A digital storm swept through Liu Lu's business empire like a typhoon.
One moment her company was rock solid; the next, it was teetering on the brink of collapse under the relentless attacks of Black Obsidian.
Reports poured in—firewalls were breached, servers were overloaded, and critical data streams were damaged.
The carefully constructed, invincible facade began to crack, revealing the underlying panic.
The whispers started subtly but quickly turned into a cacophony—was Liu Lu, the industry giant who had never been defeated, really going to fall?
Suspicion was a poison, and it spread rapidly.
Investors who were once eager to bask in the glory of her success are now eyeing the exits, their hands hovering over the panic button on their portfolios.
The news media smelled blood and fabricated stories of arrogance and inevitable downfall.
The pressure kept increasing, threatening to crush Liu Lu.
She felt that familiar sting of isolation, the loneliness of being a leader in the face of immense difficulties.
But Liu Lu will not be defeated.
She moved through the chaos with the extraordinary calm of a seasoned warrior, her eyes burning with intense determination.
“Li,” she said sharply, her voice cutting through the panicked commotion of the tech team, “Situation report!”
“Madam, they have penetrated deep into our system. The damage is widespread. We are working to control the vulnerability, but…” Li’s voice trailed off, the unspoken words hanging heavily in the air.
"But what?" Liu Lu's tone was icy.
"But their encryption... is something I've never seen before. We're working to decipher their attack vectors."
The atmosphere became heavy with tension.
The word "failure" had long been erased from Liu Lu's dictionary, but the cold control of reality began to tighten.
Just as despair was about to engulf them, a calm and steady voice came from the corner of the room.
“Perhaps,” said Zhao, the experienced strategist, a calculating glint in his eyes, “we don’t need to decipher it.”
Liu Lu turned around, her gaze sharp. "Explain yourself."
Zhao Xiangqian leaned forward, a faint smile appearing on his lips.
“They underestimated us. They focused on a direct assault, overwhelming our defenses. They didn’t consider…” He paused, leaving the question hanging in suspense.
"Our own Trojan horse."
Liu Lu's eyes widened, a spark of understanding igniting within them.
"The back door... the one Li set up..."
Zhao nodded.
“That’s right.” He turned to Marketing Director Sun, a new instruction forming in his mind.
“Sun, it’s time to show them what real destruction is.” He picked up the phone, dialed a number, and said only one sentence: “Initiate Phase Two.” Sun, like a controlled whirlwind of energy, immediately sprang into action.
Within minutes, a pre-prepared press release was released with the precision of a well-planned surgical strike, landing on the news line.
The press release acknowledged the attack but downplayed its severity, emphasizing the company's robust security protocols and swift response.
At the same time, a series of targeted social media campaigns have flooded the digital sphere, aimed at demonstrating confidence and resilience.
Sun is a master at manipulating public opinion; the picture he paints is not of a company under siege, but of a giant undergoing a small storm.
He even subtly hinted at the upcoming launch of a groundbreaking new technology, a strategic move to pique investor curiosity and stem the tide of withdrawals.
The stock price, which had plummeted, began to rebound, proving Sun's superb manipulation skills.
Later that evening, a small figure tiptoed into Liu Lu's office, clutching a plate of clumsily made cookies tightly in her hand.
It was her daughter, Liu Bei, and her face was filled with worry.
"Mom, I made these for you," she said softly, placing the plates on the table.
"It was supposed to be made in the shape of a star, but..." Her voice trailed off, her lower lip trembling slightly.
Liu Lu felt a pang of sadness.
She knelt down and hugged her daughter tightly.
“They are perfect,” she whispered, kissing Liu Bei’s forehead.
Looking into her daughter's innocent eyes, a new determination welled up in her heart.
She cannot fail, for the company, for her employees, and of course for her daughter.
Just then, Li rushed into the office, his face pale and his eyes wide open with a mixture of fear and excitement.
He stammered, "Madam... I... I found something in their encryption system... a... a vulnerability..." He paused, swallowed hard, and then whispered, "It's... a backdoor." He glanced at Zhao, then back at Liu Lu, his voice barely audible.
“They have a backdoor…but…we have one too.” He pointed to the screen with a trembling hand.
“Look…” The flickering candlelight cast long shadows in the small, dirt-floored room.
Liu Lu had just had a conflict with Zhang Baogen's mother, and her heart was still pounding. She held her daughter, Xiaoyatou, tightly.
The little girl's tears finally stopped, leaving mud streaks on her once rosy cheeks.
Liu Lu gently wiped them away, a strong protective instinct welling up inside her.
This wasn't the brutal corporate world she was familiar with, but the risks felt just as high.
Protecting her daughter in this unfamiliar era is her new "battle in the conference room".
Today's victory, though seemingly insignificant, is of great significance.
The confrontation with Baogen's mother was a turning point. Baogen's mother was a notorious shrew in the village, known for her manipulative crying and false accusations.
Liu Lu is usually a woman who plans things carefully and has strategic thinking, but this time she acted purely out of instinct, driven by the primal need to protect her child.
She confronted the woman's farce head-on without fear, and refuted each of her fabricated tragic stories with calm and solid logic.
The villagers were used to Baogen's mother's usual success, and they watched in shock as Liu Lu methodically exposed her lies and revealed the truth behind the children's quarrel.
Even the usually cautious and neutral village chief seemed to be deeply impressed by Liu Lu's calm and firm attitude.
This is not the life that Liu Lu, the CEO of a multinational corporation, once envisioned for herself.
Conference room negotiations and multi-million dollar deals seem like something from another world.
However, she is now in ancient China, fighting for survival for herself and her daughter.
This has nothing to do with market share or profit margin; it's about justice, about protecting the innocent, about carving out a place for oneself in this strange new world.
Her small victory over Baogen's mother gave her a taste of her own abilities and a glimmer of hope in this challenging new environment.
This is the first step, a small crack in the wall of adversity she faces.
Liu Lu looked down at the little girl, whose tiny hand was tightly gripping hers.
This is just the beginning.
She will fight for her daughter, for herself, and for a better life in this strange world.
She is Liu Lu, and she will not be defeated.
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