The Beloved One Is Always Coveted - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

◎I’m Sorry◎

Mom is a live-in housekeeper, working year-round for the Tang family. Aside from holidays and some special occasions, she essentially lives at the Tang house.

Yu Li wasn’t a “left-behind child,” but it was close enough.

Her mother is not her biological mother; Yu Li was an abandoned baby, found and raised by Yu Rong, who gave her no less love than any other child’s mother.

Yu Li missed her mother very much, but she was in her sensitive and self-conscious teenage years. The expressions of love and liking she’d often said to her mother as a child were now a bit embarrassing to say.

Instead, she offered the cake Tang Nianyi had given her like a treasure, presenting it to Yu Rong: “Mom, this is the cake the Tang Family Head gave me.”

“The Family Head seems to have a good impression of you. Today is Miss Xi’s birthday, did you see her?” Yu Rong smiled, took the cake, and produced a candle from somewhere, sticking it in, looking entirely prepared.

“Yes, I saw her. Miss Xi is very pretty.”

Yu Li was a bit speechless. Yes, I saw her, but she didn’t seem to have a good impression of me.

In the blink of an eye, the candle was lit, a faint cluster of flame illuminating the dark eyes of mother and daughter.

Yu Li looked at the unmelting tenderness in her mother’s eyes, clasped her hands, and closed her eyes to make a wish.

The wish was actually very simple: she hoped to be with her mother forever.

Yu Li had a simple plan for her life: get into the Medical School at Donglin University. She wanted to be a dentist because it paid the most, and then she would bring her mother to live with her so she could enjoy a comfortable life.

“What did you wish for?”

Opening her eyes, the candlelight flickered, the flame’s red sparks dancing in her sight. Yu Li smiled and shook her head, saying that a wish wouldn’t come true if you said it out loud, and then she blew out the candle.

That night, they lay in the same bed and talked a lot, covering everything from Yu Li’s childhood up to her middle school years.

She didn’t have bangs when she was little, and the birthmark on her forehead was very noticeable. The children didn’t like her, saying she was different and an “ugly monster.”

When Yu Li was bullied, she would run to her mother. At the time, her mother didn’t work for the Tang family but was a waitress at a beef noodle shop downstairs in their community.

Yu Li dared not cry on the way. The small child tried hard to cover her nose, holding back a flood of tears. She waited until her mother was in front of her with a handkerchief before she dared to cry into it, snot and tears everywhere, her small face red and puffy like a monkey’s bottom.

The shop owner’s grandmother would smile, and the customers eating noodles would also smile, which made Yu Li embarrassed. She could only bury her face in her mother’s apron, pretending not to hear the laughter.

The night was quiet and lonely. Looking out the window at the sky, she could see a sky full of stars winking at her.

Eventually, her mother fell asleep as they were talking.

“Mom?” Yu Li turned her head. Her mother was sleeping soundly, one snore following another. She gently called out near Yu Rong’s ear but saw no sign of her waking up.

So, she was forcing herself to stay awake to chat with me? Even though she was so sleepy she couldn’t keep her eyes open.

Yu Li felt a little pang in her heart. She gently hooked her little finger around her mother’s small finger and, under the witness of the star-filled sky, whispered very softly: “Mom, I love you.”

The next morning, Yu Li went with her mother to the dining hall reserved for the staff. The aunts and sisters there were very kind. Knowing it was Yu Li’s birthday yesterday, they all came to wish her a happy birthday. They also said that while Miss Xi might look ill-tempered, she wasn’t a bad person and was someone easy to like.

Yu Li didn’t commit to that idea. After eating, she grabbed her backpack and prepared to go to her new school.

The Tang Family Head had said yesterday that Yu Li should go to school with Tang Xi today; she had already arranged everything.

Yu Li couldn’t really say she was grateful. The commands of those in power are mostly things you can only obey. Her first impression of the Family Head wasn’t bad, but she still felt she was a bit arbitrary.

Why didn’t she ask the person involved for their opinion before transferring her school registration?

What does she think of us? Are we just bugs on whom she can unilaterally impose her pity without asking?

Having said that, Yu Li dared not say any of this in front of the Family Head.

It was her first day at the new school, so she naturally couldn’t wear her old school uniform. But Yu Li had come in a hurry and hadn’t gone home to pack. Fortunately, her mother had a few new clothes here that she was supposed to take back with her.

Yu Li put on a white T-shirt and loose-fitting trousers, carrying the black backpack she’d brought yesterday, feeling anxious the whole way.

The person leading her was still the driver from yesterday, Yang Zhuo. Yu Li didn’t know Yang Zhuo was Tang Nianyi’s personal driver, only thinking she was the exclusive driver who drove Tang Xi to and from school. She felt she was lucky to be able to ride in a private car.

Yu Li was secretly pleased but then deflated. This makes me seem even more like the wicked female antagonist in a novel who is jealous of the rich young lady.

Yang Zhuo spoke little, and her expression remained unchanged throughout the journey. Yu Li had walked a short distance behind her before plucking up the courage to speak: “Can I go home briefly after school? I need to pick up a few things. It won’t take too long. You can drop Miss Xi off first, and I should be able to find my way back by myself.”

Yu Li recalled Tang Nianyi’s pronunciation from yesterday, looking at Yang Zhuo’s superior profile, stammering, “Can I do that? Yang… Yang Zhuo-jiejie?”

While calling out “Yang Zhuo,” Yu Li didn’t know which character the ‘shuo’ was, but that didn’t matter.

