Chapter 36

Tao Shushu had now accumulated a large number of high-level Primary Clarity Cards, enough to stir up some trouble.
The next day, as soon as she arrived at school, she saw her classmates once again engrossed in the school forum.
Checking the results on her phone, Tao Shushu found that the story she wrote, "The Devoted Senior Saves the Junior," had only gained lukewarm attention, but the edited photos she posted had gone viral.
Su Momo already had a group of supporters who regularly posted updates and photos of her. Tao Shushu’s photo-editing skills were so masterful that they were considered the highest quality content, and half the school was obsessing over the images.
Fang Le, the class’s arts committee member, stared at her phone in disbelief. "Does the school auditorium have a built-in beauty filter? I was there during the rehearsal, and I think the photos look a hundred times better than the real person."
"I want to rehearse in the auditorium too and see for myself," Fang Le exclaimed.
In the international class, Su Momo arrived late.
She had noticed early on that her popularity on the school forum had skyrocketed. This time, it wasn’t because Wang Tianba had posted something misleading again.
It was even more thrilling than she had ever imagined, surpassing the attention she might have received for scoring full marks in physics or being an academic prodigy. This time, she had gone viral for her looks.
When Su Momo saw the photos, she could hardly believe it was herself.
The flawless facial contours, the gentle eyes brimming with light, she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the screen.
Su Momo savored the comments under the photos.
Occasionally, she would come across remarks like "the photos are prettier than the real person," and her heart would tighten. But in the end, vanity prevailed.
She thought to herself that this was probably a photoshopped image made by some skilled admirer pursuing her. The thought that the other person had such superb photo editing skills and was quietly doing things without expecting anything in return made Tao Shushu secretly delighted. This was far better than Wang Tianba, who couldn't even handle a simple Tao Shushu.
Su Momo used her verified account to reply with a "Thank you for your liking," then sent a private message from her alternate account, asking if the person accepted paid photo editing jobs.
The other person quickly replied, "Photo editing is a personal hobby; I don't take commissions."
Su Momo felt a secret thrill, sure enough, the person was only willing to edit her photos.
Just as she was about to leave the house, Su Momo glanced in the mirror. Perhaps because she had been staring at the beautiful photo for too long, she felt dissatisfied with her makeup today.
She spent half an hour mimicking the subtle, gentle makeup from the photo, applying and reapplying.
Unfortunately, the result still didn't match the photo.
But there was no time to redo it.
Her mother urged, "Day in and day out, you're more trouble than you're worth. Hurry up and get to school. Young Master Wang is already waiting for you outside."
A flicker of impatience crossed Su Momo's eyes. It was all because she hadn't yet displayed her academic prowess that her parents didn't value her and only wanted her to latch onto the Wang family.
She had no choice but to deal with Wang Tianba superficially.
But after the school anniversary, everyone who looked down on her would regret it.
When Su Momo stepped out, Wang Tianba, surprisingly, got out of the car and opened the door for her.
Su Momo was a bit flattered. Ever since that day when Old Master Wang had summoned her to his home and harshly scolded her for letting the cultural relics left by her grandmother slip away, Wang Tianba had become noticeably colder toward her.
Although Su Momo had managed to cover it up later, Wang Tianba never regained his warmth.
Su Momo handed over her backpack, lifted her head, and put on a gentle expression, about to speak, only to see Wang Tianba lower his head and get back into the car.
Wang Tianba glanced at his phone, rubbed his eyes, and muttered, "Damn, I must still be dreaming."
He closed his phone and started catching up on sleep, completely ignoring the awkward Su Momo.
Suppressing her anger, Su Momo arrived at her classroom.
Almost the moment she called "report," the entire class looked up.
Su Momo felt a surge of pride. She silently wondered who could have photoshopped her picture and whether they were in her class.
Could it be the young master of the Ji family sitting by the window? He was pursuing a career as a painter. Su Momo had previously thought he wasn't wealthy enough since he hadn't inherited the family business and hadn't bothered to pursue him, but now it seemed he might be worth getting to know...
As she was lost in thought, she noticed some classmates looking down in confusion, turning their attention back to their phones.
Su Momo still had no idea what had caused the shift in their attitude.
Her deskmate hesitated to speak, ultimately not daring to say anything.
During the break, a crowd suddenly "passed by" outside the international class, they had all seen the forum posts and wanted to catch a glimpse of the beautiful Su Momo in person.
"Momo, the students are organizing an unofficial school belle poll, and your photo was included. You're currently in first place," a classmate said.
Su Momo smoothed her hair. "Oh, really? Thank you all for the support."
"Haha," the classmate laughed awkwardly.
Su Momo was lost in the beautiful dream of becoming the school belle. According to her plan, she was supposed to become the campus goddess and academic prodigy right after starting school, with the two titles complementing each other. Unfortunately, Tao Shushu had disrupted her plans.
Now, half a month later, at least one thing was finally back on track.
Thinking of another matter, Su Momo sent a message: "Has she agreed to withdraw from the competition?"
Receiving a negative reply, Su Momo ordered, "Keep tempting her. I don’t believe she won’t take the bait."
Su Momo logged into the campus forum and found the school belle poll on the homepage. She clicked in and saw that she was in first place, her votes far ahead of the others.
Immediately after, she noticed that Tao Shushu was in second place. Su Momo chuckled lightly, she was determined to defeat Tao Shushu in every single thing.
However, the forum's atmosphere began to shift subtly.
Many students, drawn in by the heavily edited photos, flocked outside the international class to see Su Momo.
