The Favored Heiress
Chapter 219: It seems like the corner of my mouth is cracked

Chapter 219: Chapter 219: It seems like the corner of my mouth is cracked

For some reason, the dormitory was unusually quiet tonight.

Perhaps because it was Friday, many researchers had gone home.

Li Qiao didn’t bother to think too deeply and strolled leisurely toward her own dorm.

Her dorm was at the end of the second floor, and the headlights’ motion sensors lit up one by one as she passed them.

Until—

At the end by the window, under the light, the sight of that black, proud figure made Li Qiao stop in her tracks as if in a trance.

In her field of vision, Shang Yu stood by the window with his hands in his pockets, staring out at the dense ink of the night sky. The distinct profile of his face seemed slightly tense, and he didn’t look her way, even though he must have heard her footsteps.

Li Qiao’s brows relaxed, and she quickened her pace toward him, her eyes sparkling with brightness. "Master Yan, what brings you here?" she asked.

In a few steps, she was beside him.

The dormitory’s entry light suddenly turning on served as some kind of catalyst. As Shang Yu slowly turned his head, Li Qiao noticed his tightly pressed lips and the unfathomably dark eyes that seemed to be filled with coldness.

Li Qiao’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.

He was angry!

It was almost an instinctual realization; Li Qiao could tell something was off with just one glance.

The man’s complexion was chilly, his eyes brimming with a darkness so thick it couldn’t dissolve, his Adam’s apple bobbed, and his hand captured Li Qiao’s jaw.

He raised his eyebrows, leaned in, and said without a trace of warmth, "Is it a bad time for me to come?"

After a moment of bewilderment, Li Qiao hazarded a guess.

She didn’t struggle; instead, she stepped forward, her cool fingers hooking around Shang Yu’s wrist and raising a light smile. "You can come anytime, let’s go inside and talk, shall we?"

The baby was upset, and she had to coax him.

She could probably guess why Shang Yu was angry and felt a bit regretful. If only she hadn’t gone out to eat with Lian Zhen.

Then, the man’s grip on her chin eased somewhat. After taking a deep breath, he released Li Qiao, turned around, and took a step. His voice was taut to the extreme, "No need."

Was he going to leave?

In the instant Shang Yu brushed past her, Li Qiao swiftly grabbed his wrist with a mix of helplessness and a touch of secret delight.

Was he jealous?

"Boyfriend, I’m quite tired. If there’s something you want to know, let me sit inside and tell you, is that okay?"

The last three words were spoken by Li Qiao with a gentle rise in tone, like a whisper of a soft spring rain, smiling and charming.

Indeed, Shang Yu’s figure came to a halt.

Li Qiao lowered her gaze and curved her lips, pulling him by the wrist toward the door of the dorm, then she entered the passcode, pushed the door, and went inside.

After pulling the man in and turning on the light, the instant she turned to close the door, she was caught off guard and pinned against it.

Li Qiao was pressed against the door, lifting her head only to be met by his cool, domineering lips.

Unlike that night at the Mansion, tonight’s Shang Yu was on the verge of losing control again.

His kisses were fierce, not gentle at all, pressing down on Li Qiao, gripping her chin, trying to take as much as he could from her lips.

Like a strong wind sweeping across the battlefield.

No tenderness, no romance, it was the domineering presence and assertiveness unique to Shang Shaoyan, the South Sea merchant.

Li Qiao was forced to lift her head and receive, yet she didn’t push him away.

A few seconds later, she adjusted her breathing as much as possible to match his.

Perhaps sensing her compliance, Shang Yu’s movements gradually became less forceful, giving Li Qiao a chance to breathe.

After the kiss ended, Li Qiao leaned against the door, gasping for breath against his chest.

If it had lasted a few more seconds, she would have doubted whether she could breathe at all.

The fervent deep kiss felt as if it were going to devour her.

At this moment, the fatigue in Li Qiao’s brows and eyes had vanished, replaced by a flushed and feverish brightness, revealing a touch of tender charm.

