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"You know, that's not what I meant..." Autumn Wind heard Qiu Feng's roar and was momentarily stunned, standing frozen in place as she murmured softly.
"I don't need your kindness... Since you have your difficulties, I'll find another way..." Qiu Feng, filled with anger at the thought of her missing money, grabbed Yusha and pushed open the door, heading toward the street.
Seeing Qiu Feng turn and leave, Autumn Wind immediately chased after her. "Hey... Sister Zhao, listen to me..."
Autumn Wind caught up with Qiu Feng on the steps outside the shop, grabbing her clothes to prevent her from leaving.
Though they hadn't walked far, Autumn Wind was already out of breath. Her face slightly flushed, she pressed her hand against her chest and anxiously explained, "Sister Zhao, please don't misunderstand... I'm just worried about you... What about Xiao Yuanren? The money was borrowed by him; why are you the only one bearing the burden..."
Qiu Feng stopped in her tracks because Autumn Wind had grabbed her clothes. Hearing Xiao Yuan's name brought a mix of grievance, bitterness, and anger flooding over her. She stubbornly turned her back to Autumn Wind, unwilling to face her.
Autumn Wind continued, "This home belongs to both of you; why are you the only one struggling? What about Xiao Yuanren... If I’m not mistaken, he hasn’t been home for a long time; he’s out there..."
Autumn Wind almost let slip about Xiao Yuan's infidelity in her excitement but managed to hold it back.
With a long sigh, Autumn Wind turned Qiu Feng's shoulder towards her. Qiu Feng kept her head down; although she wasn't crying, her eyes were already moist as she whispered, "Don't be like this..."
Hearing Qiu Feng finally speak made Autumn Wind feel a bit better. She didn't dare continue looking at Qiu Feng for fear that her own tears would fall as well. Instead, she lifted her head and turned her gaze to the distance.
At that moment, someone came in looking to rent the shop. After searching around and not finding the owner, the person opened the door and stood on the steps asking loudly, "Is the owner of this shop here?"
Upon hearing someone inquire about herself, Autumn Wind leaned out and called out, "Hey, I'm here; I'll be right over..."
After responding, Autumn Wind pulled on Qiu Feng's sleeve again with more force. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she gently said, "Think about it carefully; I’ll go back to work now..."
Qiu Feng said nothing; she simply looked up at Autumn Wind with a complex expression in her eyes while her shoulders trembled slightly.
Seeing her like this, Autumn Wind loosened the corners of her clothes and said softly, "How much do you need? I can prepare it for you..."
After speaking, Autumn Wind turned around and went back into the store, chatting warmly with the person who wanted to rent the shop.
Qiu Feng slowly raised her head to look at the shop. With a desolate expression, she gazed at the storefront. Through the glass window, the sight of Autumn Wind smiling with customers pierced her heart.
There was also her hard-earned money invested in this shop, yet she could not retrieve it.
She secretly vowed that no matter what, she would get her money back from Autumn Wind, the money she had invested in Chen Shanni's studio.
Autumn Wind stayed in the shop until the afternoon. Just as the light began to dim, Liu Jian came to pick her up to go home.
Liu Jian asked about the day's situation. Autumn Wind sighed deeply, "Sigh, quite a few people came by, but none decided to rent immediately... Do you think our price is too high?"
"Too high? The price I announced is actually below the average rental price for shops in Taipei..." Liu Jian's narrow eyes sparkled with light; hearing that Autumn Wind thought the price was high made him laugh.
"Is that so? Then why does it seem like no one is interested..."
"Well... I guess many people think you're eager to sell and want to negotiate a lower price..." Liu Jian analyzed seriously.
"Is that so? In that case, I'll wait a bit..." Autumn Wind's starry eyes sparkled as she put on a cute expression. "Oh, by the way, Sister Zhao came to find me today..."
"Qiu Feng?" Liu Jian frowned, expressing extreme disdain. "What does she want this time..."
"Don't make that face; it's really annoying..." Even though she knew that her friendship with Qiu Feng could no longer be compared to the past, Autumn Wind still couldn't accept Liu Jian discussing Qiu Feng with such an attitude. "Sigh, it seems like she's run into some trouble again..."
"Borrow money!" Before Autumn Wind could finish, Liu Jian blurted out these two words.
"Wow, how did you know... Yeah, it seems like she's short on cash again..." Autumn Wind pouted, revealing her concern about Qiu Feng's financial situation.
"You lent her one hundred and fifty last time, right..." Liu Jian's eyes gazed into the distance, his face expressionless as he spoke.
"Yeah, how did you know..." Hearing Liu Jian say this, Autumn Wind was puzzled; she had never mentioned to him that she had given Qiu Feng a check.
"Hehe..." Liu Jian realized he had let something slip and chuckled awkwardly, "No, I just said it casually..."
"Oh..." Autumn Wind replied, but deep down she understood that Liu Jian must have privately investigated her financial dealings with Qiu Feng. She felt quite unhappy about it but did not show it.
Outside the car window, the understated yet luxurious night of Taipei had fallen again. As the lights began to glow, it always sparked many thoughts.
A hint of melancholy filled Autumn Wind's heart as she glanced at Liu Jian's face, often inexplicably seeing Qiu Mowen's shadow.
While Autumn Wind was lost in thought, Qiu Feng's call came through. After much contemplation, Qiu Feng had finally decided to make this call.
"Hello, Autumn Wind, I've thought it over; I need your help..." Qiu Feng's voice was very serious.
