The 99th Divorce

It was quiet all around. Ou Ming could only hear the consist sound of his heartbeat. Sometime later, the surrounding cacophony returned. His brows knitted together. It was as if the light reflected off the magnifying glass caused pain to his eyes.

“There has been no improvement. It’s uncertain when he will recover. But, this situation is not common. It’s possible that he may recover over the course of a few days. It’s also possible that he may never recover. Your family will require someone to be specially trained to take care of him.”

Ou Ming didn’t hear what else was said after that. He fell unconscious. When he awoke again, he was still surrounded by darkness.

Beep…

Beep…

Beep…

The sound from the heart-monitoring machine was steady and consistent. Ou Ming suddenly felt his heart skip a beat. The line on the display reflected an interruption before resuming its previous rhythm.

…

Yu Lili was awakened by the doorbell. She had no idea what time she had finally fallen asleep the night before. She had forgot to charge her phone, so it was already switched off when she checked it.

She answered the door. It was Old Mrs. Shen and Shen Zhilie. Yu Lili had expected them to come.

After letting them in, she went to take a shower and wash up. When she faced the mirror in her bathroom, she realized that her eyes had swollen to the size of walnuts. Her eyes were not presentable at all.

She hastily applied some concealer. Perhaps it was a placebo effect, or perhaps her mood had taken a turn for the better, but she did look a little more presentable.

When she re-entered the room, Shen Zhilie and Old Mrs. Shen acted as if they hadn’t noticed anything to begin with. The old lady said, “Lili, there are a few more days to go before the public holidays are over, aren’t there? Would you like to come away with Grandma for a few days?”

Come away with Grandma for a few days? Yu Lili felt that it was a little inappropriate, but seeing the hopefulness in the old lady’s eyes swayed her. “Where to?”

“How about Fujian? I heard there are many fun things to do in Fujian,” Old Mrs. Shen Said. “It’s beautiful there, and there are many beauties there as well. Let’s have Zhilie drive us there from here. After all, Kingstown and Fujian are close to each other. We can have a good chat while riding in the car. We can even choose a scenic spot to have a picnic. What do you think?”

Old Mrs. Shen’s eyes were full of anticipation as she continued. “I’ve done some research. It’ll only take a couple of hours to get from Kingstown to Xiamen, and the route is scenic.”

Yu Lili saw the anticipation in the old lady’s eyes, but still shook her head. “Nah, Grandma. I think I’ll pass. You and Shen Zhilie can go ahead without me. I’m not in a very good mood and don’t feel like going out.”

Old Mrs. Shen refused to give up. “Lili, it’s precisely because you’re in a bad mood that you should go out and cheer up. You need to let loose a little. Am I right?”

“Yes!” Shen Zhilie interjected immediately with a serious face. “Let’s go together! It’s so rare for Grandma to get out of the house. In the past, no matter how I tried to get her out, she’d insist on staying home. This is my first time out with Grandma, too. Let’s go together, shall we?”

Shen Zhilie’s eyes carried all the sincerity and earnestness needed to look into a person’s heart.

Regardless, Yu Lili still felt uncomfortable and shook her head. “Nah, Shen Zhilie, you go ahead with Grandma. I was just in Paris recently and spent all my time playing. I haven’t been working on my drafts. Now, I need to work on my drawing assignments. You guys go ahead without me.”

No matter how Old Mrs. Shen or Shen Zhilie tried to convince her, Yu Lili wouldn’t budge. She was indeed in a bad mood. She had never expected that within the short span of two days, her life would go through such a major upheaval.

–

Happy New Year, everyone!