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Autumn Wind brought Phoebe and Yusha back home, where Qiu Feng was busy preparing breakfast.
Autumn Wind glanced at Qiu Feng, noticing that she didn't look like someone who had gone out to have fun the night before. "Tell me the truth, what did you do last night?"
"A party, of course! Is there any doubt?" Qiu Feng turned off the stove and looked up at Autumn Wind. "Have you eaten breakfast? Try my cooking!"
"Stop changing the subject. What did you really do last night—where's your husband?" Autumn Wind continued to press, suddenly realizing that Xiao Yuan seemed to be absent.
"Xiao Yuan? He went to Southern to film again! I don't know when he'll be back!" Qiu Feng said, a hint of sadness creeping into her voice.
Autumn Wind understood, "Oh, I see. You two had a little getaway together. How unfair! You left the kids with me while you went off to have fun!"
"Alright, alright, you're so great! Come eat; you must be starving!" Qiu Feng began serving rice. "Babies, stop playing and come eat!"
Unfortunately, after just finishing Qiu Mowen's heartfelt breakfast, the two princesses showed no appreciation for Zhao Jingqi's good intentions. Phoebe was completely focused on her princess bed, and Autumn Wind could clearly see the disappointment in her eyes when she spotted her mini Barbie bed.
Autumn Wind waved her hand. "We already ate outside; you eat by yourself!"
Qiu Feng displayed a hint of displeasure. "Hey, I worked so hard to make this meal! No one appreciates my efforts!"
Autumn Wind patted Qiu Feng on the shoulder. "We're really not hungry!" Then she suddenly remembered something. "Do you have the key to the room downstairs?" If Autumn Wind remembered correctly, there was an intact pink princess canopy bed down there.
So, under Zhao Jingqi's bewildered gaze, Autumn Wind rummaged through a heavy wooden cabinet that smelled of sandalwood and pulled out the brand new canopy that Qiu Ruolan had given her on one of her birthdays.
From the moment they saw the canopy, Phoebe and Yusha erupted into almost non-stop screams, while Autumn Wind and Zhao Jingqi, like monkeys, climbed around on the floor and bed. Just before Xiao Yuan's phone rang, they completed this not-so-grand project and collapsed onto the ground like two leaves.
Zhao Jingqi leaned against the edge of the bed, weakly talking to Xiao Yuan. His voice sounded like a bell ringing from deep within a distant forest—deep yet light. One hand waved the phone while the other tried to pull over the two princesses who were jumping around and screaming: "Phoebe, come talk to Daddy... Yusha, it's Daddy's call! Stop jumping around! Be good!"
Clearly, at that moment, Phoebe and Yusha were not interested in what was happening with Xiao Yuan. With an apologetic expression, Zhao Jingqi explained their daughters' situation to him before hanging up. She shrugged and said, "Daddy thanks you for sending us such a wonderful gift!"
Her eyes squinted into a narrow slit because of her smile, elongated, which made Autumn Wind involuntarily recall a line from a text she had learned: like a crescent moon hanging in the sky. That was an article that had never appeared in the Chinese textbooks in Taipei, and Autumn Wind had long forgotten its specific content.
Autumn Wind extremely disliked her new school; to be precise, she extremely disliked those complicated traditional characters.
Thinking about this, Autumn Wind couldn't help but frown, but when she saw Phoebe and Yusha burying their heads into the bed curtains like two startled ostriches, with their bottoms sticking up in the air and wriggling non-stop, she felt for the first time that the things Qiu Ruolan sent were indeed useful. At least they could make the two truly innocent children happy for a while, or perhaps even longer.
Autumn Wind smiled slightly and turned to Qiu Feng: "What are you planning to do to thank me? How about a raise?"
"Thank you? A raise? Then you might as well take the bed curtains away, but you have to do it yourself; I won't help you take them down!" Upon hearing that Autumn Wind wanted a raise, Qiu Feng's eyes widened.
"Look at how scared you are! But you have to compensate me somewhat; I can't just bring your daughter over during my off hours for free... Don't worry, my request is simple—I want to sleep at your place tonight!"
Autumn Wind knew very well that although Qiu Ruolan's staff would be filming at her house today, due to the peculiar nature of work in the entertainment industry, no one could guarantee that the timing would be accurate. It was possible that just as Autumn Wind was undressing and getting ready for bed, a camera crew might barge in.
"Sure, that's easy; my husband isn't home tonight anyway!" Qiu Feng immediately agreed cheerfully.
That night, Phoebe and Yusha couldn't wait to climb into their beds early because of the appearance of the princess bed curtains.
Autumn Wind and Zhao Jingqi lay on the marriage bed shared with Xiao Yuan. To avoid any so-called direct contact with Xiao Yuan, Autumn Wind laid a new sheet underneath her. Zhao Jingqi lay about forty centimeters away from Autumn Wind, propped up on her hand with her golden hair cascading alluringly down to the bed. She had a pair of charming dimples that deepened whenever she spoke; as soon as she smiled, her dimples became irresistible. The soft yellow light illuminated her from behind, creating an ambiguous atmosphere in the entire room.
Autumn Wind pulled the blanket around herself: "Don't get any ideas; I'm not your husband!"
