Born of the Same Root

After my twin sister disfigured me, she took my place and debuted as me.

She tried to steal everything I had, including my lover.

But she hadn’t expected my lover to be a complete and utter madman.

Stroking the head of the man beside my knee, I gave my sister a provocative smile.

Everyone thought He Yushan controlled me. In fact, I was his tamer.

I became an overnight sensation on a talent show.

“A pearl lost in the sea, no longer covered in dust” was the best description of me.

With tears in my eyes, I looked toward He Yushan in the audience. He was applauding me.

I was deeply grateful for the opportunity he’d given me.

And I hadn’t disappointed him.

Some people said I’d used any means necessary to latch onto He Yushan and climb higher.

Actually, He Yushan had been the one to throw himself into my arms.

Industry insiders said he’d suffered from mental illness for years: cold-hearted, volatile, and unpredictable.

Since getting together with me, however, he’d become much calmer.

Especially when we were alone. He was obedient and clingy, like a big dog.

When I returned to our little home, he’d already prepared a surprise dinner.

Candlelight danced over his affectionate face, just as it had when we first met.

We reminisced and clinked glasses in celebration, wishing me a bright and dazzling future.

He Yushan, who struggled to fall asleep, had said I was his best sleeping medicine.

Now he’d been dreaming for quite a while, while I was still grinning foolishly and replaying the finals recording, happiness almost overflowing.

I’d escaped my family of origin, reunited with the person I loved, and found success in my acting career. Everything was full of hope.

After shooting an endorsement advertisement, I prepared to hurry to my next engagement.

The next magazine shoot was on location in the suburbs. It was a long journey.

I grew sleepy in the car, groggy and hazy.

Then, with an enormous crash, the world spun. One side of my face and my arm felt as though thousands of needles were stabbing them.

The accident came so suddenly that I didn’t even have time for my life to flash before my eyes.

I lost consciousness.

When I woke again, I was in the hospital.

The moment my mother heard that repairing my face would cost millions, she immediately objected.

“It’s only a face. There’s no need to spend that much.”

I spoke weakly. “Mom, the money I have now should be enough…”

“You’ve actually saved that much for yourself? And you don’t even help the family? Don’t you know we’re struggling? Raising you was a complete waste…”

I closed my eyes, unwilling to look at my mother’s ugly face any longer.

Struggling?

Struggling with what?

Paying my gambling father’s debts, or dressing up my twin sister to hook a rich second-generation heir?

After taking a phone call, my mother hurried away and left me behind.

Even moving seemed to drain every bit of strength in my body. But I forced myself up, limped to the nurses’ station, and called He Yushan through choked sobs.

“He Yushan, come get me. Hurry.”

Large tears rolled down my cheeks, turning from warm to cold as they soaked the gauze.

The nurse urged me back to my room. Leaning against the station, I insisted on waiting until He Yushan arrived.

“Is that Yu Qing’s magazine? You were quick. You managed to get one…”

Hearing my name, I looked toward the speaker.

They were holding a magazine—the one whose suburban shoot I’d been traveling to.

Looking at the face on the cover, identical to mine, I broke into a cold sweat.

That was my twin sister, Yu Ke.

He Yushan arrived quickly.

His hair was a mess. There were dark shadows under his eyes and bluish stubble around his chin.

At the sight of my broken state, his eyes suddenly reddened.

His hands trembled. He wanted to hug me, but was afraid of hurting me.

“Qingqing, I’ll take you home.”

In the car, I looked at the towers outside. My newly filmed advertisement played on a giant screen, my smile brilliant.

Now even the slightest curve of my eyes pulled painfully at my wounds.

As the light dimmed, I saw my reflection in the window.

My face wrapped in gauze looked like snow covering sludge. Who knew what hideous sight lay beneath?

The person smiling on the screen had originally been me.

Now she’d become Yu Ke.

Even in our mother’s womb, we’d fought desperately over nutrients.

I won that first struggle and was born healthy.

Yu Ke was born frail and physically weak.

The whole family’s attention tilted toward her.

“Your little sister is younger and weak. As her older sister, you should give way.”

And so Yu Ke naturally took everything from me.

From my childhood dolls to the boys I liked when I grew older.

She had to snatch them all, then come flaunt them proudly before me.

In the year of our college entrance exam, Yu Ke performed poorly. Attending a private college would cost a fortune.

She cried herself into the hospital, her breath faint.

