What's Wrong With Being Fifteen Years Older Than Me?! - Chapter 39

Lu Baozhu put her phone away and saw Ye Li staring blankly. They were close enough that she could see Ye Li’s perfect nose, her jawline, and her alluring lips. Lu Baozhu’s mind went blank, and she instinctively asked, “Do you want to exchange We Chats?”

Ye Li snapped back to reality and took out her phone. “Cara is your English name?” Lu Baozhu asked after she added her.

“Yeah,” Ye Li said, nodding.

The sound of water running came from the bathroom. Lu Baozhu leaned forward on the sofa, resting her chin in her hand. “I don’t get why my sister wouldn’t let me sleep with you. The guest room bed is huge,” she said.

“Maybe she wants to spend some quality time with her sister,” Ye Li guessed.

Lu Baozhu immediately shook her head. “No way. She hates sleeping with me. She never lets me. I guess the sun rose from the west today.” She stood up and walked to the bar. “I was thinking of making some cocktails. Do you want one?” she asked, then quickly changed her mind. “Oh, wait. You’re not 21 yet. You can’t drink in America.”

“What?” Ye Li had just reached the legal drinking age in China, and now she couldn’t drink in America.

Lu Baozhu laughed at Ye Li’s helpless expression. “It’s okay. You’ll get there. I just got there myself.”

Later that night, Lu Zhiyun finished her shower, and the two girls took turns. When Ye Li came back to the guest room, she heard a knock on the door. It was still open, and she saw Aunt Lu standing there.

“I washed some of the grapes you bought. Do you want some?” The woman was wearing a black and white striped pajama set. Her hair was loose, and she was wearing black-rimmed glasses. She had no makeup on, but her skin was flawless. She looked like a fresh-faced college student.

“Thanks, Aunt Lu,” Ye Li said, reaching for the cream-colored plate.

Lu Zhiyun smiled. “Next time you come over, you should tell me in advance. I can come straight home from work and make you dinner.”

“It’s okay. I can make dinner myself, like I did today,” Ye Li said, her eyes meeting Lu Zhiyun’s and then quickly darting away.

Lu Zhiyun nodded, deciding not to push it. The most important thing was to respect her wishes. “Okay, then you should get some rest. I’m going back to my room.”

“Okay,” Ye Li said, trying to act calm. But as Lu Zhiyun turned around, she called out to her. Ye Li’s hand was on the door, and she took a deep breath before saying, “Good night, Aunt Lu.”

“Good night, Xiaoli,” Lu Zhiyun said, but before she could finish, Ye Li had already closed the door.

 Lu Zhiyun went back to her room and saw her sister playing a game on her phone.

“Why’d you come over this weekend?” Lu Zhiyun asked, walking to her desk and opening her laptop to do some work.

The girl, who was focused on her game, didn’t look up. “I heard Ye Li was going to college in California, and she happened to be in LA, so I came to see the mysterious girl you’ve been taking care of for six years.”

“Why did she choose a college in LA, though? There are so many good ones in New York,” Lu Baozhu said, and Lu Zhiyun didn’t answer. She didn’t know the answer herself.

In the guest room, Ye Li was on her phone, replying to Han Yueyue. She was also eating the grapes on the plate.

[Han Yueyue: So you met your Aunt Lu’s sister. What’s she like? I remember they have a pretty big age gap.]

[Ye Li: Yeah, there’s a 12-year difference. They look a lot alike. Her sister looks a lot like her when she was a teenager.]

Ye Li had just realized this after seeing the old pictures of Lu Zhiyun.

[Han Yueyue: Sounds like another beautiful older sister.]

[Han Yueyue: I just realized something. You call your Aunt Lu ‘Aunt Lu,’ so you’re supposed to call her sister ‘Aunt’ too, right?]

[Ye Li: I’m not going to. It’s too weird. I’ll just call her by her name.]

Lu Baozhu finished her game and went to bed to eat grapes. She asked her sister, “Sister, I just thought of something. What’s Ye Li supposed to call me? Aunt?”

“I don’t know. She can call you whatever she wants,” Lu Zhiyun said without looking up from her laptop.

