When they returned to the private room, everyone asked what had taken them so long. Zhao Pingchuan smiled naturally and held up the cake. "The person delivering the cake couldn't find the place, so it took a little longer."
Ji Ran glanced at him.
Zhao Pingchuan lowered his voice. "Don't think too much about it. It's your birthday."
Ji Ran smiled. "Okay."
Zhao Pingchuan had made so many preparations for his birthday. No matter what, he was going to enjoy himself today.
In the end, everyone had a wonderful time. Surrounded by so many friends wishing him well, Ji Ran felt a satisfaction he had never known before.
After they got home, he brought up what had happened. "Brother, I think there's something a little uncanny about Gu Xingye. Nothing good ever comes of running into him. Don't have anything to do with him from now on."
Zhao Pingchuan laughed. "Did you forget he's blacklisting me? I'm doing everything I can to avoid him."
I'm just afraid you won't be able to avoid him, Ji Ran thought silently.
But what happened today had reminded Ji Ran of something-since the developments in the original book wouldn't change, couldn't they take advantage of them?
He remembered clearly that around this time in his previous life, someone had caught the short-video platform wave and turned a profit in just six months. Why couldn't they get a piece of the pie?
Ji Ran pretended to bring it up casually. "Brother, I've been browsing on my phone lately, and short-video platforms seem really popular. Lots of people are selling products and making content on them. Should our company try to get a foothold?"
Seeing the seriousness in his eyes, Zhao Pingchuan nodded at once. "I'll look into it."
Ji Ran gave him an obedient smile. "Okay. We don't have to invest too much. There's no harm in giving it a try."
Zhao Pingchuan drew up a proposal. After evaluating it, everyone agreed it was worth investing in. The proposal passed unanimously, and the company put a quarter of its available funds into the short-video sector.
They had thought it was a sure thing, an investment guaranteed to make money, but no one expected events to unfold completely differently from how Ji Ran remembered them.
In the original book, the short-video boom had lasted several months, but this time it ended early. On top of that, competitors maliciously suppressed them and spread negative publicity. The market took a sharp downturn, and Hengtu lost almost all the money it had invested.
Although it was only part of their funds, it was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Hengtu, which had only just gotten on track.
No matter how hard Zhao Pingchuan tried to hide it, Ji Ran could still clearly see the growing exhaustion in his eyes, and his heart ached as though stabbed by needles.
He knew it was all his fault. If he hadn't recklessly offered advice based on his vague memories, Zhao Pingchuan wouldn't have found himself in such a desperate situation.
He wanted to explain, to tell Zhao Pingchuan he hadn't meant for this to happen. He even wanted to reveal his secret about having transmigrated into a book, but every time the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back-the whole thing was so unbelievable that even he wouldn't believe it.
Ji Ran swallowed all his grievances and self-reproach, silently stayed by Zhao Pingchuan's side, and worked hard to recover the losses.
Zhao Pingchuan was indeed under immense pressure, and sometimes he struggled to keep his temper in check. But he wasn't the sort to blame everyone and everything, much less take it out on his subordinates, so he simply grew quieter.
With Ji Ran, he was still a gentle, dependable older brother.
When Ji Ran asked about it, he forced a smile. "It's okay, Ranran. I'll take care of it. The company evaluated the decision, so it's not your fault."
But how could Ji Ran forgive himself?
When Zhou Jianghua and the others heard what had happened, they came to comfort him too. "Ji Ran, honestly, I don't think your advice was wrong. I would have invested too. Maybe we were just unlucky this time."
Lin Lin also looked at him worriedly. "I'm sure Sister Chen and the others won't blame you either. Don't dwell on it."
Of course Chen Qi and the others didn't blame Ji Ran. They regarded him as their own little brother, and when he went to the company, everyone deliberately teased him to cheer him up. "Which girl turned our Ranran down?"
Ji Ran tried to force a smile, but the gloom in his eyes wouldn't lift.
That evening, Zhao Pingchuan sat on the sofa refining a plan, while Ji Ran sat quietly beside him and watched.
Zhao Pingchuan made no effort to hide any of it from him. As he browsed through the documents, he played with Ji Ran's hair.
Ji Ran hugged a cushion and rested his head on it. As he watched, his eyes grew misty.
He was perfectly quiet and hadn't made a sound, but Zhao Pingchuan still noticed. He hurriedly set his laptop aside and cupped Ji Ran's face. Seeing the tears glistening in his eyes, he was heartbroken. "What's wrong, Ranran?"
Ji Ran finally couldn't hold back anymore. When he blinked, warm tears fell onto Zhao Pingchuan's hand, making him flinch at their heat. "Brother, I feel so useless. I've caused you all so much trouble."
All these days, he had not only blamed himself but also felt an inexplicable sense of grievance, because he didn't know why things had turned out this way either.
Zhao Pingchuan silently cursed himself for being careless and failing to realize how deeply this had affected Ji Ran. He wiped away Ji Ran's tears, his voice unbearably gentle. "What business venture doesn't hit a wall? Let's treat this as a learning experience. We haven't reached the end of the road, have we?"
The more tenderly he cared for him, the harder Ji Ran cried. He felt he didn't deserve Zhao Pingchuan's kindness. If Zhao Pingchuan scolded him or lost his temper with him, perhaps he would feel a little better.
"I shouldn't have given you advice so recklessly. All your hard work for so long has gone to waste."
Zhao Pingchuan's expression grew serious. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Ranran, I actually don't think there was anything wrong with your advice. I couldn't make sense of what happened this time either."
Ji Ran froze.
Zhao Pingchuan wasn't making things up to comfort Ji Ran. He really did find it strange. The market had shifted without any warning, changing as suddenly as the weather. Otherwise, with his keen instincts, how could he have suffered such heavy losses?
Something occurred to Ji Ran, and his expression changed.
Zhao Pingchuan went on, "This feels very familiar, just like-"
He took a moment to find the words. "Like the time Pingchuan Technology went bankrupt."
Everything had been chaotic and defied reason, as though it were a trap set for him.
Hearing Zhao Pingchuan say that, Ji Ran realized something. Could this too be an irresistible force brought about by the plot of the original book?
Zhao Pingchuan wasn't supposed to catch the short-video wave, so even if he invested at the right time, he was destined to come away with nothing.
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that this was what had happened.
Zhao Pingchuan watched Ji Ran's expression, a glint in his eyes. "Ranran, what occurred to you?"
Ji Ran couldn't tell Zhao Pingchuan the whole truth. He said, "I think your feeling might be right, Brother. Something is stopping you from getting back on your feet."
Whatever was causing the resistance, Zhao Pingchuan wasn't afraid anymore. He just couldn't bear to see Ji Ran suffer. He leaned over and hugged him, patting his back as though soothing a child. "It's okay, Ranran. Man can conquer heaven. We'll fight it to the end."
Ji Ran's mind was caught up in the plot, so he didn't pay much attention to how shocking Zhao Pingchuan's words were, or what exactly he meant by "it."
Zhao Pingchuan had actually noticed that something was wrong long ago.
Ji Ran understood him too well. He understood how he did things and his business sense, and could even anticipate his concerns. And the things Ji Ran occasionally said and the suggestions he made were often too precise for a recent graduate, as though he had experienced them firsthand.
He had a vague feeling that Ji Ran was hiding a secret-a secret about him, about the past and the future.
But Ji Ran didn't want to talk about it, so he wouldn't ask.
He knew Ji Ran would never harm him. No matter what secret Ji Ran was hiding, or why his advice had gone wrong this time, he had meant well, and that was enough.