What's Wrong With Being Fifteen Years Older Than Me?! - Chapter 32.1
“Xiaoli…”
shallow and tinged with resignation, came from the other end of the line.
A long silence settled between them. Ye Li found that all the words she’d planned to say were now stuck in her throat.
“Your father and I talked. You’re grown up now. You need to walk your own path, and I can’t be with you every step of the way anymore,” Lu Zhiyun said gently. She hadn’t expected the girl to call her at all.
What Lu Zhiyun said was a gentle version of what Ye Deyou had said that night. “Ms. Lu, thank you so much for the past six years you’ve given to Xiaoli. Shi Ying and I will be forever grateful. But the child is an adult now. We’ve thought about it, and it’s best to let things go and bury them. That way, you’ll always be a good teacher and benefactor in her heart. From now on, my daughter and I won’t bother you anymore.”
Ye Li pursed her lips, a familiar pang of sadness hitting her. She clenched and unclenched her hand on her thigh and took a quiet breath. “I understand,” she said.
After a moment, she couldn’t help but speak again. “I’m sorry I didn’t see you off at the airport that day.”
“I don’t blame you,” Lu Zhiyun said, her voice unexpectedly light. “I just thought maybe Xiaoli was tired of me.”
“I wasn’t! I just…” The girl rushed to deny it, but she couldn’t bring herself to explain the real reason. Instead, she just repeated, “I don’t dislike you, Aunt Lu. How could I ever dislike you?”
A few late-night joggers passed by in the quiet park, their voices trailing behind them.
“It must be late in China. Are you still outside, Xiaoli?” Lu Zhiyun asked, hearing the footsteps and voices in the background.
For the past few days, Ye Li had been hearing Lu Zhiyun’s voice—a mix of care and concern—for the first time in what felt like a year. The feeling was surreal and almost unbelievable.
“It’s fine. I’m in a park downtown. It’s safe here.” The girl smiled, discreetly wiping away a tear.
“If you were in the States, I’d tell a girl not to go to a park alone. But even though China is safer, you should still head home soon.”
In the past, Ye Li would have ignored this kind of advice. But now, it sounded sweet and lovely. It seemed once a person acknowledged their feelings, there was no turning back.
“Okay, I’m heading back now.” Ye Li pulled her earbuds from her pocket, put them in, and stood up from the bench.
Lu Zhiyun was a little surprised to hear how readily she listened. Since Ye Li didn’t seem ready to hang up, Lu Zhiyun put the phone on speaker while she sorted through her newly arrived luggage.
“Aunt Lu,” Ye Li said, walking toward the park exit. “If I were to study in the U.S., do you have any schools you’d recommend?”
Lu Zhiyun, who was folding clothes next to a cardboard box, froze. “You’re thinking of studying in the U.S.?” she asked, her voice full of surprise.
“Yeah, I’m looking at schools and can’t make up my mind. My dad isn’t much help.” Ye Li’s voice was earnest.
“For art students, the Art Institute of Chicago, the California Institute of the Arts, and Yale are all great choices,” Lu Zhiyun said.
Ye Li’s next question—where Lu Zhiyun planned to work—was on the tip of her tongue, but she managed to hold back. “Okay, I’ll think about them when I get back.”
“Xiaoli, do you know how to handle the university applications?” Lu Zhiyun asked, a hint of worry in her voice. It was an instinctual reaction.
“Han Yueyue is also going to the U.S. to study. Her parents are teachers, so they know the process. I’ve already talked to her, and we’ll apply together,” Ye Li explained.
Lu Zhiyun felt a sense of relief. “What about the visa? Do you know how to handle all that?”
Even with thousands of miles between them, Ye Li felt as if Lu Zhiyun were right there beside her. A warm feeling spread through her chest, and the anxiety and sadness she had been holding onto for days seemed to melt away.
“I looked up the steps online. I think I can do it. There’s a first time for everything. I’ll figure it out.” The girl walked along the street, her mind clearer than it had been in a long time. Her mood was also better than it had been in ages.
“Xiaoli has really grown up,” Lu Zhiyun said, a genuine smile on her face.
They continued talking until Ye Li got back to her apartment. From that day on, their connection was re-established.
The next morning, Ye Li woke up to a new WeChat friend request. The profile picture was a blue ocean, with a woman sitting on a bench, her knees hugged to her chest. Her figure was lovely, and the sea breeze blew her hair to the side, revealing a perfect sliver of her face. The username was “Jasmine.”