“Hey, you’re spoiling her! Are you just going to let your early-20s sister be called ‘aunt’?” Lu Baozhu said, complaining.

Lu Zhiyun, who was still focused on her work, said calmly, “Don’t worry. Knowing Xiaoli, she’s not going to call you that.”

Ye Li put her phone away and got into bed. The room was dark, but a small light came from her phone. She quickly opened WeChat, went to Lu Baozhu’s profile, and looked at her posts. Her profile picture was a half-body shot of her wearing a sexy top and big black sunglasses, her lips painted red, and posing on a foggy beach. Ye Li was relieved that she didn’t have a time limit on her posts.

She started scrolling down, looking at her life. She saw pictures of Lu Zhiyun—some were candid, others were posed. Ye Li would quickly save them, as if they were treasures. She felt like a detective, trying to find out more about the person she liked.

In the master bedroom, the two sisters were already in bed. But there was a clear line between them. Lu Baozhu knew that her sister didn’t like being touched when she slept, so she kept her distance.

“Sister, does Ye Li know?” Lu Baozhu asked, facing her sister’s back.

“No,” Lu Zhiyun said, her voice soft and weak, as if she were about to fall asleep.

“Are you going to tell her?” Lu Baozhu asked.

“Probably not, unless something happens,” Lu Zhiyun said.

After a few minutes of silence, Lu Baozhu asked again, “Sister, why wouldn’t you let me sleep in the guest room with Ye Li?”

Lu Zhiyun, who was about to fall asleep, woke up and said, “There’s a reason.”

“What’s the reason?” Lu Baozhu was getting curious. She inched closer to her sister, but she didn’t cross the line.

“Go to sleep,” Lu Zhiyun said, her voice firm.

A few seconds later, she could hear her sister’s steady breathing. She seemed to be asleep. Lu Baozhu sighed and turned around. My sister is still my sister, she thought.

Ye Li didn’t close the curtains all the way. She wanted the morning sun to wake her up. She also set an alarm just in case. But when she opened the door, she saw someone who was already there. 

“Good morning, Aunt Lu,” Ye Li said, a little surprised.

Lu Zhiyun, who was thinking about what to make for breakfast, turned to her. She smiled. “Good morning, Xiaoli. Why are you up so early on the weekend?”

“I just couldn’t sleep in.” After a quick greeting, Ye Li went to the bathroom. When she came out, her hair was in a neat ponytail, and she had a light layer of makeup on. She just put on some foundation and did her eyebrows. She had never worn makeup before, but now she felt like something was missing if she didn’t.

“What are you making? Is there anything I can help with?” the girl asked, walking to the island.

“Lu Baozhu said she wanted paninis. What about you?” Lu Zhiyun was wearing a light pink apron. Her waist was slim, and her hair was held back with a clip. A few strands of hair fell to the sides of her face. She looked elegant and charming. She looked up at Ye Li.

Ye Li’s heart skipped a beat. She said, her throat dry, “Anything is fine.” She quickly changed the subject. “Is Fannie still asleep?”

Lu Zhiyun paused, then realized that Ye Li was talking about her sister. She smiled. “Don’t worry about her. She’ll be up when breakfast is ready.”

Ye Li nodded and decided to just help out. She wasn’t a good conversationalist. She spent the entire morning helping Lu Zhiyun, even though Lu Zhiyun told her she didn’t need her help. She didn’t want to discourage the girl. Xiaoli has really changed, Lu Zhiyun thought as she cooked.

Just as Lu Zhiyun predicted, Lu Baozhu came out of her room when she smelled the food. The three of them sat at the dining table. Ye Li ate slowly and gracefully, unlike before, when she would eat without a care in the world.

“Ye Li, have you been to the Hollywood Walk of Fame? It’s a must-see in LA. We can go after breakfast,” Lu Baozhu said. She had no makeup on, and her hair was messy. She had a white headband on, which made her look lazy and relaxed. This was what made Ye Li so nervous. When she didn’t have makeup on, she looked exactly like the picture of Lu Zhiyun from when she was a teenager. It was like she was looking at a younger version of Aunt Lu. It felt surreal.

“Okay,” Ye Li said, her voice a little hoarse. She turned to Lu Zhiyun. “Do you want to come too, Aunt Lu?”

