"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 48

When Shen Jinrong received a message from Yan He, she was having dinner with a group of relatives for her grandmother’s birthday. Sitting near the door, she secretly glanced around. Realizing no relatives were paying attention to her, she began to covertly reply to Yan He.

Shen Jinrong didn’t know most of the relatives sitting around this table; she only knew they were from her grandmother’s side of the family. She was just sitting there, content to be a “good luck charm,” and wasn’t expecting anyone to call on her.

“I heard, Jinrong, that you’ve started a new project this year?”

The speaker was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his late forties or fifties. When Shen Jinrong had just arrived, she’d heard her Grandmother Shen introduce him as a distant uncle.

She put down her phone, having sent a reply to Yan He, and offered a timely smile. “Yes, that’s right.”

The uncle’s smile widened, appearing somewhat ingratiating. Shen Jinrong’s heart sank with a sudden, sinking feeling that something was amiss. Sure enough, she immediately heard his next sentence: “Aren’t you a university professor? That’s perfect! Your nephew is taking the college entrance exam soon, and his scores… well, they aren’t ideal. He probably won’t be able to get into your university. Figure out a way to get him into your school.”

His tone carried a hint of superiority, as if asking someone to do him a favor was an honor for that person.

Since becoming a professor, this was the first time Shen Jinrong had been spoken to this way. However, she had heard about this topic from other professors during past conversations—they’d mentioned that once they became university professors, some distant, random relatives they hadn’t contacted for years would inevitably try to curry favor, hoping to get their children into the university.

Shen Jinrong remembered Professor Zhao’s response back then. The portly Professor Zhao had scoffed, “At least the children you met had decent grades. You wouldn’t believe my distant relative—their child scored just over 200 points, and they asked me to use my ‘connections’ to get them into our school.”

“Leaving aside that it’s completely impossible to do, our school is still relatively high in the world rankings. What on earth are they thinking?”

With that thought in mind, Shen Jinrong offered a smile. It wasn’t an enthusiastic smile, just a polite response: “Then may I be so bold as to ask, what was your child’s score?”

After she spoke, Shen Jinrong saw the man’s gaze start to dart around, and his eyes subconsciously fell upon a boy sitting diagonally across from him.

Shen Jinrong remembered that the boy had been looking down at his phone since he sat down. She had thought at the time that he wasn’t being very courteous at the dinner party.

The distant relative’s voice started to stammer: “Although his grades aren’t very good… they are under 300 points. But there is still some time before the college entrance exam, right? There’s almost a year! Anything can happen, don’t you agree?”

Shen Jinrong slowly nodded under his hopeful gaze, then subtly changed the subject: “Since there is still almost a year until the exam, you should encourage your child to work hard. At his age, he must strive to excel and try his best through his own effort first.”

Failing to get the answer he wanted, the man’s smile was noticeably less genuine than before. As if knowing he couldn’t find a way to break through with Shen Jinrong, he pulled back slightly, his eyes sweeping over her Grandmother Shen, who was sitting in the main seat slowly sipping tea. He spoke with a hint of complaint: “Auntie, our Mingming is your great-nephew, after all. You really should help with this favor, shouldn’t you?”

Grandmother Shen’s expression remained calm, but she was rolling her eyes internally. However, in front of so many relatives, she couldn’t say much, so she just played the same evasive game: “Oh my! Listen to you! If we could help, we certainly would, but it also depends on the child’s own hard work, doesn’t it?”

With the conversation having reached this point, the man gritted his teeth and had to drop the topic. Shen Jinrong also breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to look down at her phone again, she heard the man bring up another topic: “Auntie, I heard that our cousin still has a widow?”

Hearing the word “widow,” Shen Jinrong’s eyes narrowed slightly, and the sharpness in her gaze could no longer be hidden. Her sight was fixed directly on the man, but he seemed not to notice, continuing to talk to himself: “Oh, that won’t do! Our cousin’s widow is your daughter-in-law, isn’t she? She should rightfully come and show you filial respect! Plus, I heard that our cousin had always wanted a son—” His words reached this point. Before Shen Jinrong could interrupt, she heard Grandmother Shen place her chopsticks on the table with a sharp ‘clack,’ instantly silencing the entire private room.

Even the boy who had been engrossed in his game world was startled. He looked up at Grandmother Shen, then at his father, hesitated for a moment, and chose to lower his head to continue playing on his phone.

Before Grandmother Shen could speak, other relatives expressed disapproval of the man’s idea: “Oh, Dajun! Don’t talk about ‘widows’ or anything like that. Today is our matriarch’s birthday, so why bring up these things?”

“Yes, you really don’t know how to speak properly!”

