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墨書 Inktalez
A few days later, in the presidential suite of a five-star hotel in Beijing.
The panoramic glass window offered a view of the entire Beijing nightscape, while the light blue velvet curtains added an elegant touch to the room.
Autumn Wind sat on the black leather sofa in the center of the room, her face pale and devoid of color. She bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood, staring wide-eyed at Qiu Hai, who was standing with his hands in his pockets, looking like a male model. A choked voice came from her.
"No, this can't be true. Li Gu is dead? Huang Zihe didn't tell me he passed away!"
Upon hearing Huang Zihe's name, Qiu Hai frowned in disgust, his cold voice cutting through the air. "Do you still have contact with him?"
Autumn Wind shook her head gently, lost in thought as she murmured, "How did he die?"
Qiu Hai pointed at a few sheets of thin paper scattered on the tea table. "According to the timeline here, he has been dead for half a year. During this time, you must have met with Huang Zihe countless times. Didn't he tell you?" There was a hint of mockery in Qiu Hai's tone.
Autumn Wind lowered her head, recalling her interactions with Huang Zihe. Did she miss something? Suddenly remembering that diary, she realized why he had given her such an odd gift; it turned out Li Gu had already...
Soft sobs began to emerge as she realized that those people had indeed died one after another...
Qiu Hai sat beside Autumn Wind and pulled her into his embrace tightly. He wanted to whisper words of comfort, but his throat tightened and he couldn't find his voice. He too felt shocked by Li Gu's death.
How could Li Gu be dead?
After crying softly for a long time, Autumn Wind finally lifted her head. "Will you accompany me back to his hometown?" His hometown was also Autumn Wind's hometown, where memories of Guanqing were buried along with Qiu Ruolan's secrets.
Qiu Hai looked into Autumn Wind's tear-filled eyes and gazed at her tenderly, nodding firmly. "Okay!"
It was still the same train station, still filled with a wandering heart, but the person holding her hand tightly made Autumn Wind's steps feel more resolute.
Qiu Hai had never been to Jinan before, but once they exited the train station, his familiarity with the surroundings surprised Autumn Wind. They headed straight for Spring City Square and after arranging everything at the chain hotel where Autumn Wind had stayed last time, she went directly to Li Gu's family without any rest.
Qiu Hai said nothing, just quietly followed behind her.
Standing at the entrance of Li Gu's former Copy Shop, which has now transformed into a stylish supermarket, there was no trace of its previous appearance. Autumn Wind smiled bitterly and pointed to a spot near the door, turning to Qiu Hai and said, "I used to sit in that spot; I was quite familiar with the business!"
Qiu Hai smiled lightly, his hands in his pockets, letting out a quiet sigh as he turned 60 degrees to survey the surroundings, his eyes filled with sorrow. "Has Qiu Mowen been here?"
Him? Autumn Wind's heart sank again, memories flooding back.
The tightly closed glass door was pushed open, and a man in a black trench coat approached Autumn Wind, holding a piece of paper. His voice was deep as he pointed to the bright woman on the paper. "Hello, I'm looking for someone. Have you seen this woman?"
This scene floated before Autumn Wind, her eyes brimming with tears. Three years ago, Qiu Mowen had tricked her back to Taipei like this!
"Yes! He came here and tricked me back!" She pulled her thoughts from memory and replied with a bitter smile.
"Tricked?" The corner of Qiu Hai's mouth twitched suddenly, his tone filled with disbelief. "He tricked you?"
"Yes, it was a trick! I thought he could give me something, but when I returned to Taipei, I found there was nothing!" Autumn Wind met Qiu Hai's gaze and suddenly realized that this look was exactly the same as how Qiu Mowen had looked at her that year. She murmured, "You really are good friends; you look so alike!"
Qiu Hai frowned slightly, watching Autumn Wind's lips move gently and asked softly, "What did you just say?"
"Nothing, nothing. Let's go check out Li Gu Family!” She walked up beside Qiu Hai, linking her arm with his as they headed east along the road.
The construction site that had been bustling day and night three years ago had now turned into a bright and luxurious leisure club. Elegantly dressed Rich Young Masters and wealthy ladies moved about within. Behind the club stood Li Gu's old building; the patch of Virginia Creeper was starting to sprout green shoots again, and the slope remained just as steep.
The simple Noodle Stall was still the same. It wasn't lunchtime yet; the owner sat on a low stool scrolling through his phone. Noticing someone standing in front of him without looking up, he directly asked, "Big bowl, bowl..."
"Boss!" Autumn Wind called out cheerfully.
"You, you are... Oh, how did you come here!" The owner couldn't remember Autumn Wind's name but looked genuinely delighted.
Autumn Wind smiled and pointed to the building behind her, "I'm here to take a look!"
"Ah, I really didn't expect this!" The boss sighed heavily. The death of Shaolan had caused quite a stir, and Li Gu's imprisonment and subsequent death had already spread among the neighbors.
"His house?" Autumn Wind turned to look at the balcony of the house, where a figure flickered.
Hearing Autumn Wind inquire about the house, the boss pointed to Li Gu Family's residence. "It's been sold. As soon as something happened, his parents rushed back from Tibet and sold the house!"
