Of course she agreed, but Yin Li didn’t make any absolute promises: “I probably won’t have a big celebration.”
Her father and Aunt Li had only been married for a year, and this would be her first birthday since joining the family. Yin Li didn’t know what the plan was, and she certainly wasn’t going to bring it up herself.
Aunt Li was always busy, and Yin Li didn’t want to be the center of attention, even though she was still looking forward to her eighteenth birthday.
Li Hanting thought for a moment and didn’t press her. He simply said, “That’s fine. I can celebrate it with you instead.”
“How could that work?” Yin Li smiled. “It’s no big deal, really. It’s just a birthday. Aren’t you heading out to drive in a couple of days?”
“I’ll always come back for your birthday.” He let go of her hand, gently squeezed it, and then released it.
Yin Li felt as if she had been granted a reprieve and didn’t take it to heart. “Okay, okay. You should head back now.”
She waved and turned to leave.
Li Hanting didn’t say a word. Leaning against the wall, he watched her enter the family compound gate before slowly walking away.
The textile mill’s family compound was quite large, with a nursery, an elementary school, and a middle school inside. Some of the bigger factories even had technical secondary schools, where graduates could go straight to work at the factory. But this compound didn’t have that.
Still, it had a hospital, a gateball court, a basketball court, a boiler room, and a communal bathhouse. Yin Li had never lived in such a nice place before.
But a compound like this meant no privacy. Along the way, many people stopped to ask questions. Whatever happened in a family simply couldn’t be hidden.
Yin Li knew that in her dream, she and her father arriving together had already sparked quite a bit of gossip.
Before, Yin Li had been terribly embarrassed. She felt that there was something in those people’s eyes—that they were saying her father was after Aunt Li’s money, bringing his grown daughter along like some kind of live-in son-in-law.
Or that she had no shame, relying on Aunt Li to get into college, the father and daughter leeching off her.
And in her dream, they said that at such a young age, she had seduced her own stepbrother—utterly shameless…
Yin Li’s steps grew heavy for a moment, but quickly became light again. Those things hadn’t happened yet.
Instead of her usual habit of walking quickly with her head down, she raised her face with a smile, greeted the neighbors sweetly, and soon arrived home.
As soon as Yin Li stepped through the door, she smelled a peculiar fragrance.
“You’re back?” Zhao Xiujie had his sleeves rolled up, his hands dusted with flour, fiddling with something by the stove.
Li Wenyue looked at her son and smiled. “He’s learned some fancy foreign skills. Says he wants to make pastries for us.”
Yin Jianguo was also kneading dough at the table, chuckling. “Let the kid do it. We’ve never had foreign buns before.”
Yin Li nodded, standing next to Yin Jianguo, and glanced over. “They’re not foreign buns. Brother is making bread. I’ve read about it in books—people in other countries rarely eat rice.”
She was planning to learn a foreign language, so she had some understanding of other countries’ customs and cultures.
Zhao Xiujie clapped his hands together, shaped the fermented dough into ovals, placed them in a heated iron pot, covered it, and slowly baked them over the tiniest flame.
“It would be great if we had an oven. I really should have brought one back.”
“All right. Normally, I wouldn’t let you waste food like this. But we’ll taste what Uncle Yin makes in a bit—that’s real deliciousness.” Li Wenyue didn’t do housework. She held a newspaper, reading while she spoke.
She naturally hoped that her son would get along well with his stepfather, so her tone was much gentler.
Hearing this, Yin Li immediately felt proud. “Dad can make anything taste good. Brother, I guarantee you won’t want to put your chopsticks down.”
She wasn’t bragging. Yin Jianguo seemed to have a gift for cooking. He could make dishes from all over the country well, especially noodles and pastries.
Seeing the warm atmosphere, Yin Jianguo skillfully rolled out dough. “Xiaojie has been away for so long. He must really miss home cooking. I’ll make some wontons and a few pancakes.”
Zhao Xiujie had always been respectful and polite to Yin Jianguo. Hearing this, he said, “Then I’m in for a treat.”
Seeing her husband get along well with her son and her stepdaughter be so sensible, Li Wenyue felt happy inside, and the smile on her face grew brighter.
The welcome-home dinner for her son went very smoothly, and the intimacy with Yin Jianguo that night was especially harmonious.
“Thirsty? Are you feeling unwell?”
Yin Li’s face was flushed. She met Zhao Xiujie’s gaze as he stepped out of his room, then quickly looked down again.
The apartments in the family compound were quite old, and there was no soundproofing to speak of. The neighbors weren’t the issue—it was that when the house was quiet, you could hear things from inside.
Yin Li’s throat was dry, so she had gotten up in the middle of the night to drink some hot water. But then she happened to hear a little noise.
Even just a little. She couldn’t bring herself to drink the water anymore.
She hadn’t understood before, but in her dreams… thinking about the scenes from her dreams—the man whose face she could never clearly see, his burning body, his bold, unrestrained movements…
Anyway, she understood now!
“N-No, nothing.” Yin Li was both frightened and embarrassed. She quickly took a sip of water, only to choke on it. “Cough, cough, cough…”
Zhao Xiujie didn’t wear his glasses to bed. Dressed in light-colored pajamas, he walked over with a concerned look.
Yin Li wasn’t fussy and didn’t own any pajamas. She just wore a little tank top and loose shorts. It was hot, and many girls dressed like that at night.
But her skin was fair, and under the dim yellow nightlight, it looked like jade. A light sweat beaded on her forehead from embarrassment, and with her red cheeks, she looked especially cute and endearing.
Zhao Xiujie stopped in front of her. “Don’t drink so fast. How about I take you to the hospital tomorrow?”
Maybe because they heard the two of them talking, the bedroom fell completely silent.
So Zhao Xiujie hadn’t heard anything. Yin Li couldn’t very well explain. She just shook her head and whispered, “It’s fine. I’ll ask Dad to make me some pear water tomorrow.”
Zhao Xiujie smiled. “Afraid of taking medicine?”
Yin Li grimaced. She really didn’t like going to the hospital. She always felt that the smell of disinfectant made people nervous and scared. Getting a shot was torture, and taking medicine wasn’t much better. That was why she took extra good care of herself, terrified of getting sick and needing an injection or an IV.
“Mmm…” Yin Li heard the sound of someone getting out of bed in her parents’ bedroom. She didn’t want Aunt Li to know that the two of them were out here talking in the middle of the night. “Brother, you should go to sleep. I’m going to bed too.”
Zhao Xiujie hummed in response and watched her flee back to her room, frowning to himself.
He wasn’t stupid. He could clearly see that ever since they first met, Yin Li had seemed fine on the surface but was actually avoiding him at every turn.
He just didn’t know the reason.
Back in her bedroom, Yin Li couldn’t sleep soundly. After so many days, she started dreaming again.
“No… help… who are you?”