One month later, in front of the New World Cinema in Hong Kong.

In the evening, the afterglow of the setting sun gradually enveloped the earth, and the theater officially ushered in the busiest time of the day.

As soon as the neon lights were turned on, the manager directed the staff to hang a huge poster on the window. The poster had photos of Wen Tingli and Yu Peiling standing on each side, with the word “Resistance” written in large letters in the middle.

The handwriting is bright red like blood, as if they were split in half by a sharp blade. What is intriguing is that the expressions of the two female stars are different. It has strong storytelling and viewing value, and attracted countless people to watch as soon as it was hung up.

“Look, the one on the left is Fu Zhenzhen from “The Fair Detective”!”

“What Fu Zhenzhen? That’s Wen Tingli. Fu Zhenzhen is just the name of her character.”

“Yes, yes, Wen Tingli, I really like her drama “Beauty of the South.”

“Hmph, I just don’t like her. She’s too much of an acting talent. I think she’s not as good as Yu Peiling.”

“You’re talking nonsense! Miss Wen is a natural actress. How can a wooden vase like Yu Peiling compare to her?”

“You’re talking nonsense! Yu Peiling has already successfully transformed herself. Didn’t you see her latest movie, Paradise Garden? So many people in the cinema cried when they watched it.”

The theater manager smiled happily and said, “Everyone, please stop arguing. Aren’t these two actresses acting together? Who has better acting skills? You can come to the theater to watch it yourself and find out.”

Wen Tingli sat in the hotel lobby opposite the theater, watching the scene quietly.

Next to her sat little Philip.

In just over 20 minutes, the poster was packed with people. Little Philip saw it and couldn’t help but smile: “Ms. Wen’s poster design is really wonderful. The movie has attracted so much attention and discussion before it is released. It seems that we don’t have to worry about the box office in the future. I can finally put my heart at ease.”

Wen Tingli put her sunglasses back on her nose and said with a smile, “Mr. Philip’s Chinese is getting better and better.”

“I can’t compare to how fast Miss Wen learned Cantonese. What I admire most about Miss Wen is that you know how to adapt to the environment better than most people. The reason why smart people are smart is precisely because of this. We humans are social animals after all.”

Wen Tingli didn’t respond, she just looked out the window absentmindedly.

“Miss Wen, are you waiting for someone?” Little Philip looked at his watch. “Please sit down. Otherwise, I will go back to the factory first.”

As soon as little Philip left, Wen Tingli’s face darkened. She looked at the time and it was already six o’clock. She couldn’t wait to ask the waiter for that day’s evening paper and began to read it intently.

I don’t miss any corner and even read the advertisements twice before I give up.

There was news from an acquaintance in the newspaper today. In a very eye-catching place, it said, “Mr. Qiao Xingchu, a descendant of a long-established textile family in Shanghai, officially announced his divorce from his wife, Ms. Bai Liyun.”

Wen Tingli had heard about this a long time ago. As to the reason for their divorce, there was much discussion in the outside world and no consensus was reached.

The newspaper came to the conclusion directly: “The biggest trigger was that the Qiao family was already on the decline, and the Bai family did not want to go down with this ‘broken ship’, so they wanted to break up early.”

Wen Tingli flipped through the newspaper indifferently. She didn’t care about this. She only cared about the situation in Shanghai.

Others didn’t know, but she knew that Lu Shicheng would come to see her safely. These days, she anonymously published the same advertisement day after day in some of the most widely circulated newspapers in Hong Kong.

[I will wait for you at the Gloucester Hotel in Hong Kong every evening, from six to ten o’clock, rain or shine – Little Orange.]

This was a secret that belonged only to the two of them, and even Kuang Zhilin was kept in the dark. Today, she came here again on time to wait, watching the sunset sinking slowly, and the light in her eyes dimmed little by little.

Looks like I’m going to be disappointed again tonight.

She was stirring her coffee with a spoon dejectedly. Suddenly, a shadow was cast in front of the table and someone stood opposite her.

Wen Tingli raised her eyes slowly. The man’s watch and clothes were quite exquisite. He was clearly a young man from a wealthy family.

This made her heart skip a beat and she looked up quickly, but was immediately disappointed because it was not Lu Shicheng.

