What's Wrong With Being Fifteen Years Older Than Me?! - Chapter 28.1

The strange feeling on her chest made Ye Li’s body freeze. It was as if a weak electric current shot from her feet to her scalp. She held her breath, and her heart rate immediately sped up. Lu Zhiyun also froze when she realized where she had grabbed. She seemed a little flustered.

In the quiet, dark living room, Ye Li faintly heard the woman behind her take a sharp breath. “Auntie Lu?” she asked, a little awkwardly. It was as if the woman had come to her senses. She quickly pulled her hands away and accidentally hit the chair leg, letting out a small grunt.

In the dark, Ye Li, worried that she might fall, quickly reached out and held her arm. “Are you okay?” the girl asked, concerned.

“I’m fine,” Lu Zhiyun said after a pause. “My phone is on the table. Use that for a light.”

“I’ll go get it,” Ye Li said, letting go of her arm. She relied on her memory to find the table and successfully found the phone, turning on the flashlight. A small beam of light finally broke through the darkness, illuminating a corner of the living room. As the girl turned around with the phone, she saw Auntie Lu, half-hidden in the darkness. The woman’s gray and white sweater was covered in a faint golden glow. The soft light haloed her elegant profile, making her look even more charming.

Ye Li calmly looked away. She instinctively shone the light on the floor and handed the other person her phone.

“Let’s just go to bed early. It’s not a good time to study anyway,” Lu Zhiyun said softly.

“Oh, okay.” When Ye Li looked up, her eyes met Lu Zhiyun’s. The embarrassing incident of her grabbing her chest came back to her. The girl’s face started to get hot. Luckily, the lights were off, so her flushed cheeks weren’t obvious. Ye Li started to pack up her things on the table. Lu Zhiyun wanted to help, but glanced down at her hands and immediately thought of the awkward moment. Even though they were both women, it was still a little awkward and uncomfortable, so she changed her mind.

“You should get some rest, Xiaoli. I’m going back to my room.”

“Mhm,” Ye Li said softly, without looking up. She didn’t look up until she heard the door close. She felt a sense of relief. The girl stood alone in the living room and looked down at her chest. She couldn’t help but remember the feeling. A strange tingling sensation went up her spine. She started to pack her things faster, quickly stuffing her books back into her backpack.

After the power went out, everything became inconvenient. After finally washing up, Ye Li suddenly needed to use the bathroom, so she put her phone on her leg to block the bright light. The bathroom was once again quiet and dark. But then, the bathroom door was suddenly opened from the outside. Lu Zhiyun, who was using her phone for light, came in and saw someone sitting on the toilet. She let out a small shriek and quickly turned around and left without saying a word.

Ye Li: “…” She sat calmly on the toilet. She didn’t want to cry at all; she even felt like laughing. How many more times is this awkward situation going to happen tonight?

Thankfully, the power came back on the next morning. But that didn’t stop Ye Li from feeling so awkward that she wanted to cringe when she saw Auntie Lu. In contrast, the other person looked as if nothing had happened at all. Thinking about this, Ye Li took an angry bite of her toast.

The following days were busy. As an art student, Ye Li had to take the provincial art exam, which included three subjects and a total of three hundred points. The first day was for sketching and quick sketches (overall ability), and the second day was for color. The exam was held in Jingchuan, so they didn’t have to travel. After the provincial exam came the mock exams for the three schools. Ye Li felt like she was a testing machine that was running nonstop. Her mind was so numb that she didn’t even remember what day of the week it was.

At noon that day, Ye Li was eating in the cafeteria with Han Yueyue. Han Yueyue looked at the girl, who was already cool-looking but now had a tired expression on her face. She couldn’t help but tease her. “Ye Li, you look just like the ‘attack’ in a yuri novel who’s been tormented in bed by a beautiful ‘receiver.’”

Ye Li: “???”

“What are you talking about? Are you reading yuri novels now?”

“My sister recommended them to me. I was bored during the summer, so I read a few,” Han Yueyue said with a small smile on her face. Ye Li was confused. “What’s an ‘attack’on  who’s been tormented in bed?”

“How do I explain this? It means the ‘receiver’ has a high drive, and the ‘attack’ doesn’t have the energy. It’s like they’ve been overindulging,” Han Yueyue explained to her with an innocent look.

“Han Yue, that’s enough. I’m clearly being tormented by my exams,” Ye Li said, rolling her eyes at her.

“But Ye Li is so ‘attack’-like!” Han Yueyue said, propping her face up with her hand, her eyes full of dreamy wonder. “From your looks to your height to your personality… When I read novels, I imagine you as the ‘attack’!”

