"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 44

The tone Shen Jinrong  used to say that line was so flat, as if she were saying, Let’s go for a walk after dinner, completely calm. Yet, her tone was very formal, like a notification rather than a request for an opinion.

It was precisely because her tone was so ordinary that Grandma Shen  didn’t immediately grasp the main point of her words and instead repeated them: “Mm, you have someone you like.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Grandma Shen realized something was wrong. The chopsticks in her hand clattered onto the table. She looked up at Shen Jinrong in shock, so excited that her voice trembled slightly: “What did you just say? Say it again!”

Shen Jinrong sighed softly, placed her chopsticks on the table, pulled a tissue from the box on her right, wiped the corner of her mouth, and then slowly said: “I have someone I like.”

She found her grandmother’s shocked gaze somewhat amusing: “What’s wrong? Is this such a surprising thing?”

Grandma Shen’s expression became even more complicated. She stared intently at Shen Jinrong, remaining in a daze for a long time. The emotion in her eyes transformed from shock to complexity, and finally to gratification. Then, the disbelief in the grandmother’s eyes faded, and she said calmly: “Good, very good.”

“Oh… didn’t Tan Ning  tell you?” Shen Jinrong looked at Grandma Shen with some confusion. She had thought Tan Ning would have already told her grandmother about this, but apparently not. Then again, Tan Ning didn’t even know who the person she liked was; how could she tell anyone that she had someone she liked?

Shen Jinrong shook her head. Now, just like in the past, she would never be able to fully understand Tan Ning.

Grandma Shen then slowly said: “Ningning? Ningning didn’t tell me.” She paused, then asked in disbelief: “Are you saying… Ningning knows about this too?”

The elderly lady felt a bit complicated, like… everyone else knew a secret that was only hidden from her.

Shen Jinrong certainly knew what she was thinking: “Don’t worry, she guessed it herself. No one else knows. She probably thought it was best not to say anything until things were confirmed.”

Grandma Shen murmured an “Oh,” still processing the news.

Shen Jinrong smiled and stood up. She was in a good mood today. After finishing her meal, she just dropped a quick “I’ll do the dishes,” and carried the plates and bowls into the kitchen.

Grandma Shen sat alone in her seat, her eyes a little moist. After a moment, she dialed Tan Ning’s mother’s number: “Little Mei! I have something to tell you!”

Thus, when Shen Jinrong came out after washing the dishes, the scene she saw was her grandmother talking excitedly on the phone with Tan Ning’s mother. She raised her hand to signal, and Grandma Shen waved her away.

Shen Jinrong left the house. Her phone chimed a “ding.” She took out her phone and found a WeChat message from Tan Ning: “I heard from your grandmother that you told her you have someone you like?”

“Congratulations to you.”

The last three words were a bit incomplete, but Tan Ning knew, and she trusted that Shen Jinrong knew as well.

However, Shen Jinrong didn’t particularly like that wording; the word “Congratulations” made her seem somewhat unusual, but she accepted Tan Ning’s blessing in her good mood.

“Thank you.”

“I also wish you…”

This next message lingered in the chat box for a while. Shen Jinrong hesitated, and ultimately didn’t send it. She deleted the three words, simply saying: “If you run into any trouble, you can always come to me.”

Tan Ning sent back a seemingly puzzled, cute emoji. Shen Jinrong put away her phone, hands in her pockets, and slowly walked downstairs.

Outside, the bright moon hung high in the sky. She, too, had to walk out into the light of the sun and the moon.

Although Li Xiuxi had told Yan He about the event in late September early on, it was still not easy for an intern to ask for leave, especially in the busy reporter’s department. Yan He saw Li Xiuxi’s message, saying the event started at three in the afternoon and that she should arrive an hour early.

Arrive at school by two. Yan He held her phone and calculated: I have to leave work before 1:30.

Yan He, the working stiff, sighed. She was just figuring out how to ask her department head for leave when Sister Wang from the next cubicle leaned over: “What’s wrong, Little Yan? Why are you sighing over lunch?”

Yan He felt a little embarrassed: “I have something at school this afternoon and want to ask for leave, but I don’t know how to tell the boss.”

Sister Wang held her lunch box and smiled: “What’s there to hesitate about? Here’s what you do: I’m going out on a location shoot with Old Liu and the others this afternoon. I’ll tell the boss you’re coming with us. Then you can just go straight to school. You don’t even need to come back to clock out.”

Yan He’s eyes brightened. She had always lived a life that followed the rules, and now she felt a bit awkward: “Is that… okay?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? You’re just an intern!” Sister Wang patted her shoulder: “I’ll message Old Liu. You go without worry! Alright!”

Yan He nodded gratefully, thinking she needed to buy everyone coffee in a few days.

And so, at 1:30 p.m., under the friendly gaze of Sister Wang, Yan He secretly packed up and left. While standing at the bus stop downstairs waiting for the bus, she nervously looked around, afraid of being caught skipping work by her boss, while simultaneously anticipating the expression on her sister’s face when she saw her later.

She’ll definitely be surprised!

Little Yan He secretly gave a little wag of her tail.

The weather was clear today, and since it was lunchtime, not many people were outside walking around. Yan He spotted a flower shop not far away and thought: Li Xiuxi’s department must have already bought the flowers, right?

