Did My Ex-Wife Agree to Remarry Me Today? - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Photo Album

“Yes, I am single now.” It was a fact, and there was no need to hide it. Li Zhou’s crimson lips moved as she admitted it openly.

Strands of hair, soaked by the seawater, clung to her forehead like ink bleeding onto white paper. These dark lines contrasted with her skin, which was as smooth and clear as fine jade—a radiance that even the fading twilight could not diminish.

Yu Xialin couldn’t help but steal a few more glances.

“Give the kelp to me; it’s getting your coat wet, Dr. Yu,” Li Zhou said softly, looking down.

A faint smile touched the corners of Yu Xialin’s mouth. She bent down to get a firm grip on the giant kelp and stepped back. “Where should I take it? I’ll carry it for you. You just came out of the ocean; you should go back and change as soon as possible. The sea breeze is picking up.”

Li Zhou still had things to attend to regarding her time in the water and wanted to stay on deck a bit longer. She accepted Yu Xialin’s favor and pointed in a direction. “To the kitchen. Ask Chef He to process it; we’ll have kelp for dinner.”

This was the first time Yu Xialin had spoken to Li Zhou about something other than work. She smiled, her mood noticeably lifting. “Since it’s fresh, we can have a full kelp banquet. I know several ways to prepare it.”

Li Zhou had no objections. Her gaze swept over briefly before she gave a slight bow. “Then I’ll trouble you. I’m going to the bow to have a look.” With that, she walked in the opposite direction.

Yu Xialin carried the kelp toward the kitchen.

After nearly a week of spending time together, Yu Xialin had noticed that Li Zhou often had moments of solitude. These moments weren’t long sometimes a few minutes, sometimes fifteen. The assistants constantly reminded her that when Sister Zhou closed her eyes, she was resting and shouldn’t be disturbed.

Yu Xialin didn’t want to disturb her; she just wanted to know: what was Li Zhou thinking about when she was alone? Did she still have feelings for her ex-wife?

The kelp was slippery, salty, and crisp. At 172cm tall, Yu Xialin found the kelp was a head taller than her, at least two meters long. It weighed roughly as much as an adult. Since she couldn’t shoulder it like a sandbag, she used both arms to carry it in a “bridal carry.” From a distance, it looked as if she were cradling a person.

In the cabin, Jin Fei and Zhou Wanxin, who had finished their work, were slacking off. Seeing Dr. Yu return carrying a “person,” they thought something had happened to Li Zhou and rushed over. “What happened? Zhou—”

Seeing up close that the bright green object looked nothing like Li Zhou, Jin Fei quickly changed her tune. “Dr. Yu, what are you holding? I thought you saved… a drowning person.”

Yu Xialin replied, “It’s giant kelp, an edible algae. The orca Sister Zhou saved this morning brought it as a thank-you gift.”

Jin Fei was delighted. “In the past, they’ve brought us octopuses, and a dolphin once brought a sea turtle.”

Xiao Zhou stared at the kelp and estimated the appetites of the crew. “This is way too big. We couldn’t finish it in a month, and we’re disembarking the day after tomorrow. How are we going to finish it?”

Yu Xialin had already thought of that. “If we can’t finish it, we can cook it and take it back. My cold kelp salad is delicious; we just need some jars to pack it.”

“Dr. Yu is cooking tonight?” Jin Fei asked in surprise. Dr. Yu looked so refined and scholarly—the type who lived in a lab. Could she actually cook?

Yu Xialin smiled. “I’ll try my best.”

“It’s heavy, right? Do you need help?” The two assistants reached out, but Yu Xialin pivoted away. “It’s wet. Your clothes are clean; don’t get them stained. I’ll take it to the kitchen. I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”

“Then… call us if you need help!”

Yu Xialin nodded with her back to them.

“Zhou, didn’t you notice that after talking to Sister Zhou, Dr. Yu’s smiles increased?” Jin Fei remarked. “I used to think she was very aloof, but today I realized she likes to smile so much.”

Xiao Zhou said mysteriously, “Did you notice Dr. Yu’s uniform is blue-green?”

“Why bring up her clothes?” Jin Fei asked, confused. “Is there something special about them? Don’t all researchers wear that?”

Xiao Zhou whispered, “Combining her behavior… doesn’t it look like a peacock fanning its tail? It’s like she’s trying her hardest to show off to someone.”

Jin Fei wasn’t as sharp as Xiao Zhou. She looked at Xiao Zhou blankly, then turned to look at Li Zhou standing alone on the deck. After several meaningful looks from Xiao Zhou, she finally realized: “Are you saying… Dr. Yu has feelings for our Sister Zhou?”

Xiao Zhou lowered her voice. “I heard that for this expedition, Dr. Yu came specifically for Sister Zhou.”

Jin Fei whispered back, surprised, “But Sister Zhou just got divorced. Can she accept…” She suddenly cut herself off because, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Li Zhou walking toward the cabin.

The two assistants immediately scurried back to their workstations like students caught gossiping by a principal. They sat bolt upright, hands folded on their desks. Li Zhou merely walked past, her gaze never landing on the nervous pair behind the computers.

The two gossiping assistants breathed a sigh of relief. Once Li Zhou returned to her lounge, they started whispering again.

