"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 67

“Elopement,” a wonderfully romantic but tragic word.

Shen Jinrong slightly nodded, her eyes meeting the child’s smiling gaze. Just a look was enough to make her feel completely captivated. She recalled the word the child had just used—elopement. If one wasn’t too strict and didn’t focus on the outcome, the process itself could certainly be called elopement.

A trip with just the two of them.

Rather than calling this journey an elopement, Shen Jinrong actually preferred to call it a dream. A dream that she had fantasized about her whole life but had never realized.

She had once imagined traveling with her loved one, just the two of them. They would journey together, climb mountains and stand on the peak looking down at the world, or go to the beach to watch the sunrise, quietly observing the ebb and flow of the tides.

But before this, those scenes were nothing more than her wishful thinking.

When she occasionally dreamed of such scenes, she would turn her head, but the face of the person beside her was always blurry; she couldn’t make out their features. Later, she stopped having such dreams; they couldn’t come true anyway, and only served to make her needlessly sad.

Shen Jinrong sometimes thought pessimistically: will I ever meet that person in this life? She didn’t know. As she grew older, she stopped holding onto that hope. But Yan He appeared at this very moment—like a ray of sunshine cast into her gray life. Her eyebrows, her eyes, her lips, her smile—they all made Shen Jinrong want to possess them. A strange sense of possessiveness, something her usually placid heart never felt, had emerged. She didn’t want this Yan He to be seen by others; she wanted this Yan He to be her child alone.

But her clear rationality told her she could not.

If Yan He’s feelings for her were just a brief, passing infatuation, then she was willing to play the role that Tan Ning once played in her life: accompanying her for this short distance, and then letting her go to find the person she truly ought to love.

Yet, Shen Jinrong also knew she and Tan Ning were different. Her feelings for Yan He were fundamentally different from Tan Ning’s for her. The current Shen Jinrong, like the Tan Ning of the past, stood on the opposite bank, watching the child run around and seeing her do so much for her.

However, Shen Jinrong knew, and Tan Ning knew deep down, that they were completely different. Tan Ning always stood still; she would never stay for Shen Jinrong. But Shen Jinrong would move her feet for Yan He. She made no sound, but she watched her constantly.

The word “should” carries uncertainty when applied to a future person one is going to love. When used by Shen Jinrong, it was evidence of her lack of confidence.

A trace of insecurity always lurked deep within her heart. She did not believe—or rather, dared not believe—that someone would truly love her without reservation. She dared not believe that someone would be willing to join hands with her and spend the rest of their lives together.

The word “lifetime” was too long, as long as a straight, endless highway. Where was the end of the road? Shen Jinrong only saw the road disappearing beyond the mountains; she couldn’t see the destination.

But who could tell what the future held now?

The future was out there, neither far nor near. It would arrive one day, and one day it would reveal its true face.

But those were all matters for later. Shen Jinrong thought, let the future version of herself deal with those difficult questions. She only needed to enjoy the present, as long as the now still existed.

She lowered her eyes and saw the child’s fists tightly clenched due to nervousness. She smiled, walked over, and took Yan He’s hand.

The child also released her grip in time, intertwining her fingers with Shen Jinrong’s, as if they had done this a thousand times before.

“Yes, we are eloping.”

Shen Jinrong smiled at her. They were so close that Yan He could clearly see the fine lines faintly appearing at the corners of the older sister’s eyes when she smiled. But even these small marks of time on her face seemed like an extra gift from God, not at all diminishing her beauty, but instead adding to her mature charm and radiance.

Her heart raced as if it had been expecting this. Yan He felt that when her fingers were intertwined with Shen Jinrong’s, that hand seemed to detach from her own body and become a separate part. That part mingled with the older sister’s body, and they shared the warmth of each other’s palms.

Her palm was cool but gradually grew warmer. Yan He only dared to stiffly hold her hand, not daring to make any other movements, as if any deviation now would be an uninvited guest disrupting the beautiful atmosphere.

“Have you eaten?” Shen Jinrong asked her.

“I don’t feel like eating. I drank too much coffee.” Yan He naturally took her suitcase. The two of them walked into the cafe and sat down. They were the only two people beside the long solid wood table, and Yan He still hadn’t let go of her hand. It was as if as long as she didn’t let go, the older sister at this moment still belonged to her.

“Well then… shall we rest a bit and then go get our boarding passes?” Shen Jinrong said with a smile.

She really likes to smile, Yan He thought. But seeing the older sister’s smile, the words He Wei had just spoken involuntarily surfaced in her mind. Those words were like a persistent plague, not allowing her to escape or dodge. She could only pretend to be unconcerned, pretending she hadn’t heard anything.

And so, the bitterness in her heart intensified.

