What's Wrong With Being Fifteen Years Older Than Me?! - Chapter 16

Ye Li’s birthday came around again. Without realizing it, she was about to leave 16 behind and officially enter 17. In the past, she didn’t really like celebrating her birthday. Her dad could never get the presents right. When she was into building blocks and toy cars, he would give her dolls. When she started to get interested in drawing and other new things, he would give her flowery dresses. As she got older, her dad traveled more for work to make money. Her birthday became a simple dinner and the same old warnings. Over time, she stopped looking forward to it.

By the end of December, Ye Li’s leg had almost fully healed. The birthday party was in the evening, and she still had homework to finish. She was always quick with math homework. Chinese wasn’t hard, either; it was her native language, after all. The only thing that gave her a headache was English.

“Auntie Lu, do we have to do a spelling test today, too?” the girl asked, biting the tip of her pen, her voice pleading.

“Of course,” Lu Zhiyun’s clear voice came from her room. A moment later, the woman came out, wearing a pure white turtleneck sweater and a long knitted mermaid skirt. She sat down in front of Ye Li with a book of vocabulary words.

My nightmare is never late. Ye Li sighed inwardly and dutifully closed her finished workbook, then found her spelling notebook. She flipped through the pages, seeing the corrections from Auntie Lu. She stopped on a clean, new page. Lu Zhiyun looked at her. “Are you ready?”

“Mhm.”

“registration.”

The woman’s pronunciation was perfect, her enunciation clear. It sounded almost identical to the female voice in a listening test, but a little better.

Lu Zhiyun glanced at her and said seriously, “Xiaoli, you haven’t been studying your vocabulary words seriously.

The girl’s face flushed. She quickly scribbled over the word she hadn’t finished.

“summary.”

“Calligraphy.”

….

Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang, saving Ye Li. It was Han Yueyue and Qin Shu. Han Yueyue’s oval face was red, and she was bundled up like a mummy. Qin Shu wasn’t wearing as many layers. She took off her long, black down jacket and was wearing a thin, long-sleeved T-shirt. The two of them placed their gifts on the table. Qin Shu said, “The birthday girl is still miserably doing her spelling?”

“I told you not to get me gifts,” Ye Li said, playing with the gift boxes, a smile in her eyes.

“You guys chat. I’ll go check on the kitchen,” Lu Zhiyun said and left. Ye Li sighed in relief and closed her notebook. She mouthed, “I wish you had come ten minutes earlier.”

“But Ye Li, I think it’s great. I’m so jealous you have such a good English teacher at home,” Han Yueyue said.

Qin Shu crossed her arms and commented, “She wouldn’t stop talking about how she wanted to practice her speaking with your Auntie Lu.”

“Then I’m going!” Han Yueyue said excitedly, hopping over to the kitchen. Soon, the sound of a fluent English speaker and a halting one filled the air.

“Han Yue is so studious. If I had just a tenth of her enthusiasm, I probably would have gotten a perfect score on my English test today,” Ye Li mumbled, her ears enjoying the melodious English from the kitchen.

“Everyone has different talents. Maybe your talent isn’t in studying,” Qin Shu said, pulling a chair from the table and sitting on it backward, her arms resting on the back.

Ye Li laughed. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Qin Shu’s pretty eyes curved into a smile.

“Okay, stop flirting with me,” Ye Li teased, looking away and starting to put away her books and homework.

Tang Qianxia arrived later, holding her cute baby daughter, who was also dressed up for the occasion with a princess headband. The other girls in the living room immediately gathered around her, pinching her cheeks.

“Finally, someone to help me with the baby. Is there anything I can help with?” Tang Qianxia asked, rolling up her sleeves and going to the kitchen.

“Do you know how to make steamed pork ribs with rice powder?” Lu Zhiyun asked, looking at her phone for a recipe. She looked up at Tang Qianxia very seriously.

“I can try,” Tang Qianxia said, shaking her head uncertainly.

Ye Li took out the birthday decorations Auntie Lu had bought and called for the other two to help. When she saw Han Yueyue having a great time with the baby, she turned to Qin Shu. “Never mind. We can do it.” The two tall girls worked together seamlessly, pulling long, colorful ribbons from one end of the living room to the other.

Then they had to blow up balloons and do other things that Ye Li found extremely childish. But when she remembered that Auntie Lu had bought them, she found herself having more patience.

“Have you made a wish for your 16th birthday yet?” Qin Shu asked while sticking a balloon on the wall.

Ye Li puffed out her cheeks and stuck the balloon on the wall first. “I don’t know. I don’t think I have any special wishes.”

“How is that possible? Everyone has something they want. Don’t you?” Qin Shu asked, surprised.

