Chapter 4 Hello, Teacher
The next day, his phone alarm woke him up.
Bai Chenzhu listlessly crawled out of bed and touched his forehead.
I have a fever.
Last night, the scratch on my arm was burning hot, my body was covered in bruises, and I even had a bruised black eye on my face. It hurt to the touch. Bai Chenzhu exhaled a hot breath and self-deprecatingly turned on his phone.
He's only been alive for less than a day, is he going to die again?
That person last night was clearly turning into a zombie. How many days can I live after being bitten by him?
Social media remained calm and peaceful. He glanced at his class schedule, turned off all his phone alarms, tossed them aside, and went back to sleep.
He's about to die, the end of the world is coming, what's the point of going to school?
It seems that God is deliberately tormenting Bai Chenzhu.
He had a fever for two days and remained in a coma the whole time. The fever didn't go down, and the illness didn't kill him either.
This can't go on. Bai Chenzhu had a splitting headache. Weakly, she changed her clothes, grabbed her phone, and staggered out the door to the nearest hospital.
The hospital was incredibly noisy, a cacophony of children's screams, patients' cries of agony, and impatient family members. Bai Chenzhu glanced around; many people had fever-reducing patches on their foreheads, and the infusion area was completely packed with people.
Bai Chenzhu registered, had her temperature checked, and waited in line for her appointment.
There were many people at the entrance, and the machine was announcing names in an orderly fashion. He found an empty seat and sat down, his cheeks flushed and his body burning with heat. He listlessly loosened a few buttons on his shirt to let in some fresh air.
Half asleep and half awake, Bai Chenzhu heard an argument erupting in the consultation room.
"I've already told you I've had a fever three times! Every time they give me an IV drip of cefazolin. How can rabies spread so rapidly? It's clearly a misdiagnosis, clearly a new virus..." The voice gradually faded, and the people waiting outside who were peeking out couldn't hear anything.
All that could be heard was the doctor's cold, dismissive voice: "Are you the doctor or am I? Get out! Don't get in the way of other patients."
A young man, somewhere between a teenager and a young adult, walked out the door with a list in his hand, still muttering something resentfully.
Bai Chenzhu calmly observed the man who brushed past her.
Very young, dressed casually. A black hooded long sweatshirt, gray shorts, white shoes and socks—very student-like.
The man noticed Bai Chenzhu, his eyes lit up, and he opened his mouth to speak—
The calling machine went off, calling out Bai Chenzhu's name.
Bai Chenzhu withdrew his gaze, stood up, brushed past the young man, and entered the clinic he had just come out of.
As soon as I entered the room, the doctor asked, "Where do you feel unwell?"
Bai Chenzhu said, "He has a fever."
He then showed the doctor the paper with the temperature readings that the nurse had just written down.
The doctor nodded and asked skillfully, "Have you been bitten by anything recently?"
Bite? Bai Chenzhu was taken aback. When he came to his senses, did the official organization already have a way to deal with it?
He quickly rolled up his shirt sleeves to show the doctor, explaining, "I was scratched on the arm by a man with red eyes a couple of days ago."
The doctor ignored him, not even examining him closely, and simply handed him the prescription, saying, "There's a new type of rabies going around lately, so be careful when you go out. You only have a low-grade fever right now, go queue up to get your medication, and go home and rest well."
It turned out that the zombie virus had been mistaken for rabies. Bai Chenzhu frowned, disapproving of the other party's casual attitude, and leaned forward to correct him seriously: "It's not rabies, it's the zombie virus."
Upon hearing his words, the doctor simply chuckled twice, as if this wasn't the first time he'd heard similar remarks.
The doctor, not wanting to say more, casually said, "Don't overthink it, go get your medicine."
Bai Chenzhu took the list and went out.
While waiting to get his medicine, he suddenly thought that since he was already there, he should also check the original owner's heart condition. He went and registered at another department, spending most of the day getting all the necessary tests done that day.
While waiting for the test results, he went to the pharmacy.
The pharmacy was very close to the infusion area, which was crowded and all the seats were taken. Everyone was wearing bandages and plasters. People who arrived late had to stand in the aisle and carry their own IV bottles.