“Jiejie is healthy. Whatever happens, she won’t starve in the future. If I can’t study, I’ll truly have no way forward.”

Translator’s note: Jiejie means “older sister”; gege, used later, means “older brother” and can also be a flirtatious address for a young man.

So I went to college on loans and constantly worked part-time outside class.

While working at a convalescent facility, I cared for He Yushan, who had bipolar disorder.

When his condition improved, his family sent him abroad.

During that period, a talent scout discovered me. I began standing out in the entertainment industry and gained a little fame.

Yu Ke immediately pinned her own past affairs on me. The resulting sex scandals got me shelved for years, until He Yushan returned.

After coming home, He Yushan took over his father’s business and became a notorious mad dog in the business world.

That mad dog found me and voluntarily placed his chain in my hands, asking me to hold tight to him, his illness now more severe.

Seeing me flourish, Yu Ke conceived a still more vicious plan: replace me entirely.

She fooled everyone for a time.

But she couldn’t fool He Yushan.

He Yushan was an utter madman—and also a rare genius.

“He Yushan, did she touch you?”

He gently rolled up his sleeve, revealing a layer of bloody scabs.

“She touched me here. I rubbed it off.”

“They all said that was you. I knew it wasn’t.”

“She tried her hardest to imitate you. But to me, everything from her expressions to her bearing was completely different.”

“You’re Yu Qing, who wouldn’t grovel and fawn over me even with nowhere left to turn.”

“But I didn’t know where you were. I couldn’t find out.”

He Yushan lowered his head in self-reproach and bit his lip until it bled.

This further confirmed my suspicion: the crash had been planned.

No wonder He Yushan hadn’t discovered my accident.

The surveillance cameras on that stretch of road were broken. The driver responsible died in the crash. After taking the insurance payout, my mother hadn’t pursued the matter.

The hospital registered my treatment under Yu Ke’s name. Meanwhile, Yu Ke appeared at the shoot on time as me, so no one suspected anything had happened.

Fortunately, my car had been modified. I had only external wounds, no internal injuries.

Perhaps they’d originally intended to kill me outright. Too bad my life was tough.

“You haven’t been sleeping properly these past few days again, have you?”

“I can’t sleep when you’re not here.”

“Get a good night’s sleep first.”

“All right.”

Afraid of touching my injuries, He Yushan left me well over half the bed.

He curled up at the edge instead, breathing in the ends of my hair as he fell asleep.

He brought in doctors to examine and treat me again. Under his meticulous care, I recovered well.

But before reconstructive surgery, I still didn’t dare remove the gauze and look in a mirror.

I stared coldly at my phone. Yu Ke walked the red carpet in a glamorous gown, every movement full of poise.

When signing in, her hand paused. She pressed her lips together, then still wrote “Yu Qing.”

A convincing imitation of my signature. Clearly, she’d put plenty of work into it.

Holding the Most Promising Performer Award beneath the spotlights, she smiled with neither servility nor arrogance.

“Lastly, I want to thank my boss, He Yushan, for his guidance and care.”

After the event, a reporter asked, “What is your relationship with Mr. He Yushan?”

Yu Ke smiled shyly and suggestively.

“Just… a working relationship. Please don’t overthink it.”

Was she trying to bind herself to He Yushan, then finally force him to marry her?

Utterly ridiculous. She seemed to have misunderstood our relationship and our respective positions.

Everyone knew He Yushan was the financial backer behind me. No one dared imagine that he regarded me as his savior.

From beginning to end, I’d never needed such methods with him. If I wished, He Yushan would move the Civil Affairs Bureau’s marriage registry straight over to me.

The person leaving with Yu Ke wasn’t the assistant who’d been with me for six years.

My assistant…

Remembering that round-faced girl with dimples when she smiled—she’d been in the car with me at the time, and I still didn’t know whether she was even alive…

He Yushan brought in a plate of fruit and fed me one piece at a time.

“I’ll have her come tonight. Everything will be as Qingqing wishes.”

A crow had pasted peacock feathers onto herself and smugly believed she was a peacock.

Since she disliked her own identity and insisted on impersonating me, I’d let her feathers fall before everyone.

Yu Ke arrived in heavy makeup, dressed up as showy as a swaying flower branch.

Perhaps because of her frail constitution, she was thinner than me. My dress hung a little loose on her.

With a wooden expression, He Yushan dryly recited the line I’d prepared for him.

