“Doctor Su, I beg you. I just want to see him once and give him the letters. His grandfather and maternal grandfather said in their letters that they hope we can be together, get married, and have children…”
Su Wenjun’s brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
“Miss Lin, I cannot disclose a patient’s privacy. This is a matter of principle. If you truly have something important, I suggest you contact him directly or through his family. I’m sorry.”
She hung up the phone.
Luo Tiantian looked up and was stunned to see the expression on her face.
“Auntie? What’s wrong?”
Su Wenjun looked at her with a complicated gaze.
‘This child’s boyfriend actually has such a past.’
An ex-girlfriend, letters left by the grandfathers, marriage, children…
Su Wenjun sighed.
She was a doctor. She had seen too many life-and-death separations, as well as final wishes and regrets.
If those two letters really were the grandfathers’ dying wishes…
She had to meet the boy himself first.
“Tiantian, I’m very touched that you and Xiao Xiao came to the hospital to keep me company today. Bring your boyfriend out tomorrow, and we’ll have a meal together, okay? It’ll also give me a chance to ask about his condition.”
Luo Tiantian’s expression froze.
“He… he might not find it convenient…”
“Tiantian, I am a doctor. You know how serious your boyfriend’s illness is. He must receive treatment as soon as possible.”
“No, it’s just that he—”
“Then it’s settled.” Su Wenjun patted her hand. “When Xiao Xiao comes out, you two can discuss a time. It’s my treat.”
The lounge door opened.
Su Xiao stepped out.
“What are you two doing standing here?”
Su Wenjun said with a smile, “Xiao Xiao, I just told Tiantian that I’m inviting her boyfriend to dinner tomorrow. You should come, too.”
Su Xiao narrowed her eyes.
“Sure.”
She also wanted to see this boyfriend of Luo Tiantian’s, who was also named Luo Tiantian.
“No, no, no. He’s… he’s very withdrawn. He doesn’t like outsiders. I can’t persuade him. He won’t come.”
Luo Tiantian shook her head quickly.
“…Alright then.”
Seeing how adamant Luo Tiantian was, Su Wenjun didn’t push it further.
Her original vacation had been interrupted by coming to the hospital. Several more patients came looking for her, so she wouldn’t be free until at least the evening.
Su Xiao decided to stay at the hospital with Su Wenjun and made plans to have dinner together that night. After thanking them, Luo Tiantian prepared to head home.
***
At the hospital entrance.
Luo Tiantian had just stepped down the stairs.
A figure stood under a streetlight.
Lin Lin.
She was clutching a kraft paper envelope, pacing back and forth, occasionally looking up toward the hospital gates.
Luo Tiantian pulled her mask up a bit higher.
Lin Lin didn’t recognize her.
Luo Tiantian quickened her pace and walked right past her.
As they crossed paths, Lin Lin was on the phone.
“…I still haven’t seen him… I know. I’ll wait a little longer…”
Luo Tiantian didn’t stop.
The envelope in Lin Lin’s hand likely contained the letters from her grandfather and maternal grandfather.
She really wanted them back.
But she wanted to talk to Lin Lin even less.
‘Those letters… I’ll get a lawyer to ask for them once I have money.’
She returned to her rented room.
She turned on the light and sat on the edge of the bed.
Luo Tiantian took out her phone.
The push notification for *Huaxia Shenyu* was still there. The system reminded her: **[Your assistance target has not yet logged in]**.
“Forget it.”
She lay down and stared at the ceiling.
Her mind was a mess.
The hospital, Su Xiao, the aunt, Lin Lin, the King You player…
She touched her chest.
It was soft.
Luo Tiantian suddenly sat up and walked to the mirror.
‘If I don’t get treatment, I only have less than 3 months left…’
It seemed that since her diagnosis, she hadn’t felt particularly unwell anywhere.
Aside from the fever last night, there weren’t any major problems.
Luo Tiantian tilted her head in thought.
She had seen many stories of terminally ill patients—chemotherapy, vomiting, losing all their hair, rolling on the floor in pain…
She had none of that.
She could eat, sleep, run, and jump. Aside from having no money, she was normal in every way.
“No way…”
Luo Tiantian’s eyes widened.
“Could it be a misdiagnosis?”
‘What kind of terminally ill patient is as lively as me?’
The more Luo Tiantian thought about it, the more it made sense.
If it really was a misdiagnosis, she wouldn’t need to raise money.
