jinrong immediately noticed Yan He’s bright red ears. She smiled, thinking: The young one’s cheeks and ears flush so easily. Maybe it’s because her skin is so fair.

—The naughty older sister thought this.

She cleared the table, seeing that Yan He had set down a table full of items, and she blinked.

“Regarding Tan Ning…” Shen Jinrong bit into a french fry, slowly saying: “She was my former teacher. I told you this before.”

Yan He nodded.

“Mm…” Shen Jinrong smiled helplessly. She chose her words carefully: “She is a very, very good person. Our relationship has nothing to do with love.”

Yan He looked at her, lips pressed together.

“I consider her my teacher, a wonderful older sister, and a very good friend.” Shen Jinrong also pressed her lips together. She took a sip of juice: “I am very grateful to her. If, later on…” She wanted to say, If, later on, we are together, I will tell you everything.

But the words felt too weak. Shen Jinrong just repeated: “If, later on…” She paused. “I’ll tell you absolutely everything, alright?”

Her words, uncharacteristically, carried a hint of pleading. Yan He was momentarily stunned. She sat next to her and held her hand: “Yes.”

“Whenever you’re ready.”

“Sister.”

!