What's Wrong With Being Fifteen Years Older Than Me?! - Chapter 27.2

This was her first time at a tutoring class, and Ye Li felt out of place. She felt a sense of unfamiliarity with the environment, the teacher, and even the students. The teacher for her tutoring class was a master’s graduate from a prestigious university. He had almost ten years of high school physics teaching experience. Many of his students had gotten perfect scores on the. Physics exam. He had also been teaching at a tutoring center for almost ten years. Ye Li wasn’t surprised. Lu Zhiyun would always try her best to provide the best for her.

There were twenty people in this class. Ten were from Jingchuan No. 1 High School, and the other ten were from other schools in Jingchuan. Ye Li didn’t know any of the ten from her school, except for one who was in Han Yueyue’s class. The class started at 10:30 a.m. because the teacher had to teach another class before that. The class ended at 1:00 p.m. Her essay class started at 1:30 p.m., which meant she only had half an hour for lunch.

When class was over, the girl took her backpack and her phone to search for a place to eat. She walked out of the classroom with her head down and didn’t even notice that someone was waiting for her.

Until a familiar voice came from behind her.

“Xiaoli, over here!”

Ye Li turned around, confused. She saw a woman standing at the end of the hallway. She was wearing a white, sleeveless, pleated dress with a round neck. A light pink bag was slung over her shoulder, and her chestnut hair was tied in a simple bun. She had a gentle and elegant look. Because she took good care of herself, her skin was fair and supple. It was hard to tell her age at a glance. She looked just like a twenty-something college student. The girl was stunned for a moment before she walked toward her.

“Auntie Lu, why are you here?”

“It was my mistake. When I was trying to get you into these classes with famous teachers, I didn’t think about the schedule. I realized you wouldn’t have time to eat, so I made some lunch. And brought it to you,” the woman said, handing her a lunchbox. Ye Li noticed that she also had a small, cute, green cloth bag in her other hand.

“I saw there were tables and chairs on the terrace over there. Let’s go eat there,” Lu Zhiyun said, pointing. The girl nodded, a little flattered.

When she sat down and opened the lunch box, a look of surprise flashed across Ye Li’s face. The rice in the box was shaped like a panda. The black parts were made of seaweed and black sesame seeds. The other dishes were neatly arranged and colorful. It looked just like a Japanese bento box from an anime.

“When you’re done eating, I’ll go buy a bigger lunch box. This one is a little small, and Chinese food can be greasy in a small container,” Lu Zhiyun explained.

The girl smiled and used her chopsticks to pick up something that looked like a rolled-up egg. She said with a mouthful of food, “I didn’t know Auntie Lu could make Japanese food.”

“Ah!” The woman in front of her suddenly remembered something and stood up. “I brought you milk, but I forgot it in the car. You eat slowly, and I’ll go get it.”

Ye Li: “?”

Looking at the woman in the white dress hurrying away, the girl slowly looked away and put another bite of food in her mouth. It was rare to see Auntie Lu so flustered.

When Lu Zhiyun came back, she had a bottle of fresh milk and a cup of lemonade. The packaging showed that she had bought it at the bubble tea shop downstairs.

“Drink the milk later. Drink the lemonade this afternoon. It doesn’t have sugar,” the woman said, arranging the drinks for her. At that moment, Ye Li felt like a kindergarten kid! She was almost eighteen.

“Xiaoli, what do you want for dinner tonight? I’ll go to the supermarket and buy everything,” the woman across from her asked, concerned.

“…Anything is fine,” Ye Li said. After a pause, she added, “I feel like eating shrimp.”

“Okay,” Lu Zhiyun said, and her face lit up with a smile. The girl tightened her grip on her chopsticks. She had just said “shrimp” because she felt that saying “anything is fine” would disappoint her.

After that day, Ye Li went back to her life as a senior. Besides the days she had tutoring on the weekend, Auntie Lu would stay with her every night until her homework was done, which was usually after midnight. It was both companionship and supervision. In addition, random quizzes were unavoidable.

Just like now, Ye Li was facing a quiz on the new vocabulary she had learned. In life, Auntie Lu was meticulous, thoughtful, and caring. But when it came to her studies, especially English, she became a strict tutor.

After quizzing her on thirty-six words, Ye Li handed her the notebook for her to check. She couldn’t help but feel nervous when she saw the red circles.

“Xiaoli, you got three wrong,” the woman said in the gentlest voice, but the words were the most serious. “You need to write these three words twenty times. I’ll randomly quiz you again in the next few days. If you get them wrong again, you have to write them fifty times.”

Ye Li: “…” That’s terrifying.

When early autumn arrived, Ye Li’s dad called. The timing wasn’t great. Ye Li had just finished dinner at school and was about to go to class. To not be so obvious about taking her phone into the building, she decided to walk around the track field alone.

