Chapter 1079

In the lounge on the other side, Li Xiao was also ready.

A well-tailored high-end suit set off his tall figure, his brows were handsome, and his whole body exuded a calmness inconsistent with his age.

Mrs. Li circled her son two or three times, her fingertips gently smoothing the subtle wrinkles on his suit collar, and carefully examined his hairstyle and cufflinks, not wanting to let go of even the slightest detail.

"Very good. Don't be nervous when you go on stage later, just be generous." She reached out and patted Li Xiao's arm gently, instructing him in a gentle tone.

But at this moment, Li Xiao's face was always calm, without a hint of nervousness, and even less of the excitement and joy that Qiu Keying had. His mind was as calm as a pool of still water, without a ripple.

This much-anticipated engagement ceremony was just a formality for him, as simple as completing a task.

"Where's my dad?" Li Xiao asked when he saw his father was not there.

Mrs. Li looked around and found that her husband was really not there, and couldn't help but frown and complain: "Eh? He was just here a moment ago, why is he gone? It's almost time!"

She was about to go out to find someone, but was pulled by Li Xiao: "Mom, don't look for him. Dad must know what he's doing. The ceremony is about to start."

At this time, at the end of the hotel's quiet corridor, Li Wanchang was standing by the window, his face gloomy and terrifying.

The group project manager in front of him lowered his head, his face pale, not daring to breathe, and only after a long while did he bite the bullet and speak, his voice dry and embarrassing.

"Chairman, the second round of bidding results just came out... Our Li family failed to advance directly and only got a candidate spot."

The project manager felt ashamed to say the word "candidate."

This was only the second round of bidding. With the Li Group's top-tier construction qualifications in the industry, years of accumulated reputation, and massive practical experience, let alone the second round, the first three rounds should have been a sure thing without any suspense.

Who could have expected that it would end up with such an embarrassing and humiliating result.

What was even more chilling was that in order to increase the chances of winning and safely secure the project, the Li family had already taken the initiative to retreat, giving up the core projects with higher profits and larger scales, and turned to compete for branch projects with smaller volume and lower thresholds.

But even so, they still didn't get the direct pass qualification.

Li Wanchang clenched his hands hanging by his sides, his knuckles turning white, his chest holding back a breath of frustration, but he couldn't say a word for a long time. The so-called candidate was just a decent excuse on the surface. He knew in his heart—the Li family was actually completely out of the second round this time.

Missing such a major project was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the Li family, but at this moment Li Wanchang didn't even have time to be angry, because his son's engagement ceremony was about to start.

Fortunately, this marriage with the Qiu family could be considered the only good news he could take out at the moment.

Li Wanchang took a deep breath, suppressed the violence and irritability in his eyes, raised his hand, and said in a cold and tired voice: "Suppress this matter first, and we will discuss it in detail at a meeting later."

In the hotel's underground parking lot, Shen Ci slowly drove the car into the parking space. After turning off the engine and parking, she reached out to pick up the handbag on the passenger seat. She quickly opened it to check the items inside, confirmed that they were correct, and pushed the door to get out of the car, but as soon as her gaze lifted, it suddenly fixed on not far away.

She saw that not far in front of the parking space, a familiar figure got off a car.

But before she could react, another familiar figure followed.

"Qiqi!"

Huo Tiancheng called Lin Biqi, walked quickly to her, and said in a low voice with a serious expression: "It's not too late for you to change your mind now."

Lin Biqi held the child, slowly looked up at Huo Tiancheng, her eyes cold and resolute: "I will not change my mind. If you don't want to wait, you can go back first. I will go back myself after I finish my business here."

"By using this method, aren't you dragging yourself into it too?" Huo Tiancheng persuaded unwillingly: "You clearly have better choices, why must you choose to perish with someone who is not worth it?"

Lin Biqi's face was ashen, and Huo Tiancheng's words couldn't stir up the slightest ripple in her heart.

She sneered coldly: "I destroyed myself a long time ago. From the moment I knew I was pregnant and decided to give birth to the child, I did it for today!"

"I don't have any better choices, I don't even have other choices, because this is the only thing I want to do!"

Huo Tiancheng grabbed Lin Biqi's shoulder excitedly: "You have me! As long as you are willing to go with me, I can help you, help you in a way that doesn't hurt yourself!"

In fact, Huo Tiancheng had already tried his best to help Lin Biqi.

