Reversed Aging

Shen Yuanqing found a child by the river.

The baby looked only a few months old. Wrapped in a quilt, the child had been abandoned beneath a streetlight by the river.

The child lay there quietly. Despite being abandoned, they neither cried nor fussed. Shen Yuanqing was inexplicably overcome with maternal feelings and even considered adopting the baby for a second. But only for a second.

Because the child was so ugly.

Though only a few months old, the baby had a face full of wrinkles. Shen Yuanqing could even make out complicated expressions on it. She couldn't tell whether something was wrong with the baby or with her own head.

So Shen Yuanqing called the police.

The police officer looked at the baby's wrinkled face, then at Shen Yuanqing, and hesitated. "Miss Shen, are you sure this isn't your child?"

"What?" Shen Yuanqing exploded. "What are you implying? Do I look that ugly?"

"Of course not!" The officer stammered. "We police officers judge by the similarity of facial features and bone structure."

Shen Yuanqing looked at the officer, who seemed about her age. "Shouldn't you be using technology?"

To clear her name, Shen Yuanqing and the child took a paternity test. The results showed that their genes matched perfectly.

Shen Yuanqing had inexplicably gained a daughter.

"Impossible. Your testing center must have made a mistake. I'm a respectable unmarried woman. How could a child just appear out of nowhere?!"

"Miss Shen, we've run the test three times, and the results show that your genes are highly similar. As a courtesy, we should warn you that if you abandon the child, you may be charged..."

Faced with the choice between being charged with a crime and being sent to a psychiatric hospital, Shen Yuanqing accepted this daughter who had fallen from the sky and named her Shen Lai.

But this seemingly well-behaved daughter was anything but easy to manage. Shen Lai not only wrecked her furniture and clothes without a care, but also called her father "old man," stopped her from going to bars, and even tried to set her up with Xia Fei.

The longer they lived together, the more Shen Yuanqing felt that this child really wasn't human. She was exactly like her.

A few notes:

1. A love cheat who flirts and runs, with a strong attack and weak defense, versus a passionate, steadfast, straightforward painter;

2. The plot is gentle and slow-paced. The male lead probably won't appear until Chapter Six;

3. Happy ending.

Theme: Growth is your own transformation.