Meng Yan's Transformation

Zhan Mengyan took the pliers from Zhan Zixun and looked at the plucked chicken skin. The pores were as hideous as volcanic craters, and the thick hair roots were embedded in the flesh like unexploded fuses, the surface stained a greasy dark yellow. The once smooth skin was now covered with uneven, rash-like protrusions, like leather repeatedly rubbed with sandpaper, with dried blood still lingering in every fold. Most striking were the uncleaned hair follicles, dark brown like cigarette burns, with translucent dandruff at the edges, emitting a sickly waxy yellow in the sunlight. Occasionally, a few broken feathers could be seen sticking diagonally into the chicken skin, like uprooted weeds, the surrounding skin tinged with an unnatural bluish-gray from the pulling. The entire skin was wrinkled into irregular waves, like brown paper crumpled by invisible hands, and the slightest touch would ooze out sticky tissue.

Zhan Mengyan closed her eyes, swallowed slowly, and took a deep breath. She calmed herself down, and when she opened her eyes again, she clamped a chicken feather from the chicken skin and pulled it out effortlessly. After pulling out the feather, large pores appeared on the chicken skin, which looked very ugly.

Zhan Mengyan found another black chicken feather stuck in the chicken skin. She wanted to plier it out, but no matter how she plied it left and right, it was still stuck in the skin and she couldn't pull it out. Zhan Mengyan was a little anxious, so she clamped the chicken skin and pulled hard. The chicken feather came out, but a piece of the chicken skin was also missing, revealing the yellow oil inside.

Zhan Yingying saw this and said with heartache: "Look, you've peeled me off again! Zhan Zixun, Zhan Mengyan, you two don't need to pull it out. I think you two are here to make things worse. You are definitely two troublemakers!"

"Zhan Yingying, you said you don't need our help, so why are you slandering us as troublemakers? You pull out faster and better than me, what's so great about that?"

Zhan Zixun showed an expression of dissatisfaction when he spoke.

"Zhan Zixun, don't be so unconvinced. Look at the skin of your and Zhan Mengyan's plucked chickens. Then look at the skin of Zhan Yingying's plucked chickens. There's no harm without comparison. Take a good look for yourselves."

As Zhan Yu spoke, he placed two chickens in front of Zhan Zixun.

"Nothing special, just practice makes perfect."

Zhan Zixun nodded slightly as he spoke.

"Zhan Zixun, what do you mean? Stop talking to me, a Zhihu user. Are you bullying me because I'm not well-educated and can't understand your words that belittle me?"

Zhan Yingying's face showed anger as she spoke.

"Sister Yingying, don't misunderstand Brother Zixun. What he just said was in classical Chinese. It was a line from the fable "The Oil Seller" by the Song Dynasty writer Ouyang Xiu. It means that practice makes perfect. In other words, Sister Yingying usually does more work than the two of us and has developed great skills. We are far behind her. Even if we try our best, we can't catch up with Sister Yingying. We both read so much that we have become nerds. Our hands and feet are no longer as nimble as Sister Yingying. This shows that Sister Yingying has worked the hardest for this, and we are just enjoying the fruits of her hard work. I feel very ashamed..."

Zhan Mengyan was talking incessantly when she was pulled away by Zhan Zixun.

"Sister Mengyan, please stop talking. Zhan Yingying is so flattered by you that she's almost going crazy. Just stop talking."

Zhan Zixun showed a look of contempt when he spoke.

"Zhan Zixun, although what your sister Meng Yan said is a bit exaggerated, it is also true. If you are not good at plucking chicken feathers, then go make lanterns. After you make the lanterns and hang them up, I will paint on them for you."