<h4>Chapter 2</h4>
Lu Zhe''s ce was rather run-down. The narrow living room had no space for a dining table. By the window sat a faded sofa and coffee table, while directly ahead was a TV cab with a television. The small space was easily taken in at a nce.
Su Ci, ced on the coffee table by Lu Zhe, looked with surprise at the bowl of rabbit food in front of her. She leaned in to smell it - the food contained oats, corn, and grass. While not unpleasant, it wasn''t particrly appetizing either.
Had Lu Zhe finally realized that as a baby rabbit, she wasn''t suited for and didn''t like carrots?
Su Ci was someone who valued her life, so to avoid starving, she took a deep breath and tried a bite of the rabbit food.
The rabbit food had a strong grassy taste in her mouth.
As Su Ci was taking small bites of her food, Lu Zhe came over with a te of stir-fried beef and ced it beside her. He then sat down on the sofa to eat his dinner.
It smelled wonderful.
The savory aroma of meat wafted over. Looking at the beautifully colored, fragrant beef, Su Ci suddenly found the rabbit food in her mouth hard to swallow.
Lu Zhe noticed the rabbit, who had been eating diligently before, had stopped and was staring intently at the te of beef, as if ready to pounce on it at any moment.
Finally seeing some emotion in those dark eyes, Lu Zhe pressed his cold fingertip against the rabbit''s pink little nose and said coldly, "You can''t eat this."
Rabbits were herbivores and couldn''t eat meat.
With her nose being pressed, Su Ci came to her senses, knowing that in her current rabbit form she couldn''t eat meat.
Oh, how miserable she was.
Early morning came, and the rain had stopped. The entire city seemed freshly washed, with the air filled with the scent of grass and earth, full of vitality.
The room was quite narrow, only able to fit a single bed that barely amodated the tall young man.
In his drowsy state, Lu Zhe felt something fluffy brush against his arm, creating a ticklish sensation. He opened his eyes, his dark pupils still clouded with sleepiness.
He turned his head to look and saw the small white rabbit, like a snowball, had somehow made its way onto his bed and was brushing against his arm, trying to get closer.
Lu Zhe grabbed the rabbit and held it up to his face.
Suddenly meeting the young man''s dark eyes, Su Ci froze - was he awake? She had been nning to steal a kiss from him.
Originally, Su Ci thought that by acting cute and being adorable, she could easily get Lu Zhe to kiss her, as it was hard for anyone to resist such a soft and cute little animal.
However, this didn''t apply to Lu Zhe.
Since bringing her home, apart from preparing her food and asionally patting her head, Lu Zhe hadn''t shown any other signs of affection.
Lu Zhe was too aloof, really difficult to get close to.
Now that her attempt at stealing a kiss had failed, Su Ci felt dejected, her two rabbit ears drooping lifelessly.
Such a tiny snowball, looking so pitiful with drooping ears, was heart-meltingly cute. Lu Zhe''s dark eyes fixed on the small rabbit, his gaze softening slightly. He raised his other hand and gently pinched one of its long ears.
It was fluffy and soft.
Rabbit ears were full of blood vessels, and when the young man''s cold fingers suddenly pinched her ear tip, Su Ci''s whole body trembled. A strange, tingling sensation spread through her, making her body go weak.
Why were her ears so sensitive!
The baby rabbit before him was small enough to fit in one palm, small enough to fit in a teacup. Its red eyes were bright like gleaming rubies, now staring at him nkly, somehow making his heart soften.
Lu Zhe yed with the rabbit''s pink-white ears a few more times, feeling it tremble slightly in his palm, and he curved his lips into a smile.
......
Thendscaping at First High School was beautiful, and after being washed by the rain, the leaves were a vibrant green. White magnolia petals carpeted the ground, and the campus was filled with the fragrance of flowers.
After being reborn and spending a night to regain herposure, Zhao Youyou was no longer as naive as in her previous life. This morning, she didn''t follow her friend''s advice to wear heavy makeup that had ruined her naturally pretty features. At eighteen, she didn''t need foundation to enhance her appearance.
