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墨書 Inktalez
Qiu Mowen's tone was stiff and cold, as if he had just been dug out from some ice layer. Autumn Wind couldn't believe that this person had once knelt on the ground to offer her fruit.
Autumn Wind stared wide-eyed, her arms dropping, her mouth involuntarily opening, but it felt as if her throat was locked, making it impossible to produce a sound. Anyone who saw her expression would surely recognize that she was both surprised and angry.
However, Qiu Mowen directly ignored Autumn Wind's expression and walked straight to the door, still speaking in that icy tone: "Let's go, your mom is waiting for us to eat!"
Autumn Wind truly did not want to believe that Qiu Mowen had returned to Taipei with the same cold demeanor as he had in Beijing. Stunned, she froze in place; when her bottom sank, she fell onto the sofa. A strong urge surged within her as she glared at Qiu Mowen, deliberately putting on a show of not wanting to leave.
Why was it deliberate? Because while doing this, Qiu Ruolan's face inexplicably appeared in her mind; she was nearly 90 and she hadn't seen her in a long time.
Yet, Autumn Wind's insistence lasted less than a minute before being crushed by Qiu Mowen's cold yet charming gaze. It felt like a spring compressed to its limit was suddenly released beneath her, and with a slight relaxation from Autumn Wind, it "popped," causing her to bounce up like a rabbit and leap behind Qiu Mowen.
A faint smirk appeared on Qiu Mowen's face, subtle and hard to notice. He glanced sideways at Autumn Wind, who had instantly moved from the sofa to behind him, then immediately resumed his deliberately indifferent demeanor. He opened the door and walked out.
Autumn Wind looked up at Qiu Mowen's back and followed him outside after he stepped through the door.
A few minutes later, Qiu Mowen drove his black sedan starting with a "B" out of the garage. He gestured for Autumn Wind to sit in the passenger seat. Autumn Wind shot him a glare and directly opened the back door, sliding into the corner with a slightly aggrieved posture.
The car drove again on Ren'ai Road, with soft rain continuously pattering against the windshield. Qiu Mowen's eyes occasionally swept over; their occasional glances met with his gaze as cold as a forest wrapped in heavy snow.
Scrolling through her phone, someone messaged that it was snowing in Beijing. A wave of desolation surged forth without warning and then spread recklessly, mixed with a hint of regret.
In the end, she had not seen real snow in mainland China.
When they arrived at the agreed location, Qiu Ruolan did not show up. Following their usual practice, Qiu Mowen specifically chose a private room at the back. He and Autumn Wind exchanged glances across the table before both lowered their heads to fiddle with their phones. However, even after Autumn Wind's eyes grew tired and her neck stiffened, Qiu Ruolan still did not appear.
Autumn Wind patiently waited another thirty minutes; still no sign of Qiu Ruolan. Not only that, but she hadn’t even made a phone call. Now Autumn Wind was furious.
"What is she doing! I'm about to starve! Why don't we go wait for her at her workplace?" Autumn Wind slammed her spoon down on the table.
Qiu Mowen lifted his head from the menu, the corners of his mouth twitching upward. "The place where she works? Some fashion party? Don't you know there will be a lot of reporters there?"
Autumn Wind's mouth twitched, and she didn't continue speaking. She was genuinely afraid of appearing in front of reporters alongside Qiu Ruolan, a wave of fear rising from the depths of her heart.
Qiu Ruolan still hadn't shown up, and by the time Autumn Wind and Qiu Mowen finished their meal, she was nowhere to be seen. After making a chaotic phone call, Qiu Mowen decided to return to his apartment to get Autumn Wind's luggage. His attitude remained cold throughout.
He stood up and slightly adjusted his suit. "I'll take you back to my place to get your luggage, then I'll drive you to your mom's!" He made a gesture to leave, but Autumn Wind remained frozen on the chair, her mouth slightly upturned in a stubborn manner.
However, this only lasted for less than a minute before she sprang up and rushed out of the Western restaurant ahead of Qiu Mowen.
Autumn Wind felt a bit rebellious but didn't dare to act out. This was Taipei, where countless eyes were on Qiu Ruolan, and naturally, some would also glance at Qiu Mowen.
When they returned to Qiu Mowen's apartment, Autumn Wind sulked in the car, watching as Qiu Mowen dashed upstairs, grabbed the suitcase, came back down, got into the car, and then drove toward Qiu Ruolan's house.
As they approached Qiu Ruolan's home, Autumn Wind suddenly spoke up, her tone cold yet firm: "You didn't bring me that red bag!"
"The red one? Which one?" In the rearview mirror, Autumn Wind could see Qiu Mowen frowning as he concentrated hard to recall.
Of course, Qiu Mowen wouldn't remember because this was something Autumn Wind had just made up on the spot.
She still lacked the courage to meet Qiu Ruolan tonight. Feeling a bit petulant about how long she had been away from Taiwan without any expression of emotion from Qiu Ruolan toward her.
People are selfish; Autumn Wind didn't realize that during these ninety days, she hadn't contacted Qiu Ruolan either.
"It's the red one that was on the chair! The gift I bought for Qiu Feng! I need it for tomorrow when I go to her house! Now I have to go to your place again; what should I do?" Autumn Wind lowered her head and mumbled a long string of complaints.
