The Favored Heiress
Chapter 230: The Strange Security Guard

Chapter 230: Chapter 230: The Strange Security Guard

Li Qiao spent half an hour with Duan Jingming at the hospital before she promptly left after receiving a phone call from the laboratory.

After she left, a figure slowly emerged around the corner outside the door—her grandaunt Duan Shuhua.

With a complex expression on her face, Shuhua gazed at the slightly ajar door of the hospital room, her eyes flickering restlessly.

The old man had secretly commissioned a lawyer to notarize the division of his property and had informed Li Qiao before telling anyone else.

Did he really regard his own flesh and blood as less important than an external granddaughter?

...

Back in the laboratory, Li Qiao met up with Lian Zhen. The two sat in front of the testing equipment, flipping through the freshly printed reports.

At that moment, Academician Jiang, dressed in a white lab coat and looking weary, came over, stood behind Li Qiao and Lian Zhen, leaned on the back of their chairs and said, "Qiaoqiao, do you have a moment? There’s something... we need to discuss."

Li Qiao put down the report, nodded, and got up, "Okay."

Soon, the two entered Academician Jiang’s office. Li Qiao closed the door behind her as Jiang gestured toward the desk, indicating she should sit down.

Li Qiao took a seat. Academician Jiang slightly raised his eyelids and asked in a roundabout way, "Qiaoqiao, you’ve been working in the lab for two weeks now, how do you feel... about it?"

"Quite good," Li Qiao, with her hands tucked in her lab coat pockets and bunched in front of her, responded softly.

Academician Jiang glanced at her and, feigning interest in the reports on the desk, raised an eyebrow, "Don’t you think something is missing?"

Words within words?

Li Qiao’s eyes flickered as she gave a half-smile and uttered, "Teacher, please be direct, what is needed?"

Academician Jiang: "..."

He awkwardly touched his eyebrow, sighing, "It’s not really that anything is needed, but don’t you think that the security measures in our laboratory are too lax?"

Reminded by Academician Jiang, Li Qiao thought about it seriously. Seeing his expectant look, she couldn’t bear to tell the blunt truth and instead looked down, speaking tactfully, "Hmm... maybe."

In fact, the laboratory rarely had visitors on regular days, as the private lab was not open to the public.

Even though the building was by the street, it had been safe day and night since its establishment, with researchers present and no security incidents occurring.

Academician Jiang’s eyes lit up, continuing the topic, "You see, even you agree security needs to be strengthened.

After years of development, our laboratory’s research has matured.

With so many experimental drugs and medical equipment out in the open, I am worried that without protective measures, losing anything important would be an irrecoverable loss."

Without thinking too deeply, Li Qiao nodded agreeably, "Then I’ll find a security service company tomorrow and have them..."

"No need, no need," Academician Jiang hastily interrupted before she could finish, "I have a friend who recently started a security company.

If you have no objections, I was thinking of doing him a favor by entrusting our lab’s security to his company."

What a coincidence?

Li Qiao tilted her head, looking at Academician Jiang’s serious expression, and smiled, "I have no objections, whatever you decide is fine."

Academician Jiang breathed a sigh of relief, his previously tense expression slowly relaxing.

Less than two hours later, Li Qiao and Lian Zhen, engrossed in the lab, heard a noisy commotion coming from the corridor outside.

They exchanged glances and then got up to look out from the nearby glass window.

At that moment, a group of people dressed in moving company uniforms were transporting the latest medical equipment into various research labs.

Academician Jiang followed them, smiling and rubbing his hands together. As he passed by and saw Li Qiao and Lian Zhen, he immediately waved and said, "You two, come over here. Do you recognize this equipment?"

Li Qiao and Lian Zhen walked over to Academician Jiang’s side and looked at the new medical instruments with surprised brows, "YH-IIA gene sequencing device?"

This was a top-of-the-line instrument that had just received an international patent at the beginning of the year.

Moreover... it was produced in limited quantities, and upon its release, it had attracted the rush and attention of major hospitals.

Academician Jiang patted his chest with pride and said, "That’s right, I’ve secured three units for our laboratory, all freshly shipped from overseas. From now on, when you use this device for genome sequencing, it will cut the time in half."

Seeing this, Lian Zhen also looked into the laboratory with a surprised and delighted face, "Is it really the YH-IIA? Where did you manage to get it from? I heard that each unit costs over eight million and you simply can’t find them on the market."

Academician Jiang adjusted his glasses with a grin that stretched from ear to ear, "A friend gave it to me. Quick, go in and take a look. I haven’t even seen this device before. Don’t lose the manual now, we’ll study it in detail later."

At this moment, Li Qiao leaned against the glass wall next to the laboratory, watching Academician Jiang, who was bursting with excitement. She couldn’t help but curl the corner of her mouth. The teacher seems to have quite a few friends today.

...

That evening, after finishing their research, Li Qiao and Lian Zhen were leaving the building side by side when they unexpectedly found a new guardhouse outside the laboratory building.

There was also a security desk at the entrance of the lobby inside the building.

Their steps paused, and Lian Zhen looked around in surprise, "Why is there suddenly security?"

Li Qiao said nothing, narrowing her eyes as she observed the security guard sitting at the entrance, amusement flickering in her gaze.

Have you ever seen a doorman who sits up straight, hands resting on his knees, with a broad physique and an imposing presence?

Not only that, but the person inside the guardhouse was standing with hands behind his back, puffing out his chest and lifting his head, looking every bit the embodiment of authority.

Li Qiao glanced a few times, then let out a fleeting smile.

She and Lian Zhen walked out slowly, casting a casual glance at the person by the door. As they stepped out of the laboratory building, she said ambiguously, "It’s probably to protect the gene sequencing devices, I guess."

Lian Zhen had a sudden realization, and it made perfect sense to him. After all, each device was worth nearly ten million, and they had three of them.

Only Li Qiao, from the first glance at those people, knew in her heart that they were not security guards, but well-trained bodyguards.

Combining today’s abnormal behavior of her teacher with the new medical equipment, some answers were becoming evident.

She returned to her dormitory, just after ten o’clock at night.

After showering, Li Qiao changed into a comfortable set of pajamas and lay on the bed, intending to send a WeChat message to Shang Yu.

She grabbed her phone and was surprised to find three missed calls from Tang Yiting.

Li Qiao pulled the towel from her head and called her back while putting the call on speaker.

"Aiyo, you finally called me back. If you didn’t get in touch with me soon, I was going to call the police," came Tang Yiting’s chirpy voice from the speaker.

Li Qiao sat cross-legged on her bed, towel-drying her hair as she asked, "What’s up?"

From the other end of the phone, there was the sound of pool balls colliding.

Tang Yiting moved the phone away from her mouth to yell ’Keep it down,’ then spoke into the phone again, "Qiaoqiao, Xiao Wen has resigned. Did you know?"

"Mhm," Li Qiao’s expression softened at the mention of Wen Shi, "Are you at Entertainment City?"

"Yeah, I just went to Blue Night to look for him, but the bar manager said he resigned a few days ago." Tang Yiting’s tone carried a hint of disappointment; she had wanted to learn more about bartending from Wen Shi, but now that seemed unlikely.