“Oh right, when you come, help me pick up a bouquet from the school’s back gate.” Li Xiuxi messaged her: “We suddenly realized we’re one bouquet short. I just placed the order. It should be ready right when you get there.”

Before Yan He could reply, she received another message: “Oh, right! It’s the place where you bought flowers for your Professor Shen! That’s the place!”

Yan He’s ears flushed red. What do you mean ‘our Professor Shen’? She’s clearly—ah, well, I guess you could say she’s ours.

“Okay [OK]” Li Xiuxi put down her phone, her smile fading. She sternly asked the new department head: “How could we be short a bouquet? Don’t tell me someone used it for a confession?” She worried about another unexpected situation, so she called the owner and ordered an additional bouquet.

The new department head shrank his neck: “Our flowers have white roses, which look like they’re used for confessions… I don’t know who took it.”

Li Xiuxi sighed, thinking: How could a bouquet just disappear on me? It’s a good thing we noticed early, or it would have been too awkward if one teacher didn’t get a flower at the end.

After getting off the bus, Yan He headed straight for the flower shop. She had wasted a little time waiting for the bus, and now time was running short. She hurried to the flower shop. The woman she had met last time was sitting inside. Seeing her rush in, she asked: “Here for a pickup?”

Yan He wiped the sweat from her forehead, calmed her breathing, and nodded: “My friend said there’s a bouquet she asked me to bring over.”

Wen Yuan  recalled her girlfriend’s instructions from earlier and pointed to the flowers placed in the corner of the counter: “It’s right there, help yourself.”

Yan He picked up the bouquet, then belatedly asked: “Did they pay?”

Wen Yuan was amused by her: “They paid, they paid. Time’s running out, right? You should hurry!”

Yan He, blushing, thanked her: “Thank you! I really need to rush over now.”

Wen Yuan nodded.

As soon He left, Qiu Yannian  walked out of the inner greenhouse, carrying a bouquet identical to the one Yan He had just taken.

Seeing the counter empty, Qiu Yannian asked Wen Yuan: “Did someone take the flowers?”

Wen Yuan nodded: “Yeah, the young girl who came to see Shen Jinrong last time.”

Qiu Yannian stamped her foot: “Oh no! They just added an extra bouquet temporarily, and I just finished making it! Why did you let her leave?”

Wen Yuan spread her hands innocently: “I didn’t know. You didn’t tell me just now.”

Yan He walked a few steps toward the university and received a call from Li Xiuxi. Li Xiuxi asked her: “Are you there yet?”

Yan He replied: “I’m here. I just picked up the flowers and I’m heading your way now. It’s at the West Field, right?”

“Yes,” Li Xiuxi’s tone was apologetic, she said: “I misspoke just now. There are two bouquets! We just added another one temporarily, I’m so sorry! If you’re almost here, I’ll have someone else go pick it up.”

Yan He paused: “It’s fine, I just left. I’ll go back now.” After speaking, she put her phone in her pocket and walked toward the flower shop she had just left, holding the bouquet. Just as she reached the door, she heard the conversation between the two women inside. She originally planned to grab the flower and leave immediately, but the two women’s conversation mentioned Shen Jinrong, so she stopped in her tracks and listened at the doorway.

“So, is that young one really in a girlfriend-girlfriend relationship with Shen Jinrong now?” That was the owner’s voice.

The woman helping the owner with the shop replied: “I don’t know. She hasn’t told me, and I don’t feel comfortable asking.”

“No, do you really think Shen Jinrong and Tan Ning had nothing going on?” the owner asked: “I remember when Tan Ning was the psychological counselor, Shen Jinrong ran to the counseling room every few days. And later, when Tan Ning got married, I had never seen Shen Jinrong so crestfallen.”

“They definitely had nothing going on. If they did, they would have been together already,” the other woman sighed: “That was all in the past. If you put it that way, I also saw Shen Jinrong crying while hugging Tan Ning, but that doesn’t prove anything.”

“Wen Yuan, tell me the truth. Did Shen Jinrong like Tan Ning back then?”

Back then? Wen Yuan thought, Who can say for sure what happened back then? I even liked someone else back then.

“Yannian (燕年), it’s been almost ten years. Even if she truly liked her back then, Tan Ning wouldn’t have gotten together with her,” Wen Yuan slowly said: “Tan Ning was her psychological counselor, and according to professional ethics, it was absolutely impossible for them to be together.”

“Don’t ask about it anymore. Let’s just leave it at that.”

The information she was hearing was too fragmented. Yan He felt her brain was about to fizzle out. Tan Ning—Shen Jinrong—counseling room—psychological counselor. Every word they mentioned seemed to remind her of Shen Jinrong’s past—the past she had never heard of, the one her sister had hidden so carefully.

Yan He thought of the scar on her sister’s wrist and thought: If time could really flow backward, or if I could go back to the past, I would really like to hold Shen Jinrong’s hand, kiss her wound, and tell her—“You have me.”

“I love you.”

But the present was not the past. Shen Jinrong’s most difficult time was already over. What she offered now wasn’t like sending charcoal in the snow (help in time of desperate need); it could only be icing on the cake. Tan Ning accompanied Shen Jinrong through that period of dark times. Yan He wondered: If I had been by Shen Jinrong’s side, would everything have turned out differently?

She didn’t know.