Time-Travel: The Tragic Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Makes a Comeback
CHAPTER 42: The 1970s Naive Supporting Girl (42)
After a long while, Lu Tingxiao seemed to remember something and hoarsely asked for his jacket.
The Lu family didn’t know what was going on, but they quickly helped him fetch it.
With difficulty, Lu Tingxiao reached into the jacket pocket and pulled out the pill, his mind flashing back to Song Susu’s firm voice.
“I can lie to anyone, but I won’t lie to the People’s Liberation Army. This pill is precious, make sure you carry it with you.”
Without hesitation, he swallowed it. Everyone in the room, including the medical staff, was startled.
“Commander Lu, your body can’t just take anything right now. What was that you just took?”
“It’s to replenish my vital energy,” he said hoarsely, then closed his eyes and lay back.
The medical staffs froze. What kind of medicine was that? Before they could even ask, it had been swallowed, and they hurried to inform the specialists.
The Lu family was completely bewildered.
Lu Tingxiao lay on the hospital bed with his eyes closed, looking as if he were asleep. Though the family still had doubts, their concern for him kept them from asking more.
The specialists who were called in didn’t comment much. In a family as prominent as the Lu family, who knew what secret remedies they might have, but just to be safe, he came over to observe and check the situation.
After monitoring for half an hour, no symptoms appeared. Nurses were instructed to keep watch at all times.
The military hospital where Lu Tingxiao was staying was located near S City.
——
Meanwhile, right after the New Year and the winter break, Song Susu started arranging for the five buildings across from the department store to be cleared.
Uncle Li got the construction approval documents through his contacts, and she began rebuilding the storefronts.
In just two days, she finished the designs. The maximum allowed floors in the approval was three, so she planned to build all three.
At this time, cement, bricks, and labor were cheap, so the initial costs were minimal. The bigger expenses would come later with the interior decorations, lighting, and furniture.
Xu Jun had already heard she was opening storefronts and booked several spaces in advance.
Xu Jun was sharp. The clothes she brought back from the south sold really well, and nothing like them was on the market. Her women’s clothing business was booming. During the New Year, all the stock was stacked at the shop entrance, and she managed to pull in 30,000 in sales in one go.
Now, she planned to expand with new branches. Once Song Susu finished building the storefronts, she wanted to add men’s clothing, underwear, accessories, and other categories.
Opening shops was a big project, and to make sure money wasn’t a problem, Xu Jun even paid four months’ worth of projected profit shares upfront.
The total sales numbers were beyond what she had dared to dream of before. After subtracting clothing costs, shipping, and other expenses, the net profit share came out to a solid 8,000.
Song Susu felt a little embarrassed accepting it. Just that sum almost covered the money she needed for the land.
But Xu Jun was generous and didn’t even think of backing out once she had promised.
Without Song Susu’s help in selecting clothing types and with the high-end, eye-catching store designs, she might not have made so much. It was truly a win-win partnership.
With 8,000 in the account, Song Susu poured even more effort into the construction, knowing that the sooner it was finished, the sooner she could start renting it out.
The renovation workers were acquaintances introduced by Wang Yanli. With someone trustworthy keeping an eye on things, Song Susu didn’t have to watch every minute and just checked in occasionally to see the progress.
Song Yuanchao often ran off to visit his martial arts master during the holidays. Song Susu had gone along a few times. The master, surnamed Qin, didn’t talk much but was a good person. He always offered plenty of expensive snacks to treat the siblings and clearly didn’t care about money.
He also liked Song Yuanchao a lot, always praising him as a promising young martial artist.
With her brother taken care of, Song Susu had Li Huihui around at home. During the break, Li Huihui came by frequently, even joining them for hot pot for several days. But then she suddenly got a gastroenteritis. To avoid worrying her parents and to keep neighbors from finding out, she slipped over to the farthest military hospital in the city to get treatment.
Li Huihui wanted to eat the fried rice Song Susu made, so Song Susu went home to prepare it and brought it over for lunch.
At the hospital entrance, she ran into He Jun.
He looked completely drained. His eyes were bloodshot, the rims red and slightly swollen, as if he had been crying.
