Chapter 3

On the tenth day of wandering aimlessly around town, I finally found the traffickers Beibei had mentioned.

A woman stood on the street scouting for a target. I pretended not to see her and crashed straight into her.

She jumped and looked up in alarm. The moment she saw my face, disgust flickered across her features.

I acted as if I had not noticed. Crouching on the ground, I began to cry.

I made such a spectacle that people nearby turned to stare.

The woman grew nervous and tried to move away. I grabbed her trouser leg and refused to let go.

“Ma’am,” I sobbed, “am I really that ugly?”

Unable to shake me off, she forced a smile. “Of course not. You’re adorable.”

“But I have somewhere to be, so please let go.”

I cried even louder. “You’re lying! No one has ever called me adorable. Everyone only praises Xiao Ran. They all say she’s beautiful!”

My grip made the woman stumble and land on the ground, too stunned to react.

By the time she recovered and prepared to lash out at me, I had already thrust a photograph in front of her.

“Look at my sister. Isn’t she much prettier than me?”

“But we’re… we’re twins.”

The woman glanced at the photograph and froze. Her eyes lit up.

“Little girl, is this really your sister?”

I nodded.

Her manner instantly turned warm. “Where do you live, sweetheart?”

I pointed ahead. “There are some self-built houses past that intersection.”

The woman transformed into a sympathetic older sister. She listened and comforted me, all while fishing for information.

Information about my sister, Xiao Ran.

“Everyone has always liked her,” I confided in a small voice. “She’s beautiful. All the boys in her class have crushes on her.”

“But they don’t know she meets the most popular boy at school by the lake every evening. She already has a boyfriend.”

“Why? Why doesn’t anyone like me?”

Once the woman had learned enough, she lost all patience for my tears. She scrambled up.

“I have things to do. I’ll be going now.”

I watched her hurry away, then wiped the tears from my face without expression.

When I came home and opened the door, Mom charged at me in a fury.

“Where were you?”

I shrank back. “Playing with Beibei.”

Mom glared at me. “Tell us before you go out from now on!”

I nodded. “I know.”

They were afraid I would disappear without a word.

Afraid their other daughter would lose her medicine.

Disgusting.

Dressed to the nines, Xiao Ran passed me with a frown and covered her nose.

For once, I stopped her. “Where are you going?”

She looked surprised, then sneered. “None of your damn business.”

Mom pinched my arm hard. “Your sister is going to a class reunion. She’s about to become a star, and all those classmates want to curry favor with her!”

“Move! Don’t touch your sister!”

“You stink. Don’t get that smell on her!”

Xiao Ran gave a cold laugh, picked up her bag, and left.

My guess was that the reunion was not her only destination. She was also going to the lake to meet her boyfriend.

His family was among the richest in town.

Before she became a star, she had needed to keep him close.

Now things were different. She expected fame and fortune, and that romance would become a scandal once she was famous.

She needed to cut him loose.

Xiao Ran disappeared.

Our family searched from midnight until dawn without finding a trace.

Her boyfriend looked terrified, his face bloodless.

“We parted by the lake. I watched her leave. How could she have vanished?”

Mom cried until she nearly fainted, then went straight to the police.

Because Xiao Ran was not yet eighteen, they opened a case immediately.

But days of searching turned up nothing.

Xiao Ran had vanished from the town as if she had never existed.

Of course they could not find her.

The traffickers would have left as soon as they got their hands on her.

After all, one Xiao Ran was worth ten ordinary girls.

By now, they were probably deep in some remote mountain village.

I looked down at my arm.

There used to be a scar on the smooth skin.

Sometime before dawn, it had vanished.

The corner of my mouth curled.

It seemed my dear sister had been beaten.

…

For the first two weeks after Xiao Ran disappeared, Mom and Dad spent all their energy searching and had none left to control me.

They did not care whether I ate. They did not care whether I stood in the sun.

They only wanted their carefully crafted treasure back.

For a little while, I was free.

I secretly began losing weight and taking care of my skin.

Years of abuse had left me in such a wretched state that even modest exercise and basic skincare produced dramatic changes.

One evening, I was playing with Beibei when she cupped her cheeks and stared at me.

“Wow! Sister Yingying, you’re getting pretty!”

Mom had just returned and overheard her.

She turned her exhausted face toward me. From the look of her, there was still no news of Xiao Ran.

Her gaze settled on my face. Three seconds later, her expression changed.

“Get inside!” she snarled.

I lowered my head and followed her. The moment we entered, she slapped me across the face.

“What have you been putting on your skin?” She seized my hair. “You haven’t been eating properly these past few days, have you? And you haven’t been standing in the sun?”

“Your sister is coming back!”

“If you dare ruin her, I’ll make you pay!”

I covered my cheek and looked up at her. Then, suddenly, I smiled.

She froze. “What are you smiling at?”

“I was wondering what happens if my sister never comes back.”

Mom stiffened and released me.

She had considered that possibility long ago. It was why she had been unable to sleep night after night.

If Xiao Ran never came home, half a lifetime of their work would be wasted.

“If she doesn’t come back, can’t you consider me instead?”

I watched Mom’s face. Then I clasped her hand tightly and dropped to my knees.

“Mom, I’m your daughter too!”

“Anything Xiao Ran can do, I can do. If she can become a star, so can I.”

“Look at me. I barely tried, and I’m already getting prettier. I’ll become much more beautiful in the future!”

“I can take her place and give you a good life!”

I spoke with such feeling that tears streamed down my face.

Mom snatched her hand away as though she had been shocked. Dazed, she shuffled back to her room.

“I need to think. Let me think.”

I rose from the floor and watched her slightly stooped back retreat.

I knew she would agree.

To her, I was the only fallback she had left.