Li Dongliang had switched to a new pink backpack today. He was tall and strongly built, but his good looks carried him well; even with such a pink backpack, he didn’t look gaudy at all — instead, he gave off the vibe of a vibrant teenage boy.
Su Ci was lying on Lu Zhe’s legs. Early in the morning, she had been brought to school by Lu Zhe, and she needed to continue catching up on sleep.
“Ge, I brought a lot of good things for Little Bunny.” Li Dongliang leaned over with an excited face.
Su Ci lazily lifted her eyelids and saw that his backpack had a little pom-pom hanging from it today — also pink.
Li Dongliang opened the backpack and pulled out several bags of rabbit feed. “Ge, this is rabbit food I had someone bring back from overseas. The taste is definitely great. Feed Little Bunny this, and her fur will become smooth and beautiful.”
Su Ci closed her eyes. No matter how expensive the rabbit food was, in her mouth it all tasted like grass.
Lu Zhe lowered his eyes and glanced at the rabbit, then looked toward the rabbit food in Li Dongliang’s hand. “How much in total?”
Li Dongliang originally thought Lu Zhe would refuse, and he quickly shook his head. “No need for money, I bought it for Little Bunny, no need for money.”
Lu Zhe raised his eyes. “Then we don’t want it.”
“120 yuan per bag.”
He had bought three bags, which made 360 yuan. For Lu Zhe, it wasn’t cheap at all.
After all, he knew that Lu Zhe needed to spend quite a bit on medicine for his treatment.
“Ge, instead of giving me money, why not let me touch Little Bunny?” He watched Lu Zhe pet the rabbit every day during class and was unbearably envious. As a deskmate, he had only ever gotten to look. Forget touching the rabbit — he hadn’t even touched a strand of rabbit fur.
Lu Zhe gave him a faint glance. “Take out your phone.”
Only then did Li Dongliang pull out his phone. He proactively added Lu Zhe as a friend, and the next second, he received the transfer.
Looking at Lu Zhe’s pitch-black profile picture, Li Dongliang tapped into it, only to see that his Moments had no posts at all.
Too much.
Little Bunny was this cute — never mind using her photo as a profile picture, but he didn’t even post Little Bunny photos on Moments?
This was simply intolerable!
Before Li Dongliang could complain, over on the other side, Zhao Youyou walked over.
Her complexion was very good. After all, she had won five million, and she no longer cared much about the faintly mocking gazes from her classmates.
“Gege.” Zhao Youyou stopped in front of Lu Zhe’s desk.
There was a bit of guilt in the way she looked at him. She was grateful that Lu Zhe had saved her in her previous life, but as Father Zhao said, Lu Zhe’s illness couldn’t be cured. Even if she gave part of the money to Lu Zhe, it wouldn’t have much effect.
Beside them, Li Dongliang had a full “waiting for drama” expression. He felt that this nominal little sister of Lu Zhe always had so many antics.
Clearly, Zhao Youyou used to have a fiery, stupid, and dramatic personality, but lately she had completely changed, as if she were a different person, turning into a pure little white flower.
Yesterday, when she failed to claim credit, she cried pitifully in class. Anyone who didn’t know better would think she had suffered some tremendous grievance.
“Something?” Lu Zhe raised his eyes.
“Dad asked you to come home.”
Zhao Youyou bit her lip. She hesitated as she said, “You still have some clothes at home… Dad said, after school today, you can come get them.”
Hearing this, Li Dongliang curled his lips at the side. Tsk, they were basically telling Lu Zhe to hurry up, pack his things, and get out for good.
Su Ci narrowed her eyes. Lu Zhe’s long fingers stroked her back one stroke at a time. Hearing Zhao Youyou’s words, she gave a soft hum and continued sleeping.
“Mm.” Lu Zhe responded.
– – – ˗ˋˏ♡ˎˊ˗ – – –
The neighborhood where the Zhao family lived was somewhat old, but well maintained, and the greenery around it was well done. Compared to the place Lu Zhe rented, the environment was several times better.
Su Ci poked her head out from Lu Zhe’s backpack. She saw him standing in front of the door, pressing the doorbell.
The one who opened the door was a thin-faced middle-aged woman. Her hair was curled, the corners of her eyes lifted, her gaze sharp and snobbish — clearly Zhao Youyou’s mother.
“Come in. We haven’t touched your things. See what you need to take away.”
Knowing her daughter had won five million, Mother Zhao had been so excited she hadn’t slept all night. Her complexion was still good. Seeing Lu Zhe now, she even had a smile on her face, no longer scolding him for freeloading.
Lu Zhe walked inside.
In the living room, Father Zhao had a cigarette in his mouth and a phone in his hand. Seeing Lu Zhe come in, he lifted his head to glance at him but didn’t make a sound.
