It was that simple

Seeing Chen Hao staring at her without a word, Chu Mengling quickly lowered her head. "Stop looking. I know I'm ugly now."

"You are ugly now, but before long, you'll be a beauty again."

As he spoke, Chen Hao turned around, opened his phone, and secretly took a handful of ash from the Eight Trigrams Furnace out of the Qiankun Bag, then sprinkled it evenly over the gauze.

After spreading the ash evenly, Chen Hao told Chu Mengling, "Close your eyes."

The ash was pitch-black. If Chu Mengling saw it, she would never agree to let him put that stuff on her face.

By now, Chu Mengling had pinned all her hopes on Chen Hao, so she could only obediently close her eyes.

Outside, Qiao Shan stood guard at the door like a guardian deity, while Chu Jinliang and his family waited patiently.

Just then, a sudden flurry of footsteps broke the silence in the corridor, immediately drawing everyone's attention.

When the nurses at the nurses' station saw Gong Honglin race past them at forty miles an hour, they all stared at him in astonishment.

"Isn't that Director Gong? What's gotten into him?" one nurse couldn't help asking.

Gong Honglin was a hospital director, after all. He was always so courteous and dignified at the hospital, so why was he tearing through it like a crazy old man today?

Another nurse asked curiously, "Exactly. Wasn't he holding a seminar with a group of specialists today? Why..."

Before she could finish, another large group thundered past them.

"Aren't those the specialists Director Gong invited? Weren't they in a meeting? Why have they all rushed down here? Did something happen in one of the wards?"

What followed was a large group of specialists, trailed by a large group of nurses, all surging toward Chu Mengling's room.

The commotion was so great that the entire floor seemed to tremble. It also startled the soldiers guarding Commander Chu, who watched the corridor warily and only relaxed a little when they recognized Gong Honglin and his group.

Seeing this, Chu Jinliang asked, torn between laughter and exasperation, "Director Gong, what are you doing?"

Gong Honglin pointed at Chu Mengling's room, struggling to catch his breath. "Is Chen Hao, the one who cured you yesterday, in there?"

Chu Jinliang nodded. Before he could speak, Gong Honglin impatiently tried to rush inside, only for Qiao Shan to stop him.

"Director Gong, what exactly are you doing?"

Realizing how rash he had been, Gong Honglin flushed and cleared his throat twice. "Oh dear, my apologies. That was terribly rude of me."

As soon as he finished speaking, the specialists behind him arrived, all clamoring to see Chen Hao.

Even Chu Jinliang, a layman, understood the significance of what Chen Hao had done yesterday, let alone Gong Honglin, a renowned figure in medicine. So he wasn't at all surprised to see Gong Honglin and the other medical specialists so excited to hear that Chen Hao was here.

"Please don't rush, everyone. Chen Hao is indeed inside, but he's treating our Mengling's injuries. Please be patient."

Gong Honglin's face registered shock. "Could Chen Hao actually cure the burns on Mengling's face completely?"

Gong Honglin had personally examined the burns on Chu Mengling's face. They were severe, and the skin and flesh of the face were different from those elsewhere. Even with skin grafts, she would probably recover only sixty or seventy percent. Scarring was inevitable.

Yet this prodigy, who had somehow made the cancer cells inside Chu Jinliang disappear just yesterday, now claimed he could heal burns too. It dealt quite a blow to Gong Honglin's confidence.

Gong Honglin wasn't the only one stunned. The other specialists were equally shocked, and a constant buzz of discussion filled the corridor.

"All right, everyone. Chen Hao didn't say he could guarantee it one hundred percent, either, so please calm down and wait patiently," Chu Jinliang said with a smile.

And so the corridor outside Chu Mengling's room became almost completely blocked.

Inside the room, Chen Hao was on his phone, browsing WeChat, while Chu Mengling sat obediently on the hospital bed opposite him, watching him expectantly.

After more than ten minutes, Chu Mengling finally couldn't bear it anymore. "Chen Hao, will the injuries on my face really heal if we just wait like this?"

It wasn't that Chu Mengling didn't want to believe him, but his treatment seemed far too perfunctory. He put some medicine on her, and then they just waited? She found that rather hard to accept.

Chen Hao had complete confidence in the healing power of the Eight Trigrams Furnace's ash. "Don't worry. Give it another five minutes, and your face will be healed."

"Uh..." Chu Mengling was instantly speechless, at a complete loss for words.

Still, all she could do now was listen to Chen Hao.

"All right, your face should be just about healed." At last, Chen Hao suddenly put away his phone and began removing Chu Mengling's gauze.

At that moment, Chu Mengling's heart began pounding. Whether this worked would directly determine the rest of her life.

When Chen Hao finished removing all the gauze from her face, she didn't even dare open her eyes at first.

Chen Hao smiled faintly and held up a mirror. "Go on, open your eyes and take a look."

Chu Mengling slowly opened her eyes. The instant she saw herself in the mirror, she let out a sudden scream. "Ah!"

