It had been weeks since Li Meili and Elaine Wu flew to Beijing to open up the new branch of The Black Nightingale. While Elaine Wu was busy with the store, Li Meili had spent most of her time in her office, brainstorming ideas for the entry she needed to submit for the competition.

  Unlike Tang Moyu, Li Meili hated being trapped in the same room for a long time, doing work. She felt like her creativity was being limited whenever she needed to burrow her head in her work.

  She was starting to regret that she easily agreed to Tang Moyu's suggestion without giving it much thought. It only dawned upon her that, by participating as The Black Nightingale, her identity would be revealed to everyone.

  Anyway, it was too late to regret now. She could only do her best to at least submit a decent entry before the deadline arrives. However, at the rate she was going, Li Meili wasn't sure if she would be able to finish it on time.

  Li Meili rested her head lazily on her desk, feeling that the time seemed longer today than usual. She heard a knock on the door, but she didn't bother to sit up properly because she already knew who it was. Elaine Wu appeared at her door, dressed in her shop uniform and with a neat name tag pinned on her blouse.

  "Miss Li, I think you need to take a break." She giggled and placed a tray of snacks on top of Li Meili's table. She then saw the recent design by her boss and was left in awe.

  "Miss Li, this is really nice! Are you going to use this as your entry?" she asked.

  It was only then Li Meili sat up and eyed the unfinished design on her desk. She wasn't pleased with it. Although technically, the design wasn't that bad; she just wasn't satisfied with it. This was already the fifth design she was able to come up with since they arrived, but Li Meili felt the designs were still lacking something.

  Was her lack of muse for the competition somewhat affecting her ability to design? Most of her creations were based on Tang Moyu and the other patrons her shop had before. Li Meili was able to formulate her designs because she could project the best angles and styles suited for them. However, this… this entry was forcing her to think outside the box.

  She had already anticipated that this wouldn't be easy for her since she was a person who usually stayed far from competitions like this. However, thinking about the winning designs Liu Ruoyan had for the past years, Li Meili was confident that she could make a better creation than those. She thought that she had a chance to win the competition this year if her rival would produce such kind of quality for the design again.

  "No. This won't suffice," she answered Elaine Wu. It was good, but it wouldn't be enough for Li Meili to secure her win in the competition.

  "This is still not enough?" Elaine Wu blinked in surprise.

  However, as she stared at Li Meili's work, she realized that Liu Ruoyan wasn't the person her boss wanted to beat but herself. Li Meili wanted to make something that could surpass her previous works and prove to her family that she would be able to achieve her goals by not relying on being a Li.

  Perhaps once she successfully won the competition, her family would stop pestering her to come back and help her older brother in managing their vast companies around the country. It wasn't like she was being ungrateful, but managing businesses was something Li Meili knew would never be her forte. That was why she was really impressed with how Tang Moyu was able to balance her work and personal life, something that Li Meili was aware of that was beyond her capability.

  "Then, is there something I can help you with? You only have three months before the deadline, Miss Li," Elaine Wu reminded her.

  Li Meili g.r.o.a.n.e.d and ran her fingers through her long hair. Of course, she knew that, but it was just she couldn't find the right theme for her entry.

  "How about an off today, Miss Li?" She heard Elaine Wu suggest. "Most of the preparations are done anyway. I think I can handle the rest."

  Li Meili lifted her head and looked at her new manager. She had to admit that Elaine was learning so fast these days. It was almost impossible to believe that Elaine was the same heiress who didn't know how to deal with their customers when she just arrived weeks ago.

  "Are you sure you don't need my help?" she asked in return. Elaine Wu was doing well, but Li Meili wanted to avoid conflicts that might arise while she wasn't around. She didn't mind leaving the office late as long as she would be assured that nothing wrong would happen.

  "Yes. We're about to close the store soon anyway," Elaine replied.

  However, just when Li Meili was about to agree with her, another staff member of her store came rushing to report to her. The staff member's face was ghastly pale, enough to tell Li Meili that she came with bad news. Something must have happened.

  "Miss Li, you must come! Liu Ruoyan came to our store! She's causing a scene outside, demanding to see you!" she reported nervously.

  Elaine Wu bit her lip and glanced at her boss. There weren't many people who were aware that Li Meili was 'The Black Nightingale'. Although she was going to participate in the competition, there was no telling if Li Meili was ready to reveal her identity.

  "Oh?" Li Meili cupped her chin and tapped her desk lightly with her other hand. "Miss Liu came for a visit? What a surprise," she said nonchalantly, making Elaine Wu wonder why she wasn't worried at all. Had she already anticipated this would happen?