My Online Girlfriend Has a Twin Sister

"This is my biggest secret," Jiang Yao said, peeking out from under the covers. Her eyes, sparkling and bright, were exceptionally captivating. "I think you’re the first guy to know this... and you’ll be the last."

Chen Yuan slowly snapped out of his shock. He pressed his lips together, saying a little sheepishly, "Give me a second to process this."

As a guy, how was Chen Yuan supposed to know about this stuff? All he knew was the trivial information from biology class.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t learned about it in middle school biology. Hair grows on important parts of the body as a genetically programmed form of self-protection. The head, for instance, is crucial, so it’s protected not only by hair but also by a hard skull to shield the brain from injury.

But girls were full of so many secrets, far more than could ever be covered in a biology class.

Jiang Yao looked at Chen Yuan’s dazed, contemplative expression and almost burst out laughing. A mischievous glint flashed in her eyes as she reached out and poked his forehead.

"What’s there to process? Let me just explain it to you. I can tell you don’t really get it..."

"Alright, tell me."

Chen Yuan propped himself up on his elbows, looking like an elementary school student ready to listen intently to a lesson.

Jiang Yao let out a breath. Now that they were on the subject, she didn’t feel as shy anymore. Relaxing, she said, "Actually, it’s genetic. It runs in my family."

"When I was little, I had no idea about any of this. I don’t think my older sister did either, because she always knows more than me, but she never mentioned it. In the end, I was the one who discovered the problem first."

"I had very few friends at school, so I never learned about these things from other girls. I always thought I was completely normal. The first time I noticed something was off was during the second semester of eighth grade. Our school had started swimming classes—the kind where boys and girls were separated. All the girls had to change in a big locker room, but everyone had their own little cubicle, sectioned off like restroom stalls."

"I finished changing and was heading out to sit by the pool. As I stepped out of my cubicle, I overheard three or four girls talking about hair removal. The more precocious girls back then already had a very strong sense of what was beautiful and what was ugly. They didn’t just remove unwanted hair and wear makeup; they would also buy expensive backpacks, limited-edition pencil cases, and fancy pens. It was the kind of atmosphere where you could secure a higher social status just by having expensive things and wearing pretty clothes."

Chen Yuan rested his chin on his hand, listening intently, and nodded.

He’d had the same impression when he went to school in Kyoto. The more expensive the tuition and the more students there were from wealthy families, the fewer rules there were about personal appearance.

It was different from his school in Qishui County, where every student had to wear the same ugly, baggy uniform.

Chen Yuan used to hate wearing his uniform, too. But thinking back, he realized that aside from enforcing "standardized discipline," the uniforms actually helped a lot of students from poorer families feel less insecure. Since everyone looked the same, no one was set apart by the quality of their clothes.

Jiang Yao continued, "I didn’t think anything of it at the time. My skin has always been really smooth, ever since I was little."

As she spoke, she held out her arm for Chen Yuan to feel.

"See? It’s smooth, right? No little hairs."

The sensation against his fingertips was indeed wonderful, as smooth and supple as fine jade.

"The moment I truly realized I was different from other girls was after I got injured in P.E. class. I was at home resting and couldn’t take a bath by myself, so I had our housekeeper help me. While she was scrubbing my back in the tub, she stood up and gave me the shock of my life..."

The memory was still vivid in Jiang Yao’s mind. She had been so young then.

"The housekeeper had so much hair on her body!"

"Pfft—" Chen Yuan suddenly couldn’t hold back his laughter.

’Listening to Yaoyao was always entertaining. She described things in such an adorable, exaggerated way, gesturing animatedly as she spoke.’

’Especially the way her exquisite eyes would widen as she talked, perfectly recreating the utter shock she must have felt as a child.’

"I couldn’t resist asking her about it. The housekeeper just smiled and explained that everyone has it and that I was just different. Her explanation was super vague, and then she left, which almost scared me to death. Later that night, when I was in bed with my sister, I told her everything that had happened."

Jiang Yao’s cheeks turned crimson.

’Thinking back on it now, it was so silly and embarrassing,’ she thought. ’How could I have been so naive?’

Chen Yuan’s interest was piqued. "And then what happened?" he asked eagerly.

"We... we just hugged each other and cried," she said, covering her face.

"Why did you cry?"

"Because I was so dumb! Girls lose hair every day, right? Well, back then, I was brushing my hair really frequently, so I was shedding a lot. Plus, I was reading romance novels all the time, and the heroines in those stories always had such tragic lives. They’d either get a terminal illness or be in a car crash, and the male lead would be consumed by regret. I thought I had a terminal illness too, and that my hair falling out was the first symptom."

Chen Yuan couldn’t hold it in any longer.

’Her imagination is running wild,’ he thought. ’Those novels must have been very poorly written and full of generalizations.’

’Patients with terminal illnesses only lose hair in clumps after chemotherapy. But it’s understandable for a clueless kid to make that kind of leap.’

"For a while, I was too scared to even look in the mirror. My face was pale every day, and the more I imagined I had a terminal illness, the weaker I felt... I cried my eyes out, especially at the thought of going bald and being ugly." Jiang Yao added, "I really didn’t want to be that ugly."

"So, how did you finally find out the truth?" Chen Yuan asked, stifling a laugh.