She also knew this person, Qiao Xingchu.

She remembered the news in the newspaper just now. It said that after the divorce, Bai Liyun went to Chongqing alone to set up a factory.

This ending made her look at Bai Liyun with new eyes.

Qiao Xingchu pointed to the chair opposite her: “Can I sit here?”

Wen Tingli casually made a “please” gesture.

A few years passed, and the name Qiao Xingchu no longer meant anything to her. Now the way she looked at him was as indifferent as if she had accidentally bumped into a neighbor on the street.

The emotions in Qiao Xingchu’s eyes were much more complicated. He sat down and ordered himself a cup of coffee, but did not drink it. He just stared at the poster of the cinema opposite. To be precise, he was looking at her on the poster.

Things are different now. She is no longer the little girl who ran away from the Qiao Mansion in a mess. Her success is so dazzling that even those who don’t want her to live a good life have to admit it.

In today’s world, it is extremely difficult to achieve this. As a rich kid with all the advantages, he knows this very well.

He wanted to sincerely say “congratulations” to her, but he couldn’t open his mouth.

He was ashamed.

When he thought about how the Qiao family had driven her into a desperate situation, he felt heartbroken. He was one of the accomplices. If she had been a little weaker, she might have been buried in the ruthless iron hand of society. This reunion was definitely not what he wanted. He wanted to remain silent, but he spoke for some reason. “I’m divorced.”

Wen Tingli didn’t react. He understood from her eyes that it was none of his business, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

In just two years, everything had changed. His first love, the glory days of their Qiao family, his marriage, none of them could be returned.

There was a melancholy atmosphere in the air, and even Wen Tingli could feel it. The two of them were thinking about their own things, and they were both staring at the crowd under the night lights with a melancholy look.

This is the good thing about the south: no matter how late it is, the streets are never deserted. However, this bustle is not a kind of spiritual comfort to lonely people, but a kind of spiritual stimulation. The more you walk into the bustling crowd, the stronger the loneliness becomes.

Like now, there was laughter all around, but their table was the only one in complete silence, as if there was an invisible wall separating the two of them from the lively atmosphere around them, and they couldn’t fit in.

After a silence that seemed to last for a century, Qiao Xingchu finally turned his gaze back to her face: “Take care.”

he’s gone.

Wen Tingli raised her coffee cup and took a sip facing his back. It’s not that she didn’t feel emotional. After all, he was a man who had stayed in her life for a short time. It’s just that that time had become so blurry in her mind that naturally it didn’t stir up any emotion.

Take this sip of coffee as a commemoration of your youthful self.

Just as I put down the cup, a shadow fell on the table and someone else came.

Wen Tingli looked up suddenly.

Meng Qiguang.

Hey, what day is today?

Meng Qiguang pulled out a chair and sat down at the table opposite her.

This is the difference between him and Qiao Xingchu, he is much more domineering.

“What a coincidence.”

Meng Qiguang waved to the waiter to come over and ordered a cup of tea.

“Waiting for someone?”

Wen Tingli said “hmm”.

Meng Qiguang did not ask her who she was waiting for, but looked at her solemnly across the table.

Wen Tingli couldn’t ignore this slightly aggressive gaze.

“Is Mr. Meng passing through Hong Kong, or does he plan to settle here?”

“I’m here to find someone.”

Find someone?

“Shanghai fell, and I didn’t want to live in the French Concession, so I prepared to go to the United States.”

Facing Wen Tingli’s slightly surprised look, his tone became more casual: “I have never had any principles. I was born an adventurer. I will go wherever there is a good opportunity.”

Yes, this is consistent with his usual style. He is a thorough speculator. No matter what kind of world he is in, he will not let himself live a bad life.

“But…” He looked at her meaningfully, “If I find the person I’m looking for in Hong Kong, I don’t have to leave.”

Wen Tingli did not respond, but changed the subject: “How is Baoxin doing recently? I just changed my address recently, and I haven’t had time to write to her or contact her.”

“Very good.” Meng Qiguang looked out the window nonchalantly. “I have adapted well to school. I even successfully applied for a scholarship this semester. However, since I have lost contact with my family, I have not been well off financially. I can only afford two meals a day: bread and milk in the morning, and milk and bread in the evening.”

