"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 96

A faint heat rose from the hot spring in the room. The color was a dull, light green, though it was unclear if this was the original color or the color of the pool lining. The overall color scheme of the room was dark. The weather outside wasn’t sunny at the moment, just a hazy gray. Though the room faced the rising sun, not much light fell inside.

“Yan He.”

“Yan He?”

Shen Jinrong called her name twice before Yan He finally pulled her gaze back from the hot spring. She turned to look at her Jiejie and realized that her Jiejie had already hung her down jacket on the floor-standing coat rack by the door and was looking at her quietly.

“What is it?”

Yan He was momentarily stuck: “N-nothing.”

“Why are you staring at the hot spring?”

Yan He muttered something she couldn’t even recall herself. In short, she didn’t tell her Jiejie the real reason—a reason that made her feel shy even when she thought about it secretly in her heart.

Yan He carefully sat down on one side of the large double bed. The soft mattress sprang back the moment she sat down. The bed was slightly larger than a normal double bed and was draped with a dark red bed runner featuring intricate gold patterns.

The bathroom in the room was partitioned off by an ambiguous white frosted glass, through which a large white bathtub, with a beautiful, subtle curve in the middle, could be faintly seen.

Yan He thought, If Jiejie were inside—would I be able to see her?

As soon as the thought began, she felt the tips of her ears burning hot. She instinctively took the item Shen Jinrong handed her without even looking.

Yan He looked down at the tissue in her hand, paused, and looked up in confusion: “Why are you giving me a tissue?”

Shen Jinrong smiled mischievously: “To wipe your drool.”

Yan He:!!!

She quickly reached up to wipe her mouth, but realized it was Shen Jinrong teasing her the moment her hand touched the corner of her lips. She dropped her hand, pouted, and glared at her: “Jiejie!” How could you tease your little puppy like that?

Shen Jinrong laughed: “Alright, alright! My mistake. Whose fault is it that you were so distracted just now, thinking about who knows what!”

—Yan He immediately thought of the bathtub in the bathroom again. The tips of her ears went red. She wrinkled her nose and said, “I wasn’t thinking about anything strange.”

Shen Jinrong chuckled at the little puppy who walked right into the trap: “I never said you were thinking about anything strange.”

Yan He knew she couldn’t out-argue her Jiejie, so she simply gave up. Seeing Shen Jinrong sit beside her, Yan He gently rested her head on her shoulder and whispered, “Let’s go see the Christmas market.”

The Christmas market, with her.

“Should we drive?”

Yan He nodded: “Okay.” She had originally wanted to suggest buying a swimsuit if conditions allowed, but the words turned over in her mouth and were swallowed.

How should she confess?

Shen Jinrong didn’t drive the car into the city center but parked in the lot next to the train station. As they got out after parking, a train happened to arrive, and a large crowd poured out from the station’s entrances.

Yan He couldn’t help but say, “Why are there so many people?”

“They’re all here for vacation. It’s almost Christmas; they must be on holiday,” Shen Jinrong glanced in the direction Yan He was looking and then said, “Don’t get lost.”

So Yan He took her hand and stated the obvious: “Yes, don’t lose me.”

Shen Jinrong smiled, squeezed her hand back, and casually slipped the car key into her bag. With her other hand, she adjusted Yan He’s scarf, which had shifted. Once it was correctly positioned, Shen Jinrong nodded contentedly: “There!”

Yan He adjusted the scarf and sniffed. The air outside was too cold. She felt the tip of her nose chilling, and her respiratory tract cooling along with it. Every second she opened her mouth to speak felt like losing body heat.

“Let’s go then.” Yan He pulled her hand and walked forward.

Bolzano is a small town at the foot of the Alps. After walking a short distance, they could see the tall Gothic cathedral standing next to the town square. Pigeons covered the dull exterior walls and fluttered their wings in unison and flew away when people approached.

The streets were filled with people wearing down jackets and scarves. Some were close couples walking arm-in-arm, others were groups of friends visiting together. Stepping onto the somewhat uneven sidewalk, Yan He suddenly turned and asked Shen Jinrong, “Why aren’t the streets in all these small cities very flat?”

“They must be the irregular flagstones,” Shen Jinrong looked down and saw a patch of regular reflection on one stone slab, a rounded shine that came from years of weathering and friction from pedestrians. She stepped on that stone and realized it was quite slippery.

“It’s all mountains again.”

Shen Jinrong smiled: “We just came from the sea.” They were driving north, which is why the temperature kept dropping.

The Christmas market was right next to the train station. A tall Christmas tree wrapped in colored lights stood prominently there. Next to it was a small wooden hut housing a jewelry shop.

A Christmas tree over ten meters high is decorated and placed in the market every year; this is the custom in every European city. Yan He still remembered the Christmas tree in the Vatican. Every tree seemed to be of a similar height but not exactly the same.

Walking further in, they saw several cafés and restaurants. They chose one at random and walked in, finding it to be a German restaurant.

