Lin's Mother stared at the strange-looking liquid, about to say something, when Lin Zhenzhen swiftly removed the bandage, took the glass bottle, pulled out the cork, and drank it in one go.
The whole sequence of movements flowed seamlessly, without the slightest hesitation.
"Hey, Zhenzhen!" Lin's Mother cried out.
"Why did you drink it just like that? You silly girl, how do you feel? Is anything wrong...?" Lin's Mother immediately pushed Xiao Xiao aside and hurried over, examining Lin Zhenzhen from every angle. She was so frantic she was practically pacing in circles, and tears were welling in her eyes.
"It can't get any worse, anyway," Lin Zhenzhen mumbled indistinctly.
"You silly girl, you can't just eat or drink anything! You don't even know what it is..."
"All right, honey, calm down." Lin's Father patted Lin's Mother on the shoulder, soothing her.
"You've scared the kids." Lin's Father gave Xiao Xiao an apologetic smile.
Lin's Mother covered her eyes and took several deep breaths. When she lowered her hand, her expression had returned to calm, though the corners of her eyes were red.
"I'm sorry, Xiao Xiao. I got a little carried away."
Xiao Xiao shook his head and was about to reply when Lin Zhenzhen suddenly cried out.
"Ah, it's so hot! My face suddenly feels so hot!" Lin Zhenzhen covered her face. The only part of her that showed her emotions—her eyes—was filled with fear, panic, and helplessness, all threatening to spill over.
"Zhenzhen, Zhenzhen, what's wrong?"
"Zhenzhen!"
Lin's Father and Lin's Mother immediately crowded around her. Seeing Lin Zhenzhen in pain tore at their hearts, but they were powerless to help.
"What's happening? What's happening?" Tears streamed down Lin's Mother's face.
"Xiao Xiao, what's going on?" Lin's Father was more composed, but his voice inevitably carried a hint of accusation and anger.
Xiao Xiao was startled, too. Like Lin's Father and Lin's Mother, he had no idea why Lin Zhenzhen was reacting this way.
But he knew this was indeed the antidote to the spotted-zhen poison, the cure for the poison that had ravaged Lin Zhenzhen's face. That was enough.
So, after a moment of panic, Xiao Xiao quickly composed himself and reassured Lin's Father and Lin's Mother.
"Uncle, Auntie, don't worry."
"This is definitely the antidote."
"This is a normal reaction."
"Dad, Mom?" Lin Zhenzhen sounded bewildered.
"What is it, Zhenzhen?"
"Zhenzhen, are you all right?"
"It fell off." Lin Zhenzhen stared blankly as she spoke.
"What..." Lin's Mother began to ask, but stopped halfway, her mouth slightly open. She had already seen it.
Lin Zhenzhen wiped her face, and the ugly, hideous bumps fell away in a shower, gradually revealing her fair, delicate skin.
The hospital room fell silent.
The girl on the bed had a fair, lovely face. Two streams of tears wound down her cheeks, and her skin looked even more luminous and translucent after being moistened.
With an almost reverent devotion, Lin Zhenzhen slowly, gently, and cautiously caressed her own cheeks.
There were no bumps, no roughness scraping against her fingers.
It was the smooth, tender sensation she had missed for so long.
Lin Zhenzhen felt dazed, but her tears fell even harder.
She had thought her face was beyond saving. She had thought she would have to live out the rest of her life in darkness, until the day she could no longer endure it.
"Waaah..." Lin Zhenzhen covered her face with both hands and finally broke into loud sobs.
"Zhenzhen, it's all right now. It's all right..." Only after Lin Zhenzhen started crying did Lin's Father and Lin's Mother come back to themselves. They had been stunned and frozen by their overwhelming joy.
Lin's Mother reached out with trembling hands and held Lin Zhenzhen, soothing her over and over.
Lin's Father wrapped his arms around the mother and daughter. The corners of his eyes were terribly red, and in the end, he couldn't hold back his tears.
Watching the family of three caught between joy and sorrow, Xiao Xiao couldn't help rubbing at the corners of his eyes. Then he quietly slipped out of the hospital room, leaving the three of them alone.
Outside the room, Xiao Xiao leaned against the wall with a somewhat languid air, his eyes half-closed. He rubbed his temples with his right hand, a trace of exhaustion showing between his brows.
The aftereffects of last night were still bothering him.
Faint threads of pain gnawed at him like maggots burrowing into bone, never letting him find relief.
If he hadn't been worried that Lin Zhenzhen's condition might worsen, he wouldn't have rushed over in such a hurry while feeling unwell.
After all that commotion, his head seemed to hurt even more.
He swore that once he got home, he'd become a homebody who never left his place.
No one was going to get him to go out!
"Xiao Xiao, thank... Are you all right?" The voice, full of unrestrained joy, turned hesitant and concerned.
Xiao Xiao looked up. Lin's Father and Lin's Mother had come out of the hospital room.
"I'm fine." Xiao Xiao lowered his hand and straightened up. Though his face was a little pale, his features were relaxed and he smiled warmly, as if nothing were wrong, just as he'd said.
"How's Lin Zhenzhen?"
"Really?" Her daughter's recovery had filled Lin's Mother's heart with joy, so she went along with Xiao Xiao's change of subject. "Zhenzhen's doing great. She's just gotten terribly weak over the past few days and needs plenty of nourishment..."
"Ahem." Lin's Father interrupted Lin's Mother's stream of words. The usually quiet man bowed deeply to Xiao Xiao, his voice hoarse. "Thank you, Xiao Xiao. We don't even know how to thank you. Zhenzhen is our only daughter, and we..." This was the most Xiao Xiao had ever heard Lin's Father say in all the times they'd met.
"Thank you so much, Xiao Xiao." Lin's Mother also bowed deeply, her eyes growing red again.
"Uncle, Auntie..." Having two elders bow to him so solemnly for the first time left Xiao Xiao flustered. He also noticed more and more people looking their way.
Xiao Xiao gave a helpless little smile and reached out to help Lin's Father and Lin's Mother back up.
"Uncle, Auntie, Lin Zhenzhen is my classmate."
"Of course I should help a classmate."
"You don't need to do this."
After some effort, Lin's Father and Lin's Mother finally stopped thanking him over and over. They also refrained from doing anything that would make his heart leap into his throat and shorten his life.
Now that they could finally talk normally, Xiao Xiao regretted not simply leaving earlier.
After all, he'd already done what he came to do.
He could no longer do good deeds anonymously, but he could still leave without a word once the deed was done.
Still, in his view, sneaking away without saying anything would have been rather rude.
"Xiao Xiao, what kind of poison did Zhenzhen have? Why couldn't the doctors detect it?"
"And where did you get the antidote?"
"..."
Once she had set aside the worry that had weighed on her for days, Lin's Mother immediately noticed how many things didn't make sense. Without thinking much of it, she asked outright.
"Hey, honey, why do you have so many questions?" Lin's Father said, though his eyes were just as curious.
"I'm sorry."
Xiao Xiao smiled apologetically at Lin's Father and Lin's Mother, but didn't answer a single one of Lin's Mother's questions.
It was an unmistakable refusal.
He offered no particularly tactful explanation, no vague excuse.
Xiao Xiao wasn't good at lying, and he couldn't be bothered to make up some so-called explanation.
The throbbing pain in his head had left him feeling listless and vaguely irritable. He didn't want to think at all.
If he weren't happy to have helped someone, and if the people asking weren't two elders he respected, Xiao Xiao would have wanted to simply say, "I don't want to answer."
Before you continue