How Can Two People From Different Sides Ever Fall in Love? - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

◎ Uncle and Cousin ◎

Raven followed behind Li Lan, tentatively trying to negotiate with her: “Laolao, can we stop mentioning things like ‘Uncle’ and ‘Cousin’ from now on?”

Li Lan walked with steady steps, her hands behind her back and her spine as straight as a poplar tree: “Are you really so unwilling to acknowledge your uncle and cousin?”

Raven closed his eyes in a headache. What was there to “acknowledge” or not?

As he grumbled internally, the villa’s front door slowly opened, and the “Uncle” and “Cousin” who caused his headache surfaced.

Sensing someone entering, the cousin had been waiting by the door early on. She looked up and gave the two of them a “Meow.”

The meow was soft, sweet, and high-pitched, but her appearance was peculiar. Her small round face looked like a flatbread meticulously crafted by Wu Dalang, and her features were like sesame seeds sprinkled on top in a staggered, orderly fashion.

And there was another cat just like her.

Who in their right mind acknowledges two cats as an Uncle and a Cousin!

“Little darling, coming to greet Laolao, eh?” Li Lan spoke as if pinching her throat to sound sweet. She leaned down to pick up the cat cousin, then returned to her normal voice when facing Raven. “There, your Uncle Xiaosi is over there.”

Uncle Xiaosi’s formal name was You Si. He was a small cat that You Junyu had found and raised. When You Junyu passed away last year, Raven inherited his grandmother’s villa along with this “Uncle.”

However, he usually had to work, and his rental contract explicitly stated that no animals were allowed. Moving back to the villa made the commute to his workplace too far. While he was considering whether to rent a new place, Li Lan stopped him, saying that You Si was getting old and was used to living here, so he shouldn’t be moved around and hassled.

Regarding this, she suggested: “When you go to work, leave your uncle to me. Anyway, I’ve fed him no less often than Junyu did.”

Thus, during workdays, You Si stayed at Li Lan’s place, and on holidays or when Raven was free, he would return to look after his uncle.

Today the situation was slightly different. Uncle You Si’s past “romantic debts” had come knocking. When Raven told Hollis before parting that he was looking after a relative’s child, he wasn’t technically lying.

Li Lan picked up the “romantic debt” and brought it close to Raven, smiling as if she were holding a real biological granddaughter: “Looking at this little face, you can tell at a glance it’s your uncle’s seed.”

Indeed, a cat this ugly probably couldn’t be found a third time in the entire Federation.

“You should give her a name. She’ll definitely be closest to you in the future.”

Raven didn’t care whether the cat cousin was close to him or not. Looking at her size, she must be an adult by now. Since she had been raised by humans before, it was unlikely she didn’t have a name yet.

“What was her original name?”

Li Lan curled her lip in dislike: “A foreign name. I hate calling them that the most. You give her one that I can get used to saying.”

Raven didn’t know how to name anything. He grumbled internally that Li Lan’s house was full of Pauls, Annies, and Jacks, yet she claimed she wasn’t used to foreign names.

Unable to think of anything, he quickly found another task to escape the responsibility: “I’ll go offer incense to the Bodhisattva first.”

The elder in his family who believed in Buddhism was Li Lan. To this day, a statue of Guanyin was still enshrined in Li Lan’s villa.

Every time Raven returned, he would offer incense to the Bodhisattva.

“Oh dear, I’m getting old; my memory is failing me.”

Raven smiled but didn’t reply. Just as he was about to go upstairs, Li Lan called him: “What’s the rush? Take the key.”

“You actually locked the door?” Raven asked in surprise.

Li Lan gave an “Um-hum,” put the “little granddaughter” down, and untied the cord holding her keys to her trousers. She pulled out a long string of keys like pulling up a radish with mud—large and small, clinking and clanking.

She found the one she needed and held it out to Raven: “Here.”

Raven took it and went up to the second floor to the room enshrining the Guanyin statue.

Before You Si was brought over, this Guanyin statue had always been on the first floor. Once You Si arrived, Li Lan consulted a master about Feng Shui and moved it to the second floor.

No matter how lazy and reluctant to move a cat is, it is still a small animal. If it truly gets lively, she feared it might bump into the Bodhisattva.

The cat might be ignorant, but the humans cannot be.

However, the door hadn’t been locked before. Since a new member had arrived, Raven assumed Li Lan was just taking precautions, so he didn’t think much of it.

After offering incense, he silently recited the Heart Sutra, meticulously completing the process.

He couldn’t really say if he believed or not, but after all these years, he had more or less developed a sense of reverence.

As a child, he might have felt some dissatisfaction—out of the three children, he was always the one who had to do the most “work.” After growing up and understanding the world, that bit of dissatisfaction had vanished completely.

At this moment, Raven’s heart was very devout.

Coming down from the second floor across the courtyard, Raven heard someone shouting: “Dearest Grandma, your dearest eldest granddaughter is back!”

It was the granddaughter who had inherited Li Lan’s loud voice—Annie Li.

Raven’s footsteps paused, and the speed at which he stepped down the final stair slowed noticeably.

He had just been thinking about her, and he hadn’t expected to see her so soon.

Inside the house, Li Lan was not to be outdone: “Shouting, shouting! All you know how to do all day is shout! I could hear you shouting all the way from Chinatown!”

This area was a Chinese district. Most people living here were Chinese who had come to the Olo Federation to work in the early years and eventually stayed to settle down.

Chinatown was two blocks away from Li Lan’s villa and was the mandatory path when returning from the outside.

“It seems my Lion’s Roar technique has improved lately.” Annie Li walked in giggling, her loose, orange-red wavy hair immediately capturing everyone’s attention.

Her appearance was like the sun rising; the room instantly brightened by a degree.