The Li family was out in the second round, and Huo Tiancheng played a crucial role in it.

But what Lin Biqi wanted was far beyond what Huo Tiancheng could imagine.

And she also knew very well that men are unreliable. Huo Tiancheng's promises and guarantees to her now didn't mean he would always be like this in the future.

She took a small step back, broke free from Huo Tiancheng's hand, gave him no response, and passed him while holding the child.

Huo Tiancheng knew that this was Lin Biqi's response to him.

Shen Ci sat in the car and saw the scene just now clearly. Always calm as she was, she couldn't hide her shock at this moment.

Lin Biqi?

Uncle Huo?

What kind of unbelievable, heaven-defying combination is this?

Uncle Huo could be Lin Biqi's grandfather, right?

And this is completely not a question of age anymore. How could the two of them...

And the child Lin Biqi is holding, wouldn't it be Uncle Huo's child?

The parking lot was not close, and she couldn't hear a word of their conversation, but judging from their tense expressions, intense pulling, and resolute attitudes, it was clear that they had an irreconcilable disagreement and eventually parted on bad terms.

Shen Ci felt for the first time that her brain circuit couldn't turn at this moment. She couldn't imagine what kind of relationship could exist between Lin Biqi and Uncle Huo.

Lin Biqi took the elevator to the first floor. The moment the elevator door opened, a gentle and harmless smile slowly curled up on her originally dead-silent face, but deep in her eyes, cold sharpness was quenched, hatred surged, and it was hidden extremely deep.

She held the child, walked straight to the banquet hall with a calm posture, handed in the invitation, and followed the waiter to the seat arranged in advance.

A young and beautiful girl appeared alone holding a swaddled infant, attracting curious glances from many guests around, who cast measuring looks, but only thought it was an ordinary relative bringing a baby to the banquet. No one thought deeply, and no one took it to heart.

As soon as Lin Biqi sat down, the lights in the whole venue suddenly dimmed.

The engagement ceremony started on time.

Only a bright spotlight was left in the venue, hitting the arches on both sides of the venue accurately. Accompanied by soothing and romantic background music, the two big doors were slowly pushed open to both sides. Qiu Keying in a dress and Li Xiao in a suit appeared in everyone's sight at the same time.

The two walked from both ends of the stage toward the central main stage step by step. Talented and beautiful, a perfect match, the picture was extremely compatible.

The guests below the stage looked on quietly. Many people took out their mobile phones, aimed their lenses at the stage, and recorded this much-anticipated engagement ceremony.

No one noticed that at the hotel staff's dedicated passage, Shen Ci quietly entered through the special passage and hid in the shadows in the corner.

Originally, she had no interest in this engagement banquet. Li Xiao and Qiu Keying's marriage was just someone else's excitement to her, and she was too lazy to join in.

But it's different now.

Lin Biqi, who had disappeared for a long time, actually came. The matter suddenly became interesting.

Shen Ci leaned in the corner, a flash of playful expectation in her eyes. She had a strong premonition—this seemingly decent and perfect engagement banquet today would definitely not end so peacefully, and a shocking good show was about to start.

"Miss Shen, why are you here?"

At this time, Manager Feng, who was in charge of this ceremony, saw Shen Ci and couldn't help but walk up with a look of surprise.

Thinking that Miss Shen was here to supervise the effect of the event, Manager Feng couldn't help but take the initiative to say in a low and respectful voice: "Don't worry, everything has been arranged according to the guest's requirements. This ceremony will be very smooth."

Shen Ci smiled: "I'm just looking around. You go about your business, don't worry about me."

A burst of warm applause and cheers erupted at the scene, attracting Shen Ci's attention again.

On stage, Li Xiao was holding Qiu Keying's waist, gently holding her face, and kissing her.

Putting other things aside, this scene was indeed beautiful and moving. The guests watching couldn't help but smile, their eyes full of blessings.

Mrs. Li and Mrs. Qiu below the stage were even more relieved, their eyes locked on the two on stage, unable to hide the joy in their hearts.

The engagement ceremony was not as cumbersome as a wedding. It could be seen that Qiu Keying was particularly attentive. Every link was designed with romantic ingenuity, but it didn't appear long and dull.

There was no extra emcee, and no awkward speeches from elders. She steadily gathered the focus of the entire ceremony on herself and Li Xiao. A perfect engagement ceremony unfolded slowly like this.