Autumn Wind speculated about what Qiu Feng might be thinking on the other end of the line. She must have been deeply conflicted before deciding to reach out to her. So she said, "Um, okay, how much do you need to borrow..."
Qiu Feng was indeed conflicted, but not in the way Autumn Wind imagined. She was concerned about money but not wanting to borrow; rather, she wanted to get back what was owed to her. Biting her lip, she said, "Give me 100..."
This number was not only what Liu Jian had mentioned but also a calculation in Qiu Feng's mind: principal and dividends; taking this amount from Chen Shanni's tens of millions of inheritance was merely a drop in the bucket.
Therefore, when she spoke to Autumn Wind, she deliberately avoided the word "borrow" and instead said, "Give me 100."
Autumn Wind pondered for a moment and replied, "Alright, I will deliver it to you tomorrow. Should we meet at the bank... or at your house?"
"Come to my house..." Even though Qiu Feng had completely resigned herself, this was still her past experience with Chen Shanni, and she felt somewhat guilty. Being in public was too stimulating for her, so she chose the privacy of her home.
"Okay, I'll go to your house tomorrow morning..."
"Mm..." Qiu Feng hung up the phone.
"Alright, Sister Zhao..." Autumn Wind's "goodbye" was cut off as Qiu Feng hung up. She shrugged helplessly, sighed, and put away her phone.
Liu Jian, who had been focused on driving, perked up his ears to listen intently when Autumn Wind was talking to Qiu Feng. When Autumn Wind agreed to lend money to Qiu Feng, his brows furrowed slightly.
After Autumn Wind hung up the phone, Liu Jian couldn't wait to express his opinion: "You actually agreed to lend her money again..." Liu Jian emphasized the word "again," speaking with a tone of disdain and disgust.
"She’s in trouble... I can't just not help her..." Autumn Wind sensed Liu Jian's displeasure and explained.
Liu Jian clicked his tongue. "Tomorrow I'll go with you... She treats you like a bank; loans require processes and time... I want to know how much she owes, who she owes it to, and what it's for..." Liu Jian became serious, speaking in a tone reminiscent of a lawyer in court.
"Hey, don’t look at people with colored glasses..." Although Autumn Wind found Qiu Feng's financial crisis puzzling, she felt that Liu Jian was making things too serious. "...I'll go by myself tomorrow; you don't need to come..."
Liu Jian remained silent and focused on driving.
The next morning, after getting enough sleep, Autumn Wind noticed that Liu Jian wasn't up early as usual to go to the office; instead, he was dressed and sitting on the sofa watching TV.
Autumn Wind thought there was still plenty of time, so she didn't ask much and went about washing up and having breakfast.
However, when she finished her breakfast, washed up, and got dressed to go to Qiu Feng's house, Liu Jian was still sitting on the sofa. Autumn Wind asked, "Hey, aren't you going to work today?"
He smiled lightly, "Well, I need to take a break!"
"Oh, I see! Alright then, you rest at home. I'm heading to Sister Zhao's..." As Autumn Wind walked in front of Liu Jian, she gently kissed his forehead and then walked towards the snack cabinet to get the snack gift pack prepared for Yusha.
But when she reached the door to change her shoes, Liu Jian floated in front of her.
"Hey, aren't you resting? What are you doing..." Autumn Wind asked in confusion.
Liu Jian didn't say anything but took the snack pack from Autumn Wind's hands and gentlemanly opened the door for her.
Qiu Ming came over, realizing that Liu Jian was going to accompany her to Qiu Feng's house, and exclaimed, "You don't need to come! I can go by myself..."
Liu Jian ignored Autumn Wind, reached out to pull her out the door, locked it behind them, and then held Autumn Wind's hand as they walked towards the elevator.
Aside from being afraid that Autumn Wind would be used by Qiu Feng again, Liu Jian was more worried that she would recklessly spend the money left by Qiu Mowen.
...
Because Liu Jian insisted on going to Qiu Feng's house, Autumn Wind felt very uncomfortable. Sitting in the car, she pouted and didn't say a word to Liu Jian.
She was quite dissatisfied with Liu Jian's behavior and frowned.
As they approached a narrow alley near Qiu Feng's house, Autumn Wind worried that Liu Jian's presence might cause some inconvenience for Qiu Feng, so she called her.
"I'll be at your place in a few minutes... Is it inconvenient?" Autumn Wind asked cautiously.
"No, not at all... Great, I'll wait for you," came Qiu Feng's cheerful voice.
Hearing Qiu Feng's joyful tone, Autumn Wind felt relieved, knowing that she was in a good mood.
Shortly after hanging up the phone, Liu Jian successfully found a parking spot and helped Autumn Wind out of the car. Although Autumn Wind knew she wasn't at the point of having difficulty walking, she still appreciated Liu Jian's attentive care, which made her feel quite happy.
After exiting the elevator, Liu Jian stepped ahead and rang the doorbell at Qiu Feng's house.
Qiu Feng appeared at the door with a beaming smile. "Hi... Autumn Wind, you're here!" she greeted warmly.
"Yes... and there's also Liu Jian," Autumn Wind said as she pulled Liu Jian, who was blocked by the door, into view, matching Qiu Feng's cheerful tone.
To her surprise, Qiu Feng's smile instantly froze. Her face became stiff, and the corners of her mouth quickly returned to their original position, a layer of gray frost covering her expression.
Although Liu Jian was brought in front of Qiu Feng by Autumn Wind, there was no sign of friendliness on his face.
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