The Favored Heiress
Chapter 457: Picking a Quarrel on Purpose

Chapter 457: Chapter 457: Picking a Quarrel on Purpose

The next day at noon, Li Qiao took advantage of her lunch break and drove to the Huamao Shopping Mall in the city center.

At the noodle shop’s table, she looked at Tang Yiting, who was silent and hung her head, with legs crossed and eyebrows raised, "Speak up, what kind of social survey are you conducting?"

Tang Yiting’s head drooped even lower to her chest, and while mumbling, she didn’t forget to sneak a glance at Li Qiao, "Did your family’s big shot really hear it?"

If the big shot is angry, will the Tang family be doomed?

Li Qiao observed her with an expression neither warm nor fierce, that kind of chilling gaze which made Tang Yiting’s back of the head ache.

She leaned closer to the table and said with a flattering smile, "I just, just heard someone bragging the other day, saying he had great stamina, and I was a bit curious... who lasts longer, him or your family’s big shot?"

In fact, that phrase ’great stamina’ was clearly about Huo Ming talking about enduring through his fitness regime.

At the time, Tang Yiting didn’t overhear enough details from beside the gym, which only worsened her impression of Huo Ming.

She knew men were disgusting, but she never expected that someone would discuss stamina in broad daylight.

So, with her mind set on taking him down a peg, Tang Yiting thought of Li Qiao’s family big shot. She originally intended to poke around under the pretext of Okamoto 001, but things... went too far.

Li Qiao looked at her and narrowed her eyes slightly, "Are you still causing trouble for Huo Ming?"

Tang Yiting’s breath hitched; she smiled innocently, "I’m not causing him trouble, I just... cannot coexist under the same sky with him!"

The last four words were uttered through gritted teeth.

Understood, a pair of sworn enemies.

Li Qiao shook her head helplessly and couldn’t be bothered to probe further; after all, Huo Ming was definitely going to return to Parma sooner or later.

Presumably Tang Yiting couldn’t let go of the grudge from being pushed into the sea back then, and that’s why she picked a fight with him. But Li Qiao knew Tangtang wouldn’t do anything too extreme or inappropriate.

Once Huo Ming leaves, things will pass with time.

Of course, Li Qiao could never have imagined that Huo Ming would indeed leave eventually.

But Tang Yiting also stole something of his and hid it for many years.

After finishing her meal, Li Qiao drove back to the laboratory, while Tang Yiting aimlessly wandered around the shopping mall, bored to death.

Recently, she hadn’t started working yet, so shopping alone was a bit dull; she stopped in front of a women’s clothing store, pondering, and after a moment, dialed the Tang family’s private consultant, "What’s Mr. Huo up to today?"

...

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it was Friday.

Li Qiao sat in the underground laboratory of the research institute, reviewing materials when suddenly a chemical report was tossed onto her desk, "Have you seen this before?"

The tone was brusque; it was Li Ru.

Li Qiao glanced at her and skimmed the report, her hands resting on the analysis report previously done at Renhe Laboratory.

She spread the report on the table and upon seeing the signature at the bottom of the page, she asked without changing her expression, "Is there a problem?"

The signer of this report was a male researcher from the same Renhe group.

"Big problem!" Li Ru towered over Li Qiao, flipped to the second page, pointing to a line in the middle, "How could you get such a common gene chemical structure wrong? As the person in charge, did you ever check thoroughly?

Do you have any idea what dire consequences we could face if we continued with your research approach?"

Li Qiao looked indifferently at the spot she was pointing to, and a second later, she glanced at Li Ru’s tense expression and tapped the report, "This isn’t a normal human gene chemical structure. It’s the pathological structure found in a patient. The following content has a detailed explanation. Here."

Li Ru’s behavior of seizing upon a single mistake and coming over to make a fuss could only be described as nitpicking, as far as Li Qiao was concerned.

After listening to her retelling, Li Ru’s eyes flickered subtly.

As a researcher, rigor was of utmost importance.

So when she saw the chemical structure written incorrectly in the report, she found it incredibly ironic.

She hadn’t even noticed the explanatory notes that followed and had approached Li Qiao with the attitude of educating her, planning to have a serious talk with her.

At that moment, Li Ru pursed her lips, seemingly stuck in an awkward dilemma.

But still leveraging her status as an Intermediate Researcher, she slammed the table, "Of course, I’ve read it all, the problem is that your report’s narrative is completely unqualified, no wonder it ranked last at the conference, not even placing."

Having said that, she snatched the report and turned to go back to her own workbench.

Li Qiao curled her lips and laughed silently.

The atmosphere of this research institute was indeed disagreeable.

As the end of the day approached, Li Qiao packed up her things once more, preparing to leave, while Lian Zhen did not linger much longer and was ready to leave with her.

Li Ru, seeing this, scoffed sarcastically, "With such mediocre abilities, and yet leaving on time every day, I’ve never seen a less dedicated researcher."

Her voice was not too loud but enough to spread throughout the entire lab bench area.

Instantly, many people looked up at Li Qiao and Lian Zhen with various expressions, yet no one said anything further.

Lian Zhen frowned slightly and turned to look, just to see Li Ru watching them with a slanted eye.

Li Qiao continued to pack her things at her own pace, and before Lian Zhen had a chance to speak, she said with a smile that was not quite a smile, "Lack of diligence doesn’t mean lack of ability, and as for diligence... it isn’t necessarily proof of excellence."

Lian Zhen’s usually gentle character had also developed some edges during these days at the research institute.

He looked at Li Ru, stood up, and took off his lab coat with a gentle tone, but his eyes conveyed sarcasm, "Sister Lee, if you think our abilities aren’t up to par, you can apply to have us sent back to our own labs.

As for leaving on time every day... thus far, you have persistently kept me and Xiao Li from partaking in the project, so if we don’t leave, what should we do? Sit and drink tea to earn overtime pay?"

Li Qiao turned to look at Lian Zhen, with laughter growing in her eyes.

If not for being cold-shouldered to a certain extent, Senior Brother Lian, with his gentle personality, rarely got so sharp.

They exchanged a smile and, ignoring Li Ru’s furious expression, left the lab one after the other.

"Wow, these Junior Researchers are getting too arrogant, aren’t they?"

"Exactly. They’ve just started, and they already have such an attitude. I doubt they’ll last long."

"Sister Lee, don’t be angry, they don’t appreciate your kindness. Just ignore them from now on."

"Right. The research institute favoring this project is their honor. These little Junior Researchers are too proud and don’t even understand workplace norms. They’ll suffer in the future."

The support from her colleagues helped soothe Li Ru’s face somewhat.

But her grudge against Li Qiao deepened in her heart.

It doesn’t matter where, or what place, the workplace is always a miniature form of society.

A person like Li Qiao, who didn’t understand the rules, would sooner or later be eliminated. She was waiting for that day.

But what Li Ru couldn’t foresee was that there was another type of person in the world, one who didn’t need to know the rules, because they would become the ones setting the rules in the future.