CFRFGC Chapter 119

⌈”It’s okay to be unsuccessful sometimes.”⌋

In the study.

Ji Min returned to his desk and addressed the video meeting on his computer: “Let’s continue.”

The assistants in the meeting: “…”

Though the weekend meeting wasn’t particularly important, Ji Min’s two previous absences were already surprising enough.

Now that their boss was physically back, it was clear his mind was still elsewhere.

Every so often, he glanced toward the door or shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

It was evident he was restless.

Just as Ji Min was about to excuse himself for a third time, the study door opened.

Lu Ran walked in.

He peeked at Ji Min’s computer screen and, seeing only a few familiar assistants in the meeting, didn’t bother to hold back: “I’m heading out to play with Fang Chen.”

Ji Min: “…”

Lu Ran couldn’t help but find Ji Min’s expression amusing.

However, remembering that Ji Min was in the middle of a meeting, he stifled his laughter.

Ji Min gestured to the participants on the screen to pause.

He muted his microphone and turned the camera to the side.

Then, reaching out to grab the boy’s wrist, he said irritably: “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

Lu Ran finally burst out laughing.

After laughing, he tilted his chin up and pretended to be annoyed: “You’re the one being deliberate. If you leave the room one more time, Fang Chen might lose his temper.”

Ji Min clicked his tongue and raised his eyes to look at him: “Impressive, Lu Ran. You’re worried about him getting mad, but not me?”

“Didn’t you tell me to hang out more with people my age? Now I’m going to do that, so what’s there to be angry about?” Lu Ran retorted.

Ji Min: “…”

Lu Ran continued confidently: “Besides, when you’re not around, you invite him over to play with me. Now that you’re here, you leave him hanging. Is that fair?”

Ji Min thought to himself that inviting Fang Chen over had been part of a deal with Fang Chen’s father.

Who would’ve expected the two of them to genuinely get along so well?

After a long silence, Ji Min sighed.

Taking the boy’s hand, he pressed it to his cheek and asked weakly: “When will you be back?”

“Probably late tonight. We young people have lively nightlife,” Lu Ran replied on purpose.

Ji Min, annoyed, gave his waist a light slap.

“Fine. Just don’t come back too late. Make sure to take the people I’ve assigned to you.” Ji Min carefully instructed.

“Got it, got it, Uncle Ji.”

Lu Ran deliberately addressed him that way, then turned and headed out.

Ji Min was utterly helpless.

He could only sigh, turning the webcam back to its original position.

Just as he reopened the microphone for the meeting, the person who had just slipped out suddenly darted back in, planted a loud kiss on his cheek with a resounding “mua”, and bolted out again.

Ji Min didn’t even have time to react.

The assistants in the meeting, having just seen the screen come back to life, were greeted by this scene. One by one, they fell silent.

And then, they watched as their previously restless boss—who had been fidgeting moments ago—suddenly became as calm as a big cat whose fur had been smoothed out.

Clearing his throat with feigned seriousness, Ji Min suppressed the upward curve of his lips and forced a stern expression: “Continue.”

The assistants: “…” Heh.

—

Lu Ran and Fang Chen headed out together.

The two went to a VR game arcade, played a shooting game, and spent some time at the pool table.

When they stopped by a nearby restaurant to grab a meal, they unexpectedly ran into Shen Xingzhuo.

Shen Xingzhuo, looking utterly defeated, was seated in a corner booth drinking heavily.

Chen Sheng and a few others surrounded him, trying to console him: “It’s nothing, it’s just a failed investment. You’ll figure out a way to make up for it…”

When Chen Sheng noticed Lu Ran, he immediately waved him over: “Brother Lu! Come here and say something!”

Shen Xingzhuo heard Chen Sheng’s call and looked up as well.

The moment he saw Lu Ran, he hurriedly said, “Don’t let him come over!”

Recently, as the Shen family’s fortunes rose, the number of people crowding around Shen Xingzhuo grew as well.

