Chapter 121
“Are you an old man?, who eats barbecue at noon? It’s normal to have no one there at this time,” Lu Li couldn’t help but mock. Finding a barbecue place open at noon was indeed… quite a feat.
“Heh heh!” Li Zichuan wasn’t embarrassed at all: “Let’s go! My mom’s waiting, and yeah, my… sister’s come too.”
“Your sister? Li Ruolan?” Lu Li frowned.
“Who else could it be? She actually tried to act cute and coquettish with me, wanting me to take her out. Can you believe it?” Li Zichuan shivered at the thought.
Just yesterday, Li Ruolan’s behavior nearly made him vomit. If she had other motives… Well, it’d be best if she didn’t. Otherwise, what she did would be utterly unbearable to him.
“Since she’s here, she’s here. Just a lightbulb. Just to be clear, I’m not going to pay her any mind!” In his previous life, Lu Li followed the storyline to Magic City and temporarily stayed with the Li family.
Li Ruolan was quite vicious in her mockery towards him. Regarding this woman, Lu Li had chosen to simply ignore her then.
But Li Ruolan was also one of the heroines, a point to be cautious about.
“I’m not planning to either. Let’s just do our own thing,” Li Zichuan nodded in agreement.
Li Ruolan’s change wasn’t a pleasant surprise for him but rather a source of fear.
Scared the life out of a person.
You Meng obediently followed behind Lu Li, her mind telling her it’d be wise to be invisible during the meal.
Thinking about it was truly pitiful. At home, she was oppressed by those two, and now in Magic City, finally alone with Lu Li, there’s another Li Zichuan.
Mmp, must they be so intimate? Don’t ruin my Big Brother! If he turns gay, those two at home will make me pay with my life!
“Xiao Li…” As they walked in, a joyous figure rushed towards them, and Lu Li’s highly trained body did not react in any way.
He grimaced, and in the next second, Li Zichuan was pushed aside, and a warm embrace enveloped Lu Li.
“You dead child, haven’t visited Magic City to see auntie for years. Heartless kid, you don’t even call.” Su Linya’s eyes were teary; she had always seen Lu Li as her own son.
“Auntie hasn’t come to Hangzhou either, nor called me.” Lu Li felt a sour nose, happy to see Su Linya again.
His eyes slightly reddened, but he forced back the tears.
From Zhang Ziqin’s ‘confession’ before her death, he learned a lot. Li Zichuan died avenging him, and this aunt before him had taken her own life after their deaths.
It turns out he had become the very person he hated most, presumptuously thinking that distancing himself from them would make them forget him, and that they could live on after his death.
But he had overlooked that genuine feelings can’t be severed by time or distance.
Back then, he was a wastrel despised by his parents, with only Lu Ya, the adopted daughter who brought them glory, in their eyes.
But he was never alone; he had Li Zichuan and the aunt before him, Su Linya.
Su Linya considered Lu Li her son, and he thought of her the same.
“You didn’t call auntie, how could auntie call you!” Su Linya was teary-eyed, blaming herself.
Treating Lu Li as her son, she didn’t know his thoughts. Even if she was strong, she wouldn’t want a child she saw as her own to look down on her.
“I’m sorry, it’s my fault.” Lu Li apologized sincerely, for his past actions and for distancing himself.
“No apologies allowed, auntie is the one who should be sorry.” Su Linya’s eyes welled with tears, regretting their move to Magic City.
No mother wants to see her child suffer.
Lu Li wasn’t her child, but no matter what he thought, she considered him hers.
“Enough! Mom, let’s not make it so weepy. You’ve been nagging about Lu Li, not even calling, and now that you’ve finally seen him, please don’t cry!” Li Zichuan rubbed his shoulder.
He had just been shoved into a chair by his own mother.
Ouch!
That really hurt!
His mom had never been so nice to him. It seems long separations do lead to estrangement!!!
“Right, Xiao Li, sit down. Li Zichuan, this dead kid, of all places to choose, he brings you to a barbecue. Talking about reliving the past, he’s just bizarre.” Su Linya gently ushered Lu Li to sit, glaring at Li Zichuan.
Su Linya was quite dissatisfied with Li Zichuan’s choice of venue. Now that they were better off, while it’s good not to forget their roots, there’s no need to be so impractical!
After finally seeing Xiao Li again, regardless of anything else, she couldn’t let him be wronged!
“Yep, this guy’s a bit odd. Last time he came to Hangzhou, I took him out for barbecue, and today he’s returning the favor!” Lu Li also hid the tears in his eyes, laughing.
Su Linya glared hard at Li Zichuan, pulling Lu Li to sit down.
Li Zichuan awkwardly scratched his head. Although he did say that, he genuinely missed the days of enjoying small barbecues with Lu Li!
Li Ruolan had not spoken a word from the beginning to the end. Her eyes were moist, quietly wiping away the tears at the corner of her eyes. She had witnessed this scene before.
In the Li family estate, but in her previous life, she had only watched from a distance, sensing ‘mom’ and brother transform into different people.
Now truly seeing it, the familial affection between the three of them was truly touching.
She might have understood the desire to avenge Lu Li at all costs, even sacrificing their lives, and ‘mom’s’ decision to commit suicide after their deaths.
Because they… were a family!
Li Ruolan regretted coming. In this small private room, she felt out of place.
Right… there was also You Meng, now awkwardly looking at Su Linya, feeling like a daughter-in-law meeting her mother-in-law.
Scared, so scared!
“Mom’s right, though. Lu Li, you really are ungrateful. After I called you last time, you would’ve forgotten about us. We took such good care of you in Hangzhou.” Li Zichuan was also resentful.
“Don’t talk nonsense.” Su Linya chided Li Zichuan, “Back in Hangzhou, it was Xiao Li who took care of us. If it weren’t for Xiao Li, we mother and son might not have survived.”
It was embarrassing. Su Linya considered Lu Li her son, but it had always been the young Lu Li who took care of them.
When Su Linya first arrived in Hangzhou, unable to do much, it was Lu Li who ensured their survival. Without him, she might have taken drastic actions with Li Zichuan.
“You took care of me, Auntie.” Lu Li said with a smile.
At home, with Lu Ya looming over him, and forced to be Zhang Ziqin’s lapdog outside, enduring humiliation, only with Su Linya and Li Zichuan could Lu Li find a moment’s peace.