Sheng Yunshu first noticed something wrong with her body three days ago.
That afternoon, after finishing a reshoot on set, she returned to her lounge for a short nap. When she woke up, she felt dizzy and lethargic.
When her assistant brought afternoon tea, she was hit with a wave of inexplicable nausea at the sweet scent; she felt terrible.
Shen Zhouxing, who had attended her wedding and knew the truth of her situation, cleared the room. She leaned in close to Sheng Yunshu and asked in a low voice if she was pregnant.
“No.”
She wished she were, but Sheng Qingshan’s personality, where even kissing a cheek took half a day of awkwardness, meant that actually kissing on the lips before she died would already be a qualitative leap.
Shen Zhouxing did not believe her and urged her to go to the hospital for a check-up, just in case.
Sheng Yunshu wanted to retort, but hearing the word “hospital” made her suddenly realize the reality of her situation.
Life had been too comfortable lately; Sheng Yunshu had almost forgotten that she was a dying person.
Although Sheng Qingshan had told her that she must inform her immediately if she felt any physical discomfort, Sheng Yunshu did not want to tell her.
This illness was incurable. Even if Sheng Qingshan did everything she could, it would not change that fact.
Rather than letting Sheng Qingshan be engulfed by despair, Sheng Yunshu wanted to make her happier in the time they had left.
After making up her mind, Sheng Yunshu arranged to meet Ye Lingyun through Lu Qiyue.
Once they arrived at the location, Sheng Yunshu made an excuse to send Lu Qiyue away and got straight to the point.
“Sister Ye, I have not been able to eat lately, I get intermittent headaches, I have no strength, and I feel exhausted. Is this the second stage?”
Have my organs started failing?
Ye Lingyun turned serious. “I cannot judge that just by looking. Yunshu, your last check-up was three months ago. Given that this type of disease is rare and there is not enough reference material, if you want to know the current state of your body, you must come to the hospital with me for an examination.”
Sheng Yunshu smiled. “Sister Ye, since I had Qiyue arrange for you to meet me, surely you understand what I mean. I do not want a check-up, and I will not take medicine. I just want to know how much time I have left. What kind of adverse reactions will follow?”
Ye Lingyun wanted to persuade her further, but seeing her determined eyes, she sighed.
“Two to three months.” Ye Lingyun finally told the truth. “If you enter the second stage, your organs will start to suffer functional decline. It starts with the digestive system, then the nervous system, and finally multi-organ failure. You will become increasingly tired; your body will not be able to obtain nutrients through normal channels, and it will not even be able to absorb nutritional supplements. Your weight will plummet, your muscles will atrophy, and there is a high probability of developing acute hematological disease. In the later stages, you may need to stay in a cultivation pod.”
She spoke very slowly, as if weighing every single word.
Sheng Yunshu nodded after listening, her fingers gripping herself tightly. “What about the third stage?”
“Yunshu.”
“Sister Ye, just tell me.” Her voice was soft. “I need to know what I will become so I can arrange things for the future.”
Ye Lingyun closed her eyes. “I have never seen a full third stage. I assume you have also gathered information on this. When the body deteriorates to the point where it cannot even absorb nutritional supplements, the pain the patient endures is beyond imagination. Euthanasia is the only relief.”
“Understood.” Sheng Yunshu stood up and smiled at her. “Thank you, Sister Ye. Please keep this a secret, especially from her. You know how much she has on her plate; I do not want to make her that tired.”
Ye Lingyun wanted to say more but eventually nodded.
Coming out of the café, Sheng Yunshu stood by the car without getting in.
The sun was beautiful and warm on her skin. She looked up at the sky and suddenly remembered how Sheng Qingshan had held her and cried that day.
She lowered her eyes and suppressed the sourness rising within her.
In the days that followed, Sheng Yunshu was busier than before.
Not busy with work, but busy keeping Sheng Qingshan company.
It was not that she did not care about her career; she wanted to film this movie well more than anyone. But with the blade truly at her throat, what she cared about most was Sheng Qingshan.
