Chapter 1 She's Dying
“Ms. Shen, didn’t your family come with you?”
Shen Zhichu was confused. Isn't it just to get a physical examination report? Does he need someone to accompany him?
What about family...what family does she have?
Her mother had died giving birth to her, her father had used her as a money-making tool, and her brother had blamed her for their mother's death and hated her to death. And her lover... she had stolen him from her. If the doctor hadn't suddenly mentioned those two words, she would have almost forgotten what "family" meant.
After being stunned for a moment, Shen Zhichu shook his head and said, "It's just me."
The doctor frowned, pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose, sighed heavily, his eyes filled with regret and his tone revealed helplessness. He handed a stack of test reports on the table to Shen Zhichu.
“Ms. Shen, the test results are out, and it’s late-stage gastric cancer.”
He seemed to be feeling pity for the young woman in front of him who had a terminal illness, and he spoke and moved with extreme caution.
Shen Zhichu's breath was caught in her throat. She took the test report and frowned as she looked at the various indicators on it. She was not a medical student, but she could also tell how serious the stomach problem in her body was.
In fact, she vaguely sensed something when she was doing the gastroscopy, but she didn't dare to think about it.
The doctor pointed at the pictures and explained them one by one in Shen Zhichu's ear. Shen Zhichu was in a daze, listening half and missing half, and she concluded that she didn't have much time left and needed to be admitted to the hospital for chemotherapy as soon as possible.
How long can one live with advanced gastric cancer? Shen Zhichu knows this disease better than anyone else, because her grandfather died after struggling on the hospital bed for two years.
The doctor kindly suggested: "Ms. Shen, we recommend that you be hospitalized for treatment as soon as possible."
"Then I'll be hospitalized...will I be able to get better?" Shen Zhichu's voice was hoarse and his expression was numb, as if he was talking to himself.
The doctor said nothing more, but just shook his head in embarrassment.
Then it's incurable. Shen Zhichu licked his dry lips, stood up and stuffed all the diagnosis documents into his bag.
She stood up, said thank you, turned around and left the diagnosis room.
When I came out of the hospital, it was raining outside. The drizzle mixed with the cold wind felt like a knife scratching my face. Shen Zhichu opened his bag, took out the umbrella and opened it. The drizzle was falling sideways, and the umbrella could not keep out the cold.
The temperature in March was not particularly cold, but Chen Zhichu felt cold from the very bones, and the lingering chill extended through his blood to his limbs and bones.
Her fingers were red from the cold. She held the umbrella in one hand and clenched her other hand into a fist and put it in her pocket, but she still felt that no matter how she tried to keep warm, she couldn't.
Shen Zhichu walked aimlessly. She turned the ring on her ring finger and looked at the sky covered with dark clouds. The sky in Rongcheng changed so quickly. Before she could react, spring came in the blink of an eye. Spring is supposed to be the season for all things to come to life, so why is it that for her, she is going to die?
Shen Zhichu stood on the side of the road and hailed a taxi. After the taxi pulled over, she slowly folded her umbrella, opened the back door, and got in.
The driver turned and asked her, "Where are you going?"
"Bancheng District C." Shen Zhichu lowered his head and replied to him.
After driving for a while, Shen Zhichu couldn't help but open the bag and look at the picture on the diagnosis book again.
The stomach in the picture is so twisted and ugly that it is hard to believe that it is a part of her body.
Her stomach cancer was caused by starvation. During the four years of her marriage to Li Jingshen, she tried her best to cook his favorite dishes according to his taste in order to please him. She thought that when he came back and saw the table full of dishes, even if he didn't like her, he would at least be moved and be gentler to her.
But Li Jingshen didn't want to have a meal with her at all. She didn't get discouraged and still cooked every day and sent text messages on time waiting for him to come. But she didn't wait for him, but instead got stomach cancer.
Finally, she couldn't control her tears and fell out. Shen Zhichu took a breath. She thought she was strong enough and had seen all kinds of storms.
But today, all her disguised strength collapsed, her stomach twitched, Shen Zhichu curled up and couldn't help shaking, a deep groan escaped from her clenched teeth.
The driver heard sobbing and looked at the rearview mirror. He saw a woman hunched over, her thin back trembling constantly. It seemed as if she was taking away all the air in the car. It was the first time he saw someone crying so desperately.
"Miss, what's wrong with you? Are you heartbroken or unhappy at work?"
No one replied, so he continued, "There's nothing insurmountable. Be open-minded. Crying won't solve the problem. Go back and have a good rest. Tomorrow morning the sun will rise and it will be a new day."
Shen Zhichu raised her head, a bitter smile on her lips, "Thank you." She didn't expect that the person who comforted her after she got a terminal illness would be a stranger.
The driver smiled but said nothing and continued to drive. When he reached Bancheng, he parked the car in a temporary parking space.
The ride took half an hour and the fare was 28 yuan. Shen Zhichu scanned the code to pay and got off the car. He tore up the medical certificate in his hand and threw it into the trash can.
A gust of cold wind blew, and Shen Zhichu wiped the dried tears from her face, and once again became the calm and mature woman she used to be, except that her eyes were a little red and swollen, and her face was pale.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
