Chapter 121: The Meeting, Sudden Change

  In the chilly atmosphere, Sumo had no intention of reminding everyone to speak up, her dignity remained undiminished, but she slowly and calmly stood up, directly walked into a familiar cabinet, took out a bottle of coffee beans, turned around and entered the tea room. Sumo's actions left everyone bewildered, completely unable to understand why she would suddenly make such a move.

  Su Mo Ruo didn't know why either, but today he just wanted to drink some coffee, that kind of longing feeling was extremely strong.

  But only Li Yang's mood was a bit heavy, the others were all first-time contact with Su Mo Ruo, of course they didn't understand, but he was very clear that Su Mo Ruo didn't have an urgent need for answers, so it could only be explained that this time she sensed a problem, absolutely not simple.

  "Manager Yang, you should think carefully about what might happen in your design department. Although the boss has a good personality, there are some things that cannot touch her bottom line. Otherwise, we will not have a good day. Su Mo is a very good boss, at least she is very relaxed with her subordinates' work. As long as you give her results and make her satisfied, she can delegate any decision-making power. But the only thing is that you must not make her uncomfortable, because once she becomes uncomfortable, everyone else will not have a comfortable day either."

  Department Manager Yang was already sweating profusely, and upon hearing this, his body shook violently, his face turned somewhat unsightly, he looked up at Li Yang, "General Manager, I really don't know what our department did to displease the Chairman, I checked all departments' work when I arrived, there shouldn't be any issues."

  Yang Xinrong is still quite important to Li Yang, having won several international awards in interior design, with outstanding abilities and a good character. Li Yang values the latter more, which is why he let this woman take over as manager of the company's design department. However, he didn't expect that on her first day, Su Moruo would point out the problems in the design department, making him feel slightly embarrassed, after all, before this, he was most confident in this department.

  Yang Xinyong was brought to the company by Li Yang's efforts, and for Li Yang's hard work in inviting her to work at the company, Yang Xinyong has never been arrogant or proud. Instead, after joining the company, she has always been diligent and conscientious, never overstepping her bounds. The evaluation of her from top to bottom in the company is very good, and her private relationship with Li Yang is also relatively good. Now that Li Yang says this, she feels somewhat embarrassed in her heart.

  "I got it, after I go back later, I will properly sort out the work of the department."

  Listening to Yang Xinrong's tone, Li Yang let out a heavy sigh. "It's okay, when the boss comes out later, you can say whatever you want directly. The boss won't let someone suffer injustice without making it clear." He also believed in Yang Xinrong's work ability, so he didn't think Su Moruo would make things difficult for her.

  Time passed minute by minute and second by second, Su Mo Ruo had become a leisurely person, slowly and carefully brewing coffee for herself before sitting back down on the sofa.

  Although there was no strong tone to speak to the crowd, this calm treatment made the crowd feel even more nervous and uneasy. No one could help it, for when facing Su Mo's aura, everyone's courage had already become smaller.

  "Don't be so tense, let's continue the conversation from earlier." The first sentence had a meaning of dissolving the awkward atmosphere, but the second sentence made everyone's heart, which had just slightly relaxed, rise again.

  A pair of eyes lowered in unison, not daring to face Su Mo Ruo.

  Yang Xinyong had already felt uncomfortable due to Li Yang's words earlier, and now hearing Su Muer say the same thing, she also had some anger in her heart. With her own solid abilities, she came to work here entirely because of Li Yang, and her image outside was always very good. Her good temper made everyone forget that she could also get angry, just like today. At this moment, standing in front of Su Muer, looking at the girl who was almost young enough to be her own daughter, but had such abilities and owned a company like this, it couldn't help but make her have some doubts.

  "Chairman, I don't know what work in our design department is not satisfactory to you?" The tone was tinged with discontent, causing Li Yang's heart to skip a beat, his brow furrowed as he stared at Yang Xinhong. He had been so confident in this woman, yet unexpectedly, she had let him down at the critical moment.

  Su Mo put down the coffee, looked up at Yang Xinrong, and his expression was solemn, as if he were appraising a priceless porcelain, scrutinizing every detail with utmost seriousness.