Wen Tingli couldn’t help laughing.

“She refused to accept help from me and her mother, saying that she wanted to be self-reliant, but she has always been concerned about the war situation in the country and has made up her mind to return to serve the country as soon as she graduates. By the way, you should know that her name is no longer Qiao Baoxin now.”

“Well, her new name is Jiang Ming.”

Bao Xin also told her that after returning to China, she would never set foot in the Qiao family’s door again. Bao Xin ran away from home very thoroughly.

In fact, everyone has changed in the past two years. Some have changed their appearance, some have expanded their territory, and some have lost their glory. Bao Xin is one of the ones who has changed the most. From her name to her personality, she has said goodbye to her past self. As a good friend, she is sincerely proud of Jiang Ming now.

However, when she mentioned Baoxin, she couldn’t help but think of the people and things in Shanghai.

“I just found out that Sister Qinfang went to Chongqing. She left in a hurry and didn’t say goodbye to her properly. I am very concerned about her recent situation and have been waiting for her to contact me.”

“Yes, Miss Dong brought all the staff of Xinxin Department Store to Chongqing, planning to build a new Xinxin Department Store there.”

“Bring the entire staff?”

“To be exact, a large group of people, including the family members of the employees, fled from Shanghai in a mighty manner. Miss Dong claimed that as long as she had a meal to eat, she would never mistreat her old employees.”

Wen Tingli smiled and sighed: “Sister Qinfang is really courageous.”

“Everyone has an ending.” Meng Qiguang turned his gaze to her again, “What about you?”

Wen Tingli said nothing.

Meng Qiguang glanced at the pile of newspapers beside her: “Still no news about Lu Shicheng?”

The coffee in the cup was empty. Wen Tingli waved to order another cup. Meng Qiguang watched her slowly sip the light brown liquid and smiled: “Have you been waiting here every night these days?”

Wen Tingli remained silent.

“Have you ever thought that if Lu Shicheng was still alive, he would have come to find you long ago. You are such a smart person, why don’t you accept the reality?”

Wen Tingli showed a slightly annoyed look: “Reality, what is reality?!”

Meng Qiguang stopped talking and stared at the tea in front of him. He changed his usual cynical attitude and showed a rare seriousness on his face. After a moment, he shook his head in self-mockery: “Why should I persuade you? Haven’t I been waiting for someone myself?”

He was silent for a long time, took out a box from his jacket pocket and put it on the table, “I have been looking for it for almost two years, but I have found nothing so far. If I meet this person one day, her words can decide whether I stay in Hong Kong or go to the United States.”

The lid of the box was opened, revealing an enormous diamond ring.

“Unfortunately, my friend was prejudiced against me from the beginning and always suspected that I was not sincere to her. She didn’t know that people change. Just because I didn’t take it seriously at the beginning doesn’t mean I won’t take it seriously later. If I have the chance one day, I will tell her in person: I like her. This liking is not mixed with anything else now, it’s just for her. If she is willing to accept me, I will make her the happiest woman in the world.”

After saying this, he slowly raised his eyes and looked at Wen Tingli, his gaze so deep that it seemed as if he could see into Wen Tingli’s heart.

“Ms. Wen, do you think I can find this person?” he asked her with a double meaning.

Wen Tingli looked at the ring indifferently. The bright light was truly breathtaking.

For Meng Qiguang, this was undoubtedly the most sincere confession.

But her heart was calm.

“No, I think Mr. Meng hasn’t found the right person yet.” She shook her head at Meng Qiguang and said in the same sincere tone, “Perhaps you and your friend are not as suitable as you think. There may even be areas where your views will always be incompatible, which has led to her never considering accepting your feelings. Instead of waiting in vain, you might as well find another person who is truly compatible with you as soon as possible.”

Smart people never need to make their words too clear. Meng Qiguang was silent for a moment, and moved his eyes to the window. Wen Tingli in the theater poster seemed to be smiling at him. One was the real her opposite, and the other was her in the picture. One was inside the glass window, and the other was outside the glass window. It was both real and fake, like a dream.

