What's Wrong With Being Fifteen Years Older Than Me?! - Chapter 5

“Right, right, right. Your kid. How many drinks has it been? Are you already letting loose?” Tang Qianxia leaned forward slightly and beckoned Ye Li closer. “This woman loves kissing people when she drinks. You’d better be careful.”

Ye Li’s little brain was full of big question marks. She stiffly turned her neck to glance at the woman beside her. Her face was flushed with a slight rosy glow, her eyes a little hazy. She looked half-drunk, her normally smooth, curled hair now scattered loosely over her shoulders, adding to her alluring beauty.

“Tang Qianxia, what bad things are you saying about me? I can hear you,” Lu Zhiyun said, tapping the table a few times with a lowered gaze. Her hands were beautiful—slender and fair with distinct knuckles, and she wore a silver ring on her index finger.

“Oops, I’ve been caught,” Tang Qianxia said, pretending to smack her mouth in defeat.

The dinner party ended, and the three of them slowly walked out of the restaurant. “You’ve been drinking. I’ll call a designated driver for you. He’s an old friend from the industry,” Tang Qianxia said, taking out her phone and making a call. Everything was arranged quickly.

“Thanks. How are you getting back? Want to ride in my car?” Lu Zhiyun asked.

“Did you forget? I just bought an apartment next to this plaza. It’s only a few minutes’ walk.”

“Oh, right,” the woman said, looking slightly dazed before breaking into a brilliant smile.

Tang Qianxia walked them to the street outside the plaza to wait for the designated driver. The wind on this summer night was warm, making her skin protest as it blew against it. She looked at the quiet Ye Li and proactively said, “Little Ye Li, you should help your Auntie Lu a bit later. She’s a bit frail.” With a smile, the woman pulled a cigarette from her purse and lit it, a spark illuminating the night.

“Don’t listen to her,” Lu Zhiyun whispered in Ye Li’s ear. Her voice was already soft, but now it was like a kitten purring, its warmth tickling Ye Li’s ear, along with the lingering scent of red wine. The girl stood as still as a statue, subtly pinching her palm. She felt like she was getting tipsy just from the scent.

Soon, the designated driver arrived. She looked to be in her early twenties, dressed in a simple white T-shirt and jeans. She was tall, at least 5’7″, with a very cool side-swept haircut.

“Hey, Sister Tang, I thought you moved nearby?” the girl said, greeting Tang Qianxia.

“I’m just driving my best friend tonight.” The short-haired girl looked at Lu Zhiyun and, in a familiar manner, praised her. “Sister Tang’s friend is a beauty, and there’s a little beauty with her, too.”

After a few more words, Tang Qianxia left. The short-haired girl took the car keys and went to the garage to get the car, leaving only Lu Zhiyun and Ye Li on the curb. The evening breeze lifted the woman’s white skirt, making her look like a dancing spirit in the night or a pristine wave on the ocean, with the faint scent of perfume wafting into Ye Li’s nose. The girl looked down at the Dior bag in her hand, puffed out her cheeks, and chose to remain silent. After all, they weren’t very close yet.

Soon, the designated driver pulled up in the car. Ye Li followed Lu Zhiyun into the back seat.

“Sister, is this a new car? It drives so smoothly!” the girl said, her hands on the steering wheel and a bright smile on her face.

“Yes, I just picked it up today,” Lu Zhiyun replied. The rest of the ride was silent. They were all still getting to know each other.

As they approached the apartment complex, Lu Zhiyun suddenly spoke up. “Could you please pull over? I want to get something from the convenience store.” The short-haired girl paused, then nodded readily, turning the steering wheel to pull over to the side of the road.

The woman opened the door and got out, walking alone toward the brightly lit convenience store in the night. She was graceful and slender, like a beautiful lily, in full bloom only for this evening.

“Is that your sister? She’s really pretty,” the short-haired girl said, resting her hand on the steering wheel and talking to Ye Li in the back seat.

“No,” the girl replied, her gaze shifting away from the white figure outside the window.

“Whoa,” the other girl gasped. “Is she your mom, then? No way, she looks like she’s in her twenties, maybe not even thirty.”

“I’m just staying at her place,” Ye Li said, a little distracted as she swallowed.

