The Favored Heiress
Chapter 401: Did You Guys Have a Fight?

Chapter 401: Chapter 401: Did You Guys Have a Fight?

Li Qiao’s gaze stalled for a moment before she realized what was happening, "No, it’s not that I..."

"No harm done, since you have something on, then go ahead and be busy." The man’s deep, magnetic voice was calm, yet Li Qiao felt that he was displeased.

She had intended to offer a few words of comfort, but someone seemed to be speaking with Shang Yu on the other end, and the call was disconnected in the blink of an eye.

Li Qiao rubbed her forehead and couldn’t help but give a wry smile.

At that moment, Zong Yue moved closer to her and glanced at her phone, tentatively saying, "If you’re busy, we can also do this another day."

Li Qiao lifted her head, her gaze serenely meeting Zong Yue’s, "No need, let’s do it now."

Zong Yue’s face lit up with joy as she gestured towards Entertainment City ahead, "I saw a Costa in the lobby just now, shall we go there?"

"Sure."

...

In the café, Zong Yue and Li Qiao found a quiet corner, sitting across from each other at a round wooden table, stirring the foam on their coffees with spoons.

Zong Yue had remained silent, and Li Qiao didn’t urge her, only the soft tune of the background music flowed around them.

After a while, Zong Yue took a sip of her coffee and, looking directly at the indifferent Li Qiao, got straight to the point, "I wanted to ask you some questions about Li Jun today, actually."

Li Qiao stirred her coffee unhurriedly, lifted her eyelids slightly, and asked, "Why don’t you ask him directly?"

Zong Yue awkwardly tugged at the corner of her lips, "I’ve only met him three times. Some things... it’s not easy to ask directly. I heard before that Li Jun is very fond of you, so I thought I’d talk to you about it."

"Three times?" Li Qiao asked in surprise, slightly raising an eyebrow, "Is your marriage serious?"

Zong Yue nodded, "Of course it’s serious. I’ve reached the age suitable for marriage, and he just happens to need a wife from a compatible family background. I think... I’m quite suitable."

Her statement seemed to be straightforward, but Li Qiao still caught a hint of self-mockery in her tone.

Could there be hidden reasons behind Zong Yue’s marriage to her brother?

Li Qiao looked thoughtfully at Zong Yue, leaning back in her chair, and raised an eyebrow, "What do you want to ask?"

Zong Yue looked down at her coffee cup, a hint of melancholy in her eyes, "He told me that over these years, besides Ye Yun, he hasn’t had any other girlfriend, is... that true?"

Li Qiao nodded without hesitation, "It’s true."

"Oh..." Zong Yue drew out her response, "He really is devoted to Ye Yun."

"Do you know Ye Yun?" Li Qiao countered.

Zong Yue pursed her lips, disgust flickering in her eyes, "I don’t know her, but I’ve made inquiries about Li Jun long ago. The first time I saw him was five years back, just after they had broken up..."

Listening to Zong Yue’s soft and gentle explanation, Li Qiao also understood the whole story behind this arranged marriage.

Zong Yue had a secret crush on Li Jun, and when she heard that he was looking for a marriage partner, she took the initiative to come to South Sea, volunteering herself.

For Zong Yue to have such a deep crush was truly rare.

Li Qiao touched her eyebrow, looking at her with a distressed expression, and asked, "With your background, it would be easy to find a truly compatible match. Are you sure that Old General Zong would agree to you marrying my brother?"

On hearing this, Zong Yue paused for a second and replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "Why wouldn’t he agree? It’s not like it’s my grandfather getting married."

Li Qiao: "..."

That did make a lot of sense!

Zong Yue composed herself after a beat and, meeting Li Qiao’s amused expression, forced a smile, "My grandfather is very open-minded; he won’t interfere with my marriage. He said as long as I’m happy with it, anything is possible."

Li Qiao kept her lips firmly pressed in understanding, neither confirming nor denying.

Would the Zong Family, of such high standing, truly be indifferent?

Latter, Zong Yue asked more questions about Li Jun, and Li Qiao didn’t hide anything, telling the entire truth.

It was evident that Zong Yue had put a lot of thought into it. Even when she unintentionally revealed in conversation that she couldn’t eat spicy food, but because Li Jun liked it, that was why she had specifically chosen Sishu Residence for today’s lunch gathering.

When they parted at the cafe, Zong Yue tugged at Li Qiao’s arm, her tone cautious, "The things I asked you today, can you not tell him?"

Li Qiao considered for a moment, looking downward, and agreed, "I can."

"Thank you." Zong Yue immediately smiled, relieved.

As her conversation with Zong Yue lasted for about half an hour, when Li Qiao left Entertainment City, it was already two in the afternoon.

She put on her Bluetooth headset and called Lian Zhen.

From the other end of the phone, Lian Zhen whispered, "The conference is almost over; you don’t need to rush back. The teacher just said that we need to depart for Chong City early tomorrow, so take the afternoon to pack your bags."

Li Qiao agreed and ended the call.

She knew the exchange meeting was held in Chong City, but she hadn’t expected to depart tomorrow.

Now...

Li Qiao glanced at the time, didn’t delay, and forcibly changed lanes while steering, heading for Yan Emperor Headquarters.

...

At three in the afternoon, Li Qiao walked into the private elevator holding a cup of coffee from the underground garage.

Upon reaching One Zero One at the top floor, the receptionist looked up and her gaze fixated on her, taking a long time to recover.

Isn’t that the long-missed great fan?

Li Qiao nodded at her and then confidently walked towards the chairman’s office.

She knocked on the door, but there was no response from inside.

"Miss Li!" At that moment, Wang Yue walked out of the adjacent meeting room with a gloomy face. Seeing the figure in front of the office door, he immediately called out softly.

Li Qiao turned around, holding her coffee with one hand, and suddenly met Wang Yue’s devout and moved eyes, subconsciously touching her own cheek. Did she have something on her face that made him look at her as if he was seeing his own mother?

Wang Yue strode over with his head held high, his lips pressed together then relaxed, "Are you here to see the boss?"

Li Qiao raised an eyebrow, "Mm, he’s not here?"

"He is, he is, please come inside." Wang Yue eagerly opened the door of the office for her, and a strong smell of smoke wafted out immediately.

Li Qiao frowned, stepped inside but didn’t see Shang Yu.

Who knows how many cigarettes he had smoked; the room, over four hundred square meters, still had such a heavy smell of smoke.

Wang Yue invited her to sit, got a cup of water, turned around to hand it to Li Qiao, and hesitated before asking, "Miss Li, did you... have a fight with the boss?"

A fight?

Does it count?

All she did was accidentally misspeak on the phone. If that was considered fighting, it would be a bit far-fetched.

Li Qiao placed the coffee on the coffee table, took the cup of water from Wang Yue, "What happened? Did he say we had a fight?"

Wang Yue shook his head, smiled awkwardly, "The boss didn’t say, but we... felt it."

More than feeling it, ever since the boss finished his call that afternoon, the entire One Zero One work area was suffused with an oppressive, gloomy atmosphere.

Anyone could see that their lord was not pleased, actually, very displeased.

That handsome face was as dark as dripping ink, smoking one cigarette after another, the office resembling a battlefield.

"Is he very angry?" Li Qiao asked, looking at Wang Yue’s miserable face, somewhat amused.