What's Wrong With Being Fifteen Years Older Than Me?! - Chapter 30.2

When Lu Zhiyun ignored her, Lu Baozhu put her arm around her sister and asked nicely, “Sis, who told you I was here?”

“I guessed,” Lu Zhiyun said casually. Lu Baozhu was annoyed and puffed out her cheeks. “It must have been Marcia from my dorm who ratted me out!”

“Stop blaming other people. If you weren’t doing anything, would I need to come looking for you as soon as I got off the plane?” Lu Zhiyun said, giving the girl next to her a faint look.

“Oh, sis, believe me. I wasn’t getting into any trouble. I’m still a good, well-behaved girl,” Lu Baozhu said, leaning on her sister’s shoulder, sweet-talking her.

“If that’s the case, go back to your dorm, pack your things, and come back to Miami with me.”

“Huh? I don’t want to go back. I’m doing great here.”

“Don’t you want to prove you’re well-behaved? Who stays in their dorm during summer break instead of going home?” The woman gave her no room to negotiate.

They soon arrived at an apartment building near Columbia University. Lu Zhiyun had personally found this apartment for her sister. She was worried about living alone, so she made sure to choose one with a female roommate. The roommate was the Marcia that Lu Baozhu had mentioned. She was a top student, half Indian and half British. To keep track of her sister, Lu Zhiyun often sent her gifts from overseas to stay in touch. It was a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment. As it turned out, Marcia wasn’t home tonight.

Lu Zhiyun walked into Lu Baozhu’s room, and her face was filled with a helpless expression. “This room doesn’t look like a girl’s room at all.” The girl in the black tank top was like a pure and lazy kitten, leaning against the door. She awkwardly played with her dreadlocks and said, “Sis, it’s been a while. Don’t scold me.”

Because she knew her sister had been sick, Lu Baozhu had always been extra careful since she was a child. She wouldn’t listen to anyone in her family except her sister. Although Lu Zhiyun was complaining, she unconsciously started to help her pack.

“Oh yeah, sis, why didn’t you bring that little sister back to play this time? I really want to meet her,” Lu Baozhu said. The woman’s back stiffened. A slightly unnatural expression flashed on her face as she continued to pack. “She… probably doesn’t want to come,” she said.

“Oh, okay,” the girl said, her shoulders slumping.

“Baozhu, call Mom and Dad and tell them we’re going home tonight.” The girl reached into her black chain bag and suddenly remembered something. “Oh, sis, my phone died and turned off.”

Lu Zhiyun looked at her helplessly. “Use mine.” But then she realized her phone was gone.

“It was probably stolen in the bar just now,” Lu Baozhu guessed. “My friends have had their phones stolen, too.”

Lu Zhiyun: “…”

“Forget it. Let’s just go back.”

Ye Li didn’t stop calling Auntie Lu all day. But her calls, text messages, and WeChat messages all went unanswered, like a stone sinking into the ocean. She was like a child who had lost her favorite toy, lonely and pathetic, sitting alone on a chair in the living room, her eyes dim.

Is Auntie Lu never going to take care of her again? Are they never going to see each other again? Whenever she thought about this, it felt as if a hand was squeezing her heart. The pain was so intense that it was hard to breathe. She clutched her phone so tightly that her fingers turned white.

Just then, a notification sound echoed in the quiet living room. The phone screen lit up. The girl’s heart was suddenly reawakened. She quickly opened it to see that it wasn’t a reply from Auntie Lu, but a message from Han Yueyue.

[Han Yueyue: Let’s go out for a late-night snack!]

Ye Li was surprised to see that it was already ten at night. She was about to instinctively refuse, but then she agreed. If she didn’t find something to do to pass the time, she would just continue to be miserable.

The place they were meeting was near Han Yueyue’s house, so Ye Li went to her. Han Yueyue said, “What’s wrong with you? I haven’t seen you in a few days, and you look so depressed. It’s like you just got your heart broken.” Ye Li, who was sitting at the small table, looked up abruptly. There were red veins in her eyes that were clearly visible, even under the dim light of the roadside barbecue stall.

“Ye Li, seriously, did something happen? You haven’t said a word since you got here,” Han Yueyue said, frowning with concern.

“Nothing. I’m just a little tired lately,” the girl said, lowering her eyes. She picked up a glass of beer and started to drink. Han Yueyue saw this and couldn’t help but say, “Now that your Auntie Lu is back in the U.S., you can drink without a care in the world.” Ye Li’s hand paused for a moment, but the next second, she still drank the beer.

“Can I borrow some books from you? I want to kill some time tonight,” the girl said with a smile. The smile on her face didn’t look genuine; it was filled with bitterness. Han Yueyue wasn’t used to this version of Ye Li. In her memory, she never worried or felt sad about anything.

“Sure, what do you want to read?”

“The… yuri novels you were reading before.”

“You do?”

“I want to check them out.”

Listening to Ye Li’s short sentences and seeing the unnatural smile on her face, Han Yueyue felt very uneasy. Her eyebrows furrowed even more. “No problem. I’ll go home and get them for you later.” Han Yueyue seemed calm on the outside, but inside, she was screaming. Ye Li wants to read yuri novels?

That’s right, Ye Li never thought she would read them either. She got back to the apartment late at night. After taking a shower, she picked up one of the books and started to read. She wasn’t against it at all; in fact… she got into it. Not only that, but the emotional entanglement of the main characters reminded her of herself and Auntie Lu. She understood her feelings more clearly and confirmed that she had fallen in love with Auntie Lu. She had fallen in love with a woman fifteen years older than her. If someone had told her this when she was twelve, she would have never believed it.

For the rest of the night, Ye Li read and kept trying to contact Auntie Lu. But it was no different from the daytime; she still couldn’t reach her.

The next day, Ye Li, who had stayed up all night, called her dad, fighting off her exhaustion.

“Xiaoli, when are you coming back? I’m a little worried about you being in Jingchuan all by yourself.” The girl didn’t answer him. She just asked her question. “Dad, can you get through to Auntie Lu?”

“You can’t reach your Auntie Lu? I don’t know. Do you need her for something?”

“Dad, can you try to contact her for me?” Ye Li didn’t feel like answering any other questions. A minute later, her dad called back with the conclusion that he couldn’t reach her.

Having no other choice, Ye Li had to thicken her skin and call Auntie Tang. When she answered the phone, Tang Qianxia immediately started to complain. “What’s wrong with you, kid? You didn’t reply to my message, and you didn’t even go see Lu Zhiyun off at the airport. You’re so heartless!”

Ye Li didn’t have the energy to argue. She just asked, “Auntie Tang, can you get through to Auntie Lu’s phone? Why can’t I reach her?”

“Speaking of which, she’s been gone for two days and hasn’t called me. Wait a minute, I’ll try calling her.” Ye Li thought there was hope. After all, she was Auntie Lu’s closest friend in China. But the result was the same. If even Auntie Tang couldn’t reach her, Ye Li had no other options. The girl’s heart was like a stone at the bottom of a lake: cold, helpless, and alone.

That evening, Ye Li called her dad again and got straight to the point. “I want to study abroad, Dad. Please, you have to send me to study abroad!” She wasn’t ready to give up just yet. If age wasn’t a problem, and gender wasn’t a problem, then distance… shouldn’t be a problem either.