“Why have you lost so much weight lately?”

He wouldn’t even add the “darling.”

I reminded him to sound a little more natural. He touched his ear and glanced at the vase containing the camera, his face turning still sourer.

“I’ve been so busy! You’ve given me so many good opportunities. Of course I have to work hard!”

Since Yu Ke was currently using my name, He Yushan hadn’t made things difficult for her professionally. He’d even had her schedule packed full, buying himself some peace in the process.

Though she kept giving people ammunition at work and attracting haters for me, at least she was maintaining my popularity.

Yu Ke batted her eyes. Her voice sounded as though it had soaked in honey, then been coated in icing—cloyingly sweet.

“It’s so rare that we’re both off today. What does Yushan-gege want to do?”

Her gaze was suggestive, fawning, eager to please. Every gesture had been carefully designed.

No wonder He Yushan had seen through her.

First, He Yushan was younger than me. I teased him into calling me jiejie; I didn’t volunteer to call him gege.

Second, that look of inviting while pretending to refuse appeared on He Yushan’s face, not mine.

My eyes always held the most straightforward desire and affection for him. My mouth, however, refused to admit it and constantly said the opposite.

Yu Ke was judging me by herself. She assumed a lowly ant like me must have exhausted every trick and obeyed his every wish to remain beside the noble He Yushan.

Swaying her waist, she approached He Yushan on the bed.

But he suddenly seized her throat and flung her onto the floor.

His back was to the vase. I could only see the veins bulging in his arm.

Yu Ke screamed, her lovely face briefly losing all color. Enduring the pain, she pasted on another smile and crawled to his feet, displaying her curves.

“Yushan-gege, today… are we trying something different?”

He Yushan turned, his face stormy, and picked up the florist’s knife beside the vase.

I sensed something was off with He Yushan, and called his name into the microphone.

“He Yushan. He Yushan?”

He froze at my voice, then tightened his grip on the knife and advanced toward Yu Ke, step by step.

Yu Ke could no longer maintain her smile. She fearfully shuffled backward until she hit the wall, like a lamb awaiting slaughter.

Most likely, He Yushan was having an episode.

Ignoring my pain, I went downstairs as fast as I could.

He’d already slashed half of Yu Ke’s face.

Everything was silent—so quiet one might think nothing had happened.

I lightly touched my own gauze-wrapped face. Deep down, I understood something of his motive.

Yu Ke had fainted. He Yushan still held her throat, moving the knife over her face as he considered.

“Where should the next cut go…?”

Stumbling forward, I hugged his waist.

“He Yushan, Qingqing-jiejie is here.”

He dropped the knife onto Yu Ke, turned, and lowered his head gently onto my shoulder, breathing hard.

“Qingqing…”

I patted his back, soothing his manic agitation, and urgently called the doctor.

The doctor gave He Yushan a sedative injection, then examined Yu Ke.

“Have you not been taking your medication properly these past few days?”

“I have these past few days. Before that, I wasn’t.”

“When I’m gone, you won’t even take your medicine properly?”

“I ruined everything…”

Tonight we’d intended to sound Yu Ke out. But He Yushan had lost control.

Now he was deeply depressed and self-reproachful, tears falling without end.

“I don’t know… I was so angry then. She disfigured you, but nothing had happened to her…”

Even normally, his emotions swung dramatically. Once provoked, it was worse.

“You’re hurt, and I still made you worry. I…”

Afraid he might hurt himself, I gathered all my strength and held his hands tightly.

I gently shook my head and murmured by his ear, “I worry because I care. Doesn’t Yushan worry about me all the time too…?”

I felt no sympathy for Yu Ke’s unexpected disfigurement.

I even felt a faint satisfaction.

When Yu Ke woke, she fell apart. She cared about her face even more than I did.

Ever since childhood, she’d resented having an identical sister.

She wasn’t unique.

Covering one side of her face, she cried until both eyes were red and swollen. Yet she didn’t dare call the police, afraid her own dirty deeds would come to light.

He Yushan’s condition was still unstable, so I had his special assistant tell Yu Ke that she’d been especially unable to handle playtime this time.

Clenching her fists, she sobbed and screamed, “Yu Qing—you bitch!”

Her voice echoed through the empty room.

He Yushan was the one who’d cut your face. Why curse me?

Fine. I could be even more of a bitch.

With no leads on evidence yet, I’d torment her a little first.

