The Favored Heiress
Chapter 499: Citywide Confession

Chapter 499: Chapter 499: Citywide Confession

Li Qiao asked the staff to zoom in on the camera, and sure enough, they saw Old Lee writing down a record of 312,000 in gift money in the thick ledger that belonged to Li Jun.

The visitor was not Xiao Yehui.

Li Qiao had someone adjust all the surveillance coverage to 11:08 PM, from the moment the bodyguard entered until he left, the entire process lasting no more than three minutes.

Even the car driven by the other party was an ordinary Honda.

Li Qiao watched as the car disappeared from the surveillance footage, the corners of her lips cooling slightly. It wasn’t long before she left the surveillance room.

Back in her car, Li Qiao did not start the engine immediately.

Instead, she opened her phone’s gallery and sent the photo she had just taken along with the clipped video to Li Shaoquan.

Shortly afterward, Li Shaoquan made a call to her.

"Ancestor, what did you send me?"

Li Qiao, holding the steering wheel with one hand, tapped her finger and said, "Use the facial recognition system to see if you can figure out this person’s background."

Li Shaoquan turned on the speakerphone and went back to WeChat to take another look, muttering to himself, "Isn’t this at the wedding scene? Okay, I’ll check it out in a bit."

He had been at today’s wedding as well, so naturally recognized the place.

After hanging up, Li Qiao tossed her phone onto the steering wheel.

If the facial comparison system Li Shaoquan had could identify the bodyguard’s background, it might save them a lot of trouble.

But if not...

Li Qiao’s fingers instantly clenched the steering wheel tightly. Whoever was trying to attract her attention using Xiao Yehui deserved to die!

...

Suddenly, evening came.

On this Double Seven Valentine’s Day, every corner of the city seemed to be filled with the sweet scent of romance.

Li Qiao did not delay any further and drove directly to the headquarters of Yan Emperor International.

Unfortunately, as soon as she entered the top-floor One Zero One office, she ran into Luoyu, who appeared to be in a rush and quite anxious.

Upon seeing Li Qiao, Luoyu stopped in her tracks, "Miss Li, are you looking for the boss?"

"Yes, is he in?"

Luoyu nodded but looked troubled, "He is, but the boss is in a meeting right now; shall I call him for you...?"

These past few days, there had been some problems with Parma’s medical project, and the boss had been discussing solutions remotely with Zhui Feng.

The situation wasn’t too tricky, but it wasn’t something that could be settled in a few words either.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have arrived at the hotel just before the wedding ceremony was about to begin this morning.

Seeing that Luoyu was in a hurry, Li Qiao glanced toward the direction of the meeting room, "No need, you go ahead with your work, I’ll wait for him in his office."

After some thought, Luoyu took her documents and headed to the meeting room.

Inside the office, Li Qiao lounged on the sofa in an unselfconscious manner, busied herself with her phone for a while, and then, as if remembering something, got up and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The first Double Seven Festival should be memorable.

Her fingers touched the window and began tracing something without any particular pattern.

Standing at the window of the tallest building in South Sea Technology Park, one could overlook the entire cityscape.

Although there wasn’t much time, it should still be possible to manage something.

Moved by the thought, Li Qiao turned and walked towards the door.

...

On the other side, by the time Shang Yu finished his meeting, it was already 7 PM in the evening.

The dusk settled low, and the sky had been dyed deep blue.

The man walked steadily back to his office, pushed open the door, and scanned the surroundings, attempting to find that familiar figure.

But it was utterly empty.

Had she left?

Luoyu had just mentioned that Li Qiao had come by when the meeting was about to adjourn.

The man picked up the phone from the desk, no new messages.

He frowned and quickly made a call to her.

The result, no answer.

Shang Yu patiently redialed while simultaneously lighting up a cigarette.

As he listened to the ringtone, he stood up and came to the floor-to-ceiling window, his gaze somber as he looked out at the dimming sky.

She seldom missed calls, unless... something had happened.

However, just as the call was about to disconnect, Li Qiao’s voice came through the handset, "Have you finished your meeting?"

The man’s voice, smoky and hoarse, replied, "What are you doing?"

He could hear the background noise on Li Qiao’s end was loud, even bustling with a roar of voices.

Li Qiao didn’t answer, seemingly covering the microphone to talk to someone else.

About half a minute later, she finally asked, multitasking, "Are you done with your work?"

"Yes." Shang Yu took a drag from his cigarette and, lowering his gaze, looked down at the rising lights of South Sea City, "When will you be back?"

After another flurry of busyness, Li Qiao hurriedly said, "I’ve got something here, wait for me for ten minutes, I’ll call you back later."

Before he could reply, she had hung up the call.

This was not a brush-off, maybe she really was busy.

But the gradually tightening contours of the man’s face still betrayed a trace of displeasure, she seemed... to have really forgotten what day it was.

There were no lights on in the office, Shang Yu stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the reflection on the glass as his slender fingertips brought the cigarette to his lips to inhale and exhale.

As the twilight blue of the sky was gradually replaced by the inky black of night, the lonely despair settling over him almost merged with the darkness.

She had said, she would call him back in ten minutes.

Time ticked by, second by second, the man stood at the window for a whole twenty minutes, his phone still silent.

Maybe, she was indeed busy.

Shang Yu’s lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes, dark as ink, absorbed the city’s lights but could not dispel the thick solitude.

At half-past seven, the man curved the corners of his lips into a wistful smile and turned to head back to his desk to continue working.

The phone rang.

He didn’t move, and upon seeing the caller ID, he answered but didn’t speak.

On the other end of the phone, amidst the clamorous noise, came the girl’s light laughter, reminding him, "Boyfriend, look outside the window."

The moment the last syllable of Li Qiao’s words fell, several LED screens throughout South Sea City flashed simultaneously, the images turning to a light purple.

No one could possibly have counted how many LED screens there were in the whole city, but standing in the highest building in the city, one could clearly see countless structures bathed in a light purple glow.

It was the light effect of the giant LED screens, diffusing through the city’s airspace.

The outdoor LED screen closest to Shang Yu’s office was the display screen at South Sea Technology Park.

The screen effect didn’t have too many fancy visuals but had a clear message written on it: Passing through a thousand mountains, you are the ideal of this world. — Happy Valentine’s Day, Shang Shaoyan.

On this Double Seven Festival, Li Qiao gave Shang Yu a citywide public confession.

Shang Yu stood alone in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, his eyes locked, Adam’s apple bobbing, and he didn’t speak for a long time, his gaze intense as he looked at those words: You are the ideal of this world.

After a while, he finally asked, in an incredibly hoarse voice, "Where are you?"

"Downstairs of your company."

...

Shang Yu strode out of the company building, and right in front of the lobby, beneath the street-side LED screen, Li Qiao was standing among the crowd, looking up at her own grand gesture, ostentatious, but... the effect wasn’t too bad.

Because at this moment, all the pedestrians on the streets and avenues of the city could see her declaration of love.

It should, hopefully, be memorable.

Li Qiao smiled, and right there under the bustling office building, she heard the distinct sound of footsteps from behind.

Just as she turned around, her view dimmed, and she was enveloped into a warm embrace, the next second her face was held tenderly, and she was kissed deeply.

Above their heads was the giant LED screen.

The sighs and envies of admiration from around them were unceasing.

Someone asked, "Who is Shang Shaoyan? The name sounds so familiar."

Others said, "Damn, I just saw the confession screen at the previous intersection, and there’s another one here; did someone wealthy burn through their cash and buy up the whole city’s ad spaces?"

And numerous girls let out excited squeals, "So romantic, I wish I was with Shang Shaoyan..."