“I’m not driving Miss Xi.” Yang Zhuo finally showed a change in expression. She slowed down, and her lips seemed to curve into an arc. Yu Li blinked, thinking it was her imagination.

“I’ll pick you up after school.”

The woman’s voice was still cold, but Yu Li’s heart felt warm.

She was pleasantly surprised and quietly said thank you, and her steps became lighter, her shoes clicking on the ground, like a duck trotting on dry land.

Yang Zhuo’s lips curved again. She was usually a woman of few words and felt that this girl wasn’t as reserved as she appeared, but rather somewhat lively of course, only in front of people she was familiar with.

As they got closer, a black Bentley suddenly appeared, and the rear window slowly descended, revealing Tang Xi’s face with her eyes slightly narrowed, like a half-veiled fox.

She spotted Yu Li outside the car, who instantly stiffened, and her slightly uplifted lip instantly dropped to the ground.

Yu Li barely managed to restrain her impulse to bow and forced out a greeting: “M-Miss Xi.”

Yang Zhuo nodded toward Tang Xi and stepped forward to open the back car door for Yu Li.

Yu Li: “…”

Her feet, which had been ready to move, immediately retreated.

Sit next to Miss Xi? How could I dare?!

She could already imagine the dark, knife-sharp gaze Tang Xi would cast her way, slicing her up and down.

But Tang Xi merely showed an enigmatic smile and said softly to Yu Li, “Jiejie, if you don’t get in the car, we might both be late.”

Late?

How could she be late on her first day of school? Yu Li struggled inwardly but bit the bullet and got into the car.

The door closed, the driver glanced in the rearview mirror, and stepped on the gas.

Tang Xi moved closer, not at all like the cold girl Yu Li had met yesterday, and took the initiative: “Jiejie, do you have a phone with you? Let’s exchange contact info.”

“Sorry, I left my phone at home.”

Yu Li wasn’t used to this close proximity and subtly moved over.

She caught a whiff of tuberose, whether it was the car’s air freshener or Tang Xi’s perfume. The air conditioning in the car was on high, and the coolness, combined with the strong scent, made her feel a little dizzy.

Her movement wasn’t subtle, yet Tang Xi acted as if she hadn’t seen it and pressed in again. The intense tuberose scent wafted over her.

“Jiejie.”

Before she knew it, Tang Xi’s hands came up and, in the blink of an eye, lifted her bangs, exposing the dark crescent mark to Tang Xi’s eyes.

Both mother and daughter share the same nature.

Yu Li instinctively covered her forehead, her delicate brows furrowed.

“Don’t, don’t look,” she mumbled, trying to push Tang Xi’s hand away so her bangs could cover the dark birthmark again.

The unfamiliar girl shrunk against the car window, her beautiful eyes misty and trembling constantly.

Tang Xi pressed down on the girl’s hand, straightened up, and looked down at the crescent mark, as if admiring a struggling mermaid thrashing in the mud.

Only when Yu Li’s tears finally gathered into large drops and hovered in her eyes did Tang Xi maliciously curl her lips. She leaned into Yu Li’s ear, hissing like a poisonous snake, threatening: “Jiejie, you don’t want to be surrounded by the whole school on your first day, do you?”

“What do you think they’ll think of you when they see the birthmark on your head?”

Before the words were finished, Yu Li froze instantly.

She stared at Tang Xi in disbelief. The girl who had softly called her “Jiejie” in the car just moments ago had now completely changed her face.

She looked down at Yu Li, her eyes full of arrogance and malicious interest.

It was as if Yu Li were not an equal human in Tang Xi’s eyes; she had to kneel at the base of the pyramid and present her ugliness with both hands.

Those Huizhi students, her new classmates, were people in the same class as Tang Xi. If Tang Xi was like this, they would be too.

How ridiculous. She actually thought a young lady like Tang Xi would be approachable.

The Sword of Damocles that had been hanging over her head finally fell. Tang Xi pinned her arm, pushed her bangs to the side, and took the picture.

“How adorable,” Tang Xi held up her phone, her gaze fixed on the screen, her tone scattered and casual.

She glanced at Yu Li, her smile unchanged, but she deliberately shook the phone so Yu Li could see clearly.

“Jiejie, you don’t want to…”

On the screen, the girl’s eyes were filled with tears, and the dark red birthmark on her uncovered forehead was clearly visible. It wasn’t beautiful or pretty; it was the most common ugly duckling, the kind that would never transform into a swan.

Yu Li retreated into the corner, the hand clutching her backpack strap red. Her bangs returned to their original position, but that photo could not be destroyed.

A single photo could be a beginning or an end. She could even imagine what Tang Xi would do with that photo.

She would use it to threaten her, make her lose face in front of the whole school, or it would serve as a warning, turning her into Tang Xi’s follower.

In short, the days ahead wouldn’t be easy.

From the start, she shouldn’t have accepted that cake, nor should she have meekly followed her mother and Yang Zhuo to the hillside estate.

Yu Li regretted everything.

Time seemed to drag on. Yu Li adjusted her posture and slightly lowered her head toward Tang Xi: “I’m sorry…”

An “I’m sorry” couldn’t solve the problem. If she could, Yu Li would immediately get out of the car and call her mother, Yu Rong, to move out of the Tang home and go as far away as possible.

But she couldn’t control Tang Xi’s thoughts, so she could only repeat the apology over and over.

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