Behind the wall of the community clinic, Ai Lian held her breath and watched as Gu Yebai’s figure gradually shrank in the distance.
A few days ago during math class, a group of bored boys had started a “school beauty ranking” for fun.
Almost all the votes were concentrated on the few girls who were considered the most attractive.
This sort of thing usually had nothing to do with an ugly girl.
However, she never expected that Gu Yebai would actually do the unthinkable and cast his vote for the girl publicly acknowledged as the ugliest in the entire class — Ai Lian.
When the whole class started jeering, he had even called out to her with a calm expression, “Wife.”
In Ai Lian’s eyes, this was simply inconceivable, completely beyond her scope of understanding.
She pulled out a small mirror and looked at herself: hair so oily it was shiny, looking as if it hadn’t been washed in days; chapped, white lips; thick, round-framed glasses; and dense freckles across the bridge of her nose and cheeks that would trigger anyone’s trypophobia.
It was a face sufficient to cause an inhabitant of Earth physical discomfort.
Ai Lian had always been confident in this face.
She was certain that no one in this world would ever like it.
Like a key to Pandora’s box, it could easily turn the lock on the darkest parts of the human heart, provoking Earthlings to mock and bully the owner of such a face.
But Gu Yebai’s reaction had shattered the certainty she had held for so long.
‘…Is it not ugly enough?’
Ai Lian whispered to herself.
‘Or does he have some kind of ugliness fetish?’
She couldn’t understand it at all.
In the mirror, her black pupils gradually began to bleed a cold, beautiful shade of purple.
Immediately after, a white light seemed to emanate from beneath her skin.
Her originally standard oval-shaped face was forcibly “pushed” toward a state of puffiness and obesity, the contours rapidly expanding.
“No, there seems to be an issue with this parameter,” Ai Lian frowned.
“The aesthetic threshold for Earthlings in the data isn’t like this.”
She shook her head.
Because the face had become more bloated, when combined with her features, it actually looked slightly more tolerable than before.
With a flash of white light, she restored her face to its original state.
‘Then… would adding a few more pustules make it more disgusting?’
The thought had barely surfaced before she irritably dismissed it.
‘Forget it… never mind.’
The strange one wasn’t her.
The strange one was Gu Yebai.
This Earthling didn’t seem to care about beauty or ugliness, nor did he make judgments based on dark instincts like most Earthlings did.
The logic behind his behavior was to help her avoid campus bullying; he was protecting her.
In fact, since that commotion, she was still ignored by the various small circles in the class, bypassed like she was made of air.
But at least… the physical bullying had indeed subsided.
Ai Lian carefully recalled everything related to Gu Yebai.
In class, he was the only one who would greet her with a friendly “Good morning.”
Furthermore, he never used nicknames for her.
Others called her the “Oil-Head Queen,” “Barnacle Girl,” or “The Vomit,” but Gu Yebai alone would sincerely call her “Little Lian.”
Was it truly just out of kindness, wanting to lend her a hand?
Such a possibility wasn’t non-existent.
In addition, when he called her “wife,” he hadn’t shown any intentional humiliation or mockery.
His eyes were like two shining glass orbs, unbelievably clean.
Of course, it could also be hypocrisy.
By helping the weak to elevate one’s own status — in some people’s eyes, this was a cheap but effective moral investment.
Humans had always been complex creatures.
They could not be easily trusted.
She needed to continue studying matters concerning Earthlings.
However, even if it was a moral investment, the loss was far too great, wasn’t it?
On the contrary, joining the side of those bullying her would have made it much easier to gain a sense of belonging.
Ai Lian, who had once thought she saw through Earthlings, began to feel hesitant because of Gu Yebai.
‘If he really is helping me because his heart is pure…’ Ai Lian talked to herself, ‘then I should give him an appropriate reward. But…’
If friendly individuals like Gu Yebai truly existed among Earthlings, then wouldn’t the act of “occupying Earth” lose its rationality?
In many previous control group experiments, many people had acted friendly when facing her true appearance, but that friendliness came with a purpose.
It was like a peacock intentionally spreading its feathers during courtship; when traced back to the source, it all pointed to reproductive instincts.
Back then, her name hadn’t been Ai Lian.
She had many different names; sometimes she was Vinica, sometimes Chiho Shinomiya, and sometimes Bai Xialin…
It was precisely because she saw that Earthlings would offer ill-intentioned flattery to beautiful individuals that she felt disappointed in them, which led to the creation of the current Ai Lian.
Regardless, she had to unearth the dark side of humanity.
Only then would her actions be justified.
Until then… she would interact a bit more with this friendly sample known as Gu Yebai.
Two days later, the school bell rang.
