The secretary left, and Li Weiyi stayed in the room for a while. Soon her eyelids became too heavy to keep open. She had gotten caught in the rain and caught a cold last night, and hadn’t slept well. Now, feeling relieved, she could no longer hold on. She wasn’t the type to make herself uncomfortable—she had rolled around on Zhang Jingchan’s bed when he was 19, so what did she care about now? Without hesitation, she climbed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

She slept so deeply that day turned to night. At noon, the secretary pushed the door open to bring her food and, seeing this scene, had complex and indescribable feelings—this was the first woman in all these years to sleep in President Zhang’s bed. The secretary quietly left.

When Li Yunmo, whose wrist was sore from copying the company regulations, received this piece of gossip, he was so moved by himself that he nearly shed tears… Pregnant women are prone to drowsiness—she really was pregnant. It was all thanks to him that this mother and child were kept together.

Li Weiyi was awakened by hunger. When she opened her eyes, dusk was already falling.

“I wonder if that guy has made up his mind…” She muttered as she climbed up, then saw someone sitting on the sofa and jumped in fright. “How are you here? You didn’t make a sound!”

The room’s lights weren’t on, and Zhang Jingchan’s silhouette was shadowy. Perhaps because this room was too comfortable, or perhaps because the surroundings were too quiet, his figure sank into the sofa, lacking the sharp coldness of daytime and showing more relaxation and weariness.

“This is my room,” Zhang Jingchan said. “I just came in a moment ago, planning to wake you.”

Li Weiyi sat on the edge of the bed and put on her shoes, asking, “So, what have you decided?”

From the building across the way, thin lamplight filtered in, shining on him and making him look more like someone sitting in bleak moonlight. His hands were clasped together in front of him, his eyes lowered, and his voice revealed a hoarseness. “I won’t ask how you plan to save your sister—I assume you already have a plan. Fuming Group—what do you intend to do?”

Li Weiyi was stumped by the question and answered honestly, “Last time I crossed over, I only stayed there for three days. At the time, I thought I’d be there for a long time, so I wasn’t in a hurry. Your dad was constantly on business trips—I never even saw his face. I roughly know that Fuming Group collapsed back then because the expansion was too aggressive, the debt ratio was too high, and when policies tightened, the capital chain broke and it directly collapsed. So I plan to try to persuade your dad to reduce loans and investment scale after I go back, to maintain cash flow. I can’t guarantee how much I can save, but I’ll definitely try my best.”

These words were logical and showed self-awareness, which made Zhang Jingchan look at her twice more. He nodded and said, “Your thinking isn’t wrong. However, he’s an extremely stubborn person. Back then, it wasn’t that no one warned him about the risks, but he made his fortune by taking risks—it’s ingrained in his bones. No matter how reasonable your arguments are, I’m afraid he won’t listen.”

“Then what should we do?”

“So I spent the whole day creating a comprehensive risk analysis report of Fuming Group from that time. Come here.”

Li Weiyi’s heart leaped with joy. She walked to the sofa. Zhang Jingchan picked up a laptop from beside his feet and opened a PowerPoint presentation. Li Weiyi glanced at it—there were over 70 pages. It must have poured all his effort into it.

Zhang Jingchan explained it to her page by page. Li Weiyi worked in financial analysis, so she had no difficulty understanding. Zhang Jingchan comprehensively analyzed the pros and cons from various aspects of Fuming Group’s funding sources at the time, interest burden, investment scale, market risks, internal management problems, and more. Even though Li Weiyi didn’t understand the group’s situation well, after listening, she felt shocked and alarmed.

“Your analysis is so incisive and profound!” Li Weiyi couldn’t help but praise.

Zhang Jingchan answered blandly, “Later, I reviewed it many times.”

Li Weiyi fell silent.

It took a full hour for Zhang Jingchan to finish explaining the PowerPoint. He asked, “Did you understand everything?”

Li Weiyi said, “Don’t underestimate me. I’m a financial elite at Muchen Group.”

Zhang Jingchan smiled faintly and said, “Weren’t you laid off?”

Li Weiyi said, “…That’s because I only have a bachelor’s degree, while everyone else in the department has a master’s! Are kings, dukes, generals, and ministers born inherently noble?”