Ever since his daughter found Lu Zhe’s medical record in his room and learned that he had a terminal illness, Father Zhao hadn’t shown him a good face. In his eyes, the ten-plus years of raising Lu Zhe had been for nothing.
He hadn’t gotten a single benefit from Lu Zhe.
Lu Zhe went to his old room.
Su Ci lay on top of the backpack zipper, her little head sticking out, surveying the surroundings.
She found that this room was even smaller than the one where Lu Zhe was currently living. This was basically a small storage room. Other than a single bed and a small wardrobe, there was nothing else.
Lu Zhe opened the wardrobe. From the bottom, he pulled out a small box.
Su Ci saw him open the box. Inside lay a golden badge.
Lu Zhe stared at the badge for a moment, then closed the box and slipped it into his pants pocket.
“Gege.” Zhao Youyou stood at the doorway.
After school, she had originally wanted to walk back with Lu Zhe, but she had duty today. Because of what happened yesterday, the other students on duty had deliberately left the trash for her to take out.
“Gege, why don’t you leave after having dinner?” Zhao Youyou felt a bit guilty.
“No need.” Lu Zhe refused and walked past her.
The doorbell rang again at the entrance — again and again, endlessly, carrying an inexplicable impatience.
“Who is it? As if urging for someone’s life.” Mother Zhao stood up to open the door.
There stood a man and a woman outside — the man with curly hair, glasses, and floral pants was Dong Jian, and beside him was his chubby wife.
“Who are you looking for?” Mother Zhao stared at the two angry-looking people in confusion.
“We’re looking for your daughter, Zhao Youyou.” Dong Jian’s wife, Li Changfang, shoved the door open and squeezed past Mother Zhao into the house. “Where’s your daughter? Hurry up and have her return the lottery ticket to us.”
“What do you mean, your lottery ticket?” Hearing them bring up the lottery, Mother Zhao’s heart skipped a beat, panic rising.
“Your daughter tricked my husband out of his lottery ticket. That ticket’s prize is five million. Tell her to give it back.” Li Changfang’s wide figure and booming voice were like a loudspeaker. Before Zhao Youyou even stepped out, she had heard everything clearly.
Zhao Youyou was so frightened she froze on the spot.
Mother Zhao was not a weak person at all. Zhao Youyou’s former fierceness and stubbornness were inherited straight from her. “I don’t understand what five million you’re talking about. You barged into my home without permission — if you don’t leave right now, I’ll call the police.”
Lu Zhe walked out from inside.
Zhao Youyou followed behind him, trembling.
“So it’s you. So young, and you actually tricked my husband’s lottery ticket away? Hand the ticket back to us immediately.” The moment Li Changfang saw the long-haired, delicate-looking Zhao Youyou, her anger exploded, and she glared fiercely. “Return the five million to us.”
“What five million? You’re insane. Where would our family get five million?” Mother Zhao denied.
“Hmph, the owner of the lottery shop can testify. Just last night, your daughter tricked my husband’s lottery ticket away inside the shop.” Li Changfang hated Zhao Youyou to death — that five million should have belonged to them.
Su Ci stuck her little head out of Lu Zhe’s backpack to watch the commotion.
Hearing the words, she paused.
Five million?
Su Ci remembered that Zhao Youyou had indeed won a five-million lottery prize thanks to her rebirth halo, but she was only now learning that the ticket originally belonged to someone else — Zhao Youyou had snatched another person’s fortune.
Tsk, stealing someone’s fortune was a wicked thing.
She felt that even after being reborn, Zhao Youyou’s character hadn’t improved much. She was just causing trouble in a different way.
After all, a person’s nature wouldn’t completely change just because they were reborn.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mother Zhao directly denied it. She was worried Lu Zhe might hear something, so she impatiently said to him, “Aren’t you going to hurry and pack your things? Do you want to stay here and watch the show?”
“I don’t want those things anymore. You can throw them away.” Lu Zhe walked out.
Ah, not staying to watch?
Su Ci turned back and saw that the couple looked like they might actually lay hands on Zhao Youyou from how furious they were.
“Miss, yesterday you really did trick the ticket out of my hands. You told me your mom’s birthday was the same as the numbers I bought and begged me to sell you the ticket.” Dong Jian’s forehead was covered in sweat. Knowing he had bought a winning five-million ticket only to have it tricked away — he had been on the verge of collapse the entire night, and his wife had quarreled with him the whole time as well.
Zhao Youyou’s face turned pale. She bit her lip. “I didn’t trick you. I gave you one hundred yuan and bought it from you.”
“Heh.”
Beside them, Li Changfang let out a mocking laugh. She pulled out a hundred-yuan bill and tossed it straight at Zhao Youyou. “Here’s your money back. Give us the ticket.”
