After driving Nie Qingkong away, Xia Qingyu felt a little uneasy in her heart.
Her feelings towards Nie Qingkong were quite complicated.
She pitied her misfortune, yet was angered by her lack of ambition.
If only Nie Qingkong had left Xiang Xueyuan, she could have had her own life. Wasn't that better?
However, Xia Qingyu knew that before criticizing someone, she had to realize that not everyone was as fortunate as she was.
She grew up by her mother's side.
Although Liu Ru was frail, she gave Xia Qingyu the greatest tolerance and the most gentle love.
She had experienced school bullying and various forms of targeting.
But she had her sister, who gave her enough confidence and absolute protection.
Compared to Nie Qingkong, she didn't know how many times luckier she was.
Moreover, the person who brought all the misfortune to Nie Qingkong was her biological father.
She was the least qualified person in the world to criticize Nie Qingkong.
Xia Qingyu knew everything, yet felt self-reproach and regret for her inability to change things.
It was like watching a living person wither away before your eyes, feeling their despair, knowing their pain, but being powerless.
This feeling was extremely unbearable.
"Sister... what should I do..." she murmured, tears filling her eyes.
At that moment, a faint knock echoed, and Xia Qingyu immediately raised her hand to rub her eyes.
"Qingyu, open the door for me," Xia Qingtian's muffled voice came from behind the door.
"Sister!" Xia Qingyu quickly walked to the door and, upon opening it, before she could even voice her troubles, saw Xia Qingtian carrying a昏迷 (hūnmí - unconscious) woman on her back into the room.
"Sister... who is she..." Xia Qingyu watched as Xia Qingtian helped the unconscious woman onto the bed. After a moment's hesitation, she asked, "Is she... that person..."
Xia Qingyu had been avoiding looking earlier, so she hadn't seen clearly, but she vaguely remembered the woman's clothing and attire.
"Yes," Xia Qingtian said, tucking the woman into the covers, and then letting out a sigh of relief. "This is the person who was chasing you earlier."
"!" Xia Qingyu's eyes widened, and she immediately grabbed the flower vase from the table, "Sister, get out of the way! Let me finish her!"
"No, no, no!" Xia Qingtian quickly stopped Xia Qingyu and said, "She's Li Xiaozhong's elder sister!"
"What?" After a brief moment of stunned disbelief, Xia Qingyu immediately thought of the eldest daughter of the Li family who had gone missing. "You mean she also..."
"Yes," Xia Qingtian nodded and said, "It seems she lost a lot of memory due to external forces. When I mentioned her surname was Li, she looked pained and fainted."
"How could this happen?" Xia Qingyu's brows furrowed. She silently put down the flower vase in her hand and gave Gaia a sympathetic look. "What do we do now?"
"I'll watch her tonight. Since she chased you before, you shouldn't stay here tonight. Later, when it's safe, I'll have Erya come pick you up," Xia Qingtian arranged after some thought.
After tonight's farce had completely ended, Xia Qingtian felt it was necessary to have a good talk with Erya.
The ship was a mix of people, and after landing tomorrow, the island would be full of dangers. She needed Erya to be more vigilant and ensure that no villains could take advantage of the situation.
The people of Lu Miaotang Sanjia must return safely.
"Alright." Xia Qingyu knew that now was not the time to be fussy, so she could only nod and obediently follow Xia Qingtian's arrangements.
After settling Gaia and deciding Xia Qingyu's whereabouts for the night, Xia Qingtian immediately contacted Lu Yaoyang and told him about Gaia.
"I understand," Lu Yaoyang was not entirely satisfied with Xia Qingtian's risky actions, but it was too late for anything else. He could only be relieved that Xia Qingtian was not injured.
"How are things on your end?" Xia Qingtian remembered Lu Yaoyang mentioning that the surveillance had been tampered with, and she wondered how he was handling it.
"Xiang Xueyuan must have met that mad doctor," Lu Yaoyang said, pinching his nose. "They must have been prepared for a single-direction signal replacement long ago. As soon as the ship left that sea area, they found the right moment to replace and interfere with it. It was my oversight."
"You've already worked very hard. You can't be blamed for this," Xia Qingtian had been to Lu Yaoyang's place. There were dozens of surveillance screens of various sizes on a whole wall, monitoring dozens of areas. Lu Yaoyang was managing it alone, and it was already very tiring.
It was also thanks to Lu Yaoyang's timely discovery of Qingyu's danger that they were able to act promptly and rescue Qingyu.
"Qingtian, next time something like this happens, I hope you'll discuss it with me," Lu Yaoyang said after some thought, still worried. "I don't want you to be in danger due to my oversight. I hope I can share some of the burden."
"How can this be your oversight?" Xia Qingtian was about to say more when Lu Yaoyang interrupted her.
"I've been investigating Gaia for a long time. In that organization, she was in charge of firearms and drugs, and was also responsible for Xiang Xueyuan's safety," Lu Yaoyang said in a deep voice. "I knew about her existence, but I never thought she would be..."
Having been reborn multiple times, although he had never directly confronted Gaia, they had clashed many times in secret.
He knew how capable Gaia was, but he never imagined...
"I never thought about it in that way before. This time, it's a blessing in disguise, an unexpected joy," Xia Qingtian said softly. "I'm sorry, I acted rashly this time. I promise that from now on, if I encounter such a situation, I will discuss it with you first. Don't be upset anymore, okay?"
Hearing Xia Qingtian coaxing him, Lu Yaoyang's lips curved slightly, and he changed the topic. "How is Qingyu?"
"She's fine. Let me know when it's safe, and I'll have Erya come pick her up," Xia Qingtian said. "Let Qingyu stay with Erya tonight."
"Okay, it should be soon," Lu Yaoyang said, staring at a particular surveillance screen. "Wait for me a moment."
Putting down his phone, Lu Yaoyang reached up to caress the built-in communication device on the other side. "Young Master Bai, area A-6, there's a fight. Have someone check it out."
"Understood," Bai Yuqi immediately responded and told the Wen family to go quickly.
Soon, the last person from the trio who had been escaping and the guy who was preparing to use fireworks to create a stir and contact accomplices to hijack the ship were apprehended.
After resolving this situation, Lu Yaoyang said to Xia Qingtian, "You can let Erya come over now. It's safe tonight."
"Alright," Xia Qingtian replied, also relieved, and reminded him, "We're landing tomorrow, so you should get some rest."
"Okay," Lu Yaoyang answered and hung up the phone.
When Xia Qingtian called Erya, Di San also came along.
It seemed that the siblings had a bit of an argument, and their faces were both rather sullen.