Sober and beautiful, my husband and son begged for my forgiveness on their knees.

Lu Group.

Ning Yao arrived on time, only to find that many high-ranking executives from the Lu Group were present at the meeting, and the entire meeting room was filled with people she didn't recognize.

Lu Jingmo is not here yet.

When the others saw her, their expressions changed abruptly, and they all turned to look at Yang Qian.

"Miss Ning."

When Yang Qian saw her arrive, he took the initiative to greet her.

The others followed suit and greeted him as well.

Ning Yao responded with a faint smile.

A short while later, Lu Jingmo, dressed in a formal suit, entered with an elderly man with white hair but a sprightly spirit.

Ning Yao recognized the old man at a glance as Merlin, the design master who had recently dominated four fashion weeks.

How wonderful it would be if she could achieve that level of success someday.

"Ms. Ning, I had the pleasure of seeing two of your very popular works before, and I personally really like your design style. I only learned today from Mr. Lu that you will be joining our collaborative project, and I am very much looking forward to it."

Merlin walked around the middle of the field and spoke to her personally.

This undoubtedly tells everyone that he highly recognizes Ning Yao's abilities.

Ning Yao was flattered and quickly stood up. "Master Merlin, you are too kind. I have seen your work at an exhibition before. You are very talented, and I have always looked forward to exchanging ideas with you."

After the two finished exchanging pleasantries, Lu Jingmo invited Master Meilin to sit in his seat.

After glancing at Ning Yao, whose cheeks were flushed with excitement, his gaze darkened, and he calmly took his seat.

The meeting officially begins.

Ning Yao had seen Lu Jingmo hold meetings before, which usually lasted three hours, but she didn't expect a discussion meeting for a new project to take so long.

After sitting for a while, she felt uncomfortable all over. It was clear that everyone was used to it and was even actively participating in the discussion, so she could only endure it.

But his consciousness drifted away uncontrollably.

If something can't be explained in an hour, why do we have to hold such long meetings?

Why doesn't anyone mention taking a break?

Lu Jingmo looked up and noticed that her eyes were staring blankly into space, clearly lost in thought.

He only announced a ten-minute break after the senior executive finished speaking.

Ning Yao was the first to rush out and run straight to the terrace for some fresh air.

The cool air finally cleared her muddled mind.

"You're the founder of 'Shattered Star,' yet you can't even handle this level of intensity. How will you accomplish anything significant in the future?"

Lu Jingmo's deep, cold, and indifferent voice came from behind.

Ning Yao didn't even bother to turn her head.

"Mr. Lu, this place is already taken. Can't you go rest somewhere else?"

Lu Jingmo, with his cold and stern expression, stood an arm's length away from her, gazing at the street scene of Whale City.

"This is the Lu Group. I can stay wherever I want."

This statement was somewhat shameless, but Ning Yao couldn't find a way to refute it.

"Fine, stay if you want."

When Lu Jingmo saw her turn and leave, his expression turned cold.

But no one spoke up to stop it.

He was paying a little too much attention to Ning Yao.

Ning Yao either avoided him at all costs or treated him with a cold shoulder.

……

The meeting ended at 9 p.m.

Ning Yao had gone from being full of energy to having lifeless eyes.

She secretly vowed that she would never attend a meeting again.

This kind of long meeting is really not suitable for her.

However, the good thing was that, in the latter half of the meeting, Merlin took the initiative to talk to her about some design ideas.

During their conversation, they discovered that their design philosophies and ideas were very compatible.

The two felt an instant connection.

Before parting, Meilin specifically asked Ning Yao if he was free the next day so they could go to Qingyang Mountain together for inspiration.

Ning Yao had never been there before, and immediately agreed upon hearing this.

Qingyang Mountain is the most beautiful place in Whale City, and many painters and designers love to go there to draw inspiration.

The two agreed to set off at 10 a.m. the next morning.

Ning Yao told Lu Jingmo about it after she got home.

After all, Master Merlin's new design draft is related to Lu's KPI for the second half of the year.

"Qingyang Mountain?"

Upon learning this, Lu Jingmo immediately asked Yang Qian to check his schedule for tomorrow. It turned out that he had a small meeting that he couldn't cancel, and his face darkened.

"Then you must take care to protect Master Merlin. He's getting old, so don't let anything happen to him."

Ning Yao snorted coldly and hung up the phone.

He didn't need to report this to Lu Jingmo!

The next day, Merlin's driver took the two of them to the foot of Qingyang Mountain.

They followed the lush trees and babbling brook to a relatively open flat area, which they all found quite nice.

But she didn't stay long. Looking at the light and shadow dancing through the gaps in the trees, she suddenly had an inspiration and began to sketch in her sketchbook.

Just as they were immersed in their creative work, the weather suddenly changed.

The once clear sky was covered by dark clouds, a gust of wind swept up the clouds, and then large raindrops began to pour down. Realizing the situation was bad, the two hurriedly packed up their gear and looked for shelter from the rain.

"Ning Yao, over here."

Meilin often went out to collect folk songs and soon found a cave where he could take shelter from the rain.

Ning Yao quickly followed him inside. After confirming that the painter was not wet, she looked at the dark sky and felt inexplicably uneasy.

"Master Merlin, do you think this rain will stop soon?"

"Probably, rain this heavy usually doesn't last long."

Ning Yao relaxed a little.

Lu Group.

Lu Jingmo is having a meeting with senior management to discuss the progress plan for the new project.

Suddenly, a blinding white bolt of lightning ripped across the sky.

Immediately afterwards, a thunderclap exploded!

"Boom——"

Everyone was frightened.

Lu Jingmo looked out the window and a sudden downpour caught him off guard.

The rain pattered against the glass, making a clattering sound.

"Oh dear, why is it raining so hard? This will cause a huge traffic jam on the way home from work!"

"That's right. The last time there was such loud thunder, Whale City experienced three days of torrential rain. The city's drainage system almost broke down, no wonder there were traffic jams."

"Yes, I remember that time too. At that time, our company's backup power system had not yet been developed, and the whole building lost power. I was on the 22nd floor and the elevator was not working, so I had to go downstairs in the dark."

Hearing the discussions of the crowd, Lu Jingmo's heart clenched involuntarily.

Yang Qian knew he was worried about Ning Yao, so he immediately took out his phone to check the weather forecast.

"Mr. Lu, I checked the weather forecast. It says there will be showers between 3 and 4 pm. But the rainfall will be light and will stop soon."

Lu Jingmo took a deep breath and said calmly, "The meeting continues."

But the next high-ranking official had just started speaking.

Another bolt of lightning struck from outside.

It was even brighter than the previous one, cutting through the entire curtain of rain.

A layer of mist rose between heaven and earth, making people feel uneasy.

"Take a five-minute break."

Lu Jingmo felt a little suffocated, so he said those words in a low voice and walked out.

As he walked, he took out his phone to call Ning Yao.

He couldn't get through, whether it was because of the rain or because the signal was generally bad in Qingyang Mountain.

He frowned deeply as he stood outside the window looking out.

Unfortunately, the heavy rain blocked the view, and we couldn't see anything.

He called Ning Yao again, but she was still out of service.

"President Lu." Yang Qian had just caught up when he heard him order in an extremely cold tone, "Prepare the car, we're going to Qingyang Mountain immediately."

Yang Qian was shocked. "But today's project progress meeting still needs your chairmanship. If the project plan cannot be finalized today, the subsequent plans will also be delayed."

"Stop talking nonsense, I'm not discussing this with you!"