Due to the nature of their work, it was inconvenient for Sheng Yunshu to stay at Sheng Qingshan’s workplace for long, so their time together was mostly concentrated in the morning and evening.
Just like usual, Sheng Yunshu would cling to Sheng Qingshan when she woke up, pestering her to carry her to wash up. Sheng Yunshu even wanted her to help change her clothes, but Sheng Qingshan was the type who would flee if teased too hard, so Sheng Yunshu had to give up that idea.
In the past, Sheng Yunshu never entered the kitchen, but when a person reaches a certain moment in life, they want to do things they never did before.
She had originally intended to make pancakes. She had watched tutorials, and 01 had demonstrated for her; it was very simple.
But when it was her turn, either eggshells fell in, or she splattered egg liquid and flour all over the table while using the mixer.
If 01 had not dodged quickly, the little panda would have been all sticky with white batter.
Finally reaching the last step, Sheng Yunshu held the small pan and confidently told 01 to turn on the heat.
The first pancake was flipped too slowly and was ruined.
The second pancake had too much batter, making it as thick as a bun; it was burnt on the outside and raw in the middle.
The third pancake allowed her to finally find the rhythm. Once bubbles appeared on the surface, she gently flipped it with a spatula. It was golden yellow. Although the shape was not perfectly round, at least it was not burnt.
Looking at the pancake on the plate that was actually edible, a sense of pride welled up in her heart.
But before she could brag about it, the headache started again.
She had to hand the pan over to 01 and, making the excuse that she was tired, went back to her room to rest.
As she stepped out of the elevator, the kitten that had just crawled up the stairs ran toward her, meowing.
But Sheng Yunshu had no way to play with her now.
The kitten was not angry and climbed up Sheng Yunshu’s pant leg. Sheng Yunshu could not do anything about it, so she had to carry her into the bedroom. Sheng Qingshan had strictly forbidden her from bringing the cat into the room, let alone the bed.
Sheng Yunshu did not care; she knew she only said it to be firm and would not actually lay a hand on her.
It was the kitten’s first time in this unfamiliar place, and there was no fear, only the joy of expanding its territory.
As soon as Sheng Yunshu lay on the bed holding her, the kitten darted out to start marking its territory.
Watching the kitten rubbing against everything, a faint smile appeared on Sheng Yunshu’s face, but it was soon suppressed by her physical discomfort.
She curled her body, her hands unconsciously scratching her arms. The feeling of dizziness made her feel like the world was spinning even while lying down, and before long, she started dry-heaving.
A sharp, stinging pain came from her glands, and the sweet scent of star jasmine filled the room. Sweat beaded on Sheng Yunshu’s forehead. She hugged herself tightly, trying to adjust her condition before Sheng Qingshan came home.
The sweet scent became thicker, disturbing the kitten marking its territory. The kitten jumped onto the bed, stood in front of her face, and tilted its head to look at her.
“Meow?”
Those green eyes reflected Sheng Yunshu’s drenched, sweaty appearance. The little one hesitated for a few seconds, then walked forward and licked her face with its tongue.
Sheng Yunshu did not respond.
The kitten nudged her again, this time with a bit more force; its cool, wet nose pressed against her neck, gently nudging.
“Do not tease. Mommy is fine.”
As soon as she finished, another wave of nausea rolled over her. She suddenly braced herself and scrambled to the side of the bed. Her stomach was churning, but she could not vomit anything; only tears and saliva dripped down uncontrollably.
The kitten was startled by her sudden movement, sprang up from the bed, and landed back down, its four paws slipping on the sheets.
But it did not run away. Instead, it crawled over again, its small body pressing against Sheng Yunshu’s arm, its furry head rubbing against her wrist.
“Purr, purr, purr.”
The purring sound made Sheng Yunshu’s skin itch. She turned her head, and through her blurred vision, she saw the furball trying its hardest to squeeze into her arms. Its small body was tensed, as if it were trying its best to tell her that it was there.
Sheng Yunshu closed her eyes and reached out to pull the kitten into her arms.
