Chapter 16: Twenty-Four Days
Lu Li’s refund plan didn’t work out as he’d hoped. After five days, the positive rating for Black Wolf’s Ring had climbed back up to 50%, but that was it. Reality was reality after all. This 50% positive rating was achieved by playing the sympathy card. To improve further, the game needed some “hard power.” Unfortunately, Black Wolf’s Ring lacked that.
Before Chen Jianing could even comment on this, she fell ill again. One morning, Lu Li opened her door and found her sprawled on the bed, kicking off the blankets with her limbs spread out. The window was open, letting in a cold draft, and the carpet near the window was covered in water stains. That afternoon, Chen Jianing had a fever again, 39.5 degrees Celsius, with a runny nose.
Lu Li took out the fever medicine and brought her warm water. “Here, take your medicine and go back to sleep.”
Chen Jianing felt lightheaded and dizzy. Lu Li’s figure in her vision seemed to be far away, as if she had become a ghost observing the world. “I… I don’t think I can make it this time. My head hurts worse than before…” Lu Li warmed the water for her and placed his hand on her forehead. “Don’t talk nonsense, it’s just a fever.”
Chen Jianing wanted to say something else, but only whimpers came out. She didn’t even have the strength to speak now. After helping the little tiger fall asleep, Lu Li felt a heavy weight in his heart. He was someone who couldn’t bear to see others suffer, especially those close to him. He turned on the TV, and the news was on. It reported that Princess Zhu Xi, on behalf of the royal family, expressed her condolences to the residents of Mulan City and hoped that the people of the country would unite and overcome this difficulty together.
Zhu Xi… Lu Li knew her, the infamous Poison Princess – in the future, that is. The current Zhu Xi was just a seventeen-year-old princess, perhaps still innocent and naive, not yet possessing the chilling heart she would have in the future. Unlike ordinary people like him, Zhu Xi was someone whose name would be recorded in history books. When people mentioned her, they would often associate her with the New Tokyo incident, with a massacre. They might also mention Zhu Xi’s three marriages.
Besides him and An Baili, perhaps no one knew what a cruel person this girl, who was now delivering a speech with a compassionate expression, would become in the future.
But what did that have to do with him?
Chen Jianing whimpered again, calling out for her mother. Lu Li didn’t respond. After calling out for a while without getting a response, Chen Jianing started mumbling Lu Li’s name. Lu Li sighed. “I’m here…” Chen Jianing finally opened her eyes, her gaze clouded. “Am I still alive?”
“Yes.” Lu Li forced a smile.
“I just dreamed of my mother.”
“What did she say?”
“She told me to be good. To go home early.” Chen Jianing said in a daze. “Then I dreamed of you. You were wearing a dress and giving me an injection. It scared me awake.”
Why was he wearing a dress? Lu Li touched her forehead. It was still burning. The fever medicine didn’t seem to be working. Was RSA really that scary? Chen Jianing’s brain seemed to have been fried. Her words were no different from a kindergarten child’s.
“I have a second wish.”
“…”
“Lu Li, are you there?”
“I’m here.”
“Don’t be silent, okay? I’m scared…”
Chen Jianing’s eyes were half-closed as she spoke. She couldn’t even open them now. Lu Li looked away, his heart aching. “Tell me, what’s your second wish?”
“After I die, can you tell my family that… that…” Her voice grew weaker and weaker.
“Tell them what?”
“Tell them that Chen Jianing went abroad to study, and they shouldn’t worry.”
What a clumsy lie, would your parents really believe that? Lu Li touched the girl’s head. “Okay, I promise. Besides your family, who else needs to know that you went abroad to study?”
“No one else…” Chen Jianing thought for a moment. “The password to my phone is 990322. Their phone numbers are in my contacts…”
Chen Jianing explained everything in detail, from her arrangements after death to her childhood life. When one’s days were numbered, they would cherish their childhood memories, the aroma of their mother’s cooking, the fifty-cent skewers outside the school, the time spent squatting in a corner counting ants. She said she was raised by her grandparents. When she was little, her grandmother raised her like a boy, dressing her in boys’ clothes. She even had a buzz cut until middle school. Her messy habits also developed from that time.
Later, her parents’ careers improved, and they took her to the city to study and bought her dresses and let her grow out her hair. However, the childish Chen Jianing had new worries. Her classmates were all growing up fast. The boys were getting taller, with fine fuzz appearing on their upper lips. The girls were becoming more and more graceful, whispering about which brand of “bread” to use. Only she remained small and clueless.
“They were all so annoying… No one wanted to play with me… Some mean girls even threatened to have someone rip my mouth apart…” Chen Jianing’s voice trembled slightly as she spoke. “I told the teacher, and the next week, they were expelled. Then, then even fewer people wanted to talk to me. They threatened me, why couldn’t I tell the teacher?”
“Yes, you did the right thing.” Lu Li replied gently. It wasn’t really a matter of right or wrong, but a matter of fitting in. School bullying had always existed. It was just a reflection of social inequality. Wherever there were people, there would be inequality. The victims of bullying hadn’t done anything wrong, but their very existence was a mistake. Perhaps Wen Hupo was right. Humans were boring creatures, keen on hurting the weak and bowing to the strong, repeating the cycle until self-destruction.
He remembered watching an interview in his past life where a reporter asked the now adult Princess Zhu Xi about her school life. Her answer left a deep impression on him. She said it was terrible. She was the one being bullied, not physically, but socially. It was cold violence, and even as a princess of the empire, she couldn’t escape this fate.
Chen Jianing rambled on and on, until she felt sleepy. She mumbled, “Lu Li, I’m sleepy, let’s talk tomorrow.” Her voice was soft and sweet, extremely adorable.
“Sweet dreams.” Lu Li tucked her in and warmed a cup of water, placing it on the bedside table in case she woke up thirsty. After doing all this, Lu Li left the room. He returned to his own room and marked another day on the calendar. Today was the twenty-fourth day of the lockdown. According to official sources, the maximum incubation period of RSA was twenty-four days. In other words, the RSA virus lurking in Chen Jianing’s body was about to erupt.
After a long silence, Lu Li dialed Chu Xiaodong’s number.
“Uncle Chu, I have a favor to ask…”
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