Cheng Guomin wasn’t stupid. Zhao Haishuang’s unusual behavior made him think something had happened.
"What’s wrong? Are you still not feeling better, or is there something else wrong with your body?"
He walked up, grabbed Zhao Haishuang’s shoulders, and tried to turn her around to take a closer look.
Zhao Haishuang kept her hands over her face.
"I’m fine. Let go of me. I want to go lie down in my room for a while."
"If you’re fine, why are you covering your face? What’s wrong with your face?"
As Cheng Guomin spoke, he reached out to pull Zhao Haishuang’s hands away.
At first, Zhao Haishuang resisted adamantly, but Cheng Guomin was quite stubborn himself and insisted on seeing what was going on.
Finally, Zhao Haishuang, cornered, had no choice but to take her hands away.
"Fine, if you want to look, then look!"
When Cheng Guomin saw Zhao Haishuang’s face, he gasped audibly.
That face—there wasn’t a trace of the previous beauty left. It was so old and worn. She even looked far older than he did.
Was this what Zhao Haishuang looked like without makeup?
He realized that, at some point, the version of her he had always seen was only her made-up appearance.
So refined and radiant, so gentle and elegant.
But now, this old and unattractive woman...
Cheng Guomin couldn’t connect her current appearance with the Zhao Haishuang in his memories.
Zhao Haishuang clearly saw the shock in Cheng Guomin’s eyes.
Unable to hold it in, she burst into tears, "My face is ruined!"
She pushed Cheng Guomin away and stormed back into her room.
At that moment, she was even more devastated than when she first discovered her face was ruined.
Because Cheng Guomin had seen her .
When no one had seen her, she still believed she could fix it and pretend nothing had happened afterward. But now, Cheng Guomin had seen her. Even if her looks returned to normal later, the image in Cheng Guomin’s mind would always be of her current state.
The more Zhao Haishuang thought about it, the more despair she felt. She wished she could just die and be done with it.
And Cheng Guomin? He stood frozen in place.
He was astonished by Zhao Haishuang’s appearance. If he hadn’t come home today, would he have coincidentally seen her ?
At that moment, Cheng Lie walked out and stretched his hand toward Cheng Guomin.
The calm look on the boy’s face reminded him of his mother more and more as he grew older.
Cheng Guomin thought about that beautiful woman from his memories.
His heart felt a pang of discomfort.
He handed the strawberries he had bought back to Cheng Lie. "Go ahead. You can share them with Shi Fei too."
Cheng Lie quietly took them, as if he didn’t understand what Cheng Guomin was saying, and silently returned to his room.
Cheng Guomin lingered for a while in the same spot, feeling a bit melancholic.
It had surprised him when Cheng Lie had called him today and specifically asked for strawberries.
In the past, for such things, he would simply tell the housekeeper.
But this was the first time Cheng Lie asked personally, and since Cheng Guomin happened to have some free time from work, he went to buy them himself and brought them home.
Unexpectedly, upon returning home, he saw Zhao Haishuang in that state.
Thinking of her face looking like that, Cheng Guomin suddenly felt conflicted. He started to question their relationship.
This version of Zhao Haishuang... He found himself losing interest in her all of a sudden.
Looking at the tightly shut door of Zhao Haishuang’s room, recalling her breakdown from earlier, Cheng Guomin didn’t go looking for her. Instead, he turned and went to the study.
An hour later, Zhao Haishuang lied and said she needed to visit her friend in the neighboring city. Cheng Guomin didn’t say much and let her go.
But Zhao Haishuang could feel it—Cheng Guomin’s attitude toward her had visibly grown colder.
What could she do about it?
She wiped away her tears, carefully did her makeup, put on her sunglasses, and left the house.
As she stepped outside, Yun Shifei happened to be heading to visit Sun Xiaoqi to go over their winter homework assignments. School was starting in two days, and they needed to turn in their holiday work.
From a distance, Yun Shifei saw a woman walking out of the Cheng Family’s house. Judging by her outfit, it seemed to be Zhao Haishuang.
"Hello, Auntie," Yun Shifei greeted Zhao Haishuang.
Zhao Haishuang felt a little self-conscious upon seeing Yun Shifei. She gave her a nod but wasn’t as warm as she used to be.
Yun Shifei watched Zhao Haishuang leave and thought that she seemed a bit different lately.
Her face had changed too—not swollen like the last time, but rather like the flesh on her cheeks had vanished in an instant, leaving them hollow.
But Yun Shifei didn’t dwell on it. She had plenty of work ahead.
With only a year and a half until the college entrance exams, her current grades were average—not bad, but not great either. Although she’d made significant progress, only a top score in the entire grade level would give her a chance at getting into a good university.
She needed to work harder.
After going over the winter homework answers with Sun Xiaoqi and also reviewing last semester’s material, it was already four or five in the afternoon.
The Sun Family had begun preparing dinner, so Yun Shifei decided to head home.
"Shi Fei, stay for a meal," Sun Xiaoqi offered.
"Yes, Shi Fei, Auntie can make a couple of extra dishes," Sun Xiaoqi’s mother chimed in.
"Thank you, Auntie, but I need to head back. My dad’s waiting for me for dinner."
As she spoke, she looked at Sun Xiaoqi again, "See you the day after tomorrow!"
After Yun Shifei left, Sun Xiaoqi’s mom glanced at her: "Look at her, then look at yourself."
"What’s wrong with me?"
"Shi Fei is pretty, well-mannered, and studies so hard. And you? All you do is come home and watch cartoons. Can’t you be a little more proactive?"
"College is so hard to get into. You should know what kind of material your daughter is made of. If I can get into a vocational school, that would already be a miracle," Sun Xiaoqi said indifferently.
"How dare you say that!"
"Didn’t you want me to take over the family business anyway?"
"Well, that doesn’t mean you can’t study hard first."
"What if I study well and decide I don’t want to take over the family business?"
The mother and daughter kept bickering endlessly.
Meanwhile, Yun Shifei was walking home.
She was already planning for the coming school term in her head.
At the entrance to the neighborhood, she ran into someone familiar.
She hadn’t seen him in the past few days.
Now, Mu Chengzhu spotted her too and smiled warmly: "Shi Fei."
His smile remained as gentle as ever, and under the golden glow of the setting sun, it seemed even more comforting.
Yun Shifei greeted him politely, "Hello."
At the moment, Mu Chengzhu had a schoolbag slung over his shoulder. It was obvious he had just returned from school.
He was already a third-year high school student and would be taking the college entrance exams in half a year. His studies were intense, and the school mandated extra classes.
Though she was still in her second year, not yet back in classes, Mu Chengzhu had been at school for a week already.
But—what did that have to do with her?
Holding her textbooks tightly, Yun Shifei started walking away, but Mu Chengzhu called out to her: "Shi Fei, were you working on your winter homework just now?"
"No, I was just checking answers with my friend."
"Oh. If you come across anything you don’t understand in your studies, feel free to ask me."
Seeing Mu Chengzhu’s gentle smile and hearing his offer to help, Yun Shifei felt an instinctive aversion.
"No need. You’re already so busy with your studies. I wouldn’t want to bother you. Besides, I have a tutor."