What's Wrong With Being Fifteen Years Older Than Me?! - Chapter 3

A rustle of movement came from behind the glass door, and the woman outside waited patiently.

Ye Li came out, her almond-shaped eyes completely lacking the defiant spirit they had before. In its place was the simple unease and fear of a young girl.

“I think you’ve just gotten your period. Is this your first time?” Lu Zhiyun asked gently, leading the girl to her room and sitting on the edge of the bed. The last rays of the setting sun shone through the window, the golden light catching on the woman’s long eyelashes and casting a beautiful, fan-shaped shadow. The woman had her hands propped on the edge of the bed, a position that perfectly highlighted her elegant, slender neck.

“Period?” Ye Li had never heard that word before.

“Yes, it’s something every girl goes through. It happens once a month and is a symbol of a girl becoming a woman. So, you don’t need to be afraid,” Lu Zhiyun explained, her voice soft and clear, with a gentle, melodic lilt.

“What should I do? It won’t stop bleeding, and my pants are dirty,” Ye Li said, twisting her fingers together, feeling embarrassed and helpless.

“Wait here for me,” Lu Zhiyun said, getting up and walking to the bedside table. She knelt, her exposed back revealing beautiful butterfly bones. She spread out her own sanitary products on the bed, her fingers fumbling with a tampon applicator. She turned to look at the girl standing there. “You probably can’t use these. Wait here, and I’ll go downstairs to buy something else.” Her eyes were warm and kind, and her every action seemed to tell Ye Li not to be afraid, that her auntie was here for her.

“Okay…” Ye Li replied with a low hum, her face still flushed with embarrassment.

Taking her keys and wallet, Lu Zhiyun left. As the sun set, the air’s heat didn’t dissipate much; the ground temperature was still very high. She lived in a building farther back in the complex, so it was a bit of a walk to the front gate.

Because she was in a hurry, she subconsciously quickened her pace. When she finally reached the gate, Lu Zhiyun had to stop. She leaned against the hot wall with one hand and clutched her slightly uncomfortable chest with the other. Her heart was racing. She took shallow breaths, trying to regulate them. A thin layer of sweat covered her fair forehead, her cheeks were slightly flushed from the heat, and her lips visibly paled.

An elderly man walking by with his dog gave her a curious look, as if he were looking at a patient on the verge of collapse, not a beautiful woman with a graceful figure and an angelic face. Once her erratic heartbeat finally calmed, Lu Zhiyun walked to the convenience store across the street.

“Welcome!” the clerk greeted the customer as usual. When she looked up and saw the pretty woman who had recently moved in, she felt a pang of admiration. The clerk had never seen anyone so perfect, with a flawless face just like the celebrities on TV. She always managed to sneak a few glances at her.

The store’s shelves held a variety of feminine hygiene products: liners, daytime, and nighttime pads. Lu Zhiyun picked up a few of each, but there were no tampons, which she usually used.

“That’ll be 86 yuan,” the clerk said, her voice unconsciously higher, like a little fan.

“Thank you.” After paying, Lu Zhiyun took the bag the clerk handed her, nodding with a polite smile as she left. She paused on the sidewalk, looked at her watch, then headed toward a nearby Chinese fast-food restaurant with the shopping bag.

Even with several layers of toilet paper stuffed into her underwear, Ye Li didn’t dare sit down. She could feel the bl00d seeping through them. The dust cover on the sofa she had sat on earlier was gone. Ye Li found it in the bathroom garbage can. Without a word, she moved it to the sink, turned on the faucet, and began to scrub, as if she were desperately trying to destroy evidence.

Just then, the sound of a key unlocking the front door echoed through the apartment. The girl frowned, scrubbing even faster. Hearing the commotion in the bathroom, Lu Zhiyun gently set her keys on the console table and entered with both hands full.

“Xiaoli? Let me wash that.”

“No—I made it dirty, I’ll wash it myself.” A large bead of sweat rolled down Ye Li’s forehead, but her persistent scrubbing finally returned the cloth to its original clean, off-white color. For a moment, she felt a huge sense of relief.

“These are all for you. Pick a pad to put on and change out of your dirty pants. Then come out, and we’ll have dinner together,” the woman said, gently taking Ye Li’s wet wrist, her grip light and comfortable. Ye Li mumbled an awkward “okay” and abruptly released the soaked cloth.

After changing into clean pants and leaving the bathroom, Ye Li saw a spread of exquisite dishes on the dining table. At first, she thought the woman had cooked them herself, but then she caught a glimpse of takeout containers in the trash. Ye Li’s face stiffened. She secretly clenched her hands.

