Shadow and Light: The Bride Who Clicks Her Way to Love-Chapter 426 - 439: The Sudden Downpour

So, even though Lu Shifeng found various opportunities to be alone with her, she always avoided him with great aversion.

She became more passionate about work, taking on a lot of projects from Cang Er, and threw herself into photography with a workaholic attitude. This made even the group of photographers at Cloud feel threatened, worrying that a new female photography demon was about to rise, fearing for their jobs.

In this strange atmosphere, more than a month passed.

The weather in S City gradually worsened, and it started to rain intermittently.

Initially, the rainfall wasn’t heavy, but after a few days, it grew heavier and soon the news reported it as a once-in-a-century downpour.

Su Xingyu’s photography work at Cloud also had to adjust its schedule due to this, with all outdoor shoots paused while focusing on indoor studio shoots first. On this day, she was busy in the studio all day, completely immersed, forgetting about the lightning and thunder outside until she walked out in the afternoon, realizing the sky outside was pitch black, with torrential rain pouring onto the glass windows, as if the Milky Way was unleashing.

"The rain is really heavy," said a staff member beside her, looking out at the rain.

Another staff member remarked, "Isn’t it? It’s been raining all day, and no one knows when it’ll stop. I’ve heard several drains in the city are blocked, and many areas in Guangling District and Jinhuang District are flooded, with some places’ ground floors uninhabitable. The news is reminding everyone to prepare for flood defense and disaster relief."

Flood defense and disaster relief?

"Has it become that serious?" Su Xingyu asked.

The staff member glanced at her with a smile, "Miss Axing, those are old districts, where you and Mr. Lu from Blade Group live is completely worry-free. Mr. Lu lives in that villa area on the east side of the city, right? I passed by once and saw a large area planted with roses and night jasmines, so beautiful. That’s a rich area with excellent drainage systems and high terrain, completely safe from flooding, rest assured."

Su Xingyu remained silent, not worried for herself but thinking of the two children.

Even though it had been raining the past few days, it stopped intermittently, and the helicopter could normally pick up and drop off the children. But seeing the rainfall today...

It seemed unlikely to stop anytime soon.

She bade farewell to the two staff members and went aside to make a call, "Hello, Mr. Zhong? Did the helicopter go to pick up Han and Jue today? ... Can’t fly? What about the car then? Send a car to pick up the children." She glanced worriedly out the window, the pitch-black sky, the pouring rain mixed with thunder and lightning, and faintly heard the honking of many vehicles on the street, clearly there was a traffic jam.

On the other end of the line, Mr. Zhong also gave her bad news, "Ma’am, we have four drivers in total, the one who usually picks you up is stuck under the elevated bridge in Jinhuang District, the car took on water, and drivers throughout the street are immobilized, reportedly abandoning cars to save lives, with some casualties. The other two who drive me and Mrs. Gui for grocery trips are one stuck out of province and the other also caught in traffic. Finally, there’s Zhou who drives the young master and is likely at Blade Headquarters waiting for the young master to finish work. Should you ask the young master? I can’t deploy Zhou."

Su Xingyu frowned, thanked the butler Mr. Zhong, and hung up.

What a misfortune this heavy rain was, none of the household drivers could be used, only Zhou could be asked.

She didn’t want to engage with Lu Shifeng; she had his driver’s number in her phone and dialed directly, "Zhou? It’s me. Can you go to Xiu Mountain Kindergarten to pick up the children? It’s pouring rain, the helicopter can’t fly, and the other drivers are stuck."

Zhou was indeed at Blade Headquarters, not stuck on the road, but he was in a difficult spot, "Ma’am, I’m waiting for the young master who is in an important meeting; after it ends, I have to drive him to the next one. I’m afraid to bother him now; could you wait a little longer?"

Su Xingyu couldn’t wait.

With the weather being so terrible, she felt a restless concern for the distant children.

She said, "Adults can wait, but not children."

Zhou tried to calm her, "Ma’am, forgive me for being blunt, but given the road conditions, even if I drove you to pick up the children now, we might get stuck on the road. Xiu Mountain Kindergarten has daycare services where the young lords could stay overnight, and you could pick them up tomorrow."

Su Xingyu had considered daycare; the aristocratic kindergarten indeed had comprehensive facilities in this regard.

However, if it were just Han, daycare would be fine, but not Jue; she was extremely uneasy about the autistic child’s overnight stay outside.

"Forget about Lu Shifeng, pick up the children first," she said irritably to Zhou.

Zhou, however, didn’t dare, "Ma’am..."

He was in a difficult position; if the ma’am upset the young master, it’d be a matter of quarrel and reconciliation, but for him, it would mean losing his job.

Su Xingyu sensed his predicament, inwardly cursing the tyrant Lu Shifeng for keeping his subordinates so tense and inflexible. She decided not to persuade the driver further and hung up, reaching out to call Lu Shifeng, feeling no choice but to rely on him.

Outside the window, lightning flashed and thunder boomed, one after another.

The call was greeted with busy signals, unreachable.

Su Xingyu remembered Zhou’s comment about Lu Shifeng being in a meeting, guessing he might have set his phone to silent. Frustrated, she glanced up at the rain and dashed into the rainstorm.

The rain poured heavily, the wind causing piercing howls on her body.

She didn’t take an umbrella—under such heavy rain, an umbrella was utterly useless, more of a hindrance if anything. The dimly lit streets revealed only the flickering of street lamps and car lights, not a single pedestrian in sight, whether they had umbrellas or not, were seeking shelter under malls, office buildings, and shops, looking at her diving into the rain as if witnessing a madwoman.

She didn’t take a car, this was central downtown, the streets were jammed with crawling cars and frustrated drivers blaring horns.

Fortunately, the photography studio wasn’t far from Blade Headquarters, just a two or three-kilometer walk, normally only a half-hour stroll in good weather; but in such harsh conditions, even half-hour walks proved challenging, although she was walking and jogging, she only arrived with much effort.

Completely drenched.

Her long hair stuck messily to her face, a complete wreck.

The Blade Group Headquarters gatekeeper was startled, unable to recognize her under the down jacket, mask, and hat, asking, "Miss, who are you looking for? Is something urgent?"