Ling Wanqing

Biodata

Appearance

Ling Wanqing ordinarily conceals her looks with deliberately unattractive makeup. Once removed, the fake sallow complexion and large black mole at the left corner of her mouth vanish, revealing a striking young woman with fair skin and an elegant bearing 2.

• Slightly taller than Gu Lianyin, with an elegant, graceful gait 2.
• Delicate oval face, long fair neck, and soft pink-red lips 2.
• Often described as having a slim figure and long legs; she wears fitted clothing such as off-shoulder tops, tight jeans, and dresses when not disguised 2 22.
• Her school disguise includes an intentionally unattractive appearance and a fake mole, which leads classmates to nickname her “Big Mole Pig” 2 5.
• At Gu Lianyin's birthday dinner, she appears in a black spaghetti-strap dress with refined makeup, deliberately presenting her true beauty to test Lin Yuan 22.
• When she permanently stops using her disguise at her original school, she wears natural-looking makeup, a ponytail, and subtle hairpins; her transformed appearance leaves her classmates unable to recognize her at first 73.
• After transferring to Gu Lianyin's school, she openly embraces her beauty and is rapidly regarded as the prettiest girl on campus, attracting gifts, love letters, and attention from students in several classes 77.

Personality

Ling Wanqing is expressive, competitive, and fiercely protective of Gu Lianyin. Their disguise contest begins as a test of endurance, but Wanqing refuses to concede partly because the loser must pay for Michelin-starred dinners every night for half a month—a cost she considers ruinous to her savings 2.

Her confidence is badly shaken by the treatment she receives while disguised. Ostracized by classmates, denied a deskmate, and mocked as “Big Mole Pig,” she briefly considers dropping out before deciding to persist and eventually shock her bullies by revealing her real appearance 5 9.

Wanqing is also suspicious and pragmatic in matters involving Gu Lianyin. She initially assumes Lin Yuan exploited Lianyin after the million-yuan investment, threatens to report him when the account is nearly emptied, and later repeatedly devises tests to determine whether his feelings are sincere 10 20 38 40. Though her methods can be mischievous and intrusive, they stem from concern that her inexperienced friend will be deceived.

Proud and self-respecting, Wanqing refuses to flatter people who ostracize her or accept a hollow apology from a former bully merely because he regrets insulting her after seeing her true appearance 73 75. Her desire to make her tormentors regret their behavior gives way to disappointment when beauty brings attention from boys but does not earn acceptance from girls 73.

Wanqing is vengeful toward people who attempt to deceive or harm her. After learning that Wang Ziqi is simultaneously dating several women, she works with Lin Yuan and Gu Lianyin to expose him publicly rather than allowing herself to become another victim 78 79. Despite her pride, she is emotionally affected by the support she receives from Lin Yuan and increasingly compares prospective partners to him 76 145.

Background

Ling Wanqing and Gu Lianyin are close friends and roommates who agree to attend school in ugly disguises. Their wager requires the first person to stop pretending to be unattractive at school to treat the other to Michelin-starred dinners for half a month 2.

On her first day, Wanqing is rejected by her assigned deskmate and ignored by other boys. Later, several classmates bully her over her disguise; she returns home crying, having skipped meals and contemplated leaving school. Gu Lianyin persuades her not to surrender, and Wanqing resolves to continue the bet until she can reveal her true appearance on her own terms 2 5.

As Gu Lianyin grows closer to Lin Yuan, Wanqing becomes both her confidante and skeptic. She distrusts Lin Yuan's use of Lianyin's money, then changes her assessment after the Tianhua Biotech investment produces substantial returns. Seeing the profits, she invests more than 300,000 yuan of her own allowance under Lin Yuan's condition that she sell when Gu Lianyin does 10 11.

Wanqing ultimately loses the disguise wager after Gu Lianyin removes her disguise first and agrees to treat her to Michelin meals for a month 58. Later, Wanqing reveals her appearance at her original school but is further isolated and physically attacked by jealous girls. After Lin Yuan helps her confront the bullies, she chooses to transfer to Gu Lianyin's school and no longer hide her beauty 73 75 77.

Relationships

• Gu Lianyin — Best friend and roommate. Wanqing supports her through school bullying, romantic uncertainty, and her fallout with Lin Yuan, but also teases her relentlessly and pushes her to test his intentions 5 17 38 40 48. Although Gu Lianyin's relationship with Lin Yuan leaves Wanqing feeling lonely and envious at times, the two remain devoted to one another; Lianyin supports Wanqing through her school violence and transfer 73 75 77.
• Lin Yuan — Gu Lianyin's deskmate and eventual boyfriend. Wanqing initially suspects he wants Lianyin's money, then tests whether he can be distracted by Wanqing's beauty; his indifference unsettles her assumptions 9 20 22 24. Lin Yuan later rescues her from school bullies, helps expose Wang Ziqi's infidelity, and supports her transfer to Lianyin's school 76 78 79. Wanqing is embarrassed after he accidentally holds her hand in a cinema, admits that she might want him as a boyfriend if he were not dating Lianyin, and eventually finds ordinary suitors lacking by comparison 64 76 145.
• Lin Qingyue — Wanqing is a devoted fan, but cannot attend Qingyue's concert because it conflicts with her grandfather's birthday celebration 24 33.
• Gu Lianyin's relatives — Wanqing views Lianyin's hostile relatives as capable of leaking private information or manipulating events against her friend 38 40.
• Wang Ziqi — A handsome Class Nine student who initially pursues Wanqing. She discovers that he is dating multiple women at once and helps arrange his exposure at a hotel, after which he drops out of school 77 79.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Ugly-disguise bet and school bullying

