Chapter 65. Alcohol accelerates blood circulation...
Alcohol accelerated blood circulation, and the pitch-black environment heightened the senses. In the stillness, Li Zhoudu could feel his heart pounding too fast.
He recalled the years Li Li lived in Jixi with her grandparents.
As she grew up, she was like a little sprout with a strong local accent. Every time Li Zhoudu came back to visit during his holidays, she would jump around wanting to be held by him.
Li Pusheng, standing nearby, teased with a hint of jealousy, "Didn't the little kitten say yesterday that she and her grandfather were the best of friends in the world?"
But Li Li didn't care. She liked to follow Li Zhoudu around like a shadow. If he didn't see her for a while, the yard would be filled with his constant calls of "Brother, Brother."
Li Zhoudu's studies naturally did not allow him to stay in Jixi for too long. Every separation from Xiao Mao'er was like the sky falling and the earth cracking, a painful separation as if life and death were at stake.
Later, she finally reached school age and was taken back to S City.
During the six months when she was reluctant to speak, Li Li always stayed quietly by Li Zhoudu's side like a little quail. When he needed to study and do his homework, she would take a pen and lie on the table to draw.
Occasionally, when she gets mischievous or naughty, she'll pretend to cry when he scolds her.
Li Li grew up little by little under his gaze. Her little world went from the lush green wheat fields of Jixi to the bustling modern metropolis. She went to university abroad and is now thousands of miles away across the ocean.
He sensed the irreparable gaps and voids that had been torn between them, but he couldn't figure out where he had gone wrong and lost the trust that Li Li could confide in completely.
——
That year, Li Li's family did not allow her to return to China for the Christmas holidays.
On the third day after Li Fujin and his wife flew in to spend the holiday with her, Li Zhoudu also arrived.
The uncle and nephew borrowed a pickup truck from their neighbor's garage and drove to a nearby dealer to buy a Nobel pine. The two-and-a-half-meter-tall real tree was carried into the house, and the moment it was unpacked, the house was filled with the fragrance of pine needles.
They worked together to secure the bottom tree stump with screws. Li Zhoudu wrapped LED light strips around his arm and was adjusting them. Through the glass window, he could see the girls returning from shopping outside.
Li Li, wearing a brown sweater and a white scarf, followed behind Ling Wei and Li Zhizi, carrying a large plastic bag. She looked fluffy and cheerful due to the festive atmosphere.
Upon opening the door and seeing the already lit Christmas tree, Li Li perked up immediately. She exclaimed, "I have so many more ornaments! Let me handle them!"
She ran up and down the house searching for decorations and dolls, directing her father and brother to tie them to the high branches of the tree with bright red ribbons.
How beautiful! She thought with satisfaction.
Li Zhizi was the only outsider in the family. She was a little reserved in front of Li Li's parents, whom she didn't know well. However, Ling Wei was actually more approachable than Wen Xi, treating her with gentle warmth as if she were another daughter.
On Christmas Eve, Ling Wei, whose cooking skills were limited, simmered a Bak Kut Teh and made a spicy stir-fried crab. Li Zhizi took charge of the rest of the cooking, and they prepared a table full of dishes.
Li Fujin opened a bottle of his treasured red wine and poured a little into everyone's glass.
While eating and chatting at the table, Li Fujin brought up Li Zhoudu's recent investment and asked him how it was going.
Seeing the momentary nervousness and guilt on Li Li's face, Li Zhoudu nodded and said calmly, "It's alright, let's play around."
“Yes, it’s okay to play around with it for a bit,” Li Fujing said, understanding the young people’s exploration and experimentation with different paths, but still emphasizing that his own business was more important, “It’s not worth putting our main energy into it.”
Li Zhoudu nodded and said, "Of course."
Ling Wei felt it was pointless to talk about these things on a holiday, so she changed the subject, saying, "Little Cat will be graduating next year, so Zhi Zi can relax a bit more from now on. We really owe you a lot these past two years."
Li Zhizi shook her head and said no. I learned a lot from working with Li Li.
She has already expressed her desire to Wenxi to stay and work in North America. After Li Li graduates, she will officially join Wanjing Overseas to start her career.
This was the perfect outcome for her.
Li Li spent a perfect Christmas with her family, and she even received photos from Tan Yi.
He was still in California, raising his glass high among a group of people of different skin colors, his smile youthful and radiant. He seemed to have returned to how he was many years ago, saying, "[Merry Christmas, cat.]"
Li Li replied to him: [Merry Christmas, Tan Yi.]
On Christmas morning, Li Zhoudu went downstairs in the dim light. The lights downstairs were already on. Li Li was sitting on the ground with a candy cane in her mouth, grunting as she tore at the wrapping paper of the gifts under the Christmas tree.
Ling Wei patiently labeled all the gifts with sticky notes, noting who gave them to whom.
Li Li happened to open Li Zhoudu's box. Inside the small box was a transparent box containing a Fabergé egg, only ten centimeters tall. The eggshell was made of crystal and was crystal clear. Inside, there was a pansy made of seawater pearls and enamel.
"This is so pretty!" She held it in her hand and waved it at Li Zhoudu.
He casually said, "Don't fall."
Li Li said discontentedly, "You're afraid of dropping something you gave me? Aren't you being petty?"
She casually placed it on the carpet, and Li Zhoudu sat down beside her, handing Li Li the scissors and picking up the trash and scraps of paper scattered on the floor.
