Did My Ex-Wife Agree to Remarry Me Today? - Chapter 42

Chapter 42: A Pat on the Head

“Sister Zhou, the check-in is complete.” At Jianghua International Airport, Jin Fei walked over holding a thick stack of boarding passes and luggage claim receipts.

There was still more than an hour before boarding—plenty of time to head toward security without rushing.

“Mm,” Li Zhou responded faintly. She turned her body slightly, her gaze drifting past the bustling travelers to settle on a pristine white pillar in the airport hall.

Behind that pillar, a person was peeking out with half a head, sneakily watching her.

“I’m going to the restroom,” Li Zhou announced. She began walking toward the restroom at the far end of the terminal.

“I—” Jin Fei started to say she wanted to go too, but Chang Qi stopped her. Her forward-leaning body was pulled back.

Chang Qi used her eyes to signal Jin Fei toward the person behind the pillar who had just peeked out and quickly ducked back.

“Who is that?” Jin Fei asked, puzzled.

Chang Qi knew a bit about the young head of the Phoenix family from Cao Rong’s descriptions. She also knew that this “divorced” ex-wife was currently entangled with Li Zhou.

Li Zhou had a very distinct personality trait known to everyone close to her: if she disliked someone, felt repelled by them, or found them annoying, she would reject them explicitly and tell them to get as far away as possible. She certainly wouldn’t give them the time of day.

The fact that Chi Yun could still bounce around in front of her without being told “no” meant she was being indulged. If Sister Zhou herself was indulging her, what could the people around her say? It was best not to meddle or cause trouble for them.

Jin Fei didn’t understand. Chang Qi pointed out the location of the restrooms, saying, “The nearest restroom is less than five meters away. Sister Zhou is going to the furthest one. Have you thought about why?”

Jin Fei hadn’t thought about it. she just wanted a bathroom buddy.

But as she followed Li Zhou’s direction with her eyes, she noticed that Sister Zhou wasn’t actually going into the restroom. She had made a turn and was now walking toward a vending machine against the wall.

Only then did Jin Fei see the suspicious figure. She squinted to get a better look. “Is there someone by the vending machine? Is Sister Zhou looking for her?”

Chang Qi led her in the other direction. “Didn’t you need the toilet? I’ll go with you.”

Jin Fei suddenly remembered the name “Yu Xialin” she saw earlier. Her eyes widened. “Dr. Yu is on the same flight as us. Has she arrived at the airport?”

Chang Qi said, “Haven’t seen her.”

Jin Fei hurriedly pulled out her communicator. “I’ll call and ask her.”

Li Zhou had spotted Chi Yun’s car shortly after entering the airport. Chi Yun’s car shared a trait with its owner: once the master started acting sneaky, the car looked incredibly suspicious even when hidden in a massive parking lot full of vehicles. Li Zhou identified it instantly.

She kept an eye on the reflections in the airport glass and soon saw a person in white entering the airport stealthily, following them from a distance.

Once discovered, Chi Yun didn’t panic. She simply moved from a crowded area to a quieter corner, waiting for Li Zhou to come over and scold her.

But Li Zhou didn’t look angry; in fact, she seemed to be in a good mood. She scanned the uniform Chi Yun was wearing and made a logical guess: “Skipping work?”

Chi Yun rubbed her nose. “I just finished visiting a client and came to the airport for some business.”

She wasn’t lying, except that the client visit was in the morning. It was now afternoon; she had finished the visit and then spent the rest of the time lurking in the parking lot.

“Oh.” Li Zhou saw through her but didn’t call her out. “And now?”

“I ran into you, so I’m seeing you off.” Chi Yun glanced at the international flight monitor, trying hard to negotiate for herself. “There’s still time, right? An hour left. I just want to talk to you for a bit; I won’t delay your flight.”

Li Zhou lifted her eyelids slightly. “Go ahead.”

When it was actually time for Chi Yun to perform, she found herself at a loss for words. She didn’t like parting scenes and wasn’t good at saying goodbye. Honestly, such talk usually boiled down to one central idea: Remember to miss me.

But when someone is so busy they don’t even have time to rest, that sentence can feel like a burden. Regardless, burden or not, she didn’t take up much space anyway.

Chi Yun stared at the canvas bag in Li Zhou’s hand. “Did you bring your water bottle?”

Li Zhou lifted the bag slightly. “I did.”

A plant spirit might not need to eat, but they must drink water. Luckily, Chi Yun had left a mark on Li Zhou’s cup—something to remember her by. Chi Yun said, “Just think of me when you’re drinking water. At other times, focus on your work.”

Her soft, slightly reluctant tone, paired with that pitiful yet sincere expression, was quite cute. Li Zhou realized she actually enjoyed being looked at by this person with such tender, sorrowful, and lingering eyes.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. Before Li Zhou’s heart could fully melt, Chi Yun’s gaze suddenly shifted, becoming hostile. Her eyes moved past Li Zhou to someone behind her.

Someone was approaching. Before she could turn around, the voice was close: “Sister Zhou.”

Li Zhou recognized the voice and realized more than one person was coming. Yu Xialin and Yu Ting appeared together—one was going to sea with Li Zhou, the other was on a business trip. Since Yu Xialin had been staying at Yu Ting’s place recently, they had come together.

The four of them stood by the vending machine, forming two interesting camps. Chi Yun and Li Zhou had originally been standing face-to-face. As the newcomers arrived, everyone moved toward their “preferred” person. If a line were drawn between Chi Yun and Li Zhou, they were now in opposing camps: Yu Xialin with Li Zhou, and Yu Ting with Chi Yun.

The positioning was highly suggestive.

