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墨書 Inktalez
Unexpectedly, Zhou Ringuo still wore a smiling expression. He took out a brownish-yellow envelope from the designer bag he casually carried, gently tapped Autumn Wind's abdomen, and then stuffed it into her hand.
"Autumn Wind, thank you for coming all the way to Hangzhou! This is a little compensation! Alright, pack your things and see if your flight is tomorrow or today! If you're lucky, you can return to Taipei today!"
After saying that, Zhou Ringuo dramatically glanced at the golden watch on his wrist. "It's getting late; we need to get to work!" He waved his hand grandly and said, "Let's go!"
However, after taking a few steps, he turned back and whispered in Autumn Wind's ear, "Don't tell anyone I let you leave... You have to remember that you left on your own..."
Zhou Ringuo's actions were seamless, with no unnecessary words. Each movement connected rhythmically without dragging on, as if he had rehearsed it beforehand.
Was she still not awake, or had she encountered something supernatural last night? Autumn Wind wondered if she had just seen a ghost. But the heavy envelope in her hand clearly reminded her that this was not a dream!
So she returned to her room, and the moment she closed the door, she suddenly relaxed. The winter sunlight streamed through the gaps in the dark curtains. She cheered loudly and rolled around on the bed. The envelope Zhou Ringuo had just given her felt uncomfortable against her body. When she opened it, she found it contained a stack of Renminbi—counting it revealed there were actually thirty thousand.
This number made Autumn Wind gasp; that was nearly 150,000 New Taiwan Dollars. She pinched her earlobe in disbelief. Oh my God! Her heart raced wildly; this was equivalent to half a year's salary for an assistant. Autumn Wind even doubted whether Zhou Ringuo had mistakenly given her money meant for someone else, but the envelope clearly had her name written on it.
Just as Autumn Wind was puzzled, her phone rang. He quickly expressed his surprise. Autumn Wind advised him not to be so shocked, but he still asked urgently, "Sister Qiufeng, do you think I pushed you out?"
Hearing him call her Sister Qiufeng made Autumn Wind unable to help but respond loudly, "Don't be so polite! It's nothing! How could that be?" She really didn't want to tell him that she was only a few years older than him.
He continued asking, "So what are you planning to do today?"
Autumn Wind pouted and thought for a moment. "Is there anything fun to do in Hangzhou?" Even though she was very happy now, thinking about how she had been forced out of work after only a short time wasn't exactly flattering; she needed to enjoy herself in Hangzhou for a bit longer.
"West Lake and the Broken Bridge! But winter seems like it's not much fun!" He replied seriously. "Sister Qiufeng, when do you plan to return to Taiwan?"
"Principally, it should be tomorrow! I’ll find a hostel later and book a ticket!" Autumn Wind stuffed the money into her wallet, but it was too full to fit everything in. "By the way, how much is your monthly salary now?"
"Two thousand! Plus allowances, it's about three thousand!" That number nearly made Autumn Wind drop her jaw.
"Such a small amount!"
Just as she began to express her opinion, a voice from the phone called out to Zhou Ringuo, hurriedly saying, "Alright, that's enough, the leader is calling me!"
Simple Autumn Wind had not connected this money with her experiences from last night. Moreover, given her emotional intelligence, if no one reminded her throughout her life, she would never link these two events together. In her perception, this was just compensation from Zhou Ringuo for ending his work early.
After hanging up the phone, Autumn Wind remembered that there was still an unanswered call on her phone. When she read those eleven digits again and identified their source, her heart sank from the cloud of excitement. She hurriedly pulled out the message sent by Leo and matched each digit one by one.
The feeling of falling from the clouds made Autumn Wind feel dizzy, as if she were sitting on a swing, going up and down repeatedly, with countless scenes flying past her eyes every second.
That's right, this is Qiu Mowen's number.
Qiu Mowen? Going to Beijing? Returning to Taipei? Various scenarios raced through Autumn Wind's mind like a speeding train. At the same time, she clearly realized that Leo must have told Qiu Mowen about her phone number. With this suspicion in mind, Autumn Wind quickly called Leo.
On the other end of the line, Leo seemed to be engaged in some significant activity. Autumn Wind could even imagine Leo among a crowd of blondes and blue-eyed people, holding a phone in one hand while covering his ear with the other, speaking Mandarin into the microphone in a strange manner, "What? I can't hear you!"
"I'm asking you, besides telling Sister Sally about my trip to the mainland, who else did you tell?"
"No one! Are you asking if I told Ervin Uncle?" Leo shouted loudly over the phone. "I haven't contacted him at all!"
Leo had not told Qiu Mowen anything related to Autumn Wind. As Autumn Wind repeatedly confirmed whether this was true or not, Leo eventually burst out with profanity, "Can you be normal? I can't hear what you're saying at all!"