Qiu Mowen shrugged his shoulders and turned the steering wheel around.
The car stopped again at the apartment parking lot. Qiu Mowen handed Autumn Wind the room key. "I'll wait for you here; you go up and get it yourself!"
Autumn Wind did not reach out for help; instead, she pulled the car door open and said to Qiu Mowen, "I don't know how to open your door, you come with me!" By the time she finished speaking, she had already gotten out of the car and walked around to the front.
Qiu Mowen felt a bit helpless but couldn't think of any other reason, so he had no choice but to get out of the car and accompany Autumn Wind into the elevator.
When Qiu Mowen opened the door, he did not enter. He stood at the doorway, tilted his head, and gestured for Autumn Wind to go in, saying, "You go in!"
Autumn Wind huffed and shot Qiu Mowen a glare before slowly brushing past him and stepping inside. Qiu Mowen held his head high and ignored her, his cold voice coming again, "I'll wait for you outside, hurry up!"
But it was clear that Qiu Mowen would not just stand at the door. The moment Autumn Wind entered, a loud crash echoed from inside the house. Qiu Mowen immediately rushed in to find all the chairs around the dining table toppled over. He saw Autumn Wind standing in front of the wine cabinet, holding a bottle of red wine that had been treasured for many years in her right hand, while her left hand held a transparent glass with remnants of wine.
In the dim light, Autumn Wind's face flushed slightly. Her eyes became a bit dazed as she wore a silly smile. She gently placed the red wine back in the cabinet and set the glass on the dining table before letting out a small burp. "Sorry, I'm drunk; I guess I'll have to stay at your place tonight!" With that, she swayed towards the sofa and flopped down with a thud.
She used this extreme method to escape spending time with Qiu Ruolan that night.
When Autumn Wind woke up again, she was still lying on the sofa. Aside from regretting their argument and feeling a dull headache from drinking, she also felt pain in her nose from where it had hit the sofa when she fell. Her suitcase stood upright beside the sofa; Qiu Mowen had brought it upstairs from the car because he was worried that Autumn Wind might wake up in the middle of the night and vomit on her clothes.
Feeling embarrassed, Autumn Wind touched her nose and suddenly remembered that she was supposed to go to Qiu Feng's house today. She quickly opened her suitcase and took out a gift. In fact, last night Autumn Wind hadn't said much; although there was indeed a gift, it was meant for Qiu Feng's children.
It was a deluxe set of "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf"—a series that children in Beijing were crazy about, while Qiu Feng's daughters only knew about Snow White.
Knowing that Qiu Mowen was still in the bedroom, she wrote a note and slipped it under the door: "Can you help me return my luggage? I'm going to Qiu Feng's place first; I'll come back tonight."
She was well aware that sooner or later she would have to face Qiu Ruolan.
After that, she opened the door, went downstairs, and took the MRT to Qiu Feng's house.
After knocking on the door, Yusha and Phoebe burst out like bulls. From their expressions, it seemed that Qiu Feng had already shared how she returned to Taipei with an extravagant gift.
Standing behind the children was Qiu Feng. In the ninety days since they last met, her cheeks had sunken as if carved away. Despite looking exhausted, she was impeccably dressed in a light green plush dress that resembled a patch of green grass. Yusha playfully kept performing actions as if rolling on grass.
Qiu Feng smiled awkwardly, like a dancer in high heels who could only balance on her toes and had just stumbled on stage. Even as blood flowed from her wounds, she forced a smile towards the audience below.
Autumn Wind casually placed her bag on the sofa, and Phoebe slithered up like a snake. Clutching colorful candy wrappers in her hand, she leaned against Autumn Wind's chest with a hint of a pout: “Aunt Qiu Feng, weren’t you making money to buy me candy? There’s no candy in the doll!”
Autumn Wind was taken aback, looking at the doll-like cute girl whose eyes sparkled like diamonds, causing Qiu Feng behind her to darken once again.
Autumn Wind patted her hand, but before she could speak, Qiu Feng had already lifted Yusha off Autumn Wind’s lap: “Go play with your toys in your room; Mommy and Aunt Qiu Feng have things to do!”
Yusha immediately displayed an unwilling expression, pouting with innocent eyes. She looked very much like Xiao Yuan, and if it weren't for the girl's clothing, she could easily be mistaken for a boy. Phoebe quickly stood in front of Yusha, dramatically cradling her face: “Be good, little sister; let’s go play with these sheep!” Tears actually welled up in Phoebe's eyes as she blinked, droplets slowly forming on her long eyelashes. She gave a meaningful glance at Qiu Feng, then took Yusha's hand and returned to their room.
Qiu Feng placed her hands on her hips, striking a witch-like pose, and her gloomy face brightened with liveliness: “If you little brats keep acting out Korean dramas, I swear I’ll punish you!”
The girls’ room erupted into laughter: “Mommy saw through us again!”
Qiu Feng glanced at Autumn Wind, smiling. However, there was still a hint of sorrow between her brows. She took a deep breath, and unexpectedly for Autumn Wind, her expression quickly shifted; it was as if a dark cloud had suddenly drifted in to cover her face.
With slow yet decisive movements, she pulled out two pieces of paper from under the table and extended them towards Autumn Wind.
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