The Favored Heiress
Chapter 280: Yun Lih Is Gone

Chapter 280: Chapter 280: Yun Lih Is Gone

Hearing her voice, Yun Lih silently looked at her, meeting Li Qiao’s clear, doe-like eyes, and felt a sudden twinge in his heart.

He turned his head to look out the window, resting his arm on the car door, his finger on his lips as he spoke in a hoarse voice, "What else could it be? Just felt moody and went for a stroll, and ended up getting caught."

After he had finished, Yun Lih glanced at Li Qiao again and grumbled discontentedly, "Hurry up and take me to eat, I’ve been starving for a day and a night."

Li Qiao narrowed her eyes in surprise, "You haven’t eaten the entire time?"

Yun Lih grunted his acknowledgment and then asked defiantly, "Could that food even be eaten?"

Li Qiao: "..."

Forget it, just endure it; after all, she chose her own friends and couldn’t just kill them.

She pursed her lips and stepped on the accelerator, merging into the flow of traffic.

Along the way, Li Qiao steered the wheel, stopping at the red light just before the crosswalk.

She turned her head to look at Yun Lih, who appeared less than energetic, and asked thoughtfully, "Did you come here by yourself this time?"

"Brought two subordinates with me, why?" Yun Lih slumped in the passenger seat and replied listlessly.

Li Qiao raised her eyebrows and nudged her chin towards the phone on the dashboard, "The ICC system’s GPS shows that there’s another core member’s coordinates in the CBD of the city, but the icon disappeared quickly."

Yun Lih made a dismissive face, as if he had seen it all, "Core members are scattered all over the world, frequently flying around everywhere. It would be strange if there were none in South Sea."

He automatically ignored the last part of Li Qiao’s statement.

Li Qiao: "..." No point in asking him.

...

Before 9:30, the two of them had finished breakfast at a café, with Yun Lih’s mood still low, slouching in his chair and silently playing with his phone.

Seeing this, Li Qiao tapped on the tabletop with her finger, "Why didn’t you answer when I called you?"

Yun Lih looked up from the screen, glancing at her, "Didn’t hear it."

Last night at the traffic police station, his phone hadn’t been confiscated, merely held temporarily because he didn’t cooperate, and he wasn’t taken into administrative detention, so his phone had been with him all night.

Yun Lih had deliberately avoided taking calls, deliberately going through this whole charade.

Li Qiao watched Yun Lih unwaveringly, pondering his petulant reasons, and after a moment, she asked in an indifferent tone, "Do you really need to win against him?"

Yun Lih paused, taking a few seconds to understand who she meant by ’him’.

He opened his mouth, but then hesitated to speak.

Seeing his reaction, Li Qiao leaned back in her chair, her fingers continued tapping on the table, "Between you and him..."

Before she could finish, Yun Lih scoffed, running his hands through his hair, and looking at Li Qiao with a slanted smile, "You’re thinking too much. I just find him a bit annoying, but it’s not like I have to defeat him."

His statement seemed somewhat far-fetched, but Yun Lih’s expression conveyed a sense of sincerity.

Li Qiao’s gaze grew sharp, struggling to decipher the ambiguity in his eyes, "Sure?"

Yun Lih abandoned his previous listless demeanor, smirking with raised eyebrows, "Is this because you’re afraid I’ll target your boyfriend?"

"You’re the one thinking too much." Li Qiao gave him a cool glance, silently sighing in relief.

The two sat at the table in silence for a while. Yun Lih looked at messages coming in on his phone screen and pursed his lips, "There’s a bit of trouble at headquarters, I need to get back."

Li Qiao looked up, "You’re leaving this afternoon?"

She knew that Mercenary Headquarters was in Nia State, and flying back from South Sea would take at least six to seven hours.

Yun Lih saw her surprised expression, and his ash-dusted phoenix eyes brightened slightly, "Will you miss me?"

Li Qiao didn’t say anything, merely holding his gaze with her chin slightly raised.

Seeing this, Yun Lih raised his hand in surrender, "Fine, pretend I didn’t ask."

It was always like this, cold-hearted and unfeeling, never giving anyone even the slightest room for imagination.

Damn brat.

In less than twenty minutes, a fully equipped Ou Lu slowly approached the entrance of the breakfast shop.

The car door opened, and a burly, black-clad bodyguard stepped out.

He pushed the door and entered the shop, scanned the area briefly, and upon seeing Yun Lih, he strode over, came to a halt, and nodded, "Master Yun."

"Hmm." Yun Lih sat askew at the table, his eyes catching a glimpse of the man, and he acknowledged with indifference.

The bodyguard stood in front of the table, and Li Qiao also noticed the inconspicuous insignia on his sleeve, realizing he was from the Mercenary Group, her gaze fixed, she didn’t speak.

Yun Lih then spoke up at the right moment, "After I handle the things at the Headquarters, I’ll come back for you. Next time, I’m definitely going to eat you into bankruptcy."

Li Qiao smiled with her eyes, nodding noncommittally, "Hmm, then I’ll be waiting."

To eat her into bankruptcy? That was something to look forward to.

Soon after, the three of them left the breakfast shop.

Li Qiao and Yun Lih walked up to the Ou Lu, and she looked up at him, caressed her phone, and said, "Could you give me the address of the Mercenary Headquarters?"

"What for?" Yun Lih looked downward, his eyes deep with tenderness he didn’t dare to expose.

Li Qiao lifted her eyelids, countering the question with her own, "Won’t give it?"

Without a word, Yun Lih pulled out his phone, quickly put in the address of the Headquarters, and sent it to her phone.

Li Qiao opened the message, her lips showing a faint smile.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed overhead, and as she looked up, she found herself enveloped in Yun Lih’s embrace.

The potent scent of his cologne filled her nostrils, and Li Qiao frowned, wanting to step back, but he had already let go.

This could scarcely be called an embrace; he had simply feigned a hug and whispered "see you later" before turning and slipping into the car.

He was afraid of seeing disdain in her eyes, afraid that lingering another second would make it too hard to leave.

The Ou Lu sped away from Li Qiao’s view. Yun Lih had come and gone in a hurry, and that afternoon, he took a private jet back to Mercenary Headquarters in Nia State.

Li Qiao didn’t try to stop him because she knew that since they had met again, they would eventually meet in the future.

After she got into the car, she received a message from Yun Lih: A lake-blue Ferrari, the keys are in your coat pocket, take good care of the car for me until I come back.

...

At ten in the morning, Li Qiao drove back to the Li Family mansion.

She instructed the butler to have someone retrieve the car from the traffic police and specially found a parking space in the Li Family’s garage to store Yun Lih’s Ferrari.

After arranging everything, Li Qiao lazily sauntered into the hall.

However, the sound of conversation from around the entrance caught Li Qiao’s attention.

"Xiao Yuan, it’s not right to say that. Your family isn’t short of money; having more or less doesn’t matter, but we can’t just watch the old man make a fool of himself and let him mess around, can we?"

Li Qiao paused nearby the living room, recognizing the voice as her Aunt Duan Shuhua’s.

Immediately after, her Uncle Duan Yuanhong’s voice followed, "We don’t mean anything else. It’s just that dad really did wrong in this matter... maybe you could help talk to him about it?"

Li Qiao’s cheeks hardened slightly as she quickly understood their meaning.

They couldn’t pressure her, so now they’ve come to the Li Family to pressure her mother to deal with the grandfather’s property dispute?!