But undoubtedly, this did not dampen Autumn Wind's excitement. She suddenly realized that this was actually Qiu Mowen returning her call politely after seeing the missed call.
The loneliness that followed her self-indulgent thoughts and the joy that had just sprouted slowly drifted down like autumn leaves—more and more until it turned into a disaster.
In fact, Autumn Wind knew very well that as long as Qiu Mowen spoke on the phone with Qiu Ruo, he would know she was in Hangzhou. A voice inside her kept urging Autumn Wind: Call Ervin immediately and tell him that she is in Hangzhou!
Just thinking about it, if Autumn Wind really had to pick up the phone and call Qiu Mowen, she truly didn't have the courage.
She buried her head in the blanket, and before she knew it, it was already noon.
When she went out for lunch, Autumn Wind carefully put her money into her wallet, stuffing it full with over thirty bills. The front desk attendant happened to be the same one who checked her in; she enthusiastically introduced the beautiful sights of Hangzhou, saying, “Sister Qiu, you should check out West Lake. Even though it's winter, it's still very beautiful!”
Autumn Wind took a good look at this beautiful woman and suddenly understood why Zhou Ringuo had started to avoid colors. Just like a certain artist who often travels to the mainland, there is only one Lin Zhiling in Taiwan, but on the mainland, that ratio is infinitely magnified—beauties are everywhere.
It turned out that Zhou Ringuo's desire for beauty had long been satisfied.
But this thought made Autumn Wind unable to stop thinking about Qiu Mowen. What kind of scene was around him? Just thinking about Liuliu and Liu Assistant made Autumn Wind feel flustered. Before her emotions could show, she smiled and walked out of the hotel.
Across the street was a bank. Autumn Wind decided to deposit her money there. The staff in the bank lobby warmly welcomed her; yet another beautiful woman. In the warm lobby, she was only wearing a thin shirt—Autumn Wind couldn't help but marvel again at the true meaning of "above is Tang, below is Su and Hang."
Indeed, this place was truly a man's paradise.
The beautiful woman at the counter stared at Autumn Wind's Taiwanese ID card with wide eyes, glancing back and forth between the ID and Autumn Wind. Fortunately, she was quite skilled at her job and quickly processed everything. Then she gently reminded Autumn Wind that she needed to deposit some money to open an account. Autumn Wind took out a stack of cash, kept a few bills for herself, and handed the rest through the window.
Not sure if it was because her wallet felt lighter or if her mood had calmed down a bit, but once outside the bank, Autumn Wind suddenly felt much more relaxed.
Not far from the bank was a prominent blue sign. Autumn Wind glanced over and after some complicated calculations in her mind, she finally converted the simple characters into traditional ones; it was a ticket sales point for train and plane tickets.
Could this be reminding me of the path I should choose next?
So Autumn Wind decided to take a gamble with herself—she would call Qiu Mowen. If he answered, she would go to Beijing; if no one picked up, she would return to Taipei.
That weight felt more serious than detonating a bomb. She found Qiu Mowen's number in her call log and closed her eyes as she placed the phone to her ear. To her surprise, a voice came through: “Sorry, your call has insufficient balance.”
What kind of signal is this giving me? Autumn Wind stood awkwardly at the intersection.
The hotel sign shone even brighter under the winter sun, and people dressed in various styles hurried by. Occasionally, a gust of wind swept past her; it wasn't as sharp as a knife, but it was cold enough to make one shiver involuntarily.
The red light was long enough, and there was already a long queue at the intersection. Autumn Wind stood at the end of the line, waiting to cross. At that moment, a couple emerged from a ticket sales point and stood behind Autumn Wind.
The cold of winter made one easily feel mentally and physically fragile. This couple began arguing right behind Autumn Wind. The boy remained silent while the girl kept complaining, "You just stay at home repeating the same life over and over. Is that interesting? Even if you lived to be a hundred, you'd be no different from a one-year-old! Speak up, you mute!"
Finally, the green light turned on, and the crowd began to move. The girl quickened her pace and passed Autumn Wind, while the boy reached out to grab her arm: "Don't be angry! I'll listen to you!"
The girl remained relentless: "No need! Just go live your repetitive life for ten thousand more times!" As the green light began to flash, she started running, and the boy dared not let go of her arm, following her across to the other side.
Autumn Wind unfortunately found herself stranded in the middle of the road.
As cars started moving slowly, they gradually accelerated and passed in front of Autumn Wind. For a moment, it felt as if a spotlight was shining on her; the whole world seemed focused on her. The surrounding cars and people moved quickly, but more importantly, Autumn Wind suddenly realized how reasonable the girl's words were: living the same life for over ten thousand times essentially meant repeating the same things over and over again.
Qiu Mowen suddenly faded away in Autumn Wind's mind. She turned towards the ticket sales point, where an LED display under the sign rolled through bus schedules from Hangzhou to various destinations. There she saw a familiar name: Jinan.
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