Of course, Li Qiao ultimately did not take Tang Yiting’s advice.
What so-called essence of wisdom from the internet, that’s clearly the dregs.
Li Qiao sorted out her feelings with a sigh and left the restroom.
Time had quietly moved on to half-past five.
With her head down, Li Qiao returned to the lab, inevitably catching sly glances from colleagues along the way.
She fiddled with the stray hairs on the top of her head and returned expressionlessly to her lab desk.
Sitting down, Li Qiao picked up a report and flipped through it, the words "ICG-001 inhibitor" glaringly conspicuous.
Li Qiao slammed the report down on the desk with a slap, paused for two seconds, and curses about Tang Yiting floated through her mind.
Now, every time she saw 001, she thought of Okamoto 001.
Before six o’clock, Li Qiao received a call from Shang Yu.
"Still busy?" The man’s steady voice sounded, though there seemed to be some noise through the receiver.
Li Qiao stood up and walked to the hallway, leaning carelessly against the wall, "It’s okay, not too busy."
At that moment, Shang Yu seemed to turn his head to say something, which Li Qiao could not make out clearly.
Then his lazy tone came through, "Since you’re not busy, come downstairs."
Li Qiao startled, instinctively looking out the window.
But the corridor windows of the research building showed only an interior view. Li Qiao slowly made her way downstairs, asking with a laugh along the way, "You’re here?"
"No, Liuyun is waiting for you downstairs, go with him."
"Oh..." Li Qiao’s smiling lips once again dipped down.
The call ended, and she arrived at the lobby downstairs.
Li Qiao casually handed her white lab coat to the security guard at the door for safekeeping, then stepped out of the research building.
On the street, a black business car was parked on the side road, and Liuyun stood tall and waiting quietly by the door.
In less than half an hour, the car stopped at the South Sea Port Wharf.
The setting sun tilted down, and the vast glow turned the sea surface into a dazzling golden hue.
The sea breeze tousled Li Qiao’s wisps of hair, which she gathered up as Liuyun aptly gestured towards a nearby yacht, "Miss Li, the boss is inside waiting for you."
At the sound, Li Qiao nodded faintly and stepped leisurely onto the deck.
Ahead, there was a sunken seating area with a square coffee table that had fresh fruit on it.
Li Qiao glanced briefly around, bypassed the seating area and the embedded cabins, and in a blink, she was on the yacht’s main deck.
She lifted her eyes, and her gaze suddenly froze.
At the center of the main deck was a white dining table arranged with exquisite food and windproof candles.
Shang Yu sat opposite, with a phone to his ear and a cigarette in his other hand, his posture relaxed as he talked.
Behind the man was the sea, its magnificent golden twilight ripples casting a soft light around him, softening his stern features and sharp edges.
Li Qiao’s voice caught in her throat as Shang Yu looked her way, and their gazes collided.
He said something softly into the phone and then, hanging up, waved to Li Qiao, "Why not come over?"
Li Qiao pressed her lips together and walked forward, pulling out a chair and looking at the food and table setting, recalling four words: candlelit dinner.
"Master Yan is in such good spirits today?" Li Qiao teased with raised eyebrows and a jovial tone.
In her memory, he was a person of wild indifference, not one to create romance.
Li Qiao looked at the single rose in the tall vase, considering that everything tonight should indeed be romantic.
Shang Yu extinguished his cigarette, rested his arm on the table’s edge, and leaned slightly forward, his words teasing, "Didn’t you say you missed me?"
Li Qiao’s eyebrows lifted knowingly, it was because of that afternoon’s phone call.
Then, Shang Yu picked up the cutlery and looked up at her, "Let’s eat first, then I’ll take you out to sea."