Sweet Rebirth: The Little Healer

”Hmm, okay then. First thing tomorrow morning, my sister and I will get you all dolled up and make you the prettiest bride in Nianqiao Village,” Little Red Carp said with great earnestness. ”Oh, right! The plum blossoms in the backyard are blooming beautifully. It would look so pretty if you wore a few of them.”

”Okay, I’ll have to trouble you and your sister tomorrow, then.” Li Qiong knew Zhao Nuanyue was skilled with her hands, so she gladly accepted.

This was the most important day of a woman’s life. She wanted to present herself in her most beautiful state to the man she loved, so that Li Jianjun would remember it forever.

After Zhao Nuanyue and Zhao Nuan Yang finished their training, they came over for dinner.

You could say Zhao Nuan Yang devoured his food like a wolf. Zhao Nuanyue wasn’t slow either, and Little Red Carp also ate with great gusto. Seeing everyone approve of her cooking made Li Qiong very happy.

After the meal, Zhao Nuanyue and Zhao Nuan Yang helped Li Qiong prepare for the lunch banquet. They would be inviting Miao Cunzheng, Dong Sanshu, and a few other village cadres, along with some families they were close with. This would serve as the wedding feast.

With Zhao Nuanyue’s help, the two-table banquet was very respectable.

After lunch, Zhao Nuanyue took the gifts, including some things prepared by Old Sir Qian, He Qiang, and Sun Haoran, and delivered them door-to-door according to the list they had written, not finishing until late at night.

When delivering the items, she couldn’t just drop them off; she had to exchange a few pleasantries with each family.

That evening, Li Qiong was about to cook dinner, but Zhao Nuanyue stopped her.

”From now on, you’re the bride,” Zhao Nuanyue said with a light laugh. ”You just sit still. Yang, Nuanyang, and I will cook. After dinner, get some rest. First thing tomorrow, I’m going to do your hair and makeup.”

”It’s really no problem, I can do it,” Li Qiong said, feeling a bit embarrassed. She wasn’t that delicate.

”No, you can’t,” Zhao Nuanyue refused flatly.

”Haha, Li Qiong, just listen to Nuanyue,” Yang Guanghui said with a hearty laugh. ”Besides, dinner is easy to make, it won’t be much trouble. Just wait for the food. You can play with Little Red Carp in the meantime.” Among this group of friends, Yang Guanghui had known Li Qiong the longest and was more familiar with her.

”Alright then.” Li Qiong couldn’t win against them and had no choice but to leave the kitchen.

After a simple dinner, Zhao Nuanyue and Little Red Carp woke up early the next morning.

When Li Qiong got up, Zhao Nuanyue had already boiled a large pot of hot water and even made a simple breakfast.

”Nuanyue, you’re up way too early,” Li Qiong said, surprised. ”Everything is already prepared. All I need to do is comb my hair. There’s really nothing else to do!”

”No way. Today is your wedding day! How could there be nothing to do?” Zhao Nuanyue was excited, even more so than Li Qiong. ”Back when Hua and I got our marriage certificate, he had to leave for a mission the day before our wedding ceremony, so my wedding was postponed. I was so disappointed then. Now that it’s your big day, I have to take it seriously. You’re the bride today, so you’ll listen to my arrangements for everything else.”

”Mhm, that’s right!” Little Red Carp nodded. ”Brother, go put the bathtub in Sister Qiong’s room!”

Zhao Nuan Yang nodded and moved the large bathtub into Li Qiong’s room. He and Yang Guanghui quickly poured the hot water from the large pot into the tub. Zhao Nuanyue tempered the bathwater and then told Li Qiong to get undressed.

”But I just took a bath the day before yesterday. Do I have to bathe again today?” Li Qiong faltered. ’It’s so cold out, won’t I catch a cold?’

”Normally, you wouldn’t have to, but today is your wedding day,” Zhao Nuanyue disagreed. ”Hurry, hurry, the water is ready. Get undressed, and I’ll scrub your back for you.”

Under the watchful eyes of Zhao Nuanyue and Little Red Carp, Li Qiong took off her clothes and got into the bathtub.

Zhao Nuanyue had steeped fragrant dried flower petals in the tub and added some special spices. When Li Qiong emerged from the water, she was fragrant from head to toe and her skin looked much fairer than before.

Li Qiong got dressed and wrapped her hair up in a large towel.

Zhao Nuanyue patiently toweled Li Qiong’s hair. Fortunately, her hair wasn’t very long—just shoulder-length—so it dried easily.

Zhao Nuanyue took out her own makeup box and prepared to do Li Qiong’s makeup.

Seeing Zhao Nuanyue take out tweezers and even a small blade, Li Qiong jumped in fright.

”Nuanyue, who did you learn this from?” Li Qiong asked. ”And you have so many tools!”

”It might look like a lot, but they’re all useful,” Zhao Nuanyue said with a smile. ”Sit tight. You don’t need to talk now, I’m going to start your makeup.”

Zhao Nuanyue stood in front of Li Qiong, studying her face. She noted that Li Qiong had an oval-shaped face, so she shaped her eyebrows into slender, curved arches, which instantly made her whole face look much more elegant. Li Qiong had some freckles, which Zhao Nuanyue covered with a cream she had made herself. Then, she applied a layer of whitening cream that suited her skin tone.

There was no lipstick back then, so Zhao Nuanyue used a peach-colored lip balm she had made herself, applying it to Li Qiong’s lips. Finally, she used an eyebrow pencil to deepen the shape of her brows and also drew a faint line of eyeliner, making Li Qiong’s eyes sparkle brightly.

When Zhao Nuanyue finished the makeup, Little Red Carp handed a mirror to Li Qiong, giggling, ”Ooh, the bride is so pretty! The bride is so pretty!”

Little Red Carp’s voice made Li Qiong even more curious, so she couldn’t wait for Zhao Nuanyue to be completely finished and grabbed the mirror to take a look.

She saw a woman in the mirror with features as lovely as a painting, a gentle smile on her face, her rosy lips slightly parted and her eyes wide, clearly in disbelief that the woman in the mirror was her.

”Oh my gosh, I can’t believe makeup can make someone look this beautiful!” Li Qiong’s appearance was average—you could only say her features were well-proportioned. She couldn’t compare to Zhao Nuanyue or Wang Yuan in terms of looks, but she did have one great advantage: she was tall.

Seeing Li Qiong so pleased with her work, Zhao Nuanyue was also very happy and said with a smile, ”It’s true! We’re short on materials right now. When I get the chance later, I’ll get more cosmetics and teach you how to do your makeup properly!”

Li Qiong heard this but didn’t take it to heart. She shook her head and said, ”I’m actually very happy with how I look now. It’s made me much prettier than before and will make my wedding more perfect. But you know this is a small village with simple customs, and the current social climate promotes austerity. If I were to paint my face and dress ostentatiously every day, it would just attract a lot of gossip.”

”Haha, normally that might cause gossip, but you’re the bride today! You’re the most beautiful one here, and no one will say a thing. I can understand if you don’t want to dress up like this in Nianqiao Village, so I’ll teach you again when you get to Jincheng City.”

”Okay, thank you so much, Nuanyue. Thank you for giving me an unforgettable wedding day.” Li Qiong smiled, already eager to see the look on Li Jianjun’s face.