  "Who are you?" After sizing them up for a while, everyone was waiting for Su Mo to blow up, but unexpectedly, she came out with such a blood-curdling sentence.

  Yang Xinyong had already said "design department" when she first opened her mouth, who would be so stupid not to know that Yang Xinyong is from the design department? Moreover, all the people who came to see her today are heads of various high-level departments, how could they possibly not know who each other is.

  Yang Xinerong, who was also startled by Su Mo's constant gaze and thought that Su Mo would definitely scold her, stared at Su Mo with wide eyes. After a long time, she finally squeezed out a few words from her throat, "Chairman... I..."

  "It's okay, take your time." A warm smile appeared on his originally stern face.

  Seeing the change in Su Mo's expression, Yang Xinyong's attitude towards her also improved slightly. She nodded slightly and sat down, "Chairman, I am Yang Xinyong, the manager of the design department. We have always heard the general manager mention you, but we have never seen you..."

  "Hello, Manager Yang." Su Mo didn't hear what came after that and waited until the other person stopped speaking before cutting in.

  Seeing Su Mo's attitude had eased up, Yang Xinrong also revealed a gentle smile on her face.

  "Does Manager Yang think your department is doing a good job?" Su Mo's expression didn't change, but the words that came out of her mouth always made people feel somewhat displeased.

  Yang Xinrong listened to this and subconsciously looked at Su Mo Ruo, but didn't find any expression on her face. She just shook her head, "Chairman, it's not that I'm arrogant. I can say that for my work, our department's work, not the best, but so far, absolutely no mistakes have been made."

  Looking at the woman in front of her with a radiant face, without retreating because of her own words, indeed, this woman's ability is proportional to her momentum.

  Confidence is good, and this woman also has the capital to be proud of. At the age of 40, she has already reached such a high position, with a reputation in interior design that is well-known globally, pride is what she should have.

  She nodded slightly and did not refute her words, but instead said: "I believe your words very much, and General Manager Li Yang has also told me about your work ability. I know more about you."

  Su Mo's words were light and casual, but the content was very pleasant to hear. "Thank you, Chairman, for your affirmation."

  "You yourself have these abilities, the position of design department manager, you are worthy of it." As she spoke, Su Mo Ruo beckoned to Li Yang, indicating that he should bring over the documents she had placed on the front office desk when she came in earlier.

  Li Yang hastily got up to fetch it.

  Because everything in the company is unified nowadays, all items of the company will naturally be printed with the company's logo. Li Yang was holding this folder when his face stiffened for a moment - how could the design department's folder be here at Su Mo Ruo's place?

  It seems that I've roughly figured it out in my heart, no wonder as soon as they came in, they directly looked for the people from the design department. It looks like, indeed, the people below didn't let them off easy, and Su Mo Ruo discovered something unpleasant.

  He brought the file in front of Su Mo, who didn't hesitate and spread it out in front of everyone. Then he smiled at everyone and said, "What do you think? How's this design?"

  Because of Su Mo's words, pairs of eyes turned to look at the design draft on the document. Although there was only one expert among them, Yang Xinhong, as non-experts, they just relied on their intuition, and if it felt right, then it was right.

  He gave everyone ten minutes, during which Su Mo said nothing, just waiting for everyone to finish reading and give their comments.

  "After reading it, Li Yang was the first to express his feelings. "Boss, did you get this design draft from the design department? I didn't know that the design department had a designer with such a unique design style?"

  This sentence also expressed the doubts in many people's hearts, and it also expressed Yang Xinrong's doubts.

  She was familiar with the style of every work by each designer in her department, but this piece, she had never seen before. Such a style, she had not seen any designer in the department have before. But today, as soon as the chairman arrived at the company, he was able to discover such an excellent work. At this time, she couldn't help but be a little flustered, "Chairman, I don't know if this design drawing is designed by our department staff."

  "What do you think?" However, from Yang Xinrong's expression, it was already guessed that she should be unaware of the situation, but the person who made the private decision had made her somewhat unhappy.

  Seeing Su Mo say this, Yang Xinrong nodded, "I know, after I go down, I will handle things well."

