Did My Ex-Wife Agree to Remarry Me Today? - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: The Wrong Vibe

“Come lie down. Lie down and I’ll tell you.”

The “vibe” started becoming a bit strange from the moment Chi Yun asked Li Zhou to lie down with her.

Li Zhou was skeptical, but after some deliberation, she chose to take off her outer coat, remove her shoes and socks, and climb in. The covers were warm, filled with the specific body heat and scent of a drunkard.

Chi Yun had a high tolerance for alcohol and didn’t get drunk often; usually, when she cried about being drunk and needed a hand, she was faking it. Not today. Today, one could tell just by the smell how much wine was in her stomach. It would be a miracle if she weren’t drunk. Li Zhou didn’t particularly dislike the smell of alcohol, but privately, she wished Chi Yun would drink less—a small sip was fine, but not so much that she couldn’t walk straight or recognize people.

Chi Yun very thoughtfully held open the covers to welcome Li Zhou’s arrival.

“Secrets have to be told under the covers,” was her reasoning.

Wary of a trap, Li Zhou moved deliberately slow, getting into bed at a leisurely pace. Chi Yun remained on her side, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Li Zhou. Her teeth caught her lower lip, which puffed out slightly as if she were holding back a flood of words that were about to burst out.

After lying down, Li Zhou also turned onto her side, propping her head on her arm as she gazed at Chi Yun, breathing softly. “Can you tell me now?”

Chi Yun still felt it wasn’t enough. She hooked her hand around Li Zhou’s waist and gestured for her to move. “Get closer to me.”

Helpless, Li Zhou moved her body again, getting closer to the “danger source.” Once settled, she flattened her mindset and said, “Go ahead.” After all this tossing and turning, if she didn’t hear something she actually wanted to hear, Li Zhou was really going to let out some of her bottled-up irritation.

“I like your eyes,” Chi Yun said—a tiny drop of rain after a loud clap of thunder—and then shut her mouth.

Regarding the answer to the question “What do you like about me?”, “eyes” wasn’t exactly wrong, but Li Zhou felt it missed the mark…

“That’s it?” Li Zhou was hoping to hear more “drunken truths.”

“I like your lips. Thin and soft.” Chi Yun was playing a game of fast-forwarding; she’d say a line, then shut her mouth and look at Li Zhou with eyes full of smiles.

Was this going to be a one-question, one-answer ordeal?

Just as Li Zhou was about to correct this vibe, Chi Yun spoke again: “Your mouth has honey water in it. Every time I kiss you, I get a lot of it. It’s fragrant and sweet. I like it very much.”

What?

Li Zhou frowned, feeling this conversation drifting further and further from the vibe she wanted.

However, someone’s chatterbox was now wide open as she gushed, “I also like your chest. Big and soft, like white flour mantou (steamed buns).”

“Your waist is so thin, and you have muscle lines on your stomach. I’ve even gnawed on— mmm mmm…”

“Below your mmm mmm there’s also mmm mmm, which is also mmm mmm sweet mmm mmm, I also mmm mmm mmm mmm like…”

It was getting more and more outrageous. Chi Yun’s mouth was covered by an embarrassed and angry Li Zhou. The airflow from her mouth vibrated against Li Zhou’s palm, causing the irritation in Li Zhou’s heart to swell until it was about to explode.

A flush of red quietly climbed up Li Zhou’s earlobes. She shot a sharp glare and commanded, “Close your mouth!”

Chi Yun closed it. Above the covered mouth, a pair of clear, innocent eyes blinked a few times.

Li Zhou released her hand, stood up, grabbed a tissue, and wiped away the hot breath clinging to her palm.

Someone’s central thesis hadn’t been fully delivered yet, and since it was very important, she added as Li Zhou turned around: “I like doing this and that with you. Every time I see you, my head is full of it. I think about it at night, too.”

The flush from the earlobes reached Li Zhou’s face. She looked back and glared at Chi Yun, snapping, “Stop talking! Keep your mouth shut!”

Chi Yun obediently shut her mouth. She even tucked her upper lip under her lower lip to show her level of compliance.

“Stay here. Don’t go anywhere. I’m leaving.” Li Zhou tossed the crumpled tissue into the trash and got up to leave.

Since she had moved out, the curtains in the room were closed by default. Li Zhou walked over and pulled them open, revealing the window glass and the grooved pear tree branches behind it.

The red-faced drunkard was distracted by Li Zhou pulling the curtains. “Why pull the curtains open? If they’re open, won’t people see me sleeping?”

Li Zhou thought to herself: Who else but me would see you sleeping?