Zhao Jingqi rolled her eyes dismissively with her slender fingers twirling the ends of her hair. She took a deep breath: "I just think that curtain should probably be washed before hanging it up again."
Autumn Wind tightened the blanket around herself and turned her back to Zhao Jingqi: "If you want it washed, you can wash it yourself; it's tiring to hang that thing up."
The phone on the bedside flickered with light, signaling that Autumn Wind was about to hear some noisy sounds. Before that annoying music could start playing, Autumn Wind decisively pressed the answer button. On the other end was Qiu Ruolan's voice, tinged with urgency and helplessness: "Hey, where are you?"
This was the first time Qiu Ruolan actively called Autumn Wind after Grandma passed away.
During this time, the relationship between Qiu Ruolan and Autumn Wind plummeted like a roller coaster after reaching its peak.
From her gratitude and admiration when she brought Autumn Wind to Taiwan, to their loving relationship, and later the peaceful coexistence supported by Grandma, everything could not withstand the shock that came when she appeared with that righteous lawyer friend in front of Grandma's hospital bed.
Grandma left her only property—the house—to Autumn Wind, thus their relationship became nothing more than a bare financial one (in fact, Autumn Wind knew very well that Qiu Ruolan did not care about money, but the lawyer's appearance forced her to reevaluate her perception of Qiu Ruolan).
However, when Autumn Wind recognized the lawyer as Wang Shaowu, their naked financial relationship became serious.
Autumn Wind noticed the same look of surprise on Wang Shaowu's face. (Wang Shaowu was Qiu Ruolan's old classmate, an excellent program host, and also Autumn Wind's boss during her first job. Autumn Wind had to admit that Wang Shaowu's expertise and character truly deserved the title of lawyer.) Perhaps it was because of Wang Shaowu's presence that Autumn Wind felt for a moment that her relationship with Qiu Ruolan was genuinely protected by law; even though no one knew, it felt legitimate.
Of course, this feeling lasted for less than thirty minutes.
As Wang Shaowu completed all the legal procedures, the feeling of being dependent on each other began to intensify again. Autumn Wind and Qiu Ruolan stood on either side of Grandma's hospital bed, with Grandma tremblingly bringing their hands together while Qiu Mowen stood at the foot of the bed trying hard to muster a smile.
In the past, they were like weights placed at both ends of a balance beam; even though they knew that any slight force from either side could break this tense equilibrium, both remained proud and refused to lighten themselves.
Now they were like two competitors poised at either end of a tug-of-war rope, gripping it tightly—if one pulled hard, the other would retaliate doubly. Thus, in Autumn Wind's eyes, Qiu Ruolan remained that "career-oriented queen" who prioritized everything over familial ties; in her eyes, Autumn Wind was still that stubborn adopted daughter who would rather beg than accept her support.
Autumn Wind collected herself and focused on the phone call. At that moment, Zhao Jingqi's eyes still emitted an ambiguous look that stirred confusion in her heart. Before she could voice any objections, Autumn Wind finally spoke: "I'm at a friend's house; don't worry..."
Upon realizing who was on the other end of the line, Zhao Jingqi shouted: "Auntie, Autumn Wind is at my house! Don't worry; it's okay!" Suddenly, as if she remembered something important, she jumped up as if burned by fire: "Oh no! Oh no!"
She reached out to turn on the light. As the bright light stung Autumn Wind's eyes, she yelled into the phone: "I'll go home tomorrow; don't worry!" Then she hung up.
Zhao Jingqi opened the closet and rummaged through hundreds of clothes inside: "Oh no! Oh no! I almost forgot about my appointment tomorrow! I forgot to prepare my clothes—what should I wear? What should I do..." She rambled on for quite a while, mainly blaming Autumn Wind for not reminding her.
Autumn Wind rolled her eyes and said, "You have to speak honestly. I reminded you when we were hanging the curtain just now!"
She scratched her head and then acted cute towards Autumn Wind: "Good sister, help me choose an outfit!"
Autumn Wind perked up and randomly selected one from the few outfits she picked. Autumn Wind knew that her first recording tomorrow was for Qiu Ruolan's show, a program with terrifyingly high ratings. Just thinking about Qiu Feng and Qiu Ruolan being connected made Autumn Wind feel an inexplicable sense of delight.
However, Autumn Wind had to admit that she was extremely bad at disguising her feelings. When Autumn Wind unconsciously smiled at the corners of her mouth while her eyes drooped, Zhao Jingqi pointed at Autumn Wind's nose and asked, "What are you secretly laughing about?"
Autumn Wind laughed exaggeratedly; of course, she couldn't tell Qiu Feng that the person she just referred to as "Auntie" on the phone was the same person she now respectfully called "Sister Sally" (it is well known that Qiu Ruolan hates being called "Auntie"!).
Zhao Jingqi changed clothes in front of Autumn Wind without any reservations, with clothes hanging on her golden hair like a Mickey Mouse stuck on her head. Finally, Autumn Wind burst into laughter, but after laughing, she suddenly became shocked. Tomorrow, there was no announcement from Qiu Feng, but there was one this month.
At this point, the entire quiet night really became lively.
"Autumn Wendy, I'm going to kill you!"
"Spare me!"
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