Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

As for the exact reason, even if Qin Feng himself returned, he probably wouldn’t be able to figure it out.

She shared her theory with her parents, and they nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Qingmu said, "As long as that stuff peels off, even if it doesn’t grow back to how it was before, it’ll still make washing your face much easier, won’t it? And you won’t have flare-ups from eating this or that anymore."

Mother Yang, her face wreathed in smiles, said, "Exactly! Isn’t it so much more convenient? Qingmu, don’t talk such nonsense. Why wouldn’t it grow back to how it was? It will definitely heal perfectly."

Juhua was amused by her mother’s stubbornness. She instructed them, "Dad, Mom, Brother, don’t tell anyone about my face. Whether it heals well or not, I don’t plan on taking this veil off. Think about it, I’m used to it like this, and people don’t really say anything about me anymore—and even if they do, I don’t care. If I suddenly took it off and my face hadn’t healed properly, they’d just have new gossip. If it did heal well, that would be even more of a hassle. People would be pointing and staring all over again. I’d just be the talk of the town. Let’s just keep this within the family and not tell a soul. I also have an idea... I want to see if anyone would dare to marry me, regardless of whether my face heals or not. What’s the big deal about marrying me after my face has healed? Marrying me while it’s still scarred—now that would be true love!"

Qingmu smiled knowingly. "Alright! We won’t say a word. That sounds like a good plan!" He thought, ’Huai Zi doesn’t care about her face anyway, so whether it heals or not, what does it matter if she takes off the veil?’

Mother Yang sighed. "Fine, keep it covered then. I’m afraid this face won’t heal anytime soon—those scars will probably take a long, long time. Be careful for the next few days."

Juhua agreed. She thought, ’It won’t just take a long time to heal. This face will probably look like a pockmarked pumpkin for the rest of my life.’

She touched the hard scabs on her face, estimating it would take several days for them to peel off completely.

Over the next few days, the rough scabs on Juhua’s face gradually peeled away. According to Qingmu, the skin underneath was a tender red, a stark contrast to the color of the surrounding skin.

Mother Yang was also keeping a close eye on Juhua’s face, but aside from telling her to stay out of the sun, she couldn’t think of any good ways to help her daughter’s skin heal.

What good skincare methods would country folk know? She did, however, teach Juhua to wash her face with the water from rinsing rice, saying it could lighten the skin.

Although Juhua didn’t have high hopes for her face healing perfectly, she wasn’t going to just ignore it either. She naturally came up with a few ideas, deciding to "do her best and leave the rest to fate."

The first thing she thought of was to keep eating pig’s trotters. Even though they were expensive now, she should still eat one every few days. Second, she would use fresh cucumbers to moisturize her skin, since they were about to come into season anyway. Then there was applying egg whites, and she also had to change her habit of eating spicy and other heavily-flavored foods.

These were the most direct and practical skincare methods she could come up with for now. As for spending money on skincare products from the city, that was out of the question.

As important as her face was, filling her stomach was more important. So, she wouldn’t be slacking on any of her chores.

’Am I really going to listen to my parents and just stay home to recuperate? I wouldn’t even be able to stomach my food if I did that. Since I’m here in the countryside and have no plans to aim for a higher station in life, I’d better not worry too much about this face. Otherwise, life would become unbearable.’

Seeing her apply an egg white to her face every other night, Qingmu asked doubtfully, "Does that actually work?"

The egg white had dried and pulled her face taut, making it hard to smile properly. With a stiff expression, she said, "Just giving it a try! Brother, I’ll boil this yolk for you. You use your brain so much for your studies. Eating an egg a day is good for you."

’I’m wasting an egg for the sake of beauty,’ she thought, ’so letting Qingmu eat the yolk will make me feel better. At least that way, we’re ’wasting’ it together.’

Qingmu, not knowing what she was thinking, said shyly, "No, you eat it. Isn’t eating eggs good for your skin, too?"

Juhua replied, "It’s fine. Don’t I eat a pig’s trotter every few days? That’s good for the skin. I noticed that last year."

Qingmu agreed, mentioning that after eating organ meats and pig’s trotters last year, several of them had ended up with much healthier complexions.

He held a book in his hands, finding it quite amusing to watch his sister fussing over her face.

A few days later, he saw Juhua with thin slices of young cucumber, asking him to help her place them on her face. Once she was covered in the green slices, with only her pair of dark eyes blinking from between them, he found it even more entertaining.

Since they had no mirror, he became his sister’s mirror, joining her in the project of tending to her face. For a long time, this became a fun little ritual for the siblings.

Skincare isn’t something that yields results in a day or two. Besides, one’s motivation for beauty treatments is also tied to their environment.

Juhua now lived in the countryside. The free and easy life in the mountains made one cast off all restraints and tedious concerns, making it truly difficult for her to constantly remember to protect her face. It wasn’t like living in the city, where you could wander over to a mirror whenever you felt like it to check for imperfections. Here, there wasn’t even a mirror to begin with.

So, after an initial burst of enthusiasm eating pig’s trotters and applying egg white masks, she grew impatient. She couldn’t be bothered to buy any more trotters and kept forgetting to do the masks, with Qingmu having to remind her to keep it up. She would often go out to the vegetable garden to check on the eggplants and peppers bareheaded, having forgotten her hat. Or, if she got her hands on some fresh little fish, she would braise them in soy sauce and feast.

Seeing her daughter so careless with her face, Mother Yang could only sigh, but she was helpless. Unless they bought a maid to wait on her, being so cautious that she couldn’t do this or that was indeed a hassle.

Juhua thought, ’If it’s meant to heal, it will heal. If it’s not, then no amount of caution on my part will help. It’s impossible to live in these mountains and not get any sun.’

However, not wanting to worry her mother, and with Qingmu’s help, she did manage to stick with her face masks. It was hard to forget when Qingmu reminded her every evening.

The summer heat grew more intense, and during the day, the cicadas shrieked themselves hoarse.

People started waking up earlier, taking advantage of the morning cool to work in the fields. In the evenings, they would finish work sooner, bringing bamboo cots out into their courtyards to eat dinner, enjoy the breeze, and chat. The villagers would gather to tell old tales, or call out questions and answers to each other from across their yards.