If I couldn’t feel good, neither would she.

Using He Yushan’s name, I planned a variety show and invited Yu Ke for a high fee, claiming it was compensation.

At first, she feared appearing with her disfigurement. But under my threats and enticements, she agreed.

A challenge-type variety show—a surprise I’d carefully prepared for her.

Seeing her arrive with half her face wrapped in gauze, everyone praised her professionalism.

Her tense, awkward posture instantly relaxed.

She still didn’t know what awaited her.

Recording began. Yu Ke removed her blindfold and found mirrors all around.

This was the mirror maze I’d prepared for her, specially modified.

Very entertaining.

As a child, Yu Ke had disliked mirrors. Looking into one reminded her that she wasn’t unique: there was an older sister exactly like her.

Once, during a high fever, she’d smashed a mirror at home.

Because she couldn’t tell whether the person inside was her sister or herself.

Every surface of the space was mirrored, reflecting Yu Ke’s forced composure.

The lights flickered, bright and dim by turns. Very atmospheric.

Afraid she might be frightened, I’d thoughtfully placed refreshing, stimulating drinks in every corner to give her courage and add to the fun.

I was simply too considerate.

My dear little sister, looking at that gauze-wrapped face in the mirrors, surely you’d remember the older sister you wanted dead?

“This seems easier than surviving seven days in a jungle or on a mountain.”

“Haha. Did the production team arrange this so I could admire my beauty from all 360 degrees?”

“Pity. My face has been having an allergic reaction lately, so I can only admire this side.”

Yu Ke wandered through the maze, talking to herself.

“What’s this? Mirrors in the toilet too? How perverted! You can’t film that…”

For now, she explored with interest, playing an innocent, lively, curious child.

But apart from her reflections moving with her, everything was silent.

No one answered.

Gradually, she quieted and sat in a narrow passage, looking into the mirror before her.

The Yu Ke inside stared straight back.

She swallowed and turned toward the other side.

That Yu Ke stared at her too.

She must have been getting creeped out. She simply closed her eyes and lay down.

Opening them, she found her reflection on the ceiling too.

Lying in the narrow passage, she looked as though she were in a long, tight coffin.

I pressed the remote.

Accompanied by soft calls of “Yu Ke…,” the routes through the maze quietly changed.

Hearing her own name, she reflexively opened her eyes, suspicion in them.

“Yu Ke…”

“Yu Ke…”

Now she knew she hadn’t misheard. Her pupils jolted, and she turned in panic, searching for the sound.

One step forward, and she collided squarely with a mirror.

One step back: another icy mirror.

Pressing her back to it, she slowly slid to the floor, clawing at her hair and lowering her head to try to calm herself.

Whenever she tried to close her eyes, I pressed the remote.

I never tired of it.

Together with the drinks keeping her alert and resisting fatigue, she couldn’t rest properly.

Every time she opened her eyes, she was still in the mirror maze, trapped in the environment she hated and feared most, facing her damaged appearance over and over.

Now there were blue-purple shadows beneath her eyes. Their whites were yellowish, the blood vessels as numerous and dense as cracks in a dried lakebed.

It was time.

With another call of “Yu Ke…,” I stepped behind a mirror.

It was a two-way mirror. Yu Ke could see me behind it.

Through further reflections, the mirrors surrounding her would all show me.

I looked at my own radiant reflection, wondering how Yu Ke would react.

Sitting on the floor, Yu Ke numbly raised her head.

The person in the mirror was standing.

She looked around.

The same everywhere.

Yu Ke screamed, the piercing sound like nails scraping a blackboard.

She scrambled and crawled elsewhere. I changed position with her, like a game of cat and mouse.

Curling my lips mockingly, I admired her panic.

She kept hitting walls until her forehead reddened. Shaking her head in collapse, she cried, “No. Mom told me Yu Qing was dead. She’s dead…”

Funny. Why hadn’t anyone told me I’d died?

At my direction, the production team guaranteed complete secrecy about Yu Ke’s reactions during filming. They’d trim and edit the footage before airing it.

I had reasonable trust in a crew He Yushan had invested in.

When the show aired, it achieved exactly what I wanted.

The internet began discussing Yu Qing’s mental state.

People saw what I wanted them to see.

Noticing differences was a good beginning.

Some people spontaneously compared Yu Qing’s past and present behavior and concluded she might be using drugs.

