"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 89

They didn’t stay here for long. They only spent the morning of the second day touring the city center. Shen Jinrong bought a few interestingly shaped candles at a candle shop: small white lambs and plump yellow bees. She asked the clerk to pack them, putting them into several exquisite boxes and wrapping them in colorful heavy paper, finished with a beautiful bow.

Shen Jinrong stood at the cash register watching her wrap them, while Yan He looked around the shop. Another clerk showed her a candle with layers of color stacked upon each other, appearing as if cut with a knife from top to bottom, revealing the different colored layers inside.

The clerk explained that it was a carved candle, handmade, and each finished product looked slightly different.

Shen Jinrong paid the bill, walked over with a paper bag, and happened to overhear the clerk’s explanation. She turned to Yan He and asked, “Want to buy one?”

Yan He gave the clerk a polite smile, said goodbye, and walked out of the shop alongside Shen Jinrong.

“No, it’s hard to carry,” Yan He felt the air was humid. She wrinkled her nose: “Besides, I don’t have anyone I want to give it to.”

Madam He and Mr. Yan didn’t like this kind of craft. Other than that, the only person she wanted to give a gift to was standing right next to her. There truly was no one else she wanted to give a gift to.

When they stepped out of the door, the sky was overcast, and fine drizzles began to fall. The ground was also damp, suggesting it had already rained at some point. The roads in the city center were uneven, mostly paved with palm-sized small bricks, with significant slopes up and down, making walking more arduous than on flat ground.

Neither Yan He nor Shen Jinrong had brought an umbrella. Fortunately, the rain wasn’t heavy. Both of Yan He’s jackets had hoods, but Shen Jinrong’s did not. They stood under a small awning to shelter from the rain. Yan He took off her jacket and handed it to her: “You wear this one. It has a hood.”

Shen Jinrong was taken aback: “You’ll catch a cold.” She paused, then took off her own jacket: “Then you wear mine first?”

Yan He pursed her lips, nodding with forced maturity, trying hard not to show her delight. She held Shen Jinrong’s two jackets and the paper bag from the gift shop. Only after Shen Jinrong put on her jacket did she hand the items back to her and put on Shen Jinrong’s jacket herself.

The humidity in the air was high, and breathing deeply was a little uncomfortable. Yan He covered her mouth and coughed lightly, then felt a little better.

“Walk a little further?” Shen Jinrong’s own jacket was thinner than Yan He’s. She asked: “Or should we find a place to sit?”

“Let’s keep walking,” Yan He naturally took her hand: “We’ll warm up as we walk anyway.”

The temperature dropped when it rained. Even after living in Italy for almost a year, Yan He wasn’t very accustomed to the northern climate. The temperature difference between day and night was too great: you needed a down jacket in the morning and evening, but the direct sun at noon made you want to wear only short sleeves.

The streets were full of passing tourists. Some held umbrellas, while others kept their umbrellas closed, using them as walking sticks, bracing themselves with the umbrella with every step.

“Winter is the rainy season, isn’t it?” Shen Jinrong suddenly asked her.

“October to February is the rainy season,” Yan He smiled: “It all happens to be winter.”

Yan He’s hand was warm. Even though Shen Jinrong’s hands were often cold, they were warmed up by her now. The heat started from her palm, then gradually spread to her fingertips. Their fingers were intertwined, and Yan He could feel that Jiejie‘s initially ice-cold fingertips on the back of her hand gradually warmed up, no longer so chilly.

“I didn’t bring an umbrella.” Shen Jinrong carefully avoided a puddle: “Did you?”

“I did.” But the umbrella wasn’t big. Yan He thought a small umbrella was fine, as long as it could hold both of them.

Around the corner, after a slight slope, there was a steep street. In addition to the damp smell in the air, after turning this corner, there also seemed to be the sweet aroma of chocolate.

Yan He didn’t immediately think of Jiejie‘s lipstick. Her first glance fell upon the massive chocolate machine behind the clear glass. The machine was running, and melted brown chocolate sauce was pouring down from the top into the container below.

“Let’s buy some chocolate to take with us.” Shen Jinrong quickly noticed that the young woman’s eyes lit up the moment she saw the store. She intentionally squeezed Yan He’s hand to remind her.

“Okay,” Yan He blinked. The two walked into the shop. There were only a few tourists and three or four clerks in uniform. The sweet scent of chocolate permeated the air, seemingly mixed with the smell of cream. It was a subtle fragrance when standing outside the door, but a direct, sweet, cloying aroma upon entering.

Yan He leaned closer to Jiejie until she smelled the familiar citrus scent before relaxing.

A clerk walked over and smiled, asking: “Can I help you with anything?” He seemed to recognize their faces and asked: “Chinese?”

Yan He smiled: “Yes.”

He then smiled and said “Nǐ hǎo” (Hello) in broken Chinese.

Shen Jinrong also smiled and said “Nǐ hǎo” to him.

