The Favored Heiress
Chapter 243: Li Qiao falls ill, Shang Yu becomes angry

Chapter 243: Chapter 243: Li Qiao falls ill, Shang Yu becomes angry

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed.

Li Qiao had been immersed in the laboratory for days on end, barely stepping out except for necessary activities.

Their research project had made significant progress, with several common and uncommon arsenic compounds undergoing detailed arrangement and testing.

Among them, two types caused disease reactions very similar to the symptoms Guan Mingyu exhibited.

That afternoon, Li Qiao leaned back in her chair with her eyes closed, resting. In her half-asleep state, it seemed as if the phone in her lab coat pocket was vibrating.

She took out her phone, slowly opening her eyes—it was Father Li calling.

Li Qiao exhaled, slid to answer, "Dad."

Li Guangming’s gentle voice came through, "My girl, are you still in the laboratory?"

"Yes, I am. Is there something you need from me, Dad?" Li Qiao rubbed her temple, her face clearly showing signs of fatigue.

Hearing this, Li Guangming first fussed over her with concern, and then cleared his throat to get to the point, "My girl, arrange some time this weekend to go out with Dad."

"Where to?" Li Qiao felt somewhat dizzy, and waking up that morning, she had felt heavy all over. Now, she lacked the energy and asked lazily.

Li Guangming didn’t keep her in suspense and explained, "This weekend is the internal family meeting of the South Sea Five Giants. You attended once when you were little; do you remember?

This year, Dad wants to take you there. What do you think?"

Oh, a gathering of the Five Giants.

In plain terms, it’s an internal business exchange meeting in the name of financial interests.

After all, these are the five top families at the pinnacle of South Sea’s pyramid, restraining and benefiting each other.

And each has countless industries under their banners, with any slight market fluctuation capable of influencing each family’s earnings.

Thus, the Five Giants gather at a specific time each year, probably to discuss the direction of next year’s profits behind closed doors.

Li Qiao, with half-closed eyes, declined subconsciously, "Dad, I won’t go. It’s very busy here in the laboratory, and I don’t have the time."

Following this, Li Guangming began to persuade her at length, "Tsk, no matter how busy, a weekend won’t make much of a difference.

My girl, you’ve hardly been seen by the Five Giants’ members in these years.

You are, after all, our family’s only little princess. It’s peaceful times now; you should get out and show your face a bit."

They had kept Li Qiao hidden within the family background out of fear after the kidnapping incident when she was seven.

But fifteen years had passed since then.

The Li family’s status had become more stable, and the three Li sons had each found their own success. With the power of the family in the South Sea, protecting Li Qiao was naturally not a problem.

On the phone, Li Guangming seemed insistent, instructing her without room for argument, "My girl, Dad has to go to a meeting now. Get ready, and remember to ask for time off from the laboratory."

Li Qiao looked at the disconnected phone screen, lowered her eyelids, and let out a deep sigh.

What was the necessity for her to attend the internal gathering of the South Sea Five Giants?

Li Qiao didn’t bother to reflect too deeply and threw the phone on the desk, planning to sleep a little longer, leaning back in her chair.

As a result, she slept until two-thirty.

Li Qiao opened her eyes again when Lian Zhen woke her up, propping open her eyelids lazily, feeling as if the world were spinning.

Lian Zhen leaned over with a look of concern, scrutinizing Li Qiao’s slightly pale face, "Xiao Li, are you feeling unwell?"

Li Qiao’s cheeks drooped listlessly, her mind was especially groggy.

"Do you need to go to the hospital? You don’t look too good. Given how busy you’ve been recently, you might be worn out."

Lian Zhen frowned, intending to check the temperature of her forehead but, aware of the boundaries between men and women, called over a nearby female researcher instead.

The female colleague came over, gently touching Li Qiao’s forehead, then compared it with the back of her own hand, and shook her head, "No fever, though."

Li Qiao waved her hand weakly and took a deep breath before propping herself up on the table to stand, "No need to go to the hospital, it’s just a bit of a headache. I’ll head back to the dorm to sleep for a while, and come over later."

Lian Zhen immediately stopped her, "Don’t come over, just get some good rest. I’ll keep an eye on the experiment progress, and I’ll let you know if there’s any change."

Li Qiao was indeed not feeling well and thus didn’t insist on refusing any longer.

After she left, Lian Zhen temporarily took over some of the work she had been handling.

...

When Li Qiao returned to the dorm, as she was closing the door, her legs went weak, and her forehead rested directly against the door panel.

Her head was splitting with pain, her eyes sore—a classic sign of sleep deprivation.

Li Qiao steadied herself against the door frame for a moment. Dragging her heavy feet, she walked to the bed and fell face-first into the covers.

The curtain was not drawn, but she gradually fell into a deep sleep.

In fact, for some time recently, Li Qiao had been getting up early and would not draw the curtains before going to bed at night.

Because the blazing morning sun could wake her up at the first light.

This time, Li Qiao slept heavily for five hours.

At eight o’clock in the evening, the dimly lit room only allowed the faint glow of the streetlamps below to be seen.

Li Qiao tapped her forehead, the headache had eased significantly.

She sat up, hugging her knees and staring blankly out the night window.

Lately, she had been returning to the dorm late at night around three o’clock, and would head to the lab before seven in the morning.

Such repetition, coupled with dealing with all kinds of tedious chemical formulas during the day, indeed left her both physically and mentally exhausted.

The night outside the window was particularly quiet, and Li Qiao sat silently for a while before reaching under the pillow for her phone, not even knowing what time it was now.

It was already dark, and she had spent the entire afternoon sleeping, forgetting to contact Shang Yu.

But before she could reach her phone, a sudden noise came from the door of the dorm.

Li Qiao frowned and turned her head. The pitch-black room made it hard to see. She flipped the corner of the quilt with one hand and before she could move, the door was kicked open with a "bang".

Li Qiao instantly went on alert, squinting at the silhouettes cast against the backlight at the door.

Intruding into the dormitory at night, they were quite bold.

The next moment, the lights in the dorm were turned on, and the sudden brightness made Li Qiao squint uncomfortably as the imposing silhouette slowly came into view.

Li Qiao was stunned, her expression rare and somewhat dazed.

At that time, Shang Yu strode into the room, with Liuyun and two others standing outside in the corridor.

Under the bright light, shadows stirred in the man’s eyes, his cheeks carved with deep gloom.

Li Qiao just sat on the bed, her eyes bloodshot and still somewhat sleepy.

Shang Yu halted, staring at her unwaveringly, his expression serious and dark.

The little girl seemed to have just woken up, with a bun atop her head tilted and her hair messily strewn across her cheeks.

And she was still holding her knees with one hand, her once cheerful and delicate face now bearing the weary look of sickness. The lack of her usual boldness and carefreeness made Shang Yu feel stuffy in his chest.

At that moment, Li Qiao came back to her senses. Before she could open her mouth to speak, she heard the man’s cold voice question her across the room, "If I hadn’t come, would you have even kept your illness a secret from me?"

Li Qiao opened her mouth and licked her dry lips, "It’s not..."

As she spoke, she realized her voice was hoarse.

Great, that pretty much confirmed she was sick.