“Maybe I’m an exception, then,” Ye Li said. She thought about it carefully. She really didn’t have anything she wanted right now. When her dad first went abroad, she missed him and hoped he would come back soon. But over time, she got used to him being gone.

Even so, when the birthday party reached the climax, she still had to go through the ritual of blowing out the candles, making a wish, and cutting the cake. Everyone was looking at her. She thought, Fine, I’ll just make a wish for show. She wished she would grow up faster and turn eighteen soon. As she clasped her hands together and opened her eyes, she saw Auntie Lu sitting across from her. The candlelight illuminated her delicate face. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her clear, bright eyes were filled with a soft smile that shone like stars.

The girl was momentarily mesmerized. She quickly looked away and blew out the candles.

“What did you wish for, Ye Li?” Tang Qianxia asked, holding her baby.

“Auntie Tang, wishes don’t come true if you tell people,” Ye Li said, sticking her tongue out, keeping it a secret.

After dinner, some people weren’t ready to go home and suggested going to karaoke. Qin Shu was the one who suggested it, and to everyone’s surprise, Tang Qianxia was the first to agree.

“Give me ten minutes. I’ll call my husband to pick up the baby, and I’ll be right there!”

Lu Zhiyun: …

Ye Li: .

Han Yueyue: (stunned)

Twenty minutes later, at a large karaoke chain nearby, Tang Qianxia’s caterwauling filled the room. The song was supposed to be a duet with Ye Li, but Ye Li couldn’t get a word in, so she gave up.

“Auntie Lu, do you want to sing a song?” the girl asked, handing the microphone to the woman.

Han Yueyue, who was sitting on the other side of the room, clapped excitedly. “Auntie, can you sing a song in English?”

“An English song,” Lu Zhiyun said, taking the microphone and thinking. “I don’t know many, but is there anything you want to hear?” She glanced at Ye Li, who looked confused.

Han Yueyue immediately raised her hand. “Auntie, just sing whatever you want. I can practice my listening, hehe.”

Ye Li: .

“Then… I’ll sing ‘Right Here Waiting.’ The melody is pretty simple.” The woman said and got up to go to the song selection screen.

“Have you heard of this song?” Ye Li asked Han Yueyue curiously.

Han Yueyue shook her head. “It doesn’t feel like it’s from this century. I’ve heard almost all the English songs from after 2000.”

Lu Zhiyun laughed lightly at the song selection screen. She was slightly bent over, selecting the song, and explained with a smile, “You’re right. This song isn’t from this generation. It was released in the late 1980s.”

Ye Li secretly clenched her fingers. It’s out of my age range.

Tang Qianxia’s song finally ended. It was Lu Zhiyun’s turn. A gentle melody began to play, and everyone in the room became quiet. The woman held the microphone and swayed lightly to the rhythm. Then she began to sing passionately:

“Oceans apart day after day

And I slowly go insane

I hear your voice on the line

But it’s not the same…”

“Ah, I think my ears are pregnant!” Han Yueyue said, holding her face in a daze.

It was Ye Li’s first time hearing Auntie Lu sing. She was a little surprised. It was unexpectedly good. She listened to the whole song, even though she didn’t quite understand the lyrics.

After the song was over, Lu Zhiyun looked up and saw that everyone was listening intently. She felt a little embarrassed and quickly went back to her seat.

“That was embarrassing.”

“My turn, my turn!” The karaoke queen, Tang Qianxia, got on stage again.

“Ye Li, you want to go to the bathroom?” Qin Shu leaned over and poked Ye Li’s shoulder with her index finger, past Han Yueyue’s back.

“Cousin, why didn’t you ask me?” Han Yueyue said, turning her head sharply.

“You just went,” Qin Shu said, narrowing her eyes with a helpless smile.

“Let’s go!” Ye Li said, getting up.

After they were done in the bathroom, Qin Shu, who was walking behind Ye Li, stopped her.

“Ye Li, wait a second.”

“Hmm?” The girl with the ponytail stopped and turned around.

“I actually got you another gift,” Qin Shu said, taking a silver bracelet from her pocket and grabbing Ye Li’s wrist without asking.

“What is this for?” Ye Li asked, looking down, confused.

“I have an identical one,” Qin Shu said, putting it on her. The bracelet on her own wrist slid out from her sleeve. “They’re matching bracelets.”

Qin Shu looked at Ye Li, her eyes intense. “I like you. I don’t know when it started, but it feels like you’re all I can see.”

Ye Li:?

When Ye Li didn’t say anything, Qin Shu reached out, cupped her face, and leaned in to kiss her. Lu Zhiyun came out of the private room to use the bathroom and froze when she saw the scene.