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Qiu Ruolan sat in the luxurious private dressing room, beside her was a bouquet of flowers sent by fans, and several assistants stood respectfully at the door. Liu Jiajia was flipping through Qiu Ruolan's upcoming schedule.
"Tomorrow, Sister Sally, you need to go for makeup, and next Tuesday, I've arranged a commercial performance for you! It's the one that Sister Zhao helped you contact!" Liu Jiajia said, marking notes with her pen while looking up at Qiu Ruolan's delicate face.
"Okay!" Qiu Ruolan was about to pop a cherry tomato into her mouth; it was her favorite fruit.
Liu Jiajia suddenly remembered something and furrowed her brows. "Do we need to call Autumn Wind? Does she need to accompany you?"
Qiu Ruolan chewed on the cherry tomato, lowering her gaze in thought. She knew that Autumn Wind had offered to be her assistant, but it didn't seem like Autumn Wind's intention was to increase their time together; she couldn't think of any other reason.
"No need, let her rest at home!" Qiu Ruolan replied.
Someone gently knocked on the door, and the assistant closest to the door stood up to open it. A huge bouquet appeared at the entrance, and if one didn't look closely, they wouldn't notice a staff member standing behind it. "This is a bouquet from Mr. Wang Ling for Sister Sally!"
After expressing gratitude, the assistant took the bouquet. Qiu Ruolan pointed to the corner, "Just put it there!" The bouquet contained her favorite lilies, and their faint fragrance wafted over.
As she picked up another cherry tomato and was about to put it in her mouth, her phone on the vanity table rang. Glancing sideways, she saw it was Wang Ling calling. Sighing, she reluctantly put down the cherry tomato, took out a tissue to wipe her fingers, and answered the call.
"Did you see the flowers I sent?" Wang Ling's calm voice came through.
Qiu Ruolan let out a giggle. This busy man called her at this time for only two reasons: either he was in trouble or he planned to take a break and wanted to invite Qiu Ruolan along.
"I saw them, thank you! So are you planning to take a few days off?" It seemed so casual; he must be planning a vacation.
Wang Ling laughed heartily. "You understand me well! Yes, taking a break!" His tone suddenly turned strange. "So? Do you have time to meet tonight?"
This tone carried a hint of flirtation that surprised Qiu Ruolan; it wasn't typical of Wang Ling's usual demeanor. "Have you been drinking?"
"No, drinking is what we’ll do after we meet. Seven o'clock tonight, I'll have my driver pick you up!"
"Okay!" For Wang Ling, Qiu Ruolan felt an inexplicable trust. This ex-husband, with whom she had spent less than a hundred days as a couple, was like a mountain standing behind her, her final support. This kind of reliance was different from the mutual dependence with Qiu Mowen and the mutual torment with Autumn Wind; it was simply a support that brought stability and happiness.
After receiving Qiu Ruolan's affirmative response, Wang Ling hung up the phone and glanced at the amethyst by the door, his expression serious.
Wang Jiaru walked past him holding a coffee cup, dressed in a sexy spaghetti strap dress. "Daddy, why are you home today?" She turned around and sat down next to Wang Ling.
Wang Ling looked at his daughter, who was in her twenties, and frowned. "What's wrong? It's rare for Daddy to be home; are you feeling unwell?"
"Not really, but you usually don't take a break! Oh, I'm just worried about you!" Wang Jiaru put down her coffee cup and gently tapped Wang Ling's thigh. "Daddy, I need to tell you something!" After tapping a few times, she stopped and looked up at Wang Ling.
"Let me guess, are you short on money again? I’m not criticizing you; it's just that last time you invested in that movie, Daddy didn't give you much. I heard that you're looking to invest in some trendy brand again! Is that true?" Every time Wang Jiaru had something to discuss, Wang Ling could almost guess it right; it was definitely another request for financial support.
"Daddy, I finally found a good investment project; don’t discourage me!" Wang Jiaru hugged Wang Ling's arm and pouted. "Next week I'll bring my partner over for you to review publicly; is that okay?"
"Partner? Ah, is it that model Yao Guanghao or that married man Xiao Yuan?" Wang Ling straightened his back and said sternly, "If it's either of those two, there's no need to look. Daddy has eaten more salt than you've eaten rice; I know very well what kind of man is reliable!"
"Of course not them! It's Jolie! This time we’ll split everything fifty-fifty! We’ll share the risks and divide the profits equally! Alright, it's settled then; I’ll bring her to see you next week!"
"Jolie? Is she Qiu Xianglin's daughter?" Wang Ling asked back, his tone softening slightly.
"Yes! You’ve met her before!" Seeing her father's attitude soften, Wang Jiaru stopped pouting and took a sip of her coffee. "Okay, it’s settled!" With that, she jumped up and ran towards the kitchen.
As she ran, she called out, "Oh no! Is my bread ready yet? I'm starving!"
Wang Ling watched Wang Jiaru's retreating figure and shook his head helplessly.
At seven o'clock sharp, Wang Ling's driver appeared in front of Qiu Ruolan and headed straight for the agreed location—a highly secretive upscale club.
As soon as he entered the room, Wang Ling approached, gently taking off the coat draped over Qiu Ruolan's shoulders and hanging it on a rack before leading her to the dining table.