“How are your studies going? Has your class ranking improved on the monthly exam?”

“You’re calling after so long. Can you not just ask about my grades?” The girl lowered the corners of her mouth, feeling helpless.

“Okay, okay. Then have you been listening to your Auntie Lu? Are you not hanging out with bad people at school?”

“Forget it. Just ask about my grades,” Ye Li said, rubbing her hair and frowning. The man on the other end was confused by her unpredictable thoughts.

“Ask about your grades… Well, then…” The girl rattled off her grades like she was reporting a menu, even mentioning the exam before the last one. She ended with a summary: “Overall, my class ranking has improved, all thanks to Auntie Lu’s ‘demonic’ supervision.”

“Hahahaha…” The man didn’t care about the process; he only heard the result. “When I get back next year, I have to throw a big party to thank your Auntie Lu. She’s been working so hard; it’s not easy.” Ye Li was walking on the track and frowned. She only caught the key phrase. “When are you coming back next year?”

“Ah, let me think. Your college entrance exam is in May, right?”

“June!” the girl said in a low voice.

“Then I’ll be back in May at the latest,” Ye Deyou said.

“Okay,” Ye Li said without much emotion.

Time flew by, and it was December. As an art student, Ye Li had to prepare for her academic exams, but also for the provincial art exam. After the monthly exam, Auntie Lu helped her correct her mistakes, analyze where she lost points, and fill in the gaps.

The weather turned cold. The heating was on, and the warm air spread throughout the room. Ye Li was wearing a thin knitted sweater as she sat at the table in the living room, her cheeks a little red from the heat. The girl’s hair was tied in a high ponytail. Under the light, the short, frizzy hairs on top of her head looked like a little hedgehog.

“Your upcoming exams will take up a lot of time, so you might not be able to maintain your class ranking,” Lu Zhiyun said, propping her face up with her hand. She was wearing a gray and white round-neck sweater today. Her wavy chestnut hair hung naturally over her shoulders, making her look gentle and intellectual.

Ye Li was buried in her notebook, copying vocabulary words. Without looking up, she said, “I can’t do anything about that.” Just as she said that, the light bulb flickered a few times. The living room turned bright and dark, and then, in the next second, it went completely black.

“Is there a power outage?” Lu Zhiyun turned on her phone light and went to the kitchen to flip the switch. The kitchen light turned on. Ye Li concluded, “It must be that the light bulb in the living room burned out.”

“I’ll go downstairs and buy a new one to replace it,” she said.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Lu Zhiyun asked.

“No need,” the girl said, already walking to the front door and putting on her coat. “I’ll be right back.” Soon, she heard the door open and close, and her footsteps faded away.

When she got outside and felt the first cold wind, Ye Li pulled her collar tighter. It was really cold outside. This year’s snow came earlier than usual. Her shoes crunched on the snow as she hurried to the store downstairs.

“Do you sell light bulbs, boss?”

“Yes, we have energy-saving lamps, regular lamps, and different wattages. Let me know which one you need.” He turned around and picked some out from the shelf. Ye Li chose one that looked similar to the one in the living room. She paid and quickly left.

When she got back, Lu Zhiyun insisted on replacing the light bulb herself. But when she stood on the chair, she realized it was a little too high. She was just a little bit away from reaching it. Ye Li, who was standing below, quickly said, “I’ll do it.” Even though she was only three centimeters taller, that was a crucial difference.

Lu Zhiyun slowly got down from the chair. Ye Li instinctively reached out to help her.

“I’ve turned off the power to the living room light, so be careful when you’re putting it in,” the woman reminded her. The girl quickly stood on the chair and reached up to install the new light bulb.

“Be careful,” Lu Zhiyun said, standing by the chair, looking up at her with bated breath. Ye Li finished installing the light bulb in a few quick motions. She looked down at the person below her and said, “Auntie Lu, can you try turning on the light?”

Lu Zhiyun walked to the switch and turned it on. The living room immediately lit up again. “Okay, come down. It looks unsafe,” the woman said, walking back to her, her face full of worry.

“Okay,” Ye Li said softly. She was about to bend down when the light went out again. This time, it wasn’t just the living room; all the lights in the house went out. The world was plunged into darkness. It was so dark she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.

“This time, it must be a real power outage,” the girl said, a little helplessly.

“Xiaoli, come down first,” the woman said. In the dark, her hand touched her leg, ready to help her down. Ye Li couldn’t see anything. She had to rely on her sense of touch. She missed her step, and her whole body slid off the chair. But she didn’t fall to the ground. Her feet landed safely.

But something even more awkward happened. Lu Zhiyun, in her hurry to catch her, had her hands firmly on her chest.