Chapter 2 — When the Goddess Appears

On my way home that evening, I was once again asked for my WeChat contact info by a stranger. After politely turning him down, I strolled alone along the quiet pavement. The early summer evening carried a gloomy, chilly breeze, hinting at an impending downpour. I caught my reflection in the glass window of a roadside boutique. My face was no larger than the palm of a hand, featuring delicate, exquisite features that radiated a stunning and captivating beauty. I could still vividly recall how my friend had once looked at me with undisguised envy.

My goodness, I spent hundreds of thousands of yuan getting plastic surgery on my nose in Seoul, and it still doesn't look as gorgeous as yours! Every time the two of us go out, everyone stares right at you.

Obviously, I get plenty of compliments when I go out by myself, too. Is this really the insurmountable gap between an ordinary pretty girl and a supreme beauty? It is so infuriating!

I was fully aware of my striking appearance. Whenever I went out to have fun, people would frequently pay for my meals. The number of times I was propositioned for my contact information was simply too countless to keep track of, and on more than one occasion, talent scouts had approached me, desperately trying to recruit me into the entertainment industry. Yet, before I fell in love with Jiang Yan Chuan, my life had been entirely the opposite. Ever since I was a little child, I had been an overweight kid. By the time I reached high school, my weight hovered near a hundred kilograms, and my eyes were practically squeezed into mere slits by the thick layers of fat on my face. Unrefined and obese. A human tank. A love-struck pig. I could no longer remember how many cruel insults of that nature I had been forced to endure. Consequently, I lived in a state of perpetual self-doubt and insecurity. The heavier I got, the less I dared to dress up nicely, and the more shabbily I dressed, the uglier I inevitably became. I had harbored secret crushes on a few boys in the past, but the moment they discovered my feelings, they reacted as if they had been deeply insulted, immediately showering me with vicious verbal abuse. Whenever I expressed a desire to lose weight, however, my parents would always dismiss the idea, insisting that I was already extremely adorable just the way I was. Because they were both overweight themselves, they failed to see obesity as any sort of serious problem. My entire adolescence thus slipped away amidst the relentless mocking laughter of those around me. That was until I encountered Jiang Yan Chuan while playing an online game. Captivated by the sound of my voice, he had persistently demanded to add me as a friend. Afterward, we continued to play games together on numerous occasions, gradually growing much closer. Following a period of companionship, Jiang Yan Chuan confessed his romantic feelings to me. I hesitated throughout an entire sleepless night. I knew very well that Jiang Yan Chuan came from a remarkably privileged background. While we played games together, he had lavished me with countless in-game outfits and repeatedly offered to send me expensive gifts, all of which I had steadfastly refused. Furthermore, although his social media profile lacked any direct portraits of his face, it was filled with snapshots from his vacations all over the world, including several silhouettes of his back. He possessed a wonderfully athletic physique, and the hotels he frequented were exorbitantly expensive. I knew he was fond of the sound of my voice, but given how overwhelmingly heavy I was, I was certain he could never truly love the real me. Yet, I had grown genuinely fond of him. Jiang Yan Chuan possessed a bright and outgoing personality. During that period in my life, whenever I encountered distressing events and poured my heart out to him, he would consistently offer comforting words. He even went so far as to rain virtual red packets down across the global game channel, enlisting everyone else to help console me. In the end, I yielded and accepted his confession. I concealed my weight and every piece of genuine personal information, terrified that he might uncover the truth. I had even attempted to probe him indirectly on occasion.

What would you do if I turned out not to be pretty?

His reply had come almost instantaneously.

With a voice as enchanting as yours, how could you possibly be unattractive? My darling, stop teasing me.

My darling, when are we finally going to meet in person? I miss you so terribly.

My darling, let us both apply to the exact same university. That way, we will be able to see each other every single day.

I remained silent for a very long time before finally resolving to lose weight. From that moment onward, I embarked on a frantic, uncompromising weight loss journey. I ignored the agonizing hunger that kept me awake night after night; I disregarded the searing stomach pains caused by relentless acid reflux; I pushed past the utter physical exhaustion that left my limbs feeling like jelly. Regardless of how my parents pleaded with me, I stubbornly refused to consume another single bite of food. I was consumed by a singular desire to become thin. This grueling lifestyle persisted for nearly a full year. Throughout that entire span, I did not touch a single morsel of greasy or heavily salted food. Countless times in the middle of the night, I would weep from hunger, yet the mere thought of him was enough to give me the strength to endure. Ultimately, I succeeded in shedding the weight. From ninety kilograms down to eighty, then to sixty, and finally resting at fifty kilograms. I began studying skincare, makeup, hairstyling, and fashion. During that timeframe, Jiang Yan Chuan mentioned wanting to visit and meet me on several occasions, but I fabricated various excuses to turn him down every single time. I always felt that I still was not pretty enough. It was only when the gazes of the boys in my class slowly began to shift, when I started receiving love letters in my locker, and when strangers on the street began stopping me to blushingly ask for my number while calling me beautiful, that I experienced a sudden revelation. Only then did I astonishingly realize that I had actually transformed into an attractive woman. Finally, I mustered the courage to arrange a meeting with Jiang Yan Chuan. I applied for the exact same university choices as him and scheduled our grand reunion for the day classes commenced. But... As it turned out, he had merely been toying with me all along. I had naively believed that every single word of affection he had ever uttered was genuine. Yet, looking back now, he had never even shared his real name with me. Even the name Jiang Yan Chuan had only been leaked to me by an ambiguous romantic interest of my best friend. From the very beginning to the very end, he had never genuinely cared for me at all.

Within the class chat group, Lin An Ning had posted yet another set of photographs. They were taken at Disneyland. She wore a headband adorned with Mickey Mouse ears, paired with a vibrant Japanese schoolgirl uniform, radiating the boundless vitality of youth. The young man standing beside her had his face carefully cropped out of the frame. However, the mere glimpse of the wristwatch on his arm was enough for me to instantly recognize it as the exact same watch that had previously appeared in the background of Jiang Yan Chuan’s social media posts. The other classmates erupted in a frenzy of teasing comments.

The campus belle is blessing us with her visuals today!

A supreme beauty truly is a supreme beauty, but who exactly is the lucky guy standing next to you?

That figure looks suspiciously like Brother Jiang. Brother Jiang is seriously amazing!

I had also just learned from my best friend that the very second Lin An Ning uploaded those pictures into the group chat, Jiang Yan Chuan had immediately set out to pursue her. Rumor had it that he had boarded a direct flight to her city, showered her with an abundance of lavish gifts, and even arranged a private fireworks display exclusively for her viewing pleasure. Naturally, the two of them were now officially a couple. With effortless extravagance, Jiang Yan Chuan showered the group chat with a continuous cascade of digital red packets.

All of you better hurry up and address her as your sister-in-law.

Brother Jiang is as generous as ever! What a brilliantly matched pair of talents, may you enjoy a lifetime of happiness together!

You two look so overwhelmingly perfect for each other, you are actually making me believe in true love all over again!

Only the campus belle is truly worthy of standing beside Brother Jiang.