The clerk seemed to notice Yan He’s interest in the chocolate machine near the entrance and gave them a rough introduction to the machine. He also offered them samples of a new product, then told them to look for him if they had any questions.

They walked back and forth in the store, looking at the different kinds of chocolates neatly displayed on the shelves, all with various packaging designs. Yan He wanted to buy a few to take home. She remembered Madam He liked chocolate but didn’t like it too sweet, so she looked down at the ingredients on the packaging.

Shen Jinrong took a box of chocolate with small red strawberries printed on the packaging from another counter. Vivid red strawberries were printed on the bottom part of the light-colored box.

“This might be good,” Shen Jinrong turned it over and looked at the ingredients, finding that the strawberries were coated in a layer of chocolate. She pinched Yan He’s hand: “I think this is nice.”

Yan He’s mind went blank for a few seconds when she saw the strawberries, and she suddenly realized that Jiejie seemed to be teasing her. The tips of her ears turned red, and she stammered: “Th-that’s not necessary, is it?”

Shen Jinrong didn’t give her a chance to argue and took two boxes of the chocolate, ready to check out. Yan He also finished picking her chocolates. Seeing Shen Jinrong stop in front of a green-packaged chocolate, she leaned over for a look and reminded her: “Ah! This is pistachio flavor! It’s super sweet!”

Yan He recalled her miserable experience of buying pistachio-flavored ice cream instead of green tea-flavored ice cream before and whispered to Shen Jinrong: “It’s a pistachio filling.”

Shen Jinrong also didn’t like overly sweet chocolate. They didn’t see any other chocolate flavors they liked, so in the end, Shen Jinrong took two boxes of strawberry chocolate, and Yan He took two boxes of dark chocolate. They paid and left.

As they reached the door, the clerk who had served them earlier was standing at the entrance and loudly said “Zài jiàn” (Goodbye) in Chinese.

Yan He waved back at him.

After stepping outside, the light drizzle had stopped. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds, but its outline was hazy and unclear; only its general location could be seen. The clouds covered the sky tightly, changing the color from a clear blue to a pale blue, as if white paint had been heavily brushed across the sky.

Yan He shook her clothes, as if trying to shake off the sweet scent of chocolate from earlier. She wondered if it was her imagination, but she felt that the fresh citrus scent of Jiejie‘s jacket on her was briefly masked after leaving the chocolate shop and only now was it slightly better.

Shen Jinrong placed her two boxes of chocolate into the paper bag containing the candles. Yan He asked her to walk on the inside, so Shen Jinrong carried the bag with her right hand. Yan He walked on the outside, carrying her own chocolate with her left hand.

Walking to the location of the city center bank, Shen Jinrong inadvertently looked up, only to be startled by the heads above.

Yan He followed her gaze and couldn’t help but smile: “This is a bank.” In the center of the open space was a statue of a man, and a pigeon was currently perched on top of the man’s head: “The heads up there are the heads of past bank presidents.”

Under the high eaves, countless heads looked down upon the piazza. Shen Jinrong shivered, feeling like these heads were watching her.

“Let’s go,” Shen Jinrong turned away, trying to look unconcerned. Yan He was about to say something, but Shen Jinrong forcefully pulled her away.

“Jiejie, are you scared?” A small yellow dog with small white spots on its nose passed by Yan He. It accidentally stepped into a puddle as it walked past, splashing small drops of water onto Yan He’s shoes. The dog’s owner quietly apologized.

“A mischievous puppy will be punished,” Shen Jinrong indicated Yan He’s mud-splattered shoes, her eyes curved in a smile.

The curved shape of her eyes was too beautiful, and the cunning smile in her eyes was too cute. Yan He pouted: “It was just an accident.”

Shen Jinrong chuckled, clearly unconvinced.

“It really was just an accident!” Yan He insisted, pulling her to avoid an oncoming taxi. Due to the sudden movement, her shoes picked up even more mud spatters.

Shen Jinrong burst out laughing: “If you say it was an accident again, you might have to find a place to clean your shoes when we get back.”

Yan He pouted, not daring to say anything more, only looking down at her shoes with a wronged expression.

Shen Jinrong smiled, holding her hand and leading her forward. They walked one after the other. Yan He felt this posture was familiar, like the stance of the person leading the dog she had just seen. The “puppy” immediately tensed up, took a large step, caught up with Jiejie‘s pace, and walked beside her.

Shen Jinrong didn’t notice her little thought and turned to ask: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Yan He secretly pouted: “Let’s drive.”

They had parked the car next to the bus terminal. Shen Jinrong used the key to open the door. Before starting the car, she confirmed one last time with Yan He: “So—we’re heading to the seaside now?”

Yan He nodded, using a wet wipe to clean her shoes. She straightened up and gestured forward with an action signal: “Let’s go!”

Shen Jinrong smiled and pinched her thigh. The two burst into laughter.