His studio had been doing well lately, so he had taken a bold step and made a few investments.

But those investments had gone south, one after another.

Not only had he poured in a significant amount of his own money, but he had also used some of the Shen Corporation’s stocks in his possession as collateral.

If this reached Shen Hongyuan’s ears, the scolding he’d receive was unimaginable.

What made Shen Xingzhuo feel even worse was that it validated Shen Xingyu’s warning from the other day, leaving him deeply frustrated and humiliated.

On top of that, Shen Xingran had mentioned that Lu Ran had been spending a lot of time with Shen Xingyu lately.

Shen Xingzhuo didn’t even dare to think about how Lu Ran would view him if he found out.

Lu Ran hadn’t initially planned to approach them.

He was just saying hello to Chen Sheng and the others since it had been a while, intending to leave right after.

However, just as he turned to leave, Shen Xingzhuo—who had told him not to come over—unexpectedly reached out and handed him something.

Lu Ran glanced down and saw that it was a yellow Transformer.

The kind meant for little kids.

Judging by the design, the toy wasn’t produced in recent years. A thin layer of dust lingered in the joints and clasps, a testament to the passage of time.

Lu Ran instinctively reached out, taking the Transformer into his hands.

He twisted it around, manipulating the toy’s arms until they were awkwardly tangled together in a mess.

His movements were so familiar, as though long ago, in his earliest years, he had fumbled with this very same toy in a similarly clumsy fashion.

But that sense of familiarity was separated by the vast chasm of over a decade.

Shen Xingzhuo let out a scoff and said, “I went back to the old house the other day and suddenly remembered—you used to cling to this thing all the time as a kid and wouldn’t let go.”

Lu Ran looked down at the Transformer in his hands.

After a moment, he restored its joints to their original positions, placing the once-familiar toy back on Shen Xingzhuo’s table.

Shen Xingzhuo was startled. “You don’t like it?” he asked.

Lu Ran didn’t answer directly. Instead, he replied, “Da Huang doesn’t like these things.”

And yet, perhaps because of that toy, Lu Ran—who had initially planned to leave—ultimately gave Fang Chen a quick heads-up and sat down in Shen Xingzhuo’s booth for a while.

Seeing Lu Ran finally join them, Chen Sheng and the others, who had been exhausting their voices trying to offer comfort, breathed a collective sigh of relief and retreated to the side to drink.

Lu Ran didn’t touch anything on the table. He simply asked, “What’s going on with you?”

Shen Xingzhuo rubbed his nose and confessed to losing millions in his investments, along with the shares of the Shen Corporation he had put up as collateral.

Lu Ran, who still considered himself a simple and penniless university student, couldn’t help but curse under his breath: “Damn.”

Even someone studying veterinary medicine like him could tell that this was a deliberate move—someone saw the Shen family’s rising influence and aimed to snatch Shen Xingzhuo’s shares.

And this guy, Shen Xingzhuo, hadn’t even noticed. It was a level of overconfidence that bordered on absurdity.

“So you also think I’m not as good as Shen Xingyu?” Shen Xingzhuo asked, staring at him.

Lu Ran rolled his eyes dramatically. “How many times have you lost money on investments?”

Shen Xingzhuo hesitated, glanced around to ensure no one else was listening, and then began pouring out all his failures, big and small, from childhood to the present.

There was a thorn lodged in Shen Xingzhuo’s heart, and that thorn’s name was Shen Xingyu.

Shen Xingyu’s excellence had been a constant shadow over him, pressing down since they were kids.

The more he lived in Shen Xingyu’s shadow, the more he longed to outshine him in some way.

So, whenever someone goaded him, even slightly, Shen Xingzhuo would charge headfirst in a fit of impulsive determination.

But unfortunately, this wasn’t his strength. No matter how much he invested, he always lost.

The shares he held had already been used as collateral multiple times. On several occasions, Shen Xingzhuo even had to buy them back at double the market price.