Shen Jinrong’s presence right next to her strangely calmed Yan He. She heard herself say to Shen Jinrong, “Okay.”

“I shouldn’t have booked a night flight,” Shen Jinrong sighed. “Will it be too exhausting for you?”

“Sleeping on the plane will be just right, and we’ll arrive,” Yan He blinked at her, as if to reassure her. “And we have a direct flight, so we won’t have to keep rushing back and forth.”

Shen Jinrong chuckled softly, the sound faintly reaching Yan He’s ears.

Yan He got her boarding pass, and after checking her luggage with Shen Jinrong, she glanced down at the time. They had just enough time to go to the gate.

The two of them walked past the central structure of the airport and stepped onto the escalator, riding it downwards.

Yan He adjusted the bag she was carrying, confirming her documents were inside. She let out a sigh of relief, turned to look at Shen Jinrong standing beside her, and then reached out again, carefully holding the older sister’s right hand.

While performing this series of actions, Yan He’s eyes were fixed straight ahead, and her other hand rested casually on the handrail, as if completely unconcerned.

Shen Jinrong held her hand, turned her head, and saw that the child’s face was expressionless, but her earlobes were flushed red. She smiled inwardly, but didn’t expose her, instead gripping Yan He’s hand tighter, as if reassuring her with this action.

In the evening, the entire airport was deserted. As they reached the bottom, they waited for the shuttle train to the gate.

The vast, silver-white space made Yan He a little nervous. She turned to look at Shen Jinrong, seeing only her fair, beautiful profile.

The older sister’s tear mole is under her left eye, Yan He thought.

The older sister wore glasses on her nose and a small black bag on her back. Dressed in casual sportswear, her presence beside her seemed to silently shorten the distance between the two of them.

This distance was impossible to describe in words. It had no substance, yet it truly existed. Age, status, experience—everything could increase or shorten the distance between two people.

But Yan He felt that standing next to Shen Jinrong, the distance between them was far less vague than when she first met her; she could now reach out and grasp her.

“What are you thinking about?” Shen Jinrong stroked her head.

The shuttle train was about to arrive. A series of irregular rumbling sounds echoed throughout the space, and the noisy wind swirled around her, filling her ears.

Yan He didn’t quite hear what Shen Jinrong had just said. She looked at the older sister’s lips moving open and closed, looked at the tear mole at the corner of her eye, and was seized by an impulse to kiss her.

There was no one here—not a single person. She could do what she wanted without worrying about others’ opinions.

The train was about to arrive! A fierce gust of wind blew in from somewhere. Yan He said nothing, leaned in, and kissed Shen Jinrong fleetingly, like a dragonfly skimming the water.

The kiss was just a kiss, nothing more. It was a brief touch, immediately separated, just like the sudden gust of wind that blew up before the train arrived. The wind brushed past Shen Jinrong’s hair, slightly disarranging it, and the strands gently brushed against Yan He’s face.

Perhaps everything can be expressed in words, or perhaps some things cannot be articulated. For those words that cannot be spoken, when the wind blows, entrust your feelings to it. When the wind reaches me, I will understand what is in your heart.

“The train is here.”

Yan He pulled Shen Jinrong’s hand, and they stepped onto the train together.

A few people sat inside the train, looking down, and no one looked their way. Yan He and Shen Jinrong found a seat and sat down. The weather was cold in December, and the wind made it even more icy at night.

“You—” Shen Jinrong wanted to say something. She also wanted to adopt her elder’s posture and reprimand Yan He, telling her not to kiss her so casually, as it would look bad if someone they knew saw it. But looking at the child’s highly raised lips, she couldn’t get the words out and had to secretly fume at herself.

“Are you angry?” Yan He leaned closer to her, asking in a whisper. Her voice was extremely low, almost a breath. If she hadn’t leaned close enough, Shen Jinrong might not have heard it.

Shen Jinrong glanced at her, said nothing, but a smile was already in her eyes.

“Older Sister!” Yan He called out brightly, carefully poking Shen Jinrong’s hand: “Talk to me! What did you just say? I didn’t quite catch it.”

Shen Jinrong “Humph”-ed, turned her face away, and deliberately feigned annoyance: “You want to hear it now?”

“Mm-hmm!” Yan He’s eyes sparkled as she blinked.

“I’m not telling,” Shen Jinrong raised an eyebrow, looking at her askance.

Yan He pouted: “Then let me guess what Older Sister was going to say just now…” The smile on her lips made Shen Jinrong instinctively feel something was amiss. Sure enough, the naughty child’s next sentence was—”I bet Older Sister was going to say—’Kiss me.'”

The child pursed her lips, looking confused: “I listened and kissed Older Sister! Why is Older Sister still angry?”

Shen Jinrong: ?