The night was like thick ink, and at eleven o’clock, Li Qiao arrived at South Sea International Airport.
As soon as the car stopped steadily, the airline’s business manager approached with a briefcase in hand, "Miss Li, everything has been arranged."
Li Qiao nodded her head and glanced at her wristwatch on her left hand as she did so.
She was thinking about calling Zong Yue when she heard the roar of a sports car engine behind her.
Zong Yue parked next to the Mercedes and pulled a purple carry-on out of the trunk. Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, she hurried over to Li Qiao, "Sorry, sorry, I’m late."
She had thought she would be departing for British Imperial the next morning, but after finishing dinner at her grandfather’s, Li Qiao asked her to pack her things and meet at the airport.
Fortunately, Li Jun did not stop her. Hearing that she was going to travel with Qiaoqiao, he readily agreed and even gave her a card to spend as she liked.
Seeing that Zong Yue’s nose was beaded with sweat, Li Qiao curved her lips slightly, "You’re not late, let’s go."
The business manager with keen eyesight took the carry-on from Zong Yue, and when escorting them onto the plane, he reminded respectfully, "Miss Li, both legs of the flight have been arranged.
However, at Myanmar Airport, you may need to cooperate with an inspection when disembarking, but it won’t take too long, at most one hour before taking off again."
Li Qiao’s steps up the stairs slowed and she lowered her eyelids, taking it as an acknowledgment.
Inside the cabin, Zong Yue sat beside the window, wiping sweat with a tissue, and looked at Li Qiao who was sitting with her legs crossed next to her. She leaned over and asked, "Qiaoqiao, are we transferring in Myanmar?"
South Sea also had direct flights, and this was even a private business jet, so why were they transferring?
Li Qiao, resting against the seatback, swayed her toes and replied simply with her eyes half-closed, "Yes, it’s more convenient."
Zong Yue couldn’t grasp the meaning behind those two words for the moment.
Direct flight seemed to be the more convenient option, no matter how she thought about it.
Over three hours later, the business jet arrived at Myanmar International Airport.
As the cabin door opened, a wave of heat instantly enveloped them.
Zong Yue half-awake, opened her eyes and looked out the window, only to see a number of ground staff carrying out flight checks and refueling operations.
She rubbed her forehead, becoming slightly more alert, sat up, and looked across, "Qiaoqiao, are we going down?"
Li Qiao was looking down, tapping on her phone screen, seemingly sending messages.
Hearing the question, she responded without raising her head, "No need."
Zong Yue pursed her lips, her curiosity piqued more than before.
Although it had been many years since she last traveled abroad, any form of transfer seemed to require disembarking.
She also belatedly recalled that she didn’t have a visa for coming from the domestic to Myanmar.
Could it be that being on a private business jet solved these issues?
But... from the beginning to the end, Qiaoqiao had never asked for her personal information.
Zong Yue’s thoughts were muddled, and before she could sort them out, two security officers had already approached the cabin from outside.
They were carrying equipment for safety checks and document scanning, exchanged a few words in a foreign language with the flight attendants, and then entered the cabin.
The two security officers looked around and decided to proceed with separate checks.
One of them moved towards Zong Yue, but Li Qiao, who had been looking down at her phone, suddenly raised her hand, holding a green passport between two fingers.
The security officers, standing before and behind the aisle by the sofa, were blocked by Li Qiao’s move and had to take the passport, placing it on the document scanning device.
Zong Yue craned her neck to watch their actions, her heart in her throat.
Were they entering the country illegally?!
With that thought, she sat even more upright, adopting a posture reminiscent of a soldier’s bearing, hoping to signal her status as a good citizen.
In contrast to Zong Yue’s nervousness, Li Qiao was calm and unruffled, without a hint of response.
Especially before the document scanning device had given an alert, time seemed to stretch on indefinitely.
Just a few seconds later, the scanning device suddenly emitted a beep, and the red light that lit up alongside it left Zong Yue dumbfounded.
A red light—did that mean invalid?!
It looked like tonight was going to be ruined, and she had already started to think whether it would be better to have her third uncle come to their rescue or to involve her grandfather.
At this moment, Li Qiao and the two security officers were completely oblivious to the drama that Zong Yue had concocted in her mind.
The red light continued flashing for a few seconds, and the security officers were stunned for quite a while.
Then, at the exact moment when Zong Yue nervously bit her lip, the two men abruptly took a step back, placed their right fists over their chests, and bowed neatly towards Li Qiao, greeting her in Burmese: "Tan Sri."
A bewildered Zong Yue: "???"
Li Qiao hummed nonchalantly and, supporting her forehead, asked in Burmese, "Is the check complete?"
The security officers immediately bowed at a ninety-degree angle, and offered her green passport with both hands, "Yes, please keep it safe."
Li Qiao took her passport back and placed it beside her leg, then waved her hand, "Arrange for departure as soon as possible."
She conducted the entire conversation in Burmese, so Zong Yue didn’t understand a word, but this didn’t prevent her from discerning something peculiar.
The respect shown by the airport security officers of Myanmar towards Li Qiao was perhaps a little too much, wasn’t it?
She knew Myanmar was a monarchical country controlled by the Royal Family.
Even without having been there, she’d seen it on the news – the gesture of the security officers placing their right fist to their chest was apparently the highest etiquette when meeting a member of the Royal Family.
So, what exactly had happened?
The two security officers backed out of the cabin while bowing, and in less than ten minutes, the control tower transmitted the permission to take off.
It wasn’t just Zong Yue who was baffled, even the flight attendants and the captain were perplexed.
In all their years of flying, they had never seen an airport issue a takeoff command so swiftly.
Even the ground crew completed the preflight checks and replenishments with utmost speed, as if racing against time.
At half past two in the dead of night, the business jet slowly ascended, heading for the British Imperial.
Although they had to detour to Myanmar for landing, the flight time was not much different from a direct flight from the South Sea.
Both were eight hours.
And the most crucial point—citizens of Myanmar had visa-free access to the British Imperial.
Due to her special identity, Li Qiao had to depart from within the bounds of Myanmar, hence the action of landing there en route.
Of course, all this was unknown to Zong Yue.
Because for the next five hours of the flight, other than sleeping, she was pondering over one thing.
The green passport in Qiaoqiao’s hand—it must be from Myanmar.
Did that mean she held dual citizenship?
It was seven in the morning South Sea time, eleven at night British Imperial time, when the business jet reached Capital London Port.
The port of London at night was enveloped in a fine, misty rain.
The red walls and round dome of the corner towers added the architectural uniqueness of an international city.
Zong Yue, as if in a trance, dragged her small suitcase following Li Qiao off the plane, the fine rain sprinkling her face, causing her to shiver.
The drizzly night was somewhat chilly until an umbrella suddenly shaded them, and she saw two black-clothed bodyguards holding wide black silk umbrellas, protecting them from the rain and wind.