Propping herself up with her hands against Shang Yu’s muscular chest, she pursed her sore and numb lips, raised her eyebrows, and looked up at him breathlessly, "Master Yan, I..."

"Who is he? Huh?" The man propped himself up with one hand on the door, tilting up her chin, a blaze kindling in his deep eyes, his tone cold and low, "Can’t bear the thought of him dining alone? Sitting by the window and sharing a laugh with him? Did you not expect that I would come over tonight?"

Shang Yu was truly angry.

The chilling gleam and murderous aura emanating from the depths of his eyes startled Li Qiao.

She even felt that if there really had been something between her and Lian Zhen, it was very likely that Shang Yu would have killed him on the spot.

Li Qiao pursed the corners of her mouth, looking into Shang Yu’s shadowy and fierce eyes, slid her hands around his waist, and hugged him, feeling his rigid body. She tightened her arms, drawing herself closer to him, and teased with a light chuckle, "Master Yan, do you have so little confidence in yourself?"

Shang Yu stared at her silently, his hand gripping Li Qiao’s chin gently lifting it as he pressed down his handsome face, enunciating every word, "Answer my question."

Li Qiao looked him straight in the eye, her gaze honest, and sighed softly before speaking gently, "His name is Lian Zhen, a researcher in the lab. Tonight, we were just walking back to the dormitory together. He said he would buy food for me on the way, and I didn’t want to owe him for no reason, so I followed him into the convenience store."

As she explained, Li Qiao carefully recalled all the images from earlier.

She chatted with Lian Zhen as they walked, hesitated while standing in front of the convenience store watching his figure, and then followed him inside.

To an outsider, all of this might seem mundane, but Shang Yu was different.

With his hidden paranoia and extreme sensitivity, seeing this scene for himself outside the dormitory where he was waiting for her was bound to cause him an imaginable mood.

Now, having heard Li Qiao’s explanation, Shang Yu’s grim expression didn’t soften in the slightest.

His Adam’s apple bobbed constantly, his eyes clouded with a cold mist, icy yet profound, "Do you like him?"

Li Qiao shook her head solemnly, "How could that be."

"Why did you let him buy you dinner?" Shang Yu narrowed his eyes, a sharpness emanating from them, "Is it because the Li Family can’t support you, or can’t I support you?"

Li Qiao: "..."

Look at him, all worked up like this.

With a half-hearted smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, she glanced at him, withdrew her right hand from the small of his back, and slowly slid her fingertips up to tug at the shirt on his chest, "Master Yan, you’ve got it backwards.

It was he who wanted to buy dinner for me, not me asking him to do so. Moreover, this is just normal interaction between colleagues, just like... how I am with Luoyu."

Shang Yu pressed his lips together, saying nothing, but his aura had clearly weakened a bit.

Seeing this, Li Qiao tiptoed closer to his face, pressing her point further, "He’s also a student of the teacher, plus we’re both members of the same team, so it’s just normal communication. Besides, he has a girlfriend. You’re wronging me."

She had previously seen a photo of a beautiful girl in Lian Zhen’s phone album, identified by her distinctive peach blossom eyes.

Li Qiao subconsciously assumed that this girl must be Lian Zhen’s girlfriend.

At that moment, after hearing her words, Shang Yu’s pupils contracted abruptly, his breathing stilled, and he quickly shut his eyes to block out the darkness in them.

After a while, it seemed he had adjusted his mood, opened his eyes, but avoided Li Qiao’s gaze. He reached out for the doorknob, his voice hoarse and barely recognizable, "Since you’re tired, rest early."

The calm man was very aware that he had lost his composure and control tonight.

Some emotions erupted in an instant, recklessly destructive and unreasonable.

Even though he was desperately trying to control and restrain himself, seeing Li Qiao with another man still nearly drove him mad with a violent rage.

Fearing that he would hurt Li Qiao and dreading seeing the disgust in her eyes, he could only leave for the time being.

At that moment, the hands on the doorknob were covered by cool fingertips, and a coquettish voice floated to his ear, "Boyfriend, I think I’ve hurt the corner of my mouth..."