After listening to all this, Lu Ran fell silent.

He couldn’t help but ask, “All these years, you never thought about switching to a different path?”

“No,” Shen Xingzhuo replied. “I just want to beat him.”

He wanted his parents and his family to acknowledge that he was at least competent and had his own strengths.

Lu Ran turned to look at Shen Xingzhuo, observing him quietly for a while.

Lu Ran said, “What’s the point? People who think you’re beneath them will never notice you. Instead, focus on doing what you’re good at.”

Shen Xingzhuo had heard similar words many times before.

But hearing them from Lu Ran left him momentarily stunned.

It wasn’t because of who said them—it was because Shen Xingzhuo suddenly remembered that when Lu Ran had first been brought back to the Shen family, the boy had also spent much effort trying to prove himself.

He had worked hard to show he was no less capable than Shen Xingran.

But back then…

What had his own reaction been?

A sudden wave of unease washed over Shen Xingzhuo.

He understood that when someone holds no regard for another, no matter how hard that person tries, they will always appear to be little more than a clown in their eyes.

“I…” Shen Xingzhuo instinctively wanted to explain but couldn’t resist asking with a hint of hope, “So… it’s just that they didn’t see me, right?”

But Lu Ran had lost the desire to continue the conversation.

Fang Chen called to him from not far away. Lu Ran got up to leave.

Before leaving, he glanced at the Transformer on the table in front of Shen Xingzhuo.

“Thanks, but don’t give me things like this again,” Lu Ran said.

With that, he turned and left.

Because of the Transformer, this was probably the most peaceful conversation Lu Ran and Shen Xingzhuo had ever had.

—

The next day, after Lu Ran finished his final exams, he walked out of the academy building to find Shen Xingzhuo waiting outside, seething with anger.

Around them, students who had completed their exams were heading home early.

Boarding students pulled heavy luggage past them with a rumbling sound.

Shen Xingzhuo struggled to contain his fury as he glared at Lu Ran and asked, “Do you really have to do this?”

“Do what?” Lu Ran raised an eyebrow.

“I treat you better than Shen Xingyu does, don’t I? He slapped you, while I’ve given you triple wages and gifts. So why are you closer to him than to me?” Shen Xingzhuo’s voice cracked with frustration.

He continued, his emotions unraveling, “I trusted you. That’s why I told you all those things, and you went and spilled everything to Shen Xingyu?”

“What did I tell him?” Lu Ran asked calmly.

“The matter of me mortgaging my shares.”

Shen Xingzhuo’s anger boiled over, and he shouted, “I only told you about this!”

Lu Ran said nothing at first.

His gaze casually drifted toward the elite academy’s teaching building nearby, where he caught sight of Shen Xingran’s figure in the hallway.

Then he turned his eyes back to Shen Xingzhuo.

His voice was cold as he said, “First, mortgaging your shares is a fact. If you didn’t want anyone to find out, then you shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”

“Second, you think I told Shen Xingyu?”

Lu Ran extended a hand toward Shen Xingzhuo. “Give me your phone.”

Shen Xingzhuo, caught off guard by his words, reflexively handed over his phone.

Lu Ran opened the contacts, found Shen Xingyu’s number, and dialed it.

It took a moment before the call connected.

Shen Xingyu’s voice was deep. “Why are you calling me? Fix the mess you made yourself. Shen Corporation’s shares must not flow outside!”

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Ran called out, “Shen Xingyu.”

Hearing the young man’s voice, Shen Xingyu immediately paused, surprised. “Ranran?”

“You know about Shen Xingzhuo mortgaging his shares?” Lu Ran asked.

Shen Xingyu was silent for a moment before responding affirmatively.

Shen Xingzhuo initially thought Lu Ran would ask Shen Xingyu to confirm that he hadn’t leaked the information.

