I'm the demise's white moonlight of the bigshot - Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Beep, beep, beep.

In a quiet, snow-white room, precise medical instruments were running steadily. The person lying quietly on the bed seemed to have experienced a great shock, with furrowed brows and trembling eyelashes.

When Ji Ran woke up, her eyelids were so heavy that it took her a long time to lift them. Her eyes weakly gazed at the white wall opposite her. As her consciousness gradually returned, she felt a splitting headache and extreme weakness throughout her body.

Her head felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, like the kind of heaviness that comes after oversleeping.

Ji Ran knew this must be a hospital, so she wanted to raise her hand to call for a doctor or nurse. But when she tried to lift her hand, she found that even though her consciousness had returned, her body seemed out of her control.

She was anxious but also aware that she had just woken up and hadn’t fully recovered yet. So, she turned her eyes toward the door.

Coincidentally, a sound came from outside the door.

When the door opened, Pei Yuan walked in, accompanied by a woman in a white coat who looked like a doctor from the hospital.

Pei Yuan’s expression wasn’t great, and she wasn’t dressed in her usual refined and mature style.

Since the door was some distance from the bed, and Pei Yuan was standing at the door listening intently to the doctor, she didn’t notice that Ji Ran in the hospital bed had already woken up.

Ji Ran looked at Pei Yuan and thought that it had only been a few days, but Pei Yuan seemed to have aged.

She had always thought that the word “old” had nothing to do with Pei Yuan, but now it seemed that Pei Yuan had really been worried about her.

“Mom,” Ji Ran finally spoke softly.

Pei Yuan turned her head abruptly, her expression stunned. When she saw that it was indeed Ji Ran who had opened her eyes and called out to her, Pei Yuan’s face showed an unbelievable joy.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she rushed to Ji Ran’s bedside.

“Ran Ran, you’re finally awake,” Pei Yuan said without hesitation, half-kneeling by her bedside, her eyes almost greedily fixed on Ji Ran’s face. Even someone as calm as her had traces of tears in her eyes. “Ran Ran, Mom was so worried. Thank goodness you’re awake.”

Seeing Pei Yuan so emotional, Ji Ran felt a bit uncomfortable with her mother’s intense concern.

But she thought that since she had been in a car accident, it wasn’t surprising that Pei Yuan would be worried about her.

However, now that she saw Pei Yuan, she wanted to ask about Shen Zhi. They had been in the car accident together. If Ji Ran had woken up, then Shen Zhi must be fine too, right?

Ji Ran was desperate to know Shen Zhi’s condition.

When she opened her mouth, her voice was hoarse and unpleasant, like a broken gong: “Mom, how is Shen Zhi now?”

Pei Yuan frowned. Ji Ran thought she was angry and didn’t want to tell her about Shen Zhi. She immediately pleaded, “Mom, please, tell me how Shen Zhi is now. He was in the car accident with me…”

“Ran Ran, Ran Ran,” Pei Yuan gently pressed her palm, signaling her not to get so worked up. She whispered, “What are you talking about? What happened to him?”

Pei Yuan looked completely confused.

Ji Ran had been gripping Pei Yuan’s wrist, eager to ask about Shen Zhi, but now Pei Yuan was saying she didn’t know.

Suddenly, Ji Ran calmed down.

“What about the person who was brought in with me after the car accident?” she asked, staring at Pei Yuan, not wanting to miss any expression in her eyes.

Pei Yuan slightly frowned, her expression cold. “Don’t worry, I will never settle with the other party. Besides, he was driving under the influence. Legally, he will face criminal charges.”

Ji Ran knew she was talking about the other driver. She didn’t understand why Pei Yuan kept avoiding her questions about Shen Zhi.

She wanted to go see him herself, but her body still didn’t seem to be under her control. Even lifting her leg was impossible.

So, she looked at the doctor behind her for help, her voice almost breaking into tears. “What about the person who came with me? Was he injured? Did something happen to him?”

Finally, Pei Yuan understood what she meant. Her expression turned startled, even showing a hint of panic. After stabilizing her emotions, she said in a low voice, “Ran Ran, when you had the car accident, you were alone in your car.”

A sudden unease spread through Ji Ran’s heart, and a vague thought appeared in her mind.

But Ji Ran still didn’t give up. She said, “How could I have been alone? We were riding a motorcycle together and got into an accident. Shen Zhi was with me.”

“It wasn’t a motorcycle,” Pei Yuan’s expression became completely complicated. She paused for a few seconds, then glanced at the doctor, who nodded slightly.

So Pei Yuan continued, “Don’t you remember? You were driving alone when the accident happened. It was the Porsche your dad gave you for your birthday.”

Driving?

A Porsche???

Finally, Ji Ran’s memory was pulled back to a long time ago, to be precise, her last memory at the age of 27. That day, she had argued with Pei Yuan over work-related matters.