Chen Hao froze. Before he could react, Chu Mengling raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face. "What did you do to me?"

Outside, Chu Huasheng and his wife immediately lost their composure upon hearing their daughter scream. They demanded to be let in. "Qiao Shan, get out of my way! What has Chen Hao done to my daughter?"

Qiao Shan was startled too, but out of trust in Chen Hao, he held everyone back, refusing to let them barge in.

Chu Jinliang's heart also skipped a beat. Had Chen Hao really done something inappropriate to Chu Mengling?

Inside the room, Chen Hao covered his cheek, now marked with five finger marks, looking thoroughly wronged. "Why did you hit me out of nowhere?" he asked bitterly.

Chu Mengling pointed at her reflection, half her face pitch-black, her voice trembling. "What did you do to my face? This is even worse than before!"

"Damn it, I was careless!" Chen Hao slapped his thigh, inwardly lamenting the slap he had taken for nothing.

There was no question that the ash from Supreme Lord Lao's Eight Trigrams Furnace was a treasure, but it was still ash. It would look awful smeared on anyone's face.

Rubbing his cheek, Chen Hao hurriedly explained, "That's the residue from the medicine. It'll be fine once we wipe it off."

As he spoke, Chen Hao picked up an alcohol swab and began cleaning Chu Mengling's face.

As the layers of ash were wiped away, Chu Mengling's eyes grew wider and wider. Then she let out another hysterical scream. "Ah!"

Chen Hao's eardrums nearly burst. This girl really could scream.

Upon hearing Chu Mengling scream again, the people outside finally couldn't stand it anymore. They shoved past Qiao Shan and rushed into the room.

But when everyone crowded inside and saw Chu Mengling's delicate face, still slightly dirty but completely free of scars, they were all dumbfounded.

After several seconds of stunned silence, Chu Huasheng and his wife were the first to lose control of their excitement. They rushed straight to Chu Mengling. "Mengling, you really are healed!"

Standing beside her, Chen Hao smiled and was about to say there was no need to thank him, but before he could get the words out, the older couple pushed him aside.

Chu Jinliang walked over to Chen Hao, laughing heartily. He patted his shoulder and said, "Chen Hao, you truly are a miracle worker. You've given our family a new lease on life!"

"You're too kind, Grandpa Chu. Since I already call you Grandpa, that makes us family. There's no need to be so formal," Chen Hao said with a smile.

"Haha, yes, yes! We're family. There's no need for formalities between family!" Chu Jinliang was so moved that tears streamed down his aged face.

Before the two could exchange more than a few words, Gong Honglin could no longer hold back and approached Chu Mengling. After confirming that the skin on her face had truly healed, he excitedly clasped Chen Hao's hand. "Chen Hao, how on earth did you do it? And Commander Chu's cancer yesterday, too. These things should be impossible!"

"Ahem!" As soon as Gong Honglin finished, Chu Jinliang's expression changed, and he coughed loudly in warning.

Only then did Gong Honglin realize he had let it slip. He looked at everyone in embarrassment.

Chu Huasheng's family, along with Qiao Shan and everyone else, froze.

Chu Huasheng stared at Gong Honglin. "Director Gong, what did you just say? My father had cancer?"

Seeing that he could no longer hide it, Gong Honglin could only admit, "Yes. Commander Chu was diagnosed with lung cancer six months ago, but it was already at an advanced stage. He was afraid you would worry too much, so he kept it from you."

Even Chu Mengling, sitting on the hospital bed, was stunned by this revelation. "Grandpa, why didn't you tell us something so important?" she demanded with a hint of reproach. "No wonder your health suddenly deteriorated six months ago."

"Exactly, Dad! How could you keep something like this from us?" Chu Huasheng was equally upset.

"But none of that matters now. Chen Hao has already cured Commander Chu's lung cancer," Gong Honglin hastily added, afraid Commander Chu would blame him.

"What? Cured?" Chu Huasheng stared blankly at Chu Jinliang, then looked at the utterly harmless-looking Chen Hao.

After a long silence, Chu Jinliang finally gave an awkward laugh. "Yes, none of that matters anymore. Chen Hao saved my life, and now he's healed Mengling's face too."

As he spoke, Chu Jinliang raised a hand toward Chen Hao, his eyes moist. "I've never admired anyone in my entire life, but Chen Hao, no words of thanks could repay what you've done. From now on, you are my own grandson."

Although the words sounded a little awkward, Chen Hao didn't dwell on them. He quickly took Chu Jinliang's hand. "Grandpa Chu, there you go again. Didn't we just agree that family shouldn't be so formal?"

"Ah, I couldn't help saying it. I'm just so happy."

As soon as Chu Jinliang finished, Gong Honglin could hold back no longer and interrupted. "Commander Chu, you'll have plenty of time to chat with your family later. I must get to the bottom of this today, or I'll never rest in peace."