Wanqing enters school disguised alongside Gu Lianyin, intending to outlast her in their bet. Instead, she experiences severe appearance-based discrimination: her deskmate rejects her, classmates isolate her, and bullies give her a cruel nickname. Her humiliation reinforces her resentment toward a society that judges people by looks 2 5 9 17.

Investment in Tianhua Biotech

After witnessing Gu Lianyin's stock profits, Wanqing goes from warning Lianyin to sell to asking Lin Yuan for investment advice. She invests over 300,000 yuan but is explicitly told to follow Gu Lianyin's selling schedule and accept responsibility for any losses caused by ignoring that advice 11.

Testing Lin Yuan

Wanqing fears that Lin Yuan may be exploiting Gu Lianyin, whether for money, beauty, or information supplied by Lianyin's relatives. At Lianyin's birthday gathering, she appears in her true beauty to test whether he will abandon his attention toward Lianyin; he walks past her to comfort Lianyin instead 20 22 23.

She later helps construct increasingly elaborate tests, including a fake USB drive, anonymous threats, and a fabricated terminal-illness message. Lin Yuan's responses gradually convince both girls that he likely did not know about Lianyin's disguise beforehand 38 40.

Support during Lianyin's conflict with Lin Yuan

Wanqing secretly follows and records Gu Lianyin's date, expecting the pair's reunion to become a happy memory. When Lin Yuan instead condemns Lianyin's deception and leaves, Wanqing drives away onlookers to protect Lianyin's reputation, comforts her afterward, and seeks advice on how she might earn his forgiveness 47 48.

Revealing her appearance and transferring schools

After Gu Lianyin and Lin Yuan officially become a couple, Wanqing decides to end her ugly disguise and reveal her true appearance at her original school 71 73. Though the reveal shocks her classmates and silences the boys who mocked her, it fails to create the acceptance she expected; the girls continue excluding her, and jealousy escalates into an assault by students from other classes 73 75.

Lin Yuan intervenes when the bullies again restrain and attack Wanqing, allowing her to retaliate against them herself 76. Following the incident, Wanqing transfers to Gu Lianyin's school, where she openly presents her real appearance and begins building new connections with her classmates 76 77.

Wang Ziqi's exposure

Wanqing becomes interested in Wang Ziqi, a popular and handsome boy from Class Nine who asks her to dinner. Lin Yuan discovers that Wang is a serial womanizer who simultaneously dates several girls and exploits an older woman for money 77 78.

Although initially disappointed, Wanqing is grateful that Lin Yuan exposes Wang before she becomes seriously involved. She joins Lin Yuan and Gu Lianyin in recording Wang's hotel meeting and directing his other girlfriends to confront him, resulting in his public disgrace and eventual withdrawal from school 78 79.

Romantic uncertainty

Wanqing's first accidental hand-holding with Lin Yuan leaves her deeply embarrassed because he is Gu Lianyin's boyfriend 64. After he protects her from her bullies, she jokingly states that she would like him as a boyfriend if he were not already with Lianyin, and later asks to “borrow” him, provoking Lianyin's possessive refusal 76 77.

As she grows older, Wanqing remains single and highly selective. She openly admits that seeing Lin Yuan's qualities has made ordinary men seem inadequate, and she accepts Gu Lianyin's suggestion that Lin Yuan introduce a suitable match 145. When Lin Yuan's fabricated blind-date arrangement produces an exceptionally handsome man, she is immediately flustered and attracted, unaware that the man is Lin Yuan using a system-provided face skin 146.

Trivia

• Ling Wanqing is financially cautious enough to regard the bet's Michelin-dinner penalty as a serious threat to her savings 2.
• She considers herself unable to compete with Gu Lianyin's family background, but refuses to lose to her in perseverance 2.
• Lin Yuan's lack of interest in Wanqing's beauty makes her question the importance of appearance and frustrates her expectation that boys will readily seek her attention 23 24.
• She is repeatedly prevented from joining Gu Lianyin and Lin Yuan's private outings, including Lianyin's date, though she attempts to observe from afar 24 46 47.
• She and Gu Lianyin are both fans of Lin Qingyue and can sing Qingyue's songs, but Wanqing misses the concert because it coincides with her grandfather's birthday celebration 24 33.
• Wanqing plays Zhong Kui in Honor of Kings and enjoys combining his hook with Gu Lianyin's Da Qiao teleportation circle to disrupt opponents 58.
• She considers Su Yan's proposed approach of humbling herself and gradually befriending her former classmates worse than transferring schools 73 75.
• She is astonished by the effects of Su Yan Cosmetics' face masks and asks Gu Lianyin to help her obtain some 95.