Less than twenty minutes later, Tang Yiting's pink supercar pulled up near the lawn.
Li Qiao stood and said goodbye to Shang Yu. He asked in a low voice, "Where is the farewell party being held?"
"Royal Hotel."
The man lowered his eyelids lazily. "Alright, go ahead. But since you've had some alcohol today, don't drive."
——
In the car, Tang Yiting sneakily glanced out the window, then leaned in with a serious expression. "Qiao, that man just now…"
Li Qiao buckled her seatbelt with one hand, lips curled. "Mm, it's who you think it is."
Tang Yiting's whole body stiffened. She turned her head slowly and pointed at the phone on her lap. "T-then that number… that perfect ten-digit number…"
"It's his," Li Qiao said flatly, glancing at her.
In an instant, Tang Yiting felt like her phone had skyrocketed in value!
She actually had a call log from the ruler of Nanyang! Could this phone… still be used?
Should she go home and enshrine it in a glass case?
A moment later, while starting the engine, Tang Yiting asked, "Where's your phone? Battery dead?"
"Left it at the police station. I'll pick it up after the party." With that, Li Qiao closed her eyes to rest, clearly not intending to continue the conversation.
The two returned to the Shuiyun Styling Studio, where Tang Yiting—with half her makeup done—ran back upstairs to continue getting ready.
Li Qiao, on the other hand, borrowed a public computer from the staff and calmly began typing away in the lounge area.
Li Shaoquan's issue wasn't fully resolved.
Though that brother and sister had been released, there was no guarantee they wouldn't go after Li Shaoquan again.
Leaving him at the police station for now was a way of protecting him in disguise.
——
Half an hour later, Tang Yiting came downstairs in a mercury-silver mermaid gown.
Though usually a bit brash, the Tang family's little miss looked striking when she actually dressed up.
She brushed some hair off her shoulders and sat down next to Li Qiao, curiously peering at her screen. "Hey, who's this girl? She's pretty."
On the computer screen was a somewhat blurry photo.
The girl looked young, with an oval face, big grape-like eyes, and delicate features that gave her a light, ethereal aura.
Li Qiao rubbed her chin with a fingertip, nodding toward the screen. "Tell me—do you think this photo has any beauty filters?"
Tang Yiting was a selfie queen whose phone had more beauty apps than social ones.
She squinted at the low-resolution image and shook her head without hesitation. "Definitely not. That's 100% natural beauty. If you try to use filters on a photo this pixelated, you'd end up with a digital disaster."
Li Qiao's eyes flickered with thoughtful insight.
As a tech nerd, Li Shaoquan shouldn't be fooled by a fake photo.
But now, the girl's current appearance was almost completely different from the girl in the photo.
Why the drastic change?
Just then, Tang Yiting nudged Li Qiao's shoulder and looked at the screen with a puzzled frown. "So who is she? With a face like that, she could debut as a star."
"Guan Mingyu," Li Qiao answered.
Tang Yiting hadn't heard the name before. She stared at the photo a bit longer, sighing in admiration before urging, "Come on, let's head to the hotel. Tonight, this queen is gonna outshine everyone!"
Li Qiao gave a soft "Mm," then proceeded to permanently delete the photo and documents, uninstalled a few programs, rebooted the computer, and returned it to the store clerk.
Before the files were shredded, Tang Yiting had glimpsed a few lines of info:
That pair of siblings were orphans. The brother's name was Guan Mingchen, and the sister's name was Guan Mingyu.
——
At 5 PM, Li Qiao and the stunningly dressed Tang Yiting arrived at the Royal Hotel.
It appeared to be a joint party for two departments, as there were signs set up outside the hotel entrance.
The Finance Department's party was in the East Hall, while the Biological Engineering Department's was in the West Hall.