The Favored Heiress
Chapter 549: Are You Two not Getting Along?

Chapter 549: Chapter 549: Are You Two not Getting Along?

Li Qiao looked at the document with an expressionless face, flipping to the last page and scanning the signatures, "What are their demands?"

"They want Old Master Duan to redraft his will, distributing the inheritance according to the law of succession."

Li Qiao closed the file and pushed it towards Qi Nanhuai, "They mainly want to redistribute the share I hold, right?"

Qi Nanhuai smiled, "Indeed, although the old master has notarized his will, he is still alive, and the children, dissatisfied with the distribution of assets, can indeed apply for mediation.

You don’t need to worry too much; since Old Master Duan insists on distributing his assets this way, I will do my best to fight for him."

Li Qiao’s lips twitched slightly, and as she stood up, she nodded and said, "Thank you. If there are any developments, please keep me updated, Lawyer Qi."

Qi Nanhuai also stood up immediately, and as they shook hands to say goodbye, he promised with a faint smile, "I will."

After Li Qiao left, Qi Nanhuai strolled back to his office, picked up the mobile phone on his desk, and dialed his uncle Duan Yuanhui’s number.

"Your niece just visited."

At this moment, Duan Yuanhui, sitting in his office at South Sea Medical University, raised his eyebrows in surprise, "What did she go for? To hand you a case?"

After Qi Nanhuai explained a few sentences, Duan Yuanhui couldn’t help but laugh, "That child, she’s well-informed indeed."

"From your niece’s point of view, she might want to get involved."

As the conversation ended, Duan Yuanhui stood up and walked to the windowsill, looking down at the playground below, and laughed, "Let her be. My niece, she’s very protective."

...

As dusk approached, Li Qiao walked out of the research institute’s building at an unhurried pace and looked up to see a black business car parked on the side road of the square.

By the car, Liuyun stood waiting. Seeing her figure, he immediately opened the rear passenger door.

The setting sun was slanting, and the dim yellow light poured into the vehicle, casting a layer of fine light circles onto the man sitting in the back seat.

Li Qiao approached Shang Yu and met his gaze, bending down to get in the car, and said with a smile, "You got off work this early today?"

He had spent more time in British Imperial than she had, so logically, he must have had a backlog of work as well.

It was just after five o’clock when he arrived at the research institute, and Li Qiao was somewhat surprised when she received his WeChat message.

As the car door slowly closed, the man with his legs crossed turned his head to look at Li Qiao. His gaze then fell onto her right hand, and he spoke in a deep voice, "You need to apply the medicine."

While he spoke, Luoyu in the front seat passed the medical kit back very smoothly.

Li Qiao, somewhere between amused and exasperated: "..."

Her right hand was pulled by Shang Yu and placed on his leg. As the bandage was unwrapped, the strong scent of the medicine immediately pervaded the surrounding air.

Li Qiao watched intently as he wiped her wound, his side profile showing concentration and even a touch of seriousness.

It was hard to describe the feeling; ever since they had returned to South Sea, he seemed to be even more tender and considerate towards her than before. Even the WeChat messages over these days were more frequent than usual.

Li Qiao was always perceptive, especially about the man she cherished the most. The slightest change could catch her attention.

As she watched Shang Yu carefully apply medicine to the wound in her palm, her heart stirred, and she suddenly clenched his fingers.

The man’s brows knotted, and he uttered three words in a low voice, "Let go of your hand."

Li Qiao squinted slightly and did not let go, but instead tightened her grip on him, "Did you come just to apply medicine to me?"

She had been in the car for a while now, but Liuyun had yet to start the engine, and the car was still parked there.

Shang Yu carefully pried her fingers open, giving her a glance, "I was here for business in the development zone and took the opportunity to treat you."

"Oh," she said, completely unconvinced.

Li Qiao looked discreetly towards the rearview mirror at the front of the car, her brows slightly furrowed, and she asked as if nonchalantly, "Are you going back to the company later?"

As Shang Yu pinched the tips of her fingers and rewrapped the bandage, he said, "You go home first, wait for me..."

The man had barely finished speaking when Li Qiao curled the corner of her mouth, "Going back by myself is no fun."

"What do you want to do? I’ll accompany you," Shang Yu said, the corners of his thin lips curving into a smile, completely ignoring the gaze Liuyun threw from the rearview mirror.

Big boss, could you please stop being so willful?

A bunch of executives are waiting for you to return for a meeting.

Li Qiao just so happened to catch Liuyun’s expression, which confirmed some of her guesses, "I don’t really have anything in particular I want to do, so maybe I’ll just accompany you to the company."

Shang Yu’s thick eyebrows lifted slightly, his gaze deeply locked onto her, his voice hoarse, "You want to keep me company overtime?"

Security is something that, apart from verbal reassurance, probably also needs to be supported by practical actions.

Without any hint of shyness, Li Qiao nodded, crossed her legs, and leaned back in her chair, "Mm, mainly to be with you."

Liuyun, Luoyu: "..."

Invisibly force-fed a mouthful of dog food.

...

Half an hour later, the business van returned to Yan Emperor headquarters.

Just as Li Qiao had guessed, Shang Yu truly hadn’t finished his work, but he was so concerned about applying medicine to her wounds that he had paused the meeting midway.

This subtle change in him, if she weren’t Li Qiao, she might not have noticed it at all.

At this moment, Li Qiao sat on the sofa in the office, her complexion grave as she looked at the case files on her phone.

She faintly felt that Shang Yu seemed to have fallen into an emotional state of fear of losing something.

Otherwise, his change was inexplicable.

After going through a typical case file, Li Qiao stood up with her phone and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

She looked at the gloomy sky, her gaze returning to her phone, and after much thought, she decided to make a call.

On the other end of the phone, He Chen sounded busy, breathing erratically and puffing heavily, his tone was lazily indifferent, "My dear sister, you sure know when to call."

Li Qiao detected something unusual, her lips pressed together, "Then you should keep busy."

"Don’t, brother won’t be finished in a short while. You go ahead, what’s the matter?" He Chen declined her offer, rolling onto the bed and casually lighting a cigarette from the bedside table.

Li Qiao wasn’t polite, and directly asked, "That night you came to the Mansion, did you feel that he was a bit off?"

He Chen took a drag of his cigarette, slightly parting his lips, allowing the smoke to drift out, "What’s off about him? Are the two of you not getting along?"

Li Qiao: "..."

She suddenly regretted calling He Chen.

She asked him because that night, when she had just returned to South Sea, He Chen and Shang Yu had talked for nearly two hours in the bar.

Although He Chen isn’t always serious, Li Qiao could tell that he understood Shang Yu better than Feng Yi and Zong Zhan.

Perhaps because Li Qiao was silent for too long, He Chen also lost his playful mood.

Half-closing his eyes as he looked at the ceiling, his breathing gradually steadied, "You suddenly ask me this, did you discover something?"

"Mm," Li Qiao responded faintly, and He Chen chuckled, "It’s that he’s been treating you better and better, right?"

As she expected, he knew.

Li Qiao gripped her phone, listening intently to what He Chen would say next. In less than half a minute, her heart throbbed as a mix of emotions surfaced, as complex as if she’d spilled a bottle of mixed flavors.

He Chen said, "He doesn’t want to make things difficult for you, and he’s afraid that you chose him out of compromise. You lack for nothing, and what he has, you have as well.

So, he wants to treat you better, even better than before, making you rely on him, unable to leave him. Only then will he feel secure."