  "Hmm, the author of this work is not bad either. Although she's just a tea-serving and water-pouring little sister with no education, she has ability. Since she was discovered, Manager Yang should cultivate her well, don't you think?" As she spoke, she revealed a smile, like ice thawing for the first time, dispelling the chill from her entire body.

  Then the department entered the conference room for a meeting, made work reports, and did not reassign any departments. The managers of each department were originally nervous, waiting for Su Mo to bombard them one by one, but unexpectedly, the meeting was surprisingly calm, and the evaluation given to them during the meeting was also very positive.

  This time she came over, the main purpose was also to meet these company executives, and secondly to check if there were any problems with several engineering projects that the company had done recently.

  A meeting, a report from each department, Su Mo's occasional suggestions, Li Yang's proposals, directly caused the meeting to be prolonged indefinitely, until 11 o'clock in the evening, Su Mo slightly frowned, because in the quiet conference room, there was a sound of stomach protests.

  Glancing at my watch, I suddenly realized that it was already evening. The lunch we had agreed on could only be postponed until tonight.

  Li Yang glanced at several high-level officials who lowered their heads in embarrassment due to stomach growls, then looked at Su Mo and said softly: "Boss, everyone's report is almost done."

  "Uh-huh, after reporting here, have the secretary book a private room." Su Mo Rou nodded and immediately shifted her gaze back to the screen.

  At twelve o'clock, the last department manager finally finished his work report. Looking at the tired appearance of the executives, he carefully glanced at Su Mo Ruo, after all, he had made some work reports a bit simpler, which was slightly different from the original detailed report plan.

  It was the first time they met Su Mo Ruo, but they could no longer consider this person's age and ability to be in the same stage.

  This is simply a man-eating tiger that scares people to death.

  The first meeting made them miss lunch and dinner directly.

  "The meeting is dismissed." Su Mo's simple two words finally relaxed the tense atmosphere of all the high-ranking officials, who slowly got up from their seats one by one and quickly left the conference room, afraid that if they walked a step slower, Su Mo would catch them again to continue the meeting.

  "Am I that scary?" Looking at the crowd quickly leaving the conference room, she turned her head to look at Li Yang who had not left and was still sitting in his original seat, Su Mo Ruo subconsciously touched her chin and asked softly.

  Listening to Su Mo's words, Li Yang couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Boss, if they see you like this, they won't think you're so tense."

  "Am I a monkey to you?" Su Mo looked at Li Yang and said discontentedly.

  Li Yang was also a little surprised, it turned out that Su Mo Ruo also had such a lovely side, but he also knew that this boss's personality and temper were a bit unpredictable, so he couldn't afford to provoke her anger, otherwise he would suffer in vain. He smiled and stood up, saying: "Boss, let's go out first."

  Because it was quite late, all the hotels were closed. So Li Yang booked a 24-hour restaurant run by his friend, although not comparable to those five-star hotels, but the taste is still good and popular among the masses.

  They ordered a large private room and sat down at three tables to eat, because everyone was starving. The dishes on the first table were quickly devoured, and the same happened with the other two tables. Everyone completely forgot about Su Mo Ruo, the chairman of the board, and no one remembered to be polite anymore.

  It was just Su Mo Ruo's table that ate slowly and steadily, afraid of leaving a bad impression on Su Mo Ruo.

  "Eat however you want, don't mind me." After saying this, he looked around at the people in the middle and continued eating quietly.

  Everyone who was dressed like Su Mo looked at each other in dismay and turned their eyes to Li Yang.

  Li Yang heard this and couldn't help but smile, saying to the crowd: "The boss means that you can eat as you like, don't be restrained, and even act as if the boss doesn't exist."

  As soon as Li Yang said this, the host didn't refute at all, and everyone at the table burst out laughing, their eating speed obviously increasing. Slowly but surely, they even surpassed the other two tables in terms of eating speed, provoking discontent from the other two tables, which began to compete with each other.

  The originally tense and solemn atmosphere was instantly shattered by the lively eating speed of the crowd, and the laughter that came from time to time made everyone's face filled with joy. Su Mo Ruo's mood also improved a lot while eating.

