The Favored Heiress
Chapter 240: The Consignor, Shang Zonghai

Chapter 240: Chapter 240: The Consignor, Shang Zonghai

A short while later, Li Qiao pondered briefly before leaning back against Shang Yu’s side, her gaze sidelong on him, "Master Yan, does anyone in Parma still recognize this script?"

"Yes," Shang Yu furrowed his eyebrows, a playful glint crossing the depths of his eyes, "Looking for someone to translate it?"

Their eyes met, and after a pause of a few seconds, Li Qiao responded, "Of course it would be best if it could be translated, but the prerequisite is... the translator must be trustworthy."

As their conversation reached this point, Li Qiao keenly sensed Shang Yu’s interest deepening. She furrowed her brow and pulled his hand from the back of her neck, "What’s with that expression? Is there something wrong with what I said?"

The man lazily curled his lips, picked up a cufflink, and while handing it to Li Qiao with a rich, magnetic voice tinged with humor, "No problem. Your Uncle Shang... should be trustworthy."

Li Qiao froze for two seconds, her brows raised in surprise, "Uncle knows this script?"

Shang Zonghai knows it? What a coincidence!

At this moment, Shang Yu smoothed his shirt sleeve from the elbow and gestured for Li Qiao to help him with the cufflinks, while explaining in a low voice, "Yes, he once learned it specifically for the study of Shang’s ancient medical texts."

Li Qiao turned the cufflink around, glanced at Shang Yu out of the corner of her eye, lowered her head to try it on for him, and said with implied depth, "Wouldn’t it be impolite to just hand over the autobiography to Uncle for translation?"

She thought to herself that a person as astute as Shang Zonghai was often vague when speaking directly.

If she really handed over the autobiography, Li Qiao felt that... even if it was translated, its authenticity would still need to be verified.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Shang Zonghai, but that she couldn’t grasp his astuteness.

Hearing this, Shang Yu looked down at the cufflink on his shirt, the corners of his eyes lifting slightly, "So?"

Li Qiao considered for a moment, then cut to the chase, "Besides Uncle, is there anyone else?"

"Don’t trust him?" Shang Yu straightened his shirt, a faint curve on his lips.

Li Qiao shook her head, glanced at him, and ambiguously said, "That’s not it, but Uncle is so busy, I feel bad bothering him."

Shang Yu’s gaze lingered deeply on her, his thin lips slightly parted, his eyebrows drawn together, "This is a small matter, not a bother. I’ll handle it, okay?"

Seeing his response, Li Qiao didn’t resist any further.

After a while, she had both cufflinks fitted to Shang Yu’s wrists, looked at them carefully, and nodded in satisfaction, "They look good!"

Black and gold were eternal, and especially when matched with a pure black shirt, it highlighted the man’s noble and aloof demeanor even more.

"What are your plans for the weekend?" At that moment, Shang Yu gently caressed the diamond surface of the cufflink, looking up to ask.

Li Qiao looked at the notes in the case and spoke in a subdued voice, "I’m going to the Fu Family Martial Arts School in the morning to see Jiugong, and then I have to return to the lab in the afternoon. The project has shown some promise recently, so it will be pretty busy."

She had taken a leave especially to attend Venus’s auction tonight.

She had to go back tomorrow to deal with the backlog of work.

After she finished speaking, Shang Yu lifted the back of his hand to touch her slightly cool cheek, "Then let’s go to sleep, I’ll take you to the Fu Family Martial Arts School tomorrow morning."

Li Qiao pursed her lips, looked at him, blinked and yawned aptly, "Goodnight."

...

After Li Qiao went upstairs, Shang Yu sat alone in the living room with a cold gaze fixed on the autobiography inside the suitcase, his pupils darkening.

Before long, Liuyun appeared in the living room, standing before the man, and reported, "Boss, I just got the news that Venus’s account has already wired the auction proceeds for ’The Autobiography of the Stock God’. The account of the recipient is..."