He smiled bitterly in his heart. Everything in the world was just a beautiful dream. As a guest in a dream, why should he take it too seriously? He chuckled, “You advised me not to be too persistent. How long do you plan to wait here? Three months? One year? Two years? If you still can’t wait for Lu Shicheng in the end, will you regret being with him in the first place? He only stayed with you for such a short period of time.”

“No, if that day really comes, I will just be glad that I had such a wonderful time with him. I will carry this precious memory with me and live well and attentively.”

Meng Qiguang suddenly came to his senses. Her character was so different from his. To her, life was like a journey without caring about gains and losses. No matter what happened along the way, it was a landscape in her eyes. She would draw nourishment from every good and bad thing and then move on.

Everyone said that Meng Qiguang lived a carefree life, but looking at it this way, was he ever really carefree? Perhaps what she said was true, the two of them were not the same kind of people from the beginning to the end.

He looked at his own face reflected in the glass with a hint of sarcasm. It was time to leave for America. He was alone and had nothing to miss. He took money out of his trouser pocket to pay the bill, but when he was about to get up, he stopped and said, “I will stay in Hong Kong for a while. If you need any help, you can always contact me.”

Wen Tingli silently watched his back as he walked away. He would never say to her directly, “Wen Tingli, I like you.”

Even when expressing his feelings, this man was reserved and knew how to leave a way out for himself, so that even if she rejected him in person, he could still retain his dignity. She sighed slightly, he was still too shrewd and knew how to protect himself, and a woman would never feel relaxed from the bottom of her heart when she was with him.

Maybe she was too picky, she thought introspectively, after all, after being loved by a man like Lu Shicheng, a slightly inferior love could no longer satisfy her heart. At this time, someone pushed the door open and brought in a gust of night wind, which was very refreshing and inexplicably reminded her of the spring nights in Shanghai. Suddenly, she missed Lu Shicheng deeply.

In Shanghai, there were countless nights like this, when she and Lu Shicheng ate, laughed, and talked together. They talked about everything, kissed, and hugged…

Those memorable days and nights.

Loneliness struck her heart again. Another person came over. But before Wen Tingli could look up again with expectation, she heard the waiter politely say, “Miss, our teahouse is about to close.”

It turned out that she had sat there until ten o’clock without realizing it.

Wen Tingli walked onto the street. The neon lights were flickering and there were quite a few pedestrians on the street. They were all coming to the theater to watch a movie.

She was wearing sunglasses and a hat, so she didn’t have to worry about being recognized. She walked alone, her thoughts drifting far away unconsciously. Someone was selling something next to her, but she didn’t pay attention. She never expected someone to catch up with her and a bouquet of flowers was handed to her from the side.

This familiar scene made Wen Tingli’s mind go blank for a moment. She turned around hurriedly, but it was a flower girl.

“Miss, do you want to buy flowers?”

Wen Tingli felt lost. Of course it couldn’t be him. In such a vast crowd of people, could she really expect Lu Shicheng to recognize her on the street?

She took the bouquet of flowers disappointedly, gave the flower girl some money, turned around and continued to walk forward, but the flower girl caught up with her again. Wen Tingli smiled helplessly: “Little brother, I have already bought your flowers before.”

The flower girl stuffed a bunch of flowers into her arms without giving her any explanation, panting and saying, “Sister, are you called Little Orange? The gentleman behind me asked me to give you these flowers. He said his shoulder was injured and he couldn’t run fast for the time being. He was afraid that you would run away, so he asked me to catch up with you as soon as possible.”

Wen Tingli turned back blankly and saw the tall figure at a glance. Under the neon lights, the person was as beautiful as an illusion. No, it was not an illusion, because the shadow was moving towards her with difficulty.

Wen Tingli’s eyelashes suddenly filled with tears.

The bouquet in her hand fell to the ground with a “pop” and she ran towards him as fast as she could, fearing that she wouldn’t be able to run fast enough.

She was much faster than him, but he refused to stay where he was. Instead, he tried to get closer to her little by little, as if even with such a short distance, he was worried that the two of them would be separated by the crowd.