The man was a bit embarrassed. He rubbed his nose, and his gaze landed on Shen Jinrong, who had been sitting in the corner without saying much. His eyes lit up, and he asked, “Jinrong! Don’t you agree with what I said?”

Shen Jinrong looked at the message from Yan He on her phone screen—”What are you doing? Have you eaten yet?”—and curved her lips into a smile. Then, she lowered her eyes, tapped her thumb on the screen a few times, and sent a sentence: “It’s Grandma’s birthday today. I’m having dinner with a group of relatives I don’t know well.”

She paused, then sent another sentence: “Hmm… one of them is particularly annoying.”

After sending the message, she flipped her phone face down on the table, raised her head, and looked at the man’s face.

Middle-aged men who have had a drink often like to talk big and judge others. She saw the man—her nominal relative—with the flush of drunkenness, his face bloated. Suddenly, she lost all interest in everything in front of her.

She thought that if it weren’t for her grandmother’s birthday, she wouldn’t want to deal with a group of strangers at all. And these strangers, relying on a small, insignificant blood relationship with her, were constantly trying to dictate things to her.

Meeting her gaze, the man felt a chill down his spine, an inexplicable sense of alarm. Shen Jinrong’s eyes were like daggers, seemingly not just looking at his face but ready to devour him whole.

He felt inexplicably nervous, but he also felt that what he had just said was not wrong; he was originally thinking for the sake of his relatives’ descendants! He also recalled the way that woman had cried in front of him, her face bathed in tears, so he gritted his teeth and slowly spoke again: “It’s true! Your father’s line only has you as a daughter. If there isn’t a son to carry on the line, won’t the bloodline be broken?”

Shen Jinrong was amused by his and Wang Dingyun’s inexplicable logic from before. The person was dead, so what exactly were these people thinking? Maybe they had some kind of backing? She thought of how she had instructed people to investigate whether the person had frozen sperm before death. Although there was no result yet, she guessed the answer would be affirmative.

Otherwise, Wang Dingyun wouldn’t dare to find people to threaten her even at this point.

She feigned misunderstanding the man’s meaning: “What do you mean? Do you want to pass your son over to inherit his estate?”

The boy still didn’t look up, and the man’s smile froze on his face.

Shen Jinrong’s face was cold, and she continued: “Also, if you don’t understand the meaning of ‘widow,’ I suggest you look it up in the Xinhua Dictionary. That’s a term for a wife. Do you understand what I mean?” She sneered slightly: “If your brain isn’t working well, I suggest you go see a doctor.”

However, she thought, even if her mother hadn’t divorced him, she probably wouldn’t want to be called that person’s widow, either.

The man stopped talking, and the other relatives began to smooth things over one after another.

—Just as if nothing had happened.

The air was filled with the smell of food and wine, the sight of the people around her with flushed faces from drinking, and the occasional remarks that she disliked or even found repulsive.

Shen Jinrong sighed inwardly. She suddenly felt suffocated and dizzy from the lack of oxygen in her brain. She thought that perhaps she wasn’t suited for such occasions after all.

Yan He saw her elder sister reply that she had annoying relatives. She held her phone and thought for a while, realizing she had never really encountered particularly annoying ones herself. She remembered what Ms. He had said to her during the New Year, so she sent it to her sister word-for-word: “Relatives are just friends you meet the moment you are born…”

She had typed half the sentence in the chat box, but then Yan He suddenly wanted to send a voice message to her sister. She thought that when she was in a bad mood, she didn’t like seeing a long block of text.

The ‘little dog’ cleared her throat, pressed the voice recording bar at the bottom, and sent a message to her sister. She wanted her voice to sound gentle yet firm, hoping it could make her sister feel a little happier: “Jie-jie, relatives are just friends you meet from birth. If you don’t like them, just stop associating with them. Don’t make things difficult for yourself.”

After the WeChat message was sent, it made a “whoosh” sound, which was particularly noticeable in the office, which was almost empty during lunchtime. Yan He subconsciously covered her mouth, nervously looking left and right. Only after confirming that she was the only one in the office did she relax.

Her sister probably doesn’t have time to listen right now, right?

Yan He leaned back in her chair and swung her legs.

Tomorrow is the weekend! Should I meet up with Jie-jie?

After this less-than-pleasant lunch ended, Shen Jinrong went to the front desk to pay the bill. Then, carrying the remaining half of the cake, she helped Grandmother Shen say goodbye to the relatives and got into her car with her grandmother.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Shen Jinrong fastened her seatbelt, but she was not in a hurry to drive. She just watched the people standing at the intersection flagging down taxis and sighed softly.