Instead, the teenager said, “Oh, then you probably don’t know this isn’t the first time. Not only are his shares trapped this time, but he also lost over a million yuan, and before that…”

Lu Ran quickly and thoroughly relayed everything Shen Xingzhuo had confessed to him.

After finishing, he didn’t wait for Shen Xingyu to respond. He simply hung up, tossed the phone back to Shen Xingzhuo, and curled his lips into a mocking smile.

“Since you claim I spilled the beans, I might as well spill everything to make it worthwhile, don’t you think?”

Lu Ran glanced at Shen Xingzhuo’s phone again and thoughtfully asked, “What do you think? Need me to tell Shen Hongyuan too?”

Shen Xingzhuo froze.

He stammered, “I…”

Lu Ran gave him a faint, mocking look. “What’s wrong? When you told Shen Xingran these things before and suspected him of leaking, did you question him the same way?”

Shen Xingzhuo stiffened, his face pale as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.

Lu Ran didn’t bother with him further and turned to head toward the experiment building, where he had summer experiments to complete.

—

By the time Lu Ran came out of the experiment building, it was already evening.

Many students from various departments had already left campus for the break, leaving the school quiet and empty.

Lu Ran threw his trash into a bin and turned to leave. But he noticed someone sitting on the steps of the experiment building.

It was Shen Xingzhuo, who had been waiting there the entire time.

Seeing Lu Ran come out, Shen Xingzhuo immediately stood up.

Lu Ran ignored him and walked ahead on his own.

Shen Xingzhuo quickly followed.

“I’m sorry, I…”

He tried to explain but didn’t know what to say. Every excuse felt hollow. He was the one who had doubted Lu Ran and caused trouble.

Carrying his bag, Lu Ran headed toward the school gate.

He wasn’t walking fast, typing messages on his phone as he went, informing Ji Min, who was waiting outside to pick him up.

Although he ignored Shen Xingzhuo, he didn’t avoid him either.

Shen Xingzhuo trailed behind silently, feeling as though he had ruined everything.

When they reached the school gate, Lu Ran glanced at the ice cream shop nearby and stopped.

He turned and walked toward it.

Lu Ran often bought ice cream at this shop—always four at a time.

The shop owner’s wife was familiar with him by now. When she saw him, she greeted him warmly, “The usual, right? One strawberry, one lemon, and two vanilla?”

Many customers bought ice cream here, but not many bought four at once just for themselves.

Moreover, Lu Ran’s orders were always the same flavors.

After confirming, the shopkeeper added, “We’re out of vanilla. If you want it fresh, it’ll take a few minutes.”

But Lu Ran smiled lightly and said, “This time, just one strawberry.”

The shopkeeper teased with a grin, “Will one be enough for you?”

Lu Ran touched his nose, choosing not to explain.

Taking the strawberry-flavored cone, he walked out of the shop—not eating it himself but turning to hand it to Shen Xingzhuo, who had been silently following him.

Shen Xingzhuo was caught off guard.

A moment ago, Lu Ran had been ignoring him, and he didn’t know what to do.

Now that Lu Ran was suddenly offering him an ice cream, he didn’t dare accept it. He turned his head awkwardly and muttered, “I don’t like this stuff, especially strawberry flavor. It’s all pink and girly—only girls like it.”

After speaking, Shen Xingzhuo paused, unsure.

Did Lu Ran like strawberry flavor?

Would saying that make him angry?

But when Shen Xingzhuo looked up, he saw that the young man before him was perfectly calm.

There was no trace of irritation or displeasure on Lu Ran’s face.

Instead, Lu Ran simply moved the ice cream closer to his mouth again and said plainly, “Take a bite.”

Shen Xingzhuo hesitated.

He truly didn’t like ice cream, much less something so pink.

But at that moment, he didn’t want to refuse Lu Ran.

So, after a moment’s hesitation, he took a bite.

The sweet and tangy strawberry flavor, blended with the creamy aroma, exploded on his tongue.

Shen Xingzhuo’s eyes widened in surprise.