Her vision was blurred by tears, but she dared not blink. Finally, as they got closer and closer, he stopped and opened his arms wide to her. She rushed up to him like the wind and hugged him tightly.

***
In the room, Wen Tingli hugged Lu Shicheng tightly, refusing to let go or blink.

This was a mansion on the mountain that the Lu family bought many years ago. Over the years, only a few old servants of the Lu family were left to guard the house. When Lu Shicheng came back, the stewards felt like they had survived a disaster, and the whole building was in a frenzy.

They soon discovered that Lu Shicheng had a gunshot wound in his shoulder. The steward brought someone to get a small bed and carried Lu Shicheng to the bedroom on the second floor. Although it was inconvenient to go upstairs, Lu Shicheng refused to let go of Wen Tingli’s hand. Wen Tingli felt sympathetic and stayed close to him all the way up the stairs.

After everyone left, she trembled and looked at the wound she had already seen on the road. When Lu Shicheng wanted to prop up his upper body, she immediately leaned over and hugged his shoulders: “Don’t move, tell me what happened that night.”

As she spoke, her hot tears fell on his forehead. He was no better than her. He repeatedly touched her cheek with his hand to confirm that he had returned to her side.

Let’s talk about this story again.

They had told it twice on the way, but Wen Tingli seemed to have not heard enough. After surviving the disaster, both of them felt as if they had been bombed by planes. Only by constantly listening to each other’s voices could they feel it was real.

Regarding the whole plan, the two people had actually reached a consensus long ago: spare Qiu Lingyun’s life, lure Lu Kejian into a trap, and completely destroy the pharmaceutical factory – but she really didn’t expect that Lu Shicheng would lead Qiu Lingyun to Dasheng Pharmaceutical Factory that night. The Japanese probably still think that it was “Lu Shicheng” who died together with the Japanese that night.

He lowered his head and kissed her fingertips, patiently repeating the story: “You know, in August, I found out that Lu Kejian was colluding with the Japanese—”

Lu Kejian had gone crazy and made a promise to those Japanese army officers that as long as they helped him eliminate Lu Shicheng, he would hand over all of the Lu family’s businesses in Shanghai to these Japanese so that they could report the credit to their superiors.

In Lu Kejian’s view, this was an extremely cost-effective deal, because the industries in Shanghai were only a small part of the Lu family. By handing them over to the Japanese, he could still return to Southeast Asia and call the shots.

Lu Shicheng could neither allow his third uncle to get involved in Dasheng Pharmaceutical Factory, nor could he leave his mother’s hard work to the Japanese. It was even more unrealistic to destroy it in advance. During the war, the output of this pharmaceutical factory overnight could help many injured soldiers on the front line.

Only when the front line can no longer hold out can we implement our plan.

He had never even thought of asking his men to stay and help complete this step. If the plan failed, these men would surely die at the hands of the Japanese. This was his own obsession, and it was related to the personal grudge between him and Lu Kejian. There was no reason to let irrelevant people be buried with him.

So he decided to do it himself early on.

Buy explosives, set up secret passages, acquire old cars and new identities…

He carried out his plan in an orderly manner.

He deliberately spread the news to Lu Kejian, making them think that he planned to leave Shanghai secretly at night and would destroy thousands of machines in the factory before leaving.

Several Japanese officers had been coveting the Dasheng Pharmaceutical Factory for a long time, and sure enough, they took action that night.

As for Qiu Lingyun, he was left behind that day just to deal with Lu Kejian.

When Qiu Lingyun woke up, he found that there were only a few brothers from the White Dragon Gang around him. He mistakenly thought that he was lucky enough to survive. Under the care and instigation of several “elders” from the White Dragon Gang around him, Qiu Lingyun not only continued to hate him and Wen Tingli, but also developed a strong hatred for Lu Kejian – if Lu Kejian had not watched his father die that day, his father might not have died so miserably.

After everything was arranged, Lu Shicheng had someone lead Qiu Lingyun to the vicinity of Dasheng Pharmaceutical Factory. Qiu Lingyun thought that there would be a negotiation between the uncle and nephew that night, so he brought a pistol with him. On the one hand, he was ready to kill them both at the right time, and on the other hand, he was ready to use this as a bargaining chip to return to the White Dragon Gang as the leader. However, he was knocked unconscious by Lu Shicheng on the way. Then, Lu Shicheng changed Qiu Lingyun’s clothes and watch, tied him up and threw him into the trunk.

