The night sky darkened. The stars, which were initially sparse, one or two here and there, now became so numerous that it was impossible to count them with the naked eye.
They had been inside for a long time, so long that Xiao Zhan started to feel drowsy sitting on the chair.
The cicadas around were chirping noisily, and their buzzing sounds lingered in his ears. Xiao Zhan looked up at the half - hanging candle lamp on the eave and watched the mosquitoes swirling around the hot lampshade.
Snap!
Lu Luochen slapped his palm, curled his fingers in, and flicked away the mosquito by its tail with his fingertips. His deep eyes were fixed on the room Wen Sining had entered. His heart had already flown into that room.
"Mr. Lu, actually, there are some things I'm quite curious about," Xiao Zhan turned around and faced Lu Luochen again.
"Sorry, I'm not in the mood to satisfy your curiosity right now."
Before Xiao Zhan could utter the question that had been lingering in his mind for a long time, Lu Luochen flatly refused him.
Everyone was staring intently at the wooden door. After a long while, it finally opened from the inside. The divine doctor stepped out first, followed by Wen Sining, who was covering her cheek and walking slowly.
Her open palm just covered the scarred half of her face, and her loose hair covered half of her palm.
"Grandpa, why did you take so long in there?" Xiao Zhan came to the divine doctor's side, but his eyes were on Wen Sining.
He smelled a certain odor and frowned, trying to peek at the cheek behind Wen Sining's palm.
The divine doctor glanced at Wen Sining, folded his hands behind his back, and walked towards the pile of herbs in the yard with his head down.
Without an answer, everyone present pinned their hopes on Wen Sining, one of the main characters.
"Miss Wen, your clothes?" Xiao Zhan pointed at Wen Sining's collar.
The white collar was stained with gray - black ointment. As her neck rubbed against the fabric, the gray - black area kept expanding.
Lu Luochen walked up to Wen Sining and looked closely at the stain on her collar. "Ointment?"
Wen Sining had to admire Lu Luochen's intuition. She had covered her face so tightly, yet he guessed it just from the stain on her neck!
Reminded by Lu Luochen, Xiao Zhan also got the answer. "Grandpa made a medicinal patch for you?"
Wen Sining nodded and also took her hand off her cheek.
Just as they had guessed, the half of her face that should have had a scar was now wrapped in white gauze, with the color of the squeezed - out ointment showing at the edge.
"Miss Wen, don't worry. The ointment my grandpa made is more magical than any other. If you use it according to the amount grandpa arranged for you, the scar on your face will soon fade away, and you'll regain your original beauty."
It was not self - praise. The divine doctor's ointment was more effective than any beauty product.
In fact, the ointment on Wen Sining's face was not a scar - removing product but a beauty - enhancing one.
Wen Sining nodded frequently, cooperating with Xiao Zhan. "It really works. I used a box before, and the scar has faded a bit. The divine doctor said that just seven days of applying the ointment is enough for the scar to completely disappear from my skin."
"Seven days?" Even Xiao Zhan, who trusted the divine doctor, was quite surprised.
A new scar would take at least half a month, or even longer, to heal. Could this old scar really disappear in just a week?
Lu Luochen stared at Wen Sining's face and asked with interest, "Once a day?"
"No," Wen Sining was like an encyclopedia, answering all the questions one by one.
Whether the medicinal patch was really effective couldn't be proven just by her words. Their original itinerary was two days, but now they had to stay for a few more days.
The divine doctor's house was large, and there were many empty rooms. Xiao Zhan warmly invited Wen Sining and the others to stay, even citing the divine doctor as a reason.
For better medicine - changing and to keep track of the situation, Wen Sining simply decided to ignore Xiao Zhan and stay with Lu Luochen.
"We can share one room."
Xiao Zhan was carrying the bedding and pillows. After putting down one set, he was about to take the other to the next room.
Lu Luochen stopped him at the door and casually took the pillow from his hand. "Thank you, Mr. Xiao."
There were clearly extra rooms, but he didn't need to stay in a closed space with Wen Sining.
Xiao Zhan lingered at the door and didn't want to leave. He glanced at Wen Sining, who was bending over to make the bed, and said to Lu Luochen, "The bed is very narrow. Mr. Lu, you might as well rest in the next room."
"No need," Lu Luochen refused his suggestion again.
"The room is small. It will be very crowded if you two stay together."
"It's okay. A bit of closeness makes it more intimate. Besides, our relationship doesn't require an extra room."
At this point, Xiao Zhan wanted to explain further but couldn't find a reason to speak.
The door was closed from the inside by Lu Luochen. The floating light in the room shone on the window, and the moving shadows of the people were also reflected on it.
"Xiao Zhan, come here," the divine doctor standing at the door of the opposite room said sternly.
Xiao Zhan put the extra quilt on the long bench in the corridor and walked into the divine doctor's room.
"Close the door," the divine doctor ordered.
Xiao Zhan had already walked away from the door. Hearing the divine doctor's words, he took a step back and closed the door.
"Sit down," the divine doctor pointed at the chair opposite.
As people got old and had to carry shoulder poles on weekdays, their backs were bent. Standing beside the young people, they looked short and small, like children.
Only after Xiao Zhan sat down did the divine doctor show his imposing manner.
"Did you meet Miss Wen when you were in Licheng?" the divine doctor asked right away.
Had he met her or not? Xiao Zhan was caught in a dilemma.
"Grandpa, do you remember the little girl who used to play with me when I was a kid?"
The divine doctor's eyes flashed, and he stared at him.
"I saw her in Licheng. She's now the head of a company. She's very capable and still as decisive and bold as she was when she was a kid. But..." Xiao Zhan sounded a bit melancholy.
"Does she look the same as Miss Wen?" the divine doctor asked.
Hearing this, Xiao Zhan was so surprised that he jumped up from the chair, hitting his thigh. "Grandpa, have you seen them too?"
The divine doctor felt for the pocket watch in his pocket, took it out, and showed it to Xiao Zhan.
"Open it and take a look!"
Xiao Zhan had no memory of this thing. Judging from the age of the pocket watch, it was indeed something from his childhood.
Xiao Zhan opened the cover of the pocket watch with a puzzled look on his face, revealing the photo inside.
"What is this?" Xiao Zhan was stunned. Although the photo was yellowed and showed some signs of age, he recognized the woman in it.
"Think carefully," the divine doctor didn't answer immediately.
Xiao Zhan's brain was spinning at high speed. He rummaged through all his memories since he could remember. Finally, he remembered the identity of the woman in the photo from his memory when he was ten years old.