The Favored Heiress
Chapter 466: The Stock God Account

Chapter 466: Chapter 466: The Stock God Account

The marriage between Li Qiao and Shang Yu was thus settled in the calm tone of Shang Zonghai.

It went too smoothly, which spawned a rather bizarre thought in Li Qiao’s mind, as if it didn’t matter to Shang Zonghai which of his sons she was engaged to—he seemed happy either way.

Even though just a few months ago, she and Shang Lu had called off their engagement, it appeared to him as though it was no big deal.

After dinner, Shang Zonghai and Mr. and Mrs. Li continued to chat in the rest area, while Li Qiao silently left Lan Hall and unwittingly found herself in the Green Garden of the backyard.

Dressed in a red gown, she stood amidst the lush greenery of the garden, gazing trance-like at a banana tree.

Footsteps approached from behind. Li Qiao didn’t turn around, and soon felt a warmth press against her back.

She remained standing, simply leaning back into the man’s embrace.

"Why did you come out here alone?" Shang Yu’s low, mellow voice seemed to bring a touch of coolness to the mid-summer air. He lowered his head to look at Li Qiao’s serene expression, unsure of what she was thinking.

Li Qiao silently sighed, resting the back of her head against his shoulder, her fingers twiddling with a banana leaf, "Just walking around and thinking about some things."

She actually felt like she was being controlled.

From the public announcement of her relationship with Shang Yu up to now, whether it was the attitude of her parents or of Shang Zonghai, everything seemed too much a matter of course.

Was it simply because the man was Shang Yu?

"What are you thinking about?" The man had already taken off his suit jacket, wearing only a simple black shirt, the collar slightly open, his tall figure almost entirely enveloping her within his embrace.

Feeling the warmth between them, Li Qiao shook her head and swallowed the words lingering on her lips, "Nothing much, just random thoughts."

...

By two-thirty, the luncheon was over, and both parties set off on their way home.

Inside the Rolls Motorcade, Shang Zonghai’s sharp gaze turned towards Shang Yu, "Your wedding with the girl—has she said anything to you about it?"

The man, with his legs crossed and leaning back, slowly opened his eyes and replied in his low voice, "No."

"Hmm," Shang Zonghai pondered for a few seconds before giving a meaningful admonition, "Since she hasn’t mentioned it, you should avoid bringing it up for now. Now is not a good time for you two to get married."

Shang Yu narrowed his eyes and raised his brow slightly, the corners of his mouth lifting into an ambiguous smile, "Didn’t you say it was up to us?"

Shang Zonghai glanced at him and took off the Buddha Beads from his wrist, playing with them, "That’s what I told the girl. Now that the marriage is set, if I say not to get married right now, who knows what she might think.

Marriage is a matter between the two of you. As long as you don’t bring it up, the child won’t likely press you about it."

"The reason?" asked the man, his deep eyes like the dark sea, seemingly calm but with tumultuous undercurrents.

After a few seconds of silence, Shang Zonghai did not directly answer but instead said something ambiguous, "Anyhow, as long as you two are together, there’s no need to rush into marriage."

Shang Yu gazed at him intently, then turned to look out the window, his lips curving with an enigmatic smile, "Is that so? Then what’s with Mr. and Mrs. Li? What did you tell them that made them so cautiously ingratiating?"

Upon hearing this, Shang Zonghai looked straight ahead without any change in expression, "You saw that?"

The man adjusted his collar and kept his gaze out the window, his voice deep, "Don’t you have something you want to say?"

Shang Zonghai remained silent for a long time, not saying a word until the car entered the territories of South Sea Mountain, then finally spoke softly, "I’ll tell you when it’s time to talk. For now, you just need to take good care of the girl for me."

Shang Yu slowly turned his eyes back to meet his father’s gaze, the looks exchanged between father and son—one stern and profound, the other savvy and worldly.

Taking off his glasses, Shang Zonghai leaned back in his seat, his eyes half-closed, "Let’s not talk about that. Tell me, I heard that woman came to South Sea a while ago, what did she do this time?"

...

Li family villa.

Li Qiao walked into the living room with Mr. and Mrs. Li, followed by drivers and housekeepers carrying various brocade boxes.

The items weren’t numerous, but each one was incredibly valuable.

Li Qiao casually nestled in the single sofa, her gaze calm, appearing neither cold nor warm.

Duan Shuyuan nudged Li Guangming’s arm and pursed her lips in Li Qiao’s direction.

The couple silently jostled each other until finally, Li Guangming asked, "What’s wrong, daughter? What are you thinking about?"

Li Qiao didn’t make a sound, and her expression remained completely unchanged.

Li Guangming furrowed his brow, then glanced at Duan Shuyuan, who tilted her chin up, signaling that it was her turn.

Duan Shuyuan gave him a glare before walking over to Li Qiao and touching her cheek, "Baby, why are you so quiet?"

"Hmm?" Li Qiao suddenly snapped back to reality, looking up at her with some confusion, "Mom, what’s wrong?"

Li Guangming pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a sigh of relief.

He had thought his daughter had noticed something, but it turned out she was just lost in thought.

Duan Shuyuan took the opportunity to sit beside Li Qiao, examining her eyes and eyebrows closely, "You’re finally engaged, aren’t you happy?"

Li Qiao lifted her eyebrows, "I’m not unhappy, just thinking about things."

She didn’t say much more, and after composing herself, she picked up the dark green brocade box from the coffee table and went upstairs.

Duan Shuyuan looked at the other betrothal gifts on the table and called out behind her, "Qiaoqiao, where are you going to put these things? Shall I bring them up for you?"

Li Qiao paused at the top of the stairs, glanced back without much enthusiasm, and shook her head, "No need, you guys keep them."

Those gifts were not as captivating to her as the translation documents.

Mr. and Mrs. Li stood motionless, looking at the brocade box on the table, exchanging worried glances.

The betrothal gifts given by Old Mr. Shang were not something they dared to keep.

Moreover, from the previous conversation, they already knew the value of these gifts was immeasurable.

To put it bluntly, just the Oppenheimer Blue Diamond alone was worth more than five hundred million, not to mention the other complete sets of jewels.

"Go open an account at South Sea Private Bank and deposit it for our daughter," Li Guangming suggested to Duan Shuyuan, taking a sip of the green tea handed to him by a servant.

Without a second thought, Duan Shuyuan nodded, "Yes, I’ll go this afternoon."

...

In her room, Li Qiao sat at the desk and opened the brocade box to smell the scent of ink.

As last time, Shang Zonghai had personally written another twenty pages of "The Autobiography of the Stock God" translation.

She briefly skimmed through, and because she hadn’t had any expectations, she inevitably felt shocked to see account names and transaction passwords on the last page.

The twenty pages were filled with unique insights into the stock market.

But was this Stock God so fearless? To actually include his portfolio trading account and password within his autobiography.

If Shang Yu hadn’t taken pictures of it, what if it had fallen into someone else’s hands...

The question was, after all these years, would the account still exist?

Li Qiao’s eyes lingered deeply on the account and password, and after reading them, she covered the brocade box and placed it aside.

Less than half an hour later, she changed clothes, removed her makeup, took a bath, picked up the brocade box, and left the house.