He realized that this flavor was better suited to his taste than most desserts he had eaten before.

He glanced back at Lu Ran.

The teenager’s gaze remained calm.

There was no surprise in Lu Ran’s expression.

His face was as composed as ever as if Shen Xingzhuo’s amazement at the strawberry cone’s flavor was entirely within his expectations.

For a moment, Shen Xingzhuo felt lost.

It was the same feeling he had when he saw Da Huang.

That feeling of suddenly realizing there was someone who understood all your preferences and remembered them by heart.

Even when you had forgotten.

Yet that person still remembered your favorite things.

That memory, etched beyond time and physical limitations, became an indistinct but deeply rooted habit.

Shen Xingzhuo’s fingers trembled slightly.

It felt as if his throat was blocked by the overwhelming sweetness of the strawberry ice cream, a painful tightness that made it hard to breathe.

He reached out, intending to take the ice cream from Lu Ran’s hand.

But just as he was about to grasp it, the young man holding the ice cream suddenly pushed hard, smashing the entire cone into his face.

The cold, sweet cream smeared all over Shen Xingzhuo’s face.

“Lu Ran!”

Shen Xingzhuo instinctively shouted, though his voice was hoarse and barely audible.

The one who threw the ice cream turned and walked away, getting into a black business car by the side of the road.

However, the usually hot-headed Second Young Master Shen didn’t chase after him in anger.

Instead, he just reached up and covered his face with his hand.

Ji Min, who had been watching the entire scene from inside the car, waited for Lu Ran to approach before opening the car door and taking the teenager’s backpack from him.

Lu Ran silently slid into the backseat, intending to sit, but Ji Min pulled him close, wrapping his arms around his waist and drawing him into his embrace.

Settling into the familiar warmth, Lu Ran instantly relaxed. Exhausted, he slumped into Ji Min’s arms.

“I’m so tired, but it’s finally over,” he murmured.

Ji Min chuckled softly, reaching up to stroke his hair.

Lu Ran didn’t say anything more. He rested his head quietly against the man’s neck.

Ji Min gently caressed his back, lowering his voice to ask, “Not feeling well today?”

“No.”

Lu Ran quickly denied it, but after a pause, he mumbled, “Just thinking about some things that aren’t exactly pleasant.”

“That’s not nothing,” Ji Min laughed lightly.

The teenager straightened up, lifting his chin with a resolute look and saying, “I’m not that immature, to get upset over these messy things.”

After speaking, he snuggled back into Ji Min’s arms.

He thought Ji Min would laugh at him.

Instead, he felt Ji Min’s hand on his head as the man whispered in his ear, “It’s okay to be a little immature sometimes.”

Lu Ran fell silent for a moment, then wrapped his arms tightly around the man’s waist, holding him close.

After a while, he looked up, sneaking a glance at the front seat.

The car was in motion and the partition between the front and back seats had dropped at some point, enclosing them in a small private space.

It was only then that Lu Ran noticed the lack of a rearview mirror.

He leaned closer, looking up with a soft request for comfort.

“Give me a kiss,” he whispered.

Without waiting for an answer, he leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to the man’s chin, almost as if offering a reward in advance.

Ji Min chuckled and lifted the teenager’s chin with one hand, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

The kiss started light but deepened gradually, all the while maintaining a tender, soothing quality that never changed.

Lu Ran tilted his head back, being kissed gently and reassuringly by the man.

The kiss lasted for quite some time before finally ending.

He leaned against Ji Min’s shoulder, catching his breath.

After receiving comfort, Lu Ran felt like he got a bargain and acted innocent. He glanced at the partition and then leaned into Ji Min’s ear, asking softly: “Why did you lower the partition?”

Ji Min raised an eyebrow. Mimicking him in a hushed tone, he replied with a teasing whisper:

“Well, who was the one sneaking around, afraid the people in front would see?”

“But you lowered it,” Lu Ran countered, “Now no one can see. They might think we’re doing something inappropriate.”

