Chapter 1 Desperate Straits
My name is Yuan Junyao, given to me by my grandmother. It means "beautiful jade", but I am not beautiful at all—on the contrary, I am an ugly duckling.
It is said that less than three months after I was born, tumors started growing on my face. My parents took me to the hospital, and after examination, the doctor said they were fibromas, benign and not life-threatening. However, they couldn't be removed because they would grow back, and might even turn malignant.
Since then, my father began to beat my mother, saying her genes were bad, which was why she gave birth to a sickly money-waster like me.
Within two years, my father got a promotion and divorced my mother. He never came to see me again after that.
My mother soon found another man. He disliked my ugliness and even claimed I was contagious, forcing her to send me to my grandmother in the countryside. I have only seen my mother a few times in my life.
When I was in the third year of junior high, my stepfather got into a fight with someone that resulted in a death. He was sent to prison and will probably stay there for life. My mother, worn out by years of toil, passed away too. I didn't feel much sorrow—she was no different from a stranger to me.
Shortly after, a boy three years younger than me was sent to me. His name is Shen Anyi, the son of my stepfather and his ex-wife. None of the stepfather's relatives wanted him, so the police had no choice but to contact me.
My grandmother was kind-hearted. She said one more person just meant one more pair of chopsticks, and the boy looked pitiful, so she kept him.
Thus, I gained a younger brother.
This brother was raised by my mother and had a similar personality to hers. Although he was frightened when he first saw me, he gradually got used to it. He kept calling me "sister" and followed me around everywhere.
Because my face was covered with tumors, I had to wear a hat and mask whenever I went out. My classmates always bullied me, and the teacher in charge disliked me and never stood up for me. Gradually, I learned to endure.
Once, a boy in my class tore off my mask in front of the whole class, grabbed my hair, and laughed: "Look everyone! She's so ugly. If I looked this ugly, I would definitely kill myself."
The whole class gathered around me, pointing and talking. I had never felt so humiliated, but I didn't dare to resist, just kept my head down in silence.
At that moment, Shen Anyi rushed over and furiously attacked the boy. The boy was tall and strong, and Shen Anyi ended up black and blue all over. But he still managed to squeeze out a smile and said to me: "Sister, I will protect you."
From that day on, I treated him as my real brother.
In my third year of senior high, my grandmother passed away, and our family lost its source of income overnight. I had been admitted to Jinling University, but when I saw the tuition fee, I gave up the chance and saved my grandmother's inheritance for my brother's college education.
My brother was very promising and got into a key high school in Shancheng City. We moved to the city. With my ugly appearance and no academic qualifications, I couldn't find a good job, so I had to wash dishes and deliver couriers.
I took three part-time jobs, and delivering couriers paid the most. So I worked day and night, taking on all the jobs that others refused to do.
One evening, when it was already dark, my boss gave me a package and told me to deliver it quickly because the customer was in a hurry. I had to ride my motorcycle to make the delivery.
The destination was a remote villa. I searched for a long time before finding it. Inside, it was noisy, as if a party was going on.
I knocked on the door, handed over the package, and said: "Please sign for it."
The person who opened the door was a good-looking young man, who had drunk a lot. His eyes scanned me up and down, and he said: "Take off your mask and let me see."
Of course, I refused. Unexpectedly, he rushed forward and tore off my mask, then showed a surprised look: "Damn, you're so ugly! Hey, everyone, come and look, there's an ugly duckling here!"
I covered my face and turned to run, but those young people grabbed me and pulled me back. I struggled desperately, but a wet handkerchief was pressed over my mouth and nose.
Before I fainted, I heard their sinister laughter: "Finally found such a 'treasure'. Haha, I want to see what expression Yin Shengyao, that cold-hearted guy, will have when he finds out he slept with such a 'treasure'."
When I woke up, I was lying on a big bed, and a extremely handsome man was lying beside me. Neither of us was wearing clothes.
