Antidote (2)

Lin's Mother looked at the strange liquid, about to say something, when Lin Zhenzhen quickly untied her bandages, took the glass bottle, pulled out the cork, and drank it all in one go.

The series of actions was completed in one fluid motion, without hesitation.

"Hey, Zhenzhen!" Lin's Mother exclaimed.

"Why did you drink it? How are you, child? Do you feel unwell..." Lin's Mother pushed Xiao Xiao aside and rushed forward, examining Lin Zhenzhen from all angles. She was so anxious she was spinning in circles, tears threatening to fall.

"It can't get any worse anyway," Lin Zhenzhen mumbled indistinctly.

"You foolish girl, you can't just eat or drink anything! You don't know anything..."

"Alright, dear, calm down," Lin's Father said, patting Lin's Mother's shoulder to comfort her.

"You've scared the children," Lin's Father said with an apologetic smile to Xiao Xiao.

Lin's Mother covered her eyes and took several deep breaths. When she lowered her hands, her expression had calmed, though her eyes were red.

"I'm sorry, Xiao Xiao, Auntie got a little emotional."

As Xiao Xiao shook his head to reply, Lin Zhenzhen suddenly cried out.

"Ah, it's so hot! My face suddenly feels so hot!" Lin Zhenzhen clutched her face, her eyes, the only ones that could show emotion, filled with overflowing fear, panic, and helplessness.

"Zhenzhen, Zhenzhen, what's wrong?"

"Zhenzhen!"

Lin's Father and Lin's Mother immediately surrounded her. Seeing Lin Zhenzhen's pain, their hearts ached, but they were helpless.

"What's happening? What's going on?" Lin's Mother's tears streamed down her face.

"Xiao Xiao, what's happening?" Lin's Father, being calmer, couldn't help but ask with a hint of accusation and anger in his voice.

Xiao Xiao was also startled. He was just as clueless as Lin's Father and Lin's Mother about Lin Zhenzhen's current reaction.

However, he knew that this was indeed the antidote for the Ban Zhen poison, the cure for Lin Zhenzhen's poisoned face. That was enough.

So, after a moment of panic, Xiao Xiao quickly calmed down and spoke to reassure Lin's Father and Lin's Mother.

"Uncle, Auntie, please don't worry."

"This is definitely the antidote."

"This is a normal reaction."

"Daddy, Mommy?" Lin Zhenzhen's voice was filled with confusion.

"What is it, Zhenzhen?"

"Zhenzhen, are you okay?"

"They're falling off," Lin Zhenzhen said blankly.

"What..." Lin's Mother started to ask, but stopped mid-sentence, her mouth slightly agape, because she could already see.

Lin Zhenzhen wiped her face, and the ugly, gnarled bumps fell off in clumps. Her fair, delicate skin gradually reappeared.

The hospital room was silent.

The young girl on the hospital bed had a fair and delicate face, with two lines of clear tears tracing down. Her skin, now moisturized, looked even more crystal clear.

Lin Zhenzhen slowly, gently, and carefully caressed her cheeks with an almost reverent piety.

No bumps, no rough, grating texture.

It was the long-lost smooth, soft touch.

Lin Zhenzhen felt a moment of daze, but her tears flowed even more fiercely.

She thought her face was beyond saving, that her future life would only be lived in darkness until the day she could no longer endure it.

"Waaah~ Waaah~" Lin Zhenzhen covered her face with her hands and finally couldn't hold back, bursting into tears.

"Zhenzhen, Zhenzhen, it's okay, it's okay..." It wasn't until Lin Zhenzhen started crying that Lin's Father and Lin's Mother snapped out of their stunned, rigid state of extreme joy.

Lin's Mother tremblingly reached out her hands to hug Lin Zhenzhen, murmuring words of comfort.

Lin's Father embraced his wife and daughter, his eyes extremely red, and finally couldn't hold back his tears.

Watching the family of three, overcome with a mixture of sorrow and joy, Xiao Xiao couldn't help but rub his eyes. He then quietly and lightly left the room, leaving the space to the three of them.

Outside the hospital room, Xiao Xiao leaned against the wall with a hint of laziness, his eyes slightly closed, his right hand constantly massaging his temples, a look of fatigue on his brow.

The aftereffects from last night still plagued him.

Faint threads of pain, like maggots on a bone, never allowed him any peace.

If he hadn't been worried about Lin Zhenzhen's condition worsening, he wouldn't have rushed over in his discomfort.

After all that fuss, his head seemed to hurt a bit more.

He swore that once he got back, he'd become a shut-in who never left the house.

No one would be able to drag him out!

"Xiao Xiao, thank... are you okay?" The voice, once filled with pure joy, became hesitant and worried.

Xiao Xiao looked up. It was Lin's Father and Lin's Mother, walking out of the ward.

"I'm fine." Xiao Xiao lowered his hand and straightened up. Although his face was a little pale, his expression was relaxed, and he smiled gently, as if, just as he said, nothing was wrong.

"Is Lin Zhenzhen alright?"

"Really?" But her daughter's recovery filled Lin's Mother's heart with joy, so she followed Xiao Xiao's lead and changed the subject. "Zhenzhen is doing well. She's really lost a lot of weight these past few days, she needs to eat well to recover..."

"Cough." Lin's Father interrupted Lin's Mother's endless chatter. The usually silent man bowed seriously to Xiao Xiao, his voice hoarse. "Thank you, Xiao Xiao. We don't know how to thank you enough. Zhenzhen is our only daughter, we..." This was truly the most Xiao Xiao had heard Lin's Father speak in their few meetings.

"Thank you so much, Xiao Xiao." Lin's Mother also bowed deeply, her eyes reddening again.

"Uncle, Aunt..." This was the first time Xiao Xiao had been bowed to so solemnly by two elders, and he felt a little flustered. He could also feel more and more eyes on them.

A helpless curve appeared at the corner of Xiao Xiao's lips as he reached out to help Lin's Father and Lin's Mother up.

"Uncle, Aunt, Lin Zhenzhen is my classmate."

"It's only right to help a classmate."

"You don't have to do this."

After a lot of talking, Lin's Father and Lin's Mother finally stopped thanking him incessantly and stopped doing things that made his heart race and his lifespan shorten.

Now that they could finally talk normally, Xiao Xiao almost regretted not leaving directly.

He had already done what he needed to do anyway.

He couldn't be a hero who left without a trace, but he could have at least left after the job was done.

However, leaving without a word seemed a bit impolite to him.

"Xiao Xiao, what poison did Zhenzhen have? How could the doctors not find out?"

"And where did your antidote come from?"

"..."

Once the worry that had plagued them for days was lifted, Lin's Mother immediately noticed these illogical points and asked directly without much thought.

"Hey, dear, why do you have so many questions?" Although he said this, Lin's Father's eyes were also full of curiosity.

"Sorry."

Xiao Xiao smiled apologetically at Lin's Father and Lin's Mother, not answering any of the questions Lin's Mother had asked.

It was a clear refusal.

There were no overly tactful words, no vague excuses.

Xiao Xiao wasn't good at lying, nor did he want to waste time fabricating a so-called truth.

The throbbing pain in his head made him feel lazy and somewhat inexplicably irritable, completely unwilling to use his brain.

If it weren't for the joy of successfully helping someone, and if the people asking were elders he respected, Xiao Xiao would have just blurted out, "I don't want to answer."