As for the ring, he was reluctant to take it off and put it on Qiu Lingyun’s hand. Secondly, he also wanted to tell Wen Tingli in this way: everything was going as planned and he would come to see her soon.

He knew that the area around Dasheng Pharmaceutical Factory was full of spies, so that night, he deliberately drove into the factory alone to lure Lu Kejian to act quickly.

He bet that Lu Kejian would definitely come. His third uncle not only wanted to take back the family property, but also wanted him to die. It was a rare opportunity for him to be alone, so he was willing to take the risk and give it a try even though he knew there was a trap.

He was right, Lu Kejian arrived very quickly.

As soon as he entered the factory, he parked the car in a secret passage behind the bushes, and transported Qiu Lingyun from the secret passage to the office on the third floor according to the pre-designed route. He helped Qiu Lingyun sit at the desk in front of the window, fed Qiu Lingyun a pill of potassium cyanide, turned on the office lights, lit a fire, and threw some unimportant waste paper into it to burn.

This is the most important link.

There were three explosives buried in the factory: one in the elevator, one in the production workshop, and the most important one was buried in the corridor outside his office. In order to lure Lu Kejian upstairs, he had to make it look like he was still in the office destroying important documents of the Lu family.

Then he came out of the office, went downstairs through the secret passage as quickly as possible, left the Rolls-Royce he usually drove in the factory to continue to confuse them, climbed over the wall from the backyard, walked more than a mile, and found an old car he had prepared in advance on the side of the road.

After getting in the car, Lu Shicheng was not in a hurry to leave, but sat in the car and waited quietly.

He had forgotten what he was thinking at that moment. He only knew that his whole body was as tense as a fully drawn bowstring, his throat was tight, his eyes were sharp as knives, like a hunting leopard, waiting for the moment of hunting to come.

About ten minutes later, a loud bang was heard from behind.

He felt relieved and slumped over the steering wheel as if exhausted. It was not until this moment that cold sweat began to drip from his forehead.

Without having time to calm his rapid breathing and heartbeat, he drove out of Zhabei as fast as he could, and then left Shanghai overnight as planned. But the trouble was that he was already a “dead man” and could no longer mobilize troops in the name of Lu Shicheng.

What’s more troublesome is that he even had to keep it a secret from Kuang Zhilin, because this round not only successfully eliminated Lu Kejian, but also killed four Japanese officers as he wished.

Although the Japanese side had doubts, Lu Shicheng’s “corpse” was found at the fire scene after all. Now everyone believes that the tragedy was caused by the uncle and nephew’s struggle for power. The Lu family suddenly lost its head, so the Lu family’s behavior should be “reasonable.”

Once Uncle Kuang doesn’t act sad enough, or if the Japanese find out that Uncle Kuang has a secret connection with him, they will quickly figure out what’s going on, and by then, both he and Uncle Kuang will be entangled by the Japanese.

He also did not let Zhou Wei and others follow him south. In such a complicated situation, the Lu family was like a piece of “fat meat” coveted by all parties. In the face of huge interests and threats, everyone might sell out their conscience.

Since things had to be done in secret, he had to be cautious and careful.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly afterwards. After a little disguise, he quickly boarded a ship to Wuhan.

After arriving in Wuhan, he was worried that Wen Tingli would do something risky, so he had to go to the post office to send her a telegram. The city of Wuhan was in a panic at that time, and the telegram was intercepted. Soon someone came to the hotel to assassinate him.

Although she had heard it twice, Wen Tingli’s heart tightened again when she heard this: “Is it the Japanese? Or was it sent by Chongqing?”

Lu Shicheng leaned against the headboard and said with a wry smile, “It could be anyone. My telegram was vague and I used a pseudonym, which is very suspicious. Maybe they suspect I’m a Japanese spy, or maybe they think I’m a traitor in their group…”

In short, he had no identity and could not defend himself. If he fought back with a gun, it would only confirm his suspicion. In short, he escaped successfully after many twists and turns. He was safe, but he was shot in the shoulder. The wound had been bleeding ever since. If he traveled with the injury, it would be too conspicuous, so he had to stay in Wuhan for a while.

