"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 83

Yan He noticed that when Shen Jinrong asked that question, her tone was calm and sincere, as if she had no hidden meaning, merely a simple inquiry. But having a guilty conscience, Yan He hesitated for a moment before answering: “The word itself means ‘girl.’ It’s simply introducing you to others as my friend.”

Shen Jinrong suppressed a laugh, thinking that if she didn’t already know the meaning of the word, she might have been fooled by Yan He. “My friend”? Why wouldn’t you just say that those few words together mean “my girl”?

Since Yan He wouldn’t say it, Shen Jinrong wouldn’t expose her. She just pretended to suddenly understand: “So that’s what it means!”

Yan He sincerely nodded, and then, seemingly afraid that Shen Jinrong would press the matter further, she lowered her head to study the route on her phone. The car left the hotel, and as it drove through Via Veneto, it still looked like a typical city scene. It was rush hour, and the traffic was congested; every now and then, a stream of people poured out from the subway entrances by the roadside.

Shen Jinrong was very patient. She followed the car in front, occasionally tapping the brake, unhurriedly. Yan He thought, Jiejie has such a good temper. If it were me, I might get angry and curse if someone suddenly darted into the road, much like that old man driving that we saw when we first arrived in Rome.

“Are you in a hurry?” Shen Jinrong slowly stopped the car at the traffic light, resting one hand on the steering wheel: “In Europe, you have to be patient when driving.”

Yan He blinked, took two bottles of water from the back seat, and placed them in the cup holder area below the display screen. She twisted open one bottle and took a sip: “No, not really.” She said honestly: “I was worried that Jiejie would be in a rush.”

Shen Jinrong laughed, shaking her head slightly. The earring on the side of her face facing Yan He reflected the sunlight, casting a tiny speck of light somewhere on the car’s ceiling: “I’m not in a rush.” She spread her hands: “Italy is only so big anyway; it only takes a little over six hours to drive all the way to Bolzano.”

Shen Jinrong freed a hand and rubbed Yan He’s head, the technique becoming increasingly skillful. After having her head rubbed, Yan He sat quietly in her seat, saying nothing.

“Let’s listen to something,” Shen Jinrong reached out to adjust the radio on the console below the display screen for a long time, finally finding a station playing music. A deep, emotional male voice sang sentences that Yan He couldn’t quite understand, the tone sounding like a heartfelt confession to a deeply beloved person.

Confession.

Yan He let out a long breath. She thought every day about when to confess to Jiejie, but she always felt that she hadn’t found the right moment. She thought, if possible, she wanted to confess to Shen Jinrong in Bolzano, during Christmas. How should she say it? Should she intentionally choose a quiet moment alone to confess, or should she pretend to bring it up casually during a lively celebration with others?

The latter idea was quickly dismissed from Yan He’s mind. In her view, confessing to a beloved person should be sincere and sacred. What was the difference between a feigned, casual confession during a revelry and a confession on April Fool’s Day?

Yan He decided to seriously contemplate the most suitable way to confess, but… what if Jiejie refused?

Yan He secretly messaged Li Xiuxi: “Sister! Help!”

Li Xiuxi quickly replied: “Oh! Look who it is! It’s Yan He, who kidnapped our beautiful Professor! Aren’t you having such a good time that you’ve forgotten all about us?”

Yan He pouted, wondering why she was being so sarcastic: “No, no [cringing emoji].” “What’s wrong?”

“I want to confess,” Yan He secretly glanced at Jiejie. Seeing that Shen Jinrong was focused on the road conditions ahead, she lowered her head to message Li Xiuxi: “I plan to confess in the Alps area.”

“Huh? Are you two going skiing in Bolzano?”

“Yes, yes! How did you know!” Yan He’s eyes widened.

“There was a ski trip organized at the end of last year. You didn’t go, but I did. It was in Bolzano,” Li Xiuxi recalled the local situation: “It’s very nice. If you go during Christmas, it’s especially romantic.”

“I want to confess, but I’m worried she’ll refuse.”

Li Xiuxi expressed shock at Yan He’s idea: “??? Why would you have such a dangerous thought?!”

Before Yan He could reply, Li Xiuxi’s messages came in one after another: “Holy cow! If she wasn’t interested in you, why would she go on a trip with you! And just the two of you! A world for two!”

“My dear, please be more confident! You two stayed in the same room the second time you met! How could she possibly not be interested in you!”

“…Don’t tell me you still haven’t confirmed her feelings for you?” Li Xiuxi felt disappointed: “Yan He! Even I can tell! Even I can tell!! Are you an idiot!”

Yan He became even more submissive: “My mistake, my mistake, I’m planning the confession now!”

“Our Professor Shen meeting someone like you, who stubbornly refuses to confess, is truly heartbreaking!” Li Xiuxi scolded Yan He: “Confess quickly, okay?”

Yan He sent a sticker in reply, but before she could continue typing, Shen Jinrong reached out and turned down the music volume on the radio, saying, “We’ve left the city.” Her tone was cheerful, and she winked at Yan He: “Escaping the city, right?”

Yan He hadn’t noticed when they drove onto the highway. A road sign that just flashed past indicated SS4, and a low-flying plane streaked across the sky, its destination seemingly a nearby small airport.