In short, Pei Yuan thought that since Ji Ran hadn’t been promoted at her company, she should just quit and return to work for the family business.

After all, she had already accumulated enough experience.

But Ji Ran didn’t want to. In her view, her work at the investment bank had already been micromanaged by Pei Yuan. If she returned to work for the Pei family business, she would undoubtedly become Pei Yuan’s puppet.

She rejected Pei Yuan’s suggestion, and Pei Yuan was furious because she wasn’t used to Ji Ran being out of her control.

Who would have thought that Ji Ran would get into a car accident that very day.

When Pei Yuan heard the news, she was almost in despair. Ji Ran was her only daughter. She could be angry with her, but she had never thought about what would happen if something happened to her.

After the accident, Ji Ran was promptly rescued, but even the doctors didn’t expect her to remain in a coma.

Despite Pei Yuan and Ji Qingli hiring the best doctors and even inviting top American neurologists to diagnose her, the conclusion was the same.

Her brain hadn’t suffered severe trauma, and the reason for her prolonged coma was unclear.

Ji Ran tentatively asked, “What’s the date now?”

“2019…” Pei Yuan looked at her, her expression not relaxed. Although Ji Ran had woken up, she seemed confused. “You’ve been in a coma for almost two months. I’ll have the doctor examine you now.”

The doctor standing nearby nodded in agreement.

Soon, a group of doctors appeared one after another, conducting various examinations on Ji Ran. She felt that she, who had just woken up, might be knocked out again by all this tossing around.

During the process, a nurse’s phone fell out of her pocket.

Ji Ran glanced at it and saw it was an iPhone X. Although this model was released in 2017 and wasn’t the latest, it definitely couldn’t have existed in 2009.

So what was going on?

Was her return to being seventeen just a long, unwilling-to-wake-up dream during her coma? Or was everything she remembered in her mind actually real?

Parallel universe?

Ji Ran felt like she was going crazy. Did all these things only happen in her memory?

What about Shen Zhi? Would he remember everything between them?

But Ji Ran suddenly realized that she seemed to have forgotten something very, very important.

Just as she was being helped by a nurse to sit up halfway and prepare to eat some liquid food, a flash of lightning seemed to strike her mind, or perhaps she finally remembered.

Before they were hit by that car, Shen Zhi had said something to her.

He said, “I am Yuan Jing.”

Yuan Jing.

Ji Ran’s eyes widened suddenly, and her breathing became rapid.

The nurse beside her was almost startled and quickly asked, “Miss Ji, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Ji Ran slowly shook her head. She looked at the nurse and asked, “Where’s my phone? Have you seen my phone?”

She had been in a car accident and was in a coma, so her phone was probably still in the car or broken.

She urgently wanted to get her phone back; she wanted to contact Shen Zhi.

She had so many questions to ask.

And she really wanted to see him.

But she had been in a coma for too long, and the doctors still recommended that she stay in the hospital for observation. Fortunately, after she woke up, Pei Yuan’s attitude towards her had softened considerably. When Ji Ran asked for her phone, Pei Yuan immediately had someone bring it to her.

Luckily, although the phone had been in the car, it hadn’t been damaged in the crash.

It had just been turned off because it had been out of power for too long.

The next day, Ji Qingli hurriedly arrived at the hospital. When he pushed the door open, Ji Ran noticed that his temples were slightly gray, and he suddenly seemed unfamiliar.

Just a few days ago, the Ji Qingli she had seen was still a middle-aged man full of vigor.

Now he looked like he had aged more than ten years.

But then Ji Ran thought, wasn’t he already in his fifties?

“Dad,” Ji Ran’s fingers were still on her phone screen. The phone had just been charged and turned on, and she was about to call her assistant when Ji Qingli walked in.

Her initiative in calling him “Dad” stunned Ji Qingli.

To be honest, their father-daughter relationship wasn’t very harmonious.

Ji Qingli could sense Ji Ran’s resistance and distance towards him.

Moreover, she had been abroad until just six months ago when she returned to the country.

As Ji Qingli grew older, he gradually realized his previous neglect and distance towards Ji Ran and had wanted to slowly make it up to her. But who would have thought that Ji Ran would suddenly have a car accident.

He had almost lost his only daughter.

This time, Ji Qingli had been fully involved in and funded the hiring of the American expert medical team for Ji Ran.

Even though Pei Yuan offered to pay half, he refused.

Ji Qingli looked at her and nodded in relief.

“I was in Hainan for an inspection yesterday. It was too late to catch a flight back, so I could only come back today.”

He was explaining why he hadn’t come to see her immediately yesterday.

Ji Ran nodded, feeling a bit awkward.

