What's Wrong With Being Fifteen Years Older Than Me?! - Chapter 20

When her father came downstairs, Ye Li had already composed herself. The girl pretended to be fine and turned to ask, “How are we getting back? Bus or taxi?”

Ye Deyou smiled and pulled a car key out of his pocket. It was a Mercedes logo. He unlocked a Mercedes-Benz parked in a space downstairs. “Did you ever think your old man would be able to give you a ride in a Benz?” the man said, proudly holding the steering wheel with one hand.

Ye Li rested her elbow on the window, her hand on her face. She frowned and said, “Didn’t you rent this car?”

“Even if I rented it, I’m still riding in it. If I work for another year and come back home, I’ll definitely buy a new Benz to park at the house and drive you to and from school every day.” The girl raised an eyebrow, not really looking forward to it. “Are you coming back next year, Dad?”

The man took a deep breath. He put his other hand on the steering wheel, his fingers tapping on it. “I should be coming back when you start your senior year. The last year is the most crucial, so I can’t be careless. But…”

“It’s okay,” the girl interrupted, shrugging. “Making money is important, too. And you wouldn’t be able to help me anyway. You only have a middle school education, right?” Then she felt like she had hurt her dad’s feelings, so she quickly added, “It’s enough to have Auntie Lu to supervise me.”

“I trust your Auntie Lu. She’s a genius who studied abroad. I’ll try my best. No matter how busy I am, I’ll come back before your college entrance exams.” Ye Li didn’t respond and just watched the view outside the window.

Ye Deyou glanced at his daughter again. “We’ve already bothered your Auntie Lu enough. She needs to have her own life. So, at most, after your college entrance exam is over, she’ll probably go back to the US. No matter what, we shouldn’t continue to hold her back.”

Ye Li felt uncomfortable hearing that. She rubbed her hair, trying to get rid of the heavy feeling, but her mood sank even deeper. She didn’t say another word the whole way. Ye Deyou didn’t know why his daughter was so sullen. He had missed out on so many years of her life that he didn’t know what to say.

After an hour-long drive, the father and daughter arrived at an old residential area in Changqing. This place used to be housing for government workers and had been passed down from Ye Li’s grandfather. The girl got out of the car, holding her suitcase in one hand and the hamster cage in the other. Ye Deyou hadn’t noticed it before. When he saw it now, he laughed and said, “Is that little rat yours, or your Auntie Lu’s?”

“What rat? Dad, you’re so uncultured. It’s a hamster.” Ye Li: “…”

Since they hadn’t been back in a long time, a cloud of dust flew at them when they opened the door. The father and daughter stood at the entrance, covering their mouths and noses, coughing for a while before daring to go in. The house had a traditional two-bedroom and one-living room layout. The inside was the same as it had been the last time she was here. The floor was covered in a thick layer of dust. Every step left a clear footprint. Ye Li put the hamster cage on the balcony and then rolled up her sleeves to clean the house.

The father and daughter cleaned from morning until night. The house finally looked like a home. For dinner, they ordered takeout from a restaurant nearby. After they ate, they went to their own rooms to rest. It had been a long time since Ye Li had slept in her own bed. She tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. She kept turning her phone on and off. She even looked up flights from Jingchuan to the US for that night.

So, by now, Auntie Lu must have already gotten on the plane. The girl put her phone down again and turned on her side, resting her face on her right arm. On the nightstand, which she had just cleaned, there was a picture frame. In the photo, a woman with black shoulder-length hair smiled with her eyes and mouth, holding a little girl in a floral dress who looked to be two or three years old.

Ye Li picked up the frame with her left hand and brought it closer to her face. Mom, how did you and Auntie Lu meet?

For the first few days back in Changqing, Ye Li didn’t adapt very well. She locked herself in the house, doing practice problems and memorizing vocabulary words until she started to feel burnt out. She finally decided to go out for a walk. The streets of Changqing had changed a lot and were much more lively than they had been a few years ago. There were many new stores, brands, and restaurants.

Ye Li bought some art supplies at the biggest stationery store in town. When she came out, she ran into a familiar face. The other girl was the first to recognize her.

