The Beloved One Is Always Coveted - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

◎Now it’s better; I’ve completely forgotten.◎

Yu Li walked out holding the school uniforms. That initial unease didn’t disappear; instead, it became a bottomless pit.

Because the tuition was paid by the Tang family—hundreds of thousands of yuan—poured into the school in one go.

The money flowed into the bottomless pit, turning into an invisible, intangible force pressing down on Yu Li.

She stood on the edge of the pit. Every step she took, the pit followed. One slip, and she would fall in, never to climb out again.

Yu Li’s tuition was paid by the Tang family, and even her commutes were in a private car arranged by the Tang family. Just based on appearances, the display of status was significant, let alone the fact that she was going to live in the Tang residence, looking more like Tang Nianyi’s daughter than Tang Xi herself.

But why?

Could mere pity achieve this level of care?

She wasn’t stupid; she disagreed with her mother’s views on many things.

Yu Rong thought it was a heaven-sent stroke of luck, but Yu Li sensed something strange.

Would Tang Nianyi treat a child she sponsored that well?

Looking at it from another perspective: if Yu Li became a major power, and she saw her maid and daughter separated for years, touched by their plight and feeling sorry for the mother and daughter, would she immediately transfer the maid’s daughter’s enrollment to Hui Zhi?

Would she bring the maid’s daughter to her own estate on the very same day?

Would she even neglect her own daughter to celebrate the maid’s daughter’s birthday?

Would she specifically arrange for her to be driven to and from school?

Yu Li couldn’t, in good conscience, do that much. At most, she would let the maid’s daughter live in her house, but kept far away.

All of this was too unusual. Her mother was dizzy from the pie that fell from the sky, but Yu Li felt terror.

When you invest so much, you must be aiming for some benefit; no one willingly runs a loss-making business.

She couldn’t help but start speculating wildly. Could it be an investment in disguise?

Did she have some untapped talent that Tang Nianyi happened to observe, leading her to bring Yu Li close to nurture her?

No, that’s impossible.

Yu Li’s grades were balanced—neither weak in any subject nor particularly outstanding. She was never number one in any single subject.

Maybe it was talent in another area, like business? Sports?

That was even less likely.

Yu Li dismissed this guess, her mind in a complete mess.

Tang Nianyi must have some motive, but what is it?

What she possessed, what she had revealed, what would benefit Tang Nianyi…

The known conditions were too abstract. She couldn’t figure it out. She happened to walk out of the school gate and immediately saw Yang Shuo’s face through the half-open car window, facing her, with only a pair of cold eyes visible.

Yu Li silently got into Yang Shuo’s car. She hesitated several times along the way before finally mustering the courage to ask Yang Shuo:

“Sister Yang Shuo, do you think there’s anything special about me?”

Yang Shuo glanced at her sideways, tapping her finger on the steering wheel intentionally or unintentionally, then softly uttered two words: “Cute.”

She wasn’t lying; even her coldest words were the most sincere.

An eighteen-year-old girl was indeed mostly cute.

Especially the girl in the passenger seat, who was a little more timid than others, not daring to leave her things in the car. She was still clutching her uniform with her school bag underneath—so obedient and polite. How could she not be cute?

That was entirely perfunctory. Any girl deserved the evaluation of “cute.” What Yu Li wanted to know was what made her valuable enough for Tang Nianyi to spend so much money on.

However, she still felt awkward and smoothed her bangs. Her fingertips brushed her cheek, which felt a little hot and red.

The car drove to the neighborhood. As usual, they said goodbye. Yu Li walked into the neighborhood with her backpack and head down, but was stopped by Grandma Qi, who suddenly appeared as she was about to go upstairs.

“Girl, don’t forget to come down for dinner.”

The Grandma was still leaning on her cane, showing no sign of the energy she had while swinging on the striding machine this morning, but her spirits were indeed good, much better than Yu Li’s, who was newly an adult.

She nodded silently, saying she needed to go up to drop off her things and would be down shortly.

The Grandma didn’t press her, happily letting her go upstairs.

Actually, old neighborhoods had their merits; at least the neighbors were harmonious, and the grandmas and aunties were very friendly.

Yu Li slowly climbed the stairs and returned home to find a tabby cat squatting by her door. It was fat and robust, like a little pickup truck.

It was one of the free-roaming cats in the building. She had seen it several times. The kitten was friendly; a little pet on the head made it incredibly happy. It blinked its amber eyes, wanting to be stroked more.

“Mimi,” Yu Li knelt down and gently stroked the kitten’s back. “Are you hungry?”

Kittens were truly the best medicine for a bad mood. The moment her fingertips touched its impossibly soft fur, Yu Li felt all the day’s bad mood vanish.

The tabby cat obediently meowed twice at Yu Li, tilting its head up to show the small tag around its neck.

Yu Li thought it was an owner’s tag, since the cat roamed freely and was at risk of getting lost.

Looking closely, it wasn’t.

It wasn’t a cat tag at all, but a small, uneven circle cut from cardboard, threaded with a thin string, loosely sitting on the kitten’s chest.

She brought it closer to read, and the handwriting was also shaky.

“My Grandma said this morning that you don’t have to come for dinner if you don’t like it.”

Qi Xue left it.

Even this single sentence had revisions, with several crossed-out black lines, showing that Qi Xue was quite hesitant at the time.

Yu Li felt a surge of emotion. She stood up, opened the door, and carried the kitten inside.