Grandmother Shen looked at her, feeling a little guilty, and softly said, “Rongrong, I didn’t expect him to say those things…”

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Shen Jinrong smile at her: “It’s okay. I didn’t take it to heart. Just treat it as a joke, Grandma. What he said isn’t important anyway.”

Is it really not important? Grandmother Shen looked at Shen Jinrong’s profile, thinking to herself. She worried that her granddaughter would recall bad memories, but she couldn’t ask.

How could it not be important?

Shen Jinrong knew that at least before she completely lost hope in the world, she had always longed for paternal love. But it wasn’t until later, when she realized that no matter what she did or how hard she tried, she would never gain that person’s approval, that the tightly wound string in her brain snapped. She then fell into boundless pain and self-doubt.

But now, she knew she genuinely didn’t care anymore. She only felt angry when she heard the man say the word “widow.” That woman didn’t deserve it; it was just another tactic to try and snatch the inheritance.

Seeing her start the car and leave the spot, Grandmother Shen stopped speaking. But she suddenly noticed that Shen Jinrong’s face was flushed, as if she had been drinking.

Grandmother Shen exclaimed, “Aiya!” and asked, “Did you drink alcohol? You shouldn’t drive after drinking!”

“No, I didn’t.” Shen Jinrong checked her face in the rearview mirror. It was indeed a little red, like an abnormal blush, but she really hadn’t drunk any alcohol. “Don’t worry, I haven’t had a drink. Maybe it was just a little warm just now.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Grandmother Shen was still a little worried. “You’re not getting sick, are you?”

Shen Jinrong was amused by her grandmother’s words: “I’m not! I don’t get sick that easily, so please put your heart at ease!” She turned the steering wheel. “I’ll put the remaining half of the cake in the refrigerator for you. You should eat it quickly; the weather isn’t too cold right now, and it might spoil if you don’t eat it in two days.”

Grandmother Shen nodded.

“I’ll have to leave after I drop you off, as I’ve started a new research project and need to rush back to prepare for it.”

That evening, Shen Jinrong became ill.

She felt something was wrong while working in the afternoon. Initially, everything was going smoothly, and the new project was progressing very well. She poured a glass of water and was walking back to the meeting room when she suddenly felt a slight unsteadiness in her step, feeling less stable than before.

She looked up at the bright lights on the ceiling, stumbled slightly, and almost lost her balance. A student who happened to be passing by quickly supported her, and after ensuring she was steady, he asked with concern, “Professor, are you alright?”

Shen Jinrong shook her head and said, “I’m fine. I just lost my footing for a moment. Thank you!”

After confirming she was fine, the two passing students left. Shen Jinrong pushed open the meeting room door. Professor Zhao, who was inside, looked up at her and said in surprise, “Your face is so red. You’re not running a fever, are you?”

Shen Jinrong touched her face; it was hot. Her mind was a little confused, and she actually wondered if her face had been this red after the little one had kissed her.

A female professor nearby heard the comment and walked over. She frowned and said, “You look like you’re sick.” She reached out and touched Shen Jinrong’s forehead, then touched her own, and confirmed: “You definitely have a fever! Why don’t you go back and rest? Old Zhao and I are here, and there’s nothing urgent right now.”

Shen Jinrong wanted to argue for a moment, but she couldn’t muster the strength; her whole body felt weak and sore. She said weakly, “I’ll leave after I handle this bit of work.”

“What work are you going to handle! You look like you have a high fever. Hurry up and go to the hospital!” The female professor sighed. “Your health is more important than work.”

Despite the warnings, Shen Jinrong insisted on finishing her work before dragging her weak body to drive home. Lying in bed, she finally pulled out her phone and saw the voice message from the little one. She tapped it.

Yan He’s voice filled the empty apartment, a gentle voice with a touch of youthful naivete. Shen Jinrong narrowed her eyes, carefully listening to every word the little one spoke, even listening to every pause and inflection.

When the voice message finished, she half-opened her eyes, turned up the volume, and tapped the voice message again.

How could the little one be so adorable?

Being this adorable should be against the rules.

Shen Jinrong played the voice message again.

Her apartment clearly gained a tiny bit of warmth because of this voice message—but only a tiny bit. She quickly realized that once the brief few seconds of the voice message ended, everything would return to normal, and her life would remain uneventful.

Shen Jinrong sniffled, rolling over in bed. She lay on her stomach, trying to alleviate the dizziness in her head. She was a little dizzy and very sleepy, but she still forced herself to send a voice message to the little one. She knew her voice sounded weak right now, so she took a deep breath, trying to pretend she was still full of energy.

But she was too tired, and her phone slipped from her hand halfway through the message.

“Thank you, little one. I think you—” Her voice message stopped abruptly.