She slowed, looking surprised. "Why is she here?"
"Matriarch Lu, why did you stop?" Ji Xiao walked for a while before realizing that Old Madam Lu had stopped walking. He turned back and followed her gaze.
He also saw the girl playing with her cell phone in the hotpot restaurant.
Upon seeing Qiao Nian, he thought of how Ji Ziyin had almost been chased out of the Ji family and felt inexplicably uncomfortable. Frowning, he disdainfully said, "Didn't she get close to Elder Feng and become the First Research Inst.i.tute's successor? Why did she come to such a place?"
From what he knew, those that matched their status were high-end clubhouses or cafeterias.
Such a down-to-earth hotpot restaurant.
Ji Xiao had never come to such a place.
Old Madam Lu also would not walk into a hotpot restaurant. She looked in the girl's direction indifferently and saw a man approaching her. She pursed her lips and disdainfully said, "I thought she was so powerful, but she's still relying on a man! It's just that he doesn't look like much!"
Ji Xiao also saw the person she was talking about.
That person was wearing a cap and sungla.s.ses, so his face could not be seen clearly. However, from his casual clothes, he looked like a country b.u.mpkin.
Ji Xiao only took a glance before retracting his gaze and saying to Old Madam Lu, "Matriarch, let's go. I'll send Ziyin a message later and see if she's free to come over."
Upon hearing Ji Ziyin's name, Old Madam Lu lost interest in Qiao Nian and turned around.
Ji Xiao took advantage of her desire to ask about David and smiled. He promised confidently, "If she can come, I'll ask her about Mr. David for you."
As expected, Old Madam Lu completely dispelled the thought of greeting Qiao Nian. She did not look at the hotpot restaurant again as she followed Ji Xiao.
* * *
"Big boss, let's go." Daji returned after paying the bill and saw the girl thoughtfully looking in the opposite direction.
Puzzled, he also looked but saw nothing. "Big boss, what are you looking at? Is there anything there?"
Qiao Nian slowly retracted her gaze, got up, picked up her cell phone, and said, "Let's go."
She felt that someone was looking at her from the opposite side, but when she looked over, she only saw two back views. They were not familiar, and she did not know who they were.
Qiao Nian guessed that it was someone she knew from the independent continent.
However, since they did not come to greet her, she was probably not familiar with them.
She did not take it to heart.
They got off the elevator and went straight to the parking lot.
Daji drove over.
Qiao Nian asked him to send her to the First Research Inst.i.tute.
Along the way, Qiao Nian asked him when he would be returning to Continent F and about the business there…
"Our business is quite good, but the problem's still the same. There are frequent conflicts between the families and us. The business compet.i.tion is quite big."
Daji's expression became more serious when he talked about serious matters. His voice was low and bold. "Dark Fort's business is getting bigger and bigger. They've already stolen two of our old customers. They have a sufficient source of weapons. Moreover, they're more advanced than us in fighter jets and have more channels.
"Not long ago, I sent someone to their nest to investigate the situation. They were arrested."
Daji rarely encountered such a situation in Continent F. Mentioning this matter, his face turned red and he touched his ears awkwardly.
Qiao Nian narrowed her eyes. "They touched our people?"
Daji immediately shook his head. "No."
"They let our guy go." He'd shaved his stubble, and his appearance wasn't bad. It was the wild masculinity that could not be found in the independent continent. "I asked him, and he said that the people at the Dark Fort did not touch him."