The man woke up too. He looked at himself, then at me, and a look of extreme disgust appeared on his face, followed by boundless anger.
He kicked me hard, right in the chest, sending me falling off the bed. I broke a rib instantly and couldn't get up for a long time.
I will never forget the look he gave me, as if he was looking at the dirtiest thing in the world.
At this moment, the young men who had stunned me earlier walked in laughing, holding a DV and filming non-stop.
The handsome man seemed to realize something and roared in anger: "Kang Junnan, how dare you drug me!"
There was a chaotic fight in the room. Enduring severe pain, I struggled to crawl out of the villa and escaped.
I didn't dare to call the police. With my ugly face, I didn't want to face other people's disdainful glances and pointing fingers.
I returned to the dirty and messy urban village where we rented a house. It was an old, dilapidated house, but the rent was cheap.
I lay on the bed, in so much pain that I felt like I was going to die. My brother came back and was shocked. I didn't dare to tell him the truth, so I just said I fell off my motorcycle while delivering couriers.
He insisted on taking me to the hospital. Actually, I didn't want to go—I couldn't afford the medical fees.
My brother was insistent, but what I didn't expect was that on the way to the hospital, a bright red Porsche rushed towards us crazily. My brother shouted: "Sister, watch out!" He pushed me away, and the car hit him directly.
My brother was thrown far away. The Porsche made a turn and drove away without a trace. I frantically picked up my brother and rushed him to the hospital.
After 15 hours of rescue, Anyi's life was saved, but he became a vegetable. The daily medical expenses were an astronomical figure.
I called the police, but I didn't see the license plate clearly, and there were no surveillance cameras on that section of the road. It was impossible to find the hit-and-run car.
But I had seen that car before. When I ran out of the villa, it was parked behind the house.
It was that man named Yin Shengyao! He hated me and wanted to kill me!
I was filled with hatred. I hated being such a useless ugly woman, unable even to seek justice for my brother.
But the biggest problem in front of me was my brother's medical bills.
The courier company and the shop owners who hired me called to tell me not to go to work anymore, and also subtly asked if I had offended someone powerful.
It was Yin Shengyao again!
But he was so rich and powerful—what could I do to fight him?
I returned to our empty, impoverished rental house. There was a computer on the table, which I had bought from a second-hand market to give to my brother as a gift.
Unfortunately, he would never get to use it.
I turned on the computer, hoping to find some job listings. I also posted a question on Baidu Zhidao. Soon, someone replied, asking if I was male or female. If I was female, they suggested I do live streaming, which was very profitable.
I opened Heiyan TV, the largest live streaming platform. The female streamers there were either pure and sweet or glamorous and charming. They sang and danced during their streams, and regardless of how well they performed, viewers kept giving them tips. Some popular female streamers could earn tens of thousands of yuan in a single live stream.
I sighed helplessly. With my appearance, could I be a live streamer? Would I just be performing a freak show?
Just as I was about to close the webpage, I saw a live stream titled "Encountering Ghosts".
I clicked on it. The streamer was a man, broadcasting from a supposedly haunted old house. The atmosphere was extremely terrifying.
I watched the entire stream. The streamer didn't actually see a real ghost; he just created a scary atmosphere with jump scares. But there were a lot of viewers, and the tips were generous. This made my heart flutter.
For this kind of live stream, viewers were mainly there to watch for ghosts, not to care about the streamer's appearance. It was perfect for me!
I decided to do it right away. I took the little money I had left and bought a domestic mobile phone with a high-definition camera and long battery life. I also asked a former colleague for a favor to get an internal unlimited data monthly plan.
Everything was ready. As soon as it got dark, I set off.
I chose an abandoned clinic in the urban village, not far from my home.
When I arrived at the clinic gate, I logged into Heiyan TV with my phone and started a live stream. I named the room: "Confronting Evil Ghosts - A Horrifying Journey in the Haunted Clinic".