He Songling was taken to Wutong Bay, but he did not see Zhan Jingting and Qiao Wanwan. Instead, Jiang Dong took him to a room.

"You're staying here. Don't try to run away. This is Wutong Bay. You can't escape. You'll only make things worse for yourself."

Just as Jiang Dong was about to turn and leave, He Songling called out to him, "I want to see Qiao Wanwan."

"It's too late now, my wife is already resting. I will report to her tomorrow, and if she is willing to see you, you will naturally be able to."

......

The next morning, Qiao Wanwan learned about what had happened the night before.

"He Songling actually went to see Li Xuan." Qiao Wanwan frowned and asked, "Is Li Xuan alright?"

"Don't worry, Madam. Young Master Wen is fine. He used the medicine he asked you for to subdue He Songling and also notified Master Zhan."

“Li Xuan’s mind isn’t complicated; he just wants to make good movies. But that doesn’t mean he’s naive. He definitely has the ability to protect himself.” Qiao Wanwan put down her chopsticks. “Take me to see He Songling.”

He Songling was confined to the backyard where the bodyguards lived, with bodyguards guarding the door and windows.

When he saw Qiao Wanwan, he was very calm and showed no anger. He calmly said, "I thought about it all night and I can roughly guess what Zhan Jingting is thinking."

"What are you thinking?"

“Last night, Zhan Jingting asked Jiang Dong to bring me to Wutong Bay in a very polite manner. This will give him the wrong impression that I have already revealed his identity. In this way, there will be no point in him hiding it, and he will make his move more quickly.”

Qiao Wanwan sat down on the sofa. "I didn't ask, but your guess is not unreasonable. My husband certainly wouldn't do anything in vain."

He Songling smiled faintly, "Then you'd better catch him as soon as possible, or I'll die at his hands along with you."

"So you still don't want to reveal his identity, is that right?"

“Of course, I made it very clear to Wen Lixuan last night that even if I don’t continue to help him, I will not betray him.”

"Um."

Qiao Wanwan didn't say much, and got up to leave.

"Wait a minute!" He Songling called out to her, "How is Xu Lai?"

Qiao Wanwan smiled and said, "Although I didn't ask my husband about what happened last night, I wanted to go all out. Since I wanted the mastermind to think that you had switched sides, I would naturally bring Xu Lai to reunite with you and leave the two of you in Wutong Bay to 'protect' you properly."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Dong came in and reported, "Madam, Xu Lai has arrived."

He Songling immediately stood up and looked nervously toward the door.

Xu Lai was quickly brought in, her thin, oval face filled with apprehension.

The moment she saw He Songling, tears welled up uncontrollably.

"Miss Xu, are you alright?" Qiao Wanwan stepped forward and asked. "Did my men hurt you?"

Xu Lai gently shook her head, "No, they just locked me up, but I didn't know that it was your people, Madam Zhan, who took me away..."

"How could she be alright!" He Songling exclaimed angrily. "Look how much weight she's lost!"

"I'm really fine," Xu Lai explained. "I just don't have much of an appetite, so I can't eat anything, which is why I've lost weight."

"You have no appetite because you're scared. How could you possibly have an appetite when you've been arrested and locked up for no reason!"

Qiao Wanwan's expression turned slightly cold as she turned to look at He Songling. "What do you mean by 'for no reason'? If she hadn't gotten involved with you, would so many things have happened to her?"

He Songling was taken aback and looked at Xu Lai, who was silently shedding tears.

Qiao Wanwan turned and left, instructing Jiang Dong at the door, "Arrange for Xu Lai to stay in the room next door."

"Yes, Madam, rest assured. Master Zhan said that they will be left in Wutong Bay and will not be harmed for the time being."

"Um."

The bodyguard closed the door, leaving only He Songling and Xu Lai in the room.

He Songling walked up to her, wanting to raise his hand to touch her face, but he stopped himself and slowly lowered his hand, asking, "It's good that you're not hurt. You're alright now. Don't be afraid."

Xu Lai nodded gently, her voice trembling with tears, "On my way here, I heard from them that you've been looking for me all this time. Thank you..."

"It's only right. Qiao Wanwan was right; you're in this situation because of me. I'm sorry..."

Xu Lai looked up at him, wanting to say something, but swallowed the words back down.

"Lai Lai!" He Songling finally couldn't hold back anymore and reached out to grasp her shoulders. "I want to apologize to you. I broke up with you before because I wanted to protect your safety. Originally, I thought that after everything was over, I would explain things to you and we would run away together. But I failed to protect you. So I thought that rather than protecting you in secret and enduring the pain of being separated from you, it would be better to be by your side openly."

With tears streaming down her face, Xu Lai said, "These past few days, I've been locked up, not knowing when they would kill me. I've thought about many things. I asked myself, if I were to die like this, would I have any regrets?"

"The answer is yes, I'm not married yet, and I don't have a lovely child yet. I'm filled with regret." Xu Lai cried even harder. "I admit, I'm not as carefree as I thought. I can't let you go, I can't forget you, I can't stop thinking about you. Every day I'm waiting for you to come and save me. I'm in so much pain..."

He Songling hugged her tightly, "I'm so sorry, Lai Lai, I'm so sorry... I promise you, I will protect you from now on, and I will never be separated from you again..."

Xu Lai broke down in tears in his arms, and it took her a while to calm down before she slowly let go of him.

He Songling looked down at her and reached out to wipe away her tears. "Don't cry, okay?"

Xu Lai stopped crying and said, "Let's each take a step back. I won't hold your past actions against you, nor will I force you to accept legal punishment, but you must promise me one thing."

He Songling frowned slightly. "You want me to help Qiao Wanwan catch that person, is that right?"

“Yes, you can’t make the same mistake again,” Xu Lai choked out. “Only if you turn back will Zhan Jingting possibly let us go, and only then will we have a chance to run away, right? I beg you, for my sake, for our future, please don’t be so stubborn anymore, okay?”

“But Lai Lai, do you know that my life was given to me by Lin Mo? If I betray that person, it’s the same as betraying Lin Mo.” He Songling said in a deep voice, “If I can break even this basic principle, if I can betray even my benefactor, then do you think I’m still a man you can entrust your life to? Would you still dare to marry me? Aren’t you afraid that one day I might easily betray you?”

Xu Lai paused slightly, but still insisted, "But have you considered that you've done so many wrong things, including kidnapping Zhan Jingting and his child? Just for that alone, not only Zhan Jingting, but even Madam Zhan would never let you off the hook..."