Chapter 3 — The Campus Queen's Destiny Swap System

Chi Yan actually came. He had grown up abroad, and although he was the same age as us, he had entered university long ago, practically bypassing the domestic high school environment entirely. When the striking red sports car came to a halt in front of the teaching building and the window rolled down to reveal a profile so impeccably flawless it defied critique, every passing student froze in sheer disbelief. Xu Qingqing and I were walking down the stairs together, her arm linked through mine—yet the moment she laid eyes on Chi Yan, her gaze became utterly glued to him.

"That car... it is a global limited edition, worth a staggering three hundred million yuan..." she murmured, her grip tightening fiercely around my arm as her nails dug deep into my flesh. The very next instant, she pulled me forward with her, lifting her chin to purposefully accentuate her curves while adopting a voice as sweet as dripping honey. "Greetings, Young Master Chi. I am Vivi's best friend, and I have admired you for the longest time. Might we... exchange WeChat contacts?"

It was a blatant, unmasked advance. Yet—Chi Yan did not even spare her a single glance. The moment his eyes locked onto mine, he pushed open the door and stepped out of the vehicle, covering the distance in two long strides to stand directly before me, the corners of his lips curling into a lazy yet soul-captivating smile. "Tch... school's out?"

Sometimes I truly wondered if Chi Yan had encountered every conceivable type of beauty in this world and was now simply looking to... cleanse his palate. After all—he was the sole person who had never once shown revulsion toward my appearance.

All around us, murmurs erupted into a ceaseless wave of whispered gossip. "Zhu Vivi is ridiculously lucky! Even though she is plain, her family is filthy rich, and she has a fiance who is devastatingly handsome, wealthy, and utterly devoted..."

"Hu hu hu, I used to be so jealous of Xu Qingqing, but now I just want to trade places with Zhu Vivi! It turns out top-tier eye candy does not care about a pretty face..."

"Hey, keep your voice down! Do you know who he is? If we get overheard, we are dead meat!"

"That is right, shut your traps right now! Young Master Chi dotes on his fiancee like crazy; I heard that even while busy attending the Film Festival, he still squeezed time into his schedule just to come to school and have lunch with her!"

I watched the mounting fury contort Xu Qingqing's expression. This game—has truly begun.

I hesitated briefly, but Chi Yan appeared to be in high spirits at the moment, naturally reaching out to take my hand. "Where should we go to eat?"

Recovering my wits, I hurried to lead him toward the cafeteria. By sheer coincidence, Xu Jiayuan had also arrived at the cafeteria, having rushed over to "monitor" the situation out of fear that I would bully his younger sister. Upon catching sight of Chi Yan, his expression plainly betrayed profound shock, yet he still pulled out a chair to sit beside Xu Qingqing, casting a deeply complex glance in my direction.

"I heard that you... beat up one of my people right here in broad daylight this noon?" Chi Yan spoke up abruptly, his tone deceptively calm yet brimming with suppressed murderous intent.

Instantly, Xu Jiayuan's gaze snapped toward me like a pair of loaded arrows. I hurriedly plastered on an innocent expression—I swear on my life that I did not tell Chi Yan! It was blatantly obvious that the man had eyes and ears planted everywhere within this school.

"It was all just a misunderstanding, Young Master Chi!"

"I do not know what Vivi might have told you, but I guarantee my brother had no malicious intent whatsoever!" Xu Qingqing remained steadfast in her belief that her current appearance was enough to sway Chi Yan's heart. She bit her lower lip, desperately feigning a gentle and pitiful demeanor. "My brother was simply too worried that I would be bullied... I have been in frail health since childhood, and whatever happened at noon today was entirely my fault. If Young Master Chi wishes to punish someone, just take it out on me. Let me bear the full brunt of it..."

With that, she forced moisture into her eyes, striving to project a resilient front—convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that this performance would deeply move Chi Yan and alter his perception of her.

Yet, she was utterly mistaken.

Chi Yan let out a cold laugh, firmly interlacing his fingers with mine before casually backhanding the table with a violent sweep—sending the heavy wooden structure crashing straight toward the Xu siblings!

"Qingqing!" A piercing scream tore through the air.

The entire cafeteria fell into a pin-drop silence. Xu Jiayuan scrambled to his feet, throwing himself in front of his sister to shield her. Meanwhile, Chi Yan fixed a glacial, frost-bitten stare upon Xu Qingqing. "This place is not somewhere you have the right to speak."

