The Favored Heiress
Chapter 508: That Man is Bo Tingxiao

Chapter 508: Chapter 508: That Man is Bo Tingxiao

He lowered his eyes to look at Li Qiao, a barely perceptible ripple surging in the depths of his gaze.

In fact, he had to stare for a long time before he could superimpose the present image of Li Qiao over the one he remembered from his memory.

Perhaps because they hadn’t seen each other in so long, even the gesture of him running his fingers through her hair was somewhat awkward and stiff.

Soon, Bo Tingxiao withdrew his arm, his gaze warming with a smile, "It’s been a long time since I’ve heard you call me Brother Xiao."

Li Qiao looked up, her eyebrows teasingly raised, "It hasn’t been that long, has it?"

Bo Tingxiao leaned in slightly towards Li Qiao, his resolute profile softened by the smile at the corner of his lips, "Count how long it’s been since you left?"

Li Qiao pursed her lips and glanced at him but didn’t speak.

Bo Tingxiao’s eyes were gentle yet profound, always radiating an endless sense of indulgence, "You really are heartless. Take a seat, keep me company for a chat."

He gestured towards a wooden chair beside them, and they both sat down in turn.

On the other side, Zong Zhan leaned against a huge rock engraved with the words Lotus Platform, his fingers caressing his jaw, his eyes filled with an extremely complex dark glimmer.

Something wasn’t right.

Li Qiao and Bo Tingxiao knew each other, and by the looks of it, they were quite familiar.

Although that face could not match Shang Shaoyan’s handsomeness, he had the advantage of age and appeared steady and reliable.

Even without much experience in love, Zong Zhan was clear that a man of mature years could most attract a young girl of Li Qiao’s age.

He gazed at the lotus gallery, and after a few seconds, took out his phone and snapped several photos in rapid succession.

He opened WeChat, sent the photos to Shang Yu, and then added a message, "That man is Bo Tingxiao."

Although Zong Zhan wasn’t gossipy by nature, he could still discern some clues.

This family banquet in the Imperial Capital, was that scoundrel asking him to help watch over his woman really because of Bo Tingxiao?

A long time passed since he sent the WeChat message, but it was like a stone sinking into the ocean.

Zong Zhan looked down at his phone, furrowing his brows in contemplation.

In recent years, no one knew where the Bo brothers had gone. The Capital circle was ever-changing; within less than half a year after their departure, the rumors about them had faded.

Now, with Bo Tingxiao’s strong comeback, Zong Zhan had a vague feeling that he wanted to use the Zong Family’s wedding banquet to reenter the view of Capital’s elite.

What for? To inherit the family business?

Why then did he leave so decisively in the first place?

Zong Zhan was puzzled. Watching secretly for a long time, he saw that the two appeared to be having an ordinary catch-up.

It seemed... they were just friends, perhaps.

...

By the lotus pond, Li Qiao sat with her legs crossed in the wooden chair, tapping lightly on the wooden table, "If I hadn’t seen you here today, I really wouldn’t have known that the leader of Myanmar’s execution team was from the Bo Family of Imperial Capital."

Bo Tingxiao lifted his eyelids to look at her, his lips curving slightly, "That’s not a conflict."

Li Qiao stopped tapping her fingers, her gaze sizing him up, teasingly saying, "It’s not a conflict, but I’m used to seeing you in military uniform. I didn’t expect this suit to suit you so well."

Bo Tingxiao casually laid the suit on the table and straightened his cuffs, his smile gentle, "You’re so heartless, yet you can still remember what I looked like in uniform?"

"..." Li Qiao looked at him expressionlessly, silent.

The truth was, her relationship with Bo Tingxiao was different from that with the Border Seven Sons; the two of them were more like siblings.

He was eight years her senior, steady and restrained by nature, always infinitely tolerant and indulgent towards her.

He once joked that if no one dared to take him, he wouldn’t mind taking her in.

At the time, her response was something like, "Who’s ever heard of a brother taking in his own sister?"

Before long, someone carried a tray with two cups of tea to the other side of the corridor.

Bo Tingxiao casually waved his hand and placed a teacup in front of Li Qiao, "I heard you went to Scarlet City recently?"

"Yeah, just went back to handle some things," Li Qiao said as she lifted the lid of the cup and fiddled with the tea leaves, "Are you planning to stay this time you’re back in Imperial Capital?"

Bo Tingxiao, holding his teacup, took a sip and his smile-filled gaze fell upon her, "Do you hope I stay, or go back?"

"Me?" Li Qiao stopped fiddling with the tea leaves and glanced at him coolly, "Would you listen if I said?"

Bo Tingxiao’s lips curved calmly, "It wouldn’t hurt to consider it as a suggestion."

Li Qiao let out an uninterested ’oh’, looking at him with a neutral tone, "Then I refuse to give a suggestion."

A deep, mellow laugh came from his chest as Bo Tingxiao stretched out his finger and pointed at her from afar, "Are you afraid I’ll set a trap for you, or worried I’ll blame you later on?"

"What kind of trap could you set for me?" Li Qiao raised an eyebrow as she sipped her tea, "Besides, you, as an elder, surely have a plan in mind already, so there’s no need to ask me."

She understood Bo Tingxiao well; this man always planned thoroughly before acting.

He couldn’t be called cunning, but he certainly lived up to the phrase ’scheming and calculating.’

Amused by her tone, Bo Tingxiao became even more easygoing, "I won’t be going back for now. Do you want to stay in Imperial Capital for a few more days as well?"

Li Qiao pondered for a few seconds, her brows furrowing slightly in discomfort.

Staying in Imperial Capital to catch up with Bo Tingxiao wasn’t out of the question, but...

"What’s the matter? Afraid your boyfriend won’t agree?" Bo Tingxiao leisurely raised his arched eyebrows, looking at Li Qiao with ease. The undercurrent in his eyes hid in its deepest, unexposed depths.

This time, Li Qiao was surprised, "You know?"

She didn’t think she had ever mentioned having a boyfriend, including during the time she met Bo Tingsu in Chong City, where she hadn’t revealed even half a word.

Over the years, they had each lived on their trajectories with not much intersection.

At this moment, Bo Tingxiao glanced toward the lotus pond, his lips slightly pressed as he turned his gaze back to Li Qiao, "Although your citywide LED declaration of love for Shang Shaoyan, the South Sea merchant, hung on the trending searches for only a few hours, it would have been hard not to see."

Yet he had known about it even earlier than her Valentine’s Day declaration.

He knew back when she went to the border to pick up Li San several months ago; he just hadn’t shown himself.

That private jet belonged to the South Sea Yanhuang Group. Although some matters were difficult to investigate, it was not impossible to find out.

Moreover, that man had also secretly investigated him not long ago.

Li Qiao’s fingers rubbed the rim of the cup. After listening to Bo Tingxiao, she raised her eyebrows as if seriously considering it and said, "You actually check the trending searches?"

Bo Tingxiao: "..."

He narrowed his eyes, a playful glint in them, and even raised his hand to touch his face, "Do you think I’ve reached the age where I wouldn’t check the trending searches?"

Li Qiao licked the corner of her mouth and gave him a slanted glance, her tone lacking confidence, "I didn’t say that."

Even if it were true, she wouldn’t admit it.

It wasn’t because of his age but because Bo Tingxiao usually gave off the impression of a mature and steady veteran cadre, handling everything with exceptional solidity and experience.

He really didn’t seem like a man who would scroll through gossip on trending searches.

Bo Tingxiao looked at her with a deep sense of helplessness in his eyes, his arms folded on the table’s edge as he leaned forward and said, "Is it because of him that you refuse to go back to the border?"