Online Romance with an Iceberg Professor Backfired - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Overstepping Boundaries

Since Jiang Xianhan sprained her ankle, Ye Wenzhu had been visiting more often.

“Peipei, I brought you flowers.”

Ye Wenzhu, holding a bouquet of fresh green Platycodon grandiflorus (bellflower), fluently typed in the passcode. As soon as she entered, she caught a rich aroma. Ji Pei was cooking delicious food again. Even though she knew it was for Jiang Xianhan, being able to eat a meal cooked by Ji Pei was a moment of happiness.

When Ji Pei was in college, she rented an apartment near the school. Initially, she ate all her meals at school and was inseparable from Ye Wenzhu during classes. Later, she grew tired of seeing Xie Zhen’s face and eventually stopped eating at the school cafeteria altogether. Ji Pei’s cooking skills rapidly improved during that time.

Ye Wenzhu even thought Ji Pei was an all-around genius, proficient in painting, sculpture, and playing the piano. She would always modestly say she only knew a little and was just playing around, but in reality, she was far more skilled than those who took exams. However, her favorite was still Ji Pei’s cooking. To get a taste of Ji Pei’s food, Ye Wenzhu stopped staying in the dorm and practically lived in Ji Pei’s rented apartment, responsible for buying groceries, washing pots, and doing dishes every day.

Later, when Ji Pei’s parents returned to China and saw their daughter reduced to renting an apartment, they immediately bought the entire building complex, allowing Ji Pei to live wherever she pleased. If public schools could be bought and sold, Ms. Liu Yanfen might have bought the school and made Ji Pei the principal.

“You never visit unless you need something. Hurry up and come eat.”

Ji Pei took the bouquet of bellflowers, sniffed them, and found a vase to arrange them in. Bellflowers were prone to insects, so Ji Pei only dared to put them on the dining table. She had bought a bouquet once and put it on her bedside. One night, she felt something crawling on her hand. When she turned on the light, the scare nearly sent her hand flying miles away. After locating the source of the insects, Ji Pei threw the entire bouquet of blooming bellflowers into the trash bin overnight.

“This is why you’ve been visiting these past few days, isn’t it? Not cooking for yourself and coming over to mooch food.”

Ye Wenzhu and Ji Fan were both bent over, slurping their soup. Ji Pei had already eaten and was sitting to one side, packing food containers to deliver to Jiang Xianhan.

“Are you going to deliver three meals a day to Jiang Xianhan like this? It’s such a hassle. Why not call a delivery service?”

Ji Pei put the food containers into a tote bag. “I don’t mind. It’s been too boring lately. I need to find something to do.”

Ye Wenzhu suggested, “I see you’re pretty idle. Bvlgari sent you an invitation to be their designer before. Why don’t you take the job? At least it would pass the time.”

“I don’t want to.”

Ye Wenzhu seemed to realize something and suddenly understood. “I know. It’s because of Xie Zhen.”

Xie Zhen was indeed outstanding. She was smooth and meticulous in dealing with people, and her way of speaking and acting was very popular with senior leaders. When they were in school, their academic advisor valued her highly. Even Ji Pei was initially deceived by her appearance.

Ye Wenzhu’s eyes rolled, and she offered another idea. “How about this: register as a Meituan delivery driver and deliver food.”

Ji Pei had never considered that. “Can I do that? Won’t people complain about me?”

“If you don’t like delivering food, register as a Didi driver. You like driving around. You have so many sports cars in your garage; don’t let them go to waste. Drive a different one every day.”

Ji Pei knew Ye Wenzhu was teasing her about constantly delivering food to Jiang Xianhan. She pinched a chicken drumstick and shoved it into Ye Wenzhu’s mouth.

“Eating still can’t shut you up.”

When Ji Pei went to see Jiang Xianhan, the professor was being helped by Wang Ma to sit on the sofa. After icing it all night, the swelling on Jiang Xianhan’s ankle had significantly subsided, and it wasn’t as painful as yesterday. Wang Ma nodded to Ji Pei and then left.

Ji Pei took out the food containers and placed them on the dining table. She extended her right hand toward Jiang Xianhan.

“Professor Jiang, I’ll help you to the dining table to eat.”

