Chapter 4. Li Li didn't notice Ou Ning's words...
Li Li didn't notice anything wrong with Ou Ning's words and actions; to her, men who hadn't confessed their feelings weren't worth worrying about.
On the contrary, she noticed that You Chang had changed a lot recently. He chatted and complained less at work, and when ordering lunch, he would deliberately choose some expensive restaurants to please her.
Li Li knew that she didn't have much money after graduation, and eating like this would be a huge extra expense every month. She really didn't want lunch to become a burden for both of them.
Just when she couldn't think of a good solution, Li Zhoudu sent her a message saying he was having dinner near Yanqi that evening and invited her to come over.
Li Li drove to the location, where, besides Li Zhoudu, there was a middle-aged man she didn't know.
Li Zhoudu stood up and introduced her, saying jokingly, "Call him Uncle Xie, he's your big boss now."
Upon hearing this, Li Li stood still and obediently called out in response. Xie Zongfang politely replied, "It doesn't count, it doesn't count."
Xie Zongfang is the executive vice president of Yanqi and the head of the strategic development department. He is a senior executive of the group. Calling him Li Li's boss is a stretch, but he is more than capable of protecting a small person like her in the company.
The two sat down, ordered a lot of dishes, and chatted while eating.
Xie Zongfang asked Li Li how her onboarding experience was. If she wasn't happy, she could ask Uncle Xie to switch places and move to his side.
Li Li hesitated for a moment, then said that everything was fine and she was very happy with her work.
He smiled and said, "No rush, contact me anytime you've thought it through."
He then chatted with Li Zhoudu about golf, mentioning that he had met Li Junchuan once at the golf course, and that Li Junchuan was very skilled, suggesting they play a round sometime.
Li Zhoudu politely agreed, saying he would definitely pass on the message to my father.
As the wine flowed and the conversation became increasingly pleasant, Li Li interjected, "Uncle Xie, how many Grandpa Tans have you seen these days?"
Li Zhoudu glanced over, but she continued nonchalantly, "Grandpa Tan used to be very kind to me, but I haven't had many chances to see him since my grandfather passed away. I wonder if he's feeling any better now?"
Xie Zongfang sighed and put down his wine glass: "He had heart surgery a couple of years ago, and he's been recuperating in Songshan ever since. I haven't seen him in a long time."
"Is there no annual shareholders' meeting either?"
“Health is definitely the priority over work,” Xie Zongfang laughed. “Now that Tan Su is capable of handling things on his own, it doesn’t matter who in the family comes out.”
Li Li's heart sank slightly, and he blurted out, "Isn't this using the emperor to command the feudal lords?"
Li Zhoudu's face darkened: "You've only learned a few idioms and you're already spouting nonsense in front of your elders."
Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Xie Zongfang tried to smooth things over between the siblings: "It's okay, it's okay. Let's leave what was said at the dinner party at home. Besides, all the younger children in the family are like this, innocent and cute."
Even with Xie Zongfang's intervention, Li Li's face was still sour on the way back.
She was driving, and Li Zhoudu, who had been drinking, sat in the passenger seat with the window down, letting out the alcohol. She turned around and asked, "Are you still going to work at Yanqi?"
"Go for it! Why don't you go for it!" she said sharply.
Li Zhoudu sneered: "You care more about other people's affairs than your own."
"To hold the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords," he tapped on the car window, repeating the foolish words Li Li had said at the dinner table.
"If you close the door, who knows what's going on in someone else's home?"
"Little kitten, who are you standing up for?"
——
That weekend, Li Li finally had time to fly to Hong Kong.
Tan Yi was already waiting for her at the arrival gate. He took her suitcase, bent down, and kissed her on the back of the neck. Li Li stood on tiptoe and realized that he seemed to have grown a little taller.
After arriving at the parking lot and putting down his suitcase, Li Li opened the back door and was pleasantly surprised to find that he had brought Su Mi. The poor little kitten was held in his arms and petted and stroked for more than twenty minutes.
Until its father got jealous: "You only look at the cat and not at me."
Li Li released Su Mi and lay down on Tan Yi's lap with a grin: "You're still as handsome as ever! Why didn't I see you?"
The driver was driving ahead, and Tan Yi's fingers were supporting her head as he gently combed her hair.
Although I had seen the photos Li Li sent, seeing her short hair fall to the end with just a gentle stroke in my hand still left me feeling empty inside.
Tan Yi said, "It's a pity about the hair."
"It's easier to deal with the King of Hell than his underlings—" Li Li squinted comfortably. "If we don't make a big scene, how can we keep that bastard Tan Su in check?"
"It's a pity about the hair."
“It can still grow,” Li Li asked deliberately, not wanting to upset him. “How are you going to reward me?”
Tan Yi smiled, grasped her shoulders, bent down, and kissed her cheek.
Half an hour later, the car arrived at a single-story apartment on Conduit Road. There were many people in the apartment, a gathering he had arranged in advance.
Li Li went to the bedroom to tidy up briefly, and when she came out, Tan Yi was already playing cards on the sofa in place of the servants.
She sat down next to him and picked up a warm pineapple bun from the table.
Tan Yi is very skilled at playing games. He is proficient in bridge, Texas Hold'em, mahjong, and dominoes. He is especially good at poker, and his fancy shuffling skills are very popular with young girls.
The pineapple bun dough was fluffy and soft, and the filling was refreshing and sweet. However, when you bite into it, some white pastry will accidentally fall off. While pondering the card game, Tan Yi instinctively reached out a hand to catch it under her face.
