"A hundred days... that's three months," Gou Wen withdrew her hand and muttered, "That's enough."
Killing Xia Qingtian and Ling Lan would serve as a warning to those old geezers.
She didn't believe those old geezers could still sit still.
If the other party intended to kill her, she wouldn't be afraid either.
The skills she honed by crawling out of piles of corpses weren't just for show.
After chasing away Tang Ruiyang, who was still trying to persuade her, Gou Wen began her arrangements.
The original plan could proceed, and she even had Yu Linwan willingly step forward to take the blame.
Excellent, perfect.
Three days from now would be the death date for Xia Qingtian and Ling Lan.
At the same time, she would finally see how capable the Young Master accompanying Yu Linwan was, and whether he could protect her!
"Xia Qingtian, some gifts are not so easy to accept."
Those who accepted her gifts, Gou Wen, were meant to leave their lives behind.
It had always been this way, and no one could be an exception.
...
She shivered inexplicably.
Xia Qingtian rubbed her arms.
"What's wrong? Is the air conditioning too cold?" Xia Qingyu asked Xia Qingtian, "Why don't you put on that light yellow shawl you had before?"
"No need, it was just for a moment," Xia Qingtian shrugged and said, "I'm going to say goodbye to grandpa and my uncles. I'll need their help arranging cars tomorrow to take us to the port."
"Okay," Xia Qingyu nodded and gave an "OK" gesture. "Don't rush when you walk, be careful with your legs, go a bit slower."
"Don't worry," Xia Qingtian then left the bedroom to inform the Yue family of her upcoming itinerary.
The Yue family was quite reluctant to see Xia Qingtian leave so soon, especially with the departure time sounding rather tiring.
However, upon hearing that Xia Qingtian wanted to watch the sunrise over the sea, the Yue family didn't object.
After all, youngsters had romance flowing through their veins.
When it was time to leave, apart from the head of the Yue family, her three uncles—Yue Cheng Dong, Yue Cheng Zhong, and a yawning Yue Cheng Feng—escorted Xia Qingtian to the car. They also specially prepared a large portion of the car with gifts.
In addition, Yue Cheng Zhong, along with about a dozen people, personally escorted the car carrying Xia Qingtian and her companions to the port.
Shi Xingwu and Li Xiaozhong leaned against each other in the back seat, dozing off.
Xia Qingyu also lacked energy, resting her chin on her hand, her head gently nodding with the car's movement.
Miao Tong yawned, looking left and right, then said to Xia Qingtian, "Leaving so early, with such a grand send-off... Niece, aren't you perhaps trying to escape pursuit?"
Upon hearing Miao Tong's words, Nie Qingkong, who was resting with her eyes closed, stirred slightly but didn't immediately open them.
"Nonsense, it's just that since everyone is finally taking a cruise together, after watching the sunset over the sea, we also want everyone to see the sunrise over the sea," Xia Qingtian said with a chuckle. "Seeing both the sunrise and sunset makes the trip worthwhile and complete."
"Well... that's true too." Miao Tong glanced out the car window again, observing the convoy of escort vehicles around them. "Then... is this arrangement also to make the trip worthwhile?"
"This isn't," Xia Qingtian said with a laugh. "This is an arrangement from my uncles. As for why... it's probably the care of elders. After all, I'm their only niece; they dote on me."
Even if Miao Tong found Xia Qingtian's words unreasonable, he couldn't refute them.
After all, they had witnessed the Yue family's doting on Xia Qingtian with their own eyes these past few days.
Knowing he wouldn't get any further information, Miao Tong simply closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.
He hadn't woken up so early in a long time and found it quite unaccustomed.
After escorting Xia Qingtian and her group to the port and personally seeing them board the ship, Yue Cheng Zhong returned to the Yue family.
Halfway back, Yue Cheng Zhong received a call from the head of the Yue family.
The elder yawned and asked, "Did Qingtian board the ship?"
"Yes, the journey was safe, no issues," Yue Cheng Zhong replied. "Yesterday, I had people gather black material about Yu Linwan's program in City Z and released it all yesterday evening. Coupled with the program team's self-sabotage by infringing on a musician who highly values copyright, Yu Linwan directly flew back to City Z on a midnight flight last night. This should keep her busy."
"I understand," the head of the Yue family responded. "Regarding City Z, go and remind Xia Honglang that if Qingtian meets with any trouble under his nose, he shouldn't bother living."
If he couldn't protect his wife properly, he also failed to take adequate care of his daughter!
"Understood, Dad," Yue Cheng Zhong replied, then advised the elder to get some more sleep before hanging up.
Meanwhile, after boarding the ship, Xia Qingtian and the others returned to the rooms they had stayed in before and promptly fell asleep.
Fortunately, there was room service, and someone woke them up shortly before sunrise.
Shi Xingwu dragged his heavy limbs and carried the completely unprepared Li Xiaozhong, who had no intention of watching the sunrise, onto the deck. The sea breeze completely sobered them up.
Nie Qingkong and Miao Tong arrived no more than a few minutes later, while Xia Qingtian, who had insisted on watching the sunrise, and Xia Qingyu, who looked groggy, were the last to arrive.
However, the sisters were smarter than the others, wrapped in thick blankets, ensuring they were well-insulated.
Thankfully, the staff had prepared delicious dried tangerine and ginger tea. While warming themselves, they watched the horizon and chatted and laughed, soon spotting the orange-like sun being pushed out from the sea level by the waves.
The sea, which seemed completely dark just a moment before, was suddenly bathed in brilliant light the next moment, warming the world.
"Wow..." Shi Xingwu was stunned by the view, his mouth wide open.
The sea breeze blew towards them, carrying salty sea spray that choked him and made him cough several times.
In the blink of an eye, the sun had risen much higher.
Witnessing the entire process of the sunrise, Xia Qingyu leaned into Xia Qingtian's embrace, feeling an immense warmth surge within her.
Without Xia Qingtian, she probably wouldn't have had the opportunity, nor the mood, to witness such a beautiful sunrise.
"Alright, everyone drink more ginger tea, don't catch a cold," Xia Qingtian clapped her hands. "You can go back and sleep for a bit, or head to breakfast if you're hungry."
"I'm not tired at all," Shi Xingwu said, clapping his hands now. "Oh! It was too spectacular just now, I forgot to take photos and videos!"
"It's okay, I had the staff help us film earlier," Xia Qingtian pointed to the staff member standing not far away, dressed warmly.
The staff member saw this, pointed to the DV camera in their hand, gave a thumbs-up, and showed a bright smile.
"I'll send it to everyone later," Xia Qingtian yawned, putting her arm around Xia Qingyu's shoulder. "I need to go back and get some more sleep, I'm so tired."
Everyone walked towards the ship's cabin, chatting and laughing, as the last complete event of this journey concluded.
Afterward, they only had to wait until they reached City Z, disembark, and then everyone could go back to their respective homes.
As they reached the room door, Xia Qingyu suddenly remembered something: was that chef... on the ship now?