The 99th Divorce

Ye Youyou lowered her head and walked forward. The surrounding darkness cloaked her eyes. She lost all sense of direction.

Cars zoomed past, and locals walked on the pavement. A yellow glow emanated from the street lamps above. The heat and humidity in the air were suffocating. They brought with them a sense of despondency.

The gloomy weather intensified the pain in Ye Youyou’s heart. The pain spread throughout her whole body, which was soon convulsing uncontrollably.

Her head began to spin. She couldn’t take it any longer. She crouched down and started to cry aloud.

Many passersby noticed Ye Youyou, but all they did was take a second look. No one stopped to ask after her.

Boom…

Dark clouds gathered, and lightning flashed across the sky. The rumble of thunder warned the pedestrians to take shelter.

Immediately after the clap of thunder, huge droplets of rain descended. They hit against Yu Lili’s scalp and face, providing her with some numbing coolness.

Shhhhh…

The rain grew heavy. Ye Youyou remained crouching on the floor. Her strength had been completely wiped out. The sound of her restrained cries were lost in the cacophony of raindrops.

Everyone was running to avoid the rain. Their feet splashed in the puddles. The ripples spread out before being covered by feet again.

Children without umbrellas had no choice but to run as fast as they could. They had to rush home in order to avoid being caught in the rain.

But, what about children who don’t have a home?

Ye Youyou’s thoughts headed in that direction. She hugged herself tightly. Suddenly, the sound of the rain softened a little. The cold, hard droplets of rain that had been beating down on her mercilessly also stopped.

She was stunned. She looked up and opened her wet and teary eyes. What she saw was an angular face that was clean and cold. A pair of cool and shining eyes stared simply at Ye Youyou. Their expression was undecipherable.

In a daze, Ye Youyou looked at the man standing in front of her. She blinked her eyes and took a few more looks. The face remained there.

“Is it nice and cool there?” Li Jinnan’s voice was deep.

She couldn’t tell what he was feeling. A clearly knuckled hand held a big black umbrella, effectively protecting her from the rain. Ye Youyou opened her mouth, but didn’t know what to say.

She looked down and saw that she was soaked from head to toe. Indeed, she looked like she had seen better days.

“Let’s go.” Li Jinnan pulled her up without any hesitation. He shoved the umbrella into her palm and took his jacket off to drape it over her.

Suddenly enveloped in his warmth, Ye Youyou felt an ache in her throat. The tears came pouring out of her eyes again.

Li Jinnan acted as if he hadn’t noticed anything. He took the umbrella back from her. Holding her firmly around the shoulders, he led her to his car parked at the side.

Once inside the car, water was still dripping from Yu Lili’s body. She kept her movements minimal. She tucked her arms and legs as closely to her body as she could for fear of soiling the interiors any further.

Li Jinnan looked at her from the side of his eye. He took out a handkerchief from his pocket to pass to her before driving off steadily. From the moment he entered the car, he didn’t say a word.

Ye Youyou took the handkerchief from him and wiped her face and hair. She turned and snuck a peek at Li Jinnan. His side profile was extremely angular. The lines on his jaw were tight, and his lips were pressed into a thin line. He looked a little unhappy.

She shrunk her feet back and subtly looked down at the handkerchief in her hands. In a small whisper, she said, “Thank you, GM Li.”

It was only after she opened her mouth that she realized her voice was very hoarse and carried with it the remnant of her sobs. She sounded pitiable indeed.

Li Jinnan brought his eyes back to the road and made an abrupt turn with the car before bringing the vehicle to a halt. He turned to face Ye Youyou without revealing what he was thinking.