The Favored Heiress
Chapter 448: Men in the Early Morning, Do Not Touch

Chapter 448: Chapter 448: Men in the Early Morning, Do Not Touch

Of course, Li Qiao felt too lazy to ponder this much, knowing that whatever the reason, there would come a day when she would find out.

Half an hour later, Shang Yu led her to the backyard of the Royal Hotel.

The ground lamps cast a hazy glow of circles of dim yellow light, and large banana leaves cast mottled shadows on the ground.

Green Garden.

The place where they first met.

The pavilion was lit from all sides, serene and leisurely in the midsummer night.

Li Qiao walked step by step along the stone path, the familiar scenery seeming to overlap with the images in her memory.

After they sat down, she leaned sideways against the stone table, her gaze falling on a banana leaf, staring blankly.

The man opposite her turned his head to look at her, and the next second his long arm reached across the table, pulling her face towards him, "What are you thinking about?"

Li Qiao’s eyes gradually focused as she looked at his sharp, handsome features and tilted her head with a light smile, "I was wondering if I hadn’t met you here, who would you be with?"

Her words were clever.

They were not without a double entendre.

Shang Yu’s thin lips curved slightly and his eyes, which had been growing profound, now glinted with a hint of danger, "And if you hadn’t met me, whom would you want to be with?"

The man’s choice of words was exquisite, and he bit down slightly on the word "want."

Li Qiao pulled down his fingers to rest on the table, holding her cheek with her other hand as she looked at the man, "I haven’t thought about it."

The man played with her hand gently, the depth in his eyes receding, replaced with a hint of amusement, "Do you really believe what He Chen said?"

"Half and half," Li Qiao raised her eyebrows in response, her words displaying a bit of bold sharpness, "He understands you, and the fact that you gave him such an illusion at least suggests that Zuo Tang and Luoyu must be different."

As Li Qiao spoke, she glanced at him, her clear eyes seemingly waiting for his answer.

Shang Yu stroked her fingers, nodding without any concealment, "She is indeed different."

Li Qiao’s eyes grew heavy with intuition that he had more to say, but the statement brought an unpleasant feeling to anyone who heard it plainly.

Immediately after, the laugh lines at the corner of the man’s lips deepened as he pulled her from the stone bench across from him into his embrace.

He hooked his arms around Li Qiao’s waist, drawing her to stand between his legs, and tilted his head slightly up, "Luoyu is just Luoyu, but as Shang’s adopted daughter, Zuo Tang should address you as ’big sister-in-law’ or ’mistress’ when she sees you."

"Adopted daughter?" Li Qiao truly hadn’t expected that Zuo Tang’s difference would lie in this identity.

The man cupped the back of her head, his thin lips kissing hers lightly, "Or what else did you think?

Zuo Tang did save my life, but that was her duty. The Shang family has given her enough in return for this life-saving debt. As far as I’m concerned, she’s no different from Luoyu."

Li Qiao supported herself with her hands on his shoulders, looking down at Shang Yu’s deep eyes as dark as ancient wells, and smiled, "Oh."

The man embraced her into his arms, his gaze deeply fixed on her, "After the South Sea Conference ends, I’ll take you to Secret Hall."

Li Qiao nodded without objection, her curiosity about Secret Hall having been brewing for more than a day or two.

...

That evening, Li Qiao followed Shang Yu back to his room.

Not for any other reason, but to see how the wound on his shoulder was healing.

At ten-thirty that night, the man took off his shirt; there was still a patch of gauze the size of a palm on his left shoulder. Li Qiao bent over to peel off the gauze and saw the fierce wound, unconsciously frowning.

With the weather being hot recently, although the wound wasn’t infected, the healing wasn’t going so well.

The gun wound that damaged muscle and bone was two to three inches deep, even more serious than a cut wound.

Li Qiao threw the gauze in the trash and took out iodine and antiseptic cotton from the medicine box to clean his wound.

Her expression was very serious, and the man watched her unwaveringly, his voice noticeably hoarse, "Stay with me tonight?"

This should have been a question, but he was clearly using a declarative tone.

Li Qiao gently blew on his shoulder, swept him a glance from the corner of her eye, but said nothing.

"Sleep with me, hmm?" the man’s magnetic and husky voice proposed, and Li Qiao’s motion of wiping the wound came to a sudden halt.

At that moment, she was bent forward, her face inches away from his.

The light in the room was a perfect dim yellow, casting onto his face and making the fatigue between his brows especially evident.

Li Qiao’s heart softened for a moment, although she did not attend the South Sea Conference, she didn’t have to think to know that the constraints of various forces, along with the entanglement of so many interests, were certainly not as simple as drinking tea and chatting.

She licked the corner of her mouth and nodded lightly.

She recently had not wanted to face him at late night, mainly for fear of his needs.

More importantly, the wound on his shoulder hadn’t fully healed, and certain movements would inevitably worsen it.

Of course, she was also truly afraid of his physical strength.

Despite being twenty-seven years old, not considered a hot-blooded young man anymore, how could he have such enduring stamina?!

Li Qiao might not know that for men who had just "broken their fast," so to speak, such fervor for these matters was instinctual.

...

After a good night’s sleep, Li Qiao woke up early to find herself resting in the crook of the man’s arm, her head nestled against his chest.

Their position was very intimate, just as Shang Yu had said, last night he truly did just hold her while he slept.

Li Qiao looked up, tracing the sleeping man’s handsome features with her eyes.

The light of dawn was faint outside the window, making the room’s light dim.

Even though he was still asleep, his arm remained wrapped around her shoulder as if by subconscious instinct, persistent and firm.

After a while, Li Qiao shifted slightly to the side, but as soon as she moved, the man’s arm tightened, pulling her back in, "Why aren’t you sleeping?"

It was still early, and he seemed not fully awake, his voice exceptionally husky.

Li Qiao, lying still against him and observing his vaguely bewildered expression, smiled slightly and said nothing, then closed her eyes again.

She rarely got to see such a genuine side of Shang Yu.

Usually, he was mostly stern and noble, and even when they slept together, by the time she woke up, he was often already out of the bedroom.

This moment, the sleepiness mixed with his tightening hug, was a heart-fluttering tenderness.

Li Qiao buried her face in his chest, intending to join him for a bit more sleep, but she probably didn’t realize that the warmth in his embrace and the heat of her breath gentle on his skin, plus the coolness of her arms wrapped around his lean waist...

She also didn’t anticipate that just a few seconds later, when the man suddenly turned over and pinned her down, the stirring of arousal could no longer be contained.

"Why aren’t you..." sleeping anymore.

Before she could finish her sentence, the man had already covered her lips with his, holding her tightly in his arms, kissing her passionately and tenderly.

His scent filled her nostrils, cool and intoxicating.

Soon, Li Qiao became immersed in the sensations the man brought to her.

A man in the early morning should not be touched.

This principle was fully realized by Li Qiao during the physical exertion of the next hour.

...

At eight-thirty, the two walked downstairs hand in hand.

This time the man showed no greed, engaging in the activity just once with her.

It was just a little lengthy.

Li Qiao walked with him into the elevator, her body not feeling too much discomfort but still leaning lazily against him, she asked in a mild voice, "Taking over the control of South City from Tu Anliang, he won’t let this go easily, will he?"