At this moment, the gazes of the four people in the elevator fell on the elevator doors, which were slowly reopening.

When it was fully opened, Su Mei’s expression changed instantly upon seeing the woman standing there. She was holding a folder high and was breathing heavily, likely due to the intense running she had just done. Her appearance was somewhat disheveled.

WTH?!

It’s the female protagonist!

Was this the case of ‘without coincidences, there would be no story’?

How could she run into her like this?

As she watched Bai Xinyu, who was saying “Sorry” and “Thank you” while taking small, hurried steps into the elevator, Su Mei’s eyes twitched.

She had driven her sports car at full speed, carefully timing her arrival. Surely, it was still early?

Moreover, it seemed like there were quite a few elevators in the Gu Group building.

Why was the female protagonist risking life and limb to ‘break through the doors’?

Su Mei silently complained in her mind.

But then, thinking about it, it did make some sense.

Since it’s a Mary Sue novel, if there weren’t some outlandishly ‘wonderful’ encounters that defy common sense, a fresh-out-of-college female protagonist would probably still be waiting for chapter 2020 before she could spark any romance with the domineering male protagonist.

It seemed like this part wasn’t in the novel.

Or maybe, with so many of these dramatic moments, the author just skipped over it out of laziness?

But!

Male and female protagonists, you can have all the melodrama you want, but why drag me into it?!

Was it too late for her to push open the elevator doors and jump out?

It wasn’t just Su Mei who was surprised. At this moment, Bai Xinyu, who had rushed into the elevator, suddenly looked up with a face full of astonishment.

However, it wasn’t directed at Su Mei.

“Ah! Senior— err, C-CEO Gu……”

The moment Bai Xinyu saw Gu Yancheng, she felt a surge of nervousness in her heart, and her face turned bright red.

She hadn’t needed to be in such a rush today, but she still had two reports left unfinished!

She knew that what she had just done was dangerous, but since she had to wait for the other elevators, and seeing that this elevator door hadn’t closed completely, she didn’t think much and just rushed in.

However, Bai Xinyu hadn’t imagined that she would run into Senior Gu!

Since she joined the Gu Group, she had been dreaming about the day she could stand close to him. She hadn’t expected that this wish would come true today.

Bai Xinyu smiled sweetly, taking careful steps to slowly move to Gu Yancheng’s left side, standing about half a meter away.

Holding her folder and keeping her head down, she was so excited and nervous that she could hardly contain herself.

She hoped she looked okay today. Should she explain that her earlier actions were due to work? She didn’t want Senior Gu to misunderstand and think she was being too reckless.

Su Mei, who was witnessing the scene where the male and female protagonists were in the same frame for the first time, remained silent, trying to minimize her presence.

However, she still couldn’t help but glance over at the two of them.

Is that it?

Su Mei felt a bit surprised.

Gu Yancheng still wore his expressionless face from earlier.

And over on the female protagonist’s side, the other party seemed to be almost shrinking into an ostrich, which didn’t seem quite right.

In the novel, after being misunderstood by the male protagonist for the first time at the hotel, and then again at the auction, where she was ‘humiliated’ with a hundred million yuan ring, the female protagonist had already begun to develop her self-reliant and determined attributes.

She silently admired Gu Yancheng in her heart, yet was deeply hurt by his misunderstandings and lack of respect.

But on the surface, when facing the male protagonist, she had always appeared strong, unyielding, and fearless.

Now, her behavior seemed somewhat out of place, didn’t it?

Or perhaps, due to some bugs from the previous incidents, the female protagonist’s attributes hadn’t been triggered?

Su Mei was pondering this with her head down when suddenly—

With a loud “Clang”, the elevator suddenly shook, and in an instant, Su Mei was engulfed in darkness.

Her mind went blank.

Instinctively, Su Mei grabbed Gu Yancheng’s arm the moment the elevator began to sink.

This wasn’t just a reflexive reaction; it was also a strong survival instinct, characteristic of a cannon fodder character who was always prepared for such moments.

Who knew what would happen after that sudden drop?

In any case, grabbing the protagonist was the best move.

Protagonists always have a halo and they would not die.

This awareness had been deeply ingrained in Su Mei’s consciousness.

So, in that split second, she instinctively grabbed the nearest person with a halo— Gu Yancheng.

As the elevator stabilized, the first thought that popped into Su Mei’s mind was, Here it comes! See, see, I just said it.

With the rare gathering of the male protagonist, female protagonist, herself as a minor cannon fodder, and the two cameramen as bystanders, such a splendid setup was bound to have some kind of mishap.

Moreover, it’s possible that this elevator incident was specifically designed to lay the foundation for the romantic development between the male and female protagonists!

With the prestigious Gu Group, the quality of their elevators would certainly be top-notch and regularly inspected. The likelihood of such an incident happening was practically negligible.

Even if the elevator had stopped, surely there would be emergency lighting inside. Why hadn’t it turned on yet?