This little brat — still pretending to be innocent. She must have used that same face yesterday to deceive her husband.
“He agreed to sell it to me. And he could have bought another one himself.” Now that they were coming to demand it, did they want to swallow more money? Or had he not bought another ticket afterward at all?
Zhao Youyou didn’t know the exact winning numbers. She only knew that Dong Jian would win, so she found a way to get the ticket out of his hands.
She thought he would simply reprint the same numbers again.
“Stop talking nonsense. Just give the ticket back.” Last night, after hearing the entire sequence of events from her husband, Li Changfang had nearly died of anger.
The girl had intentionally deceived her husband and taken the ticket.
“She bought the ticket from my daughter, so it belongs to my daughter. Don’t cause trouble here — hurry and get out of our house.” From their words, Mother Zhao had more or less pieced the situation together.
In any case, that five million was theirs now, and no one was going to take it away.
“Meimei, with things developed to this point, let’s split the five million between our two families. My business failed and I owe more than two million outside. This money would be just enough for me to pay off my debts.” He no longer expected the other party to return the full amount.
“We won’t give you a single cent. Leave immediately.” Father Zhao stood at the side, his half-narrowed eyes glinting with fierceness as he rejected the idea outright.
Hearing this, Li Changfang exploded with anger. She lunged forward, grabbed Zhao Youyou’s clothes, and was about to slap her.
– – – ˗ˋˏ♡ˎˊ˗ – – –
After leaving the Zhao household, Lu Zhe went to the computer shop.
Su Ci lay weakly in the backpack, looking a bit regretful. She wanted to know how things would end.
Lu Zhe walked into the shop just in time to see Boss Fang tidying up.
“Ah Zhe, you’re here?” Boss Fang’s face was full of smiles. He put the receipts away and then closed the shop door. “Come on, let’s go upstairs and drink.”
“Something good happened?” Lu Zhe rarely saw Boss Fang this happy.
“I found a good technician. Soon, Little Kuaile will be able to have his prosthetic installed.”
A good prosthetic mattered, but a skilled technician mattered even more.
Boss Fang had looked into it. If the installation skill was poor, then after the prosthetic was fitted, it would easily rub the skin raw or cause blisters while walking.
He didn’t want Little Kuaile to suffer that kind of pain, so he had been searching for a good technician all along.
Lu Zhe knew about this matter. The stiffness on his face softened a little. “Congratulations.”
Boss Fang sighed with emotion. He also knew about Lu Zhe’s illness. When he first hired Lu Zhe, it was indeed out of sympathy. But later, he found that Lu Zhe was highly capable. He had self-taught many programs and coding skills, and Lu Zhe had helped him a great deal.
Now he was finally about to endure through his difficulties. But Lu Zhe was different.
At the end of Lu Zhe’s path lay a dead end.
Boss Fang cooked a few small dishes and brought out the beer he had already prepared.
“Just drink a little with me,” Boss Fang said, worried that Lu Zhe might not be able to handle alcohol.
Lu Zhe smiled. On his stiff face, a shallow little dimple actually appeared. “It’s fine. I want to know what my alcohol tolerance is like.”
At eighteen, Lu Zhe had never drunk alcohol before.
“All right. If you get drunk, I’ll call a car for you.” Boss Fang popped a crispy peanut into his mouth, then opened can after can of beer.
Inside the backpack, Su Ci yawned. So boring. She didn’t want to watch them drink.
No one knew how much time passed, but eventually, Lu Zhe was sent back by Boss Fang.
Only after Boss Fang left and the door closed did Su Ci crawl out of the backpack.
She saw Lu Zhe lying on his side nearby, eyes closed.
Clearly, he was drunk.
Su Ci hopped forward. Leaning close to him, she smelled the faint scent of alcohol on him, mixed with the clean, cool scent that belonged to him. It wasn’t unpleasant.
She stretched out a little paw and pushed at Lu Zhe’s arm. He didn’t react at all.
Her pair of red eyes instantly brightened.
Without thinking twice, Su Ci hopped forward and brought her little head close to Lu Zhe’s handsome face.
Her small mouth pressed directly against Lu Zhe’s cold lips.
She kissed him!
Just a light touch.
Su Ci waited quietly. After a moment, she saw her own snow-white, jade-smooth skin, along with her long legs.
Her red lips curved. Su Ci grabbed the bedsheet beside her and pulled it over Lu Zhe’s head.
She went to the wardrobe, put on Lu Zhe’s school uniform, then turned around, ready to pull away the sheet covering his head.
The instant she lifted it, she was caught off guard — she met the boy’s pitch-black eyes.
Su Ci’s heart lurched violently, and she instantly let go.
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