Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Chapter 478: Chapter 250: Testing Huai Zi

Besides, if they grew so close over two years and she still didn’t choose him, what would that make of him, even if she disregarded her own reputation? And if she was going to choose him, why not get engaged now? An engagement would make their relationship much more proper and justified.

This wasn’t the society of her past life. People here didn’t beat around the bush so much. When someone came to your door with a proposal, you agreed if you were willing, and if you weren’t, you made it clear so they could move on. Take Meizi, for instance. If Gou Dan’s mother hadn’t been so protective of her daughter, what choice did Li Changming have but to back off?

Her thoughts raced, giving her a headache. ’An engagement it is, then,’ she thought. ’Everyone else thinks so simply and directly. I’m the only one whose mind is a tangled mess, going around in circles. I’m just making trouble for myself!’

’Yes, overthinking things is just needlessly borrowing trouble!’

’Forget the past—I had no feelings for Huai Zi then, so there was nothing to say. But now that I’ve developed feelings for him, and it’s been a while, an engagement makes sense. Will I even have the chance to meet other young men and choose from among them? I know quite a few of the boys in the village, but besides Huai Zi, who I’m closest to, I only see the others a few times a year. If I have to weigh my options over and over even with someone like Huai Zi, what about the others? How could I trust someone I’ve only met a handful of times? Or what if I let a matchmaker arrange something? Meeting someone just once? That’s even more impossible.’

Having made up her mind, she nodded to Yang Family and said, "Then let’s get engaged! No, wait two more days. Just give me two days!" She had suddenly thought of something and made a decision, so she changed her answer.

Yang Family was first delighted, then a little baffled. "What do you mean, two days?" she asked. "Even if you’re getting engaged, it should be done in the twelfth month. It’s definitely too late to do it now; we need to prepare properly. You’re my only daughter, and Huai Zi is the eldest son in his family. His engagement can’t be a casual affair." She thought her daughter didn’t understand the customs and had misunderstood her, thinking the engagement had to happen immediately.

Juhua shook her head. "I mean, Mother, you should wait two days before you reply to the Zhang family about the engagement."

Hearing this, Yang Family looked at her with some concern and asked, "Hua’er, what are you planning to do?"

Juhua smiled slightly. "Mother, don’t worry, I won’t do anything out of line. Mmm, I’ll tell you once I’m ready. Don’t you trust me?"

Yang Family thought so too and told her not to let her imagination run wild. It was just an engagement, after all, and she still wanted to keep her daughter at home for another two years. She couldn’t bear to part with her. She then rambled on, sharing many heartfelt words with her daughter.

Around noon, Juhua made some preparations. When Qingmu returned, she pulled him into the kitchen and said, "Brother, come help me with something!"

Qingmu poured a cup of hot water from the stove and drank it, eyeing the large bowl in Juhua’s hands. "What is it? Are you making something delicious again?" In the bowl was a reddish-yellow lump of something he didn’t recognize. It looked like acorn powder.

Juhua shook her head and said slowly, "Mother said she’s going to arrange my engagement to Brother Huai Zi!"

Qingmu was confused. She was clearly making food, so how did the conversation suddenly jump to her engagement with Huai Zi? Still, he was nothing but happy to hear the news. "So, are you willing?" he asked eagerly.

Juhua nodded. "An engagement is fine. It’ll stop Brother Huai Zi from coming over all the time. I’m not a child anymore, and it doesn’t look right to others. It’s easy for people to gossip."

Qingmu shook his head in disapproval. "That’s not the right way to look at it. What matters most is that you yourself are willing."

Juhua unconsciously kneaded the mixture in the bowl—it was sticky and pulled into long strands—and smiled faintly. "Oh, I am willing."

Qingmu broke into a happy smile and sat down at the small square table. Then, he asked with a hint of surprise, "Then why did you need your brother? Do you want me to go get Huai Zi?"

Juhua shook her head. "Why would I need him? I want you to help me put something on my face." She brandished the large bowl at Qingmu.

Qingmu leaned over to get a better look at the unknown substance in the bowl. "Is this a new face mask you made?" he asked, puzzled. "Why does it look so awful? The egg white one was better; it didn’t look this bad. Does this stuff even work?" He assumed his sister wanted help applying a face mask, something he often did for her.

Juhua’s eyes crinkled. "It’s not a face mask. I made it with flour and acorn powder. I’m going to create the same scaly patches on my face that I had before."

Qingmu stared at her blankly, asking foolishly, "But why?"

Juhua glanced at him and asked deliberately, "Tell me, has it been a long time since Brother Huai Zi has seen the scaly patches on my face? If he suddenly saw them again, what do you think he would do?"

Qingmu’s eyes flew wide open. He asked in disbelief, "Juhua, you... you’re going to test..." He found it difficult to finish his sentence. ’My sister is so clever and mischievous,’ he thought. ’Poor Huai Zi!’

Juhua nodded. "I’m not really deceiving him. I did have those scaly patches on my face, and he doesn’t know they’ve healed. I just want to see his reaction. It’s not going too far. If my face hadn’t healed, I would have had to face him like this eventually. I couldn’t have spent the rest of my life wearing a veil in front of him, could I?"

Qingmu thought about it and agreed. If Juhua’s face hadn’t healed, Huai Zi would have had to confront the patches sooner or later. So, with mixed feelings, he agreed to Juhua’s request and helped her create the fake blemishes.

However, he hesitated as he held the bowl. First, the mixture inside wasn’t quite right—the color was too red. Second, the fleshy bumps that had been part of the rash would be difficult to imitate.

Juhua frowned at him. "It just needs to look ugly at a glance when it’s on my face. It’s not like he’s going to stare at it, is he? Even if he does, he probably won’t remember exactly what the old patches looked like. And even if he remembers they were different from these, he won’t find it strange—skin conditions can change. Didn’t Doctor Qin treat me once? We can say it didn’t heal properly, but it made the bumps flatten out. He’ll be afraid of upsetting me, so he definitely won’t ask."

Qingmu realized she was right. ’Why do we need to make it look so realistic?’ he thought. ’No one would pay that much attention to the details.’

When people saw the scaly patches on Juhua’s face, strangers would feel disgust, pity, or curiosity. Those who cared for her would feel distressed and heartbroken. Who would even think to question if it was real or fake? Besides, everyone knew Juhua used to have a skin condition on her face. Who would ever imagine she would fake it?

Unless a piece of it fell off on the spot, no one who saw it would ever guess that Juhua had created a fake rash. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote with recommendation tickets and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)