Tch, those little lights on the cameramen’s equipment were more reliable.

But in the novel, logic takes a backseat when creating opportunities for the male and female protagonists.

However, she didn’t want to join them in their ‘trials’. As a cannon fodder character, what good could come from bumping into the protagonists?

Right, wasn’t the fake stepmother in the story supposed to meet her end around this time?

It’s over!

When the plot enforcers were setting up opportunities for the male and female protagonists, could they have also planned to K.O. her?

Thinking of this, Su Mei suddenly felt a chill all over.

Su Mei’s grip on Gu Yancheng’s arm unconsciously tightened.

Noticing the pressure on his arm, Gu Yancheng’s expression shifted slightly, realizing that Su Mei next to him might be feeling scared.

He spoke up to offer some reassurance.

“It seems the main power is down. The backup power will start up soon.”

As Gu Yancheng was speaking, Su Mei’s mind was preoccupied with 100 possible ways a stepmother cannon fodder could meet her end.

Meanwhile, Bai Xinyu, who suddenly felt comforted, said, “Wuu, but it’s so dark…… S-senior Gu, what should we do?”

Just as Gu Yancheng had said, the backup power quickly kicked in.

So, before Bai Xinyu could finish her sentence, with a “Clunk”, the elevator’s bright lights flickered back on.

The elevator then continued its ascent for a while before stopping on the next floor.

As the elevator doors opened, Wang Qin was already standing at the entrance, accompanied by a man in a security uniform.

“CEO, Ms. Su, are you all alright?”

“CEO, I apologize. The elevator’s temporary power loss was due to an error by the elevator maintenance workers. We will conduct a further inspection to address this issue.”

“Mm.” Hearing Wang Qin and the security personnel, Gu Yancheng nodded, said nothing more, and then turned his head to glance at Su Mei beside him.

Noticing that she was still clutching Gu Yancheng’s arm with an ‘I’ll drag someone down with me if I have to’ demeanor, Su Mei’s expression stiffened. She quickly retracted her paw.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Su Mei said awkwardly.

“It’s fine.” Gu Yancheng replied briefly.

“What floor are we on now?” Gu Yancheng asked Wang Qin.

“The seventh floor.”

Upon hearing that, Gu Yancheng nodded and then looked at Su Mei, saying, “Let’s take another elevator.”

At the same time, he stepped aside, holding the elevator door open with his hand, making it clear that Su Mei should exit first.

“Mm, okay, thank you.”

Su Mei and Gu Yancheng exited the elevator, and the two cameramen naturally followed.

Only Bai Xinyu remained standing in place, still a bit shaken.

“Bai Xinyu? Are you alright?” Wang Qin approached and asked the employee still in the elevator.

At the sound of Wang Qin’s voice, Bai Xinyu came back to her senses, but her expression remained filled with shock as she stared in the direction where Gu Yancheng and Su Mei had left, her face turning pale.

When she rushed into the elevator on the first floor, she was in such a hurry and focused directly on seeing Gu Yancheng that she didn’t pay much attention to the other people in the elevator, assuming they were just other employees.

It wasn’t until Gu Yancheng and Su Mei left together that Bai Xinyu began to sense something amiss.

That woman just now……

Assistant Wang called her ‘Ms. Su’?

In the entire Gu Group, the only person called that was Su Mei— the woman who had once caused a scene in the company lobby and shamelessly seduced the old chairman to obtain shares.

Although Bai Xinyu privately despised Su Mei’s dark past and occasionally heard gossip about her from other colleagues, she hadn’t paid too much attention.

What truly frightened her was the previous conflict with Su Mei.

It was the time when they had bumped into each other downstairs and her documents were scattered all over the place.

At that time, she hadn’t recognized who Su Mei was, nor did she know that Su Mei would one day become a major shareholder in Gu Group.

If she had known, she certainly wouldn’t have had any conflict with the other woman.

No, she hadn’t actually intended to get into a conflict with Su Mei at that time. It was Zhou Yue who was upset and kept arguing with Su Mei.

Thinking about this, Bai Xinyu furrowed her brows deeply, a hint of worry crossing her face.

That woman is now a shareholder of Gu Group and even the vice chairman of the board. Would she use her position to intentionally target her, seek revenge, or even frame her for something she didn’t do to get her fired?

Realizing this, Bai Xinyu suddenly felt afraid.

No, she couldn’t leave Gu Group!

She should trust the company and believe that Senior Gu would never unjustly fire an employee because of that woman.

Bai Xinyu bit her lip, her gaze growing resolute once more.

Su Mei had no idea how many times she had gone through the female protagonist’s mind. At this moment, she finally arrived safely at the top-floor conference room with the male protagonist.

All the other shareholders were already there.

Seeing Su Mei and Gu Yancheng enter the room one after the other, someone couldn’t help but snort, “Hmph, they really are united.”