She wanted to take off her mask, but her fingers were quivering nonstop for some reason. She made a few more attempts, but her fingers kept trembling, she could not even remove the mask on her face.
She put her hands down dispirited. However, after a moment, she raised her fingers once more and removed the mask that covered her face.
Behind the mask was still Yan Huan’s face, the only difference was a long burnt scar on her left cheek.
It wasn’t too bad. She suddenly burst out in laughter with tears in her eyes. Truthfully, it was much better than she imagined. She thought she would never be able to face anyone with this face anymore, but it was not as bad as it first seemed.
Perhaps she was blessed with good genes. Only a few scars remained on her body despite suffering many injuries throughout her two lifetimes. She raised her hands once again and examined her fingers. The scars from the frostbites were still visible, but they should disappear once the weather turned warm. Moreover her hands had suffered many wounds before. The whipping she took from Old Master Lu back then was so severe her bones could almost be seen. The doctors were afraid that she would be permanently scarred. Luo Lin was constantly worried then about the endorsements she would lose if her hands were damaged.
As it turned out, not too many scars were left on her fingers. She had recovered well.
When she was in that small village, she had sneaked a peek at her face. Her condition at the time was really serious, almost looking disfigured. However as time passed, she had recovered slightly, so she felt that she might be able to face the public. Obviously she could not compete with the fair and spotless faces of others, but at least she would not be scaring people off with her face.
Because there was just one red scar that remained. Although it was still visible, it was no longer hideous.
She turned on the tap and stood beneath the hot water. When the hot water trickled down her face, she felt an indescribable sensation. It felt as if, along with the dirt and dust on her body, the hot water was rinsing away all the hardships she endured in the past year.
All of it seemed to be washed away completely.
She had returned to Sea City, she was finally home.
However she suddenly crouched down and covered her face as she burst out weeping. The sound of the water drowned her weeps completely. Over and over she sobbed like an injured beast.
She was licking her sore wounds.
There was no one here to dote on her, to love her. No one was here to care for her.
When night came, she laid in the soft blanket. She was finally able to sleep properly for the first time in a long while. She could finally throw out those clothes she had been wearing tomorrow, and she will have new clothes. She could finally live like a proper person.
She stayed in the small hotel for two days. On the second day, she almost did not leave her room, even if she had to eat, she would just eat the pancakes she had stashed in her bag. Although the pancakes had been there for a while, it was not too tough; still edible. Furthermore those pancakes could last a long time in this weather, probably for another ten days or perhaps half a month.
Most of the villagers on the hill survived on the pancakes the same way.
While waiting for her clothes to dry, she was settling her thoughts too. Most of the time, she was just staring outside blankly. She was also breathing in the familiar scent of Sea City.
The television was broadcasting the latest news.
Su Muran had filmed a new movie yet again. She seemed to have recovered well, her face was rosy and she seemed to have gained some weight. It would appear that her health had gotten better. Lu Qin and Sun Yuhan too had new films.
Lu Qin had once again won the best leading actor by relying on another woman that was not Yan Huan. Yan Huan felt disgusted when she saw images of him kissing his award.
She propped up her face on the table and squinted her eyes a little, as if she was trying to stuff down all the spiteful hatred she felt. When she fluttered her eyelashes slightly, all the negative emotions were once again swept away.
Lu Qin had grown quickly, yet Su Muran was still marching on the spot. As for Sun Yuhan, she was still the same with zero acting skills.
Without Yan Huan, they were still living their lives to the fullest. Even the anger of losing her husband and the shame of being cheated on had been tolerated by Little Miss Su.
That was right, she had to anyway. Yan Huan had forgotten that the Su family was not like before, and neither was the Ye family.
The Su family was responsible for Yan Huan’s fate in two lifetimes.
The Ye family had burned the bridge after crossing it.
She knew, she fully understood that a child without a mother was like a weed, just like her. Others had felt free to bully her and hurt her. Su Muran had a mother, who would do whatever she could to protect her, even if it meant killing another mother’s children.
Sun Yuhan had a mother too, but her mother was not around anymore. She had left Sun Yuhan with the Ye family. The Ye family had invested all their connections in her and they transformed a talentless, ugly girl into an A-grade actress.
She always felt ridiculous when she recalled all that had happened.
It was ridiculous that she had saved these bunch of ingrates. If she knew better, she would have left the Ye family alone. But, if she had to choose again, perhaps her final choice would still be to save the Ye family.
No rhyme or reason. God knows why.
She put on her mask again. From her mirror reflection, she looked tragically skinny. However, the beauty standards these days were quite weird. No one would say anything if you got skinnier, some might even think you would look better if you got skinnier. Yet, if you were to gain a little weight, you would be judged differently. Even if you were just shopping for clothes, others would point and judge you.
She put her belongings into the luggage, although she did not have much, just a few pieces of her old clothings. She did not leave anything in the hotel, she even took her garbage with her.
She walked up to the front desk and handed over her identification card.
“I’d like a refund on my deposit.”
She had paid 500 dollars, but she had only stayed for two days. It was a hundred for each day, so the hotel had to return 300 dollars.
With these 300 dollars she could find a below-average room to stay at for up to a month. She did not have extra cash on her at the moment, so she would not have enough to stay at a hotel every day.
At first the front desk receptionist could not recognize Yan Huan, probably because of Yan Huan’s present image. It was hard to describe: she was wearing a frayed, old cotton-padded shirt so dark it was as if it had not been washed for years. She carried a snakeskin bag. The shoes on her feet were already out of fashion—no one would wear those anymore. Even her pants looked like they had been sewn and mended over and over again—no one in their right mind would wear that nowadays. But here they were, in the front desk of this hotel.