At 7:30 PM, it was already pitch black outside, and snowflakes were fluttering everywhere under the streetlights.
Gu Yebai grabbed his backpack and headed out.
He was in a hurry.
If he dawdled any longer, he might miss the last bus for Route 5 to get home.
However, just as he stepped out of the classroom, a few discordant voices came from behind him.
“Then everything is left to you. Remember to work hard!”
Several girls wearing heavy makeup skipped out of the classroom, chatting about which bar they were going to visit to pick up some athletes.
Gu Yebai poked his head back in for a look.
In the massive classroom, Ai Lian was the only one left, standing lonely by the teacher’s podium.
He had originally intended to leave, but his footsteps came to a sudden halt, and he quickly turned back.
“Ah, Student… Student Gu…” Ai Lian tightened her grip on the broom, her voice tense.
“You haven’t left yet?”
Gu Yebai set his backpack on a desk and paused.
“You could actually just leave, too. If the teacher asks, just say it’s unfair for you to be left behind alone. He won’t get too worked up with you over a cleaning duty.”
Ai Lian said in a low voice, “I don’t want to become like them…”
Gu Yebai didn’t respond immediately.
He just walked to the podium and tapped his finger on the duty roster, suddenly letting out a small laugh.
“Little Lian, look. The teacher is actually quite sneaky. He knows better than anyone that some people will skip their duty, so every day, in addition to a few slackers, he intentionally includes a few honest people.”
What was even more disgusting was that once the duty wasn’t completed and the revolving red flag for hygiene was lost, the teacher would only blame the honest students.
For those slackers, he had a completely different face.
“Honest people like us are always the ones who lose out,” Gu Yebai concluded.
“It’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Ai Lian whispered.
Gu Yebai smiled and bent down to pick up a rusted iron bucket and a mop from the corner, then went to the restroom to rinse them with water.
“Hey, Student Gu,” Ai Lian said immediately.
“You aren’t on duty today.”
“Honest people might always lose out,” he wrung the water out of the mop, his tone casual, “but as you said, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
The fluorescent lights made a faint buzzing sound, and the scent of detergent filled the air.
“You go wipe the blackboard. I’ll handle the mopping.”
“…Thank you, Student Gu.”
“No need for thanks. There’s no way I could leave a girl to do cleaning duty all by herself, right?”
“Even an ugly girl like me?”
Gu Yebai remained focused on his work, his voice calm.
“Little Lian, I’ve always felt that appearance shouldn’t be a reason for low self-esteem. That’s something you’re born with, something neither you nor I can control. But you can keep yourself a bit tidier — wash your hair and bathe more often. Respecting yourself is the foundation for earning the respect of others.”
“Mhm…” Ai Lian responded.
“Sorry.”
Gu Yebai cleared his throat, sounding self-deprecating.
“That sounded a bit too much like a preachy dad… haha. Anyway, I just hope you don’t label yourself as an ‘ugly girl.'”
He intentionally switched to a lighthearted tone, pretending to be an interviewing reporter.
“Linchuan City in Dongling Province has produced a top science scorer this year! Ai Lian has been admitted to Yenching University with an outstanding score of 720. Hello, I am a reporter from CCTV. May I interview you?”
Ai Lian finally let out a small smile.
“Thank you.”
She stared at Gu Yebai’s back and said softly, “You’re different from the other boys. By the way… can I ask, is there anyone you like?”
“In our class?”
“Mhm.”
Gu Yebai paused as if seriously considering the question.
“Right now, I can’t really work up much interest in matters of the heart.”
“Please don’t misunderstand, Student Gu,” Ai Lian explained quickly, her words rushing out.
“Even though you called me your wife and all that before, I know you were just doing it to help me out… and I also know I’m not good enough for you. I was just asking casually.”
“Why ask that?”
Gu Yebai inquired.
“Because I might be able to help you. Even if there’s nothing I can do, you could at least make a wish to me.”
Whether it was the daughter of the county magistrate, the daughter of a coal mine owner, or some second or third-tier internet celebrity…
As long as Gu Yebai wanted it, she could make it happen easily.
This was his reward for being kind.
It was also an ultimate test.
She didn’t want Gu Yebai to be another ordinary Earthling driven by reproductive instincts.
She hoped Gu Yebai would shake his head and refuse.
She hoped Gu Yebai was the Gu Yebai she imagined.
“I’m really sorry, Little Lian. Right now, I truly just want to be a person walking alone in the white night.”
Ai Lian looked at him blankly.
Ah, that was it.
He really was the Gu Yebai that matched her imagination.
The pure Gu Yebai, the kind Gu Yebai, the good boy Gu Yebai.