"Both of you—get lost."

Standing right beside him, I watched the two of them turn deathly pale, struck dumb and paralyzed with terror, while a wave of supreme, unadulterated ecstasy washed over me. The debt from earlier today—this serves as the very first installment.

The news of how dominantly and fiercely Chi Yan protected his fiancee spread through the campus like wildfire. Those sycophantic parasites who used to orbit Xu Qingqing suddenly lost all interest in her, swarming around me like bees to honey instead.

The crowd tripped over themselves showering me with praise. "The more one looks at Miss Zhu, the more extraordinary her aura becomes!"

"Europeans are utterly obsessed with that classic freckled aesthetic right now; Vivi is setting the absolute trend!"

"Now this is what you call genuine Eastern elegance!"

"Only Young Master Chi possesses the discerning eye to recognize a true treasure!"

From that day onward, Xu Qingqing was thoroughly consumed and blinded by jealousy. Yielding entirely to the system's demands, she resorted to every conceivable underhanded tactic to accelerate the process of swapping our fates with mine.

Yet, the outcome defied all her expectations:
• My physical appearance began recovering at a terrifying, miraculous pace—my skin grew luminous and fair, my facial contours refined, and my presence sharpened with arresting grace.
• Conversely, Xu Qingqing deteriorated rapidly, forced to slap on layers upon layers of heavy makeup to mask her fading visage until even cosmetics failed her, leaving her with no choice but to wear a protective mask throughout the entire day.

Furthermore, my academic aptitude triumphantly returned to me. I no longer needed to grind through endless problem sets at midnight or gnaw on my pen while struggling over complex formulas. Now, a single glance was all it took for me to remember, a single pass through a text for me to fully comprehend.

It was a Friday, and tomorrow marked the weekend—the date of Chi Yan's grand birthday banquet.

Inside the classroom, Xu Qingqing sat in sullen silence behind her surgical mask, her eyes pooling with dark, toxic malice. Meanwhile, I held up a small hand mirror, tilting my head from side to side to admire a face as radiant and blooming as a crescent moon—rosy, flawless skin, naturally ruby lips, delicate features...

My heart hammered wildly against my ribs. This... was the appearance that had rightfully belonged to me all along!

Passing classmates dropped their jaws in sheer disbelief as they caught sight of me. "Holy crap! Did Miss Zhu put on some kind of divine makeup today, or did she just descend from the heavens as an immortal?"

"It is not sudden at all; I noticed she has been growing prettier day by day this past week, and now she easily outshines top celebrities in the entertainment industry!"

"I second that with hands and feet! Meanwhile, someone who used to strut around so confident in her looks is now hiding behind a mask, and even her eyes seem to have shrunk~"

"HAHAHA, I swear calling Miss Zhu our campus belle is an understatement! She is drop-dead gorgeous!"

Seated right beside them, Xu Qingqing's face turned as dark as the bottom of a charred pot, her shoulders rigid and trembling violently with suppressed rage. Finally reaching her breaking point, she shoved herself out of her seat, grabbed my arm, and hauled me straight out of the classroom—her expression twisted as if she were about to combust.

The mask had completely shattered, Xu Qingqing. And as for me... my true brilliance was only just beginning.

"Vivi, tomorrow is Chi Yan's birthday, right? Since our two families are engaged, your parents will surely be attending as well, won't they?"

I offered a faint nod, feigning a look of innocent confusion. "Yes, that is correct. Why do you ask?"

Under the dim corridor lighting, I caught sight of a grotesque, distorted smile creeping across Xu Qingqing's face. Her eyes bulged as she stared fixedly at me, her voice raspy and slithering like a venomous snake coiling around my ear: "Nothing at all... It is just that... I wanted to prepare a gift for you."

"Vivi, you are going to love it so much."

That very night, a peculiar post suddenly surfaced on the student forum, rocketing straight to the top of the trending board:

《"The Fake vs. Real Heiress" Trope Steps Into Reality? Unmasking the True Identity of the Conglomerate Princess!》

The author of the post made bold, unyielding claims:
• Their aunt had personally served as the obstetrical nurse who delivered the conglomerate chairman's daughter back in the day.
• That aunt vividly recalled a distinct, reddish birthmark shaped like a crescent on the right wrist of the newborn infant.
• Yet, the moment the family discharged the baby from the hospital, that very birthmark had inexplicably vanished into thin air.