If she didn’t need to raise money, she wouldn’t have to be a licking dog for a Sponsor Mom.
She could find a proper job, save money slowly, and maybe even save enough for tuition to go to college or something…
She could…
Luo Tiantian’s smile froze.
‘Oh, wait. I still have to get an identity first. Otherwise, as an undocumented person, I can’t do anything.’
Feeling a bit fanciful, Luo Tiantian rolled over and prepared to get up to make lunch.
She propped herself up.
She stood up.
She took a step forward.
*Thud*.
It was as if the bones had been sucked out of her knees. She fell straight to the ground.
Luo Tiantian lay on the floor, dazed for a few seconds. The spot where her forehead hit the ground began to bruise.
She tried to stand up.
She pressed her hands against the floor and pushed.
Her legs didn’t move.
She couldn’t muster any strength at all.
It was as if something had drained her power, leaving behind nothing but soft flesh.
“If you don’t receive treatment, your survival period may be less than 3 months.” Su Wenjun’s words echoed in her ears.
3 months.
How many days had passed since her diagnosis?
She remembered the day she walked out of the hospital; the sunlight had been particularly blinding. She had stood at the entrance for a long time.
Even though the air conditioning wasn’t on, even though it was an afternoon in August, even though sweat was still hanging on her forehead…
Luo Tiantian lay on the floor, her entire body feeling a chill that emanated from the very marrow of her bones.
She tried to wiggle her toes.
They could move.
She tried to move her ankles.
They could move too.
But her calves still had no strength, dragging heavily on the ground.
“It’s fine…” she heard her own voice, raspy. “I just fell. I’ll be fine in a moment…”
She pushed against the floor, trying to flip herself over.
Her arms could move. Her upper body was fine.
It was just her legs that wouldn’t obey.
Luo Tiantian rolled over and lay on her back, looking at the ceiling.
There was a water stain on the ceiling of the rented room, shaped like a crouching cat.
She had seen it when she first moved in. At the time, she thought she would ask the landlord to fix it once she had money.
It had never been fixed.
“3 months,” she said to the water-stain cat. “They said I only have 3 months left.”
The water-stain cat looked at her silently.
Luo Tiantian lay there for a long time.
So long that the sunlight outside changed from a slant to direct beams, then back to a slant again.
She tried to move her legs.
She seemed to have a bit of strength now.
She pushed off the floor and slowly sat up.
Then, leaning on the edge of the bed, she stood up bit by bit.
Her legs were shaking.
She stood by the bed for a while, waiting until the shaking wasn’t so severe before slowly shuffling to the bedside to sit down.
Her heart suddenly ached.
It wasn’t a sharp, intense pain, but a stinging, pulling sensation, as if something were slowly tearing inside.
Luo Tiantian pressed her hand to her chest.
She knew.
This was stress.
It was the same when her grandfather passed away.
She didn’t feel it during the days of the wake, but once everything was done and she returned to the empty house alone, her heart began to ache.
It wasn’t an illness; it was just that the pain was too much, so her body ached on her behalf.
It was the same when her maternal grandfather passed away.
And now, it was happening again.
Pressing her heart, she slowly bent over and rested her forehead against her knees. Her gaze fixed on the helmet on the desk, and she suddenly felt like laughing.
She had just been fantasizing about how great it would be if it were a misdiagnosis.
Now, after one fall, the dream was over.
It wasn’t a misdiagnosis.
She really was going to die.
Her heart twitched again.
Luo Tiantian took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
In again, out again.
Grandfather had taught her this.
‘When you’re upset, take deep breaths. Pull the air into your belly, then slowly let it out. Your heart will calm down.’
Her heartbeat gradually steadied.
Her legs stopped shaking.
Luo Tiantian stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open.
An August breeze surged in, carrying the smell of grease and smoke from the barbecue stalls downstairs.
She took a deep breath.
Even the smell of smoke was good.
It was good to be alive.
‘I have to find a way to coax that Sponsor Mom back. Otherwise, I really won’t have the money for treatment.’
The phone rang.
Luo Tiantian picked it up.
It was a system push notification from *Huaxia Shenyu*.
**[Your assistance target “King You/King Zhou” is now online]**
Luo Tiantian froze for a second.
Then, she ran toward the nightstand, grabbed her helmet, and put it on.
Her legs weren’t weak anymore.
Her heart didn’t ache anymore.
Her mind was filled with only one thought now.
Sponsor Mom!
You’re finally back, baa!!