Jiang Xianhan gently took Ji Pei’s right hand, used the leverage to stand up, and was supported by Ji Pei’s arm as she slowly walked toward the dining table. In fact, her ankle no longer hurt, and she had sprayed medicine on it. She could manage to walk a short distance with a slight limp. However, to prevent any long-term consequences, Jiang Xianhan felt it was necessary to rely on Ji Pei. What if she walked alone and sprained it again?

Thinking of this, Jiang Xianhan immediately felt justified. She sat down at the dining table and saw that Ji Pei had prepared four food containers today. Ji Pei had visited in the morning, bringing Jiang Xianhan scallion pancakes, lean meat congee, and a perfectly round, golden fried egg. Before making the fried egg, Ji Pei had even messaged Jiang Xianhan to ask if she liked the yolk runny.

Such a degree of thoughtfulness genuinely shocked Jiang Xianhan. She wanted to ask Ji Pei if she was this kind to everyone. If she did ask, she might only be disappointed, so it was better not to. In her current ambiguous position, asking such a question would truly be overstepping boundaries.

The container lids were opened, revealing a bowl of soup, a stir-fry dish, and a portion of steaming hot rice. Today, Ji Pei had made squab soup, fish-flavored shredded pork, and garlic stir-fried greens—all home-cooked dishes that shouldn’t clash with Jiang Xianhan’s taste.

After hearing the gossip from Ye Wenzhu yesterday, Ji Pei began to pay extra attention to Jiang Xianhan. She subtly and seemingly casually observed Jiang Xianhan, then withdrew her gaze and took out her phone to find Bai Yin’s WeChat. They had added each other after the professor treated her to deep-fried skewers that day, but they hadn’t chatted yet.

Ji Pei: “Senior, do you have Professor Jiang’s course schedule? Can you send it to me?”

Half a minute later, Bai Yin replied.

Bai Yin: “Yes, I’ll send it to you.”

Ji Pei opened the course schedule. Besides the elective class on Thursday afternoons, Jiang Xianhan had classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And she had a public lecture on Monday afternoon this week.

A plan formed in Ji Pei’s mind. She gave Jiang Xianhan an innocent smile.

“Professor Jiang, is the food I made to your liking?”

Jiang Xianhan paused her chopsticks, looking into Ji Pei’s eyes. “It tastes excellent.”

Ji Pei’s eyes curved into a smile. Even the fastidious Jiang Xianhan was praising her cooking.

In the evening, Ji Pei came to deliver dinner again, but this time she was carrying several shopping bags. She had bought clothes for Jiang Xianhan. Since she and the professor were similar in size and height, Ji Pei had used her own size as a reference. Before coming, Ji Pei had specifically sent the clothes to the dry cleaner to be washed and packaged. Jiang Xianhan could wear them immediately.

After setting down the bags, Ji Pei left.

Jiang Xianhan pushed the wheelchair over and opened the paper bags. She found clothes inside, and they felt warm, as if they had just been tumble-dried. She took out the clothes one by one. They were all her size, and every piece matched her aesthetic.

Jiang Xianhan ran her hand over the clothes and smiled softly. After finishing her meal and shower, she couldn’t wait to try them on.

The next morning, Jiang Xianhan finished washing up and put on the new clothes Ji Pei had bought her. She had a public lecture today. She took out a light blue shirt but put it back. She was over thirty this year, and there was indeed an age gap between her and Ji Pei. Even though her face didn’t look thirty, she felt she should dress a little younger when standing next to Ji Pei.

It was Monday. Would Ji Pei come over to deliver breakfast?

Jiang Xianhan ultimately changed into a simple white shirt and black trousers, topped with an overcoat. She pushed the wheelchair to the entrance.

But in the next moment, the subtle sense of loneliness in Jiang Xianhan’s eyes was replaced by a look of growing shock. Her heart pounded fiercely.

Looking up, Ji Pei was wearing a camel trench coat, the hem of her slim-fit inner top tucked into her waistband, making her legs look straight and long. Against the backdrop of the rustling red maple forest, she stood amidst the fallen leaves and waved to Jiang Xianhan in the wheelchair.

“Professor Jiang, I’ll take you to school.”