A moment later, the woman came out of the convenience store, holding a shopping bag. She stood at the door, looking left and right, and ran a hand through her hair as if she didn’t remember where the car was parked. After a moment, she finally headed toward them.

She’s a bit of a ditz, Ye Li thought.

Because Shuiyun Bay was built in the early 2000s, it didn’t have an underground parking garage, and the developers hadn’t anticipated the massive increase in car ownership. Since it was a bit late, the parking spots were full. The driver had to drive a bit farther to find a place to park.

“How much do I owe you?” Lu Zhiyun asked, opening her purse to get her wallet.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to pay. I’m good friends with Sister Tang; she always looks out for me.”

“No, a job is a job,” Lu Zhiyun insisted.

“How about this? I’ll give you my business card. You can pay me next time you need a ride?” the short-haired girl said, pulling a card out of her pocket. Seeing her sincerity, Lu Zhiyun accepted the card.

From the parking spot, it was about a hundred meters to her apartment building. Just a few steps into the walk, the woman’s phone rang. Ye Li paused as she heard her answer.

“Hi, Jenna, I just got back from dinner with my friends. No, I haven’t arrived home yet…”

Her American accent had a lazy, nasal undertone. The ends of her words were soft and gentle, yet rich and magnetic. Unfortunately, Ye Li only understood “Hi.” Her English was her worst subject. For the rest of the short walk, Ye Li was forced to listen to a brief English lesson.

The woman didn’t hang up until they were in the elevator. “Jenna is a friend I made when I was working in California. She’s a really good person,” Lu Zhiyun said, glancing at the silent girl beside her and smiling. The girl’s lips twitched as she watched the floor numbers rise. She didn’t really care.

But the woman continued to talk to herself. “She was pretty sad when she heard I was coming back for a long time. But I told her I was coming back for something more important than work.”

“Do you know what that is, Xiaoli?” she asked.

The girl raised an eyebrow and played along. “What is it?”

“Hmm… take a guess.” The woman winked her clear, beautiful eyes at her.

“I can’t guess,” Ye Li said, picking at the handle of the shopping bag in her hand.

“I really must be a little drunk. I can’t tell you yet, at least not until you can take care of yourself.” The woman lightly tapped her lips as if regretting saying too much.

Ye Li just looked at her. She’s really a bit of a ditz. Is this how people act when they’re drunk? Babbling incoherently and jumping from one topic to another?

When they got back, Ye Li quickly took a shower and stayed in her room. She wasn’t close enough to her Auntie Lu to sit in the living room without an awkward silence. Even though this wasn’t her home, she felt a sense of comfort and freedom as long as she was in her temporary room.

Lu Zhiyun went to shower, too, and accidentally got her pajamas wet, so she just came out in her underwear. She went to the kitchen, grabbed a can of soda, and sat on the sofa. She picked up the remote, turned on the TV, and switched to the evening news. After a while, she changed the channel to a romance drama. Lu Zhiyun wasn’t interested. She only watched it for about ten seconds before changing the channel again, finally stopping on a movie channel that was playing a popular American TV show.

As she watched, her legs naturally went up onto the couch, and she lay on her side like a mermaid, propping her head up with one hand. She was so used to living alone that she had completely forgotten she was only wearing a bra and underwear. She just felt comfortable and at ease, and the thought of putting on a clean pair of pajamas had been thrown far from her mind.

Ye Li had to go to the bathroom and wanted to change her pad to avoid soiling someone else’s sheets. She grabbed a new overnight pad and held it discreetly in her hand, covering it with her pajamas. The moment she opened the door, she froze at the sight.

The woman was lying on her side on the sofa, watching TV. Her waist was slender, her figure graceful and lithe, and her exposed back revealed delicate butterfly bones. From Ye Li’s angle, it looked like she wasn’t wearing any clothes at all. For a moment, she wanted to turn around and run away. But the woman on the couch turned her head at the sound. “Xiaoli, want to watch TV with me?” she asked in a completely natural way.

The woman’s curves and full figure unexpectedly entered the girl’s line of sight.

Ye Li was speechless. Even though we’re both women, can you at least be a little more aware? Can you at least not wear just a bra and a thong in the living room?