A certain sensitive Phoenix, who had recently committed an error, immediately felt the alarm bells ringing in her head. She would rather stand with her love rival than have any association with Yu Ting.

Chi Yun took the initiative to move forward and strike up a conversation with Yu Xialin. “Dr. Yu is so young and promising; I’ve heard much about you,” and “How is the elder President Yu’s health? I must visit in person soon”—she organized these social niceties rapidly.

With her shift in position, the scene became one where Chi Yun and Yu Xialin were engaged in superficial, polite banter, while Li Zhou and Yu Ting stood silently, observing one another.

It wasn’t good to remain silent forever, so Yu Ting put on a proper, social smile and spoke first: “Sister Zhou, I’ve watched all your documentaries. I like them very much.”

“Oh.” There was no follow-up.

Li Zhou displayed the highest level of indifference. The highest level of indifference isn’t a lack of expression; it’s making it clear to everyone that you don’t want to talk to them, including the person trying to start a conversation.

Yu Ting’s smile froze on her face.

“I’m heading to security,” Li Zhou said, turning to Chi Yun.

Chi Yun’s gaze immediately snapped back from her rival. Looking at Li Zhou, she said like a tag-along, “I’ll go with you.”

Li Zhou glanced at Yu Xialin, then looked back at Chi Yun and gave a very light nod. “Let’s go.”

Chi Yun successfully secured her spot within half a meter of Li Zhou and the chance to walk her to the security gate. Then, she followed Li Zhou inside.

Chi Yun had bought a flight for tonight and checked in early. At security, she pulled out her boarding pass and ID, entering the departure lounge with Li Zhou and her film crew. They weren’t on the plane yet, so she could continue to cling on.

The flight was one she had bought randomly. Chi Yun’s gate on her boarding pass was worlds away from Li Zhou’s, but she didn’t care. Once inside, she stuffed her things into her pocket and followed right behind Li Zhou to a set of seats.

Li Zhou sat down and put her bag next to her. Even though there was an empty seat to her left, Chi Yun insisted on taking the spot where the bag was. She picked up Li Zhou’s bag, sat down, and held the bag in her lap.

“I don’t think we’re boarding at the same place,” Li Zhou noted.

Chi Yun turned slightly, holding the bag close, and pointed toward her own gate. “My flight is still a while away. No rush. I’ll sit here for a bit.”

Her hands moved subtly, using the turn of her body as cover. Li Zhou saw Chi Yun stuffing something into her bag under the guise of talking.

Li Zhou pretended not to see and intentionally asked, “What is President Chi’s trip for…?”

Chi Yun thought about the destination of her random flight and dragged her two mothers into it. “Picking up my mothers and bringing them back to the country.”

If Long Xi and Sheng Minghui knew about this “filial piety,” they would probably cry from the shock. When they left the country, the kid didn’t even see them off; now she was supposedly buying a ticket to fly across the ocean to pick them up? Who would believe that?

Li Zhou curled her lips into a smile, playing along without taking it seriously.

“Let me see your seat.” Chi Yun leaned over to look at Li Zhou’s boarding pass. While using all her wits to deal with her rival earlier, she had caught a glimpse of Yu Xialin’s boarding pass and memorized the seat number. She wanted to check Li Zhou’s to see if they were sitting together.

Li Zhou handed over the pass. Chi Yun craned her neck. Very good; their seats were very far apart.

The announcement for boarding began. Jin Fei came over to call for Li Zhou.

Li Zhou gestured to the bag in Chi Yun’s arms. “Give me my bag.”

Chi Yun returned it reluctantly. Li Zhou took the bag and walked toward the gate. Chi Yun stayed in her chair, not moving or turning around, keeping her farewell feelings to herself. The feeling of watching someone walk further and further away until they disappeared was unpleasant; she decided not to watch. It was enough just to know Li Zhou was on the plane.

Chi Yun sat with her head down, not speaking, intending to sit for a moment before leaving. Suddenly, Li Zhou, who had been walking away, turned back.

She returned to Chi Yun and stood before her. As Chi Yun looked up, Li Zhou reached out and patted her head. “Be good this month,” she said.

In that instant, Chi Yun felt like her feathers had been perfectly smoothed. She forgot about the parting and the sadness. Her mind was filled only with the smile in her wife’s eyes and the fact that she had proactively reached out to pat her head.

Long after Li Zhou had boarded, Chi Yun was still sitting in the crowded airport. She stayed until dark, unwilling to move. While scrolling through entertainment news, she grumbled to herself: Why are there no unscrupulous media outlets secretly taking photos this time? She wanted to be on the front page.

Her wife had patted her. Someone should have photographed it for everyone to see.

Once on the plane, Li Zhou sat down and opened her bag. She only carried a few personal items; if anything extra was there, she would see it at a glance.

Li Zhou reached into the bag and pulled out a palm-sized red notebook. Upon opening it, she saw it wasn’t a notebook but a photo album stuffed with pictures.

If the one Chi Yun had given her at the exhibition was called “Messy in the Wind,” this one should be called “The Radiant Collection.” It was filled almost entirely with close-up shots of Chi Yun’s smiling face.

Whether it was Chi Yun as a child or as an adult, she smiled brightly for the camera. The childhood photos were clearly taken by her mother; Li Zhou recognized all the scenes. The recent ones of her as an adult were clearly taken last night after they had hung up the phone—she must have leaned against the window and taken them with the flash on in the dark.

The person in the photos had a bright, clear smile, and her mouth was shaped as if saying “Bon Voyage.” But this radiance was an act—a facade hiding the fact that she was about to cry the moment the shutter clicked.

Li Zhou flipped through them one by one. Her expression softened significantly, and her heart felt very tender.

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