Became the Terminally Ill Supporting Male Lead’s Rabbit Spirit - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

After school, Lu Zhe went to the computer store.

The store owner, Boss Fang, told him about the incident at the school today. “What was that girl thinking? I wonder what went through her mind to falsely claim she was my savior. How can someone impersonate in such a matter?” He was very angry. If it weren’t for the girl crying, he would have wanted to scold her harshly.

“However, the girl who is my savior is was so impressive, how could no one in your school recognize her?” Boss Fang persisted, “Ah Zhe, if you have time, can you keep an eye out for me?”

The dream from last night was too real. He still remembered the pain from the dream, and he felt uneasy without formally thanking that young lady.

He described the girl to Lu Zhe, “She is tall and slim with very long hair.”

Upon hearing this, Su Ci, who was nestled in Lu Zhe’s arms pouted slightly. Every girl was described like that. Did she look so ordinary?

Boss Fang slapped his thigh, “Right, she had really fair skin, very delicate facial features. In short, she was beautiful, much prettier than the girl who pretended to be her today.”

Lu Zhe paused for a moment before asking, “No other distinguishing features?”

With half-squinted eyes, Boss Fang tried to recall. His gaze fell on the little rabbit in Lu Zhe’s arms. Suddenly, he smacked his forehead, “I remember! The girl had a red string tied around her ankle. It looks very similar to the one on this rabbit.”

At that hectic moment when the girl was lying on the road and he wanted to help her up, he had unintentionally noticed it. Only now did he suddenly remember.

Su Ci stiffened, instinctively tucking her little foot, which had the red string, closer to her.

“Alright, Uncle Fang, I’ll keep an eye out,” Lu Zhe agreed.

By the time they left the computer store, it was already 9 PM. The streets outside were bustling. The night market was in full swing.

The aroma of barbecued meat wafted through the air. In Lu Zhe’s arms, Su Ci’s red eyes gleamed with hunger. Other than the hard, cold bread she ate after transforming back into a human, she had been eating rabbit food for days and felt like she was going to vomit.

Seeing a girl pass by with a skewer of grilled squid, Su Ci swallowed enviously.

Unaware of the rabbit’s red eyes gazing around the street foods, Lu Zhe walked at a leisurely pace, slower than the pedestrians around him.

Up ahead, a bicycle was approaching. Lu Zhe stepped aside to give way.

However, the next moment, Lu Zhe, who holding the rabbit with one hand, suddenly tripped and fell to the ground.

Su Ci was stunned, before she had time to react, she was enveloped protectively in Lu Zhe’s embrace, his large hands shielding her entire body.

The girl riding the bicycle was startled. She hadn’t hit him, there was clearly a distance between her bike and him.

“You’re okay, right? My bike didn’t touch you,” the girl nervously inquired Lu Zhe, worried she had encountered someone trying to scam her.

Lu Zhe, keeping his head down, glanced at the rabbit in his arms. Seeing it unharmed, he used one hand to push himself up, ignoring the strange looks from those around. In a cold voice, he replied, “I’m fine.”

Only then did the girl notice the handsome features of the young man who had fallen. She was momentarily stunned, “Good to hear.”

Lu Zhe left, hugging the rabbit.

Under the dim street lights, Lu Zhe’s stoic face seemed even colder in the night’s shadows.

Su Ci felt uneasy, unsure why Lu Zhe had suddenly tripped.

Back at their place.

After preparing rabbit food, Lu Zhe moved to a corner and picked up a dumbbell, beginning to do bicep curls. Each movement was slow and deliberate, with the muscles on his arms taut and strong.

After what seemed like a hundred curls, Su Ci watched as Lu Zhe began doing push-ups.

Out of boredom, Su Ci started counting for him. By the time she reached fifty and saw him still going strong, she blinked in astonishment.

She recalled an episode from a variety show where a male celebrity was punished and asked to do push-ups. He struggled after 28 and couldn’t continue. Back then, she learned that most men can typically do 20-30 push-ups in a go. If someone could do 50 in one stretch, that would be pretty impressive. Yet, Lu Zhe appeared to be breezing through it?

Su Ci’s interest grew, and she continued to watch and count.

When he surpassed the 100th push-up without showing signs of stopping, Su Ci gave yp counting and just stared, amazed.

Sweat drenched Lu Zhe’s forehead, neck, and back. His school uniform was soaked, sticking to his body, Su Ci could vaguely see Lu Zhe’s strong back muscles.

After what felt like an eternity, Lu Zhe finally stopped.

He sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, panting. His bangs on his forehead were wet with sweat, his face still stoic, but his dark eyes shone with intensity.

The young man in front of her was breathtakingly handsome.

Su Ci squinted her eyes and directly leaped towards Lu Zhe, thinking that it was the perfect opportunity to kiss him.

Feeling something unusual on his leg, Lu Zhe lowered his head, and the sweat on his forehead trailed down his deep brows, ran down the side of his face, and into the collar of his school uniform.

Seeing the snowball-like bunny jumping on his leg, Lu Zhe twitched the corner of his mouth, and with his big cold hand, he promptly held the little creature that was trying to scramble further up.

Whimpering, Su Ci struggled. She was greeted by the strong scent of a man, different from Lu Zhe’s usual crisp scent, probably the smell of sweat.

As the bunny wriggled in his grasp, Lu Zhe, drenched in sweat, couldn’t hug it. He gently pinched its pink and white ears. Instantly, like a deflated balloon, it went limp and ceased its antics.

Lu Zhe curled his lips.

He placed the rabbit on the desk and opened a drawer, retrieving some medicine. He swallowed the medicine with the water from a nearby cup.

Feeling weak, Su Ci leaned out and peek inside the drawer.

