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This face is really Qiu Mowen!
As Autumn Wind was in shock, a slightly hoarse voice came to her ears. He wore a forced smile, tinged with a bit of helplessness and reluctance. "I was just sitting there... jaes asked me to come help take care of you, so..."
He deliberately turned his gaze toward the window, giving Autumn Wind a remarkably handsome profile, with thick eyebrows casting dark shadows over his brow and eye sockets.
He looked more mature and composed than before.
Autumn Wind softly responded with an "mm," wanting to say something more, but a wave of immense pain hit her again. Countless words got stuck in her throat, and her stomach felt as if it were being cut open. As the pain intensified, those words trapped in her throat slowly melted away in her mouth, losing their shape like water, unable to be organized again.
Liquid filled her eyes, making it hard to distinguish whether it was sweat or tears. Autumn Wind felt her world becoming chaotic once more. She curled up her body, and in a daze, she sensed Qiu Mowen's face appearing and disappearing.
After what felt like an eternity of torment, Autumn Wind gradually woke from the pain. She weakly lifted her head and realized that Qiu Mowen was still sitting across from her.
Autumn Wind let out a slight sigh of relief, straightened up, tucked her sweat-drenched hair behind her ears, and opened her eyes to look at Qiu Mowen.
At that moment, Qiu Mowen also raised his head to look at Autumn Wind. His face still bore a calm expression, with a shadow of stubble on his jawline; his eyes revealed none of his emotions.
This was the first time they had appeared alone in public since their complete fallout. After being tormented by menstrual pain, Autumn Wind had no extra strength to smile at Qiu Mowen. In fact, even without the pain, she wouldn't know what to say to him.
So they quietly stared at each other, without words or any other physical interaction.
One minute... two minutes... The soothing music in the café felt like frozen stream water. Everything seemed to align with their silent gaze.
Finally, Autumn Wind's phone on the table couldn't stand the silence any longer and emitted a buzzing sound. It wasn't loud but was enough to break their eye contact.
Autumn Wind gathered her thoughts, removed her hand from her stomach, and answered the call.
It was Liu Jian calling. First came the sound of him closing the car door, followed by Qiu Feng giving some instructions. If she listened closely, she could hear the youthful voices of Phoebe and Yusha in the background.
Liu Jian: "I've set off from here. The road isn't too crowded; I'll be there in a few minutes. Get ready!"
Autumn Wind responded with an "mm." "Drive safely!" After hearing Liu Jian's words, she quickly hung up the phone.
It seemed that Qiu Mowen had heard the content of Liu Jian's call. He gently raised his hand, and the waiter approached him reverently.
During the time Qiu Mowen was paying the bill, Autumn Wind stood up unsteadily. Her clothes, soaked with sweat, clung to her back, and as the wind blew, she couldn't help but shiver.
She glanced vacantly at Qiu Mowen and the waiter, without saying a word, and walked out of the coffee shop like a zombie.
Once outside, Autumn Wind remembered it was August, the hottest time in Taipei, and after being tormented by pain, she could no longer endure the heat. Within seconds, sweat poured down her forehead like an unending rain.
At that moment, Qiu Mowen stood behind Autumn Wind. Seeing her drenched in sweat, he asked, "Are you okay?" His tone remained stiff, devoid of any emotion.
Hearing Qiu Mowen speak to her, Autumn Wind turned around stiffly like a long-neglected door. Her eyes felt heavy as if weighed down by lead, yet she still tried to muster some spirit. With a slightly trembling voice, she replied, "I'm fine... really..."
Autumn Wind moistened her dry lips and continued to ask, "Weren't you in mainland China? Why are you back?"
Qiu Mowen did not answer immediately. He took a few steps forward, slightly furrowing his brow. After some contemplation, he said, "There are some issues with the company... I needed to come back to handle them."
"Oh, I see..." Autumn Wind responded but did not continue the conversation.
A silence fell between them again, occasionally interrupted by the sound of engines from passing cars.
Noticing Autumn Wind's silence, Qiu Mowen felt a bit anxious. Was his return from mainland China really just for company matters?
Of course not; he returned to Taiwan bearing a much bigger secret. He originally planned to handle things quickly and leave Taipei as soon as possible.
As for appearing in the coffee shop, it was related to an appointment where someone had asked for his help.
However, everything seemed preordained; he never expected to run into Autumn Wind.
Thus, the secret he couldn't share with anyone began to swell like fermenting bread. No, he must not let Autumn Wind discover anything unusual about him; Qiu Mowen repeatedly warned himself.
His mind raced to find the next reasonable topic of conversation while the secret inside him felt like it was pricked by countless needles—just a little pressure could pierce through.
