This meal, Li Qiao ate with a distracted mind.
No matter how delicious the food at Shui Jing Yuan was, it still felt like something was missing.
Twenty minutes later, she set down her chopsticks with a calm expression, dabbed at the corner of her mouth with a napkin, then glanced at her phone on the table. Picking it up, she stood and said, "I'm going out for a walk."
"Huh?" Tang Yiting had a meatball in her mouth and two strands of crystal noodles hanging from her lips. She quickly chewed and looked toward the figure disappearing at the door, muttering to herself, "Why do I feel like she's ditching me again?"
She was already used to being casually abandoned like this.
Next to her, Wen Shi also set down his utensils. He glanced at the door of the private room and muttered as if unintentionally, "Is she close with Shang Shaoyan?"
Tang Yiting slurped a mouthful of noodles and shook her head vaguely. "No idea!"
Wen Shi leisurely wiped his fingers with a hot towel, a gentle smile tugging at his lips. "I just saw the bill—the charges were listed under the Yanhuang Group's account. I thought she must be quite close to Shang Shaoyan."
Tang Yiting gave an "Oh," then looked up while picking at some food. Her gaze flicked toward Wen Shi. "I didn't even notice. You sure are observant."
With that, she went back to stuffing her mouth, fully embodying a "don't talk while eating" foodie.
As someone from the Tang family who grew up navigating the treacherous politics of a powerful household, Tang Yiting was no stranger to veiled probing like Wen Shi's.
…
Meanwhile, Li Qiao had stepped out of the Yiwanyuan private room and walked along the intricately decorated corridor, arriving at the courtyard where a traditional-style sundial stood.
She gazed at the sundial—the gnomon's shadow had already passed the midpoint of the noon hour. At this time, Shang Yu was probably still en route to Lin City.
If he hadn't made that stop at the medical university, perhaps his schedule wouldn't have been delayed.
In the end, it was because of her that he changed his plans at the last minute.
Li Qiao checked her phone expressionlessly. This summit was reportedly the most important economic forum held in the past six months.
It only took a few seconds to pull up relevant news articles online.
At 1:00 PM today, the opening ceremony of the summit was to be held at the National Convention Center in Yancheng, Lin City. Three parallel thematic conferences would also be conducted simultaneously.
Which meant… he wouldn't have had time to eat at all.
It took at least two hours to get from Nanyang to Lin City, even at the fastest speed.
Li Qiao looked up again, her gaze falling on the sundial. A sudden idea took shape in her mind.
She had heard that the Yancheng Horticultural Expo had just opened recently. She suddenly felt like going to check it out.
A few minutes later, in Shui Jing Yuan's parking lot, a rugged Mercedes G-Wagon drove out through the front gate.
On the way, she made a quick call to inform Tang Yiting, then hit the gas and sped straight toward the G3 highway.
…
By evening, in Yancheng, Lin City—
Since it was the first time the summit was being held in Yancheng, banners promoting the event could be seen along every major road in the city.
As dusk settled and the city lit up with glowing lights, a motorcade slowly emerged from the underground parking lot of the National Convention Center.
In the passenger seat, Liu Yun flipped through the summit itinerary. "Boss, next on the schedule is the cultural gala at the State Guesthouse."
The man rested his elbow on the window and his head against his hand, eyes closed, weariness subtly etched into his face. "Cancel it."
Liu Yun glanced back at him and nodded in agreement. "Got it. I'll ask the hotel to prepare dinner then."
Just then, a faint buzz broke the silence in the car.
Liu Yun pulled out two phones from his jacket pocket. After checking both screens, he handed one back to Shang Yu in the back seat. "Boss, you've got a WeChat message."