“Ye Li, is that really you? Oh my god, you’re so tall, and you’ve gotten prettier.” The girl in the white down jacket with a fur collar had a cute, baby face and was a head shorter than her. Ye Li paused for a moment before realizing it was her elementary school deskmate, Cheng Muzhi.

“You haven’t been going to school in Changqing all these years? We lost touch after elementary school.”

“Yeah, I’ve been going to school in Jingchuan since I graduated.”

“Haha, your personality hasn’t changed a bit. You’re still so cool. There’s a new milk tea shop nearby. Do you want to go get some?”

They hadn’t seen each other in years and were in different social circles, so they didn’t have much to talk about besides reminiscing. The conversation quickly died down. Ye Li took a sip of her milk tea and looked at her phone, looking for an excuse to leave. Cheng Muzhi, who was sitting across from her, suddenly asked, “Are you dating anyone, Ye Li?”

“Do I look like I am?” the girl said, shrugging her shoulders with a helpless smile.

“You’re so tall and pretty. It’s impossible that no guys have asked you out.”

“Guys have, but I don’t really like any of them.” Ye Li picked up her milk tea cup, holding the straw between her teeth, and looked around aimlessly.

“Huh? What kind of person do you like?” Cheng Muzhi asked, resting her hands on the table.

It was strange. The woman’s face suddenly appeared in her mind. Ye Li lowered her eyes, a feeling of absurdity washing over her. “I don’t have anyone I like.”

“Hmm?” Cheng Muzhi was confused.

“I mean, I don’t have a type,” the girl said, getting up and grabbing her bag. “It’s getting late. I should go.”

“Wait, Ye Li, add me on WeChat before you go.”

After that day, Ye Li rarely went out alone, as if she were afraid of running into a similar situation. But she couldn’t figure out what she was so afraid of.

The Lunar New Year came quickly. Relatives and friends who hadn’t been in touch for years somehow found out that Ye Li’s dad had made a fortune overseas. They came to visit like dogs who had smelled a bone. People were coming to the house constantly. Ye Deyou had dinner parties almost every day. At first, he would take Ye Li with him. The private rooms were full of men, and the air was filled with smoke. They talked about all sorts of things, as if they were trying to outdo each other with their exaggerated and pretentious stories.

Ye Li couldn’t stand being in that environment. After one visit, she said she would never go again. Ye Deyou couldn’t force her, so he would give her money to buy her own food before he left.

It was 9 p.m. on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Ye Li, who had just showered, received a WeChat message from her dad.

[Ye Deyou: Xiaoli, I might not come home tonight. Lock the door and go to bed early.]

The girl, holding her phone, came out of her room and looked at the empty, lifeless house. For the first time, she felt a strong desire to run away. And she actually did it. She put on a jacket, went downstairs, and hailed a taxi.

An hour and a half later, she was back in the small apartment across from Jingchuan High School. Since no one was living in the apartment during the New Year, the heat had been turned off for safety. The first thing Ye Li did was find the valve and turn it on. Then, she heated a cup of milk.

She sat alone in the living room for a while. The apartment was filled with memories of her and Auntie Lu. Even though she was alone, the loneliness she felt here was better than the cold emptiness of her old home in Changqing.

Just for one night. I’ll go back tomorrow. The girl took her milk and went to her room. But as soon as she sat on the bed, she accidentally spilled the glass, and a large portion of the bedsheets got soaked. After a long time of cleaning up, she didn’t have the energy to change the sheets. She went to Auntie Lu’s room next door, took off the dust cover on the bed, and lay down.

It was the first time Ye Li had ever slept in Auntie Lu’s bed. The moment she closed her eyes, she felt a faint scent around her, the same scent as the one on her clothes, subtle and pleasant. It was normal, since it was Auntie Lu’s bed. The girl pulled the blanket tightly around herself. Her limbs stretched out beneath the blanket, getting closer to the slightly cool bedsheets. In the darkness, she couldn’t help but take a deep breath, wanting to take in more of the scent.

This act of smelling her scent so hard made her feel like a pervert. But… Ye Li’s fingers gripped a corner of the pillow, her knuckles turning white.

This time… I really miss her.