  After finishing the meal, which took about an hour, it was already past one o'clock. After Li Yang went to settle the bill, the group walked out of the private room and into the first-floor lobby, where Su Mo saw a familiar figure.

  She gazed at Hao Gang sitting there eating with a squinting eye and could tell at a glance that he was definitely waiting for someone.

  As expected, because of their large group, they directly suffered from the gaze of many customers. Hao Gang also raised his head at this time, and when he saw Su Mo Ruo, he only gave him a slight nod, but Su Mo Ruo knew that he had something to do with him.

  It's been a long time since they last contacted each other, and it was only at school that they had some connection because of Ning Shi Yang's matter. Since he left school, they lost contact again. Although Mu Qing wanted to be friends with Hao Gang and keep in touch, now she is Su Mo Ruo, and Hao Gang's profession doesn't allow them to have much contact either.

  But now suddenly appeared here, obviously with ulterior motives.

  "I've met a friend, you can go back first." Since Hao Gang dared to appear here openly, it means he's not afraid of people knowing he's looking for her. Su Mo Ruo also didn't avoid suspicion and said something to Li Yang and the others before walking towards Hao Gang.

  A group of people watched as Su Mo walked towards a stranger at the front table, who looked to be around the same age as Su Mo. He had a strong presence and everyone's minds began to wander with gossip and speculation.

  "Alright, let's hurry up and go. We still have work tomorrow." After glancing at Su Mo Ruo, he sat down directly across from the strange man, knowing that she must have something on her mind. He also vaguely knew that some of Su Mo Ruo's affairs were not for them to know about, so he reminded the row of high-level company executives.

  Originally, the high-level officials who were ready to watch the gossip one by one all fell down and expressed their dissatisfaction. Such a good opportunity was not given to them to observe once.

  But who let Li Yang be the boss, the chairman is not in the company all year round, this general manager Li Yang is the one who dominates the whole company, everyone is suffocated in their hearts, but can only follow and leave.

  Su Mo sat down and looked at Hao Gang. Seeing him call over the waiter to give her a cup of clear tea, she slightly curved her lips and asked, "Something's up?"

  "Uh, I need your help with something. I don't know if you're willing to lend a hand?" He looked up at Su Mo Ruo, his eyes fixed and serious, with absolute sincerity.

  Blinking her eyes, when did this group of people come to ask for help from ordinary people like them? Is it really because she hasn't lived in their circle for too long, so she didn't keep up with the times as quickly?

  "We need someone with a clean identity like you to help us." Hao Gang looked at Su Mo Ruo, who had excellent abilities but was not one of their Dragon Team members. Even if those people tried to investigate, they wouldn't be able to find anything.

  Looking at Hao Gang with a raised eyebrow and a hint of a smile, "Why should I help you?"

  "...I know you will." Hao Gang didn't even know why he was so sure, but somehow he just felt that Su Mo Ruo wouldn't refuse, because he could see too many similarities between her and Mu Qing, the only differences being their appearance and age.

  These few words, however, seemed to have struck a sore spot in Su Mo Ruo's heart. He shook his head slightly and said, "You've miscalculated. I'm not that great. I don't do this line of work, nor do I receive payment for it. Why should I risk my own life to do things for you?"

  "I didn't expect Su Mo to say that, and was stunned for a moment, staring at Su Mo with fixed eyes, wanting to see if she really meant it, but found that Su Mo didn't even give him a chance to make eye contact. A bitter smile, 'Forget it, I won't force you. This time I came over, I also told them, you don't agree, we won't force you.'"

  Listening to this, Su Mo's mood was somewhat bad. The former Mu Qing was one of the best members of the Dragon Group, and he naturally understood the dangers that such a mission might encounter. However, in the past, no matter how dangerous it was, they would not go outside to find "ordinary people". But this time, they actually broke the example. What was it for? Had they encountered something tricky?

  "What exactly happened?" Su Moruo asked after a while, looking at Hao Gang who didn't say anything.

  “……Nothing.” Su didn't respond, so naturally he couldn't tell her about this matter. He knew it was a bit too much to ask for her help, but he also felt that she had the same strong aura as Mu Qing on her body. Moreover, her skills were even stronger than Mu Qing's. If this matter wasn't related to national security, they wouldn't have made such a decision.