Lu Ran spoke with a confident tone. But after thinking for a moment, he realized it was a bit unfair. He added, “We were just kissing, not doing anything else.”

Ji Min’s gaze darkened.

He leaned in close to the teenager’s ear and asked softly, “Then, what else do you want to do?”

Lu Ran squinted his eyes and deliberately teased him, “Uncle Ji, we’re in the car.”

When Ji Min heard “Uncle Ji” again, he didn’t react as strongly as before.

He merely raised an eyebrow, then lowered his head to lightly bite the teenager’s lip as a playful punishment.

Lu Ran came out of the lab pretty late.

He had taken three exams today and spent a long time working in the lab. Then he threw an ice cream at Shen Xingzhuo.

When he got home, he washed up and collapsed on the bed, falling asleep immediately, even forgetting to feed Da Huang.

Ji Min, however, took care of Da Huang, feeding the dog and brushing its teeth.

After washing up, he didn’t immediately rest. Instead, he went downstairs again.

Butler Chen was waiting downstairs.

When he saw Ji Min coming down, he handed over some neatly packed items.

Since Ji Min had gone to pick up Lu Ran today, Butler Chen stayed at home and organized these things.

These items were prepared by Ji Min before his surgery, in case of the worst possible outcome.

Now that the surgery was successful, they were, of course, no longer needed.

Ji Min took the thick brown paper bag from Butler Chen and shook his head with a smile, saying, “Good thing he didn’t see these, or who knows how upset he’d be.”

Butler Chen shrugged in response.

The next day was the first day of summer vacation, and, as expected, Lu Ran slept in.

He never used to sleep in because he would take Da Huang for a walk every morning.

But after leaving this task to Ji Min, Lu Ran finally enjoyed the luxury of staying in bed longer.

When he opened his eyes, the sky outside was already bright.

Soft golden sunlight streamed through the bedroom balcony and fell on the light-colored bedding.

Lu Ran rolled over in bed, rubbing his face against the pillow, then reluctantly sat up, picked up his phone, and checked the messages in the class group chat.

It was already vacation time, but there were still some annoying procedures to arrange for those staying on campus to work on experiments during the summer.

Lu Ran glanced through the messages, downloading some files.

He quickly washed up, slid on his slippers, and walked out of the bedroom.

First, he hugged Da Huang as the dog came over, then, still holding his phone, he walked into Ji Min’s study.

It was the weekend. Ji Min was once again in the study for a meeting.

This meeting looked particularly serious.

Lu Ran yawned but didn’t disturb him, instead going to the printer to print some documents.

Once he finished, he leaned in close to Ji Min and asked in a low voice: “The boarding students staying for summer school need to be reported again. Where’s the parent consent form you filled out for me?”

It was hot. The teenager was only wearing a thin T-shirt, paired with loose athletic shorts.

His long, well-defined calves were exposed.

The T-shirt was also not properly worn, with one side of the hem slightly rolled up, revealing a slender waist whenever he moved.

As he approached, Ji Min, for once, got distracted for a brief moment.

The man reached out to adjust the T-shirt hem neatly and then pointed to a nearby cabinet, saying, “It’s in the second drawer.”

Lu Ran rolled his eyes.

He could have his clothes straightened but couldn’t get a hand with the documents?

Lu Ran sluggishly walked over and opened the drawer.

After giving directions, Ji Min immersed himself back into the meeting, unaware that the teenager’s expression had changed slightly upon seeing the contents of the drawer.

Lu Ran looked at the few documents stamped with “void” and then glanced back at Ji Min.

He bit his lip, subtly pulling out the documents with his name written on them, along with the parent consent form.

He took them back to the bedroom.

Once in the room, Lu Ran threw the parent consent form aside and carefully examined the other documents.

He skipped over the printed ones and pulled out a handwritten sheet.

It was a will, written by Ji Min himself.

---

Moonlit: Oooh… You’re dead, Uncle Ji!