After Duan Shuyuan finished speaking, a suffocating pressure spread throughout the living room —
emanating from the eldest brother, Li Jun.
Li Jun narrowed his eyes, his deep gaze carrying a sharp chill.
"So it seems," he said coldly, "that Shang Lu never even took our Li family seriously from the start."
Hearing this, Li Yan — eager to prove himself — immediately nodded like a lackey,
"Big brother's right! Shang Lu clearly needs to be taught a lesson."
Li Jun shot him a frosty glance, then continued calmly,
"I've looked into Shang Lu's background over the years.
It's clean — at least in terms of personal relationships, he's kept himself relatively pure.
This engagement has been arranged for years.
Why choose now — right before Qiaoqiao's graduation — to break it off?"
Duan Shuyuan ran her fingers along her polished nails and sneered coldly,
"He said he'd come visit tomorrow, didn't he?
If he can't give us a reasonable explanation, this matter won't just be brushed aside."
The whole family sat around the living room, racking their brains for strategies to support Li Qiao.
At that moment, Li Qiao, who had been silent for a while, shifted into an even more relaxed posture, lazily reclining into the sofa and speaking at an unhurried pace:
"I actually agreed to call off the engagement."
The entire family instantly turned to look at her in shock.
Duan Shuyuan reached out and gently stroked Li Qiao's head, her voice full of concern:
"Baby, are you saying that from your heart?"
From an objective standpoint, that brat Shang Lu — whether in terms of birth or background — was an absolutely perfect match for their Qiaoqiao.
Moreover, this engagement…
At the same time, Li Guangming also showed a troubled expression and chimed in,
"Qiaoqiao, Dad knows you must be feeling upset, but…"
Halfway through, he hesitated and swallowed the rest of his words.
In truth, Li Qiao had never been enthusiastic about this childhood engagement.
But now, seeing her parents' attitudes, it further confirmed her suspicions —
the origin of this arranged marriage was highly questionable.
Leaning against the armrest of the sofa, her cheek propped on one hand,
Li Qiao calmly watched her parents' shifting expressions and curved her lips lightly,
"Since he's the one who proposed breaking off the engagement, let it be. I have no objections."
Second brother Li Yan, brimming with anger, countered,
"Isn't letting him go so easily a bit too cheap for him?"
Li Qiao looked at him innocently and casually nodded,
"Maybe. But honestly, I do feel pretty wronged."
The moment these words left her mouth,
the whole Li family instantly bristled, ready to give Shang Lu a brutal lesson.
Little Shang from the Shang family — just you wait!
…
Two hours later, as evening descended,
third brother Li Cheng also rushed back, travel-worn and weary.
This borderland merchant carried an aura of iron-blooded ruthlessness.
With a black trench coat draped over his shoulders,
the moment he stepped into the living room, even the surrounding air seemed to thicken with the scent of blood.
The three Li brothers each had their own talents:
• Eldest brother Li Jun was the righteous senior official in Nanyang,
• Second brother Li Yan was the money-hungry art tycoon,
• Third brother Li Cheng was a cold-blooded businessman, always dancing on the edge of death.
And among them, Li Qiao was closest to her third brother.
At this moment, Li Cheng strode purposefully up to the third floor of the villa,
knocked on Li Qiao's bedroom door, and called out,
"Qiao, it's me — Third Brother."
His voice, low and hoarse with exhaustion, somehow sounded even deeper and richer.
Outside, a vast spread of fiery sunset clouds, remnants of the rain,
painted the sky in a dreamlike, almost surreal scene.
Hearing the knock, Li Qiao casually closed her laptop.
She opened the door and lazily eyed Li Cheng, teasing familiarly,
"How long has it been since you last came home?"
Li Cheng slipped through the door, dragged over her desk chair,
and sat down in a relaxed, commanding posture.
As the trench coat slid off his shoulders, the gun holstered at his waist was fully revealed.
"Been busy at the border lately,"
he said simply, then cut straight to the point,
"Enough chit-chat. Tell me, what's the deal with Shang Lu?"
Li Qiao glanced up at the ceiling, her tone a little weary.
She walked over, and without hesitation, pulled the gun from his waist,
casually fiddling with it as she muttered,
"It's nothing worth mentioning. Same old story."