The Favored Heiress
Chapter 270: I Met a Girl

Chapter 270: Chapter 270: I Met a Girl

This answer left Li Qiao without any excuse for rebuttal.

Indeed, having paid 30 billion for "The Autobiography of the Stock God," one has to know what’s written inside.

Leaning on Shang Yu’s shoulder, Li Qiao pondered, "Have you already shown the autobiography to my uncle?"

"Hmm, he didn’t tell me the content, after all, it’s your property; you can ask him in person when the time comes."

Shang Yu’s deft response made Li Qiao somewhat amused and exasperated, "It was clearly bought by you."

"But it was a gift to you, so naturally it’s yours." The man looped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek before disengaging the yacht’s autopilot and, cradling Li Qiao in his arms, he steered the vessel back towards the dock.

Twenty minutes later, the yacht docked.

Hand in hand, Li Qiao and Shang Yu exited the cockpit, and as soon as they reached the main deck, she froze.

Chaos was all around, with no place to set foot.

"This..."

Li Qiao observed the items that were once on the table now scattered all over the deck, even the tablecloth had flown off. Was the sea breeze this strong?

Then, she heard a pleasant magnetic laugh emanating from the man’s throat.

Shang Yu asked with a laugh, "Didn’t you hear any other noises while we were adrift at sea?"

Li Qiao blinked innocently and remained silent.

Oh, it wasn’t the sea breeze, it was her.

Li Qiao kept quiet, frowning as she followed the man ashore. They passed the sunken resting area where the fruit on the coffee table had also spilled all over.

She had been careless.

And as Liuyun and the others got ashore, their shirts soaked through, a gust of sea wind blew over them, chilling them to the bone.

Miss Li wasn’t driving a yacht, it was more like a damn spaceship.

...

That night, Li Qiao returned to the laboratory dormitory carrying the scent of the sea.

After showering, while drying her hair, she turned on her phone and logged into the school forum that she hadn’t visited in a while to see that the graduation ceremony was next Friday, coincidentally on the same day as the high school exam results.

Li Qiao casually browsed the forum for a bit and then exited the page.

It was almost ten at night, and perhaps the sea drifting had excited her too much because she wasn’t sleepy.

Moments later, Li Qiao dropped the towel, her fingers pausing briefly before she opened the ICC system of the International Club.

The account was still Yun Ling’s—she clicked on the order history and noticed that Shang Qiongying’s order had been marked as a failure.

Li Qiao furrowed her brows and narrowed her eyes at the note in the remarks column, then manually added a line.

Going to Parma would no doubt mean encountering Shang Zonghai.

She wondered if she would meet Shang Qiongying, the proxy head of the collateral branch.

Li Qiao looked down at the remark tag added to the phone screen and smiled nonchalantly.

At the same time, in Nia State, at the Mercenary Headquarters located at the junction of the city and the desert.

It was rumored that an oil pipe leak explosion had occurred there two days ago, nearly destroying the entire building, leaving only the steel frame of the structure, which looked quite terrifying under the sunlight.

At this moment, atop the training camp across the street, a man with a fit physique and a robust build stood by the window.

Behind him was Yun Ling, nursing an injured wrist.

The man stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his mid-length short hair meticulously groomed, with hair on both sides of his temples cut very short, a mature yet fashionable undercut style.

"Brother, I underestimated the enemy," Yun Ling muttered dispiritedly, looking at the figure in front of the window with a complex expression.

At that moment, the other man didn’t turn around but instead lowered his gaze to his fingertips, his deep voice slightly hazy, "Tell me, who did you encounter?"

Yun Ling’s gaze trembled, and he began hesitantly, "Just... a girl with the ICC system. Brother, to be honest, if it hadn’t been for her interference, I think I could have killed Shang Shaoyan."

After he spoke, the room fell silent for a long, long time.

The man by the window slowly turned around, his silhouette backlit so his cheeks were indiscernible. "How did you know she has the ICC system?" he asked.

At the sound, Yun Ling suddenly realized with a start; he had logged into the system using her phone that day and seemed... to have forgotten to log out.

...

A day later, on Friday.

Li Qiao was nestled in the laboratory, organizing the application materials for an upcoming exchange conference with her team members.

Academician Jiang and Lian Zhen had gone to the scientific research institute, reportedly to snoop around for information.

As noon approached, Li Qiao had just finished sorting the materials when she ran into Fu Lvting and asked him about Jiugong’s recent condition.

While the two of them were talking, the security guard on duty strode briskly over from the other side of the corridor.

He came straight up to Li Qiao, nodded respectfully, and said, "Miss Li, there’s a man outside who claims to be an investor and wants to discuss collaboration with the lab. Do you... want to see him?"

An investor?

Li Qiao and Fu Lvting exchanged a glance, suspicion flickering in both their eyes.

The lab was never open to the public and had no signage. What background did this person have to know this was a lab?!

Li Qiao pondered for a moment and asked without much warmth, "Did he say anything else?"

The security guard shook his head. "The person only mentioned wanting to discuss collaboration, nothing else."

Li Qiao dismissed the idea with a curl of her lip, "Don’t see him, tell him the lab doesn’t need any collaboration."

"Understood, Miss Li."

Hearing this, the security guard obediently turned and left, following Li Qiao’s instructions to the letter.

Fu Lvting looked in the direction of the corridor, frowning and saying, "How come an investor has suddenly shown up? Do you think... it might be a friend of the professor?"

Li Qiao was momentarily distracted, not responding.

She had indeed overlooked that possibility.

Recently, the professor had quite a lot of friends.

Seeing that Li Qiao didn’t speak, Fu Lvting added, "I’m just thinking out loud. If it really was a friend of the teacher’s, they wouldn’t have come over so recklessly."

Li Qiao glanced at him, suppressed the odd feeling in her heart, and changed the subject to continue asking about Jiugong’s situation.

...

In the blink of an eye, it was two o’clock in the afternoon, and Academician Jiang still hadn’t returned.

Li Qiao, seizing a moment of leisure amidst her busyness, was sending WeChat messages to Shang Yu.

Then, the security guard from downstairs came again.

Li Qiao stepped out of the research room and before she could speak, the security guard handed her a business card, "Miss Li, this was given to me by the person outside."

She looked down and her eyebrows fluttered with surprise.

It was Academician Jiang’s business card.

At that moment, Fu Lvting emerged from the office holding a report. Hearing their conversation, he asked, "Is it really a friend of the teacher?"

Li Qiao touched her forehead, and turning toward the glass door nearby, she said with a smirk, "Just take him to the conference room first."

After the security guard left, Fu Lvting looked at Li Qiao’s resigned expression and chuckled, "Do you want to ask the teacher when he’s coming back?"

"Yeah, I’ll make a call."

Li Qiao said as she turned and entered the neighboring office, leaning on the desk corner. She took out her smartphone from the pocket of her lab coat and dialed Academician Jiang’s number.

The first time, he didn’t answer.

She tried again, and Academician Jiang’s hurried tone came through, "Qiaoqiao, what is it?"

"Teacher, when will you be back?"

No sooner had she spoken than Academician Jiang muttered into the mouthpiece, "I might not make it back today. Lian Zhen and I are getting the details of the academic congress with colleagues at the institute. If there’s anything urgent, you handle it, I’m hanging up now."