Ji Qingli wasn’t good at expressing concern, and Ji Ran wasn’t good at making small talk with him. Just as they were at a loss for words, Pei Yuan walked in.

Ji Ran nervously glanced at Pei Yuan, as the relationship between these two was extremely bad.

After the divorce, they almost never wanted to see each other.

But before Ji Ran could speak, Pei Yuan spoke to Ji Qingli first, “You’re here.”

Her tone was ordinary and casual.

Ji Ran: “…”

It turned out that over the past two months, Pei Yuan and Ji Qingli had been extremely worried about Ji Ran. Both had their own companies to manage, so they took turns staying at the hospital to look after her.

Although they had hired two nursing aides, they still didn’t feel at ease.

They came to the hospital every day to check on her.

Ji Ran hadn’t expected that her car accident would bring Pei Yuan and Ji Qingli to a level of harmony they had never achieved before.

After they left, she finally had time to call her assistant, Fang Qian.

When Fang Qian received her call, her voice was so excited it was almost tearful, “Boss, is that you? Are you awake?”

Ji Ran hadn’t expected her to be so emotional and was quite touched.

Although Fang Qian was just her assistant, she hadn’t expected that besides her parents, Fang Qian would also care so much about her.

But the next second, Fang Qian said in a relieved tone, “You’re awake, so I can keep my job, right?”

…

There was a sudden awkward silence in the air.

Ji Ran was speechless.

Fang Qian also realized her impropriety and immediately shook her head, “I, I didn’t mean it that way. I’ll come see you after work tonight.”

Ji Ran thought about it; there were still a few hours until the end of the workday, and she did have a lot of questions to ask Fang Qian.

So she nodded in agreement.

In the evening, Fang Qian arrived carrying a basket of exquisite imported fruits. As soon as she entered, her eyes were red, and she said pitifully, “Boss, you’re finally awake.”

Fang Qian was Ji Ran’s assistant. Ji Ran didn’t like people calling her “Director Ji,” so everyone in their team called her “Boss.”

Ji Ran raised her chin, signaling Fang Qian to sit down.

So Fang Qian sat down on the chair at the foot of the bed. She had intended to exchange a few more pleasantries with Ji Ran, given that her boss had been in a coma for two months.

But as soon as Ji Ran opened her mouth, she asked, “How is Shen Zhi now?”

At that moment, Fang Qian’s heart immediately filled with respect.

Look, look, this is why she’s the company’s executive director, and I’m just a small assistant. As soon as she woke up, she immediately concerned herself with the situation of her biggest competitor.

Fang Qian smiled and said, “Boss, don’t worry, the company is fine. Director Shen hasn’t been involved in any major projects. He’s hardly been to the company these past two months; it’s said he’s been on vacation.”

This was big news in the company. Shen Zhi, who usually worked year-round without breaks, had actually taken time off.

For a while, rumors were flying in the company.

After all, Shen Zhi’s background wasn’t a big secret. Everyone knew about his relationship with Hengchi Group. With the heir to Hengchi Group still undecided, everyone was speculating whether Director Shen’s recent abnormal behavior was related to this.

After all, no matter how well you do in investment banking, even if you eventually become a partner, you’re still just a high-level employee.

It’s not as good as going home to inherit your family’s fortune.

Ji Ran frowned slightly.

Fang Qian thought it was because of Shen Zhi’s situation and quickly whispered, “Boss, if Director Shen really goes home to inherit his family’s fortune, it might actually be good for you. Once he leaves, a position as managing director will open up. Maybe you’ll have a chance.”

Ji Ran knew Fang Qian was just flattering her.

Managing directors in investment banks usually need 10-12 years of work experience. Someone like Shen Zhi, who became a managing director before he was thirty, was often called a monster, a non-human.

“That’s not necessarily true. Managing directors aren’t like filling a hole with a radish,” Ji Ran shook her head.

Then she chuckled softly and said in a low voice, “Besides, my situation is different from Shen Zhi’s.”

Fang Qian knew that her boss hated this Director Shen the most. Even though Director Shen was the number one male god in the investment banking circle, her boss hated him with a passion.

After all, the two of them were somewhat competitors.

At that moment, Fang Qian was thinking whether she should, as usual,She chimed in with Ji Ran, throwing in a few jabs at Shen Zhi. But honestly speaking, Shen Zhi was her ultimate dream guy too.

Aaaaaahhh—just thinking about that noble, unattainable face of his made Fang Qian want to tremble and scream.

But there was nothing she could do—after all, a girl still had to eat.

Fang Qian cleared her throat, just about to speak, when she noticed Ji Ran sitting on the bed, her elbow resting on her knee, her hand propped against her cheek.

There was a hint of sweetness on her face—one she probably hadn’t even noticed herself.

“Well, he is amazing, after all.”

Fang Qian: “…”

Wait, WHAT?!!!