But in the next second, she froze.

The drawer was shut by Lu Zhe.

Su Ci looked up at Lu Zhe in shock. She saw three words on the report inside: ALS.¹

So, Lu Zhe was diagnosed with ALS?

No wonder he only had three years left to live.

She once read about the disease online. The patients would experience symptoms like muscle weakness and numbness in their hands and arms, easily fatigued, muscle twitching, muscle atrophy, stumble and fall easily while walking. As the disease progresses, they couldn’t walk, body seemed to be frozen and they couldn’t move, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, etc.

It was hard for her to imagine that one day the tall, strong, and handsome young man in front of her would wither away like a dried vine, fragile to the touch.

Su Ci looked at Lu Zhe with a complicated expression.

So, when Lu Zhe suddenly fell on the street earlier, it was because his legs were already starting to weaken?

No wonder he exercised like crazy when they returned home.

On the other side, Zhao Youyou couldn’t care less about being misunderstood and ridiculed by her classmates, she left right after school and hurried to the lottery shop.

“Little girl, are you here to buy lottery tickets again today?” The owner of the store has seen Zhao Youyou for several days in a row.

“Yes.”

Zhao Youyou gave a shy smile, and she slowly started choosing her lottery numbers, but her eyes kept scanning the customers who entered the shop.

Until a chubby man in floral pants and black-framed glasses appeared, Zhao Youyou’s eyes lit up, and she gripped the hem of her clothes tighter.

She had been waiting at the lottery shop for days, and the person she was waiting for was him.

“Is that you, Dong Jian? What numbers are you thinking of buying today?” The lottery shop owner recognized the man in the floral pants. After all, he had been buying tickets from the shop for over two years but never won any prizes.

The man in the floral pants scratched his head, picked up the pen, started writing down his numbers, and then asked the owner to give him the lottery ticket.

Zhao Youyou approached Dong Jian, staring intently at the lottery ticket in his hand. She smiled shyly and gently, “Uncle, today is my mother’s birthday. I noticed that some of the numbers you chose coincide with my mother’s birth date.”

Without heavy makeup, Zhao Youyou looked pure and beautiful. Plus, her eyes were still red from crying earlier at school, making her appear pitiful and melting one’s heart. She spoke softly, “Could you sell me that lottery ticket you have? I’d like to give it to my mother as a birthday gift. I can offer a hundred yuan for it.”

Dong Jian looked at her strangely, “You can buy one yourself.”

The lottery shop owner, seeing the pitiful look on the girl’s face, interjected, “Come on, Dong Jian. You’ve never won before anyway. Just sell it to the young lady. Maybe she wants it for a good omen. You make a quick hundred yuan profit and can buy more tickets. It’s a win-win.”

Zhao Youyou hadn’t actually seen the numbers on his ticket. Worried he might refuse, she quickly took out her money, looking at him sincerely, “Can you, uncle?”

Scratching his head, Dong Jian accepted Zhao Youyou’s money and handed her the lottery ticket. After all, he didn’t lose money.

“Thank you, uncle, you are so kind.” With the lottery ticket in hand, Zhao Youyou gave him a grateful glance and quickly left the shop.

The shop owner asked Dong Jian, “Do you want to buy the same numbers again?”

“Change one of the numbers for me.” After some thought, Dong Jian changed one of the previous numbers to another.

Upon returning home, Zhao Youyou tried hard to contain her excitement. Late into the night, when she saw the winning numbers on her computer matched the numbers on her ticket, her heart finally settled.

She immediately shared the news with her parents.

“You said what? Five million?” Mother Zhao voice went shrill.

Startled, Zhao Youyou quickly covered her mother’s mouth, “Mom, lower your voice.”

Mother Zhao looked at the lottery ticket her daughter handed over, her hands shaking uncontrollably. “Am I dreaming?” Their savings had only ever amounted to fifty thousand at most.

Beside her, the short-statured Father Zhao was equally excited. He swallowed several times, the hand holding his cigarette trembling. “Youyou, are you sure it’s really five million?”

“It’s truly five million.” Zhao Youyou nodded vigorously.

In her previous life, the winner of the five million was the man wearing flowered pants at the lottery shop today.

She lived on the fifth floor, and that man lived on the eighth floor. After he won, everyone in their vicinity knew about it. At the time, Father Zhao had regretted not being into playing the lottery.

Now that she had regressed, she had been eyeing this opportunity, and now, she was the one who had won the jackpot.

“After we claim the five million, let’s use some of it for my brother’s treatment,” Zhao Youyou suggested.

“Are you out of your mind because you’re too excited? What nonsense are you talking about?” Mother Zhao tapped her daughter on the head.

“No way.”

Father Zhao also objected, “His illness is incurable. Spending money on treatment would be like throwing money into the sea.”

Zhao Youyou recalled the last time she saw Lu Zhe in her previous life. His cheeks were gaunt, hollowed out, his limbs rigid. He walked with a limp. ALS was indeed an incurable disease.

Father Zhao, whose small eyes took on a sinister look when squinted, making him seem untrustworthy, said, “Tell Lu Zhe to come back home tomorrow and take all his stuff with him.”

This money was theirs, and Lu Zhe shouldn’t think of getting even a cent of it.

Obviously, Mother Zhao shared the same sentiment, “Exactly. We’ve been raising him for years for nothing. There’s no reason for us to be burdened by him now. Our money is ours, and he has nothing to do with it.”

Now that Lu Zhe had a terminal illness and was rendered useless, both Zhao parents feared that if he learned about their five million windfall, he might pester them for a share. At this point, they wished they could sever all ties with him immediately.

Zhao Youyou opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, she remained silent.

¹: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).