Did My Ex-Wife Agree to Remarry Me Today? - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Delicate

In reality, there was a whole house between Li Zhou and Chi Yun. Behind that house was the road, and along the road stood a line of street trees.

But by some stroke of luck, as Li Zhou turned her head, she recognized Chi Yun’s car through the narrow alleyway and between the trunks of the trees.

The black business car slowed down for a moment before accelerating and driving away.

It seemed she was just passing through.

Li Zhou withdrew her attention and looked back at the sea, which was shimmering under the setting sun.

Before long, there was a commotion outside the courtyard. A chubby girl with braided hair and a tiny white puppy no taller than the girl’s ankles came running from the distance.

They seemed to be racing. The girl had run so hard she’d lost her flip-flops, her bare feet pounding the sand. The puppy’s ears and tongue were flopping wildly, all four short legs practically flying in the air.

When Li Zhou’s eyes met the puppy’s, she saw an excited grin stretch across its face. Its short legs dug into the sand even faster, visibly accelerating.

Li Zhou’s gaze softened.

“Slow down, don’t trip!” Wang Fang called out, pausing on her way to the kitchen with the harvested vegetables.

The two arrived panting and came to a halt in the middle of the courtyard. A-Mei sat down under the lush Sea Mango tree to catch her breath, while Biscuit didn’t stop until he reached Li Zhou’s feet. He gave a high-pitched, milky bark and wagged his tail frantically.

“A-Mei, you lost your shoes again. Remember to go pick them up after dinner,” Wang Fang said, placing a new pair of gray flip-flops in front of her.

“Okay,” A-Mei replied, her eyes never leaving Biscuit.

She kicked the sand off her soles and, seeing Biscuit near Li Zhou, shouted a warning: “Sister Zhou, watch out! He’s going to shake! He’ll get sand all over your face!”

Li Zhou remained calm. She looked down at the uncomfortable, sand-covered puppy and said softly, “He wouldn’t dare.”

A-Mei huffed, “He shook it all over me yesterday!”

Little Biscuit circled Li Zhou’s feet and found a prominent spot right in the center of her field of vision. He sat down, tilted his head, and fixed his bright black eyes on her, letting out a series of whiny whimpers.

A-Mei didn’t understand what he was trying to say, but Li Zhou did. Even Wang Fang, who was washing vegetables by the kitchen window, understood.

Wang Fang marveled, “This little brat has two faces. When you’re not here, he’s perfectly fine—jumping and running everywhere. The moment you’re back, he acts all delicate. He won’t even shake off the sand himself.”

“Yes, he wants me to pat it off,” Li Zhou said. She gently picked up Biscuit, gave him a little wobble in the air to let the loose sand fall, and then used her fingers as a comb to meticulously brush the remaining grains from his fur.

The milky-white puppy nestled contentedly in Li Zhou’s palm, his tail wagging lazily.

“A-Mei, are these your flip-flops?” As the sky darkened and the tide rose, beachcombers began heading home.

Auntie Zhang walked by carrying a fish basket, holding a pair of white flip-flops with a plum blossom pattern between her thumb and index finger.

A-Mei loved those shoes. She kicked off the gray ones Wang Fang had given her and ran over barefoot, smiling broadly. “They’re mine! Sister Zhou gave them to me! The machine in her room spits things out. I put the bottles I found inside, and then… then there were flip-flops!”

“Alright, put them on before you start jumping,” Auntie Zhang said, setting the shoes down. She watched the girl—who had the height of an adult but the mental capacity of a ten-year-old—slip into her shoes.

Once shod, A-Mei ran back to Li Zhou, spinning in circles like Biscuit. “Sister Zhou, Sister Zhou! I found so many more plastic bottles. Can you make me something else?”

Li Zhou smiled, a gentle light shimmering in her eyes. “Of course. What would you like?”

A-Mei said, “I want a surfboard. So many people came to surf today. They left lots of mineral water bottles on the beach, and I picked them all up. I want a surfboard so I can float and drift when the waves are big.”

“A-Mei, you are not allowed!” Wang Fang’s stern voice came from the window. “The ocean is dangerous, and you don’t even know how to swim.”

“I do! I do!” A-Mei argued, her face turning red with frustration.

Wang Fang’s husband and two children had been lost to extreme weather while fishing forty years ago. She had lived in this empty house alone until five years ago, when she found A-Mei on the rocks during a high tide. The girl had drifted for a day and a night clinging to a log. No one knew who her parents were, and though bone density tests showed she was an adult, she remembered nothing.

Because A-Mei was a good girl and Li Zhou wanted her to stay safe, she stepped in to mediate before the argument escalated. “A-Mei, the trash you found can make a surfboard, but it can also make a skateboard. With a skateboard, you don’t have to go all the way to the sea to play; you can play right here in the courtyard. Want to try?”

A-Mei’s attention shifted instantly. She looked up at Li Zhou. “Sister Zhou, what does a skateboard look like? Can I see?”

Li Zhou gestured. “Bring those bottles and follow me. I’ll make one for you right now.”

Li Zhou’s studio contained a device that used environmental technology to break down waste. It would heat-treat the trash, reduce it to core elements, synthesize those into new materials, and then use a 3D printer to create the desired shape.

As they reached her front door, a car was parked outside the courtyard. A person was standing there.

An unexpected person.

Li Zhou’s eyelids flickered.

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