The Favored Heiress
Chapter 583: Passing the Assessment with Ease

Chapter 583: Chapter 583: Passing the Assessment with Ease

Li Qiao’s laid-back nature meant that it took a considerable amount of patience just to go through the Secret Hall examinations in an orderly manner.

Thus, when Wei Lang mentioned that the assembly assessment was scheduled for the afternoon, she showed her reluctance by curling the corners of her mouth downwards.

Why can’t we finish it all at once?

She tilted her head up to look at Shang Yu, who was massaging her hand. Just as she was about to speak, the man furrowed his brow, turned to Luoyu and ordered, "The ointment."

Li Qiao: "..."

She looked down at her hand and realized there was actually no injury, just a bit of redness and swelling around the base of the thumb from continuous shooting.

Shang Yu led her to the viewing stands’ resting area to sit down. Luoyu presented a red ointment bottle with both hands and also took out cotton swabs, gauze, tweezers, and other items from his pocket.

All members of the training field: "..."

Wei Lang looked down at his own calloused palms, rough with thin calluses, and cursed inwardly about the unfairness of life.

Seated on a small wooden stool, Li Qiao rested her cheek in one hand and watched as Shang Yu carefully applied the ointment, her head bowed. After pondering for a moment, she suggested, "The second assessment..." if it could be moved up.

"Hmm, it will continue in the afternoon." The man glanced at her, his thin lips smiling, but his tone was decisive.

Li Qiao sighed silently to herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of He Chen standing a few steps away, pensively watching her while he smoked.

As their gazes met, Li Qiao raised an eyebrow, "What’s up?"

He Chen, with a smile on his lips, exhaled a cloud of smoke and sat down beside her, "When did you learn to shoot?"

After a moment of thought, Li Qiao replied vaguely, "About seven or eight years ago."

She remembered the first time she had come across a gun was in the Primitive Forest at the border.

Back then, Yun Lih had been gravely injured, propped against a tree trunk with a gun, waiting for death. Her arrival had saved his life.

Latter on, her third brother had used force to take over the Border Factory, and she often hid inside, playing with the semi-finished products. Over time, her marksmanship improved.

At this point, He Chen’s eyes reflected deep thought as he observed Li Qiao’s calm demeanor. He pursed his lips slightly, "You’re twenty-two this year, right?"

"Yes."

He Chen fell silent.

He was reminiscing about what he was doing when he was fourteen or fifteen years old.

Seems like he was still in the Parma He family, being pointed at and referred to as the illegitimate child.

...

After lunch, Li Qiao returned to the training field at the mountain peak.

In the afternoon, the audience who had come to watch the assessment had grown even larger than in the morning.

Even the messengers from the First Hall had come, drawn by her reputation.

Not for any other reason than to see how Miss Li would mercilessly beat the Second Hall.

As for firearm assembly, it was nothing short of simple for Li Qiao.

However, she had rarely tried assembling with one hand.

Atop the mountain, the sun was intense. A long table was placed in the center, laden with various mixed-up gun parts.

Li Qiao glanced briefly at the components. There were many types, including parts from sniper rifles, rifles, and handguns.

"Miss Li, this competition involves teams of two, for a total of five teams. You and your teammate will need to work together with one hand each to assemble the firearms. You may freely select a teammate here on site," Wei Lang announced.

Li Qiao "Oh"ed, and as she was about to look to her right, Wei Lang quickly added, "You can choose anyone but the hall master."

"Luoyu."

Li Qiao glanced at Wei Lang and directly called Luoyu’s name.

Luoyu, pleasantly surprised.

Being a matter related to Miss Li’s assessment outcome, Luoyu did not dare to take it lightly.

She walked over to Li Qiao with a firm and resolute stride. Her words lacked confidence, though, "Miss Li, Brother Chen has participated in the assessments, maybe you should..." choose him.

"No need, you’ll do just fine," Li Qiao said, casually fiddling with a few parts with her left hand and sounding very composed.

And seeing this, Shang Yu’s thin lips curved into a faint smile.

At this time, He Chen sat on a stool in an ungentlemanly manner, licking his cheek and teasingly joking, "If she had chosen me, her chances of winning would have been even greater."

The man glanced indifferently at him and paid no attention.

Seeing this, He Chen narrowed his eyes, looking at Shang Yu with a meaningful gaze, "Did your woman choose Luoyu because she’s afraid you’ll get jealous?"

The other three assistants nodded seriously, Brother Chen, you really have a discerning eye.

In this matter, Zhui Feng felt he had the most right to speak.

After all, originally he just simply wanted to pursue Li Qiao. But what happened? Before he even had the chance to confess his love, he was dumped in Parma to fend for himself for three months.

And he damned nearly lost his life in a foreign land.

Their boss’s possessiveness was at a hellish level.

A few minutes later, the competition began.

Li Qiao used her left hand, Luoyu her right hand. Perhaps due to the psychological pressure, she pursed her lips tightly and her forehead broke out in a fine sweat.

But soon, Luoyu had no time to be nervous, because once the assessment began, Li Qiao was already rapidly calling out the names of the necessary parts.

"Scope."

"Stock."

"Flash suppressor."

"Foregrip..."

As she named each part, Luoyu quickly picked up the corresponding components and handed them to her left side for assembly.

Thirty seconds later, the rifle was assembled.

Li Qiao, without any pause, coordinated almost perfectly with Luoyu, finishing the assembly of all the parts in one minute and forty-three seconds.

The other groups, though not as fast as Li Qiao, were only a few seconds behind.

"Damn, Miss Li really knows her guns, doesn’t she? She got all those parts right."

"She even knows the recoil buffer, this assessment is just a formality, right?"

"Luoyu is not bad either, at least she didn’t slow anyone down."

Luoyu, who was wiping sweat: "..."

Thank God, she didn’t slow anyone down.

And so, in the subsequent blindfolded assembly task, Li Qiao also won with ease.

Shang Yu wasn’t wrong, the Second Hall assessment was indeed her strong suit.

By the time all the events were completed, it was just past two in the afternoon.

Li Qiao took off her blindfold and glanced at the assembled products on the table, feeling undisturbed as she turned and walked towards the man.

At that moment, Wei Lang stepped forward to check her assembly result, feeling that his understanding had been challenged once again.

Five guns, blindfolded assembly completed in one minute and seventeen seconds, twice as fast as the other members.

Miss Li’s familiarity with firearm components was beyond imagination.

Wei Lang leisurely looked toward Shang Yu, his eyes filled with resentment.

With Miss Li’s abilities, why bother with the assessment? Couldn’t you have just given her a backdoor pass?

Before long, Wei Lang still dutifully announced Li Qiao’s assessment results, and publicly gave her a platinum pass to the Parma Armament Factory.

Later, he edited all the footage of Li Qiao’s assessment from that day.

Wei Lang decided, from now on when training the Second Hall members, they would use Miss Li’s standard as the benchmark.

What an exhilarating thing that was.

Soon after, when the Second Hall members learned of Wei Lang’s training plan: Heh, they wanted to die.

...

At half-past two in the afternoon, the group returned to the Mansion.

Li Qiao had passed the Second Hall assessment perfectly and with ease, and this news spread throughout the Secret Hall in less than half a day.

Therefore, the Third Hall members began to rub their hands together with eagerness, planning to properly meet this Miss Li in the near future.

In the Mansion’s living room, He Chen had already left early.

Li Qiao leaned bonelessly against Shang Yu’s chest and lazily asked, "When is the Third Hall assessment?"

The man stroked her hair, his voice rich and magnetic, "Wait until you come back from the Border, I’ll arrange it."