The Favored Heiress
Chapter 225: I Can Wait for You No Matter How Long it Takes

Chapter 225: Chapter 225: I Can Wait for You No Matter How Long it Takes

"Not receiving a message from his girlfriend, the boyfriend couldn’t sleep peacefully." Shang Yu said so.

Li Qiao’s lips curved upward, her eyes like little deer bathed in lamp light, sparkled and shimmered, "Then should I say sorry?"

"No need." The man’s tone was entitled yet filled with indulgence, "I can wait for you however long it takes."

Shortly after, the two exchanged a few more sentences before hanging up the call.

Li Qiao’s lips held back her smile, her arm raised to rest on her forehead as she sighed softly.

How nice.

To have someone waiting every day for your message, caring about your life.

This feeling of being needed and cared for made Li Qiao’s lips slightly rise, her mood exceptionally pleasant.

Then, suddenly, a soft cough came from behind the workbench.

Li Qiao restrained her smile and looked back calmly, only to see Lian Zhen leaning against the entrance of the lab’s disinfection cabinet, his fist against his lips and a hint of teasing in his eyes.

"Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I came in and saw you on the phone, so I didn’t want to interrupt," he said.

Li Qiao: "..." So much for her image.

She stood up leisurely and sighed lightly, "Why has Senior Brother Lian also come back?"

"I wanted to take a report to redo a molecular structure analysis. What about you?" Lian Zhen walked to the workbench as he spoke, rummaging for two report documents before turning to look at her.

Seeing this, Li Qiao lifted her phone, "I came back for this."

Understanding, Lian Zhen turned to the door, "Ready to head back?"

"Yes, let’s go."

...

The next morning, Li Qiao drove from the laboratory building to the Affiliated Hospital.

Her grandfather Duan Jingming’s brain stent surgery was scheduled for ten o’clock in the morning.

Just before nine, Li Qiao arrived at the ward at a leisurely pace.

At that moment, everyone was gathered around the bed, listening to the old man speaking with the tone of someone settling his affairs, their expressions helpless.

"Eldest of the family, remember my words. You and your wife are the big brother and sister-in-law, you must take care of your siblings on a daily basis, understand?"

Looking as if he had no more attachments to the world, Duan Jingming leaned on the hospital bed, pointing at Duan Yuanhong and his wife, painstakingly reminding them.

After speaking, he started nagging at Duan Shuhua.

Li Qiao did not approach; she leaned against the door, listening to the old patriarch’s earnest instructions. She looked down at her toes as a sharpness flickered through her eyes.

If it wasn’t for Duan Yixuan ruining Grandpa’s treasured item, he wouldn’t have been so angry that he ended up in the hospital.

With that thought, Li Qiao’s gaze lifted faintly, scanning the room. Through gaps in the crowd, she quickly spotted Duan Yixuan’s figure.

At this time, she wore a duckbill hat and a black mask over her chin, dressed in men’s sportswear, exuding both restraint and exhaustion.

The cyber violence must have had a significant impact on her.

Even Uncle Duan Yuanhong and his wife’s expressions were off, and Duan Yilang seemed a bit stronger, but the attire of the family of four was greatly different from usual.

Perhaps they were trying... to disguise themselves?

As Li Qiao’s gaze indifferently took in Duan Yixuan, the old man on the bed hesitated for a few seconds before speaking again, "Xuanxuan, come here."

Duan Yixuan walked around the foot of the bed with dragging steps, reaching her grandfather, and called out softly, "Grandpa."

"Xuanxuan, do you know what grandpa wants to say?" Duan Jingming’s somewhat cloudy eyes focused on Duan Yixuan’s face, his expression losing some of its kindliness.

Duan Yixuan nodded, then pretended to be confused and shook her head, "Grandfather, what are you trying to say?"

Duan Jingming couldn’t help but laugh out loud in anger, "You don’t know? You destroyed my Dragon Pattern Ink, and you tore up my Scripture Xuan Paper that costs tens of thousands per sheet, and you truly don’t know?"

For an instant, the sickroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

This was followed by a chorus of sharp intakes of breath.

"Dad, don’t talk nonsense, how could our Xuanxuan ever do something like that?" Madam Duan was the first to retort. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Duan Yixuan’s shoulders, fiercely protective without regard for the consequences.

Hearing this, Duan Jingming huffed and pointed at her in anger and exasperation, "The overly kind mother is the downfall of her children, that saying was made for you!

I’m about to enter the operating room, and whether I can come out alive is in the hands of fate. Are you still here to cause me trouble?

Do you think I would make up something like this? Did you not know we installed family surveillance in the Other Residence a long time ago?

Xuanxuan sneaked into my study and destroyed the treasures Qiaoqiao gave me. It’s all clearly captured on the surveillance video, and you, as her mother, still want to argue in her defense?"

Duan Yixuan’s face turned ashen.

No wonder Li Qiao knew about the things she had done, no wonder.

The Other Residence actually had family surveillance!

At this moment, Duan Jingming’s scolding left Madam Duan with a red face, unable to utter a single word.

Duan Yixuan herself turned pale, frantically ducking behind Madam Duan.

Seeing this, Duan Jingming shook his head and sighed, "Xuanxuan, Grandpa isn’t trying to punish you, but since you’ve done this, you need to have the courage to accept responsibility.

You are not a child anymore you’re grown up, and you can’t always do as you please.

I’m about to go into the operating room. If I’m lucky enough to come out, I hope to see you apologize to Qiaoqiao in person, okay?"

Duan Yixuan bit her lip and kept silent, only her shoulders quivering nonstop, betraying her fear.

Many things, she couldn’t directly say.

Even the horrendous cyber-bullying nightmare, she had to endure alone.

Not only that, her parents and her brother also got dragged into this mess because of her.

Unable to go to the studio, scared to leave the house, these past few days she really learned what it felt like to prefer death to life.

Her phone number was leaked, with countless abusive messages and harassing calls every day, making her cell phone practically unusable.

Regret? Indeed she regretted it, wishing she had never started it.

At this point, Duan Jingming hadn’t yet received an answer from Duan Yixuan when a nurse from outside came to remind the old man to go to the preparation room to get ready for surgery.

The Duan family members by the sickbed made way. Only then did they notice Li Qiao standing at the door.

The old man saw her too and pretended to be angry as he frowned, "You little brat, you’re here and didn’t come over to greet your grandfather?"

Li Qiao tugged at the corner of her mouth, walked over to Duan Jingming’s side, and supported his arm as she calmly said, "Grandfather, anything you have to tell me can wait until after the operation."

Duan Jingming paused then sighed heavily, "You always say the right things. Grandfather is about to get something inserted into his head. Even with today’s technology being so advanced, there’s always a risk. If I can’t make it off the operating table, I may not see you again."

Li Qiao, supporting him, spoke with a firm and confident tone, "There won’t be a risk."

"Really, really?" Despite Duan Jingming’s previous rambling, it was all to disguise his anxiety about the surgery.

The older one gets, the more they cling to life.

If it’s possible to be healthy, who wouldn’t want to live to a ripe old age?

At this moment, Li Qiao looked at Duan Jingming calmly and confidently, with a light smile and a nod, "Really. So Grandfather, don’t worry: I’ll wait for you outside the operating room."

Duan Jingming pursed his lips, his breathing heavier, "Good, good. Then wait for me to come out, I have things to tell you."