Sweet Rebirth: The Little Healer

Little Red Carp went out to play with Big Dog, with Hua Yulin following behind.

Zhao Nuanyue and Hua Yusen were downstairs chatting with Feng Wanru and Hua Zhiqiang.

Hua Yufen had run upstairs to her bedroom. Worried she wasn’t doing it right, she shouted from upstairs, ”Sister-in-law, come help me! See if I’m doing this right!”

”Okay, just a moment,” Zhao Nuanyue replied. ”Uncle, Auntie, I’m going upstairs to take a look.”

Zhao Nuanyue went upstairs and saw that Hua Yufen had applied a white face mask, but it wasn’t even. She helped her smooth it out and asked, ”Yufen, which country are you getting ready to go to?”

”To an ally,” Hua Yufen replied. ”Relations with them are thawing, so we’re going over for some official engagements. We hope to establish good bilateral relations.”

’That’s a major fashion metropolis!’

Looking at Hua Yufen’s clothes and her two braids, Zhao Nuanyue thought she looked a bit plain. ’After the mask, I should teach her how to put on some makeup.’

”Lie down and relax. About fifteen minutes should be enough; don’t leave it on too long,” Zhao Nuanyue instructed, sitting down beside Hua Yufen. ”That ally is a fundamentalist country, and a very wealthy one. Once you’re there, you’ll face a huge culture shock in both your way of thinking and your lifestyle. Being a qualified and excellent official isn’t just about being simple and modest; you also have to show them the elegance of our Yan Country!”

”Yes, the department put a lot of thought into it. They had formal suits, evening wear, and casual outfits made for each of us from high-quality fabric,” Hua Yufen replied. ”The situation we’ll be facing there will be grim, and the road ahead is difficult. But Elder Gu said we must be on the front lines, to broaden our country’s diplomatic horizons.”

Zhao Nuanyue greatly admired Hua Yufen’s courage to be on the front lines.

’This isn’t like my past life, where the economy was developed, the nation was strong, and it was easy to go abroad.’

’Without permission, it would be considered illegal emigration, and you could even be framed with fabricated charges.’

”As a woman, you need to be extra careful, even if you’re traveling with a group,” Zhao Nuanyue explained. ”I can’t help you with much else, but I do know a thing or two about beauty and skincare. Oh, you should also keep some medicine on hand, just in case.”

”That’s all been taken care of, I don’t have to worry about it,” Hua Yufen replied. As they chatted back and forth about little things, fifteen minutes passed.

Zhao Nuanyue checked the time and said, ”Yufen, you can go wash your face now.”

Hua Yufen got up from the bed, went to the bathroom to wash her face, and looked at herself in the mirror. At first, she thought it was just the lighting, so she quickly took a hand mirror over to the window. Then she exclaimed, ”Sister-in-law, do you see it? I look a little fairer than before!”

As a young woman who cared about her appearance, she was very attentive to her complexion. Because Hua Yufen’s skin was on the darker side, she was especially conscious of it and could immediately tell if it had gotten even a little bit fairer.

Zhao Nuanyue took a close look at Hua Yufen’s face and nodded. ”It is a little fairer. But you’ve only used it once. The benefits will be even more obvious with continued use.”

Hua Yufen held up the mirror, examining her reflection from every angle. To her, her skin was more than just a little fairer.

’She saw a glimmer of hope. Soon, she would become even fairer.’

”Thank you, Sister-in-law! Is this hard to make?” Hua Yufen asked. ”What ingredients does it need? I can buy them. Sister-in-law, could you please make some more for me? As you can see, my skin is dark, and I’ve always dreamed of it being fairer. I just never found a good solution, but the mask you gave me has finally given me hope.”

”Hehe, it’s not difficult. I just made the one you’re holding last night.” Zhao Nuanyue was happy to see how much Hua Yufen liked it. ’It didn’t cost much, and it turned out to be the perfect gift.’

’This was gift-giving at its finest.’

’The relationship between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is the most complicated one in the world. Since she hadn’t married into the Hua family yet, her issues with Feng Wanru weren’t yet obvious. But once she did, she would have to face that complicated dynamic head-on.’

’It wasn’t just something she would have to face; it was something every married woman had to deal with. You couldn’t let your mother-in-law walk all over you, but you couldn’t afford a total falling-out either. Trying to keep the family happy and harmonious was truly difficult.’

’A sister-in-law and a mother-in-law are their own mother and daughter. They can fight and argue, and be fine a moment later, but a daughter-in-law and a mother-in-law can’t do that.’

’Getting on good terms with Hua Yufen now would be a huge advantage for her in the future. Not only would her sister-in-law not stir up trouble, but when tensions arose between her and her mother-in-law, she could help talk her mother down. That was often more effective than a hundred words from her husband, Hua Yusen.’

’This was one of the reasons why, since ancient times, it was so important for a daughter-in-law to have a good relationship with her sister-in-law.’

’At the same time, a smart sister-in-law would also want to be on good terms with her brother’s wife. After she gets married and her parents get older, she’ll need to rely on her brothers for support, and for that, she’ll need her sister-in-law’s goodwill. Only a foolish woman would treat her sisters-in-law like enemies.’

”Then... Sister-in-law... could you... could you make another bottle for me?” Hua Yufen asked, a little embarrassed, her eyes falling on the large bottle of face mask on the table.

’Her sister-in-law had already given her so much; asking for more felt a little shameless.’

”Of course,” Zhao Nuanyue readily agreed. It wasn’t much trouble anyway. ”I’ll make you some more when I get home tonight. I wasn’t sure if it would work for you, so I didn’t make a large batch. Since it does, I’ll make plenty for you to take. By the way, it’s all-natural, and it works best if you use it before bed. You can use it on your body, too. The only thing is, because it’s handmade, it only keeps for two months. Even in the refrigerator, it only lasts for four, so you have to keep track of the shelf life. You can’t use it once it expires.”

When she heard it could be used on her body, Hua Yufen was overjoyed. She turned, pulled a leather wallet from a cabinet, and said, ”Sister-in-law, here’s money for the herbs. Please make me five large bottles. Even with a four-month shelf life, I can definitely use it all. After all, my whole body is a lot of surface area.”

Zhao Nuanyue hadn’t expected Hua Yufen to be so passionate about skincare. ’I guess all women really do care about their appearance,’ she thought. But she couldn’t accept Hua Yufen’s money, so she refused, ”If you give me money, then I’m not making it for you.”

”Oh, Sister-in-law, you’re too good to me. I’d feel terrible,” Hua Yufen said, knowing her sister-in-law was only saying that because she didn’t want to accept the money. ”Besides, I’m asking for a huge amount.”

”The ingredients I use are all-natural herbs, but they’re common ones, so they aren’t too expensive. I can afford it,” Zhao Nuanyue said with a smile. ”If you have friends who travel back and forth frequently, you can have them bring me a message, and I can send more over to you.”