Li Li's cheeks, still full of candy, twitched as she suddenly turned to him and asked, "What did you ask me when you called from Hong Kong last time? You just hung up without saying anything."
Li Zhoudu didn't want to answer, which only fueled her enthusiasm. She kept nudging him with her elbow, saying, "Say it! Say it!"
Li Zhoudu simply said, "I met Fang Xuan, that's all."
Li Li's laughter stopped abruptly.
“She lost her job,” Li Zhoudu added.
"Oh." Li Li turned her head and continued unpacking the box as if nothing had happened.
Li Li's feelings towards Fang Xuan were complicated. She didn't actually have anything happen between her and Tan Yi, but it was true that she liked Tan Yi, that she bypassed herself to ask him for help, and that her dissatisfaction and resentment towards herself were real.
Li Li didn't want to bother thinking about Fang Xuan. She thought of Tan Su's evaluation of her for being compassionate towards the weak and orphans, and realized that Fang Xuan wasn't weak either. She probably didn't want to be the one to pity her.
Having made up her mind, she said to Li Zhoudu in a low voice, "Alright, that's enough. And whatever you find out, don't tell me."
"Why?" he asked calmly from the side.
“Everyone has secrets they can’t talk about,” Li Li said. “You probably have a lot of things you don’t tell me either.”
"As long as I haven't harmed the Li family's interests, I haven't done anything wrong. Don't ask me anymore," she said confidently.
Li Zhoudu looked at her profile and remained silent.
This scene was witnessed by Li Fujing, who came in from outside sweeping snow. He saw the antique Easter egg from the early 20th century lying flat at Li Li's feet and joked to Li Zhoudu, "Don't spoil the little cat by buying things indiscriminately in the future. She doesn't know how to cherish good things."
——
My parents and Li Zhoudu stayed until the end of the New Year's Day holiday, then went back to China together to celebrate the Spring Festival and visit my grandmother. Tan Su arrived almost seamlessly afterward.
His apartment was deserted, with no food or drink, and no festive atmosphere. Li Li had to drive him to the supermarket to restock.
I bought some vegetables, fruits, and salad dressing, as well as some ornaments and decorations.
The day before yesterday, the roads were slippery due to heavy snow, and Li Li, wearing snow boots, was led along by him, stumbling along.
Her nose was red from the cold air, and Tan Su remembered when he sent her to N City before, Li Li was in the back of the crowd, looking longingly at his car.
She was adorable back then, and she still is now.
He blurted out whatever came to mind, and Li Li's face fell, as if to say, "How dare you say that?"
"I feel like throwing up whenever I think about Ming Baiquan, whom I met back then! What a piece of trash!"
Li Li covered her neck and bent over, pretending to vomit violently. Tan Su couldn't stop laughing at her, and his hands were shaking as he carried such a heavy thing.
Li Li was angered by his detached attitude, so she let go of his hand, squatted down, grabbed a handful of soft snow, and chased after Tan Su, determined to stuff it down his neck.
The two bickered and teased each other as they returned to the apartment. He went to the kitchen to cook a simple dinner, while Li Li rummaged through his suitcase for gifts.
Inside, besides a few clothes and his travel suit, there was only a clear candy jar filled with chocolates.
"That's it? This is the Christmas present you were talking about?" She held the jar and went to settle the score with Tan Su.
Tan Su was cutting tomatoes when he looked up at her aggressive expression and said, "Isn't that enough?"
Li Li counted on her fingers one by one: "Christmas, New Year's Day, Easter, and also Lunar New Year's Eve, Spring Festival, and Lantern Festival, you've skipped them all, haven't you?"
"You stingy man, you're so cunning!" Li Li didn't expect Tan Su to be so stingy. She stood at the door, angrily tore open the candy wrapper and put it in her mouth. The bitter milky aroma filled the air, and the jam filling landed on her tongue. Wow, delicious.
She was still not satisfied after finishing her meal, so she secretly opened another one and continued to stuff it into her mouth.
Tan Su noticed out of the corner of his eye that she was eating candy, but didn't say anything to stop her. It wasn't until her fingers were pinching the fourth or fifth candy that Li Li suddenly realized that the hard texture was wrong.
Her fingers unwrapped the candy wrapper, and her eyes caught sight of the diamonds inside.
She quickly crumpled the candy wrapper back up and threw it back into the chocolate jar. Turning around, she saw Tan Su watching her the whole time.
Li Li calmly picked up another one and asked, "Do you want some?"
Li Li's expression revealed nothing, but her heart was in turmoil, pounding wildly, and the food tasted like cardboard.
She was upset, thinking, "How could Tan Su be so presumptuous!"
Li Li naturally enjoyed spending time with him, but she never considered officially being in a relationship with him. So many people knew she had dated Tan Yi; it would be embarrassing to be serious with him.
Admittedly, he is getting old and tends to overthink things, but this is not a problem he should be concerned about.
Li Li carried the chocolate jar home that night. She tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Her gaze fell on the slightly reflective jar on the bedside table, and she thought to herself that Tan Su had really done a lot of harm.
She sat up again, turned on the light, hugged the jar to her chest, and felt around to find four or five hard, strange-looking objects. She thought about how someone like Tan Su would personally wrap diamonds in candy wrappers, which seemed quite thoughtful.
Wait, no, that's a troublemaker!
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Author's Note: [Starry-eyed]
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