“Did I scare you, Tuantuan?” Sheng Yunshu gently rubbed her chin on the kitten’s head, her voice weak. “Mommy might be dying soon. Later, you have to take care of Mommy in my place. Mommy is so bored living in such a big house alone. Tuantuan has to keep Mommy company, play with her, and give her lots of kisses.”
The kitten did not know if it understood, but it just pushed its head against her chin, and its purr grew louder.
Sheng Yunshu petted it, her voice intermittent, as if she were speaking to the kitten and as if she were speaking to herself. “Mommy has a lot of money; you can ask her to buy you whatever you want to eat. She is busy with work, so you must sleep well at night and not scratch the door. She sounds fierce, but she is actually incredibly soft-hearted. If you do something wrong, just lie at her feet and look pitiful; she definitely will not have the heart to scold you.”
Accompanied by the kitten’s rapid meowing, Sheng Yunshu gradually lost consciousness.
When she woke up again, it was 4:30 PM, an hour and a half before Sheng Qingshan would be home.
Sheng Yunshu felt that her condition was slightly better than before, though her body felt sticky.
She kissed the kitten that had been guarding her side, took a shower, and changed into clean clothes. As she prepared to leave with the kitten in her arms, she suddenly thought of something.
Sheng Yunshu went to the small study and found paper and a pen in the cabinet.
She placed Tuantuan on the desk. The little one stepped on the desktop, tilted its head to look at the pen in Sheng Yunshu’s hand, and stretched out its paw, wanting to grab it.
Sheng Yunshu gently moved its paw away, flattened the paper, and hovered the pen tip over it, but could not bring herself to write for a long time.
What should she write?
She had originally wanted to write a letter, a very solemn letter left for Sheng Qingshan.
But the moment the pen touched the paper, she suddenly felt that those words were too heavy; she did not want to add any more burdens to Sheng Qingshan.
So, she would not write a letter. She would write something else.
Sheng Yunshu thought for a moment and wrote a line at the very top of the paper:
“To-do list for Sheng Qingshan.”
After writing those eight words, she laughed at herself.
What the heck, it is not like a work handover? But after laughing, she did not cross it out and continued to write.
It had been a long time since she had written anything, and the first few lines were a bit slow, but as more and more of what she wanted to say welled up inside, the handwriting began to flow smoothly.
By the time she finished three full pages, Sheng Yunshu finally stopped, still feeling like she had more to say.
She folded the paper, found an envelope to carefully tuck it into, sealed it, and finally hid it in the deepest part of the drawer.
She intended to write a “to-do list” for Sheng Qingshan every day from now on.
Just as Sheng Qingshan walked into the living room, Sheng Yunshu rushed out from the elevator, hooking the cat with one hand and wrapping her other arm around Sheng Qingshan’s neck, giving her a firm kiss on the cheek.
“I missed you so much! What did you do today? Did you miss me?”
Even though she was already used to their daily kisses, Sheng Qingshan was still startled by her enthusiasm.
“Not busy, I missed you.”
She took half a step back and handed over a paper bag. “Something you love to eat.”
“What is it?” Sheng Yunshu shoved the kitten to her, took the paper bag, and looked inside. “Cloud cookies? Did the old lady not stop making them? How did you get them?”
Sheng Qingshan did not want to hold the cat, so she bent down and put it on the floor. “They can be made.”
An exclusive batch, to be eaten whenever she wanted.
Sheng Yunshu heard the implication in her words and laughed, saying she was abusing her power for personal gain. She reached out to take one, but was stopped by Sheng Qingshan.
“Go wash your hands.” Sheng Qingshan glanced at the kitten rolling around on the floor. “Do not eat anything after touching the cat; you will get sick.”
“Tuantuan is very clean, alright? Do not always target her!”
Sheng Yunshu mumbled discontentedly, then suddenly thought of something, a smile appearing on her face.
Watching the woman suddenly close the distance, Sheng Qingshan’s eyebrows twitched, and she had a bad premonition.
“I just kissed Tuantuan.”
Sheng Yunshu bent her fingers and gently rubbed Sheng Qingshan’s cheek, her peach-blossom eyes curving into crescents. “Do you want to come washes up with me?”