As Bai Chenzhu passed by, a young man standing next to him was dozing off, his head nodding. He had an IV drip in his right hand and was holding the IV bottle high with his left hand so that the medicine could flow smoothly through the IV tube into his vein.
Perhaps he was too tired, his left hand unconsciously slid down a short distance, about to fall. Bai Chenzhu's eyelids twitched when she saw this, and she stepped forward to catch his IV bottle.
"Huh?" The young man was fully awake. He yawned, looked at the person in front of him, sized him up, and then gave a big, carefree smile. "Thanks."
"It's nothing." Bai Chenzhu let go of his hand and then realized that the young man looked familiar. Wasn't he the young man in the consultation room just now?
He couldn't help but take a second look.
The young man perked up slightly, the sleepiness in his eyes fading. "Our school is closed. Will any teachers have time to come over recently?"
A teacher? Wasn't the original owner a college student?
Unexpectedly running into an acquaintance, Bai Chenzhu's heart skipped a beat. His mind raced for a moment, but instead of answering the question, he looked at the young man calmly and asked, "You haven't been feeling well lately. How have you been?"
"Me?" The young man looked a little embarrassed, raising his hand to scratch the back of his head, but stopped awkwardly when the IV tube pulled him. "I've been sick a few times recently, which has slowed down my studies. I thought my ranking was going to drop, but guess what, teacher? I made it into the top 200 in the recent mock exam!"
He patted his chest proudly.
"I just heard you talking to the doctor that you've had a fever three times recently, right?" Bai Chenzhu paused. "Too many antibiotic injections are not a good thing. Although studying is important, health is fundamental. You need to take time off and rest properly to catch up."
“That makes sense.” The young man nodded. “Isn’t this a good opportunity to strike while the iron is hot? Everyone’s sickly, this is a perfect chance to overtake others! The teacher hasn’t said whether he’ll come to tutor me these next few days.”
"How did we end up back here again?" Bai Chenzhu gasped.
"I'll go get the medicine first, I'll contact you by phone later." He took a long stride and quickly made an excuse to leave.
The young man hesitated for a few seconds, then scurried over with the IV drip bottle, saying to himself, "Teacher, teacher, I see that bandage on your arm, you weren't bitten too, were you?"
Bai Chenzhu couldn't shake off the young man, and his brows furrowed with helplessness. "Isn't it strange? Isn't the whole infusion area like this?"
"Is that so? That's why I was thinking, if this really is some kind of strange virus, we might all awaken!" The young man's thoughts jumped quickly, already moving from the virus to superpowers.
He skipped after Bai Chenzhu, babbling, "But I've been bitten three times already, why haven't I transformed yet?"
The teenager, who was in a bit of a daze, had some troubles.
"Stop jumping, stand still." Bai Chenzhu frowned as she watched his little hopping movements.
"Huh? Oh!"
Bai Chenzhu's gaze swept over the electronic screen above the pharmacy. The young man stared intently at his profile, waiting for him to speak.
Bai Chenzhu's composure was about to crumble.
Not only that, the enthusiastic young people treated their misfortune as a glorious 'achievement,' unabashedly rolling up their long sweatshirt sleeves to show others the wounds on their arms. "Teacher, look!"
"That troublesome guy!" Bai Chenzhu hurriedly held up the swaying IV bottle for him.
Unsure of the true nature of this 'teacher-student relationship,' Bai Chenzhu could only bite the bullet and say against his will, 'You're really amazing. You've been bitten repeatedly and you're still fine. Maybe you're a chosen one with superpowers?'
There are generally only three types of people who are infected: those with superpowers, ordinary people, and zombies.
Repeated infections have no effect on superhumans and zombies, but ordinary people who are repeatedly infected may still become superhumans or zombies.
Although it's spoken in a tone meant to coax a child, young people find it particularly appealing.
Upon hearing that he might have a superpower, he instantly perked up, his eyes lighting up as he excitedly exclaimed, "Teacher, teacher, what kind of superpower do you think I'll awaken? Will it be wind, thunder, water, fire, or earth? Or something like space, mental, light, or dark..."
He considered all the possibilities. It sounds like he's read quite a few novels and watched a lot of movies of various genres.
“Hmm…” Bai Chenzhu stared at the excited face in front of him. Even though he knew that the young man was taking the infection in stride, he still shattered his illusions and answered seriously, “It shouldn’t be either of those.”