"Then..."
A customer sat on a stool, "Big bowl, bowl..." The boss went over to attend to him but didn't forget to continue talking to Autumn Wind. "If you want to see her family, you can go to her aunt's house. It's that one, the very popular Huang Zihe's place now. But I don't know their address!"
He started getting busy making noodles as the rumbling sound of machines filled the air.
Autumn Wind raised her tone slightly, "Okay, thank you! You get back to work; I'll be leaving now!"
She turned around helplessly and shrugged at Qiu Hai, her gaze drifting towards the second-floor balcony. Memories of the past began to surface: under the Virginia Creeper, a red Mercedes-Benz, and Qiu Mowen mysteriously standing in front of the car, opening his arms to embrace her.
At that time, he had used that embrace to "deceive" her, making her believe it would last forever. Now it seemed like just an embrace after all.
Qiu Hai watched Autumn Wind, who was lost in thought, and gently asked, "Qiu Mowen has been here too!" His tone was strange—not filled with jealousy but rather with disgust.
Autumn Wind noticed and withdrew her gaze to look at Qiu Hai. "Hmm, are you... jealous?"
"No, not at all!" Qiu Hai replied, reaching out to pull Autumn Wind into his arms. Just then, however, Autumn Wind's phone rang. She pushed away from Qiu Hai, stepped back a bit, and answered the call.
Qiu Hai nearly stumbled from being pushed away but steadied himself and looked at Autumn Wind. She ignored him and instead exclaimed into the phone, "Ah, how is it you? About that matter you..."
Qiu Hai glanced sideways at the excited Autumn Wind, puzzled. He reached out and tugged at her arm softly, asking quietly, "Who is it?"
Autumn Wind shaped her lips into the form of "Huang Zihe" as a crisp voice rang out, "What? Are you deliberately hiding this from me?"
As she spoke, she turned her back to Qiu Hai and quietly asked, "How did you know I was in Jinan?"
Autumn Wind's behavior was nothing short of an insult to Qiu Hai, who clenched his fists, his expression growing more serious.
On the other end of the phone, Huang Zihe did not respond but shifted the topic directly to Li Gu, saying, "He still has some things for me at my house. If you have time, you can go pick them up!" After receiving a positive response from Autumn Wind, Huang Zihe immediately provided his address. "Are you free to go now? My mom's flight to Hong Kong is today, you...!"
"Okay, I got it! I'll head over now!" Autumn Wind agreed.
After hanging up with Huang Zihe, Autumn Wind turned to look at Qiu Hai. She forced a smile and looked up at the man in front of her who was filled with resentment. She wanted to say something comforting but didn't know what to say, so she stepped forward to take his arm.
This time, Qiu Hai pulled his arm away, avoiding Autumn Wind.
Qiu Hai looked at Autumn Wind with a piercing gaze. "Where are you going? Meeting up with Huang Zihe again?" His resentment was fully ignited, and his words dripped with mockery.
Looking at Qiu Hai's somewhat distorted face, Autumn Wind knew he was angry but showed no signs of backing down. "Why are you saying that! You know very well why we came to Jinan! How could Huang Zihe be in Jinan!"
As soon as Autumn Wind finished speaking, Qiu Hai raised his head and stared at her, his eyes glinting with a deadly coldness. Suddenly, he smiled slightly, revealing his white teeth, and said mockingly, "I didn't expect your life in the mainland to be quite exciting! Is there anything happening that I don't know about?"
"You..." Autumn Wind couldn't believe those words came from Qiu Hai. She pursed her lips, wanting to refute him, but her heart felt shattered. At that moment, Qiu Hai had already grabbed her wrist.
"You’re hurting me! Let go of me!" Struggling to break free from Qiu Hai's grip, she instinctively stepped back. With a slight furrow of his brow, he loosened his grip. Seizing the opportunity, Autumn Wind pulled her hand away despite the pain and shot a resentful glance at Qiu Hai, turning on her heel and striding away.
The coldness in her gaze stunned Qiu Hai. By the time he regained his senses, Autumn Wind was already rushing toward the road, waving down a passing taxi.
She dashed away and had already jumped into the car before he could catch up.
Qiu Hai stopped a taxi behind him and shouted, "Follow the car in front!"
Along the way, Qiu Hai kept calling Autumn Wind, but each time he was met with a busy signal, and eventually, the phone was turned off. He clenched his fists and angrily hit his thigh.
"Did you have a fight with your girlfriend?" the Driver glanced at the agitated Qiu Hai, speaking casually. "Ah, women's hearts are like needles at the bottom of the sea!"
Hearing the Driver's words, Qiu Hai awkwardly smiled. "No! Can you drive a bit faster, please?"
As soon as Qiu Hai finished speaking, the driver exclaimed, "Are you from Taiwan?"
Qiu Hai nodded, but his eyes were fixed on the taxi that Autumn Wind was in. "Can you go faster, please?"
"Don't worry, take it easy. Taiwan is really a great place. I once drove a Taiwanese girl from the Train Station..." the Driver began to chat away.
"Driver, please hurry!" Qiu Hai was almost ready to stick his head out of the window.
Suddenly, the car disappeared from Qiu Hai's view...
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