Chapter 1: V1000 to Prove Your Worth

After dying once, Mi Ke finally understood.

Good girls-in the end, they only get the word "good."

And bad girls-they get everything.

—

The spring in Jin City was always rainy.

Outside the girls' dormitory at Hua University.

A tall, broad-shouldered young man stood in a sleeveless white tank top amidst the curtain of rain, head bowed, staring

at a chat window that hadn't produced a response for a long time. A flicker of disappointment passed through the depths

of his eyes.

Raindrops landed on his thick, sculpted deltoids, then gathered into streams that traced along the lean, defined muscles

of his arms before dripping into the breakfast bag in his left hand.

A girl brushing her teeth at the balcony railing leaned over and glanced down, mouth still full of toothpaste foam.

"Quick, look-isn't that Jiang Muye from the Sports Science department downstairs?"

"Is he here to deliver breakfast to someone he likes? Oh my god, who has the heart to leave a gorgeous guy like that

standing in the rain waiting?"

"Waaah, how is Jiang Muye even hotter when he's soaking wet? He looks like a sad, abandoned puppy!"

An eighteen-year-old college athlete-he was magnetic to women of every age, let alone one this handsome with an

eight-pack to boot.

Jiang Muye had shot to the top three of the campus heartthrob rankings the moment enrollment began. Naturally, he'd

gained a certain level of fame among the student body.

"Someone's going down to see him!" The teeth-brushing girl craned her neck further, gossip-hungry.

"Who? Who?"

"The umbrella's blocking the view, can't tell..."

Downstairs at the dorm.

Mi Ke walked up to the young man, holding a red umbrella over his head.

A pair of white sneakers entered his field of vision. Jiang Muye's lowered head snapped up.

But when he saw that the person standing before him was Mi Ke, the light in his eyes dimmed just as quickly.

Because the person he was waiting for wasn't Mi Ke. It was her best friend-Hua University's campus beauty, Song Jingyi.

"Is Jingyi still sleeping? I promised to bring her breakfast today, and I didn't expect it to rain on the way..." Jiang

Muye gave Mi Ke a polite smile, but his eyes betrayed a thread of frustration. "She hasn't replied to my messages. When

she wakes up, could you let me know? I'll go buy another one."

Mi Ke raised the red umbrella over his head.

Behind her dull, uninteresting black-framed glasses, a pair of clear, sharp eyes regarded him with something close to

pity. "You don't need to wait anymore. She can't eat your breakfast."

Early this morning, Song Jingyi had been picked up by her childhood friend-Shen Ji, a top-tier lawyer-in his luxury car.

Before leaving, she'd told Mi Ke to make up some excuse and brush Jiang Muye off.

And now, Mi Ke raised her phone.

A photo of Song Jingyi stepping into a luxury car materialized before Jiang Muye's eyes.

His pupils trembled. He snatched the phone from Mi Ke's hand roughly, his rain-streaked fingers shaking as he zoomed in

on the image.

"Jingyi... has a boyfriend?"

Mi Ke didn't answer that question.

She looked up at Jiang Muye, her grip on the umbrella tightening slightly. "Jiang Muye, why don't we get together?"

Jiang Muye froze. His eyes flickered with shock-and, beneath that, a veiled thread of revulsion.

"Mi Ke, we're not a good match!" He instinctively took two steps back, retreating into the rain.

As though sharing an umbrella with her was physically nauseating.

Mi Ke caught every subtle shift of his body language, a barely visible glint of self-mockery flashing through her eyes.

Of course she knew the root cause of his disgust.

After all, who would have imagined that the best friend of Hua University's number one beauty, Song Jingyi, would be the

school's notorious ugly girl?
Mi Ke stood 168 centimeters tall but weighed 180 jin. Placed next to any normally proportioned girl, she was built like

a mountain.

After military training, her skin had darkened to the color of soy sauce, her face a cratered battlefield of endless

acne breakouts. Behind her back, people had no shortage of commentary-she was disgusting to look at, they said.

In truth, Mi Ke's features were all quite regular. If you looked closely, she wasn't really that ugly... at least not

the ugliest girl at Hua University.

But at the start of the semester, she'd made the mistake of helping Song Jingyi carry some luggage out of kindness-and

somehow, inexplicably, had been roped into being Song Jingyi's "best friend."

With Mi Ke serving as the foil, Song Jingyi appeared all the more radiant and captivating.

And Mi Ke, by association with the campus beauty's fame, had her ugly reputation broadcast far and wide, subjected to

even more baseless mockery and malice.

Being confessed to by such a well-known ugly girl-Jiang Muye felt a chill crawl over him that lasted a good while before

something suddenly occurred to him.

When he looked at Mi Ke again, the disgust in his eyes was unmistakable. "You know perfectly well that I like Jingyi.

How could you make a move on the person she's interested in? Jingyi treats you as her best friend!"

