What on earth had made this man, who had never cared about her before, suddenly become so concerned?
Wensining stared blankly at Lu Luochen, completely forgetting that her arm was being tightly grasped by him.
"Going back?" A villager, carrying a hoe with a basket hanging in front filled with freshly dug vegetables still covered in soil, passed by them. After uttering this simple greeting, the villager didn't stop but continued walking forward with the hoe on his shoulder.
This casual greeting broke the strange atmosphere between them.
Lu Luochen's hand slid up from Wensining's arm to the top and gently squeezed her upper arm. Naturally, he pulled her into his embrace. Feeling a tickling sensation on his neck, he looked down to see that it was Wensining's hair causing the trouble.
He reached out and lifted her long hair up. The short strands at the bottom were caught on the button behind his neck. As Lu Luochen raised his arm, Wensining's head leaned back against his chest.
The back of her head touched his lips. The gentle touch sent an electric shock through Wensining's body. She shivered and didn't dare to move her tilted body.
Seeing this scene, Xiao Zhan was instantly filled with jealousy. From his angle, it seemed as if Lu Luochen was caressing Wensining's hair. Such an intimate gesture, right in front of his eyes, was like a sharp sting to his brain.
He deliberately shifted his gaze, not wanting to witness their closeness.
"We need to hurry up." Snapping out of her daze, Wensining struggled free from Lu Luochen's touch and took several steps forward.
As she passed by Xiao Zhan, in order to avoid any contact, she maintained her initial brisk pace without pausing.
After a long and winding journey, they finally arrived at the home of the divine doctor.
When they pushed open the two wooden doors, the hinges creaked, like a doorbell announcing their arrival.
Plastic sheets were laid over the cracks in the courtyard stones, and fresh herbs were thinly spread on them. There were still some herbs in the bamboo basket beside, and a steaming cup of water was placed nearby. It seemed that the owner had just left.
Wensining released the door handle and carefully lowered her foot, trying to avoid stepping on the plastic sheets.
"Coming!" The divine doctor emerged from the small room beside, holding a flat woven tray in front of him. Greeting them, he sat cross - legged on the ground.
Xiao Zhan walked over and squatted down, rummaging through the herbs. "Grandpa, didn't you want to talk to Miss Wen?"
The divine doctor's current behavior made it seem as if he wasn't the one who had summoned Wensining. His eyes were only fixed on his patch of herbs, completely ignoring the person waiting in front of him.
"Doctor Li, the plaster I got from you last time has run out. Look at the scars on my face. Most of them seem to have faded."
Since the divine doctor was not taking the initiative, Wensining stepped forward on her own. She covered her chest and squatted in front of the divine doctor, turning her face sideways for him to examine.
This was the first time Xiao Zhan had seen the scars on Wensining's face up close. The blood vessels were clearly visible, and there were dark pigment deposits underneath. Her once - delicate face was now marred by these scars, losing its beauty and leaving only a hideous appearance.
Wensining looked up at Xiao Zhan. The pity in his eyes was something she had never seen since she got the scars.
In the past, people had either been afraid of her, curious, or pitied her, but no one had ever looked at her with the kind of pity she saw in Xiao Zhan's eyes at this moment.
What was he pitying? Wensining was curious.
"Grandpa!" Xiao Zhan snatched the herbs from the divine doctor's hand. "Miss Wen is talking to you."
The divine doctor silently glanced at his grandson and then at Wensining. He bent down and pushed the herbs in front of him. Just before Xiao Zhan was about to speak again, he struggled to stand up from the ground.
"Come in with me!"
Xiao Zhan also moved forward, but the divine doctor turned around and blocked him.
Watching them enter the house, Xiao Zhan turned to look at Lu Luochen, who seemed nonchalant and quite different from his behavior on the way here.
"What are the scars on Miss Wen's face from?"
"As the grandson of a divine doctor, can't you tell?"
Xiao Zhan stared deeply at Lu Luochen, not understanding at all why he would ask such a question.
Just because he was the grandson of a divine doctor, did he have to figure it out?
Feeling insulted in terms of his intelligence, Xiao Zhan also assumed a haughty attitude and didn't want to talk to Lu Luochen anymore.
Entering the small wooden house, the divine doctor told Wensining to close the door.
"Have you used up the plaster?" the divine doctor asked, turning around.
The divine doctor had known the real secret behind the scars from the very beginning. The plaster was just a disguise for those who didn't know. She needed it to reveal her true appearance.
"Yes. I need to completely get rid of it in a short time," Wensining said as she lifted her hand and removed the fake scar from her cheek right in front of the divine doctor.
Without the scar, the divine doctor looked at Wensining with extremely gentle eyes.
"Has he discovered it?"
"Yes. But he only suspects. He hasn't really found out yet."
The divine doctor turned and walked to the cabinet. He reached up and took down the box placed on the top. Carrying the wooden box, he walked to the old - fashioned table and opened it. There were about seven or eight small and large medicine bottles inside. The divine doctor turned the lid of the wooden box and faced the whole box towards Wensining.
"Take these back. Apply them three times a day. After using them all, you can remove the scar on your face," the divine doctor said.
Each bottle was only about 50 milliliters. It would take one to two months to use them all up.
Wensining looked up, her expression a bit anxious. "Can you shorten the time? It would be best if I could remove the scar while still in the village."
She wasn't afraid of covering the scar with herbs. Even if she had to wear a white gauze every day, she wanted to get rid of the scar as soon as possible. Lu Luochen's changes in recent days had made her feel uneasy. She wasn't worried about Wen Minhao discovering her true face, but Lu Luochen was different. He was backed by the Lu Group. Maybe every day and every night he was looking for the right opportunity to cancel the engagement and drive her out of the Lu mansion.
Whether she could stay in the Lu family didn't really matter to Wensining. The only thing was that she couldn't let the Wen family know her true face. She still hadn't found out the real truth about her parents' death.
Facing her eagerness, the divine doctor asked, "Are you okay with using herbs that might make you lose your sense of smell?"
"Yes. I'll accept anything as long as I can remove the scar in a short time," Wensining said excitedly, almost reaching out to grab the divine doctor's hand and plead.
Actually, the divine doctor had anticipated this and had already prepared a plaster for application in the side compartment.
He took out the plaster and also grabbed a piece of white gauze.
"Sit here!"
He kicked a high stool in front of her, and Wensining obediently sat on it.