The Favored Heiress
Chapter 616: He Won’t Give Up Easily

Chapter 616: Chapter 616: He Won’t Give Up Easily

Li Qiao cocked her head and watched Shang Yu’s unpredictable handsome face, gave a smile, and candidly revealed the matter of Xiao Yeyan seeking her out.

The man pinched the document in his hand, his knuckles turning white, "Have you agreed?"

"Not yet," Li Qiao stood up, leaning against his shoulder, gazing at the material, her fingers gently brushing over the third word in a few lines, "Take a close look at these parts."

The document Xiao Yeyan had given her was entirely in English, and the top right corner even bore the Ducal Residence’s family crest logo.

Simply looking at Xiao Yeyan’s approach, use of the family’s letter paper so openly, meant either he was careless or... it was done on purpose.

Clearly, the latter possibility was the greatest.

Li Qiao leaned against Shang Yu languidly, and when she saw that he remained silent for a long time, she nudged him with her shoulder, her eyebrows lifted in suspicion.

The man’s lips slightly curved up, and he turned his head to say, "Bacon cipher."

Li Qiao chuckled awkwardly, "I thought you hadn’t noticed."

In no time, the two went to the dining room.

Li Qiao sat opposite Shang Yu, sipping congee in small bites. Just after swallowing her food, she heard the man start to speak, "The encrypted content might not come from Yin Mo."

"I think so too," Li Qiao, with one hand guarding the bowl, poked at the white congee with her spoon, "The Bacon cipher is what Yin Lao Er taught us, if she’s not from the Ducal Residence, the credibility is about eighty percent."

She paused, loosening her grip on the spoon, and pushed the bowl of congee forward a little, "But since she grew up in the Ducal Residence, what she knows, Xiao Yehui is also skilled at.

When Xiao Yeyan gave me the document, he specifically instructed me to look closely, so that’s why I brought it back.

He and his brother are not on good terms, including the several times Xiao Yeyan has hinted to me that Xiao Yehui is still alive.

Maybe he really does want to cooperate with me, but it’s also possible that his actions might be discovered by Xiao Yehui."

At that moment, Shang Yu’s stern expression softened somewhat. He glanced at the document on the corner of the table, nodding leisurely, "Your analysis isn’t bad."

Li Qiao glared at him, "Even if the message is from Yin Mo, I wouldn’t let my emotions get in the way. Xiao Yeyan wants to use me to deal with Xiao Yehui; that’s his true purpose."

If Xiao Yeyan were Xiao Yehui’s opponent, he wouldn’t have come to seek her cooperation.

Putting aside abilities for the moment, after all, Xiao Yehui is the current Duke Charlman, whose power and status are a notch above.

Although Xiao Yeyan is the second son, he is merely an illegitimate child, in name but not in reality.

As for the translation of the Bacon cipher in the document, it was an ambiguous sentence: Xiao Qi, trust him.

The man’s eyes contained a hint of satisfaction as he pursed his lips and gestured to Li Qiao through the air, "Come here."

She got up, walked over, and naturally sat on his lap.

Shang Yu picked up the document once more, unfolding it, while looking at her exquisite profile, his eyes hiding a fierceness, "Shall I take care of it, hmm?"

"No, let’s just wait and see," Li Qiao wrapped her arms around his shoulders, flicking the paper, "Xiao Yeyan told me today that he came to the South Sea for me. If that’s true, he won’t give up easily."

Xiao Yeyan was also capable of using strategic power plays, always managing to keep himself out of the fray when he framed his elder brother.

Creating pretexts to benefit from a situation was his forte.

If the translated text in the document really is the handiwork of Yin Mo, it seems to indicate that Yin Lao Er is not in a good situation right now either.

Using this method to communicate implies that it’s not by her own choice, unless... she’s compelled.

But what if it wasn’t Yin Lao Er, but instead Xiao Yehui who was simply going with the flow?

...

Time quickly passed, and two days went by.

Xiao Yeyan didn’t look for Li Qiao again, and she was happy to enjoy the quiet, busying herself with her own affairs at the foundation company every day.

This day, during the lunch break.

Li Qiao stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the conference room, quietly listening to the report from the other end of the phone.

Not far away, in the pantry, a few clerks were looking at the conference room and gossiping.

"What do you think, who is she really? President Xi is particularly lenient with her. Originally there weren’t enough meeting rooms, yet he still cleared one for her."

"She must have quite the background. Our HR specialist Zong Yue has lunch with her every day, and it doesn’t look like she’s just trying to curry favor."

"How do you know she’s not currying favor? Don’t forget, Zong Yue’s probationary period isn’t over yet."

A group of men and women huddled together, whispering among themselves. Their curiosity about Li Qiao had overwhelmed their enthusiasm for work.

Just then, an HR manager Liu Ying entered the pantry.

Hearing their discussion, she chuckled, "You really have some nerve, openly discussing our great contributor. Aren’t you afraid of having your bonuses docked?"

"Sister Liu, what great contributor? Her?"

Liu Ying, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, had joined the fund company at its inception and was considered a fairly senior employee.

Holding her cup, she glanced towards the conference room, "You all know about Guan Mingchen who joined us recently, right?"

"Damn, that gruff tough guy?"

"Don’t say that. Guan Mingchen has a strong mental arithmetic ability. I heard that he’s given the elites in the trading department a hard time."

Liu Ying casually leaned against the water cooler next to her, nodding at the meeting room, "Guan Mingchen was recommended by her. I handled the onboarding process. He didn’t even finish middle school."

The group exchanged glances, each looking somewhat uneasy.

Nepotism is commonplace in the workplace.

But aside from his mental arithmetic skills, Guan Mingchen really didn’t have much else to offer, not even educational qualifications. No wonder he can’t use a printer; he really does seem like a brute.

"Sister Liu, what’s Zong Yue’s relationship with her?"

Liu Ying thought for a moment and shrugged, "I don’t know. I feel like Zong Yue tries pretty hard to ingratiate herself with her, almost like a lapdog."

In a company with more men than women, Zong Yue’s arrival attracted quite a few male colleagues’ attention.

Rumors said she came from a wealthy family. Later, news of her marriage got out, but it seemed like it wasn’t a happy one.

At that moment, a manager from the business department dropped another bombshell, "You guys might not know this, but all of our company’s confidential documents and contracts, President Xi has shown them to her."

"Is that true?"

"Of course it’s true. I sorted them myself. And now, she’s already getting involved in our company’s investment business. I’m quite curious if she’ll directly participate in an upcoming major control merger and acquisition deal."

...

Meanwhile, Li Qiao, the focus of the company’s rumors, ended the call with an impassive face, her expression slightly cool.

Someone knocked on the glass door behind her, and Xi Luo entered pushing the door open, "I’m going on a business trip to Myanmar the day after tomorrow."

Li Qiao turned around, her eyebrows slightly raised, "By yourself?"

Xi Luo, leaning on the doorframe with her arms crossed, responded, "If you want to go, I’m not stopping you. Want to come along?"

"It depends," Li Qiao gave a non-committal answer.

Xi Luo smiled unphased, "Well, take your time deciding. Oh, and one more thing, our smart team has developed an intelligent prosthesis that can connect to brain nerves, there’s an introductory meeting next week."

Her smile deepened as she added, "You should know who we collaborated with for the development of that prosthesis, right?"