While everyone was still immersed in the atmosphere, the lights in the banquet hall suddenly brightened a lot, and waiters began to queue up to enter, serving dishes to the guests in an orderly manner.

Everyone then realized that the ceremony was over.

Shen Ci blinked. She didn't wait for the expected drama, looked down at her phone, and the time agreed with Uncle Yang was almost up.

She was hesitating whether to get up and leave first, but her phone vibrated first. It was a message from Uncle Yang: "Aci, I don't know what happened on Minhe Street, but the road is blocked. The cars here have to detour to the north. I estimate it will be half an hour late before I can arrive."

"Okay, no rush."

Putting down the phone, she instantly regained her interest, simply pulled over an idle chair, sat down quietly, scanned the whole venue with indifferent eyes, and watched the changes.

At this time, Qiu Keying was holding Li Xiao's hand, walking slowly down from the stage, and began to toast the guests table by table.

As the fathers of the two, Li Wanchang and Qiu Chu, today most of the people present were their friends and partners in various circles, so they also accompanied the two children to socialize and toast.

The atmosphere at the scene was warm and harmonious. Even if Li Xiao's heart had no ripples, and even carried a bit of aloofness, the surface work was impeccable.

He held Qiu Keying's hand tightly throughout the whole process, blocked cup after cup of strong liquor for her, and asked about her state with concern from time to time. In the eyes of others, he was a considerate good man.

This is Li Xiao. In order to achieve his goal, he can contribute acting skills like a movie star.

Soon, the group walked to the table where Lin Biqi was. Seeing this, Shen Ci couldn't help but stand up and lean forward, wanting to see more clearly.

The people sitting at this table were all young people. When Qiu Keying invited friends, she specially arranged Lin Biqi among her peers, which was originally a good intention, wanting to make her more comfortable. But Lin Biqi was holding an infant in her arms, which made her look particularly abrupt at this time.

Almost everyone noticed Lin Biqi and the child in her arms at first glance.

I don't know if it was the father-son connection, but the baby had been quiet, not crying or making trouble, but the moment Li Xiao's figure approached the table, he suddenly opened his small mouth and let out a clear and urgent cry.

This cry was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly breaking the warm atmosphere of the banquet hall, attracting everyone's attention at the scene. Everyone subconsciously looked over, their eyes full of confusion.

Li Xiao's expression was stunned, his scalp felt numb for no reason, and a strong sense of unease and ominous premonition instantly surged from the bottom of his heart, spreading to his limbs and bones.

"Miss Lin!"

And Qiu Keying knew nothing about everything. Seeing Lin Biqi come, she greeted her happily: "So glad you could come. I wore this necklace!"

Saying that, she also took the initiative to turn sideways to show Lin Biqi the colored diamond necklace she was wearing.

Lin Biqi patted the crying baby in her arms gently, a faint smile on her face, looking at Qiu Keying with gentle eyes, her tone as casual as if chatting: "You are so beautiful today. Sorry, the baby is seeing his father for the first time, a bit shy, and has been crying."

Her tone was too plain, too casual, and such a light sentence was blurted out when everyone was unprepared. So much so that except for Li Xiao, who had a premonition, everyone else at the scene didn't react immediately, their faces still carrying a bit of confusion.

After Lin Biqi finished speaking, she didn't avoid it at all and cast her gaze clearly on Li Xiao's face.

And at this time, Li Xiao's face had already turned as pale as paper, his whole person as if all his strength had been drained, standing still in place.

His hands and feet were cold, his eyes hollow, as if he had lost his soul in an instant, and even his breathing became stagnant.

Not giving anyone at the scene time to react, Lin Biqi lowered her head and shook the child in her arms, her voice soft and carrying a bit of deliberate coaxing: "Come, baby, wish Daddy a happy engagement, call Daddy..."

Qiu Chu looked at Li Xiao in confusion.

Even if Qiu Keying was a silly sweet girl, she realized the weirdness of the matter at this moment and subconsciously turned her head to look at Li Xiao.

Li Wanchang reacted and hurriedly interrupted, trying to divert everyone's attention: "Go to Section Chief Chen's table first, let the young people drink by themselves later."

But how could Lin Biqi let all this come to an abrupt end? She looked directly at Li Wanchang and smiled harmlessly: "Uncle Li, this is your grandson. Don't you want to take a look?"

?? This chapter is 4000+ words, two chapters combined into one. Because it was relatively coherent when writing, I didn't split the chapters.

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