The Favored Heiress
Chapter 216: Punishing Duan Yixuan

Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Punishing Duan Yixuan

As for the reason she again surged to the top of the trending searches, it was because someone recognized Li Qiao, identifying her as the stunning girl from the bowling alley.

Just like that, in merely an hour, the topic #UnspeakableIncidentBeautyBackground# climbed back to the top of the hot list.

At this moment, Li Qiao, leaning against the car door with one hand in her pocket, raised her eyebrows and teased Shang Yu on the phone, "Maybe... I should wear a mask when I go out?"

There was a second of silence on the phone, the man’s voice warm and deep with a restrained smile, "Hmm, that’s one solution."

Li Qiao raised her hand to touch her eyebrow, even picturing Shang Yu’s current expression of lazy nonchalance.

Without prolonged chatter, they ended the conversation quickly.

After putting away her phone, Li Qiao looked back at Duan Yixuan and sighed in a tone that was neither light nor heavy, "To say you are incredibly foolish would be no insult to those words."

"Li Qiao, mind your words when you speak to me. I am your cousin; I..."

Duan Yixuan said with a cold face, the posture of her arms crossed over her chest carrying a bit of a scolding tone.

Li Qiao, growing impatient, took a step forward, slightly leaned in, and locked her clear-cut eyes onto Duan Yixuan, "Guess, if you weren’t my cousin, could you still be standing and talking to me right now?"

This kind of familial relationship really was frustrating.

After all, she was her uncle’s daughter, her grandfather’s eldest granddaughter; it’s not like she could just shoot her.

At that moment, Duan Yixuan was startled by Li Qiao’s gaze; she subconsciously stepped back, warily creating some distance.

On the riverside road that night, she saw from her own car, crystal clear, the scene of Li Qiao beating someone up.

Not just her, all four members of her family saw it.

A girl causing trouble and violence in the street like a thug.

Of course, Duan Yixuan was not stupid and knew very well that Li Qiao was skilled in fighting; she would not think of directly confronting her.

Consequently, with her self-presumed wisdom, she stepped back two steps, establishing a safe distance, her phoenix eyes filled with disdain for Li Qiao, she scoffed, "Hmph, what do you want to do by saying those words? Hit me?

Li Qiao, don’t forget that grandpa is still in the hospital. If you dare touch me, I will definitely complain to him.

Why don’t you guess if he will get so angry that his blood pressure rises again?"

Duan Yixuan did have a bit of cunning, indeed knowing how to use their grandpa to suppress Li Qiao.

But that was all.

At this point, agitation tainted Li Qiao’s eyes as she leaned against the car door, her tone neither salty nor bland, "Since you know grandpa is in the hospital, why don’t you keep quiet? Do you need me to remind you how he fainted from anger?"

"What, what do you mean?" Duan Yixuan’s eyes began to flicker with confusion.

Li Qiao slowly unfurrowed her brows, inching closer to Duan Yixuan, "Ripping up the Scripture Paper I gave to grandpa and then pouring the Dragon Pattern Ink down the drain, you think you did it without anyone noticing?"

Duan Yixuan’s face turned panicked, her neck stiffening in denial, "You’re talking nonsense."

"You couldn’t destroy the ink stone, and you couldn’t break the brush, so you took advantage of grandpa’s absence and secretly destroyed the other two unique items. Duan Yixuan, what am I to say about such childish acts?"

Li Qiao continued to step forward, her tone as if commenting on the weather, yet it sent chills down Duan Yixuan’s spine as she kept retreating.

After saying so much, Li Qiao’s patience had also run out.

As Duan Yixuan’s back hit the wall, Li Qiao raised her hand to pat her face, "Cousin, I’m not laying a hand on you today, not because I can’t, but because I’m giving you one last chance.

If you have any brains, you won’t provoke me again. After all, you’ve seen videos of me fighting. If one day I’m not in a good mood, and I randomly strike you a few times, do you think you could take it?"

"Don’t try to pressure me with our grandfather’s status either. If there really was a conflict between us, do you think he would side with you or with me? Self-awareness is something I hope you’ll come to understand in the future."

Duan Yixuan was frightened.

The way Li Qiao patted her face was especially unnerving—it wasn’t forceful, yet it felt as if her entire face had been set ablaze.

Contemptuous, indifferent, imperious.

She felt humiliated, as if Li Qiao was stepping on her.

Duan Yixuan’s breathing became rapid, her eyes reddening with anger and fear.

She hated Li Qiao so deeply that she would go to any length to oppose her, though it was like a moth to a flame.

Therefore, Duan Yixuan made the biggest mistake of her life. She suddenly pushed Li Qiao’s shoulders away and swung her arm to slap her across the face, screaming shrilly, "Li Qiao, have I been too nice to you—"

Li Qiao silently sighed, still as unteachable as ever.

It didn’t matter that Duan Yixuan was shorter than Li Qiao; even the strongest of men seemed insignificant before her.

The arm that swung at her was easily intercepted by Li Qiao, and with a slight force, Duan Yixuan let out a piercing scream.

Then, Li Qiao let go of her arm, and Duan Yixuan staggered, nearly hitting her forehead against the wall.

The next second, a hand pressed on the back of Duan Yixuan’s head, forcing her cheek to have an intimate encounter with the wall.

Li Qiao maintained her pose with one hand in her pocket as she pushed down on Duan Yixuan, leaned forward, looking almost amused, "Cousin, do you want to keep fighting?"

Panicked, Duan Yixuan tried to push against the wall to rise, but the hand on the back of her head was like a thousand pounds, her struggles to break free futile.

She was the little princess of the Duan Family. Even if she wasn’t as beautiful as Li Qiao, she always held herself in high regard.

Yet here she was, standing at the entrance of the drawing room for the social elites, her face pressed against the wall by her cousin—an utter trampling of both her pride and dignity.

"Li Qiao, you dare to hit me; I won’t let this go," Duan Yixuan babbled indistinctly as her face was pressed down, but her bruised ego made her want to cry.

At that moment, Li Qiao sighed softly, her fingers running through the hair at the back of Duan Yixuan’s head and tightening slightly, "Duan Yixuan, it’s okay to target me; whatever you want to do, I’m game.

But don’t be so foolish to think you can stir up trouble online with just a video and try to pressure the South Sea Police Station. Do you think you’re up to that?"

Clearly, every move Duan Yixuan made was within Li Qiao’s control.

Her motives, her calculations—Li Qiao understood it all perfectly.

Duan Yixuan became dazed. Why was it that Li Qiao always seemed to have the upper hand when everyone else was just an ordinary person?

And why did Li Qiao’s brazen words seem so utterly credible?

Before long, Li Qiao grabbed her hair and pressed hard, "I didn’t want to pursue it, but you had to be naughty, so..."

Li Qiao paused, her eyes filled with mischief, "Dragon Pattern Ink, one hundred thousand; Scripture Paper, one hundred and twenty thousand; plus today’s eighty thousand to pull the news. I’ll give you a discount; a total of one million. Pay me back in three days."

"Li Qiao, you..." Duan Yixuan inhaled sharply, her eyes widening with reluctant panic, "You’re dreaming."

Then, she heard Li Qiao casually issue a warning, "Don’t want to pay? Then try and see if I can freeze your family’s accounts and reclaim that money."

Duan Yixuan was in complete turmoil; she knew Li Qiao had the means, for she had a Secretary-General brother who doted on her without limits.

No matter how much she planned and schemed, she never expected Li Qiao to be so ruthless as to demand money from her outright.