The Sickly Beauty Gives Up Struggling [Rebirth] Chapter 1

“Buzz…”

Li Rong transferred the hazardous substance to his left hand and pulled his phone from the right pocket of his lab coat.

The screen lit up, showing an email notification from Professor Jiang.

The experimental results of Project GT201 were in.

Li Rong couldn’t help but lift his eyes eagerly, unlocking his phone with a swipe of his fingerprint to read the email.

A glowing loading window spun endlessly, its gray-black helix resembling a whirlpool. It was only then that he noticed the signal was incredibly weak.

He frowned slightly.

Although the hazardous materials lab was in the basement, poor signal reception had never been an issue before. Pondering for a moment, he decided to pocket his phone and check it later.

The fluorescent lighting in the corridor cast a cool, sterile glow, blending with the damp chill of the air and the faint aroma of grilled sausages from the school gates.

Pushing open the silver metal door to the cold storage room, Li Rong stepped inside. As the frosty air enveloped him, the door silently closed behind him.

Just as he reached for the glass storage cabinet, the ventilation fan atop the mechanical unit suddenly began to whir.

The sound of pressurized air compressing through the blades echoed faintly. Those perpetually shadowy vents seemed like the hidden pupils of a predator, their gaze icy and lifeless.

A chill ran up Li Rong’s spine. He caught a faint almond-like scent in the air.

His pupils contracted sharply. Acting on pure instinct, he turned and lunged for the door handle, throwing all his weight against it. But the door, once so easily opened, now stood immovable—a silent reaper watching his desperate struggle.

The cold seeped into his veins. Collapsing to the floor, his vision blurred with blood as his fingers slipped from the handle. The sharp edge of the lock tore into his fingertips, drawing crimson streaks, but he felt no pain.

A final thought flickered in his mind before darkness took over.

Project GT201 must have succeeded.

***

“Is he awake yet? I’ve got work to do. This is so annoying.”

Li Rong vaguely felt a light shove against his shoulder. As sensation returned to his body, his senses rapidly came back to life.

The harsh light stung his eyes. He winced, cautiously squinting to open them a crack.

White walls, white lamps, a white air conditioning vent, and gray-blue curtains greeted him. Without needing to inhale the faint antiseptic scent, he knew he was in a hospital.

Did the security team in the monitoring room find me in time?

He tried to speak, but his throat felt scraped raw.

Swallowing hard to gather some moisture, he croaked, “I’m not dead.”

It wasn’t a cry of relief—just a calm statement of fact.

“Good thing your room door was shut tight, and the window left ajar. After almost a week in the ICU, they managed to save you.”

A gruff voice spoke nearby, accompanied by a clammy hand gripping his shoulder.

Room? Window?

But wasn’t he poisoned in the hazardous materials lab?

“Cen Xiao…” 

Li Rong instinctively called out the name of the one person he knew would respond.

Yet several seconds passed with no answer from that suffocatingly familiar presence.

Turning his head slowly, he barely lifted his eyelids to glance at the people beside him.

His lips moved hesitantly. “…Uncle, Aunt?”

A pair of relatives who had severed ties with him six years ago, offering no help in his time of need.

If his memory wasn’t so sharp, he wouldn’t have recognized them.

Gu Zhaonian lowered his eyes and used the base of his palms to wipe his eyes, brushing away the tears. Then, he took a deep breath, as if steeling himself for an impending storm. With bloodshot and murky eyes, he solemnly fixed his gaze on Li Rong’s face.

“There’s something you must brace yourself for.”

Li Rong blinked, sizing up the old relative in front of him who seemed unusually young. He didn’t rush to respond.

Gu Zhaonian glanced at his wife beside him, who immediately gave him a prodding look.

After a brief exchange of glances, Gu Zhaonian nudged his wife lightly with his elbow. She bit her lip and elbowed him back forcefully before awkwardly turning her head away.

Li Rong quietly watched the farce in front of him, a hint of impatience welling up inside.

Gu Zhaonian scratched his head, clenched his teeth, and finally made up his mind. With immense sorrow etched on his face, he said, “Your parents passed away.”

Li Rong: “???”

Li Rong: “…”

He already knew they had passed—six years ago.

Gu Zhaonian waited for his young nephew to break down in tears and lose control. He even eyed the emergency call button, ready to summon a doctor immediately if Li Rong fainted.

But five minutes later, seeing Li Rong’s calm and composed face, Gu Zhaonian’s expression turned awkward.

The woman whispered, “Maybe he’s too shocked to react.”

Gu Zhaonian stammered uncertainly, “Your parents… died of gas poisoning. They couldn’t be saved.”

Li Rong frowned slightly, finally noticing the subtle strangeness in his surroundings.

