The Favored Heiress
Chapter 464: Shang Zonghai’s Gaze

Chapter 464: Chapter 464: Shang Zonghai’s Gaze

The secretary was stunned.

"It’s almost seven in the evening. Where are you going for a field inspection?"

Li Jun didn’t heed the secretary’s indescribable expression and turned to take the car keys before leaving the hotel.

He didn’t ask the driver to accompany him. On his way to the parking lot, he didn’t forget to take out his cellphone to check WeChat again.

The first chat box was from Li Qiao.

It contained only a few words: "Your wife has corneal inflammation."

...

After dinner, Li Qiao returned to her room while Zong Yue kept Duan Shuyuan company downstairs for a chat.

Sitting at her desk, Li Qiao watched the blue brocaded box for a while before turning on the desk lamp and rummaging through the drawer for a set of precision disassembly tools.

Li Qiao put on specialized eyeglasses and used anti-magnetic tweezers and a miniature screwdriver to carefully disassemble the watch strap.

Since it was a specially customized watch, the disassembly did indeed take quite some time.

As Shang Yu had said, there were small anesthetic needles hidden inside the strap, six in total.

She absolutely had to remove the anesthetic needles; otherwise, knowing that man, if he had another episode, he would likely self-administer the anesthesia.

About half an hour later, Li Qiao looked at the parts on the table and her gaze fell once again on the watch face.

It had been a while since she had disassembled precision parts and she decided to practice her skills by disassembling and then reassembling it.

Li Qiao had strong manual skills and was about to place the watch face into the fixture when, from the balcony, the butler’s surprised cry came, "Eldest Young Master, have you returned from your business trip?"

Upon hearing this, Li Qiao raised her eyebrows slightly and glanced at the time on the watch face. It wasn’t even eight thirty yet, had her big brother rushed back from out of town?

She pursed her lips, covered the things on the desk with sterile paper, turned off the desk lamp, and went downstairs.

...

Outside the garden, upon hearing the news of Li Jun’s return, Zong Yue was the first to rush out of the living room.

Standing under the porch, she watched the man dressed in a white shirt and dress pants walk closer and closer, her heartbeat gradually speeding up.

In the blink of an eye, Li Jun was in front of Zong Yue, staring intently into her eyes. Seeing her eyelashes lowered, he directly raised her chin with his hand, "Did you go to the hospital?"

"Ah?" Zong Yue nodded. "I did. Is your business trip over?"

Li Jun didn’t answer; his lips pursed slightly before he asked again, "What did the doctor say?"

Zong Yue didn’t quite understand what his serious expression meant, but she still earnestly relayed the doctor’s instructions.

Li Jun’s Adam’s apple moved, he sighed silently and passed her by, "Let’s go inside and talk."

Zong Yue was perplexed, feeling as if he was somehow different today, though she couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination.

In fact, Li Jun had simply been awakened by that sentence from Li Qiao.

—"Your wife has corneal inflammation."

The words "your wife" prompted Li Jun to finally face the reality of his marriage

and belatedly realize that this woman, who was about to become his wife, would become his responsibility to bear on his shoulders.

...

The next day broke with a gentle dawn.

Before seven o’clock, Duan Shuyuan came into Li Qiao’s bedroom and directly roused her from bed.

"Mom, what’s going on?"

Li Qiao hadn’t slept enough and sat on the bed holding her forehead, looking very groggy.

She had dismantled the watch dial until one o’clock last night and felt she hadn’t slept long; she was far from awake.

Duan Shuyuan approached, pulled open the curtains, and sat smiling at the head of the bed, patting her shoulder, "Sweetie, get up quickly, have breakfast, and Mom will take you to get styled."

Li Qiao lifted her head expressionlessly, "What styling?"

Duan Shuyuan clicked her tongue, straightening Li Qiao’s tousled hair, "Have you forgotten that Old Mr. Shang is coming to propose today? He just sent someone to inform us, we are going to have lunch at Royal Hotel at noon.

Get up quickly, Mom will take you for a SPA, then to the styling room to dress up nicely. For something as big as an engagement, you can’t dress too casually."

Li Qiao was silent for three seconds, then pulled up her blanket, covered her head, and flopped back onto the bed, "My walk-in closet doesn’t have casual clothes."

After all, they were all picked out from various fashion weeks for her, where was the casualness in that?!

Of course, facing Duan Shuyuan’s persistent coaxing, Li Qiao was eventually forcibly dragged out the door.

...

At eleven-thirty in the morning, the Li Family’s car stopped under the Royal Hotel.

Li Qiao followed Mr. and Mrs. Li into the private room they had reserved in advance. As she walked, she looked down at her outfit and felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Outside the entrance to Lan Hall, two bodyguards saw the family of three and promptly pushed open the doors for them.

Unlike the scene of breaking off the engagement in the past, today everyone’s attire was extra formal.

Li Guangming wore a gray Tang suit, and Duan Shuyuan was in a brown lady’s skirt suit, both exuding the demeanor of a family head and matron.

As for Li Qiao...

When the door to Lan Hall was pushed open, and the family of three stepped inside, Shang Zonghai, who was sitting in the rest area, saw Li Qiao and his warm eyes suddenly froze.

She was dressed in a wine-red long dress with an overlapping collar reminiscent of a cheongsam, her hair tied into a ponytail, swaying along with the hem she held in one hand as she walked, her attire vivacious and sprightly.

Li Qiao also occasionally wore dresses, but she really hadn’t touched red ones.

The color was too bright and difficult to control.

Upon entering the banquet hall, what caught her eye first was the serious face of Shang Zonghai and his deep, surging gaze, along with...

Li Qiao’s gaze discreetly swept over Shang Yu, capturing the wine-red pocket square peeking out from his well-tailored suit’s collar, and she couldn’t help but curl the corners of her mouth.

Her dress was also wine-red.

At that moment, Shang Zonghai hadn’t come back to his senses, his demeanor showing a rare hint of reminiscence.

It was as if he was looking through Li Qiao at someone else.

After a brief absence of mind, Shang Zonghai quickly regained his composure, adjusting his glasses to shield the turmoil in his eyes.

Li Qiao came to Shang Yu’s side and nodded slightly towards Shang Zonghai, "Uncle."

"Girl, take a seat," said Shang Zonghai, his attention so fixated on Li Qiao that he almost rudely neglected Mr. and Mrs. Li.

However, they didn’t mind at all and, smiling cheerfully as they took their seats, seemed... quite content with the scene.

Opposite the rest area was the dining table, which hadn’t been served yet.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Mr. and Mrs. Li, Shang Zonghai, toying with his Buddha Beads, said with a smile in his eyes, "Guangming, it seems that the marriage between our children is destined by heaven, having come full circle back to this point."

Li Guangming grinned broadly and nodded in agreement, "Indeed, indeed. It’s just that we’re troubled by you making this journey again, we feel quite bad about it."

"This can hardly be considered a trouble," Shang Zonghai said, twirling the Buddha Beads, his gaze once more landing on Li Qiao, "Girl, your uncle has prepared a gift for you. It’s on that display table, Shaoyan, take her over to have a look."

Shang Yu nodded, stood up with his long legs, and led Li Qiao to the display table on the other side of the banquet hall.

This gesture seemed to purposely give Li Qiao and Shang Yu some privacy.