"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 81

Yan He  herself did not like being photographed, nor did she enjoy photographing people, but that did not mean she disliked taking photos of Shen Jinrong. In her sophomore year, the entire Journalism Society passed an iron rule: every member must spend some time studying photography techniques with the Photography Club.

After systematically studying with the Photography Club’s instructor for over two months, Yan He felt she had barely mastered the basics of the craft.

Now, she held her phone tightly, looking through the not-too-crowded square toward the Spanish Steps in the distance. The lengthy staircase would be lined with flowers in the spring. If one were lucky, they might even see a flower vendor sitting at the bottom of the steps with a small stall displaying various potted flowers.

A tall palm tree stood diagonally above, hidden near a thicket of evergreen shrubs.

Yan He held her ice cream in one hand and pulled Shen Jinrong with the other toward the Fountain of the Barcaccia (The Fountain of the Old Boat) in the center of the square. Like the Trevi Fountain, it was a Baroque structure. Sunlight hit the water, sending shimmers of light across the ancient city.

“It would be lovely to come in the spring,” Yan He said with some regret.

Shen Jinrong, diligently eating her ice cream while studying the Barcaccia Fountain in front of her, turned her head in confusion when she heard Yan He’s comment: “Would it be different in the spring?”

“Yes, it would be lined everywhere with flowers,” Yan He pointed toward where a tourist wearing a black hat was standing: “Right there, there is often a flower vendor sitting under two parasols.”

Shen Jinrong followed the direction of her finger. The sunlight fell entirely upon the twin-towered church in the distance, reflecting a beautiful ivory white.

“Flower vendor?” Shen Jinrong repeated.

“It’s the kind of… flowers placed in small pots. All sorts of colors,” Yan He used her hand to gesture the size of the pot, her eyes sparkling: “Maybe flowers last longer when they’re in pots.”

Shen Jinrong nodded slightly, tightening her grip on Yan He’s hand. She felt a bit annoyed—She mentioned flowers, so why is Yan He still acting like a block of wood? She then remembered the flowers Yan He had sent her before, and thought, Maybe she really is a block of wood. Did the young woman just see me give Tan Ning baby’s breath once and mistakenly think I liked baby’s breath, too?

She had also been given other flowers later—though they weren’t really from her. There were one or two white roses in the bouquets arranged by the school, but they weren’t Yan He’s own intention.

Shen Jinrong felt annoyed for a moment, then realized she was only getting angry at herself. Yan He noticed her change in mood, didn’t dare to speak, and stood quietly by, cautiously peeking at her.

Shen Jinrong was amused by her: “Why do you keep looking at me?”

Yan He looked away, naturally trying to cover up: “I’m looking at the fountain.” She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth—What a perfect opportunity! You should have said it was because Elder Sister is beautiful, instead of trying to strangely justify your behavior.

But regret was useless now. Shen Jinrong inwardly ‘hmph’-ed. Before she could speak, the young woman tugged on her hand and said carefully, “Elder Sister, let’s look at the fountain!”

The Barcaccia Fountain was designed to look like a small sinking boat. Shen Jinrong gazed at it distractedly, and then, as if sensing something, she turned her head, running straight into Yan He’s silly, staring eyes.

The moment their eyes met, many thoughts flashed through Yan He’s mind—Would she be angry about this? Would she ask me to stop looking like that? If she directly told me to stop, what should I do?

But in the next second, she realized that there were no negative emotions in her sister’s eyes, only a clarity she could see straight through. It was strange: Shen Jinrong’s pupils were dark, and she usually kept her emotions locked deep within, rarely showing them. But at this moment, under the sunlight, those eyes, which were typically as deep as a cold pool, were so gentle. As she looked at Yan He, she was as soft and tender as she was when they kissed.

Her gaze seemed to penetrate everything and settle on Yan He’s heart, which danced in response to her closeness. That small bud of a flower tentatively sought to meet her gaze, like a morning butterfly kissing a flower’s stamen, embracing intimately in the humid air.

Yan He suddenly realized that she already had Shen Jinrong’s blatant favoritism. She didn’t always need to worry about gains and losses. If she could embrace and kiss Shen Jinrong now, she could certainly be with her forever.

Young people like to talk about “forever,” while older people rarely use the word. The future is not something that can be seen all the way through, and Shen Jinrong did not easily make promises, for she didn’t know what her future held.

How long do you think forever is? If her eyes could speak, Yan He would hear Shen Jinrong asking this.

Perhaps I shouldn’t easily promise forever, but from now until the moment my heart stops in the future, I will give you all my loyalty.

The next day, Shen Jinrong bought many postcards on a long street near the Vatican, and also purchased stamps, mailing the prettiest ones to her home address in China.

They casually found a souvenir shop. The owner said he could help mail them to China, so they didn’t need to make a special trip to the post office.

