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墨書 Inktalez
When Qiu Mowen opened the door to return home, the New Year's bells had already rung. Autumn Wind was leaning on the sofa watching a movie, and her first meal of the new year was the last piece of bread left in Qiu Mowen's refrigerator.
Noticing Qiu Mowen's return, she slightly raised her head to glance at him. A look of surprise crossed Qiu Mowen's face, and emotions surged within him again. She spoke unconvincingly to Qiu Mowen, "Don't be afraid... I won't cling to you; it's just that she... she feels uneasy about me being home alone..."
Qiu Mowen merely responded with a glance, then lightly coughed, poured himself a glass of water, leaned against the bar, and squinted as if deep in thought.
Autumn Wind took a slight breath and continued, "I won't disturb you... You seem fine! Your date with Lily went pretty well..." Mentioning Lily caused Autumn Wind to falter; she lowered her head, turning her face away and fell silent.
However, Qiu Mowen's coughing became more frequent. He pulled out some medicine from somewhere and shook his cup slightly as if trying to sober up. He tilted his head back, and the medicine slid down his throat.
Hearing the coughs, Autumn Wind suddenly looked up. "Are you sick? Is it serious?"
"No... cough cough... it's just my throat feels a bit uncomfortable!" Qiu Mowen replied between coughs, his face turning red from the intensity.
Autumn Wind stood up and moved in front of Qiu Mowen. "Should we go to the hospital? You might have a cold."
"Don't worry about it; I'm fine!" Qiu Mowen's attitude was extremely unfriendly. "When is your mom coming back? How long are you staying?"
Autumn Wind was slightly taken aback, then angered by Qiu Mowen's attitude. "I don't know... You're not happy that I'm here, right? Am I interrupting your fun? If you bring a woman home, I'll leave!"
"That's not what I meant..."
"Then what do you mean?"
Qiu Mowen stopped responding, shot a glance at Autumn Wind, turned around, and walked toward his room coldly. "I don't mean anything else; you can stay as long as you want!"
Autumn Wind rushed in front of Qiu Mowen, lifted her head to look into his eyes. "I won't stay long; I'll leave when she comes back!"
After finishing her words, she sarcastically said, "I won't disturb your next relationship. I'll leave once my mom comes back... That's right, I'll leave once my mom comes back!"
Autumn Wind no longer referred to her as "she" to provoke Qiu Mowen; instead, she chose to use "my mom" as a term.
Qiu Mowen remained expressionless and shrugged, saying, "Do as you please!" He lightly bit his lip and walked past Autumn Wind into his room.
Only Autumn Wind stood in the living room, filled with anger. She banged the chair loudly and shouted in frustration, "Qiu Mowen, if I say another word to you, I won't be called Autumn Wind anymore!"
From that moment on, Autumn Wind and Qiu Mowen, who lived under the same roof, became like strangers.
This situation was precisely what Qiu Mowen hated to see the most. Once he calmed down, he had tried several times to show friendliness but was shot down by Autumn Wind's indifference. Indeed, Autumn Wind never spoke to him again.
However, the more silent Autumn Wind became, the less worried Qiu Mowen felt. He prayed that everything would return to calm, back to when Grandma was still alive.
Qiu Mowen's cough grew increasingly severe. Every night in the quiet hours, varying coughs of different pitches and frequencies could be heard coming from his room.
Although she chose not to speak to him anymore, Autumn Wind still diligently fulfilled the qualities expected of a "tenant," cleaning the room and doing laundry.
Yet every morning when she cleaned his room, she would be startled by the blood-stained tissues he threw in the trash can.
Qiu Mowen's complexion grew paler and paler. Autumn Wind wanted countless times to remind him to go to the hospital, but just as the words were about to leave her mouth, they were suppressed by his indifferent attitude.
Though he appeared very ill, he did not act like a patient at all. He still braved the cold, walking barefoot on the white carpet of his bedroom; his coffee remained unsweetened and bitter; he still spent long periods in the smoking room, coming out with an ashtray full of cigarette butts; he continued wearing fitted suits, looking serious and profound.
Only his face began to pale, and his expression became increasingly calm; even his eyes turned like brown glass marbles. Like those expressionless male models in advertisements, there was no information to be read in his eyes.
But Autumn Wind could clearly sense the changes in Qiu Mowen's emotions. The inexplicable mystery displayed on his face grew more intense. Every time Autumn Wind sat beside him on the sofa, this emotion slowly crept toward her through the air.