Song Susu stepped forward to ask what happened and learned that Lu Tingxiao had been injured and was now in the hospital.
“It’s all my fault. Commander Lu got hurt trying to save me. He’s such a proud man! I’m the one who deserves to die! I'd rather be the one lying in that hospital bed…”
He Jun held back for a long moment but eventually broke down. He squatted, clutching his head and pulling at his hair, crying uncontrollably.
Song Susu sighed, gently coaxed him for a bit, and finally got him to tell her the hospital room number.
With Lu Tingxiao’s injuries this serious, he probably hadn’t taken the pill she had given him.
After all, they were acquaintances who had met many times, and he had helped her quite a few times. Watching him end up like this, heading down such a dangerous path, made her heart ache.
She was bringing dinner to Li Huihui and decided to stop by to check on him, reminding him to take his medicine.
In the hospital room, it was the sixth day of Lu Tingxiao’s stay. He could feel that ever since swallowing that pill two days ago, the pain from his injuries had eased considerably.
Since yesterday, he felt much stronger, and the wounds were clearly healing.
The medical staff said the wounds healing was normal, but later they would peel off the scabs and let new skin grow.
Lu Tingxiao had been injured before, but never recovered this quickly. He motioned for a wheelchair to be brought over, wanting to try getting out of bed.
The medical staff and his family immediately stopped him.
“No, Commander Lu. Your body is not ready yet. If you try to stand now, the wounds could reopen.”
Grandma Lu looked at her grandson worriedly and coaxed, “Tingxiao, my dear, don’t push yourself. Lie down and rest. When the time comes, you’ll be able to get up. Grandma will cut you an apple.”
Lu Tingxiao gave up reluctantly.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. The nurse opened it, and Song Susu peeked in, half her body in the room.
“Comrade Lu, may I come in?” she asked politely.
Lu Tingxiao’s eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t expected her to show up.
“Sure, come in.”
Song Susu carried a few nutrition supplements with her. She politely greeted the elders in the room before stepping over to Lu Tingxiao’s bedside.
She blinked and asked softly, “Did you take the medicine I gave you?”
Lu Tingxiao cleared his throat and nodded slightly, his voice low as he said, “I took it as soon as I woke up. It worked well. Thank you.”
Song Susu let out a relieved breath and leaned closer, inspecting his injuries. She murmured to herself, “So you still trust me a little. This medicine only does good for you, nothing bad. Don’t worry or be afraid. If your body responds quickly, it’ll heal in a day or two. If it’s slower, a week at most.”
“Mm.” Lu Tingxiao’s serious face flushed slightly. At first, he hadn’t fully believed her. Even after taking the medicine, he had been half skeptical. Now he felt a little embarrassed.
The Lu family watched the two with curiosity, surprise, and a touch of delight. Whispering like that so intimately didn’t look like something ordinary friends would do.
In all the days they had visited, no female colleagues had come to see Lu Tingxiao besides his superiors and teammates.
Colleagues never acted this close.
After their initial happiness, a wave of despair followed.
The man had no fertility, and they knew their son. He would never harm a girl…
Lu Tingxiao’s mother’s eyes turned red. She covered her mouth and turned away. His father sighed quietly, patting his son’s back to comfort him.
Lu Tingxiao’s grandmother dabbed at her tears, cautiously glancing at the young woman by her grandson’s bedside.
What a beautiful girl she was. Tall and graceful, with long hair, fair skin, and a bright, refined look that made her seem like a scholar. And the rare thing was, Tingxiao actually liked her…
Lu Tingxiao noticed his family’s gaze and quickly spoke to avoid any misunderstandings. “Mom, Dad, Grandma, let me introduce you. This is Song Susu, she is—”
Song Susu’s eyelids twitched. Fearing he would say something embarrassing about generation gaps, she hurriedly cut in, “A friend. We’re friends.”
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T/N: Heyyo π Sorry for disappearing for two days! Haha, got a fever again. Ugh, the weather’s been so crazy lately, I even got heatstroke. Anyway, I’ve finally uploaded the missing chapters, so enjoy!
Big thanks to Notasidedish for the super sweet review of this novel, and of course to all my awesome readers voting for this story on the NU website. You guys are the best, really appreciate all your support! π
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