Rebirth to Save Myself

The next morning, Su Yue took the high-speed train to Su Xia's city.

"Hey sis. I'm at the high-speed rail station. Where do you live? The usual place?"

"Ah Yue, what brings you here?" Su Xia sat up in bed and checked the time: 9:30 in the morning. Considering the time difference between Su Yue's city and hers, this girl must have bought the earliest high-speed train ticket.

"Oh dear, I'm already here. Why are you asking so many questions? Where are you? I'll come find you." Su Yue stomped her foot, expressing her dissatisfaction that her sister wasn't focusing on the important points.

"Same place as always. I'll send you the password via WeChat. Just take a taxi here, I'll reimburse you."

"Yay, my sister is the best!" Su Yue happily hung up the phone, but the smile on her face vanished in an instant. Her sister used to never take a taxi if she could take the bus or subway. When Su Yue came to visit her in the sweltering summer, her sister insisted on taking her by subway and bus, and finally rode a scooter to her place. Now she was actually asking her to take a taxi and even offered to reimburse her.

After hanging up the phone, Su Xia sent Su Yue 200 yuan for taxi fare via WeChat, and then sent her the apartment's password. She glanced around; the room had been cleaned yesterday, and all the reports had been put away. There was nothing else to do. She'd take Su Yue to the trendy restaurant her colleague had recommended.

Su Yue arrived an hour later and immediately gave Su Xia a hug.

"Okay, stop being so sentimental, I'm not dead yet." Su Xia patted Su Yue's hair and then said, "Let's go eat hot pot later, my colleagues all said it's delicious."

"Sis, do you think the hospital might have made a mistake? There have been many similar cases online before. Let's get another full body checkup, maybe go to a different hospital, or even a big hospital in the capital, Shanghai."

“Ah Yue, stop talking. I know you don’t believe these thoughts, and I didn’t believe them at first either. But I’ve been in so much pain these past few days, so much pain that I can’t sleep, and I can only rely on painkillers to relieve it. The doctor said that I actually had symptoms a long time ago, but I didn’t pay attention to them, so it was too late when I found out.” Su Xia said calmly, as if she were talking about something very ordinary.

But Su Yue couldn't hold back her tears. She knew her sister had suffered greatly since childhood, and she had thought things would gradually get better once she started working, but instead, she received such devastating news. Why? Her sister was trying so hard to live, why did misfortune always seem to choose those who were already suffering?

"Don't be sad, honey. The doctor said I still have three months left. I have time to do the things I want to do. The first thing is to go out for hot pot with you. You won't disagree, will you?" Su Xia looked troubled.

"Eat, eat, all you ever think about is eating. I'll keep you company." Su Yue wiped away her tears, put away her suitcase, picked up her bag, and went out with Su Xia.

The two went out for hot pot together, and although they were sweating profusely from the spiciness, they enjoyed the meal.

After dinner, the two went for a walk in the mall, each with a cup of milk tea. They strolled around for a while. In the evening, Su Xia said she wanted to eat at the mall, but Su Yue disagreed.

"Sis, eating out in the mall is too expensive. Let's just find a restaurant outside and eat there."

“Ah Yue, this is all the money I have left, and I want to spend it all. Before, my parents asked me to give them half of my money to save when I started working, saying they'd save it to buy me jewelry for my wedding. But when I got sick and asked them for money, they said they didn't have any. So where did all the money I've saved over the years go? It all went to Su Yaoche.” Su Xia sneered, then continued, “Later, I got smart and stopped giving them money every month, so they found all sorts of ways to ask me for it. Today it's because the family wants to buy appliances, tomorrow it's because Mom wants a bracelet, and if I don't give it to her, she throws a tantrum, tells relatives and friends that I'm heartless. She raised me all these years, and now she's not filial to them.”

"Sister, don't listen to them, they're all selfish. In their hearts, Su Yaoche is their precious son, and we're just daughters who have lost money. They'll only be willing to give us back everything they've spent on us, otherwise they'll morally blackmail us." Su Yue had been told this by her parents before, but she refused. When relatives and friends talked to her, she turned around and argued with them, so her parents had no choice but to continue asking Su Xia for money.

"I'm not giving them my money anymore. I'm going to spend it all myself. The dress I want, the phone I want, the food I want—I'll get it all." Su Xia pulled Su Yue into a restaurant and ordered the food directly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, sis. Just go ahead and spend, your sister has plenty of money." Su Yue patted her chest, then had dinner with Su Xia.

At night, the two sisters lay in bed chatting, talking about everything from their childhood to recent events, from people around them to everyday occurrences. Suddenly, Su Xia's phone beeped; someone had sent her a message.

"Who is it that's calling you so late at night?" Su Yue picked up Su Xia's phone and saw it was Su Yaoche. Then she handed it back to Su Xia, indicating that she should see for herself.

Su Xia picked up her phone and opened her WeChat chat. A transfer request was displayed, showing that it was being typed.

Brother: Sister, I asked Mom and Dad for money, and they transferred it to me. Keep it all and use it for your medical treatment. If it's not enough, I'll ask Mom and Dad again, and they'll give me more.

Brother: Sis, you'll get better. I'm still waiting for you to take me out to play. It's the gift you promised me when I graduated from university, and I only have two more years left to graduate.

Su Xia: Why would your parents give you so much? What excuse did you make?

Brother: I told them I wanted to get a new computer, and they transferred the money. But it included the money I had saved up for living expenses.

Su Xia felt a pang of sadness upon seeing these words. When she was in college, her parents refused to pay for her computer, saying it wasn't necessary. Xiao Che had only been in college for two years, and he could change his phone and computer whenever he wanted. But she couldn't blame her brother. The fact that he thought of her at this moment and transferred money to her showed that he still had a conscience.

Su Xia: No need, you can keep it yourself, I don't need it.

Brother: Sis, you have to accept this today, or you'll disown me as your brother. You're taking Su Yue out for a nice meal, you can't be biased towards me.

Su Xia laughed out loud, and after thinking about it, she accepted it.

Su Xia: Thank you, A-Che, sister. It's getting late, go to sleep.

Brother: Mm, goodnight, sister.

Su Xia: Good night.

"What did he say? You two have been talking for so long," Su Yue asked, sitting up.

“Ache transferred some money to me. He’s grown up a lot,” Su Xia said with satisfaction.

"He has some conscience, at least. If he were as heartless as my parents, I would be the first to beat him to death." Su Yue said, raising her fist.

"Alright, we can't blame Xiao Che for what we did. We took care of him a lot when he was little, and it's enough that he remembers our kindness. Keep this money for now and pay him back later."

"Why should we give it back to him? Just spend it. This is his way of showing his respect to you, why not accept it?" Su Yue didn't understand. Anyway, Su Yaoche's money all came from his parents, so spending it wouldn't be a loss.

“His living expenses are included here. If I give it all to him, he'll go hungry. You can give it to him in installments as pocket money from your older sister.”

"No, you keep it and spend it yourself." Su Yue said before lying down to sleep.

Su Xia looked at Su Yue's retreating figure helplessly and could only put the matter aside for now and deal with it later.