Zhang Jingchan glanced at his watch. “Since you’re so noble, it’s now 7:02. There are about three hours left until the scheduled experiment time. You must memorize all 74 pages of this PowerPoint. I’ll go order some fast food.”

Li Weiyi: “…”

She had been foolish. Just now, she had listened so intently that she hadn’t thought about it—the PowerPoint couldn’t be brought over, and Zhang Jingchan couldn’t go over, so she could only rely on memorizing it herself!

Zhang Jingchan stood up and yielded the sofa to her. Li Weiyi took the computer and said wistfully, “Zhang Jingchan, did I copy a lot of your homework in a past life? I had to memorize things for you when I crossed over, and now that I’m back, I’m still memorizing!”

Zhang Jingchan paused mid-step and said, “Memorize well. If you can help me recover this one billion yuan loss… I’ll fulfill any wish within one hundred million yuan for you.”

Li Weiyi: !!!!!!!!

“Go order food quickly, don’t waste a single minute!”

Zhang Jingchan walked out of the room. Turning his head to one side, he caught sight of his own smile reflected in the glass—he didn’t know when it had appeared. He suppressed his smile and gazed through the glass at the gradually descending night, as if looking at somewhere far away.

————

Perhaps because the capitalist’s reward was too enticing, Li Weiyi, harboring dreams of getting rich overnight, performed exceptionally well and memorized the entire proposal by after 9 o’clock. In the meantime, Zhang Jingchan hadn’t come in to avoid disturbing her. Li Weiyi saw there were still more than ten minutes before their agreed departure time, and her mind turned.

Inspired by Zhang Jingchan, she had a bold idea.

She glanced at the doorway again—Zhang Jingchan hadn’t come yet.

She opened a lottery website and rapidly scrolled backward through the historical winning numbers.

After memorizing 74 pages of PowerPoint filled with text, what were a mere ten sets of Double Color Ball winning numbers?

10:04 PM.

Zhang Jingchan’s car stopped by the roadside only 100 meters from the tunnel entrance.

It wasn’t raining today, and the moon hung in the sky. Li Weiyi asked, “Is it about time?”

Zhang Jingchan glanced at his watch. “Wait one more minute.”

“Why?”

“We entered the tunnel at 10:06 yesterday. I looked at my watch then. If you completely replicated your previous behavior yesterday, then the time we pass through the tunnel should be the same.”

Li Weiyi asked, “How did you notice the time?”

Zhang Jingchan didn’t answer. At that moment, he had wanted to see what time it was because he still had to rush to his father’s wake.

The car started.

Li Weiyi had slept all day and couldn’t fall asleep now even if she wanted to, so she could only wait and see what would happen.

When the car reached the bottom of the tunnel, Li Weiyi asked, “If you see your parents again, is there anything you’d like me to say to them for you?”

Zhang Jingchan was quiet for a moment, then answered, “Tell them that no matter what the future holds, I’ll be there to support everything.”

The car smoothly exited the tunnel, and they could already see the streetlights and scenery along the road.

Li Weiyi’s heart sank.

“Should we… try again?” she asked.

“Alright.”

After exiting the tunnel, they prepared to turn around. Although it was late at night, this was a main road by the river, and traffic volume was still considerable. There was also a subway station by the road, and a large wave of people had just come out.

Zhang Jingchan’s car was first in the left-turn lane at the intersection, waiting at a red light. That large wave of pedestrians began crossing the street. Li Weiyi felt uneasy and tried hard to recall what was different between today and the first time she had crossed over. Zhang Jingchan’s hand rested on the steering wheel. He looked up at the red light, then turned his gaze to the dark river surface on one side, silent and lost in thought.

A sharp engine sound and the noise of tires scraping against the ground came from ahead. The two looked up sharply and saw two people flung into the air. The crowd screamed and scattered in all directions.

Li Weiyi shouted “Zhang Jingchan!” A large Jeep with its front already smashed was moving at extremely high speed. It hit another person, sending them flying, and charged straight toward them. The blinding white headlights made it impossible for either of them to see anything.

In the moment before losing consciousness, Li Weiyi thought—so last time, they had been in a car accident.