The Favored Heiress
Chapter 415: Master Xiao?

Chapter 415: Chapter 415: Master Xiao?

Academician Jiang was momentarily taken aback before nodding earnestly, "Hmm, Xiao Li is right, I’ve looked over the achievements of all thirteen labs, and indeed, there is no research aimed at human genetic mutations.

Alright, alright, it’s not our turn until tomorrow, so let’s not think about these things today. Come on, teacher will take you all out to a restaurant, let’s properly relax today."

At six in the afternoon, the group left the convention center on foot.

Li Qiao dawdled lazily at the very back of the team, and just as she reached the square in front of the door, her phone rang inside her pocket.

She took it out and couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows slightly and glanced at the team ahead of her. She slowed her pace and answered, "Hello, who is this?"

The call was from a Myanmar cell number.

Listening to the methodical voice on the other end, Li Qiao couldn’t help but laugh, "Is Master Xiao still in such high spirits?"

Luoyu, walking behind her, flashed a look of confusion: "??"

She hadn’t been with Li Qiao for long, but she had a basic understanding of the people and things around her.

Where did this Master Xiao come from?

And from her tone, which was heavily laced with teasing, they must be very familiar.

"He’s here? Oh, alright, come pick me up then, Chong City Convention and Exhibition Center." Li Qiao’s voice, quite surprised, was neither too loud nor too soft, and Luoyu, following a few steps behind her, could hear it very clearly.

Luoyu, suspicious, moved forward and deliberated, "Miss Li, are you going out?"

Li Qiao nodded in response and also called out ’Senior Brother Lian’ from a not-too-distant place.

After a brief exchange between the two, Lian Zhen said with understanding, "Okay, then I’ll speak to the teacher, and you go take care of your business."

Li Qiao thanked him and turned to leave. Then, seemingly remembering something, she looked back at the approaching Luoyu and gestured to the side, "You go to the dinner with them, I have something to take care of. They might drink tonight, help me look after the teacher."

The same excuse as last night, almost verbatim.

Luoyu’s expression tightened and she smiled awkwardly, "Is there anything you need me to do for you, Miss Li?"

"No need," Li Qiao shook her head unhurriedly, "After all, everyone has things they don’t want others to know about."

This ’others’... Luoyu felt she was hinting at the boss.

Before she could ponder further, a black sedan without any insignia had already pulled up at the entrance of the convention center.

Li Qiao pulled the car door open and got in, taking the passenger seat.

Luoyu narrowed her eyes, and without any hesitation, dialed Shang Yu’s number.

...

In a high-end private hospital ward, Shen Qingye was slouching on the sofa, appearing utterly dejected.

He couldn’t get through to Li Qiao’s phone at all; it seemed she really had blocked him.

All because of Shang Shaoyan.

Shen Qingye turned his head and cast a glance at the man on the sofa taking a call. In just a matter of seconds, he acutely felt the man’s aura change abruptly, his entire body giving off a distinct and thick chill.

Especially the man’s eyes, where his pupils constricted, and his fingers gradually clenched until the knuckles turned pale and protruding.

After hanging up, Shang Yu’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he seemed to be struggling to control his emotions.

Watching him, Shen Qingye asked disdainfully, "Is it Qiaoqiao?"

Shang Yu, with a shirt draped over his shoulders, picked up a pack of cigarettes from the table and squeezed it forcefully, his gaze dark and heavy.

Master Xiao, Bo Tingxiao, huh?

—Everyone has things they don’t want others to know about.

The words conveyed by Luoyu made him feel as if there was a clump of cotton stuck in his chest, an oppressive, air-tight suffocation.

Shen Qingye saw the displeasure on Shang Yu’s face and felt instantly relieved.

This damned man threatened him yesterday not to tell Li Qiao about his injury; he remembered the grudge.

Just as he was thinking, Shen Qingye’s phone suddenly rang.

He looked at the unfamiliar number and frowned, "What’s the matter?"

A light laugh came through the phone, "Yo, Intelligence Dog, where did you get pushed around? Why the tone?"

Shen Qingye was taken aback, "Xia, Xia Lao Wu?"

"Not bad, you haven’t forgotten sister, otherwise, I might not be able to resist sending you a bullet," teased Xia Siyu with her lighthearted voice.

They chatted about this and that for a while, and then Shen Qingye exclaimed, "Ah? You’re with Qiaoqiao?"

"Naturally, wait for sister, I’ll come to see you in the South Sea in a couple of days."

Shen Qingye disregarded her words and asked directly, "How is Qiaoqiao? Hand the phone to her."

Xia Siyu said something that Shen Qingye couldn’t see, and his expression immediately fell, "Oh, then where is she?"

"..."

"I see, okay, then when she comes back, can you have her call me?" Shen Qingye spoke while sneakily watching Shang Yu’s expression.

After a while, the call on the other end was disconnected.

Perhaps driven by spite, Shen Qingye murmured as if exaggerating a great shock, "Hmm? She’s not coming back tonight? Well, okay, remember to tell her for me tomorrow."

After hanging up the phone, he took a sip of water from his cup and, noticing Shang Yu’s increasingly grim face, sneered inwardly: Ha, let you taste what it’s like to be excluded, I hope it nauseates you to death.

...

At eight o’clock in the evening, Li Qiao sat at Seaview Terrace in Chong City, sipping a cocktail in her hand.

The night, without the day’s heatwave, was refreshed by the sea breeze.

Soon after, a man in military camo sat down across from her, assertively, and a plate of sliced guava was placed on the table as well.

"Big brother said you like this, he specially had me bring it over."

The man before her, Bo Tingsu, Bo Tingxiao’s younger brother, had thick eyebrows and fierce eyes, and his facial features were very masculine.

Li Qiao looked at the guava on the table and speared a piece into her mouth, "Why didn’t he come?"

"The situation in Myanmar is a bit chaotic right now, he’s helping with the suppression and really can’t leave," Bo Tingsu lit a cigarette and blew smoke into the air, "I’m here in Chong City for something, and big brother, knowing you’re in Chong City, let me bring you something."

As Bo Tingsu spoke, he nodded towards a small brocade box next to Li Qiao, but he didn’t say much about how big brother knew she was in Chong City.

Li Qiao chewed the guava, casually picked up the brocade box emblazoned with the Lion and Tiger Mark, and examined the nimble tool kit inside, "Is this his new design?"

Bo Tingsu took a drag of his cigarette and nodded, "He said you probably lost the previous toolkit long ago. He just designed a new one and told you to remember to carry it with you. It has everything, even three anesthetic needles, and a small anti-jamming signal device, more powerful than the previous one."

Li Qiao caressed the compact toolkit, her eyes narrowed and she raised her eyebrows slightly, "Thank him for me, Brother Xiao."

Bo Tingsu paused in his smoking, "Do you and big brother really need to be so formal?"

"Just a gesture," shrugged Li Qiao, her gaze holding a light smile.

Bo Tingsu leaned back in his chair with his legs crossed and gave her a sidelong glance, "If big brother was here, would you meet with him?"

Li Qiao was fiddling with the toolkit and did not look up as she replied, "Of course, why not?"