Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
“The wounds are really serious, the scarring has also worsened, it must have initially been improperly treated otherwise it would never have become this severe. If there had been proper wound cleaning paired with some cosmetic acupuncture, things would not reach this stage. The wound would have healed better after that too.”
Yan Huan became more teary-eyed but she did not cry.
“But it’s not all bad.” Qiao smiled once more, “I once treated a severely scalded patient. The patient’s entire face had been disfigured but the patient eventually healed after multiple surgeries.”
“Of course, it will hurt a lot,” Qiao gestured at the long scar on Yan Huan’s face and explained, “The excess tissue growth is called hyperplasia and has to be removed. It may be excess growth but it is still your flesh, so removing it will still hurt since you are still removing a part of your body. Also, this is only the first surgery, there will be more surgeries after that, plus a skin graft. Are you sure?”
Qiao asked Yan Huan tentatively.
The price of beauty was often high, regardless of whether one seeks to transform from hideous to pretty or from beautiful to even more gorgeous. Yan Huan just wanted her original looks back and was no exception to this. No matter which category one fell in, beauty and pain went hand in hand.
This was an indisputable fact.
Humans were made of flesh and blood, thus they naturally feared pain.
Beauty is pain. This is the reality.
Lu Yi tightly gripped Yan Huan’s shoulder, crouched in front of her and stared straight at her. Yan Huan felt an impulse to cover her face and had already lifted her hands to do so, but she stopped at the last minute and placed her hands back down.
Yan Huan suddenly realized that he had known all along, but his face still betrayed no emotion. Like in the past, she was still unwilling to take even a peek at her own hideous face.
She found no traces of disgust or revulsion on his face.
Her red lips trembled and parted slightly as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she remained silent.
Beauty is pain. No pain no gain.
Having a face this awful would not make her feel any better either.
I want, she struggled to part her lips and form words but ultimately managed to muster up all of her courage, I want to cure it. She felt her face with her hands. She did not want to live with this face or assume another identity for the rest of her life. She was Yan Huan and not Liu Hua.
She had not received her dues from those indebted to her, and neither had she repaid her own.
Lu Yi vigorously nodded his head to encourage her. Those black eyes brimmed with the gentle light of the autumn sun and the coolness of a spring breeze. But would it pay off?
“I think…”
Yan Huan clenched her fists that were resting on her thighs, “I want to try it.”
“Alright,” Lu Yi rested his chin on her forehead as if he was comforting a child. “We will try. If this doctor is not suitable, I will help you to find another one. There will surely be someone who can treat your face. Also, don’t you worry about your legs, as long as the bones were set properly everything will be fine. You see, aren’t things much better than before?”
Despite his statement, Qiao seemed visibly upset and distraught.
Brother, even if I don’t know Mandarin your expression is telling me that you do not believe me. Can’t you just put your faith in me? This is not even a big surgery. Treating Yan Huan’s scars, in his opinion, was a relatively simple task and did not require extensive technical skills. This, he could guarantee, truly, that he would never treat a patient’s face so carelessly.
Yan Huan touched her face again. She tightly grasped the face mask she wore and removed it, her face was now clear for everyone to see. This was not a difficult step but she had never been able to bring herself to do it before.
It was at this moment that a man approached from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist, she was so thin that he could wrap his arms around her twice.
“Huanhuan…”
Yan Huan lowered her gaze and placed her palms on his large hands to feel the warmth of his body.
“Are you afraid?” His voice was coarse. Yan Huan picked up on this and could not help feeling a twang of distress in her heart.
Yan Huan’s lashes shuddered gently and brushed off the specters of her past. Her eyes twinkled with realization.
Are you afraid? Are you afraid?
How could she not be afraid? How could she not be terrified?
However, she remembered the traumatic near-death experience of being thrown into the sea, the time when she was stranded in the village with nothing, and the helplessness when her food got stolen. After all this, she no longer felt fear.
She was afraid, yes, she was indeed.
She suddenly clutched Lu Yi’s hands tightly and was surprised to find they were clammy and covered in sweat. He is the one who’s afraid, isn’t he?
“I’m sorry…” She mumbled suddenly.
She did not know whether she was feeling sorry for herself or anyone else.
“It doesn’t matter, as long as you’re alive,” Lu Yi softly petted her hair. He would never feel disgusted with her. As he had said before, nothing mattered as long as she lived, it did not matter if she became handicapped, stupid, crazy, or even quadriplegic.
Lu Yi had not told anyone about Yan Huan’s survival, not even Lei Qingyi. The few people that were aware of this were only himself, He Yibin and Qiao.
Yan Huan’s treatment would be done in a foreign country’s private hospital. The medical facilities there were top notch and of course, the service and privacy were excellent.
Lu Yi had taken a long leave and delayed all his jobs. In Yan Huan’s hardest hours, he wanted to fully support her and had made all the preparations to walk this path with her.
However, she, on the other hand, needed minimal preparation. After the check-up, she could immediately proceed with the surgery even though she was still very underweight. However, all her health readings seemed normal and the orthopedic surgery for her legs was already done. Compared to her legs, treating her face would be a walk in the park. Ever since she had returned to Sea City, she had realized that her mobility had improved steadily as the days went by. After all, the doctor had said that all would be well as long as the bones set properly.
Yan Huan laid on the hospital bed and opened her eyes, they were calm and peaceful with no traces of sorrow or excitement.
Lu Yi placed his hand on her forehead. Everything will be fine, just take a nap.
Yan Huan clenched her palms, turned around and gently nodded her head. To be frank, she was not afraid of anything anymore. She had already experienced excruciating pain and bitter cold within a single year, what else was there to fear?
Soon, she was wheeled into the operating theatre. Although Qiao tried to crack jokes to comfort her, Yan Huan could not even bring herself to smile at a single one of his so-called jokes.