"I heard that Leo came back recently!" Qiu Mowen finally found a topic.
"Yeah... he's getting married to a Chinese girl..."
"Is that so? Then I should congratulate him..." Qiu Mowen was once again at a loss for words, as if the topic of Leo was also difficult to continue. "Well, I heard Liu Jian participated in a TV show recently..."
"Yeah... but he dropped out. I went to a concert and even gave her a birthday gift backstage..."
"Her? Is it you..." Qiu Mowen almost blurted out "your mom," "It's her, huh? It seems like your relationship is pretty good now..." Qiu Mowen couldn't continue and could only awkwardly smile at Autumn Wind.
Seeing that Qiu Mowen couldn't go on, Autumn Wind took over the conversation, speaking in an even colder tone than Qiu Mowen's, "Yeah, the relationship is good. Ever since we had nothing between us, everything has gotten much better!"
Despite this, Autumn Wind still didn't dare to look directly into Qiu Mowen's eyes. She directed her gaze toward Qiu Mowen's ear and continued, "You and Chen Shanni are doing well, right?"
When Chen Shanni's name slipped from Autumn Wind's mouth, she was startled herself. Why did she bring up her name? So she quickly added, "I..." Before she could finish her sentence, Qiu Mowen's voice rang out.
"Yeah, we're doing great!" His words carried a hint of cold laughter. "How could it be bad... We're now in Beijing, in that house overlooking the entire city..." He took a deep breath, his brows furrowing in pain as a sharp glint appeared in his eyes. Almost through gritted teeth, he said, "What about you... how are things with Liu Jian? He seems quite considerate..."
"Yes, he's very good to me..." Before Qiu Mowen could finish, Autumn Wind interrupted him. Meeting Qiu Mowen's sharp gaze, she spoke slowly and deliberately, "We're very happy... no need for you to worry..."
However, after Autumn Wind finished speaking, Qiu Mowen didn't respond immediately. As Autumn Wind met his gaze, he stared back at her intently. Their eyes locked in mutual pain and helplessness. They fell into a silent standoff that neither knew was an interrogation or a struggle. Even the occasional customer leaving the café did not break their tense exchange.
But soon Autumn Wind realized that the slight resentment she felt toward Qiu Mowen couldn't suppress her lingering passion for him. Yet the bitterness of being abandoned still prevented her from showing any signs of longing.
Just as Autumn Wind was torn between continuing to stare or looking away, her phone rang again.
Finally having a reasonable excuse to break eye contact, she feigned reluctance as she reached for her phone. "Hello!" It was Liu Jian again.
On the other end of the line, Liu Jian's tone was still filled with concern: "Are you feeling better?"
"Um... I'm feeling a bit better now. Where are you?"
"I'm at the intersection ahead; I'll be there soon! Are you ready?"
"Um, I'm at the store entrance..." Hearing that Liu Jian was at the intersection ahead, Autumn Wind glanced at Qiu Mowen and noticed he was still staring at her. So she switched to a very concerned and gentle tone: "How many times have I told you not to talk on the phone while driving..."
Unexpectedly, Qiu Mowen showed no reaction; aside from his gaze drifting away from her earlier stare, there was no change. Autumn Wind let out a slight sigh of relief and returned to her previous tone. "By the way... I ran into Ervin!"
"Ervin! Is he still there? I just saw him sitting alone at the door, so I asked him to help take care of you... Is he still there?" Liu Jian asked loudly.
Autumn Wind glanced weakly at Qiu Mowen and replied to Liu Jian, "Yes, he's there... You should be arriving soon! Not yet!"
"Okay, I'll be there shortly. You... beep, beep, beep..."
It seemed Liu Jian wasn't finished, but suddenly there was a beeping sound from Autumn Wind's phone. She was taken aback; an uneasy feeling washed over her. Liu Jian never hung up first. Did something happen? But then Autumn Wind thought again, it's just at the intersection ahead; nothing should go wrong!
While she was lost in thought, a wave of pain hit her abdomen again. Autumn Wind frowned slightly, stuffed her phone into her bag, and forced a smile as she stared blankly at Qiu Mowen, softly saying, "Liu Jian is at the intersection ahead!"
Qiu Mowen nodded slightly.
"He'll be here soon!" Autumn Wind continued, then stood on her tiptoes to look toward the previous intersection.
What Autumn Wind could never have anticipated was that this statement of "he'll be here soon" would actually mean a wait of about four hours. Four hours later, she saw Liu Jian in the hospital with his head wrapped in bandages.
Fortunately, lying on the hospital bed was Autumn Wind herself, who had fainted due to menstrual pain.
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