Advanced stage stomach cancer.
Holding the medical report, Lu Ruo stood there in a daze.
Having just been ordered by her family to move out of the house, she had somehow contracted such a severe illness.
"Although it's the advanced stage, you're still so young. As long as you undergo treatment, there is hope for recovery. The preliminary treatment is estimated to cost 300,000... Tell me, should we contact your family to prepare the surgery funds?"
The doctor's words gave Lu Ruo a glimmer of hope.
That's right. If her family knew she had so little time left to live, would they stop dwelling on those groundless accusations and be willing to provide the money for her treatment?
Lu Ruo took out her phone and hesitated over who to call, when the screen flashed with an incoming call from her third brother, Lu Ze.
Just in time. She would ask her third brother if he was willing to lend her some money.
Lu Ruo pressed answer.
Before she even had a chance to speak, Lu Ze's accusations came pouring through the phone: "Lu Ruo, how dare you steal Yaoyao's necklace and pawn it? I've already bought the necklace back. You'd better return that 300,000 right now, or bear the consequences!"
The Lu Yao mentioned in Lu Ze's words was the adopted daughter of the Lu Family. Fifteen years ago, when Lu Ruo was three years old, Lu Ze had sneaked out to take her out to play without bodyguards, and she had been abducted by human traffickers.
After searching for her for two years without success, the Lu Family adopted Lu Yao in her place.
Three years ago, a teacher doing volunteer teaching in a rural village discovered her. Noticing how much she resembled the Lu family members, the teacher called the police, and she was finally reunited with her family.
She had thought that returning to the Lu Family meant she could live a happy life with her biological relatives, but she never expected that her family cared even more about Lu Yao's feelings, terrified that being too good to Lu Ruo would break Lu Yao's heart.
"Third Brother, I didn't take Lu Yao's necklace. Also, I have stomach cancer and I'm dying. Can you lend me some money for treatment? I'll pay you back," Lu Ruo said with a trembling voice, trying to communicate with Lu Ze.
On the other end of the line, Lu Ze frowned deeply.
What was Lu Ruo talking about? She was dying?
This sister who grew up in the mountains was simply a habitual liar!
Their family regularly went to the hospital for medical checkups, and they had just gone together last month. Lu Ruo's medical report clearly hadn't shown any abnormalities!
At this thought, Lu Ze sneered, "You always love faking illness to try and get the family's attention. Today you stole Yaoyao's necklace to pawn it, and when I caught you, you lied again. You really are incorrigible!"
"Lu Ruo, tell me the truth: does the disappearance of the Gu Family's heirloom have anything to do with you too? I advise you to go turn yourself in as soon as possible. Our Lu Family cannot afford to lose face like this!"
Hearing Lu Ze tell her to turn herself in, the light in Lu Ruo's eyes went completely dark.
Her biological brother didn't care about her at all and was even slinging mud at her.
The Gu Family's heirloom had been missing for a month now. On the day it went missing, Lu Ze had locked her up forcefully in the storage room—where would she have found the time to commit the crime?
He couldn't even remember things she had done or hadn't done; did Lu Ze ever truly consider her his sister?
No, not just Lu Ze; the rest of the family had never truly loved her either.
What she longed for was something she could never, ever have.
"I won't apologize for something I didn't do," Lu Ruo said, her voice still trembling, though this time her tone was no longer weak. "Lu Ze, since Lu Yao is the real sister to you and your family, from now on, we are cutting all ties."
With that, Lu Ruo hung up directly and, as if venting her frustration, blocked all the members of the Lu Family.
She wiped away the tears that had somehow spilled from the corners of her eyes and smiled at the doctor, "I'm sorry for the trouble. I won't be getting treatment for this illness..."
Having given her reply, Lu Ruo walked out of the hospital like a walking corpse.
Cancer patients suffered greatly before death, and given her current condition, she certainly wouldn't be able to get a bank loan.
Might as well... end it herself.
Only, before leaving, she needed to properly say goodbye to her only good friend.
Lu Ruo went to a pet store and bought a pound of cat food, then ran to the alley entrance near the school, poured the cat food onto a paper bag, and called out for the stray mother cat inside to come out and eat.
Hearing the call, the calico mother cat squeezed out through a small crack in the corner of the alley wall and meowed at Lu Ruo.
Its tail stood straight up like a little antenna, and its meow was sweet and dainty.
The kitten was so well-behaved that Lu Ruo smiled through her tears.
She stroked Huahua's head and muttered to herself, "Be a good kitty. This is the last time I'll feed you. I—I'm going to find a place to end my life very soon."
"Thank you for being willing to get close to me."
Lu Ruo tried to use as cheerful a tone as possible to state her decision while gently petting the mother cat's head.
[Qualified host who loves fluffy animals detected. The Fluffy System is about to bind.]
[Novice Task: Help the mother cat fill her belly completed. Obtained help points: 10 points. Title: Cat Whisperer!]
[To promote harmonious coexistence between humans and animals, the host will receive various tasks. Complete tasks to earn Fluffy Help Points! Points can be exchanged for various rewards. Please select a mall category!]
The voice ringing in her mind left Lu Ruo frozen in place.
A system? Cat Whisperer? Promoting harmonious coexistence between humans and animals? What were these?
While Lu Ruo was still dazed, the meowing of the mother cat beside her ear suddenly turned into human speech: "Why does the human smell a bit unhappy today?"
"If I give the human the treasure that someone else hid in the garbage heap, will the human be happy?"
The voice sounded loving and gentle.
Lu Ruo looked down at the mother cat. The creature gazed at her with a pair of round cat eyes, tilted its little head to rub against her trouser leg, and circled around her.
"Human, don't be unhappy anymore. Rubbing against you—you can pet the cat's head!"
Lu Ruo reached out and stroked Huahua's head. Huahua's black and white tail wagged left and right, extremely happily, as it said, "The human is petting me. Will the human be a little happier now?"
Now Lu Ruo was truly certain that she could actually understand the calico cat's voice!
But what good was understanding it? She was about to die anyway; what use was binding a system?
Filled with despair, Lu Ruo heard the system's voice ring out in her mind once again: [Host's lifespan value detected to be extremely low. Would you like to select the Lifespan Mall?]