“No, you two go have fun,” Lu Zhiyun said, smiling at her.

Ye Li was a little disappointed. A look of panic flashed in her eyes, and she didn’t know what to say.

Lu Baozhu took a bite of her panini and said, “My sister’s been to the Walk of Fame a million times. She’s probably sick of it. I used to beg her to take me there when she worked in California.”

Even so, Ye Li still wanted her to come. Without her, even the most beautiful places would feel empty.

She mustered up the courage and said, “Aunt Lu, please come with us. It’s more fun with more people.”

“Sister, Ye Li’s asking you to come. Come on, go with us,” Lu Baozhu said, trying to persuade her sister.

“Okay, since Xiaoli asked, I’ll go,” Lu Zhiyun said, not giving it a second thought. She thought it would be better for the girls to hang out alone, but she was surprised that Xiaoli wanted her to come along.

After breakfast, Ye Li started cleaning up. Lu Zhiyun told her to go relax and let Lu Baozhu do it, but Ye Li insisted. “It’s fine. I don’t have anything else to do.” Lu Baozhu went back to her room to get ready, and Lu Zhiyun went to her room to get ready to go out.

Ye Li worked hard. She used to be so carefree, but now she wanted to do as much as she could for the person she liked. What she couldn’t say, she would show with her actions.

In the master bedroom, Lu Zhiyun was picking out an outfit. Lu Baozhu, who was putting on her makeup, said, “Sister, did Ye Li use to do this for you in China?”

Lu Zhiyun, who was reaching into her closet, paused. “I never had her do these things,” she said. It was only after her sister pointed it out that she realized how much Xiaoli had changed.

The three of them went out. Lu Baozhu naturally took the passenger seat, so Ye Li sat in the back. As Lu Zhiyun drove out of the garage, Ye Li heard Lu Baozhu say, “Hey, sister, you’re still wearing that bracelet. You’ve been wearing it every time you come back to China.” Ye Li looked up. It was the bracelet she had bought for Aunt Lu. It was still on her slim, pale wrist.

“I’m just used to it,” Lu Zhiyun said, glancing at it. Her eyes went back to the road.

Hearing that, Ye Li felt a wave of happiness wash over her. On the outside, she was still a quiet girl sitting in the back, but on the inside, she was throwing a party.

“But I remember you used to wear a different bracelet every day.”

“I don’t have the energy to do that anymore,” Lu Zhiyun said, shrugging.

Lu Baozhu felt like her sister was just giving her excuses, so she dropped the subject.

Did Aunt Lu really think she was old? Ye Li looked out the window. She didn’t think so. A woman in her 30s was in her prime. It was the most charming and mature age. And Ye Li thought the 15-year age gap was perfect. Not too much, not too little.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is made up of over 2,500 terrazzo and brass stars that are embedded in the sidewalk. The stars are dedicated to actors, directors, musicians, and other famous people. It’s one of the most famous tourist attractions in LA.

“Today, we’re going to the Walk of Fame, the Chinese Theatre, Universal Studios, Sunset Boulevard, and the Hollywood sign,” Lu Baozhu said, putting her arm around Ye Li’s shoulder. “I think Sunset Boulevard is the most romantic. It’s over 20 miles long, and it’s lined with palm trees and movie billboards. Every time my sister drives me there, I feel like I’m in a movie.”

Ye Li wasn’t used to physical contact. She didn’t want to push her away and be rude. She was Lu Zhiyun’s sister, and if she wanted to get closer to Lu Zhiyun, she needed to be on good terms with her sister.

“Can we really go to all those places in one day?” she asked, her back stiff.

“It depends on how we play,” Lu Baozhu said, squinting. She was wearing a crop top and low-rise pants, and her body was pressed against Ye Li’s.

Lu Zhiyun, who had just gotten out of the car, cleared her throat. “Lu Baozhu,” she said.

“Yeah?” Lu Baozhu asked, trotting over to her sister like a rabbit.

Ye Li’s back felt a little less stiff now that Lu Baozhu’s arm was gone. She fanned herself, even though it wasn’t hot.

“Nothing. I thought I saw something on your shirt,” Lu Zhiyun said, her acting completely flawless.