“If it weren’t for this incident, I would have come to Hong Kong to meet you long ago. Why would I have kept you worried for so long?”

Although he spoke in a light tone, Wen Tingli felt extremely distressed. Along the way, whether it was getting out of Shanghai overnight after blowing up the pharmaceutical factory, or trying to escape from the team that was assassinating him in Wuhan, every step required him to concentrate all his energy, and if he was not careful, he would die without a complete body.

She started crying again.

It is so difficult to survive in this chaotic world.

Lu Shicheng pretended to be relaxed and kissed her tears: “This is what it means to survive a great disaster and have good fortune in the future.”

But the more he kissed, the more tears came, and he suddenly let out a hiss.

She really stopped crying and looked at his wound anxiously: “Does it hurt again?”

At this moment, she didn’t care about anything else. She hurriedly unbuttoned his shirt and took a look. It was not as simple as he said. The wound was obviously not healed yet. “Why hasn’t the doctor come yet? I’ll go and ask him.”

He grabbed her hand and said, “When it’s time, it will come naturally. You haven’t told me yet, how are you doing in Hong Kong these days? Where are Xiao Taozi and Mrs. Zhou?”

“They are in Kowloon Tong. Sister Huang and I rented a factory building there. The front is used as a studio and office building, and the back is used as a staff dormitory. Now the whole family lives there temporarily. We have just finished reshooting the remaining parts of “Defiance”, and it will be released soon. How did you know that I was also at the Gloucester Hotel tonight and saw the newspaper?”

“Yeah.” He looked at her with a smile.

Never make a mistake again.

That was a unique code known only to the two of them.

She finally smiled with relief. Now she really believed that he was back. Joy filled her heart. She gently put her head on his chest and said, “I knew you would come to find me. My Mr. Lu never breaks his promise.”

Lu Shicheng rested his chin on the top of her head and suddenly said, “Wen Tingli, let’s get married.”

Kuang Zhilin was picked up here early that morning. On the day he left Wuhan, Lu Shicheng found a way to pass a secret message to Kuang Zhilin. Kuang Zhilin secretly arranged everything and rushed to Hong Kong to meet Lu Shicheng.

Seeing Kuang Zhilin’s haggard look, Lu Shicheng felt indescribably guilty: “Uncle Kuang, I’m sorry.”

Kuang Zhilin’s eyes filled with tears: “Don’t say anything, this is a last resort. Anyway… I just hope you are safe.”

Wen Tingli was overwhelmed with grief. Nowadays, when people meet, they always say “I’m glad you’re okay” to comfort themselves. For relatives and friends, “I’m glad you’re okay” is indeed better than anything else. With red eyes, she went forward and hugged Kuang Zhilin: “Uncle Kuang.”

Lu Shicheng was stunned for a moment, then she smiled happily. This was the first time she followed him in calling Kuang Zhilin “Uncle Kuang”, but it was so natural and intimate. It was obvious that in her heart, she had already regarded Kuang Zhilin as her own relative.

Kuang Zhilin’s eyes got redder. He nodded and responded from behind Wen Tingli’s shoulder. After letting go, he looked at her, then at Lu Shicheng, and said with deep emotion, “I remember the first time I met Xiao Wen, it was backstage at the Golden Theater. It’s been so long, Xiao Wen is no longer the same Xiao Wen, and Shanghai is no longer the same Shanghai.”

The three of them were heartbroken. After sitting down, Lu Shicheng, with a lot on his mind, made tea for Kuang Zhilin, while Wen Tingli asked Kuang Zhilin about the battle situation in Shanghai with concern.

The ones she was most worried about were Director Deng and Liu Xiangzhi. Kuang Zhilin thought for a moment and said, “It seems that Cixin Hospital has been temporarily merged with the Red Cross Hospital. During the Battle of Shanghai, the medical staff of Cixin Hospital successfully rescued many of our soldiers. A friend met Director Deng in the hospital that day and said that she was very old, but she still insisted on performing surgeries on the front line of clinical practice. She was energetic and her reactions were more alert than those of young people. Her fearless spirit really made people respect her.”

