Chapter 264 - 252 I was flippant
Zhao Chun suddenly remembered that Yao Yu still didn’t know about Tian Sangsang’s transformation and probably thought she was still as dark as before. He raised his hand to cover his mouth and chuckled, "Yao Yu, it’s her."
Boss, your memory is getting worse and worse! The difference between these two people is so obvious! But Yao Yu didn’t dare to say this.
"Have you heard an old saying?" Zhao Chun said slyly, "After three days apart, one must view someone with new eyes. Let’s go."
"What? Just leave like that?" Yao Yu reluctantly kept his eyes on the beautiful girl.
"Look at you, so hopeless." Zhao Chun lightly knocked him and awkwardly said, "Let’s hurry and go." Seeing Tian Sangsang always made him want to hide; he could never stand tall in her presence.
But unexpectedly, Tian Sangsang had already spotted him and was jogging over. "Zhao Chun!"
Zhao Chun coughed and touched his nose awkwardly. "Tian Sangsang."
"Hello, you two. Well, what a coincidence—I just came over to say hi." She looked at Yao Yu, nodded slightly, and beamed brightly.
"Boss, what did you just call her?" Yao Yu froze stiff.
Zhao Chun’s lips moved slightly, "..."
"I’m Tian Sangsang. Nice to meet you. You’re Yao Yu, right? I know." Since he didn’t recognize her, Tian Sangsang made a quick self-introduction.
Yao Yu suddenly bent over, gasping for air, looking even more disheveled than Zhao Chun once did.
"What’s wrong with him? Is he okay?" Tian Sangsang asked worriedly.
How embarrassing. Zhao Chun shook his head, "He’s fine, just needs some ’quiet’."
Tian Sangsang understood instantly and nodded, "I see."
"You didn’t bring Yanyan along?"
"He’s at home; it’s not convenient to bring him out."
Zhao Chun’s eyes landed on her hands. "Then, are you out to buy something?"
"Not at all." Tian Sangsang lifted the cloth in her basket for him to see. "I’m out promoting my family’s secret recipe."
Her basket seemed to contain mostly skincare products. Zhao Chun recognized them instantly, thanks to his beauty-conscious mother. With his dark, shiny eyes slightly squinting, he asked hesitantly, "Whitening products?"
"Brother, you know me well!" Tian Sangsang laughed, patting his shoulder cheerfully.
Zhao Chun’s face suddenly flushed red. He glanced left and right in alarm, flustered by the public setting...
Tian Sangsang immediately withdrew her hand, resuming a composed expression. She shyly pressed her lips together and said, "Sorry, that was a bit too forward of me."
"Ahem... Ahem!" Zhao Chun coughed uncontrollably.
"I’ll take off for now."
"Wait!" Zhao Chun’s face was bright red from coughing, but he still had to call her back. Weakly, he asked, "This secret remedy you mentioned—does it really work for whitening?"
"Haha, it does."
"Can it truly whiten someone?"
"I’m a living example, aren’t I?" Tian Sangsang did a playful twirl in front of him.
"I... I have a female classmate who’s as dark as you were before. Do you... need her as a client?"
Tian Sangsang finally realized he was introducing her to a potential customer. She bowed gracefully and said, "Sure, thank you."
How polite—it felt strange. Zhao Chun muttered to himself inwardly.
"I’ll go get her for you."
Meanwhile, Yao Yu was still squatting on the ground, trembling...
"Chen Wan!" Zhao Chun suddenly raised his hand toward the crowd.
"Boss!" With an excited cheer, Tian Sangsang sharply caught sight of a skinny, slightly short girl with a dark complexion and braided pigtails running toward them.
"Not bad, huh—forming alliances," Tian Sangsang teased Zhao Chun.
"This is called sharing common goals," Zhao Chun murmured. "Birds of a feather flock together."
"Boss, what did you call me for? Huh, why is Yao Yu squatting on the ground?"
Chen Wan stood in front of them, her appearance strikingly vivid. Tian Sangsang suddenly felt her eyes burning. Back in the day, she hadn’t noticed, but now that she was fair-skinned, she finally understood how dark others were—and how dark she used to be.
Silently, Tian Sangsang covered her face for a moment, mourning Jiang Jinghuai’s past sacrifices. He had been so noble. If it had been her, she couldn’t have lived with herself—she would’ve jumped into the Yellow River a long time ago. Let the mighty river take her misery; let the rushing waters cleanse away her stains...
And Zhao Chun—how had he endured staying at her house for days back then? Through hardship, true friendship is revealed. That’s real love.
"Ignore him for now—his stomach is acting up. Let me introduce you to someone: This is my friend, Tian Sangsang." Zhao Chun connected the two, gesturing like a gentleman with an outstretched hand.
Chen Wan looked up, smiling cheerfully: "You..." But the word stuck in her throat as her wide eyes froze. "Oh." A moment ago, she had been bubbly and lively; now, she instinctively stiffened and shrank closer to Zhao Chun, too shy to lift her head.
"She’s Chen Wan, a classmate of mine. She’s tried many home remedies before, but none of them worked." Zhao Chun casually explained.
Tian Sangsang took a closer look at Chen Wan’s skin. The texture wasn’t bad, but it was just too dark—about 50% as dark as Sangsang had once been. Don’t be fooled by that 50%—it was still outrageously black. Fortunately, only her face was particularly dark; the rest of her body looked relatively normal.
"Were you tanned later on?" Tian Sangsang asked politely.
Chen Wan nodded lightly, hesitating to speak further.
In a soft voice, Tian Sangsang said, "I used to be darker than you, but I’ve figured out how to fix it. If you don’t mind, you can tell me more—I might be able to help."
Chen Wan stared at her in shock, then quickly avoided eye contact with a hint of shyness. "When I was a child, my dad was sent to City C to undergo re-education. Our family followed him there. It was scorching hot there, and I’ve been this dark since then. We only returned three years ago, but by then, I already looked like a piece of black coal."
A furnace-like city, no wonder. To get tanned this badly, the conditions must have been tough.
"This is rose essential oil that I personally made. Each day and night, put a drop into the water when washing your face. After about a month, you’ll see results. Of course, you’ll also need to stick to using sheet masks regularly. Add ingredients like pearl powder and milk to whitening masks—they’re very effective. The cost might be a bit higher, though."
Chen Wan exclaimed excitedly, "Thank you! I don’t mind the cost as long as it works! Seeing your current appearance has given me hope!" The fact that Zhao Chun made the introduction gave her confidence. Seeing Tian Sangsang had her heart racing—this girl, who had supposedly been darker than her, was now so fair. The secret? This rose essential oil! She’d tried countless remedies to no avail and was close to giving up. But Tian Sangsang was like a ray of light in her despair!
"Thank you!" Chen Wan had turned so excited that her dark skin seemed to glow red. "How much does it cost? I’ll buy it!"
Tian Sangsang warmly shook her head. "Since you’re Zhao Chun’s friend, it’s too formal to talk about money. Consider it a gift from me for now."
"No way!" Chen Wan said hurriedly. "I can’t take something from you for free."
"It’s not entirely free. Take it and try it out. If it works, you can come back and buy more from me." Tian Sangsang smiled gently. "It’ll take more than one bottle to fix your skin completely."
Chen Wan held the rose essential oil with gratitude, already considering Tian Sangsang a friend in her heart.