"Life is a dead and desolate snowfield that drives people to despair, life is a swamp filled with miasma that traps people deep within."
"So the lonely people begin to fantasize, love is the antidote to life, love can rescue the mundane."
"But love is just a rare romance in suffering, love is simply our final courage in fear."
"—To Xu Manning."
These words are written in the bottom right corner of the portrait of Xu Manning.
Xu Manning did not drive away after leaving the restaurant, but sat in her car and looked at it again.
The writing was very small, at the time Xu Manning had not fully unfolded the painting, so she didn't see it immediately.
Now seeing these words, a surge of indescribable emotions welled up in Xu Manning's heart.
"Are you saying… I have unrealistic fantasies about love?"
During the time after their breakup, Xu Manning, despite her resentment, had reflected on this relationship. As Li Peifeng said, relationships involve two people, if it ended, she had some responsibility too.
That is, her expectations were too high, her desire for control too strong, she put too much pressure on the other person…
"At the end of the day, he's not worth it! He doesn't deserve it! He wanted me to pay for the meal, wanted me to cover the shopping bill, is it about the money? It's about the attitude, and yet he doesn't try to keep me, after I pay he doesn't even ask me to stay, just watches me leave?"
"Is this the attitude you have when asking me to reconcile?!"
Xu Manning tossed the painting aside, looking towards the fast-food restaurant entrance, feeling upset and disturbed.
…
"Where to eat?"
"Who's paying?!"
Li Peifeng walked out of the restaurant, face pale, steps unsteady, like a living corpse who hadn't eaten human flesh for three months, his whole being was in a daze.
The system's punishment buff had incredible power, after he had finished settling the bill, the food in his stomach was all emptied.
This made him hungrier than before he ate, the sudden drop made Li Peifeng even want to snatch the meal bowls from other female diners in the restaurant, licking the remnants off their plates…
To prevent himself from doing something irrational due to hunger, Li Peifeng had no choice but to step outside temporarily, prepare to call some people, see which female classmates could act as a temporary meal ticket.
"Beep~"
The Audi A7 honked to indicate, Xu Manning didn't even roll down the window.
Li Peifeng, who was fiddling with his phone, turned his head sluggishly to look, feeling relieved when he saw the other person, got in the car without any hesitation.
"Did I invite you in?"
Xu Manning said angrily, "I honked for you to get away, I am driving, get out!"
Li Peifeng got in the car without saying a word, just looked around for food, finally seeing half a bottle of Tea Pi in the center console, turned the cap without saying a word and drank it…
"That's what I left!"
Xu Manning pursed her lips, "It's been in the car for almost three days."
Upon hearing this, Li Peifeng drank faster, the sugars and trace carbohydrates in the beverage were partly broken down by the α-amylase secreted in his mouth, then entered the stomach, small intestine, large intestine, where the beverage would be absorbed by the wriggling intestinal wall blood vessels, enter the blood circulation, and be transported through the blood to various organs in his body…
[Xu Manning gives an item of food (converted to cash as 1 yuan), distance to completion of assessment task...]
"Hiss-hah~"
After drinking half the bottle of beverage, Li Peifeng looked at Xu Manning with tearful eyes, "Can you treat me to a meal? I'm hungry."
"Hungry? Didn't you just eat!"
Xu Manning responded instinctively, "You ate so much food…"
Before she finished speaking, she saw Li Peifeng's face and was startled, her first reaction was to call the emergency hospital number.
Because Li Peifeng's current state was too frightening, his complexion was pale, cheeks gaunt, lips bloodless, forehead and neck with veins faintly visible, eyes dull with dark circles…
This was a different Li Peifeng than the one Xu Manning had just seen!
The scenes of them dining just now flashed through Xu Manning's mind one by one, recalling the details of the conversation, she seemed to understand something, her brows tightly furrowed, "Are you really sick? What's really going on?"
It comes crashing down like a mountain!
Li Peifeng felt a faint sorrow and powerlessness sweeping over him, he dared not look into Xu Manning's eyes anymore, one hand on the car door, another holding the empty bottle, looking up at a 45-degree angle outside the window skyward, because that way tears would not fall, yet the melancholy blue of the sky reminded him of his sad life ahead.
"Yeah, really sick!"
"This illness… is very complex, but one symptom is quick hunger, and I can't eat hard things, need to eat soft stuff."
Xu Manning fell silent for a moment, then opened the car door, "Let's go, I'll take you to eat."
…
To avoid attracting attention, Li Peifeng didn't go back to that Cantonese fast-food restaurant, but instead went to a noodle shop nearby to eat.
Two bowls of noodles, four eggs, one big drumstick, all whizzed into Li Peifeng's belly.
During his meal, Xu Manning remained silent, continually searching for something on her phone...