Yan He seemed to have some trauma related to Italian post offices; hearing the owner say this in English, she visibly sighed in relief.

Shen Jinrong rested one hand on the transparent glass counter, looking askance at Yan He: “You don’t want to go to the post office?”

Yan He wrinkled her nose: “You can just find any mailbox to mail postcards. So many things are handled at the post office, so it’s often very crowded.”

Shen Jinrong smiled and repeated her words to the owner, who raised his eyebrows and gave her a thumbs-up in agreement.

As Christmas approached, a huge Christmas tree had also been erected in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, standing beside the obelisk in the center of the square, surrounded by red decorations at the base. From a certain angle, one could frame the Christmas tree, the obelisk, and St. Peter’s Basilica behind them all in the same shot.

Shen Jinrong went to look at the Christmas tree while Yan He stood still, looking down at her phone. She secretly took many photos of Shen Jinrong while pretending to take landscape photos: Shen Jinrong contemplating with downcast eyes by the Trevi Fountain, Shen Jinrong elegantly sipping coffee unhurriedly in the restaurant, and Shen Jinrong standing on the Spanish Steps imitating Audrey Hepburn.

In the photos, Shen Jinrong was sometimes lost in thought, sometimes smiling sweetly, and sometimes smiling back at Yan He. Photography freezes a particular moment forever, allowing them to look back whenever they wished.

“Yan He! Come quickly! There’s a big pigeon here!” Shen Jinrong waved and called her from a distance, her smile bright and her eyes dazzling.

Yan He gripped her phone tightly, as if holding the phone with her sister’s pictures would allow her to hold onto Shen Jinrong herself.

She smiled as she walked over: “What big pigeon?”

The moment she approached, she was nearly dive-bombed in the face by the exact pigeon Shen Jinrong had been pointing at. Yan He retreated two steps, looking horrified, while Shen Jinrong laughed heartily, pointing at her.

The pigeon seemed to have only meant to tease her; seeing Yan He step back, it flapped its wings and flew away.

“Pigeons must really like you!” Shen Jinrong walked over, putting one hand on Yan He’s shoulder, while rummaging through her bag for a wet wipe with the other: “Did it brush against you?”

Yan He shook her head, pouting: “It scared me.”

Shen Jinrong looked like she wanted to laugh, but seeing Yan He’s aggrieved expression, she felt embarrassed to laugh out loud, so she forcibly suppressed her laughter and rubbed Yan He’s head as comfort: “My fault, Elder Sister didn’t expect it to fly straight at you!”

Yan He held her hand, looking earnest: “Pigeons are very aggressive.”

Shen Jinrong nodded in agreement: “I understand. I didn’t mean to tease it either. I just looked at it. Who knew it would fly toward you?” Speaking of this, she wanted to laugh even more, but considering Yan He’s hurt feelings, she didn’t let the sound out.

“So, should we still go to the museum?” Yan He sniffed, no longer feeling quite so wronged.

Shen Jinrong raised an eyebrow and patted Yan He’s arm: “Come, come, have a look.”

Yan He looked confused: “Look at what?”

Shen Jinrong pulled her around and pointed to the crowd not far away: “Do you see that group of people queuing in a winding line?”

Yan He was startled: “I see them.”

Shen Jinrong patted her: “Do you know what they’re queuing for?”

“…I don’t know,” Yan He answered truthfully.

“They’re queuing to visit the museum,” Shen Jinrong said meaningfully: “We don’t have reservations, so we’d have to queue. With this many people, there’s no telling when we’d get in.”

Yan He had an “Aha!” moment. The two walked around the area for a bit and then left.

Walking back down the avenue full of souvenir shops, Yan He looked at the small paper bag of postcards Shen Jinrong was carrying and suddenly asked, “Why mail postcards to yourself?”

“Hmm…” Shen Jinrong stroked her chin, seemingly weighing her words: “Because… I want to keep them as a memento.”

She smiled: “I have a habit. When I travel for work or leisure to other places, I always like to buy some postcards and mail them to myself. When I see those postcards, stamped many times, arriving at my side after crossing oceans, I get a sense of satisfaction.”

“I have so many beautiful postcards! Some are particularly interesting! For example, the limited-edition Smurfs postcards from Belgium!” Shen Jinrong was completely delighted when talking about her collection: “I also have The Little Prince stamps issued by the French post office!”

Yan He smiled, watching her introduce these items.

Actually, Yan He had seen her friends buy postcards before, but she had no one to mail them to, so she rarely bought them.

“If you travel for work or fun to some place later, you can mail them to me!” Shen Jinrong squinted in a smile: “I remember you’ll be traveling for work soon, right? If you see a beautiful postcard, you can mail it to me!”

“Just mail it to my home!” Shen Jinrong tucked a few unruly strands of hair behind her ear, smiling brightly: “Thank you, young woman~”