[Extreme weight loss, incoherent speech, a haggard face—basically all the signs. The gauze might be hiding something too.]

This was probably the boldest speculation the netizens could manage. After all, who would imagine that the current Yu Qing had literally been replaced by another person?

That comment was sunlight breaking through clouds. It gave me an idea.

Watching the master tapes, Yu Ke really did have that someone-who’s-using feel.

“No. Mom told me Yu Qing was dead. She’s dead…”

I went home and discovered my photograph hanging on the wall.

In black and white.

“Why are you back?”

“If I hadn’t come back, I wouldn’t have known I was dead.”

My mother looked as though she wanted to speak, then fell silent.

“Do you think I should thank you for leaving me alive?”

“Don’t blame Xiao Ke…”

“So you really did know the whole thing!”

Disappointment and rage filled my heart. I’d always known my mother was biased, but hadn’t imagined she’d go this far for Yu Ke.

“How great of you,” I sneered. “For Yu Ke, you were even willing to sacrifice your other daughter’s life.”

“I was nearby. You’re still alive, aren’t you…?”

But I’d nearly died.

The doctor told me that if I hadn’t reached the hospital in time, I might have died from blood loss.

Why had I arrived in time?

Because my dear mother had been waiting nearby.

The palm and the back of the hand are both flesh.

Ultimately, the palm has more flesh.

For over twenty years, Yu Ke couldn’t suffer the slightest grievance.

It was enough for me simply to be alive.

We were twins. Both her biological children.

Why was our treatment as different as heaven and earth?

“Then my assistant…?”

“Not as badly hurt as you. We notified her family. She was unconscious then. I don’t know how she is now…”

A stone dropped from my heart. I wanted to let out a long breath, yet felt so stifled I could hardly breathe.

The gap deep inside me widened further. Even the wounds that had healed seemed to ache again.

Once more, I saw Yu Ke clinging to our parents, acting spoiled and cute.

The three of them were a happy family.

I seemed surplus, and grew even more afraid of drawing close to them.

The crying child gets candy. The child who doesn’t cry watches her eat it—and is misunderstood as not liking candy at all.

I knew I had a great flaw: I kept everything inside.

Even if the sky fell, my stubborn mouth would hold it up.

In the end, I left expressionlessly. But seeing a mother and daughter chatting and teasing each other on the street still made my eyes redden.

I threw myself into He Yushan’s arms and poured out every grievance.

Resting his chin on my head, he spoke tenderly, almost as though telling a child a story.

“Your mother may not necessarily love Yu Ke that much. Yu Ke simply represents a greater sunk cost to her.”

“They’ve never been willing to understand Qingqing, yet turn around and call her cold-blooded. Don’t overthink it. They’re the ones with the problem.”

Yes. They’d spent time, money, and energy on Yu Ke.

Naturally, they valued her more.

I was wild grass left to live or die on its own.

An ungrateful white-eyed wolf who didn’t know how to repay kindness.

But to give nothing and still demand repayment—who was the real white-eyed wolf?

Translator’s note: “White-eyed wolf” means an ingrate. The palm-and-back-of-the-hand saying expresses that both children should be equally dear; the narrator twists it to expose the unequal treatment.

“It’s all right. I knew from the start how warm Qingqing was beneath that cold exterior.”

Remembering how badly He Yushan and I had clashed at the convalescent facility at first, I couldn’t help laughing through my tears.

“Feeling better?”

“No.”

“Always saying the opposite of what you feel. Such a stubborn mouth.”

After being frightened of He Yushan for a while, Yu Ke began trying to get close and seduce him again.

Once the scar healed, she’d forgotten the pain.

Wasn’t she afraid he’d go mad again and slash the other half of her face?

Perhaps that was the charm of He Yushan’s many talents—especially his many billions.

After putting her off several times, he decided hiding forever wasn’t a solution.

He found a man who resembled him somewhat. With makeup and a molded prosthetic, the imitation could practically pass for the real thing.

“Yushan-gege…”

Bonelessly soft, Yu Ke clung to the man and tugged at his clothes.

I copied her tone, making faces at He Yushan.

“Yushan-gege…”

He gave me a sidelong look.

“That doesn’t work on me, Qingqing.”

It didn’t work on him.

It worked very well on that man.

Yu Ke’s lilting voice carried little hooks. Gege this, gege that, until she’d called the man so dizzy he could barely tell east from west.