Ye Li: “…” The girl frowned, and her face darkened. “You should read less of those inappropriate novels.” Ye Li couldn’t even imagine how two girls could have s3x. But while she was disgusted on the outside, a hint of curiosity rose inside her. Of course, she would never show any of this. On the surface, she was still the cool girl who was indifferent to everything.

Two girls walked by their table, talking about how they were going to celebrate Christmas. Han Yueyue suddenly remembered something. “Ye Li, it’s your birthday today!” Ye Li lowered her head and looked at the date on her phone. She said, a little indifferently, “Oh, it is.”

“And it’s your eighteenth birthday! How are you going to celebrate?” Han Yueyue asked, propping up her face. Since her fifteenth birthday, Ye Li had agreed with her friends that they would stop giving each other gifts and just say, “Happy Birthday.”

“I’m not going to. Gifts are a hassle. You have to put a lot of thought into a return gift… It’s better to keep things simple.” But even without gifts from her friends, one person still gave her a different gift every year.

After evening self-study, Ye Li came back and was a little disappointed that no one was home. She went to the living room to do her homework. She couldn’t help but wonder where Auntie Lu had gone. Even though she pretended she didn’t care about her birthday, today was her eighteenth birthday, the day she officially became an adult.

As she was doing her homework, feeling a little down, the door behind her opened. The girl sitting at the table wanted to pretend she didn’t notice, but she couldn’t hold back for more than three seconds and turned around.

“There was traffic, so I got back a little late. Are you already doing your homework?” the woman said, taking off her beige coat and hanging it on the coat rack.

“Mhm,” Ye Li said softly and turned back around, pretending to be focused on her homework. Then, she saw Auntie Lu go into the kitchen. She just took a quick peek and then quickly looked away.

She heard the refrigerator door open and close in the kitchen. A moment later, the woman came out with a five-inch black forest cake. “Xiaoli, you don’t have any time to rest because you’re a senior, so we’ll just celebrate simply. But congratulations on becoming an adult. Happy eighteenth birthday.” Lu Zhiyun said with a small smile as she put the cake on the table. At the same time, she pulled out a box from somewhere and pushed it toward the girl.

“What’s this?” Ye Li asked, even though she knew. Even though she was thrilled inside, she kept a calm expression.

“It’s your coming-of-age gift. I’m sorry I got back late. It was custom-made, and the brand store in Jingchuan just got the finished product tonight. Open it and take a look,” the woman said with a smile in her eyes, gently urging her.

Ye Li opened the small box curiously. Inside was a necklace shaped like a whale with a ring of diamonds. “I was going to get a leaf since your last name is Ye, but I remembered you like whales and often draw them, so I decided to get a whale instead,” Lu Zhiyun said. So, the reason she was late was that she went to pick up the necklace. Ye Li’s feelings were complicated. Just then, Lu Zhiyun slowly stood up and said, “Let me help you put it on.”

“…Oh, okay.” The girl was suddenly very nervous and twiddled her fingers, but she didn’t refuse.

The woman reached out. Her fingers were clean, slender, and fair. She gently took the necklace out of the box and walked behind Ye Li. The cool necklace wrapped around her neck, and the woman’s soft, cool fingers brushed against her skin. Ye Li couldn’t help but swallow.

“Okay, do you want to go look in the mirror?” Lu Zhiyun asked.

“Mhm.” Ye Li nodded and walked to the mirror in the living room. She reached out and touched the sparkling little golden whale that rested on her sweater.

“Thank you, Auntie Lu,” the girl said, a little awkwardly.

“You’re welcome. I’m just happy you like it.” Lu Zhiyun sat back down at the table and waved at her. “Come and make a wish and blow out the candles. It’s your eighteenth birthday wish.”

So, her eighteenth birthday wish was… In the past few years, Ye Li’s birthday wish was always to grow up quickly and turn eighteen. But now that she was eighteen, she suddenly didn’t know what she wanted.

“Auntie Lu, can I save my birthday wish for later? I don’t know what to wish for right now,” the girl asked, looking up.

“Of course not. But why don’t you have a wish, Xiaoli?” Ye Li’s eyes drifted to the woman in front of her and then slowly fell. She suddenly had a wish. She wished the college entrance exam could come later. For some reason, she had an extremely strong sense of unease about Auntie Lu’s departure. It was as if she desperately didn’t want it to happen.

Not long after Ye Li’s birthday, it was New Year’s Day. Unfortunately, as seniors, they only had a measly half-day off. The school didn’t even give them a full day. Soon after they returned from the New Year’s holiday, Ye Li got sick with a fever. She was surprised that she got an extra day off because of it.

*********