"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 55

Shen Jinrong pondered for a long time what state the woman’s “she slept” implied. Did it mean Yan He was sleeping beside this woman? Or something else entirely?

While Shen Jinrong was silent, He You also waited patiently for her to speak, inevitably forming speculations about Yan He’s “Older Woman” in her mind—the voice was very unfamiliar; she must have never heard it before. So, it must be someone Yan He knew? Was she called Older Woman because she was slightly older than Yan He?

Ordinarily, Ms. He would have patiently chatted with her, but the timing wasn’t right now. She spoke, “If it’s anything important, I can pass on the message.”

“Ah!” Shen Jinrong was taken aback. She really didn’t have anything important to talk to Yan He about. She had been slightly anxious because her calls weren’t answered, but she quickly calmed down after regaining her senses: “It’s nothing, I was just asking if she got home.”

He You thought, This must be the friend Yan He went to see this morning, right? She softened her tone: “She’s home already, thank you.”

Shen Jinrong also offered a thank you, and the two politely ended the call.

If Yan He had been conscious right now, she might have witnessed the exchange between Ms. He and Professor Shen. Unfortunately, the person at the center of attention was lying in bed with a fever, feeling groggy. When she was woken up, she only dimly registered that Ms. He seemed to have answered a call and then quickly hung up.

She groggily opened her eyes and asked, “Mom, who was that?”

He You spoke in a gentle voice, comforting her: “A friend of yours, asking if you got home.”

Yan He said “Oh,” didn’t think much of it, hugged her quilt, rolled over, and drifted back to sleep. She vaguely heard Ms. He leaning in with a thermometer gun, muttering, “Why is it so high?” Yan He had no memory of anything that happened after that.

Yan Guangming arrived home half an hour later. He went into Yan He’s room to take a look and asked He You, who was rummaging through cabinets for medicine, “What happened?”

He You didn’t look up: “She fell into the water.”

Yan Guangming thought she was being perfunctory and frowned: “I’m not joking.”

He You found the antipyretic medicine, straightened up, glared at him, and snapped, “She literally fell into the water; she came home soaking wet today. Why are you using such an aggressive tone?”

Yan Guangming also felt his tone wasn’t great and softened his expression: “I didn’t mean—” “Yan Guangming, we are already divorced; the paperwork is done. I only called you back today purely because the child is sick. Otherwise, did you think I wanted to call you?” He You scoffed: “Don’t flatter yourself.”

Yan Guangming knew he was in the wrong, so he just followed her around. After watching He You buzz around like a busy bee for a while, he finally couldn’t help but ask, “What can I do?”

“Boil some hot water for the child to take medicine.” He You raised an eyebrow, gesturing for him to go to the kitchen.

By the time Yan Guangming came out with the water, He You was sitting on the sofa, spacing out. Catching sight of him from the corner of her eye, she beckoned to him: “Come here for a moment.”

Yan Guangming placed the water cup aside and walked straight over: “What is it?”

“I plan to find an opportunity soon to tell the child about our divorce.” He You’s expression was neutral, but Yan Guangming knew she was speaking seriously about the matter.

Yan Guangming had always been evasive about the divorce; he didn’t want the child to know about it so soon. But before he could voice his objection, he heard what He You said next: “This matter can’t be delayed any longer. We’ve put it off since Yan He was a child, and we finally have to face it, don’t we? Besides—Yan He is an adult now,” He You’s gaze subtly swept toward Yan He’s bedroom door, and her words became more resolute: “She is of legal age; there’s no need for her to choose between the two of us. All we can do is inform her. The child deserves to know the truth.”

Yan Guangming opened his mouth, but the words of objection never left him. He nodded silently, accepting it by default. Then, he returned to where he had placed the water cup, walked in, and put it by Yan He’s bedside.

“I’ve put the water in the room. You can go now.” Yan Guangming sighed: “I still have some unfinished business at work, I need to head back.”

He You nodded. After getting up from the sofa, she turned and asked, “Are you sleeping at work tonight?”

Yan Guangming nodded: “My phone won’t be on silent tonight. Call me directly if anything happens.”

He You hummed in acknowledgement. As Yan Guangming put on his jacket and prepared to leave, she suddenly asked, “Do you know that Yan He has an Older Woman?”

The question sounded utterly bewildering to Yan Guangming. He stopped putting on his jacket, frowned at He You, and his expression turned serious: “What do you mean by that?”

He You shrugged: “I just saw an ‘Older Woman’ call Yan He. I was seeing if you knew who it was.”

“I don’t know her.” Yan Guangming finished putting on his jacket, adjusted his collar, and said to He You, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, and it has nothing to do with me. During our marriage, I never did anything to betray you.”

He You remained silent and nodded slightly.

“Then I’ll be going now.” He took one last look at Yan He lying on the bed, gave a slight nod, and turned to leave.

The next morning, Yan He, who hadn’t recovered from her fever overnight, was taken to the hospital by Ms. He. Sitting in the passenger seat of Ms. He’s car, Yan He leaned against the window, her eyes half-closed, looking sickly.

He You glanced at her and said, “Doesn’t your head hurt leaning on the window?”

Yan He reacted half a beat late. She lifted her head from the window, shook it, and then leaned back again.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Yan He said slowly.

Ms. He looked at her amusedly: “You didn’t burn your brain out with that fever, did you?”