"Question: What illness leads to increased appetite and frequent hunger?"
"Answer: Many cancer patients often experience hunger symptoms, which are actually caused by a decrease in nutrients in the patient's body."
"Question: At what stage do cancer patients feel hungry quickly and can't get full?"
"Answer: It's usually when cancer reaches the advanced stages, with cancer cells spreading aggressively, that patients often feel hungry. Cancer is a chronic consumptive disease, and for cancers of various organs, there are usually no obvious symptoms in the early stages, but as the disease progresses, the rapid growth of cells often leads to significant body consumption, especially in cases of liver cancer, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, which are closely related to daily living organs..."
The more Xu Manning searched, the heavier her heart felt.
So, you left me because of this?
Recently, you discovered you had a serious illness and didn't want to become a burden to me, so you used cold treatment to make me initiate the breakup. You treated your illness in silence, and after a month, you used up all your savings on treatment, but not only did the illness not improve, it got worse. Out of desperation, you borrowed money from those around you, but it was like a drop in the ocean, so you simply gave up on treatment.
Now knowing that your time is limited and beyond rescue, you want to see me one last time before you go to apologize and leave no regrets?
It all makes sense now!
Xu Manning recalled the haggard appearance of Li Peifeng when she saw him for the first time today, blaming herself for not noticing his condition sooner.
That painting, you must have forced yourself to complete it while enduring the torment of cancer, working tirelessly in the hospital room, right?
The sentences in the painting must have been inspired by your feelings, right?
Afflicted with a terminal illness, you feel despair, pain, and deathly silence, struggling in the mire.
But love is rare romance in adversity, love is our final bravery in fear, it's your only spiritual support...
So, your romance, your courage, your remedy, is it me?!
Fool!!
Xu Manning looked into the depths of Li Peifeng's eyes, where a mist of sadness was rising.
"Slurp~ Slurp~ Burp~"
Li Peifeng had turned into an unfeeling noodle-eating machine. In Xu Manning's eyes, he was evidence of late-stage cancer. Although after their breakup she had cursed this scumbag to die in front of her eyes many times, now that the curse seemed to be coming true, Xu Manning felt no sense of vengeance fulfilled, only helpless sorrow mixed with sadness.
In these short twenty minutes, she had imagined a dramatic Korean drama in her mind...
"I'm full!"
Completely oblivious, Li Peifeng drank the last mouthful of noodle soup, sweating profusely and looking somewhat better: "Thanks for the meal, you can go back, I'll just walk home."
Xu Manning, holding onto a glimmer of hope, asked, "Do your parents know about your health condition?"
"Know about what?"
Li Peifeng replied curiously, "I just have a big appetite and fast digestion, it doesn't affect anything."
Xu Manning interrupted, "I saw the look on your face just now, and you're still pretending? Plus, why did you borrow money from people around you before? Borrowing money implies you're broke. You usually don't spend much, and you had hundreds of thousands in savings, how can it be all gone?"
"I borrowed..."
"You said you lent it to a friend, which friend is it, do I know them? Are you brave enough to tell me? Call them now and confront them!"
Lying significantly increases the cost of communication, as one lie requires countless lies to cover up...
Xu Manning murmured, "You have such pride, you wouldn't borrow money unless it's absolutely necessary, unless you're at a life-and-death juncture... So why didn't you tell me? Why do you want to hide it from me when things have reached this point?"
Li Peifeng really wanted to deny it, but indeed had no good explanation for his physical behavior and actions. After all, borrowing money from others was very difficult for the normal him, and a normal person wouldn't look like they're about to die after eating two pots of porridge and slurping down two big bowls of noodles.
This person must be seriously ill!
"..."
Seeing Li Peifeng remain silent, Xu Manning became more certain of her thoughts, sadness overwhelming her, causing her words to become slightly incoherent: "What did the doctor say... how much time do you have left? Is there any possibility of a misdiagnosis? Even if there's no misdiagnosis, there must be hope for a cure, even if it's one in ten thousand... why, why am I only knowing this now!"
"How much does the treatment cost?"
Xu Manning's eyes were firm, "I'll pay for it."
Li Peifeng's mind was completely confused, he didn't know what to say.
What is this thing? What's going on? How did this happen? What kind of clichéd love drama is this?
How do I explain? I can't explain it away! Do I really have an illness? It seems like I do…
Illness: Will Die Without Eating Soft Rice Syndrome.
Cause: Bound by Soft Rice System.
Life countdown: Fifty-seven days.
The treatment needs two stages in total, the first stage 'treatment fee' is 30,000, you've paid 226 yuan, 29774 remaining...
It can only be said that due to an unexpected misunderstanding, the two had a not-so-beautiful misunderstanding, which indirectly reflected Xu Manning's love-focused mindset in her subconscious.
"This woman really wants me dead!!"