Breathing in the familiar floral scent of the campus, she entered her ssroom with high spirits.
As expected, the originally noisy ssroom fell silent the moment she stepped in.
Zhao Youyou confidently met her ssmates'' shocked gazes, maintaining herposure under their scrutiny.
"Why does Zhao Youyou look prettier?"
"Wow, is that really Zhao Youyou? How did she change so much after just two days off?"
"She''s not wearing makeup today, is she?"
The suddenly more beautiful and poised Zhao Youyou caused quite a stir in the ss.
Sitting in thest row, Lu Zhe put down his backpack and took his seat, paying no attention to themotion Zhao Youyou was causing.
He had noticed when leaving home that his left leg was beginning to weaken, causing him to arrive at school ten minutester than usual.
Lu Zhe''s eyes darkened as he lowered his gaze.
Next to him, Li Dongliang moved his desk closer to Lu Zhe''s, breaking their usual distance. He grinned mischievously and said, "Lu Zhe, did Zhao Youyou get stic surgery over the weekend? How did she suddenly be so pretty?"
Lu Zhe was the top student in their grade, and with his outstanding appearance, he was very popr at school. However, Zhao Youyou had revealed on the school forum that Lu Zhe was a child her parents had adopted from an orphanage. Though nominally her brother, he was actually treated as a servant in their home. Lu Zhe had fallen from his pedestal overnight.
The boys were relieved to have one less formidable rival, while the girls'' pink-tinted dreams were shattered.
Most shocking was that at the beginning of this semester, Zhao Youyou had leaked Lu Zhe''s medical report, and the whole school learned that he had a terminal illness.
Already naturally distant, coupled with his orphanage background, servant status in Zhao Youyou''s family, low social standing, and incurable disease, Lu Zhe had be someone the sspletely avoided.
Some people sympathized with him, but more often there was mockery and malicious nder. Some even expressed concerns on the school forum about being infected by his bad luck, questioning why someone with such limited time left to live hadn''t dropped out of school.
Lu Zhe raised his eyes and gave Li Dongliang a cold look.
"Never mind, forget I asked."
Meeting Lu Zhe''s gaze, Li Dongliang felt a chill.
Although everyone mocked Lu Zhe for being sick and dying, Li Dongliang had witnessed how formidable Lu Zhe was in a fight. Once, Lu Zhe was cornered in an alley by five people. Though usually quiet, he had fought all five of them, fighting ruthlessly as if his life depended on it, forcing those five outsiders to flee the alley in defeat.
So when it came to actually confronting Lu Zhe, Li Dongliang was neither willing nor brave enough - he wasn''t tired of living, after all.
Lu Zhe ignored Li Dongliang and opened his backpack to take out his textbook, but his fingers touched something soft and fluffy.
He looked down.
In his backpack, the snowball-like little rabbit was staring at him with ruby-like eyes.
Lu Zhe fell silent.
When had the rabbit managed to sneak into his backpack?
The previously dark backpack suddenly lit up. Su Ci looked up and immediately saw Lu Zhe''s handsome but cold face outside the bag.
She didn''t try to hide, instead deliberately softening her gaze and looking at him withplete dependence.
Lu Zhe''s personality was too cold; even a gentle, non-threatening cute creature like her found it hard to get close to him, let alone get him to kiss her.
She had sneaked into his backpack this morning just to stay by Lu Zhe''s side, hoping for more chances to interact with him. She refused to sit idly in the cardboard box waiting for fate to take its course.
Under Lu Zhe''s scrutinizing gaze, she nuzzled his hand that had reached into the bag, being as soft and adorable as possible.
This was Lu Zhe''s first time keeping a pet, and he wasn''t sure if all rabbits were like this.
A bit mischievous, escaping from the cardboard box several times, yet also obedient, with beautiful wet eyes looking at him softly, gently nuzzling his palm.
Feeling the warmth in his palm, Lu Zhe lightly stroked the rabbit a few times.
He didn''tpletely zip up the backpack, leaving a small opening, then tucked the bag into his desk drawer.
Zhao Youyou''s transformation had shocked the ss, and she remained the center of attention throughout several ss periods.