  These three words, however, made Su Mo even more certain of the severity of the matter. Her eyes stared fixedly at Hao Gang, who didn't speak, and neither did she. She wanted to see how long he could hold out. Having grown up together and entered the Dragon Team together to carry out missions, Su Mo still understood Hao Gang's personality very well. If he didn't say anything, it meant that it was a confidential mission, and if she didn't agree, she definitely wouldn't be able to know.

  But for Hao Gang, and other former teammates with whom she had a relationship, it's absolutely impossible for her to be completely heartless and indifferent. The rejection earlier was just a test.

  "Speak, what's going on." His tone had softened, looking at Hao Gang, Su Mo Ruo's face was full of seriousness.

  He looked up in surprise, and originally Hao Gang also had a feeling of relief in his heart. After all, this task was also very difficult. If Su Mo wasn't their teammate, asking for her help would seem a bit excessive. This slight carelessness could cost them their lives, but for the country, for the people, he was torn, coming to find Su Mo with an icy fire in his heart, full of contradictions.

  But why did she say this now... Did she agree?

  "You..."

  "Say it." He could have come over himself and asked this "ordinary stranger" for help, so the matter would not be simple at all.

  She looked up at Su Mo Ruo with a determined gaze, "You're really not afraid at all?"

  "What can I help with?" He didn't answer her question, but instead asked another one back.

  "We need you to infiltrate the enemy's inner circle." As he said this, his heart sank and his body tensed up in pain. This one sentence brought out a familiar yet distant figure in his mind - the cold and aloof girl who seemed to have devoted herself entirely to darkness. Though slightly introverted, she was their team's most outstanding member and the only female.

  But because she was too clever, everyone's expectations of her were too high, resulting in an irreparable mistake that made it impossible for her to fight alongside them again for the rest of her life.

  "The Golden Triangle border has brought us some unfavorable news. It is said that a mysterious organization is manufacturing highly toxic drugs over there, and the final target of these drugs is our country's people. These drugs have been experimented on and the result is that those who took them all turned into poisonous humans, rampaging brutally in all directions within the Golden Triangle. However, according to the scouts' reports, it seems that these people are not controlling themselves but are being controlled by someone else. We sent people over there last month when we received this news, but... they have yet to return and have lost contact with us. It's likely that something terrible has happened."

  "Do you suspect that there is a more powerful organization behind these people?" Let her go, it's definitely not a strong attack, but as a scout, infiltrating the enemy's interior.

  He nodded solemnly, actually he was also worried about Su Mo Ruo, but this time the matter was related to the country's life and death. Their identities were secretive in all aspects, but it wasn't difficult for people to discover them. If they startled the snake by hitting the grass, they might provoke a crazy counterattack from the opponent. Su Mo Ruo had the ability, not inferior to the members of their Dragon Group, and he didn't have any background that would make the opponent find fault with him, making him very suitable for this spy mission.

  "I know, when are we leaving?" She asked directly about the departure time, and something unexpected happened, how could she refuse.

  "... probably two days later, we will need some precise plans ahead of us. I'll give you a day to settle your affairs, and then I'll contact you. On the last day, we'll have a meeting to make everything clear to you. You must listen throughout, we won't put you in harm's way." Thinking of Mu Qing's death, his face turned somewhat unsightly.

  Listening to these words, Su Mo nodded slightly, knowing that he must have thought of Mu Qing again. Because of Mu Qing's affairs, a lifelong heavy sense of guilt and remorse had been left in his heart. In fact, she seemed to want to say something, that Mu Qing didn't blame him, but in the end, she still endured it.

  Su Mo and Hao Gang parted ways, got in the car but didn't start driving immediately. Instead, she made a call to Tan Yunning to ask if he was busy because time was limited, so she also wanted to spend a good day with Tan Yunning.

  Learning that Tan Yunning had just finished his work, he let him come directly to the villa and then hung up the phone.

  On the other side, Tan Yunning also vaguely felt that Su Moruo was not right, and after hanging up the phone, he went straight out to drive to Su Moruo's villa.