Upon seeing her in person, they couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
Soon, skeptical voices emerged on the forum:
"If she were really that beautiful, it would’ve caused a sensation across the whole school long ago. I just went to see her, and she’s nothing special."
"Before seeing her: Angels really exist! After seeing her: OP, you’re a true master of photo editing."
"Fake photos, wasted my ten-minute break."
"Just before the school belle poll, such photos suddenly appear. I’m just saying…"
These skeptical comments were quickly attacked by Su Momo’s supporters.
Tao Shushu, unaware of the forum’s shifting opinions, focused intently on her classes. Even during breaks, she was solving problems, working so diligently that if her parents saw her, they’d probably worry themselves sick.
It wasn’t until after school that Tao Shushu finally checked her phone.
In just one morning, her forum alt account had received over 999+ messages.
Tao Shushu skillfully commanded her system, [System, filter out all the messages sent by the female lead.] When it came to suppressing the female lead's halo, the system never hesitated to help.
Within seconds, only four chat windows remained on the screen.
The first was from Su Momo herself, using her main account. She sent a private message expressing appreciation and gratitude for the support, using a soft, cute tone and even adding heart emojis.
The second was from an alt account asking if paid photo editing services were available. After being refused, the person didn’t ask again. But a while later, they sent over a dozen photos of Su Momo, including selfies, claiming to also be a fan of Su Momo’s looks and asking if these photos could be edited.
The third sent photos of Tao Shushu, asking if slight adjustments could be made to make her look uglier.
The fourth praised the photo editing skills and asked if the editor was an art student from the international class.
Tao Shushu hadn’t replied to any of these messages.
Unexpectedly, she also noticed a reply from Wang Tianba, which consisted of just a few brief words: "Bro, doesn’t your conscience hurt editing photos like that?"
Tao Shushu looked at the photos, puzzled. They were perfectly edited, even Su Momo herself had approved. Why would anyone feel guilty?
Tao Shushu didn't bother racking her brain over things she couldn't understand. After all, Wang Tianba wouldn't come looking for her to fight, and even if he did, he wouldn't stand a chance against her.
Putting down her phone, Tao Shushu headed to the cafeteria with Li Anyu for lunch.
The cafeteria seemed unusually crowded today.
Li Anyu remarked, "Su Momo is here today. Lots of people came specifically to see her."
As Tao Shushu and Li Anyu lined up, they noticed a group of people ahead shaking their heads in disappointment.
The person at the front complained, "So this is what Su Momo really looks like? Photos really can’t be trusted."
"Does she want to be the campus belle? Good thing we came to see for ourselves. If we voted for her based on photos and she ended up standing next to students from other schools, it would totally embarrass Huiwen Highschool."
Tao Shushu frowned. She remembered from the original novel that Su Momo had outshone the princess of F-country and was even more favored by the F-country royal family. That’s why, after seeing the invitation from the F-country princess, she had deliberately tried to trigger the plot.
Sure, she had retouched Su Momo’s photos a bit, but as the female lead, Su Momo’s natural looks weren’t bad at all. How could she be receiving so much criticism?
After getting her food, Tao Shushu made her way through the bustling crowd.
As she passed the center of the commotion, she caught sight of Su Momo sitting in the middle.
Su Momo’s face was dark with anger, and she was speaking fiercely, her face flushed and expression twisted with rage.
A girl standing in front of Su Momo said, "Momo, if you don’t want to share your photo editor, just say so. I’m not forcing you. Why are you so angry?"
Su Momo’s voice cracked as she yelled, "I didn’t edit my photos!"
The girl picked up her phone and rolled her eyes. "Fine, if you say so."
Another girl beside Su Momo couldn’t stand it anymore and said, "Momo, calm down. At least stop glaring at people."
Su Momo had a very gentle appearance, when she smiled softly, it wasn’t noticeable, but the moment she got angry, her eyes turned into sharp, upturned slits, looking extremely out of place.
Tao Shushu never expected her edited photos to have such an effect. She thought it would only disappoint those who hadn’t seen Su Momo in person and only knew her from photos, but she hadn’t anticipated such a strong reaction from their classmates.
"Why is Gu Tongqiu picking a fight with Su Momo?" Li Anyu whispered. "Didn’t she damage her vocal cords and have to postpone studying abroad?"
Hearing this, Tao Shushu asked, "Is Gu Tongqiu good at English?"
"Her family’s business is huge overseas. She grew up in the Greater European region, but her boyfriend went to M County, so she spent some time there too." Li Anyu truly lived up to her title as the gossip queen, she knew everything.
Tao Shushu recalled the plot from the original novel. In it, Gu Tongqiu had also come to cause trouble for Su Momo.
However, Gu Tongqiu was also a foil for Su Momo.
Gu Tongqiu was utterly love-stricken, only capable of crying and blaming Su Momo for stealing her boyfriend.
In contrast, Su Momo was entirely focused on her studies, striving to become an academic prodigy. Though she only wanted to study, everyone adored her and pursued her. She was sought after in every circle of fame and fortune.
When Gu Tongqiu went bankrupt and fell into the mud, it was precisely the moment Su Momo lifted her trophy.
Tao Shushu was lost in thought.
Li Anyu suddenly asked, "Shushu, did you swap my big chicken leg? Why are you grinning like a cat that just stole some fish?"
"Not at all. Here, have mine too." Tao Shushu placed the chicken leg into Li Anyu's bowl.
She had just realized that she was still alive and well.
Li Anyu, Gu Tongqiu and many others who were supposed to lose their wits, offend Su Momo, and ruin their lives, they were all still doing fine.


Author's Note:
Cub: I'm not doing well without seeing Shushu.