Candles and fine wine created an ambiguous atmosphere as Wang Ling embraced Qiu Ruolan from behind, leaning close to her ear and whispering, "Have you been well lately?" His warm breath brushed against Qiu Ruolan's ear, making her quite uncomfortable.
Struggling to break free from Wang Ling's embrace, Qiu Ruolan sat at the dining table. To prevent Wang Ling from feeling awkward after being pushed away, she took the initiative to speak first: "You didn't invite me out just for a simple meal, did you?"
Wang Ling was about to feel angry after being pushed away by Qiu Ruolan, but hearing her words calmed him down. He smiled lightly and said, "So you understand me?" He walked in front of Qiu Ruolan, firmly grasped her hand, and earnestly asked, "Can we start over?"
His sincere gaze left no room for Qiu Ruolan to evade. She withdrew her hand with a faint smile, saying, "You haven't even had a drink yet, and you're already talking nonsense?" She boldly met Wang Ling's gaze. "When we broke up, weren't we just going to be friends? It's only been a short time; have you forgotten?"
Wang Ling pursed his lips and sighed deeply. "Not at all. It's just... after such a long time, I've suddenly realized that it's rare for someone to accompany you until old age. I didn't understand how precious this was before, but now..."
If these words came from a young person, Qiu Ruolan might have been moved to tears. However, coming from the middle-aged Wang Ling, they felt rather desolate.
Qiu Ruolan squinted her eyes and scrutinized Wang Ling. Based on her understanding of him, things were definitely not as simple as he portrayed; something must have happened to him. "What's wrong with you?" she gently asked.
Wang Ling's face turned red under Qiu Ruolan's probing gaze. "Nothing, nothing at all! You know I'm not one to lie!" His stammering voice came out.
Wang Ling was indeed not flustered; he only deliberately concealed certain things. For instance, a fortune teller had told him that he would face a major disaster this year and needed the help of a woman with strong destiny to get through it. After some consideration, he found that Qiu Ruolan was the most suitable candidate.
"Is that so?" Qiu Ruolan clearly didn't believe him. "Is there nothing else?"
Wang Ling nodded and pushed his chair back to the other end of the table. To alleviate Qiu Ruolan's suspicions about him, he immediately raised his glass filled with red wine. "To our reunion, cheers!" He slightly lifted his glass first as a gesture of respect.
Qiu Ruolan delicately pinched the glass with her slender fingers and took a small sip.
Wang Ling's face instantly flushed red under the candlelight; his gaze became hazy as his tongue began to twist. "Hey, I've kept your secret for so many years, but I still couldn't hide the matter of Autumn Wind!"
"Yes!" Hearing that Wang Ling wouldn't continue on the previous topic, Qiu Ruolan let out a long sigh. "In the end, I couldn't hide it; she has become my legitimate daughter!" There was a sense of helplessness mixed with pride in her voice. In that moment, Qiu Ruolan even felt that her greatest pride in life was having adopted Autumn Wind.
"Don't you think she actually looks a lot like you?" Wang Ling stared wide-eyed at Qiu Ruolan, his tone becoming sharp like that of a police officer interrogating a suspect.
Hearing such words suddenly come out of Wang Ling's mouth, Qiu Ruolan was quite surprised, but she quickly reacted and said softly, "After living together for a long time, couples tend to resemble each other more and more. I can only be thankful for the bond between Autumn Wind and me!"
"Bond? That's something that can be encountered but not sought!" Wang Ling suddenly sneered, a cold light flashing in his eyes. "Did I go to that man?"
That man? Who? Guan Xiu? Qiu Ruolan's eyes widened as she looked at Wang Ling in terror.
With a chuckle, he said, "Congratulations, you already know the answer even without me telling you!" Wang Ling squinted his eyes. "I saw his photo? Very handsome. No wonder you haven't forgotten him all these years!"
"What do you mean?" As soon as Guan Xiu was mentioned, Qiu Ruolan's defensive radar immediately activated. She stood up from her chair, glaring at Wang Ling.
Wang Ling, however, ignored Qiu Ruolan's agitation. "I also met the person who performed the surgery on you back then... Have you ever thought that the child you had in your belly at that time didn't actually die? She is still alive and was taken home by that man!" Wang Ling lowered his head, his voice filled with a few more choked sobs.
"All these years, thinking about how you looked when you took the abortion pill makes me feel so guilty..." Wang Ling hugged his head, his choked voice sounding increasingly sorrowful. "I know you really wanted to be a mother!" He raised his head, tears glistening in his eyes. "I beg you to let me make it up to you, okay? This way, besides Autumn Wind, you'll still have me!"
Qiu Ruolan had thought that Wang Ling would threaten her with Guan Xiu, but she was completely frozen in place. Staring at his tearful face, she realized that the child he mentioned hadn't died; thus, Autumn Wind could possibly be her biological daughter! Carefully calculating Autumn Wind's age when she later went to find Guan Xiu, it wasn't impossible.
She moved closer to Wang Ling and blocked his body, her voice trembling as she asked repeatedly, "Is what you're saying true? Is it really true?" Despite her persistent questioning, Wang Ling did not respond.
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