Especially among the male students, many who had previously disliked her heavy makeup and dramatic behavior were now captivated by her suddenly refined appearance. Even in the in white and blue school uniform, she looked vibrant and graceful. When she nced at them, the boys would blush, triggering waves of teasing from their ssmates.
They suddenly realized that the current Zhao Youyou was nearly as beautiful as the ss beauty from next door.
Even when Su Ci was hiding in the backpack, during break time, she could hear nearby students discussing Zhao Youyou, their conversations filled with surprise and praise about how pretty she had be.
Su Ci knew this was the protagonist''s halo effect after her reincarnation.
But what bewildered her was that although Zhao Youyou had been a poor student before her reincarnation, she suddenly ranked in the top ten of the ss afterward. She continued to improve until she reached the top ten in her grade. The reincarnated Zhao Youyou seemed to have gotten a new brain, transforming from a struggling student into an academic star.
Su Ci enviously poked her little head out from the backpack in the drawer, looking up at Lu Zhe, wishing she could quickly return to human form.
There was a PE ss in the morning.
As ss time approached, students gradually left the ssroom for the gymnasium.
Li Dongliang, who had been sleeping on his desk, suddenly became energetic. He grabbed his basketball from the corner, spinning it on his finger as he strode out.
"Youyou, let''s go, ss is about to start," urged her deskmate Ling Hui.
She noticed that Zhao Youyou hadn''t just be prettier; her personality seemed to have changed too. She was no longer as sharp-tongued, aggressive, and difficult to get along with as before. Now Zhao Youyou would smile at her gently, and she quite liked this change.
Zhao Youyou looked toward Lu Zhe, who sat in thest row. She remembered that due to his health condition, teachers had excused him from PE ss: after all, if anything happened, the school would be responsible. So while the whole ss went to PE, Lu Zhe stayed alone in the ssroom.
Zhao Youyou turned away, "Alright, let''s go."
Only Lu Zhe remained in the now eerily quiet ssroom.
A snow-white figure quietly crept out of the backpack, jumping directly onto Lu Zhe''s leg.
Lu Zhe continued writing on his paper without pause, using his other hand to easily catch the rabbit that hadnded on his leg.
He ced the rabbit on the desk and spoke in a pleasant voice, "Don''t move around."
The young man before her had distinct angr features in profile, with cold, hard lines and deep-set eyes as he concentrated on his calctions. Su Ciy there, carefully observing Lu Zhe, having to admit that even as a supporting character, he was strikingly handsome.
When Lu Zhe put down his pen, he noticed the white baby rabbit lying quietly on his textbook, being unusually well-behaved.
He lowered his head.
Seeing his handsome face up close, Su Ci''s eyes brightened: she wanted him to kiss her sweet, adorable little self.
Lu Zhe reached out to pat the rabbit''s head, then picked up the cup behind Su Ci and walked out.
Watching Lu Zhe''s figure leave the ssroom, Su Ciy down dejectedly, having failed again in her quest for a kiss.
At that moment, a tall, thin male student walked in, his eyes lighting up with surprise and something else when he saw the empty ssroom.
The student, Jia Mingyang, strode to thest row.
Su Ci hadn''t expected someone to suddenly appear at Lu Zhe''s seat, so she remained motionless on the desk. The neer clearly paid no attention to the small rabbit on Lu Zhe''s desk.
Jia Mingyang quickly took off his watch and pulled out Lu Zhe''s backpack from the drawer, hiding the watch inside it.
Su Ci''s eyes widened as she watched his crude attempt at deception. Her gaze fell on the boy''s wrist, where she could see his life value on the inner side: five yellow boxes on the bar.
Su Ci remembered Fu Gui telling her that a red box represented one year, a yellow box represented ten years, and a green box also represented ten years, indicating a lifespan over a hundred years.
Even without seeing the numbers beside it, Su Ci knew he had at least fifty years of life left.
Though this boy''s character was questionable, his lifespan was quite long.
Watching him stuff the backpack back into the drawer and hurriedly leave, Su Ci narrowed her eyes.