He Yushan covered my eyes and breathed beside my ear.

“There’s nothing worth watching next. A waste of time. Why don’t we…”

I firmly pulled his hand away and glanced at him.

Who said there wasn’t?

I zoomed in on Yu Ke, looking specifically at the few inconspicuous sores and needle marks.

I already had my answer.

As the netizens had said, she seemed to have touched something she shouldn’t.

After some investigation, my dear sister Yu Ke’s history turned out to be truly colorful.

She’d been shining in fields I knew nothing about.

After a talent scout discovered me, she impulsively signed up as a trainee at a company too.

With her weak body, she could neither sing nor dance well.

She was rejected in the preliminary selection.

While dejected and down on her luck, she signed with a media company and became a small-time internet celebrity.

The company wasn’t legitimate. Instead of emerging unstained from the mud, she spread it evenly over herself.

She followed others into daily drinking and debauchery, playing through life, and developed a drug addiction.

Her income had already barely supported her luxurious lifestyle.

Now she’d entered another money-devouring pit.

What she earned was nowhere near enough.

To make money, she took crooked paths and accumulated several enormous debts.

She’d even been in rehab once.

Apparently, she’d relapsed.

No wonder our parents liked her. She’d inherited our father’s excellent genes.

A greedy heart is a snake trying to swallow an elephant.

After I became wildly popular, she was at a dead end and set her sights on me.

She believed becoming Yu Qing would wash away her sordid past.

Yu Qing’s more glamorous identity would be a safer disguise.

A monster thought that putting on a painted skin would make it look human.

In truth, it was all a self-deceiving illusion.

Originally, I’d wanted to start with the crash and gather evidence, but it remained difficult.

The driver was dead and couldn’t testify. No surveillance footage. My mother covering for her.

Pulling off Yu Ke’s feathers would require more time.

Now there was a new entry point.

I could send her straight to prison to eat prison meals.

Ever since replacing me, she’d been especially close to several notorious people in the industry.

One had a prior record of drug use.

I had ample reason to suspect Yu Ke might now be selling drugs to finance her habit.

She’d dared to plan a crash to kill me.

What wouldn’t she dare?

The film festival in three days would be the day her true form was revealed.

I knew my nominated art-house film would win.

I’d been an also-ran so many times.

Surely this time, the winner should be me.

Though half my face remained wrapped in gauze, I still dressed carefully and put on a magnificent gown.

Venus had lost her arms and remained beautiful through the ages.

Even disfigured, I, Yu Qing, would still be peerless.

He Yushan and I watched the live broadcast backstage. Nearby staff occasionally glanced at me and whispered.

“Is that Yu Qing?”

“Looks a bit like her. But isn’t Yu Qing on the red carpet right now…?”

Yu Ke had plastered on a thick layer of foundation, like putty, completely hiding her skin’s underlying color.

Of course. With scars already on her body, her face probably wasn’t much better.

Not to mention the cuts He Yushan had given her.

The host solemnly announced, “This year’s Golden Lion Award for Best Actress goes to—Yu Qing! Congratulations, Yu Qing!”

How could I let an honor I’d earned pass through Yu Ke’s hands again?

How unlucky that would be.

Thunderous applause filled the venue. Yu Ke covered her mouth in disbelief, rose gracefully, and nodded and bowed to those around her.

Some acting skills. Those reddened eyes nearly made me believe she’d really performed in the film.

Before she reached the stage, He Yushan lifted my train and I strode onto it from backstage.

Smiling, I accepted the trophy from the host and calmly looked down at Yu Ke.

The person you’d already murdered was standing alive before you again.

Yu Ke, did you think I was human now?

Or a ghost?

Yu Ke stumbled, then froze. She clenched her skirt, glaring at me with poisoned eyes.

The applause slowed, growing scattered.

Astonishment covered everyone’s faces. Their gazes shifted between Yu Ke and me.

“Yu Qing?”

A senior actress I was friendly with called my name loudly.

I looked at her and nodded, drawing everyone’s attention back to me.

Their searching gazes were the best spotlight.

I surveyed the room and smiled at the audience.

It had been a long time since I’d felt all eyes on me.

I lightly kissed my trophy, handed it to He Yushan, and went down to drag Yu Ke up.

She was skin and bones. I’d been eating and drinking well lately.

The difference in strength was considerable.

Even as she resisted and struggled, I pulled her as smoothly as a shopping cart onto the stage and placed her at its center.

