Chapter 1010: Huo Tiancheng

"Who?" Mrs. Li's face was shocked: "Qiqi?"

Li Xiao nodded with a heavy expression. At the thought of today's unexpected encounter with Lin Biqi, he still felt lingering fear.

"Mom, she said she had met you before." Li Xiao looked at his mother, his tone clearly displeased: "Why didn't you tell me when you met her? It caught me off guard today; I didn't even know she was in Longcheng."

"Didn't I tell you?" Mrs. Li's memory was confused: "I did, didn't I?"

She remembered saying it.

At this time, Li Wanchang slowly extinguished his cigarette and looked at his wife: "You did tell me, maybe you forgot to tell Xiao Zai."

Li Xiao looked at his mother speechlessly. Mrs. Li, however, didn't take it to heart and said to her son: "Oh my, what's there to be afraid of with Qiqi? You grew up together. Even if you didn't end up together, you're like siblings. Could she eat you?"

Li Xiao opened his mouth. Naturally, he couldn't let others know what he had done to Lin Biqi, so in the end, he could only swallow it into his stomach.

Mrs. Li, on the contrary, became curious and looked at her son, pressing for details: "So, did Qiqi say anything to you?"

"Nothing much, just congratulating me on my engagement and such." Li Xiao pressed his temples, feeling troubled: "She even gave the necklace she custom-ordered to Keying."

Mrs. Li nodded slowly. Thinking of Lin Biqi, she couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache, and turned to instruct her son: "You should treat her better. Qiqi had a tumor in the past two years, and she just recovered."

"What?" Li Xiao was shocked and raised his head: "A tumor?"

"Yes, so she is very pitiful." Mrs. Li looked solemn: "Didn't you notice she is different from before? Let me tell you, nothing is more important than life and death. Having gone through this, she must have understood many truths and figured out many things."

Li Xiao thought of the Lin Biqi he met today. She had indeed changed a lot, to the point of being somewhat unfamiliar to him.

But Mrs. Li changed the subject, unable to hide her complaints: "However, she was inconsiderate about the necklace. How can such an expensive necklace be given away just like that? She didn't even consider if you really wanted to buy it. In front of Keying, her opening her mouth like that was equivalent to putting you on the spot. If Keying wanted it, you had no choice but to bite the bullet and pay."

Mentioning this, Li Xiao also felt aggrieved.

It wasn't about the extra necklace, but that necklace was too expensive—three thousand six!

Mrs. Li continued to mutter to herself: "Although Qiqi had a major illness, the Lin family spoils her too much. Last time she was carrying an Hermes bag that even I couldn't buy, and today it's such an expensive necklace. Could it be that the Lin family made a fortune at some point?"

"Alright, it's just a necklace, it's not like we can't afford it." Li Wanchang, having listened for a long time, finally couldn't help but speak. He looked at his son and said: "Keying is going to marry you in the future, so spending money on her is spending money on yourself. There's no need to divide it so clearly."

"As long as Keying is happy, our family can afford it no matter how expensive it is."

Li Xiao understood his father's meaning. After all, Qiu Keying was the only daughter of the Qiu family. By marrying her, he would gain the support of the entire Qiu enterprise, which was not something a necklace could compare to.

"In two days, go submit the second-round bid for the project." Li Wanchang suddenly said.

Li Xiao was stunned and asked subconsciously: "Dad, has the second-round bid been drafted? Have you already determined the bidding project?"

Li Wanchang nodded, looking unhappy: "Mainly focusing on expansion and renovation projects, and at most competing for the construction of temporary venues."

"Just these?" Li Xiao was dumbfounded. These scraps of engineering were a world apart from those large-scale construction projects.

"Just these? Do you know how fierce the competition for this project is?" Li Wanchang sighed helplessly: "Even a fly's leg is meat, and even then, there's no guarantee we can win it."

Other groups weren't stupid either. The "Li" family knew to avoid the sharp edge of giant groups like "Jiangdong," and others understood this principle too.

Therefore, the competition for small projects was also extremely cruel. Li Wanchang didn't have a hundred percent certainty of winning.

Li Xiao naturally couldn't understand this yet and could only follow his father's arrangements, nodding obediently: "Then I'll go deliver it when the time comes."

In a high-end residence in the city center, in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, Lin Biqi leaned on the sofa in a silk bathrobe, holding a glass of red wine.

Her gaze looked into the distance, taking in the prosperous night view of Longcheng, but her thoughts drifted somewhere unknown, accompanied by the faint sound of running water from the bathroom.

Before long, the floor-to-ceiling window reflected the shadow of the man behind her. The man walked out of the bathroom, half-draped in a bathrobe, wiping his wet hair with a towel.

He looked at Lin Biqi's well-defined back and couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile: "Tired, right? I was in good shape today, so I dragged it out a bit longer."

As he spoke, he casually picked up the phone charging on the bedside table, his fingertips sliding across it twice. His gaze suddenly paused, and his tone carried a hint of confusion: "What is this? A transfer?"

Lin Biqi turned her head slowly. Her black, shiny hair was scattered casually over her fair shoulders. Her skin was delicate to the point of transparency under the dim, warm light. Her brows and eyes carried a hint of laziness after bathing, beautiful enough to drip water, yet wrapped in a layer of faint detachment.

"Oh, money for the necklace." She said with a plain expression, her tone without a ripple, explaining lightly, "I sold that necklace and returned the money to you."

"Sold it?" The man raised an eyebrow, walked to her side, and sat down. With a stretch of his arm, he pulled Lin Biqi's petite body into his arms, his chin resting on the top of her head, his tone full of bewilderment, "Didn't you like that necklace very much? You specifically had the designer custom-make it back then. How could you sell it just like that?"

"I don't like it anymore." Lin Biqi couldn't be bothered to explain the reason, her tone perfunctory, not even raising her head to look at him.

The man naturally saw her perfunctoriness, but he didn't care, only saying in a doting tone: "Then just keep this money for yourself. Why transfer it back to me? Are you being so clear-cut with me?"

"It's too much, I don't want it, it burns my hands."

"But I'm willing, and you're worth it." The man lifted her chin, his fingertips gently rubbing the corners of her lips, his eyes surging with affection, and he leaned in to kiss her in a daze.

Lin Biqi, however, tilted her head slightly, cleverly avoiding his kiss, her tone calm but carrying an indisputable firmness: "We agreed, twice a week, this week is enough."

The man wasn't annoyed, only raising an eyebrow slightly: "Fine, I won't make it difficult for you, I don't have the strength either."

"If you don't want this money, I'll keep it. If you see anything you like later, tell me, and I'll buy it for you."

Lin Biqi looked at him and asked seriously: "The second-round bid, have you written it?"

The man curled his lips, full of confidence: "Of course, don't worry, the "Li" family will definitely end up with nothing this time."

The man was none other than the head of the "Tiancheng Group"—Huo Tiancheng. ===== CHAPTER 1011 =====