Yan He quietly asked Shen Jinrong at their table, “Why is it German food?”

“Although this is Italy, it’s a German-speaking region,” Shen Jinrong explained to her. “Bolzano’s official languages are Italian and German.”

Yan He nodded, looking like she partly understood.

The pork knuckle that was served occupied half of the tabletop. It was sprinkled with chopped green parsley, and next to it were chunks of roasted potatoes with the skin on.

When Yan He was nearly finished eating, Shen Jinrong timely handed her a tissue. She had ordered Italian meat sauce pasta and was eating slowly and methodically with her fork. Seeing that Yan He hadn’t wiped off something that had brushed her cheek, she smiled with her lips pressed together, her eyes curving: “You’ve got some on your face.”

The next second, she pulled out a tissue, and her hand appeared near Yan He’s cheek: “Eat slower; there’s no rush.”

Yan He nodded blankly, staring distractedly at Shen Jinrong’s face.

Shen Jinrong withdrew her hand and tucked the used tissue under the plate. Only then did she notice Yan He’s obvious gaze. She paused and asked, “What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“I was just thinking that Jiejie is truly wonderful.”

Shen Jinrong seemed surprised by this and started to blush: “Isn’t this just normal behavior?”

Yes, it’s normal, but because the person doing it is you, nothing about it is normal.

Her eyelashes were long. When she lowered her eyes, they cast a small shadow under the overhead light, and they were trembling slightly now.

“Let’s walk around more after we finish eating.”

Outside a sports store in the city center, someone had converted a small piece of open ground into an ice rink. As soon as they got close, they could feel the blast of cold air. The base was covered with a red carpet. The rink wasn’t too crowded; there were a few scattered children inside.

Shen Jinrong looked back as if sensing something and met Yan He’s bright, shining eyes.

“Do you want to go?” she asked.

Yan He nodded vigorously, but her expression still held some nervousness: “Jiejie said you would teach me.”

“Then let’s go together.”

While changing into the skates, Shen Jinrong suddenly asked her, “Have you ever roller-skated?”

Yan He thought for a moment: “I have, but it was many years ago.” She smiled: “Around when I was in elementary school? Or maybe earlier.”

“It’s actually not that different.”

Shen Jinrong finished putting on her skates and then bent down to help Yan He buckle hers. As she leaned in, Yan He’s gaze naturally followed, and she saw her Jiejie’s delicate, fair collarbone.

Something should be adorning it, she thought.

The blades made a faint “crunch-crunch” sound on the ice. Yan He lost her balance and instinctively raised her hand to grab onto something. In her fluster, Shen Jinrong took her hand and gave her a slight smile.

Her Jiejie‘s height was about the same as hers, but wearing the skates made her legs look even longer. Yan He stared blankly at her, one hand resting on the wooden railing next to her, the other being held by her Jiejie.

“Imagine the feeling of roller-skating.” In the sunlight, Shen Jinrong’s smile seemed to be coated in a layer of light.

She was so serious and focused when teaching, much like her patient and guiding demeanor when wearing glasses and standing at the podium. Yan He opened her mouth and suddenly called out, “Laoshi (Teacher),” just as Shen Jinrong was explaining the skating essentials to her.

Shen Jinrong didn’t react immediately, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“Wh-what?”

—Even Shen Jinrong could hear the stammer in her own voice.

“Thank you, Jiaoshou (Professor), for teaching me.”

Yan He blinked. She rarely saw her Jiejie flustered and helpless, which gave her an idea to tease her.

“Don’t call me that!”

“Professor!”

The one who claimed she didn’t know how to skate suddenly became proficient and pulled her toward a corner—Shen Jinrong: ???

“May I kiss you, Jiaoshou?”

There was no one around them. They were in a blind spot for sightlines. Even if someone saw them, it didn’t really matter; if they saw it, they saw it.

Shen Jinrong was backed up against the wooden railing, her hands also resting on it to maintain her balance, passively receiving the fervent kiss from Yan He.

The kiss began with a tentative touching of lips. The dryness of the kiss soon became moist. The air around them was cold, but the space in front of her was hot. Yan He carefully licked her Jiejie‘s lips with the tip of her tongue, one hand holding the railing, the other around her waist. Then came the intertwining of their tongues. Shen Jinrong’s kiss was slightly dominant, as if retaliating for Yan He’s intentional teasing. Finally, she gave the tip of her tongue a gentle bite.

Yan He flinched in pain but didn’t pull away. She leaned forward, deepening the kiss.

Shen Jinrong patted her, her voice fragmented: “You… you stop… breathe… I can’t breathe!”

Only then did Yan He obediently pull back, her eyes still fixed intently on her Jiejie, coaxing her: “Jiejie…”

Shen Jinrong leaned against the railing, catching her breath for a long time. Her cheeks were flushed red, her eyes glistened with moisture, and she looked at Yan He accusingly.

—Yan He gritted her teeth and leaned in to kiss her again.