It wasn’t until the door closed that Shi Yin came out of her room.
Her gaze landed on the fruit plate in Mother Shi’s hands, and her tone was light and cheerful: “Did Xiao Shuo-ge bring this over?”
“You silly girl, why did you run off so fast just now?”
“Yanshuo was just asking me whether you were home. And since you got into university this year, and you’re both in the same city, you’ll probably be seeing each other quite often.”
“If anything comes up at school, you can ask him for help. It’ll save your father and me some worry.” Mother Shi said earnestly.
Shi Yin picked up a strawberry—probably just taken out of the fridge—and bit into it. It was icy cold, and the sweet-and-sour flavor spread through her mouth.
“Xiao Shuo-ge is so busy, how would he have time to care about my affairs? Besides, we haven’t seen each other in ages. We barely have anything to talk about anymore.”
“Mom, stop worrying so much.”
Shi Yin rejected Mother Shi’s suggestion and took a third of the fruit from the plate.
“What’s there to worry about? What generation gap could you young people possibly have?”
Watching her daughter’s departing figure, Mother Shi shook her head, exasperated at her daughter’s stubbornness.
Only after closing her door and confirming that Mother Shi wouldn’t come disturb her did Shi Yin open the Goddess System.
“Xiao Hua, if I suddenly change, won’t people find it scary?”
Just to be safe, in case she got captured as some kind of monster, Shi Yin couldn’t help asking.
[Don’t worry, Yinyin. The Goddess System won’t turn you into a completely different person.]
[We optimize your appearance based on your existing features. In other words, the Goddess System makes changes on the foundation of your original self.]
[And these changes will subtly influence the people around you. They’ll simply believe you’ve always looked this way.]
Shi Yin silently upgraded her mental rating of the Goddess System. It seemed Xiao Hua was even more advanced than she had imagined.
But she soon had no time to think further.
The 500 Love Coins from the newbie gift package weren’t much—at least not enough to transform Shi Yin into a great beauty right away.
Since she was going to be meeting Lu Yanshuo, she naturally couldn’t afford to make a bad first impression. So body shape, talents, and the most expensive attribute—charm—were all out of consideration.
Her goal was clear: enhancement in the looks department.
She clicked into the skin tone option, and a series of selectable skin tone levels appeared.
Warm Shade 3 (0/100)
Warm Shade 2 (150/200)
Warm Shade 1 (0/300)
Cool Shade 2 (0/500)
Cool Shade 1 (0/1000)
Aside from the Warm Shade 3 and Warm Shade 2 options, which were unlocked, the rest were grayed out and unclickable.
Xiao Hua promptly explained: since her natural skin tone was Warm Shade 2, she had to first make up the missing 50 Love Coins for Warm Shade 2 before she could unlock the next tier.
As the saying goes, fair skin covers three flaws. Modern society generally equates beauty with fair skin, and Shi Yin was no exception.
It was summer now, and the sun was scorching. Dressing lightly meant showing more skin, and fair-skinned people would only attract more attention in summer.
That was exactly why Shi Yin prioritized enhancing her skin tone.
Warm Shade 2 was the ordinary skin tone of East Asian people. Neither Father Shi nor Mother Shi was fair-skinned, so Shi Yin naturally hadn’t inherited any genetic advantages. But fortunately, she could now use the Goddess System to experience the perks of fair skin for herself.
【Spend 350 Love Coins to purchase Skin Tone – Warm White One?】
Though it pained her, Shi Yin still tapped [Yes].
Almost instantly, she felt the change in her body.
She had really become fairer.
There was a full-length mirror in Shi Yin’s room. She had changed out of her long pants into shorts after getting home, so she could see every change happening to her body clearly.
The girl in the mirror was like a pearl gently wiped free of dust.
It was a soft, warm shade of white, like the thin layer of skin that forms on the surface of freshly boiled milk. When the light hit it, that whiteness gave off an incredibly delicate sheen.
The only flaw was that quite a few dark spots still remained on her arms and thighs.
Her pores.
Even though she had shaved with a razor just days ago.
Shi Yin touched the back of her hand. Even though only her skin color had changed, her skin felt noticeably smoother.
She leaned closer to the mirror and pushed aside her bangs, finding that the pimples she’d gotten from staying up late a few days ago were all gone.
Even the heavy dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn’t slept in days, had vanished.
“Xiao Hua, you’re amazing.”
Shi Yin didn’t hesitate to shower Xiao Hua with praise.
【This is simply what I’m here for, Yin Yin.】
Xiao Hua’s voice sounded a little flattered.
After the Goddess System’s modifications, even if Shi Yin baked under the blazing sun in 38-degree heat, she would never tan again. Truly a once-and-for-all solution.
Don’t ask. If you ask, it’s just natural.
With 150 Love Coins left, Shi Yin was torn between, out of sight out of mind, removing all those annoying hairs in one go, or spending the money on her face.
Not having to shave manually would of course feel great, and it wasn’t expensive—only 100 coins for permanent removal.
But with the remaining 50, she wouldn’t be able to do Face Sculpting.
“If only I could take out a loan for Face Sculpting!”
Splat.
Shi Yin flopped onto the bed, pounding the rabbit plushie in her arms with a wail.
【The Goddess System supports the Host in borrowing Love Coins in advance for modifications.】
【If the Host repays the borrowed Love Coins within 30 days, no interest will be charged. If the Host fails to repay within 30 days, interest will increase by 10% for each day of delay. If repayment is delayed by more than five days, all modification items on the Host will be repossessed. Please consider carefully.】
She hadn’t expected loans to actually be possible. Shi Yin’s eyes lit up.
But after seeing the list of consequences, she began thinking about how to squeeze the most value out of this deal.
She was definitely going to take the loan, but she couldn’t be too greedy. She couldn’t gamble on what would happen if she couldn’t repay it—but the Goddess System, as it stood now, surely wouldn’t harm her.
With her mind made up, she had Xiao Hua fine-tune her entire face according to the look that suited her best.
No choice—she was just too poor.
The adjustment process was very short.
She opened her eyes and looked at the mirror in front of her.
It was still her in the mirror.
Her face was still that slightly round face, her features still the same features.
But all the “flaws” had been gently nudged, as if by an invisible hand.
Her nose was still her nose, but the bridge seemed a tiny bit higher—unnoticeable unless you looked closely—yet suddenly her whole face had dimension.
Her eyes were still those same eyes, but the skin of her upper eyelids had been lifted just a touch, revealing more of her pupils, and her gaze suddenly seemed brighter.
She tilted her head, and even in profile, the faint outline of her features was visible. She stared at the mirror for a long time.
She recognized this face.
And yet, somehow, everything seemed a little different.
It was like the same painting, but someone had re-tuned its colors.
The painting was still the same painting—but now, at last, she was willing to stop and truly look at it.
At the same time, the Goddess System updated Shi Yin’s basic profile.
【Name】: Shi Yin
【Age】: 18
【Height】: 165 cm
【Weight】: 56 kg
【Looks】: 52/100 (45+7)
【Figure】: 30/100 (to be expanded)
【Talents】: 50/100 (to be expanded)
【Note: 50 represents the normal level of an average person; 60 and above is passable; 70 and above is somewhat attractive; 80 and above makes one the center of attention in a crowd; 90 and above qualifies as a goddess】
Overall assessment of Host’s Charm: 44.