The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl

24. What’s Your Name

Translator: Iris Guo

A’Chou laughed even louder, “When I worked at the Imperial Washhouse, we had to eat steamed buns every day. In summer, they would go stale. In winter, they were so hard that my teeth would hurt. I used to dream of having porridge every day. Ha ha, now thanks to you, my dream comes true!”

Zhong Mingwei looked at A’Chou’s sparkling eyes. Undoubtedly, she wasn’t beautiful, but her smile was especially inspiring. He couldn’t help showing a bigger smile on his face: “What’s your name?”

“A’Chou.” She didn’t even look up but crawled under his bed, trying to sweep every inch of the area.

“What?” Zhong Mingwei was stunned, “Why?”

“People call me that,” It seemed that A’Chou didn’t care. She came out with a cobweb in her hair, and explained while she removed it, “Because I’m ugly.”

A’Chou knelt on the ground, raised her head, and combed her hair with fingers. Zhong Mingwei could clearly see the big scarlet scars scattered all the way from her chin to her clavicles. He could even feel her pain just looking at them.

“How did you get those?” Zhong Mingwei stared at the scar on A’Chou’s chin and asked.

“Oh, fire,” A’Chou obviously didn’t want to recall her past. She hastened to look down, fixed her collar, and continued to sweep the floor. “I’ll buy some ointment after I finish cleaning. Your bedsores are getting more serious and we can’t afford a delay in treatment.”

Zhong Mingwei froze, said nothing, and turned his face.

“You can’t lie on your stomach all the time, or your limbs will get stiff,” A’Chou was still nagging, “When the bedsores are cured, I’ll take you to the courtyard and enjoy the sunshine. People can’t live without it. By the way, I’ll see if there are deck chairs in the market and buy one for you if it’s portable. You’ll be comfortable in it and won’t get tired.”

Zhong Mingwei looked at the wall with cracks and got a little depressed. Of course he didn’t hate A’Chou but even liked to get close to her. Different from the people he had known before, she was kind, motivated, and warm. He couldn’t resist her kindness but enjoyed living together and talking with her, except for the discussion about his body.

After all, he felt inferior.

A’Chou kept on asking him not to loathe her. How could he loathe her?

Conversely, he was afraid that A’Chou would loathe him and he would be her burden.

Life was full of turns. Once upon a time, he was surrounded by so many people, and all of them wanted something from him, either power or wealth. He clearly knew their intention and hypocrisy as well as his privilege, so he was very proud and indifferent in front of them. As long as he ordered them to do something, they would strain every nerve to satisfy his requirements. He thought that fooling with people was a game, and he also enjoyed feeling superior.