The kitten showed no signs of the restraint of an outside cat. It jumped onto the sofa, kneaded around a few times, and found a comfortable position to lie down.

Yu Li put down her uniform and backpack, found a black marker pen, took the tag from under the kitten’s head, and flipped it over to write a reply to Qi Xue.

If she had a choice, not going would be best, but she had already told the Grandma she would be down shortly before going upstairs. She couldn’t go back on her word.

She hadn’t thought there would be more writing on the back; the small space was completely filled.

“I’m sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to listen. Also, here is my contact information. You can pretend you didn’t see this.”

There was a drawn smiley face at the end.

Yu Li’s hand holding the pen froze, finding Qi Xue’s behavior very contradictory.

Everyone who had appeared around her recently seemed a little abnormal. Yu Li should probably get used to it.

Her phone was on the shoe cabinet by the door, easily within reach, but Yu Li didn’t move.

She flipped the tag over and wrote below the line: “Thank you. I promised Grandma I would come.”

Her handwriting was delicate, a stark contrast to Qi Xue’s messy script.

Her words were distant, deliberately avoiding Qi Xue’s attempt at friendliness.

She re-attached the tag to the kitten, let it out, and then finally picked up her phone.

Several missed calls: one from her mother, and one from an unfamiliar number. She recognized the number—Tang Xi’s.

Selectively ignoring the irritating call from the stranger, she checked the time and called her mother back.

“Mom?” Yu Li softened her voice, unconsciously adding a sweet tone.

“Mom misses you.” Yu Rong’s voice came through the receiver, so kind and familiar.

Yu Li half-leaned on the sofa, a slight smile on her lips. Her mother was the best mother, and that would never change.

She chattered to her mother like a little girl, saying her new desk mate was very smart and kind, often helping her with problems; the teacher was also wonderful, treating her like her own child. Finally, she even praised Yang Shuo, saying she was cold on the outside but warm-hearted, a very charismatic older sister.

She said so much, avoiding any mention of the two people from the Tang family. Yu Rong didn’t hear anything unusual, just kept laughing on the phone, feeling reassured that her daughter had so many kind people around her.

Her mother also talked about her recent life, mentioning that the Mid-Levels Estate had a rose garden and a greenhouse filled with incredibly beautiful flowers.

Yu Rong liked flowers; Yu Li was indifferent. She didn’t have strong feelings about flowers and just thought the colors were nice when she saw them.

Toward the end, her mother happened to mention Tang Fei.

It was a name Yu Li hadn’t heard before, but given the surname Tang, she figured the person wasn’t likely to be good either.

She didn’t ask, so Yu Rong continued on her own, “Miss Fei just returned from Italy. She’s an artist, and I heard she’s going to hold an art exhibition. She’s truly amazing…”

Yu Li made a sound of acknowledgment and suddenly interrupted her mother’s praise, “Grandma Qi downstairs invited me for dinner, Mom.”

“Grandma Qi, ah. I saw her last month; she’s very robust.” Her mother followed along. When mentioning Grandma Qi, she had to bring up her granddaughter, Qi Xue.

Her mother’s voice held a touch of nostalgia: “You two even slept in the same bed when you were little.”

Yu Li was stunned. Her memory of Qi Xue only started in high school.

Qi Xue didn’t live in the neighborhood from the beginning; she suddenly appeared the year Yu Li started high school.

Grandma Qi’s daughter had settled in the north, and Yu Li heard she had died in an accident, which was why her granddaughter came to Tunnan City.

The girl from the north was rebellious and defiant, a fierce fighter. In less than a year, she became the leader of No. 12 Middle School.

Yu Li was sure she had never seen Qi Xue before high school.

So her mother said, “You two used to play together all the time! Don’t you remember? Who brought you to find me when you came here?”

At that, her sluggish memory seemed to sharpen a bit. That incredibly distant childhood seemed to involve more than just her being bullied.

There was another child who was also bullied because of her accent.

But that child was different from her. She would fight back, throwing stones and sticks at the mean children, incredibly brave.

And she didn’t mock Yu Li. So, the two non-conformist children became companions. Yu Li stammered and called her Boss because she was the strongest, and the two little friends were practically inseparable.

But the good times didn’t last long. The child with the accent soon left, and Yu Li was left alone to be bullied again.

“Was it her?”

Yu Li’s heart trembled slightly. If it was, no wonder Qi Xue had asked that question.

Do you not remember me?

Her childhood friend was right in front of her, yet she didn’t recognize her. No wonder Qi Xue was disappointed and sad.

“You cried so much when she left, pulling on her clothes, wanting to go with her. I was wondering why you’re ignoring her now that she’s back.” Yu Rong chuckled teasingly, but Yu Li was panicking. If she had remembered more clearly, maybe she wouldn’t have been so cold to Qi Xue.

But she simply forgot. Maybe she remembered clearly at first. The loss of her only friend must have been a huge blow to her younger self. She cried every day—when she was bullied, and when she wasn’t. She cried for her Boss to come back, but the Boss never even called.

Later, she gradually forgot. She grew out her bangs, covering the dark birthmark. The children who bullied her also grew up. Everyone forgot about the past and could even smile and joke when they met.

She forgot too. All she remembered was being bullied, standing in the corner, thinking over and over why it had to be her—why she was the one who didn’t fit in, the one who was teased and joked about.

Now it’s better; I’ve completely forgotten.

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