It was her. There was no doubt.
Ye Li accepted the request immediately. When she went to change the contact name, she hesitated. She had originally typed “Aunt Lu,” but she deleted it. Using “Aunt Lu” felt a little odd, like it was a reminder of something forbidden. It felt strange and constantly emphasized the age and identity difference between them.
She ended up leaving the note blank, using only the name “Jasmine.” She went a step further and changed her own WeChat username to “Cara.”
From a certain perspective, didn’t they sound like a couple’s names? Ye Li smiled to herself.
In the past, she had hated her English name. When Lu Zhiyun had suggested she pick one, Ye Li had picked the simplest one she could find from a list just to get it over with. She never thought she’d actually use it.
Later, when she was applying to schools, Ye Li took a risk and chose a university in Los Angeles. She had considered the California Institute of the Arts, which Lu Zhiyun had recommended, but the school required an IELTS score of 6.5 or higher, and she didn’t meet the requirement. Another reason was that the school was in San Francisco, over 600 kilometers away from Los Angeles, where Lu Zhiyun used to work.
She and Han Yueyue didn’t end up applying to the same school because their grades and majors were different, but they both applied to universities in the same city. Han Yueyue’s parents were thrilled, thinking it was a good idea for the two of them to have someone to look out for in the same city.
Meanwhile, in Florida, Lu Zhiyun was getting ready to look for a new job after a short rest. It was evening, and the strong winds from the Atlantic Ocean rattled the wooden windows. She quickly finished editing her resume and stood up to close the windows. Miami in the summer was always so windy.
Just then, her phone rang. It was her ex-colleague, Jenna. Since they were close, they had kept in touch after Lu Zhiyun’s resignation, and Lu Zhiyun had sent her new number to Jenna first.
“Hey, Jasmine, what have you been doing recently?”
Lu Zhiyun pressed the phone to her ear and sat back in her office chair. She smiled, her voice lazy. “Just took some time off. Now I’m looking for a job.”
Jenna then mentioned that their old boss knew she was back and wanted to invite her to come back to work. She hoped Lu Zhiyun would consider it.
Lu Zhiyun was surprised. When she had resigned, her boss had asked her to stay, even telling her she could come back anytime. She had thought it was just a polite gesture, but now, here it was. She didn’t have to think about it for long before she said yes. The work environment was familiar, and she would be able to get back into the swing of things quickly. She had expected it to be difficult to find a job after being in a different field for six years, but an offer had just fallen into her lap.
“Sis, Mom and Dad said it’s time for dinner.” A girl with straight hair and black-framed glasses stood at the door, knocking gently. She looked quiet and well-behaved.
Lu Baozhu had already taken out her dreadlocks after living at home for a while, and she had become the obedient daughter her parents had always wanted.
Lu Zhiyun had just finished her call. She looked up. “Okay, I’m coming.”
As they went downstairs, Lu Baozhu asked, “Who were you on the phone with, Sis? I thought I heard you talking about work.”
Lu Zhiyun nodded, not wanting to hide anything. “You can finally stop worrying.”
“Stop worrying about what?” Baozhu was confused at first, then a look of understanding dawned on her. She abandoned her quiet demeanor and hugged her sister’s arm happily. “Really, Sis? You’re not going to work in New York?”
“Yeah. My old company in LA gave me an offer and invited me to come back.”
“What? You’re going back to LA to work?” Lu Zhiyun’s mother asked, carrying a dish from the kitchen.
“I start on Monday, so I only have three days. I might have to leave as early as tomorrow to find a place,” Lu Zhiyun said, pulling out a chair at the dinner table.
Baozhu immediately sat down next to her, her eyes wide. “Can I come with you, Sis?”
“Your sister’s going to work. What are you going for?” her mother said, glaring at her.
Lu Youheng picked up his chopsticks, seeing right through his daughter. “She’s going to play.”
“Dad’s right. I haven’t been to LA in almost a year. I heard a lot of big-name stars hang out in Hollywood now. I want to join the fun.”
Lu Zhiyun glanced at the girl next to her. “I’m leaving at eight a.m. tomorrow. Can you even wake up that early?”
“I have to, Sis!”
“Alright, alright, let’s eat. The food’s getting cold,” her mother urged.
The family still had a habit of eating Chinese food for dinner, with Western meals as a treat. However, breakfast was usually Western, as there weren’t many convenient breakfast places like there were in China.
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