Mi Ke's expression remained calm. Hearing those words, not a trace of shame crossed her face. Her lips even curved into

a mocking arc.

That's right-poaching her best friend's suitor sounded utterly bottomless.

But unfortunately, after dying once, "bottom lines" had become the cheapest thing in Mi Ke's world.

"Song Jingyi has no shortage of suitors. Handsome ones, fit ones, rich ones, ones who can help her academically..." She

lowered her gaze to the rain-soaked breakfast bag in his hand. "What makes you think you could easily win her over?"
"I-" Jiang Muye choked, a flush of obvious irritation breaking across his face. "Even if Jingyi wouldn't choose me, it

still wouldn't be you! I thought you were just ugly-I didn't know you were this shameless too!"

"Shameless?" Mi Ke took a step forward, meeting his eyes directly. "We're both in the Sports Science department. You

knew I was Song Jingyi's friend, so you pretended to care about me, sent me ambiguous signals, all to use me as a bridge

to get close to Song Jingyi. Who used whom first?"

Jiang Muye was silenced.

He clearly hadn't expected that Mi Ke-who'd always seemed so dense-could see right through his little scheme.

His face flushed crimson. He opened his mouth to defend himself, but Mi Ke cut him off again.

"Jiang Muye, how about we make a deal?"

The young man stared, his gaze falling on Mi Ke's unwavering almond-shaped eyes.

He suddenly felt that something about her presence today was... different from usual.

The old Mi Ke had been so insecure she couldn't even make eye contact. But today, there was something almost commanding

about her.

Strangely unsettled by her aura, Jiang Muye didn't refuse immediately. Instead, he heard himself ask, "What kind of

deal...?"

"By using the identity of my boyfriend, you can get closer to Song Jingyi." Mi Ke stepped toward him again, leaning in

slightly, her forehead nearly brushing his rain-slicked chest-

A faint, clean scent of jasmine drifted off the girl. Jiang Muye blinked, momentarily thrown.

People who looked like Mi Ke were generally assumed to be dirty, grimy, and foul-smelling. But she actually smelled...

rather pleasant.

While he was still processing, Mi Ke had already taken her phone back from his hand and was tapping on the screen. Her

tone was flat. "In return, I need you to fulfill your responsibilities as my boyfriend."

The words "responsibilities as my boyfriend" sent a wave of goosebumps erupting across Jiang Muye's skin. The disgust on

his face intensified.
Was this ugly girl expecting him to kiss her? Or worse?

"I can't do anything intimate with you! Stop dreaming!" His tone was harsh, edged with a thin anger-as though he'd been

sexually harassed.

A glint of cold contempt for his stupidity flashed through Mi Ke's eyes. She held up the phone, now displaying

something, and presented it to him. "This is what I mean by sincerity-"

Jiang Muye frowned and looked. All he saw was a WeChat payment QR code.

Behind the QR code, Mi Ke's smile carried a faint, sardonic edge.

"You want to be close to the campus beauty? Prove you're worth the proximity first. V me 1000 and let's see what you're

working with."

---

Author's Note — Content Warnings:

1. The secondary character Song Jingyi will be recognized as a god-granddaughter by a wealthy family early on, but she

does not actually cause real harm to the female lead. Everything she gains will eventually be lost. If you cannot accept

this plot point, please drop the novel now. The biggest controversy surrounding this book centers on this-seeing the

female rival become a wealthy young lady and then leaving malicious one-star reviews crying "the author mistreats the

female lead"... I can only say I'm a bit powerless here.

2. This is NOT a mindless power-fantasy novel. The female lead, Mi Ke, will gradually transform from a universally

despised ugly girl into someone beautiful, strategically climbing to gain status and position. Because she starts from a

position of weakness and levels up slowly, she will inevitably face difficulties and challenges. Overcoming them is how

she grows. There will be no plotline where the male lead falls madly in love at first sight. Readers who can't bear to

see the female lead suffer even a little grievance should exit now.
3. One of the male leads will experience hesitation and wavering under the influence of the female lead's "protagonist

halo." Once Mi Ke overcomes this halo, such plotlines will no longer appear. Additionally, readers who cannot tolerate

the male leads speaking even a single sentence to any female supporting character, or who interpret basic politeness or

gratitude as betrayal-please feel free to move on as well.

The author will always defend every reader's right to dislike this book, and will always defend her own right to write

freely. I genuinely accept reasonable criticism and have, on many occasions, adjusted based on reader feedback. But I

truly cannot accept malicious one-star reviews. If "mistreating the female lead" refers to the female rival scheming

against her and ultimately being punished-fine, I'll own that. But where the "sugar daddy" accusations come from, I have

no idea. Finally, any work and its audience connect through mutual resonance. If this story doesn't resonate with you,

simply choose another one you enjoy. Writing is not easy-please don't leave malicious reviews~