The phone in Gu Zhaonian’s hand was an outdated model from years ago. His aunt’s handbag, hanging from her wrist, was also an old, long-outdated luxury brand design. He was sitting in a shared three-person hospital room with gray-blue curtains drawn, faintly hearing the occasional muffled cough from the adjacent bed.

On the hospital’s dirt-streaked wall was a square-shaped promotional sign, with bold capital letters reading: “Neurology Department, A City People’s Hospital.”

Even though Cen Xiao was unreliable, he would never arrange such a subpar medical environment for him.

So this wasn’t a case of narrowly escaping gas poisoning. He had returned to six years ago, the night he lost everything in an instant.

Li Rong propped himself up on the mattress with his arms and slowly sat upright. He glanced down at the wrinkled hospital gown bunched around his abdomen. A loose thread had somehow tangled around his wrist, leaving a bloody mark.

It was exactly the kind of neglect he had experienced during this week, when no one truly cared about him.

Forcing himself to be patient, he asked, “Is there warm water?”

Gu Zhaonian and his wife exchanged glances, each seeing confusion in the other’s eyes.

They couldn’t understand why Li Rong seemed so indifferent to his parents’ death, as if he had no emotional attachment to them.

The woman awkwardly squeezed out a strained smile and clumsily walked off to fetch water for Li Rong. Gu Zhaonian stood frozen, unsure what to say to him.

After drinking a cup of warm water, Li Rong felt significantly better.

He still remembered how the medication from his treatments over the past week had damaged his stomach, which had taken at least half a year to fully heal. Now, even the slightest pressure on his stomach made him feel nauseous.

Seeing Li Rong’s calm expression, the woman couldn’t help but wring her hands nervously. Tentatively, she said, “Li Rong, the doctor said you can be discharged today. Your aunt knows about what happened at your house, but you also understand… your cousin is preparing for the college entrance exams this year. Our house really isn’t as big as yours, so…”

Gu Zhaonian interrupted her quickly, “This isn’t the time to talk about that!”

She retorted snidely, “There’s only one study room for our son to use for tutoring. If I don’t say it, will you?”

Gu Zhaonian immediately fell silent.

Li Rong curled his lips into a faint smirk. His eyelids drooped, casting delicate shadows from his lashes.

He slowly placed the water cup back on the bedside table and spoke in a supremely indifferent tone: “Don’t bother. My cousin won’t get in, just donate directly to A University.”

He was simply stating a fact.

His cousin had always been an incompetent failure. In his past life, when Gu Zhaonian claimed financial difficulties to avoid paying for his medical bills, he had instead donated enough for fifty small mobile libraries to A University to get his son, who scored less than 300 on the college entrance exam, into their finance department.

His woman, disregarding Li Rong’s condition, immediately pulled a long face. “Your cousin may not be as academically gifted as you, but at least his reputation is clean. Honestly, with your family’s current reputation, good luck finding a decent girl to marry!”

Gu Zhaonian tugged at his wife’s sleeve, but she shook his hand off.

“Am I wrong? The Song family would never let Yuan Yuan stay with your nephew!”

In the past, Li Rong would have cast a cold glance, closed his eyes, and then lazily reopened them while shifting his gaze, too indifferent to say a word.

But this time, Li Rong was silent for a moment. His pale lips quirked into a lazy smile, his gaze clear and cunning. “Fine. Whoever donates to A University is a dog.”

Gu Zhaonian’s face instantly darkened.

He had indeed planned a backup plan. If his son couldn’t pass, he was prepared to donate a significant sum to A University. But now that Li Rong had said this, how could he proceed?

The conversation hit a deadlock.

Gu Zhaonian grabbed his briefcase, his breathing louder than the man suppressing a cough in the next bed. “Your aunt and I have work to do. We’re leaving. Pack your things. Your homeroom teacher wants you back at school as soon as possible.”

Li Rong responded flatly, “Not sending you off.”

Reliving the same events again couldn’t stir his emotions.

In time, as rumors spread and public opinion spiraled out of control, Gu Zhaonian would sever all ties with the Li family, fearing even the slightest association.

Grabbing his wife’s hand, Gu Zhaonian gave Li Rong a long, deep look. There was no warmth in his gaze, only endless detachment.

Then he strode out of the hospital room without looking back, slamming the door behind him with a loud “bang.”

The noise startled the two patients in the adjacent beds awake, their coughing erupting in turn.

A frail, elderly voice asked, “That uncle of yours is a bit much. Do you have anywhere to go, child?”

“Yes.” He answered firmly at first, but then hesitated, glancing at his phone. He stared blankly at the screen, murmuring uncertainly, “I think so?”