“Let me introduce my younger sister, Yu Ke.”

At those words, Yu Ke exploded like a balloon pricked by a needle.

“Liar! You’re Yu Ke!”

I smiled contemptuously.

At death’s door, and still deceiving yourself?

A counterfeit displayed alone could indeed fool people.

But beside the genuine article, everyone could see which was which.

The audience whispered and discussed it.

Yu Ke noticed that the looks directed at her were unfriendly, but still straightened her back and maintained her arrogance.

“Why speak like that, Yu Ke?”

“Won’t you tell everyone what wonderful things you’ve done for your older sister?”

“If you won’t, shall I?”

“My younger sister, Yu Ke, planned a car crash so she could take my place.”

Like wind sweeping through a fire, the flames leaped higher.

The room erupted. The discussion grew louder and louder.

Yu Ke stamped in fury and demanded, “What proof do you have?”

I answered lightly, dripping sarcasm.

“I said my younger sister Yu Ke planned the crash. Why are you so furious, Yu Qing?”

It was as though a basin of cold water had suddenly been dumped over her.

Her arrogance was extinguished.

She became a quail, cowering and trembling like grain in a sieve.

Such little courage, pierced with a single poke.

Plotting my murder must have used all of it.

Contemptuous, mocking, furious—their gazes slapped Yu Ke’s face again and again.

She glared viciously at me.

“This is slander!”

She’d barely finished when the police entered.

Yu Ke panicked, repeatedly muttering, “Impossible.”

She swayed several times, fell to the floor, and curled up clutching her stomach.

Dirty blood stained her gown.

Tears streaming, she looked pleadingly at He Yushan and shook her head wildly.

“Yushan-gege, save your child! Save me! She’s making vicious accusations… I don’t know anything about a car crash. I don’t…”

Because his mental illness might be hereditary, He Yushan had undergone a vasectomy early on.

His face darkened.

“You’re the one making vicious accusations! I had a vasectomy when I became an adult. Don’t frame me!”

“Impossible…”

The last light in Yu Ke’s eyes went out. Her face turned ashen.

When the police cuffed her, she seemed to revive for one final burst, screaming, “The crash had nothing to do with me! What right do you have to arrest me?”

Indeed, you weren’t being arrested for the crash.

Drugs had been found in your home.

Very efficient. I’d made the tip-off call before the opening ceremony, and they’d already arrived.

Respect!

He Yushan removed his suit jacket and laid it where Yu Ke had been.

I stroked his head beside my knee, looked toward the unwilling Yu Ke, and smiled provocatively.

Anything that could be stolen had never been worth having.

Standing on He Yushan’s jacket, I smoothly delivered the acceptance speech that had been engraved in my mind for years, yet never used.

What was mine would, in the end, be mine.

The film festival incident crashed social media outright.

Half a month later, the attention still hadn’t faded.

People angrily condemned Yu Ke. Our past was uncovered and laid bare.

Their sympathy for me had reached the point of wanting to cut Yu Ke into a thousand pieces.

[How could a biological sister do something so vicious!]

[Yu Qing is so pitiful. The definition of beautiful, strong, and tragic…]

[I hope the police investigate thoroughly and give Yu Qing justice.]

What could I say? I understood everyone’s anger and indignation.

But there was no need to edit Yu Ke’s photos into black and white.

After all, we looked identical. It was rather inauspicious.

Though never mind.

I didn’t look like that anymore anyway.

I shut myself in the bathroom and, for the first time, removed the gauze before a mirror.

I’d actually wanted to unwrap it at the awards ceremony and show off big time.

But I was afraid of frightening people—or becoming a laughingstock.

I met my own eyes and traced the outline of the person in the mirror.

It was much better than I’d imagined.

The large and small scars weren’t that frightening. One could even faintly see the shape of a beauty.

With my other hand, I touched my pitted, uneven face.

Two streams of hot tears fell.

Fortunately, heaven hadn’t cut off every path.

There was room for repair.

My phone rang. My mother.

The instant I answered, her frantic voice came through. Without looking, I knew her brows must be twisted into a knot.

“Yu Qing, that’s your sister. You…”

Before she could finish, I tossed out one sentence.

“So? What the hell does that have to do with me?”

Then I hung up and blocked her.

One word: satisfying.

I threw the gauze into the trash and leaned beside He Yushan, bathing my face in sunlight for the first time in ages.