“Have a seat. Don’t be shy; from now on, you can treat this place like your own home,” Lu Zhiyun said, coming out of the kitchen with two bowls of rice. Ye Li’s mouth twitched slightly. The rice was probably poured from a takeout box, too.

“I’m not very good at cooking, Auntie. When I was studying abroad, my family used to cook for me, and after I started working, I mostly ate at restaurants and fast-food places. America is a fast-food paradise, after all. Being so convenient makes people lazy.” Lu Zhiyun sat down and confessed candidly, “But from now on, I’ll try my best to learn for you.” With that, she winked her bright, foxy eyes at Ye Li.

Ye Li’s fingers, which were holding her chopsticks, paused. She quietly put a piece of sweet and sour pork into her mouth. “Why would you learn to cook for me?” she asked, her eyes blinking in confusion.

“Because…” The woman’s beautiful eyes sparkled, and she parted her lips with a smile. “Little kids need nutritious food when they’re growing. I can’t have you eating fast food and takeout every day like me.”

“I’m twelve this year, I’m not a little kid,” the girl retorted, her face flushed. The next second, she buried her face in her bowl and began to eat with large, quick bites.

At nine o’clock at night, the city lights illuminated the sky with neon colors. Lu Zhiyun, after showering, wore a violet slip dress with adjustable straps. The comfortable, unrestrictive design and light, sheer fabric made it both sexy and demure. She was sitting at her desk, with an open email in English from a former colleague on her laptop screen.

Just as she was about to reply, a phone call came in.

“Well, did you get the little girl? You’ve been silent all day,” her friend Tang Qianxia’s voice said. After calmly putting on her headphones, Lu Zhiyun’s slender fingers flew across the keyboard, typing in English as she replied, “I did.”

“What do you think? I mean… what does it feel like to become a guardian so suddenly?” her friend asked playfully. Lu Zhiyun, however, was quite serious. “The child is great. It’s just…” she paused, her fingers curling. “I’m afraid I won’t do a good job. Do you know how to take care of a child entering puberty?”

“You’re asking me?” her friend gasped. “I’m still a bachelorette without any kids!”

“But I think raising a child is probably like raising a pet. If you treat them with care and love, you’ll get a good response, right?” Tang Qianxia’s comparison made Lu Zhiyun laugh and cry at the same time.

“How can you compare a child to a pet?”

“Don’t you know? So many people now call their dogs ‘son’ and their cats ‘daughter’.”

After hanging up, Lu Zhiyun finished writing her email, then opened Google and searched for: “How to raise a child?” The results were all baby pictures, diapers, and formula brands—nothing she was looking for. After a moment of thought, Lu Zhiyun, not giving up, typed: “How to raise a pet?” One of the answers from a user read:

“My little girl is named Xiao Dai. When I first brought her home, she was just a two-month-old ragdoll kitten. Her tiny meows were so endearing, but she lacked a sense of security since she had to leave her mother so early. So, I took her to bed to sleep with me every night, and now we’re super close. Xiao Dai completely sees me as her mom.”

The woman’s eyes moved slightly, deep in thought.

Ye Li couldn’t sleep. This was the first time she had left home and the first time she had ever stayed in a stranger’s house. The sound of a door opening in the next room made Ye Li quickly reach for the light switch. She turned off the light, scurried under the comforter, and lay perfectly still.

“Xiaoli, are you asleep?” Lu Zhiyun asked from outside the door. She thought the light had been on just a second ago. Understanding what was happening, she gently turned the doorknob. The room wasn’t completely dark. Using the moonlight, the woman walked to the bed and said, “Xiaoli, let Auntie sleep with you.”

The girl lying in bed stealthily opened one eye, then quickly shut it. Then, she felt the bed sink, and a body with a warm, rose-scented warmth from a shower gel slid under the covers. Ye Li continued to pretend to be asleep and deliberately turned her back to the woman. But the woman behind her also turned, moving closer. Without a word, she wrapped an arm around Ye Li’s waist, her soft chest pressing almost seamlessly against Ye Li’s back.

“It’s okay. Go to sleep,” the woman whispered, as if she were trying to comfort a motherless kitten. Ye Li could feel the woman’s breath on her ear, warm and gentle, like a soft breeze caressing every inch of the skin behind her ear. The girl’s eyelashes trembled, and her fingers, hidden under the covers, involuntarily clenched. After a moment of holding back, she suddenly opened her eyes.

She was even more awake than before.