Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Jiang Yu left.
I rushed to the bathroom, frantically scrubbing the hand Jiang Yu had just touched with a towel.
The overgrown skin was rubbed raw, blood mingling with the icy water as it washed down. The vivid red color jolted my brain. I gripped the edge of the sink, gasping for air.
Finally, I calmed down.
When the delivery driver arrived at noon, he brought a large bag. I spread the containers out one by one on the coffee table.
The rich aroma stimulated my taste buds, and my stomach, which had been starved for two days, surrendered immediately.
I picked up my chopsticks and stuffed everything into my belly.
But I ate too much. My stomach churned painfully, and I ended up back in the bathroom, vomiting it all back up.
The bathroom floor soaked my clothes. The pain of approaching death felt so vivid. I lay on the floor, holding my phone, scrolling through my chat history bit by bit.
One conversation had stopped a month ago.
The last message Zhou You sent asked me what I had eaten that day.
I hadn’t replied.
Nor did I tell her when I received my diagnosis.
Five years of friendship-long yet fleeting.
Long enough to be heavily etched into my life.
Yet short enough that I could scroll through it all in just a few hours.
“Are you sure you want to delete your chat history with Sister?”
The red text was jarring.
But the intensifying abdominal pain felt like a prompt, urging me to press the delete button.
Five years of memories vanished in an instant, taking with them my last tether to this world.
On the day of the diagnosis, the doctor had looked me in the eye and advised me earnestly:
“Even though it’s late-stage stomach cancer, if you undergo active treatment and stay optimistic, you could live for another two or three years.”
I thanked her with a smile but didn’t take her up on it.
I had no reason to keep living.
My sister had also once desperately wished for me to die.
I stayed at home in a daze for I don’t know how many days.
I was wasting my life away in a vicious cycle of hunger, binge eating, and vomiting.
It was only when I happened to check my phone that I realized the date was approaching.
I tidied myself up briefly, intending to go to the mall to buy a suitable suit.
Looking in the mirror, I realized my cheeks had hollowed out rapidly, and my pale face lacked any color.
After a moment’s thought, I decided to put on some makeup.
The mall wasn’t crowded on a weekday.
I wandered aimlessly through the various floors until I finally spotted a slim-fit suit in a window display.
As I walked in, a sales assistant greeted me warmly. Just as I pointed toward the suit in the window to speak, a loathsome voice came from outside: “Sister Yu, this suit is so beautiful.”
What a coincidence.
When Tang Chu stepped through the door, his eyes met mine. His doe-like eyes immediately rounded, and he called out to me happily, “Ah Zhe.”
It was as if there had never been any bad blood between us.
Jiang Yu stood at the door, eyeing me coldly.
How wonderful. The younger brother who had been far away abroad had returned home, and the older sister was accompanying him on a shopping trip.
I gave a mocking smile and ignored them.
“That suit, size large. Wrap it up for me, please.”
“Get one for me too, size large.”
Tang Chu and I pointed at the same suit simultaneously.
The sales assistant looked over apologetically.
“This style has been selling well this year. We only have the size large on the mannequin left. If you two gentlemen don’t mind, you could look at other styles while I check if the company has any more in stock.”
Tang Chu frowned and was about to speak. “Then…”
“Wrap it up for me.”
I interrupted him without hesitation.
The sales assistant gave an affirmative nod and turned to go get it.
“Ah Zhe.”
Tang Chu suddenly called my name.
I looked up at him. “Is there something you want?”
“Can you let me have this suit?”
He looked apologetic. “You know I really like formal wear, and you don’t usually wear it much, Ah Zhe…”
Completely shameless.
I looked at Jiang Yu. She kept her eyes down and didn’t look at me, seemingly indulging Tang Chu.
How ridiculous.
After all these years, he hadn’t changed at all.
Everything he liked, he expected me to give up for him.
Toys, clothes, rankings…
And family.
“No.”
I refused coldly.
Tang Chu was choked up by my response. As he watched me take the packaged clothes, his eyes grew watery again, and he lowered his head to return to Jiang Yu’s side.
Jiang Yu leaned in and said something to him. His eyes curved into crescents as he brightened up again, happily taking Jiang Yu’s arm.
He didn’t forget to glance at me.
It was as if he were gloating, showing off that my sister had become his.
In truth, the clothes didn’t matter at all.
All he wanted was for me to see that my sister seemed to love him a little more.
But who cared?
Anyway, for over a decade, it had always been this way.