Chapter 19.1 - The Girl's First Love (Part 2)
That day, four tables of people gathered at Uncle's house for the family reunion dinner. It was probably because Grandma was old and in poor health, feeling that she wouldn't last much longer, yet she still enjoyed the liveliness. So, this year, Uncle invited all of Grandma's relatives from her maternal side. Zeng Li sat beside Grandma, listening to her chattering, and noticed Yu Yi among the guests.
She couldn’t help but call out to him.
Hearing her, Yu Yi walked over and greeted Grandma first.
"Eh, I was wondering who Zeng Li was calling, how rude, have you forgotten all the manners I taught you?" Grandma scolded her granddaughter with a little affection.
Zeng Li awkwardly opened her mouth and closed it again. Finally, she spoke up and said, "Little cousin."
Yu Yi responded while smiling and gave her a playful wink.
Cousin also came over. She was only a few months younger than Zeng Li but, under Grandma's instruction, boldly called out, "Little cousin."
But she wasn’t as easy to appease as Zeng Li. With her sharp tongue, she rushed over and said, "Little cousin! A junior is here to wish you a Happy New Year! Wishing you prosperity, bring on the red envelope!"
Yu Yi, taking the opportunity, threw the oranges on the coffee table into Cousin's arms, saying, "Here."
"This is our family’s orange, how is that a red envelope?" she retorted.
Then, a group of half-grown children started to play around.
Zeng Li quietly watched from the side, feeling a bit disappointed. It turned out he wasn’t just her "little cousin."
By the time dinner started, Zeng’s mother still hadn’t arrived. Zeng’s father, annoyed, said, "She probably has something to do and won’t come. Let’s eat. It’s not the first time this has happened."
The people around looked at each other.
After the meal, Grandma started chatting with everyone again, and soon, the topic shifted to Zeng Li’s studies.
"Your dad said that Yu Yi tutored you for a summer, did it help?" Grandma asked.
"It did," Zeng Li answered.
Yu Yi smiled, "Well, I won’t return to school until the end of next month. I’ll continue tutoring you in a few days. But I’ve forgotten what I need to study for the third year exam, I’ll have to look through my books."
"Shouldn’t you thank him?" Grandma added.
Zeng Li glanced at Yu Yi and said, "Thank you, little cousin."
"This kid talks like she’s squeezing toothpaste. She only says what’s taught to her," Grandma sighed.
A few days later, Yu Yi started coming over to tutor again. This time, he borrowed some review materials and carefully set tasks for Zeng Li.
From time to time, Zeng Li would overhear her parents arguing.
Yu Yi had almost gotten used to it, and his mind was always full of random jokes to tell Zeng Li.
During the worst argument between her parents, Zeng’s father smashed all the bowls, and then the two of them left the house in a mess, each going their separate ways.
Yu Yi asked, "What are you having for lunch?"
"There’s leftover rice and vegetables in the fridge. I’ll just heat them up," Zeng Li replied.
"What about dinner?"
Zeng Li thought for a moment, "Heat them up again."
Yu Yi sighed and helped her clean up the broken pieces.
"Don’t worry. Actually, my mom can’t let me go. She always comes back to cook for me," Zeng Li said.
Yu Yi looked at her in disbelief.
Zeng Li became anxious, "Really, really, really."
"Alright, alright, I know."
After a while, he said, "If you want to lie in the future, don’t rush or panic. Otherwise, you’ll get caught right away. Just smile and tell people, ‘Really, more real than pearls.’"
Zeng Li stared at him in a daze.
"Xiao Yu," Yu Yi called her.
"Hmm?"
"You need to grow up quickly. When you’re grown and can live independently, you’ll realize that your mom and dad are actually pretty good," Yu Yi said.
"Mm." Zeng Li lowered her head, and tears began to fall.
When Zeng Li took the high school entrance exam, she successfully got into the city’s high school, one level higher than the county school her teacher had expected. But her parents’ marriage didn’t go as smoothly. After over ten years of fighting, they finally separated.
On the day of the division, it was the second day after Zeng Li received her high school admission letter, and it was the most difficult and humiliating day in her life.
At Grandma’s house, all the relatives were gathered, seemingly to settle things but actually watching her parents put on a show. Everything was divided up—bank books, cash, stocks, even appliances and furniture. Then came Zeng Li, and finally, the house. Whenever the discussion reached a deadlock, both sides, including Uncle, Second Uncle, and even Grandma, would chime in, each with their own reasoning.
When it came to Zeng Li, her mother immediately said, "The daughter stays with me." Zeng’s father didn’t speak up this time. He had rarely stayed home to raise the child, so he didn’t know much about raising a daughter and felt uncertain.
Grandma, unwilling to part with her granddaughter, said, "Zeng Li is from the Zeng family. If you remarry and get a stepfather for her, what will happen to her?"
"Have you raised her? What’s wrong with a stepfather? Her real father doesn’t care about her! Did he ever help with homework? Did he ever attend a parent-teacher meeting?" Zeng’s father was furious.
And so, the argument started again.