However, in the chilly month of March, her attire was truly a bit exaggerated—hippie-style vest, shorts, and boots. It made Raven’s eye twitch.

Annie Li also saw the “dressed-up-like-a-gentleman” Raven and her eyes lit up immediately: “The visual center of our family is back!”

After saying that, she blew a hooligan whistle, which earned her a slap on the back of the head from Li Lan. It was crisp and loud; one could tell at a sound that this was a mature noggin.

“Every single day, you have no sense of propriety. I told you to find a proper job, but you insist on being some rubbish ‘streamer.’ You’re getting more and more out of line!”

Since she was a child, Annie Li had been climbing trees to steal bird eggs and diving into the river to catch fish. Being lectured by Li Lan was a daily occurrence. If she were going to be corrected, she would have been long ago; there was no point in a senior scolding her at this age.

Aside from receiving the slap and letting out a cry of pain, she didn’t care about being scolded. She lowered the hand covering the back of her head, her smile remaining brilliant.

After exchanging a few simple pleasantries with Raven, her gaze shifted. Catching sight of the two cats snuggling under the French window, she chirped: “So that’s the romantic debt Raven’s uncle left outside. No wonder they were so certain it belonged to our family. Being this ugly, I bet you couldn’t find a second family like this in the entire Federation.”

The words Raven only dared to mutter in his heart were spoken so bluntly by Annie Li.

Li Lan wasn’t unaware that her cat was ugly, but when elders look at the younger generation, they tend to wear heavy filters. The ugliness wasn’t ordinary ugliness, but a “distinctive” kind of ugly, different from general ugliness.

“You’re getting bold, aren’t you!” Li Lan glared. Just as she raised her palm, Annie Li darted to the side, nimbly hiding behind Raven.

Raven had always admired her as a great hero; not only did she dare to speak the truth, but her physical skills were excellent, having escaped the “tiger’s mouth” many times.

“I’m done, I’m done.” Annie Li jumped out from behind Raven and tilted her chin toward the French window. “What’s our cousin’s name?”

Raven shook his head: “Hasn’t been named yet.”

“Hasn’t been named yet? Or is it that your Laolao my Grandma refuses to call her by her previous name?” Seeing Li Lan about to flare up again, Annie Li quickly followed up, “How about I give her one?”

Li Lan said crossly: “What kind of good name could you possibly give?”

“Her dad is called Xiaosi (Little Thinking), so let’s call her Niannian (Thinking/Longing). Nian as in ‘Thinking and Longing.’ How about that? Linking the father-daughter pair with Raven’s name, it becomes ‘The wanderer (Youzi) thinks of (Sinian) the old home (Guxiang) and old friends (Guren).'”

“Niannian.” Li Lan muttered the name, thinking it was quite catchy and suited the little girl well. For once, she didn’t contradict her eldest granddaughter. “You’ve been in here this long and finally spoke like a human and did something productive.”

Annie Li gave a “he-he” laugh.

She could always see the “tofu heart” beneath the elder’s “knife mouth,” keeping the good parts in her heart and letting the bad parts go in one ear and out the other. Li Lan scolded her the most, but among the several children, she also liked staying with her the most.

“I’m honored that you’re satisfied.” Annie Li couldn’t stay serious for long and immediately revealed her true colors. “Do you have any other instructions? If not, we won’t disturb Raven and his Uncle and Cousin as they build their relationship.”

During the work week, You Si was fostered at Li Lan’s place. When Raven returned on the weekends, she also went to accompany her family.

Li Lan only had one son, Paul Li. Paul Li had an eldest daughter, Annie Li, and a second son, Jack Li. For various reasons, the three generations did not live together.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t mentioned taking Li Lan to live with them, but Li Lan insisted on not moving. In the end, they reached a compromise: during breaks, they would come to pick Li Lan up and take her back to the city for a family reunion.

It was time for their family reunion. Raven carried the pet carrier, standing at the door to see the grandmother and granddaughter off.

From the passenger seat, Li Lan had the window open and gave him instructions on everything regarding clothing, food, housing, and transportation.

“Don’t you learn from your big sister Annie, wearing whatever that rubbish is. You’ll know how serious it is when you get older.”

Big Sister Annie was keen on interjecting in topics related to her: “I can hear you, Grandma! Why do you have to point at the mulberry but scold the locust tree? Wouldn’t it be better to just scold me to my face?”

“You shut your mouth!” Li Lan snapped at her, then turned back to Raven. “Remember to eat, and don’t order takeout. It’s all plastic boxes; you’ll get sick if you eat too much of it. If you can’t cook, go out to a restaurant. I’m leaving Xiaosi and Niannian to you. I’ve written down what Niannian needs to pay attention to. Also, while I’m away these two days, remember to offer incense to the Lady Guanyin.”

Raven listened obediently until Li Lan finished. When there was nothing left to instruct, Annie Li waved at him, stepped on the gas, and drove off.

It wasn’t that Li Lan hadn’t suggested Raven join them, and the others didn’t object either. Their two families had been neighbors for many years; they weren’t blood relatives, but they were closer than relatives. However, Raven refused.

When You Junyu was still alive, the two families interacted almost as friends. Now that You Junyu had passed away, there was even less reason for Raven to agree.

“Let’s go, we’re going home too.” Raven lifted the pet carrier, and his eyes were “hurt” by the ugliness of the two cats inside.

The only consolation was that although Cousin Niannian inherited Uncle You Si’s looks, she didn’t inherit his raspy voice. She responded to Raven with a sweet, high-pitched meow: “Meow.”

You Si, on the other hand, gave no reaction. He kept his eyes closed, his tail flicking occasionally. He had only spared Raven a single glance at the very moment Raven first appeared.

Raven smiled, put his hand down, and walked toward the empty villa next door.

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