Jin Fei: “I feel like Dr. Yu is better than President Chi. Both are rich, but Dr. Yu’s profession matches. She can accompany Sister Zhou in this long game. She was so agile in the water today; she didn’t drag Sister Zhou down at all. That President Chi… she’s all about her business. If it’s not a business trip, it’s a social dinner. Her eyes only see ‘business’ and ‘money.’ She never once came out with Sister Zhou. I think she never really cared about her.”

Xiao Zhou nodded. “True, their relationship wasn’t good. They were married for so long, yet the number of times Sister Zhou mentioned President Chi can be counted on one hand.”

“And all those tabloid rumors about President Chi, who knows if they were true…”

Jin Fei: “I think they were. Otherwise, why would Sister Zhou divorce her? President Chi must have had poor character.”

Domestic: Jianghua

After being blown by the cold wind for two hours, a dizzy Chi Yun finished watching the first and most recent episodes of Deep Sea Crisis.

Then, she sneezed.

She rolled up the car windows, closed her eyes, and leaned back, trying to use the darkness to calm the vertigo brought on by the vast ocean. The deep sea was beautiful, and the creatures were cute, but for a Phoenix who disliked water, every ripple of the waves and the feeling of pressure beneath the surface pricked at her fragile nerves. She truly couldn’t feel close to the infinite sea.

With her arm over her eyes, the documentary’s ending credits rolled, and Li Zhou’s clear, elegant voice reached her ears.

“…No matter where you live, near or far from the ocean. Every breath of air you take, every drop of water you drink, and every bite of food links you deeply to the sea. Over-extraction of resources, unregulated waste, overuse of pesticides, and hundreds of millions of tons of trash and plastic have pushed the ocean into an irreparable crisis…”

The moment the voice stopped, Chi Yun opened the car door and stepped out. Closing her eyes didn’t help the dizziness; it only increased her nausea. She needed to walk.

The courtyard gate identified its owner and opened automatically. As Chi Yun passed through, she suddenly lost track of her footing and stumbled. She grabbed the railing to steady herself.

The sound of her grip on the iron gate disturbed something in the darkness. Chi Yun’s dizzy head heard the sound of a floor tile shifting a small sound, as if a small creature had stepped on one end of a loose tile and lightly hopped away. It was faint, but in Chi Yun’s current sensitive state, she heard it clearly.

After she steadied herself and walked further in, the sound happened a second time. Then, it disappeared.

Li Zhou didn’t like turning on lights when she was home. Chi Yun also didn’t like turning on the courtyard lights at night. Her grandmother said that at night, plants need darkness to rest so they can photosynthesize better during the day.

Even with her eyes closed, Chi Yun could navigate around the large pear tree in the center of the courtyard and find the door. This pear tree had been planted here when she was two. It was an old tree when they found it, and after nearly twenty years of care, its trunk had grown thick, and its branches reached the third-floor balcony.

However, over the years, it had become less inclined to grow leaves or bloom. Chi Yun had been busy with work and hadn’t called it “A-Li” in a long time. In the darkness, the gnarled, multi-branched tree lay dormant. Chi Yun felt it was watching her, but she didn’t have the courage to look back. She lowered her head and hurried inside.

Nothing in the house had changed since her business trip. Fixed items were untouched; her things were untouched. Li Zhou always used only the things she brought with her. As a minimalist who lived by environmental principles, Li Zhou had very few belongings enough to fit in a single bag.

Now that she was gone, the house was as full as it was when they married. There was no sign that anyone had moved out. Did she ever truly belong here?

Entering the living room, Chi Yun saw the ring lying on the coffee table. The ring she had placed on Li Zhou’s finger at their wedding sat there alone and bright. The other was still on Chi Yun’s hand.

When choosing the ring’s design, Chi Yun had visited many jewelry stores and asked for many opinions. Finally, she drew the design herself, sourced the materials, and learned from an old master to forge it herself.

Uncle Hu had said, “Miss Li is refined and elegant; vintage styles suit her. We Phoenixes don’t lack gold. If the young master wants to use the gold from the warehouse, take it.”

Chi Yun thought it was a great idea. That was why her wedding with Li Zhou was held at the East Pavilion. It wasn’t overly extravagant, because Li Zhou only agreed to wear this ring and refused all other jewelry.

Seeing the ring, Chi Yun, usually a master of self-control, finally looked defeated. She stood in the middle of the room, suddenly not knowing what to do.

After standing still for twenty minutes, Chi Yun walked to the sofa and sat down in front of the ring. Li Zhou was gone and had left two things behind: the wedding ring and the divorce certificate. Both were meant to draw a clear line between them.

Chi Yun leaned back, her hand over her forehead. Her mind was empty. She stared at the ceiling lights until they blurred, then shifted her gaze to the TV cabinet. Her eyes had no focus; she just needed a direction to look.

Suddenly, her vision sharpened. She focused on a square shelf on the TV cabinet.

Wait! Was something missing?

Chi Yun bolted upright and walked toward the cabinet. She moved so fast that her knee slammed into the coffee table, knocking it askew. She didn’t care. She strode to the cabinet.

She saw it clearly now. One of the photo albums on the shelf was missing. An album from her childhood was gone.

Did… Li Zhou take it with her?

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