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When Wang Ling's assistant called Qiu Ruolan, she had just finished recording a show.
At that moment, Qiu Ruolan was in a good mood. The last recording was a barter-themed episode, during which she exchanged a bottle of red wine for a Juiy Uure diamond watch.
The main reason Qiu Ruolan chose this watch was because its strap was pink.
This color always made her think of the time she brought Autumn Wind to Taiwan.
With her rosy cheeks and wearing a faded pink down jacket, it was very cold in Jinan that winter. She stood at the door of Autumn Wind's room in the orphanage, watching as Autumn Wind tidied up her bed, which was piled high with clutter.
She had expected Autumn Wind to pack a huge, ridiculous bundle, but when Autumn Wind came towards her, she only brought a doll dressed in a pink dress.
As a result, for a long time, even until now, every time Qiu Ruolan thought of Autumn Wind, the image that came to her mind was always that girl in the pink dress with a ponytail.
In high spirits, when Qiu Ruolan learned that Wang Ling wanted to invite her to dinner, she agreed without hesitation.
As agreed, Wang Ling's luxurious stretch Lincoln limousine arrived punctually at the television station's entrance. As soon as Qiu Ruolan got into the car, the driver headed straight for the elevated highway.
Due to the soundproof glass in the car, the space felt isolated and quiet; it seemed like only Wang Ling and Qiu Ruolan existed in the entire world.
Qiu Ruolan turned her face to the side, gazing at the rapidly retreating scenery outside the window. Her eyes held a rare gray hue, serene like a doll.
Wang Ling crossed his arms and leaned back against the extremely luxurious and comfortable leather seat. He gazed at Qiu Ruolan until finally, she turned her head in response to his expectations.
Wang Ling was a busy businessman. He only invited Qiu Ruolan under two circumstances: either he had set aside all his work to begin a real vacation or there was some significant crisis related to Qiu Ruolan that he could not handle.
Qiu Ruolan's intuition told her that this time it was the latter.
For some reason, Qiu Ruolan suddenly thought of Autumn Wind, and it was a tear-streaked Autumn Wind.
The air conditioning in the car was set to a low temperature, and Qiu Ruolan shivered violently, snapping back to reality. She pressed her hand against her chest to suppress her excitement, let out a slight sigh, and then gave Wang Ling a determined look. "What happened?"
Wang Ling shifted forward slightly, his leg brushing against Qiu Ruolan's fair thigh. The sincerity in his eyes made Qiu Ruolan feel a long-lost authenticity.
So, Qiu Ruolan tucked her hair behind her ear, straightened her posture, smiled politely, and then turned her head toward the window.
Wang Ling finally spoke. In the business world, he had always been described as decisive and straightforward, but now that he had to speak about this matter, he felt inexplicably anxious.
Wang Ling even felt that he bore the main responsibility for this situation; it was all due to his incompetence. After all, he felt immense guilt and self-blame regarding Qiu Ruolan.
"Do you still hate me?" Wang Ling's heart couldn't help but tighten.
This was the ninety-eighth time Wang Ling had asked this question since their divorce.
Thus, Qiu Ruolan maintained her calm smile. She withdrew her gaze from the car window; the distant starlight along the elevated road resembled an endless fire dragon, making her feel quite uncomfortable. "What is hate? Can you eat it? Even if I answered you honestly, what would change?"
Wang Ling looked at her.
In the dim light of the car, she seemed surrounded by a vacuum; although she sat right in front of him, it felt as if they could never touch each other. A pang of pain struck his heart as he sighed heavily, his voice slowly escaping from his throat. "Yeah, nothing can change..."
"If you don't have anything else to say, I'm going home. I've worked enough today; I'm very tired!" Every time she thought of the little moments with Wang Ling, Qiu Ruolan felt inexplicably annoyed. She hated Wang Ling's opening line and couldn't wait to interrupt him, even pretending to reach for the car door.
Sure enough, Wang Ling immediately changed the subject, his tone still slow: "That matter... should be... hard to contain!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Qiu Ruolan's heart shrank completely. She immediately thought of what it was. In her brief marriage with Wang Ling, the only thing she had entrusted him with was the identity of Autumn Wind, which also made Wang Ling the seventh person to truly know of Autumn Wind's existence.
She widened her eyes, staring blankly at Wang Ling: "You mean about Autumn Wind?"
Wang Ling nodded: "'AG Daily' has captured some very bad things. So... you better be mentally prepared. According to the norm, they will ask about this tonight... You should think about how to..."
Qiu Ruolan's heart was pricked again! Wang Ling turned out to be such a trustworthy person. Even though their marital relationship had ended, he was still willing to keep this secret for her.
Gradually, a warm feeling surged from within, becoming increasingly intense. She looked up at Wang Ling and suddenly felt that he had aged a lot. She trembled her lips, wanting to say something grateful.