Yan He sniffled. She hadn’t told Ms. He about her heroic act yesterday, worried that Ms. He would scold her for rashly attempting a rescue. Now, she was just passively accepting Ms. He’s critique—”Getting an IV drip at the hospital later will be good.” Ms. He said while steering: “Learn your lesson, so you don’t go playing in the water again in the crisp air of September.”

Yan He touched her nose, lacking the energy to argue with her after all.

How did I even get sick? Yan He couldn’t figure it out. She hadn’t been ill with a fever for many years, but this time the illness had struck aggressively, leaving her almost defenseless.

“If you haven’t been sick for years, getting sick once means it will definitely take longer to recover.” Ms. He had her own theory; she could tell what Yan He was thinking with just a glance.

“Alright, stop overthinking it. I put the things I brought for you in the back. Grab them yourself when we get out of the car later.”

Yan He reached into the back seat to get the bag Ms. He mentioned. Inside were her phone, a power bank, and a book. Yan He raised an eyebrow in surprise, turning the book over to see that it was a children’s fairy tale book.

“Mom—” Yan He whined, drawing out the word, “How old am I? Why would I read a fairy tale book!”

Ms. He glanced at her and retorted, “Exactly, and how old are you to be playing in the water?”

Fine. She could never win an argument against Ms. He.

Yan He obediently shut up.

After starting the IV drip at the hospital, it wasn’t long before Ms. He received a call from her workplace, saying there was an urgent matter requiring her attention.

Yan He was eager for her to get to work; Ms. He would be bored sitting here with her anyway. She quickly said, “Mom, please go, please go! I’ll be fine alone!”

Ms. He put away her phone, frowned, and looked at the IV bag above: “You still have two bags of fluid left, you know?”

Yan He nodded emphatically.

“You seem much more spirited?” Ms. He leaned forward and touched her forehead: “Yes, you’re much better. You don’t feel as hot as when we first arrived. It was definitely right to come to the hospital, wasn’t it?”

Looking at the more than half-full bag of fluid, Ms. He estimated the time in her mind: “My workplace should be done before noon, which should be about the same time you’re finished, right? Call me when you’re almost done, and I’ll pick you up to go home.”

Yan He nodded again, her attitude resolute, afraid that if Ms. He saw any reluctance in her eyes, she would soften and decide not to leave.

He You watched her eyes blink repeatedly and laughed in exasperation: “You’re that eager for me to leave? Fine, I’m going then.”

Yan He quickly offered a placating smile: “I’m just worried that your workplace might be waiting impatiently!”

He You rolled her eyes at her, stood up, and handed the small bag that had been behind her to Yan He: “Your phone and power bank are inside. But don’t keep playing on your phone; read the book if you have time.”

Yan He thought of the fairy tale book that reminded her of her childhood, pouted, and said, “Got it! Thank you, Mom! Bye, Mom!”

He You was amused and rubbed her head playfully: “I’m leaving now. Call me if anything happens!”

After Ms. He left, Yan He let out a long breath and took her phone out of the bag. After turning it on, she saw several missed calls and a ton of WeChat messages.

Yan He didn’t look closely, opening the WeChat message from Li Xiuxi at the very top first.

Why did Li Xiuxi send me so many messages? Yan He blinked, belatedly realizing that her phone had died yesterday right after she had sent only half a message to Li Xiuxi.

She opened the chat and scrolled up, and sure enough, she saw Li Xiuxi’s accusations throughout the text, filled with anger that she had been cut off mid-conversation, interspersed even with a few WeChat calls.

Yan He witnessed her progression from confusion to franticness and finally to a state of fury. She saw the last message Li Xiuxi sent her: “When you wake up, message me immediately! You scared me to death! If you send a message and only finish half of it again, I won’t be your number one best friend in the world anymore!”

Yan He smiled awkwardly and sent her a voice message, briefly describing her rescue experience from yesterday.

After sending the message, she waited a while but didn’t receive a reply from Li Xiuxi. Of course, she thought, Li Xiuxi probably just went to bed around this time.

She was amused by her own thought. When she opened her missed calls, she found that other than Li Xiuxi, all the other calls were from the Older Woman. The call log even showed that one call had been connected for more than ten seconds.

Yan He placed her phone on her lap, resting the elbow of her non-IV arm on the armrest, and rubbed her temples. She didn’t recall… answering the Older Woman’s call. Did she answer it when she was feverish and confused yesterday?

She couldn’t remember clearly; all her memories from last night to this morning were vague, shrouded in a fog. She opened WeChat and saw the messages Shen Jinrong had sent her.

The first one was sent at 7 p.m.: “Did you get home?”

Seeing no reply from Yan He, she sent another message about an hour later, again asking if Yan He was home. After that, she seemed to get anxious and made a WeChat call. Following that were all the missed calls.

Yan He sighed. She had intended to call the Older Woman immediately to explain, but seeing that it was only 7:30 a.m., she decided to call after 8:00 a.m.

She replied to Shen Jinrong on WeChat: “I’m fine! I got home safely yesterday! My phone died after I got back.”

After sending the message, she turned off the phone screen, placed it on her lap, and closed her eyes.

Her left hand was the one with the IV. She could feel the icy liquid flowing into her body through her vein. She raised her arm and touched her vein, feeling the temperature drop in that area, and could even feel the cold liquid spreading down her forearm along the blood vessel.

Her phone suddenly vibrated. Yan He was startled. She looked down and saw the two characters “Older Woman” on the caller ID. She quickly answered the phone—and immediately heard Shen Jinrong’s anxious voice on the other end: “Are you okay?”