Upon hearing his statement, the young man clearly did not believe him, shouting, "How could it not be?" and listing many possibilities for him.
Bai Chenzhu had just opened his mouth when the broadcast machine called his name.
He stopped talking and went to get the medicine.
Unexpectedly, the young man followed him without hesitation, chattering incessantly like a little tail.
Bai Chenzhu glanced at the guy who was getting excited, "Even if there are superpowers, shouldn't they be based on the abilities that humans already have evolved from? How can those exaggerated superpowers appear out of thin air?"
The young man's eyes widened, clearly indicating a different opinion. "Why not? Can't we be bolder if we're dreaming?"
Bai Chenzhu: ...
He didn't waste any more words.
However, the chuunibyou boy tried his best to 'persuade' Bai Chenzhu, or perhaps he was just bored and kept babbling on to an acquaintance.
When Bai Chenzhu went to get the electrocardiogram report, he followed. When Bai Chenzhu went into the consultation room, he squatted outside.
The two held their own opinions—or rather, the young man chattered on and on, with Bai Chenzhu occasionally offering a few words of comfort—and talked the whole way about the topic of "what kind of superpowers do superhumans have."
The IV drip was finished, and Bai Chenzhu's test results came back. The outgoing young man was still not satisfied and even wanted to go home with him.
Bai Chenzhu frowned and raised his hand to press against the young man's forehead. "Stop. Go back to your home."
The young man looked at him with a pitiful expression, while Bai Chenzhu remained indifferent and heartless.
Unable to resist the puppy-dog eyes, Bai Chenzhu sighed, "Weren't you going back to study?"
According to this person, he is a tough guy who will go back to class even if he has a fever.
"I'm not going back, am I? I'll listen to my teacher." The young man hesitated. "Originally, I thought this illness was nothing to worry about, but some people at school are acting like madmen, biting anyone they see. But my family doesn't believe me; they think I'm lying and slacking off. After all, the exams are in a few months..."
He glanced down at his bite wound, then looked up and grinned. "My life is precious, I should probably ask for leave."
Bai Chenzhu cautioned him, "Life is indeed very important. Be careful when you go back; the apocalypse might be coming."
"The apocalypse? This...this can't be true, right?" The young man, who had just been imagining what kind of superpower he had, was stunned, hesitated, and became somewhat flustered and uneasy.
His laughter was based solely on his belief that even with a new virus, society would remain stable and prosperous.
The young man clumsily changed the subject: "Teacher, when did you buy these earrings? They're really pretty with ginkgo leaves."
Men wearing earrings are a minority, and after glancing at them curiously a few times, he couldn't resist reaching out with his wicked hand.
Bai Chenzhu slapped away the eager hand, said goodbye to the person, and went home with a bag of medicine.
Bai Chenzhu's phone vibrated on the way. He took it out and glanced at it.
Senior High School Tutor - Tang Zhao (Saturday Afternoon): Cat Peeking In.JPG
So he's just a high school senior. Bai Chenzhu raised an eyebrow and casually replied with a smiley face and a rose emoji—the default emoticon on social media.
The afterglow outside was warm and pleasant. He walked lightly, his eyes sparkling, and the corners of his lips slightly upturned.
When Bai Chenzhu received the report, he carefully read it several times and had it confirmed with the doctor.
A gentle breeze swept by, and Bai Chenzhu looked up at the orange-red sunset on the horizon, feeling more relaxed than ever before.
The original owner didn't have pierced ears, and this body doesn't have the original owner's congenital heart disease... This is his body!
It was his vigorous body in his early twenties, down to the exact same moles. But for some reason, he was much weaker than when he was full of energy.
However, if the only price for being reborn is physical weakness, then that's already a pretty good result.
The dark clouds in his heart dissipated, and the sunlight filled the room. Bai Chenzhu slightly curved his lips, and his eyes warmed a little. Only now did he feel like he had truly come back to life from another world, and even his steps were light and quick.
The streets were bustling with people, but beneath the lively surface lay a turbulent undercurrent. Bai Chenzhu had already noticed several people in the crowd with blank expressions, which dampened his joy.
Looking down at the bandage on his arm, Bai Chenzhu felt a mix of emotions and sighed. Why couldn't his life be more stable?
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