“That’s a small airport,” Yan He looked at the map’s marker. Their location was represented by a small blue dot, with a small fan-shaped area in front of the dot indicating the direction of travel, “There’s a flight school.”

Shen Jinrong glanced at the car navigation. The highway was marked in light blue, a winding blue ribbon heading straight to the destination. There weren’t many cars on the road, so her nerves relaxed a little, and she casually asked, “Is it for teaching helicopters?”

Yan He laughed: “It didn’t say, I don’t think.”

Shen Jinrong slightly raised an eyebrow.

“Do you still remember Li Xiuxi?” After Shen Jinrong confirmed she did, Yan He said with a smile, “She said before that she was going to get a private pilot’s license, but she never went through with it.”

“Li Xiuxi seems quite keen on getting various certificates.” Shen Jinrong recalled Yan He mentioning that she got her lifeguard certificate and her diving license with Li Xiuxi.

Yan He thought for a moment, then unreservedly exposed Li Xiuxi: “Not really. She just talks about it. The only ones she actually got were the lifeguard and diving certificates.”

So both of them laughed. Yan He suddenly felt that the place she was stepping on was soft and cushioned, not like being in a car or on solid ground, but with a vague, floating sensation, as if her current perspective was not next to Shen Jinrong, but looking down on the entire car from above an office.

How strange. Yan He thought she might have looked at the navigation screen too much. She put her phone aside and looked at the central car navigation. The screen was not very bright. Yan He saw that they would soon be turning to enter another highway, the A90. The car drove quickly past a rather desolate patch of open country.

Afraid that Shen Jinrong might get bored, Yan He started trying to strike up conversations: “Jiejie, are you thirsty? Do you want some water?”

“Jiejie, is there any place you particularly want to go? We can go there together next time.” Her words subtly began planning their next outing.

“Aren’t you tired from driving for so long? If there’s a service area later, let’s stop and rest for a while!”

Shen Jinrong patiently answered each of her questions: “I’m not thirsty right now,” and “I don’t really have a specific place right now, but if I do, and we have the chance to go together, that would be great.”

When answering the last question, Shen Jinrong couldn’t help but turn to look at Yan He. Seeing the child’s eagerly expectant eyes, she tapped the car screen with her right hand, making a dull “thud” sound: “I say, little Yan He, look at the time now.”

Yan He followed the direction of her finger; the time was clearly displayed in the upper right corner of the screen. She reported obediently: “11:45 AM.”

“What time did we leave?” Shen Jinrong asked again.

Yan He couldn’t quite remember. She tried to recall: “…Around… a little after nine?”

Shen Jinrong gave a helpless smile: “We left close to 10 AM, and then we drove, and stopped at a supermarket to buy some more things. She paused: “So, little Yan He, I’ve only been driving for just over an hour. I’m not tired. Be a good girl.”

Yan He wished she could shrink into her seat and disappear completely.

Shen Jinrong’s tone was gentle and soothing. Yan He was captivated by her tenderness but still couldn’t forget her recent embarrassing moment.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Jinrong smiled: “Don’t you think me constantly asking you ‘What’s wrong?’ makes me sound a little un-thoughtful?”

Yan He inexplicably felt that the sentence sounded familiar. She tentatively asked: Carol?”

Shen Jinrong snapped her fingers, her tone becoming lighter: “Bingo!”

She continued: “When it was first released, I was at a conference in the United States, so I went to see it. It happened to be the midnight showing, and the movie had no subtitles, but I generally understood it. But that line must be from the book, right?”

Yan He smiled, mimicking her earlier gesture by snapping her fingers: “Bingo.”

Before getting onto the A90 highway, the map showed a gas station not far away, so Shen Jinrong pulled over to fill up the tank. While waiting for the fueling, she went into the small shop labeled “Bar” next door and bought a cup of coffee, asking Yan He if she wanted one.

Yan He asked for a cup too. It was almost lunchtime, so they decided to rest here and have a quick lunch.

Shen Jinrong parked the car in the designated parking spot nearby. When she returned, Yan He was chatting casually with the owner. Shen Jinrong smiled and leaned closer to Yan He, listening to the two of them rambling on, while pretending to look confused as if she didn’t understand.

“Good morning!” Seeing Shen Jinrong approach, the owner greeted her in a cheerful tone, placed her cup of coffee on the counter, and said, “Please enjoy.”

Shen Jinrong smiled at him. The polite “thank you” in her mouth made a quick turn, changing from Italian to the English “Thank you.”

Seeing Shen Jinrong arrive, Yan He said she was going to get something from the car. Shen Jinrong handed her the key.

After Yan He left, the owner smiled politely at Shen Jinrong and asked if she spoke Italian.

Shen Jinrong glanced out of the corner of her eye in the direction Yan He had left, confirming that she hadn’t returned yet, and then replied in Italian with a smile: “A little. My Italian is not very good.”

The owner was startled: “No, your Italian is very good!”

Shen Jinrong raised an eyebrow and lightly chuckled, saying thank you, and then remained silent. Just then, Yan He returned. Shen Jinrong gave a slight nod to the owner and then went to sit at a nearby table with the young woman.