The Favored Heiress
Chapter 409: Something’s Wrong

Chapter 409: Chapter 409: Something’s Wrong

She paused, then Shang Qiongying laughed enigmatically and said, "Of course, even if you don’t agree, I can still send Li Qiao to prison. It would just be a waste of a bit more time."

"You..." The girl was choked with anger, but due to her inarticulate nature, she couldn’t say anything too sharp.

Shang Qiongying glanced at her with a heavy gaze, then waved her hand at her trusted aide, "Take her back, and make sure no one notices."

"Yes, madam."

...

In the blink of an eye, two days passed.

The progress of the medical research conference had also reached its halfway point.

The next three days would be filled with various academic discussions and the presentation of research findings, which were the highlights of this conference.

The research finding submitted by Renhe Laboratory was about the inhibition of human genetic mutations.

Early that morning, Li Qiao and her colleagues from the laboratory were having breakfast downstairs.

Luoyu sat beside her, her face always stern and rarely smiling, but Li Qiao still noticed that she seemed to be heavily preoccupied.

Otherwise, the cool and composed Luoyu wouldn’t have mistaken salt and pepper for sugar and poured it into her milk tea.

Moreover, throughout the meal, she kept staring at her phone screen. Li Qiao knew that her distraction was most likely related to Shang Yu.

Li Qiao raised an eyebrow and asked her a question, but Luoyu simply shook her head, saying she hadn’t slept well—an obviously perfunctory excuse, and she seemed visibly distracted.

Lian Zhen and the others were still discussing today’s agenda in low voices. After eating two dumplings, Li Qiao put down her chopsticks.

She slowly stood up and said, "Teacher, I left a document in my room. You guys go ahead and eat; I’ll go get it."

Seeing this, Luoyu also put down her chopsticks and moved to rise, but Li Qiao pressed her shoulder down, "You eat slowly, I’ll be right back."

After Li Qiao said this, she left the room and headed up the stairs to the second floor.

She climbed at an unhurried pace until she reached the corner of the stairwell out of sight from the restaurant, then narrowed her eyes and continued upward.

Reaching the rooftop on the fourth floor and pushing open the iron door, a gust of sea breeze blew over, tousling the hair at her temples.

Li Qiao walked up to the parapet of the rooftop and gazed at the distant pale blue sea, taking out her phone to make a call, "Has there been any unusual activity in the South Sea recently?"

On the other end of the phone, Ah Chang’s voice was steady, "Miss Qi is referring to... which aspect?"

Some time ago, to deal with the matter concerning Ye Yun, she had called a squad from the border into the South Sea, and they had not yet been withdrawn.

And Luoyu’s reaction earlier made her sense that something was amiss.

The South Sea Conference was imminent, but recently... she hadn’t heard any news from the South Sea.

Neither good nor bad.

Even though she and Shang Yu occasionally exchanged messages on WeChat, after all, there was a physical distance between them, and... Luoyu’s reaction inexplicably brought to mind the words Shang Qiongying had said.

"Shang Shaoyan." Li Qiao uttered the man’s name, followed by a few seconds of silence from Ah Chang, "Miss Qi, all of Shang Shaoyan, the South Sea merchant’s recent movements have been completely sealed off, nothing can be found. Other than that, everything with the Li Family is normal."

Nothing can be found? Sealed off?

Indeed, this was an anomaly.

Li Qiao gazed at the sea solemnly and hummed in response before hanging up the phone.

Then, after a moment of silence, she dialed Shen Qingye’s number.

No one answered.

Listening to the automatic disconnect tone on the phone, Li Qiao’s expression gradually turned colder.

She knew that Shen Qingye was still in the South Sea, but not answering the phone seemed too deliberate.

If Shang Yu had completely sealed off the information, indeed no one could probe anything.

Li Qiao reminisced that she had hardly ever made video calls with Shang Yu because he was very busy, so they mostly communicated through WeChat to alleviate their longing.

At this moment, an urgent desire to see him was crashing through her mind.

Luoyu was always stable. If it wasn’t for some trouble, she wouldn’t have exhibited such abnormal behavior.

After much thought, Li Qiao opened WeChat and made a video call to Shang Yu.

Perhaps seeing him was the only way to dispel the doubts in her heart.

However, the video call rang for a few seconds before being hung up, followed immediately by a message from the man: In a meeting, what’s up?

As Li Qiao stared at those few words, her eyes instantly dimmed.

It wasn’t even eight in the morning yet, and based on his usual schedule, he couldn’t have left for the office. Moreover, he rarely handled work matters at home.

Li Qiao pursed her lips and sent Shang Yu three words: I miss you.

The message was sent, and it took a long time to receive his reply: Be good.

There was no hint between the lines of any intention to return her video call.

Li Qiao’s eyes grew cool. If all the channels of obtaining information were blocked, then...

She swiftly organized her thoughts and remembered there was someone who might know something.

Li Qiao opened her email, found the person’s contact information, copied the phone number, and dialed it.

After three rings, Zong Yue’s calm voice came through, "Hello, who is this?"

"Miss Zong, this is Li Qiao."

Zong Yue seemed slightly surprised, and after a rustling sound, she greeted her warmly, "Oh, it’s you. Do you need something?"

"Are you still in the South Sea?" Li Qiao asked directly.

...

Ten minutes later, Li Qiao returned to the lower floors from the rooftop.

Academician Jiang and others who were idly chatting in the lobby looked at her composed face and were momentarily at a loss.

Li Qiao was usually detached and neither warm nor cold. Although she was often expressionless, she never looked like she did today, with a hint of redness in her eyes and a dense coldness hidden beneath her indifferent expression.

Luoyu was the first to react, frowning slightly as she approached and asked in a hushed tone, "Miss Li, is everything alright?"

Li Qiao pursed her lips, looked up at her, and remained silent.

Even though it lasted only a few seconds, under Li Qiao’s gaze, Luoyu felt as if time had stretched on.

She even wondered if Miss Li had discovered something.

As Luoyu grew uneasy, Li Qiao had already looked away, shaking her head as if nothing was out of the ordinary, "It’s nothing, let’s go."

Watching her back, Luoyu pondered for a moment but still followed Li Qiao’s steps.

The content of today’s exchange meeting was academic discussion between different laboratories.

From the beginning to the end, Li Qiao showed no signs of abnormality, yet the other researchers from the laboratory dared not approach her to talk.

Her face was expressionless and she exuded a low air pressure, as if her emotions were stretched to their limit, and she could erupt at any moment.

However, the day ended without the occurrence of the dreaded outburst everyone had feared.

At five-thirty in the evening, after a day of academic discussions, everyone was exhausted.

After the meeting, Academician Jiang took off his glasses and rubbed his face, "Everyone has worked hard today. Rest well tonight to recharge for tomorrow’s research findings presentation; we need to give it our all."

Everyone nodded in agreement, but none of them looked particularly pleased.

Because of today’s academic discussion, Renhe Laboratory had been suppressed all day long.