Liuyun hesitated for a few seconds, and upon receiving Shang Yu’s gaze, spoke with difficulty, "The other party did not hide their account. It is... the Household Head’s."

The current head of Shang’s family: Shang Zonghai.

Shang Yu’s deep pupils contracted, his gaze narrowing ambiguously, his voice ice-cold, "Are you certain?"

Liuyun pressed his lips together and nodded, "Very sure. I confirmed it through Supreme access and Venus, that the autobiography’s consigner is a confidant of the Household Head."

For a moment, silence spread in the living room.

Liuyun stood still, stealing glances at Shang Yu’s expression, "Boss, there may be another explanation for this..."

His words were still on his lips when the man frowned, thick brows furrowing, as he lifted his arm, "Leave now."

"Yes."

Shang Yu picked up the cigarette case from the table, pulled out a cigarette, and turned his eyes to the night sky outside the window, his expression enigmatic.

...

The next day, before 8 AM, Li Qiao went downstairs, ready to leave the Mansion.

Just as she entered the hall and looked up, she saw Shang Yu’s tall and slender figure standing with his hands behind his back under the door’s porch.

She was taken aback and slowly walked over to him, greeting him, "Master Yan, are you going out?"

Shang Yu glanced sidelong at Li Qiao, noting the redness at the corners of her eyes, as if she hadn’t slept enough, and responded in a magnetic voice, "Hmm, aren’t you going to the Fu Family Martial Arts School?"

Li Qiao tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, "Are you taking me there?"

Usually, when she left the Mansion, it was Liuyun who drove and escorted her.

What was different today? Suddenly he wanted to personally take her.

Then, Li Qiao heard the man respond in a low, laughing tone, "Making amends to my girlfriend."

Oh, it was about the Venus auction.

Having said that, Shang Yu naturally took her hand, and they both stepped down from the porch, walking towards the line of cars ahead.

During the drive, Li Qiao, slightly sleepy, nestled in the back seat; as the car occasionally slowed and turned, by habit, she leaned her body against Shang Yu’s shoulder.

"Sleep, I’ll wake you when we arrive," said the man, lifting his arm over the top of her head, wrapping it around her slender shoulders, hugging her tightly to his chest.

Li Qiao buried her face in the crook of his neck, comforted by the clean and soothing scent of ebony wood, and quickly fell asleep.

At this moment, Shang Yu, with one arm around Li Qiao, leaned back in his seat, the phone call from early morning with his father echoing in his ears.

——Shaoyan, I know what you want to ask, but I have nothing to tell you at the moment.

——If you want the details, find an opportunity to bring Li Qiao to Parma.

After the brief exchange, Shang Zonghai ended the call.

It seemed he had anticipated everything or, rather, had been strategically planning every step.

Shang Yu’s deep gaze settled on Li Qiao, and he silently tightened his embrace.

...

At half-past eight, West City’s Fu Family Martial Arts School.

Li Qiao woke up as the car began to slow down.

She had never been to the Fu Family Martial Arts School before, and her understanding of it was limited to what Fu Lvting had explained.

It is said that after more than half a century of development, the Fu Family Martial Arts School is ranked among the top three martial arts venues in the South Sea.

Before getting out of the car, Li Qiao turned to look at Shang Yu and pursed her lips, "If there’s any news from Uncle Shang, remember to tell me."

Since Uncle Shang was proficient in the original script of Parma, Li Qiao had left that autobiography at the Mansion.

Hopefully, the outcome wouldn’t disappoint her.

Shang Yu lowered his handsome face and bent down to hook Li Qiao’s waist, sucking hard on her lips, "Hmm, go on."

Li Qiao smiled softly and said goodbye to him before leaning out and getting out of the car.

At this moment, Shang Yu slowly closed his eyes and, in a low voice, instructed Liuyun in the front seat, "Leave a car, and later have Luoyu take her back to the lab."