Their balcony didn’t face other residential buildings, and with such a large pear tree blocking the front, who would see? If she weren’t worried about the drunkard’s outrageous logic and potential exit routes, Li Zhou wouldn’t have bothered checking.

“Close your eyes and sleep. I’m leaving.”

The curtains were set, and the lights in the room were turned off. The hazy shadow of the moon spilled through the window. Li Zhou looked at Chi Yun’s dark, watery eyes that were watching her intently, and gave her final command: “Close your eyes.”

Chi Yun closed her eyes.

Finally, Li Zhou checked the quilt covering Chi Yun. Seeing everything was in order, she stepped out into the moonlight. After going downstairs, Li Zhou used her branches to check the third-floor balcony. Seeing the woman hugging the quilt with her breathing becoming steady, her worries halved. As long as she was asleep, she would sleep until dawn; there shouldn’t be any more disturbances tonight.

Li Zhou walked through the silent villa area toward the gate. Passing the Purple Cloud Pavilion, she made a point to stop and look. The pavilion’s main gate was adjacent to the secondary road outside the complex. Right outside was a crosswalk with traffic cameras for pedestrian safety, and a bit further was another monitor on a height-limit gantry. Judging by the range of these two cameras, the entrance to the Purple Cloud Pavilion should be captured.

She wanted to know which “monsters and demons” were attending this banquet. Checking the surveillance would tell her everything. Li Zhou took a photo of the camera positions and sent them to the traffic police brigade.

The response was swift. Just as Li Zhou’s called car arrived, the brigade commander responsible for the area sent over the footage from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

The banquet started at 7:30, so people started arriving at 7:00. It ended at 9:30, and by 10:00, the crowd had mostly dispersed. Li Zhou sat in the back of the taxi and played the video at double speed. Toward the end, she saw Chi Yun.

As Pei Pei had said, Chi Yun was somewhat delirious when she came out of the banquet hall. Her last bit of stubbornness was refusing to let Pei Pei support her, leaning against the wall instead. After a few failed attempts at negotiation, Pei Pei found a sheltered spot for her to wait and ran to the garage to get the car.

Chi Yun waited in place until a woman walked up to her. Li Zhou recognized her as Yu Ting. Hearing the noise, Chi Yun looked up. It seemed that the moment she identified Yu Ting, Chi Yun decided to leave. Li Zhou saw her suppressing her discomfort and walking toward the residential complex entrance. Yu Ting, unable to speak with Chi Yun, chased her to the roadside but missed the traffic light.

Fortunately, there were few cars at that hour; otherwise, with Chi Yun’s state, stopping and starting in the middle of the road would have been dangerous. By the time Yu Ting reached the other side, Chi Yun had already entered the complex. Since the security refused to let her in, Yu Ting naturally couldn’t follow.

Li Zhou closed the video, a guess already forming in her mind.

Chi Yun slept for a long time. By the time she woke up, the sun was practically hitting her backside.

She curled into a ball, hugging the quilt and squinting at the sunlight. It took her a while to realize she hadn’t slept in her own room, but in Li Zhou’s. The sunlight outside was lovely, and she could see the swaying pear tree branches dancing in the breeze.

She was drunk last night… then what?

Chi Yun woke up with a hangover, and while she had no other physical symptoms, she didn’t quite remember what happened after she got drunk. Did Pei Pei send her back? Or did she come back herself? And today… today… A-Li should be back!

Chi Yun suddenly threw off the covers, sat up, and looked for her communicator. Checking the time, it was already 11:00 AM! After knowing she couldn’t get out of the drinking session, she had planned to report to Li Zhou’s house early on her day off. But she actually slept until eleven!

Before calling Pei Pei, she asked A-Mei: “A-Mei, did you see Sister Zhou go out this morning?”

A-Mei, who had been at Li Zhou’s since early morning, replied: “She’s home. She’s designing a robot for moving missiles.”

Whatever robot it was, as long as she was home.

Chi Yun rushed out of bed to shower and change. She had added new clothes to her wardrobe—no longer just business suits. Following her elders’ advice, she had organized them and pulled out the first outfit in the queue to put on.

Dressed and ready to head out, Chi Yun remembered to ask her assistant about last night.

“A-Li sent me back last night?” Chi Yun was stunned when she heard this.

“Yeah,” Pei Pei said. “To be precise, you made it back to the complex yourself, and then Sister Zhou took you upstairs.”

Chi Yun instinctively asked, “And then?”

Pei Pei was confused. “What ‘and then’?”

Chi Yun: “Did she leave right after taking me upstairs?”

Pei Pei slowly typed a question mark, wondering if President Chi was still drunk. “How would I know that?”

True, Pei Pei hadn’t gone inside.