Wen Tingli listened with a sad face. When she heard Dean Deng’s name, her mood sank again. But when she thought about how the old lady had been faithful to herself all her life, she felt that her worry was really unworthy of Dean Deng’s teachings to her.

She didn’t feel comfortable asking about Liu Xiangzhi any further. Even if she did, Kuang Zhilin wouldn’t have any impression of the head nurse of an internal medicine ward. She thought that Liu Xiangzhi, like Dean Deng, was also fighting to defend his country, which comforted her a little.

She nodded tearfully.

That night, Kuang Zhilin settled down in the back building, and Lu Shicheng sent someone to Kowloon Tong to pick up Zhou Sao and Xiao Taozi. That night, the old Lu family house was unprecedentedly lively. During the war, people seemed to be more considerate and friendly to each other than before. Xiao Taozi felt the happy atmosphere and walked among the adults, laughing all the time.

One morning, the steward brought a newspaper in a hurry. Wen Tingli was talking to Lu Shicheng in the study. As soon as she saw each other’s expressions, she knew it was a big news.

She and Lu Shicheng sat down to watch.

The title read: [The famous patriotic industrialist, Mr. Lu Hongjun of Nanyang Hongye, suffered a great blow due to his young son’s collusion with the Japanese. Unfortunately, his old illness was triggered and he passed away at 3 am tonight.]

This is big news that is enough to shake the entire business community.

The text reads:

“Lu Kejian had been expelled from the family before, but at the insistence of Old Master Lu, the family tree still retained Lu Kejian’s name. I think he planned to wait for the right time to bring his beloved son back into the family… After this incident, the Lu family felt deeply ashamed and unanimously agreed to completely remove the second branch from the family tree to avoid tarnishing the Lu family’s patriotic reputation for many years. As soon as this news came out, the second son Lu Ke’an, who had been paralyzed for many years, suddenly vomited several liters of blood and died on the spot. Old Master Lu was even more ill and died in Nanyang a few days later-“

At the end of the article, the writer said in a scathing tone: “It seems that this newspaper should no longer call this traitor ‘Lu Kejian’. This traitor has been completely exterminated from the clan. There is no ‘Lu Kejian’ in the world anymore, only ‘Anonymous’ – an Anonymous who is hateful, shameful, despicable, and has no moral bottom line.”

Wen Tingli felt extremely happy in her heart. She turned her head quietly to look at Lu Shicheng, and unexpectedly saw a malicious smile on his lips, which made him look like a child who had got what he wanted, but also like a murderous Rakshasa.

At this moment she clearly realized: this was exactly the dark side of Lu Shicheng.

Up to this point in the game, every move of the chess pieces was within his calculations, and his calculations were accurate enough without any surprises.

Lu Shicheng spared no one who had harmed his parents in the past – no matter if they were direct perpetrators or indirect murderers. Not only did he want them to die, he also wanted them to lose the things they valued most and then die in pain.

This method was as cruel as the way they treated his parents.

But she hugged him again without reservation. After going through so many things, she saw through every side of him. No matter the bright side or the dark side, he was still Lu Shicheng. She sympathized, understood, and loved him.

Lu Shicheng had a relieved expression on his face, and he kissed her eyelids silently. She thought he was going to say something, but she didn’t expect that the first sentence he said was: “Wen Tingli, let’s get married.”

He told her this three times almost every day over the next few days.

In the morning, the two of them sat opposite each other at the rattan table in the garden to eat breakfast. She ate her rice cakes and he drank his juice. Suddenly, he put down his glass and said, “Wen Tingli, let’s get married.”

In the evening, they walked hand in hand on the flower-filled mountain path. Wen Tingli saw the orange sunset and felt delighted. She pointed to the sky and chattered excitedly. He said, “Wen Tingli, let’s get married.”

At night, he and she read the newspaper under the moonlight. It was dim, so naturally they couldn’t make out anything. Later on, Wen Tingli simply threw the newspaper aside, held his face and tried to kiss him. He suddenly turned his face away, looked at her and said, “Wen Tingli, let’s get married.”

(End of this chapter)