What seemed like an ordinary interaction between the two was suddenly marred by a sour remark from a girl nearby: "Brio treats his girlfriend like a princess."
As soon as she said that, everyone around her instinctively looked over.
Li Li, who was still chewing something, suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.
Tan Yi hid his displeasure with a smile and asked, "Why are you looking at us like that? Do you have money stuck to your face?"
This was just a minor incident. The card game ended after two or three hours. In the evening, we planned to have hot pot and barbecue. The housekeeper prepared the ingredients, while the others gathered in small groups to chat.
Tan Yi, finding it too noisy with so many people, stood behind the bar and jokingly asked her, "What would you like to drink, my princess?"
"Peach Iced Tea, no ice, no tea, and no peach."
He asked, amused, "Would you like a cup of honey directly?"
Even so, Tan Yi still went into the refrigerator, took out a peach, washed and peeled it, cut it into pieces, and started adding sugar to make peach juice.
Li Li lay on the counter, playing with an ice cup somewhat bored. There was a cat-shaped logo on the lower right corner of the cup.
That was a simple sketch she drew herself while practicing design, which Tan Yi then used.
From then on, everything in the house, from ordinary water cups, towels, and tableware to his everyday T-shirts, was a special edition bearing Li Li's mark.
He stirred the pot with a wooden spoon and explained, "That was Dai Zhe's new girlfriend. She had a fight with him and took her anger out on him because she didn't even know you. I'll tell them not to come here again."
Tan Yi suffers from severe insomnia and is also afraid of loneliness, so he always leaves one or two single male friends to stay at his home. In recent years, his closest friend is Dai Zhe, and Li Li knows this too.
Li Li looked up and asked him, "How have you been sleeping lately?"
Tan Yi nodded and said, "Much better."
“Then it’s nothing,” Li Li said. “I thought it was a love rival.”
He also quite liked Li Li's occasional bland jealousy, laughing loudly, "I need to have the guts to do that first."
Holding an iced tea, I sat on the sofa on the balcony. The wind was strong outside, and the lights were on inside, making the room noisy.
As the sun set, she hugged Tan Yi's waist and leaned against his chest.
He remained silent, as if deep in thought, or perhaps simply lost in thought.
Thinking back, he wasn't as alluring in the past as he is now. Perhaps he was a bit melancholic. His improved demeanor makes him more attractive to girls. It seems that setbacks are indeed his best cosmetic procedure.
Li Li, with a straw in her mouth, suddenly blurted out, "I'm the only one who liked you from the very beginning; no one else did."
These words sounded a bit like psychological manipulation, but Tan Yi was very happy to hear them. His eyes lit up like a puppy's.
Tan Yi lowered his head, cupped Li Li's face in his hands, and kissed her repeatedly, saying, "I know."
"I know that only the kitten truly likes me."
This is their sixth anniversary together.
When Li Li was five or six years old, she was brought from Jixi to S City to study.
After only a few days at school, he developed a problem: he refused to speak.
She had lived in Jixi for many years and had learned to speak the local dialect. Her family was used to it and didn't try to correct her.
But everything was different in the new environment. Not being able to understand what others were saying was secondary. When Li Li realized that every time she spoke, someone would cover their mouth and secretly laugh, she became a little sensitive.
For the past six months, her family has gone to great lengths to get her to speak. They took her to the hospital for autism testing, bought her food, drinks, and toys to cheer her up, asked a psychologist to talk to her, and Li Fujin and his wife would call her late at night every day, taking advantage of the time difference, but nothing worked.
Later, when all else failed, they considered bringing back two children of the same age to keep each other company, or sending Li Li out to be looked after by Li Fujin and his wife.
It wasn't until Li Pusheng's old friend Tan Huiming visited, bringing with him a Tan Yi who was about the same age as her, that things changed.
The boy watched superheroes and Ultraman every day, full of enthusiasm and as mischievous as a monkey.
He curiously circled around the girl named Little Cat:
Why aren't you saying anything? Do you want some ice cream? Do you watch cartoons? How old are you?
Li Li is really difficult to deal with. She thinks the other person is too noisy, so she doesn't give him any attention at all.
Tan Yi then noticed a swimming pool outside the living room window and said, trying to show off, "I've learned to swim, can you?"
He had only recently learned to hold his breath, and in order to attract Li Li's attention, he impulsively took off his shirt and pants, and, wearing only his underwear, dived into the water.
As soon as he stepped into the water, the startled servants at home rushed to pull him out, so quickly it was as if he had been dipped in water with chopsticks.
The aunt was worried that he would catch a cold, so she wanted to take off his underwear to wash and dry it. Tan Yi insisted that he was fine, but he covered his crotch tightly with his hands. In the end, he was afraid that his grandfather would find out and scold him, so he humiliatingly lost his underwear.
He awkwardly wrapped a long bath towel around himself, like he was wearing a girl's skirt. When he came out of the bathroom, he coughed and said to Li Li, trying to save face, "It's no fun at your house because you're too strict. When you come to my place later, I'll swim for you."
Li Li laughed when she thought about how this person was still naked.
After the two elders finished their conversation in the tea room, Li Li obediently sat down with Tan Yi, who had already put on his pants, to drink milk and eat cookies, listening to him boast about his trip to Disney World in Orlando and Marvel's headquarters during the Chinese New Year.
Seeing that the two got along well, Tan Huiming jokingly said to Li Pusheng, "Your little kitten is really nice. Why don't you give her to my grandson as a wife?"
A note from the author:
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[milk tea]
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