The only thing that could make Autumn Wind feel relaxed was that Qiu Mowen's relationship with Lily had not continued to develop. After the New Year, Qiu Mowen had actually met with Lily a few more times, but after successfully resolving the issues at Qiu Ruolan's shop, there was no further progress between them. For Qiu Mowen, Lily was just the most ordinary among several female clients; he was glad to effortlessly help Qiu Ruolan solve her troubles.
However, he could clearly sense Autumn Wind's dissatisfaction. The feeling of living under the same roof yet ignoring each other began to torment him.
Although Autumn Wind had moved into his home with Qiu Ruolan's consent, a voice kept reminding Qiu Mowen not to pursue any further developments with Autumn Wind.
Yet, the hardest thing for a person to control is their own emotions. It is like a drug; once you get addicted, it is impossible to quit. The more you remind yourself to forget, the more she becomes like smoke, enveloping you at all times.
To remind himself, Qiu Mowen deliberately pulled out a family photo, repeatedly reminding himself that he was Autumn Wind's uncle. But along with the guilt came an infinite amount of heartache. He even hypnotized himself countless times: Autumn Wind had no blood relation to him, but every time he thought this way, it resulted in sleepless nights.
This feeling completely transcended familial affection, like a wild horse whose reins were just an inch away from him but could never be grasped.
Conflicted, tormented, and entangled, it felt like an invisible hand was wrapping around Qiu Mowen. As time passed, his condition showed no signs of improvement; instead, it worsened.
He did not want Autumn Wind to notice that he was unwell and continued to act serious in front of her as usual. However, this seriousness was not something he could put on; it was a numbness brought on by pain.
On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Qiu Ruolan called Qiu Mowen from Japan. Her tone was light yet urgent as she mysteriously said, "Hello, I should have invited you to come along. Guess who I ran into in Japan?"
Qiu Mowen pressed one hand against his temple while quickly putting on his earphones with the other. He glanced at Autumn Wind and deliberately lowered his voice, using an ambiguous tone: "Sounds like you're quite happy? Do you miss me?" He slowly moved from the living room to the bedroom and gently closed the door.
Qiu Mowen's strange behavior piqued Autumn Wind's interest. She lifted her head and followed him with her eyes. After he entered the bedroom, she stood up and moved from in front of the television to his door, staring intently at it as if trying to penetrate through it with her mind.
But she soon fell into despair, like a deflated balloon slumping onto a stool by the door.
Qiu Mowen's flirtatious voice came through the crack of the door.
"Do you miss me? Really? Alright... I'll come pick you up. When? Later? Sure, how could I not have time to pick you up... cough, cough... It's nothing, just a cold... Don't worry... I'm fine; I'll definitely show up in front of you in my best condition... Okay then, it's settled; see you later... bye..." After a long conversation, he hung up the phone and turned to open the door when he heard soft sobbing coming from the crack—Autumn Wind's voice.
He couldn't help but feel a bit pleased, but soon he sank back down. He gently tapped the door frame, and immediately there was movement outside the door. After a few seconds, Qiu Mowen took a deep breath, opened the door, and walked out.
Autumn Wind returned to the television drama, staring intently at the screen. Her eyes were red and swollen, and her nose twitched occasionally from crying. To find a reasonable explanation for her appearance, she muttered to herself, "This drama is so touching; I can't help but cry!"
Just as she finished speaking, a wave of bitterness surged into her heart. She could no longer hold back and tears streamed down her face.
But fearing that Qiu Mowen would see her, she quickly jumped up, turned off the television with a loud "bang," and walked toward her room while saying, "This show is so good; you should watch it too!"
However, when she reached the doorway, she suddenly stopped. She realized that Qiu Mowen's tone had been a bit too frivolous. When did he become so casually flirtatious with women?
Autumn Wind suddenly understood that this must be Qiu Mowen's scheme. Was his goal to make her leave? With that thought in mind, she turned around.
She looked in the direction above Qiu Mowen's head, stopped her tears, and smiled as she said, "Oh, some people should stop trying so hard. Hmph! No one can chase me away like this; I won't leave so easily!"
After saying that, she stomped her foot hard before turning back into her room.
Qiu Mowen stood motionless in the living room, both surprised and delighted as he watched Autumn Wind's performance. A wave of bitterness surged from deep within him that he could not suppress.
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