In fact, Qiu Ruolan should have realized long ago that after so long since their divorce, there had never been a negative news report about her in Wang Ling's newspaper. Even when attending the Golden Melody Awards, despite her outfit being less than satisfactory, she was praised to the point that she felt like a queen.
At that moment, her phone suddenly rang. She glanced at the number and felt like dying; it was a call from her manager. She slightly moved back in her seat and turned her head again to look out the window.
"Jiajia, I'm on my way home. Who... Autumn Wind? Wendy? Isn't she Qiu Feng's former assistant? Oh, I see. I used to know her; she worked for me part-time. Yes, it's been a while; she resigned long ago! Oh, I understand now... Can you push all my upcoming events? See if any can't be rescheduled and help me ask the production team for a leave of absence? Okay, got it!"
Qiu Ruolan was trying hard to explain the most reasonable relationship between herself and Autumn Wind over the phone. Liu Jiajia agreed without asking too many questions and hung up.
After Liu Jiajia ended the call, Qiu Ruolan's hand slipped, and her phone fell onto the seat.
Seeing Qiu Ruolan in such a dazed state, Wang Ling lifted his butt slightly forward, picked up the phone that had fallen onto the seat, and handed it to Qiu Ruolan.
Seeing Wang Ling personally pick up her phone, Qiu Ruolan hurriedly took it. She raised her face to look at Wang Ling and said, "Can you take me home? I need to get some things..."
Her voice was as calm as the rain drifting in the air, revealing no trace of emotion.
Qiu Ruolan had two opportunities in her life to become a mother. The first was twenty years ago when she named her child Guanqing; the second was ten years ago when she named her child Wang Xiu.
However, she had never met either of these children.
When Qiu Ruolan encountered Guan Xiu in France, she had just turned eighteen. Beautiful things happened in the romantic country of France, and everything felt so natural. At that time, Qiu Ruolan had just arrived in the United States for her studies, while Guan Xiu had already completed his studies and returned home. After being together for six months, Guan Xiu arranged to go back to the mainland, and shortly after his return, Qiu Ruolan discovered she was pregnant.
With only a few meager pieces of information left by Guan Xiu, Qiu Ruolan managed to find him. At that time, Guan Xiu had secured a decent and stable job. After staying in the mainland for three or four months, Qiu Ruolan's belly had grown sufficiently large. After discussing it together, they ultimately decided to terminate the pregnancy. In a dark room, Qiu Ruolan underwent an abortion with Guan Xiu by her side.
They agreed that Qiu Ruolan would return to Taiwan to handle the necessary procedures and then come find Guan Xiu.
A year is not a long time, but it is enough for everything to change. When Qiu Ruolan returned to the mainland a year later, she was shocked to see Guan Xiu holding a baby over a year old who was just beginning to speak.
The scene was as devastating as buildings collapsing during an earthquake. Ignoring Guan Xiu's explanations and desperate pleas, Qiu Ruolan turned and left without looking back, immediately taking a flight back to Taiwan.
Later on, Guan Xiu contacted her through Yao Lizhen. Qiu Ruolan had forgotten the specifics of how it happened; she only remembered that Guan Xiu desperately pleaded with her that if anything were to happen to him, she must adopt his child—a girl named Guanqing.
This needle pierced her heart and could never be removed. For the following eight years, Qiu Ruolan received photos of Guanqing sent by Guan Xiu regularly without interruption.
As cross-strait exchanges increased over time, Qiu Ruolan had already joined the entertainment industry. During one work assignment, she met Guan Xiu again. At that time, he looked very thin, as if a gust of wind could blow him away.
She thought he would apologize for everything; however, through tear-filled eyes, all she heard from Guan Xiu was: "If I am no longer here, please make sure to bring Guanqing close to you!"
Later on, Guan Xiu truly disappeared; he died of stomach cancer and was reduced to nothing but bones at the time of his death. After two years of adjustment, Qiu Ruolan finally gathered her courage to go to the mainland and adopted Autumn Wind.
As for the child from ten years ago, it was hers and Wang Ling's.
At that time, when she married Wang Ling, the child was already two or three months in her womb. Qiu Ruolan was a stubborn person. Faced with the various difficulties posed by Wang Ling's daughter, Wang Jiaru, Qiu Ruolan took an abortion pill in front of Wang Ling. She coldly looked at Wang Ling and said, "Please tell your daughter that I will never divide her inheritance!"
The medication ultimately led to Qiu Ruolan being unable to conceive again.
This is the fundamental reason for Wang Ling's guilt over the years.
Qiu Ruolan went home to pack some clothes and then got back into Wang Ling's car. She asked Wang Ling to take her to the vicinity of Qiu Mowen's apartment, then smiled at Wang Ling and got out of the car without looking back.
Her figure appeared thin and fragile, yet her back remained straight.
She walked quickly, never once turning back to look at Wang Ling.
Wang Ling sighed, "She still hates me!"
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