Chapter 225: Chapter 123: Shedding the Scabby Skin

Zhang Huai’s thoughts were on Juhua, but at that very moment, she was calling out to Qingmu in a panic.

Her voice was so tense it sent Qingmu scrambling over in a flash. “What is it?” he asked breathlessly. “Juhua, what’s wrong?”

Juhua said urgently, “Brother, quick, come take a look at my face! What’s happening? The skin is peeling off!”

It turned out the rough patch on her face had grown harder and harder, so she hadn’t been as careful when washing it. Lately, she’d been busy enough to work up a sweat often, which meant she washed her face more frequently. Plus, it itched terribly under the hardened skin, making her desperate to just scratch it. For all these reasons, when she was washing her face that evening, she’d accidentally used a bit too much force and rubbed off a piece of the crusty scab. The shock was what made her call out for Qingmu.

Qingmu hurried closer to get a good look at Juhua’s face. “It’s healing!” he said, his voice filled with excitement. “It’s peeling! Wow! It’s really peeling!”

Juhua was ecstatic. “What’s it look like underneath?” she asked, her voice a mix of excitement and anxiety.

Qingmu replied, “The new skin underneath is red. Yeah, really red!”

Juhua couldn’t stand the suspense. His description wasn’t detailed enough. She quickly fetched a basin of water and went out under the eaves to see her reflection. But no matter how she twisted and turned, trying to find the right angle, the face reflected in the wooden basin looked like a black-and-white sketch—it was impossible to make out the color.

She sighed, reining in her excitement. “Ah, what’s the point of overthinking it?” she said, deflated. “Even if this patch peels off, it’s bound to leave a scar. There’s no way it’ll grow back the same color as the skin on my forehead.”

Qingmu quickly reassured her. “Healing doesn’t happen in a day or two. When we scrape ourselves, after the scab falls off, the new skin is always reddish. It takes a long time before it matches the skin around it. But Juhua, you have to be careful. Some scars never return to their original color. You have to take good care of it.”

Juhua had already slipped back into her nonchalant mindset. She smiled and said, “This patch has been on my face for so many years, how could it not leave a scar? Let’s not get our hopes up. Better than getting all worked up for nothing and feeling bad later.”

Just as they were speaking, Yang Family and Zheng Changhe returned. When they saw the state of Juhua’s face, they were overjoyed. Who would have thought that the very same affliction Qin Feng had exhausted himself trying to cure would start healing on its own?

Wiping away tears, Yang Family said over and over, “This is wonderful, just wonderful. It’s going to heal perfectly.”

Juhua couldn’t help but bring her back to reality. “Ma, don’t get carried away. It’s definitely going to leave a scar. How could it possibly heal perfectly?”

Yang Family chided her gently. “You’re always so pessimistic. Whenever anyone’s skin heals from a cut and the scab falls off, it looks just like this—all red, like a newborn baby’s skin. As long as you take good care of it, it can still heal up nicely. From now on, stay out of the hot sun and protect it carefully. I’m sure it’ll heal perfectly.”

Zheng Changhe didn’t know much about it either, so he just echoed whatever Yang Family said. In short, they both insisted that Juhua had to take meticulous care of it so the new skin would grow back to match the rest of her face.

Seeing how excited her parents were, Juhua sighed to herself. ’It’s not that easy,’ she thought. ’Even if I slathered it with pearl powder constantly, it probably still wouldn’t look the way it did before.’

’Stay out of the sun? Was that even possible?’

She was already getting less sun than most people; she didn’t work the main fields or even the smaller plots much. But it was impossible to avoid the sun completely, especially since her favorite place to be was the vegetable garden.

’It was strange, but after the last treatment’s failure, she found she didn’t care as much about her appearance anymore. A country girl with a scar on her face was just a country girl with a scar. In a few decades, everyone—scarred or not—would end up looking the same anyway!’

Qingmu saw the look on Juhua’s face and said with a smile, “Don’t get your hopes up too high, but don’t completely ignore it either. You still need to protect it. Definitely try to stay out of the sun. Our family doesn’t need you working in the fields, so when you go to the vegetable garden, try to stick to the mornings and evenings. Don’t go out when the sun is high. And don’t pick at the scab. It’s best to let it get good and ready to fall off on its own.”

Juhua nodded. She felt her brother’s advice was much more practical. Unlike their parents, he wasn’t lost in unrealistic fantasies.

Hearing Qingmu, Yang Family quickly added her own warning. “That’s right, you mustn’t pick at it! Juhua, how did your face get a hard scab on it anyway? And now it’s peeling off… what’s happening? If you say it’s Doctor Qin’s medicine finally working, why would it take until now?”

Juhua was just as confused as they were. She suspected it had something to do with washing her face with chrysanthemum tea—the tea was supposed to clear heat and detoxify the body. ’As for Qin Feng’s medicine,’ she mused, ’it made my face fester back then, but maybe that actually helped. It might have drawn out some of the toxins.’

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