Did My Ex-Wife Agree to Remarry Me Today? - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Intent

Plastic bags, cigarette butts, disposable containers, napkins, straws, soda cans, bottle caps, paper bags, cement sacks, wine bottles, and the jagged shards of broken glassware…

With every item Chi Yun picked up, she marveled at the sheer diversity of seaside litter. At the same time, she wondered: why, when trash cans were visible not far away, did people choose to drop their refuse on the ground, toss it into the waves, or stuff it into the crevices of trees?

Was it a matter of character? Personal habit? A twisted sense of fun? Or was it a lack of legal consequences and departmental oversight?

As she lugged the heavy bag of trash back to the shore, Chi Yun concluded: raising public environmental awareness and advocating for a green lifestyle was a heavy responsibility and a long road ahead.

And her ex-wife was the person meeting that challenge head-on, carrying the banner.

Li Zhou saw Chi Yun approaching. She stood in her courtyard, her silhouette stretched long by the moonlight. Under the circumstances, the “better” move would have been to avoid her or walk away, but Li Zhou chose to stand her ground.

Chi Yun pulled off her noise-canceling headphones with one hand, letting them hang around her neck. She approached Li Zhou step by step, a smile playing on her lips. The gloves felt like a second skin, and after a night of use, the trash-grabber felt perfectly balanced in her hand. The burlap sack was heavy; Chi Yun felt she was quite suited for this work.

She would come back tomorrow.

Leaving the sand and stepping onto the concrete path, Chi Yun’s wet trouser cuffs stopped dripping a small relief for her sensory discomfort. However, where her pants had dipped into the sand, a ring of yellow grit now clung to the white fabric, making it look conspicuously dirty. Because of this mess, Chi Yun looked somewhat dusty and disheveled—a stark contrast to the usual polished, radiant image she projected.

Seeing Chi Yun draw near, Li Zhou shifted slightly and spoke first. “Why are you picking up trash?”

Didn’t President Chi believe that time was money? Shouldn’t her precious hours be spent on business deals and social engagements?

“It’s for you.” Chi Yun’s smile was clear and pure as she lifted the heavy bag to show Li Zhou.

Li Zhou didn’t move. One stood inside the yard, the other outside, separated by the gate. The gate was part of a white picket fence, only about a meter high more decorative than a true deterrent to intruders.

When Chi Yun had looked at it from a distance, she thought about how easy it would be to enter her ex-wife’s home; one could simply step over it. Yet, one couldn’t underestimate this height. Just like now, as they spoke face-to-face with no obstruction from the waist up, the “threshold” between their feet made it feel as though they were separated by ten thousand obstacles. The inside and outside of the yard were two different worlds, harshly divided.

Chi Yun’s first small goal: to enter through that gate by walking, not by jumping over it.

“I have plenty of people helping me collect; I don’t need your help.” Li Zhou thanked her for the gesture, her face devoid of expression.

Chi Yun’s hand remained extended. It wasn’t just the awkwardness—her sack contained twenty glass bottles and half a bag of hardened cement chunks. It was heavy. She couldn’t hold it up forever.

So, Chi Yun took the initiative. She swung her arm over the gate and lowered the bag into Li Zhou’s yard. She placed it in an empty spot where its steady base allowed it to stand upright on its own.

“Are you discriminating against trash based on who picked it up? Shouldn’t it be ‘the more hands, the lighter the work’?”

It wasn’t discrimination; Li Zhou simply couldn’t fathom why Chi Yun was picking up trash on a beach. It didn’t fit the Chi Yun she knew. She looked down at the sack on the ground and remained silent.

Chi Yun’s lips curved into a smile as she held out a hand. “Can you give me two more bags? I borrowed this one from Grandma Wang and need to return it tomorrow.”

It was a blatant excuse. When Wang Fang had lent her the gear, she had told her to use it as long as she liked. The older woman’s bones were too stiff to walk miles of shoreline, so she was happy to let Chi Yun do the heavy lifting.

Li Zhou finally understood where the tools had come from. She refused using a different logic: “There’s no need to return what you borrowed from Ms. Wang. If she needs sacks, she can come to me for them anytime.”

Since that tactic failed, Chi Yun pivoted immediately. “Then give me two of yours. I’m short on them.”

Asking for more bags meant picking up more trash. It was highly irregular. Li Zhou asked, “What are you doing this for?”

“I want to help you,” Chi Yun said.

That answer didn’t resolve the doubt in Li Zhou’s heart; it only made the situation feel more surreal. She rejected Chi Yun just as she had rejected Director Cao: “If it’s to help, it’s really not necessary. My setup here”

Before she could finish, Chi Yun interrupted her, stating her intent with a firm, unshakable resolve:

“I want to pursue you.”

Li Zhou’s first reaction was that she had misheard. But Chi Yun, seeing her momentary daze, locked eyes with her and repeated it: “I want to pursue you.”

Is this some kind of joke? was Li Zhou’s second thought.

Chi Yun’s gaze was soft yet steady. She watched Li Zhou intently, neither advancing nor retreating. I took a big step today… will A-Li give me a chance?

“We are already divorced,” Li Zhou said once she found her voice. Her tone was indifferent. This sentence was like a sobering spell, capable of shattering any hope before it could take root.

We are divorced meant Chi Yun hadn’t cared about their relationship. We are divorced meant Li Zhou never wanted to be entangled with her again. What was the point of saying this now?

“I got some things wrong before. Now I’ve cleared them up, and I am certain of my own heart. I want a chance for a fair competition,” Chi Yun said.

Certain of your heart? Having dinner, laughing, and getting close to another woman last night, and then running here to tell me this today?

Li Zhou refused to give her that chance. She said coldly, “I’m not interested. I want you to stay away from me.”

The light dancing in Chi Yun’s eyes dimmed significantly. She was the type of person who was usually radiant the image of a vibrant, capable successor to the Mu Group. But the moment a trace of defeat entered her eyes, her entire aura shifted into a state of withered desolation.

The Chi Yun standing before Li Zhou now looked as if she were about to crumble. She frowned, her expression mournful as she tried to haggle: “Is there no room for discussion?”

“So many people are pursuing you… one more wouldn’t hurt…”

Li Zhou’s reply came after a few seconds of silence, but it remained consistent with her initial stance: “No.”

“Alright then. I’ll go back.” Chi Yun lowered her eyes. She gripped the handle of the trash-grabber a little tighter, causing it to emit a sharp metallic click—a mournful sound to accompany her departure.

She turned and walked toward her car, her very back radiating sorrow.

Li Zhou stood there for a long time. It wasn’t until the night grew deeper and the shadows shifted that she realized she had forgotten to ask Chi Yun for the rest of the tools back.

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