Chi Yun said, “Fine, I got it. I’ll ask her in person.”

Hanging up, Chi Yun was immersed in the joy of Li Zhou taking her upstairs—she must have just gotten off the plane then. Then she became dejected. Two women alone in a room last night—she had no idea if anything happened, and she couldn’t remember a single thing!

Chi Yun even went upstairs to check the sheets and smell the room, but found no trace that anything had occurred between them. Did A-Li leave immediately after dropping her off? Did she actually let her leave?

No way… had her newly formed battle plan already become second nature? She was supposed to be using a two-pronged approach!

After Wang Fang’s guidance, Chi Yun realized one thing. The strategy she set after the divorce to pursue Li Zhou again was flawed. Mainly influenced by Li Zhou wanting a photo album instead of a wife, Chi Yun had always thought the one Li Zhou loved was her childhood self, so she tried to revert to her childhood nature in front of her.

Being pampered, fearing pain, and seeking comfort pitifully when feeling wronged—she didn’t hide her vulnerability, knowing Li Zhou would soften, so she found ways to cling to her…

It wasn’t that this was ineffective, but Chi Yun always felt something was missing. After Wang Fang’s advice, she knew what it was. It was missing the extreme attraction and ambiguity between adults; it was missing the blood-pumping feeling of wanting to pull the other person close. Her two mothers often looked at each other until they went into their room and closed the door to “handle business.”

But between her and Li Zhou, it was always her one-sided seeking. That was a different matter. The tenderness Li Zhou gave her was earned by her playing the “child” role; it wasn’t something that happened naturally. Li Zhou was indulging and accommodating her, rather than having her own desires stirred by Chi Yun so they would be mutually attracted.

It wasn’t that one was good and the other was bad; Chi Yun wanted both to complement each other. She had just realized this and adjusted her plan a few days ago. Who knew she would make a wrong judgment during such an important moment last night… she should have exhausted every means to keep A-Li there.

Chi Yun wallowed in her imagination and regret for fifteen minutes before grabbing her keys to set off.

She arrived at the Stone House at exactly 12:30 PM. As soon as she got out of the car, she ran into A-Mei coming out of her own yard.

A-Mei was excited. Running up, she first complimented Chi Yun: “Cookie’s Mom, you look so youthful today! Dressing like this makes you look so tall and your skin so white.”

After the compliment, she started a hard sell: “My grandma steamed mantou. They just came out of the steamer, they’re very fragrant! Do you want to eat a few?”

Seeing A-Mei’s path was clearly toward Li Zhou’s house, Chi Yun asked, “Are you going to ask Sister Zhou to eat mantou now?”

“Yeah!” A-Mei said in a high-pitched tone. “My grandma prepared several kinds of dipping sauces and many side dishes, but we don’t know which one Sister Zhou likes. Grandma told me to invite her over to our house to eat.”

Chi Yun hadn’t eaten breakfast, so she agreed immediately. “Go call her then. I’ll head to your house and wait.”

A-Mei scurried away.

Chi Yun entered Wang Fang’s yard. Wang Fang had set the table under the eaves, facing the sea. Seeing Chi Yun arrive, she asked her to help carry plates and set out the condiments.

The mantou had just been removed from the steamer—fluffy, white, and fragrant. The moment she got close, the hunger in Chi Yun’s stomach was triggered, letting out a few “gurgles.”

Wang Fang laughed. “You haven’t had breakfast, have you? If you’re hungry, put those two plates down and take one to eat.”

Chi Yun was embarrassed. Wang Fang picked one up and stuffed it into her hand. “They only taste good when they’re fresh out of the steamer. Take it, take it; there are plenty more in the steamer.”

It was hard to refuse such hospitality. Chi Yun gripped the bottom of the mantou and took a bite of the soft, delicate top. The bun looked soft but was actually quite chewy. After the first bite, Chi Yun was about to praise Wang Fang’s skill when she looked up and saw Li Zhou walking out of her yard. Chi Yun’s eyes instinctively followed Li Zhou’s steps.

In the time it took to turn her head, their eyes met.

Chi Yun saw Li Zhou glance at her, and then her expression changed. Her forward steps halted abruptly. She pivoted on her heel, turned back the way she came, and never looked her way again.

Chi Yun stared at the retreating back that was walking away as if on wings: “Hey—”

What was going on? Everything was fine when she arrived. Why did she turn around the second she saw her?

Did she make her angry?

Wang Fang witnessed the whole thing too, staring back at the confused Chi Yun.

Chi Yun asked: “Is it my fault?” She had just changed her style today; did this outfit displease her?

Wang Fang said: “It’s probably your fault. It’s not like my mantou offended her.”

Support