As it turned out, professionals should do professional work.

The police still uncovered that Yu Ke had hired someone to murder me. Sentenced for multiple offenses together, she received the death penalty.

My father and mother also received prison terms for shielding her and giving false testimony.

A whole family neatly receiving their punishment!

No, wait.

Their family would never reunite again in this lifetime!

Before her execution, Yu Ke asked to see me.

Behind the glass, she was very calm: shrunken, gray, lifeless as stagnant water.

Two hideous scars lay across her dusty face like centipedes fighting.

For a moment, it felt as though we were back in the mirror maze.

“Yu Qing, you’re so lucky. Everything goes smoothly for you. Even when I trip you up, I can’t make you fall.”

“Why was I the one born deficient? I always dreamed of being a singer, but I can’t even sing a whole song.”

“Do you know what that tightness in the chest and shortness of breath feel like? As though you might die at any moment…”

“If you hadn’t existed, I’d definitely have been healthy.”

“You stole what mattered most to me. So I stole what mattered to you.”

“But you always acted as though you didn’t care about anything.”

…

Yu Ke rambled as though possessed.

She probably thought the whole world owed her—especially me, who owed her so much and refused to compensate her.

“Mom clearly told me you were dead. She helped you deceive me.”

“You all couldn’t wait for me to die!”

“The one who deserved to die most was you, Yu Qing!”

The daughter my mother had spoiled and cherished showed not the slightest warmth toward her before death.

Yet before going to prison, my mother had specifically called to condemn me…

At that moment, I found her pitiful and tragic.

But every pitiful person has something hateful about them.

Yu Ke’s eyes held only hatred, no remorse.

I said nothing, quietly listening to her last words.

It wasn’t only her body that was unhealthy.

Her heart was rotten and filthy too.

Estimating that our time was nearly up, I told her, “You brought this on yourself. You deserve it.”

What did she mean, I was lucky?

Neither father nor mother loved me. I’d struggled in society for so many years.

Every good thing I had was something I’d earned.

Luck was only a loser’s excuse.

Even at death, Yu Ke refused to admit my excellence or confront her own stupidity.

I hoped she’d pay more attention in her next life.

It was probably the fifth year after Yu Ke’s death.

Everything belonged to the past.

My facial reconstruction had been very successful. He Yushan and I were married. I’d completed a grand slam of awards and was preparing to enter international cinema.

I’d deliberately buried the events of five years earlier in my memory.

One phone call made them vivid again.

My parents contacted me as soon as they left prison, saying they wanted to make it up to me properly.

Apparently, they’d reflected deeply in prison and achieved a great awakening.

Only after the flowers withered did they remember to water them.

Only after I was fully grown did they offer paternal and maternal love.

Thanks, but I don’t really need it. Politely declined, ha.

Once you’re past the age of eating candy as freely as you like, more candy makes you gain weight.

And gives you toothache.

But the years had mellowed me. I was much more reasonable now, with a little more human warmth.

So I suggested they keep cats and dogs to house those emotions with nowhere to go.

Just like He Yushan and me.

Then they called me cold-blooded and unfeeling, saying I was simply never as close to them as Yu Ke.

Tsk. Then I’d generously relay her last words.

“Before Yu Ke died, she believed all three of us couldn’t wait for her to die.”

Silence lasted a long time on the other end.

Then they hung up.

At last, I’d added that final stab.

I tossed my phone aside, picked up our American Shorthair, and walked toward He Yushan.

“Come on. Let’s see what Baba’s doing.”

Translator’s note: Baba means “dad”; here she uses it playfully when speaking to their cat.

The golden retriever trotted happily behind me, tail wagging nonstop.

He Yushan sat upright at his desk, approving documents.

I put the American Shorthair on the desk. He set down his pen, stroked its little head, and looked up at me.

“Did Mimi miss me, or did you?”

“Mimi, of course.”

“That stubborn mouth…”

Before he finished, I vigorously ruffled his hair and interrupted him, laughing wildly.

“This jiejie will be forever young, and so forever stubborn-mouthed. You’ll just have to put up with it.”

He Yushan smiled, nodded, and took my hand.

“How could being with Qingqing be putting up with anything? To me, it’s sweet as honey.”

As always, those amber eyes were full of reliance and sincerity.

He Yushan had said back then that I was the only tamer of a mad dog like him.

In truth, he too was my only emotional home in this world.