● At the donation ceremony at Guangxi University, she donated 600,000 yuan for scholarship establishment and library renovation.

This post-2000s girl from a small town in Guangxi, with an ordinary background and no connections, donated 600,000 yuan just one year after graduation, which is truly remarkable. She is Yanghua Ju (Oxidized Chrysanthemum). "Our life is not a track, but a wilderness." This is what Yanghua Ju said to her juniors during the donation ceremony, expressing her belief in seizing opportunities to become a better version of oneself.

This post-2000s girl has always been striving to blossom in the wilderness of her life.

A Girl Aspiring to Reach Greater Heights

Born in 2000, Yanghua Ju comes from an ordinary family in Quanzhou County, Guilin, Guangxi. While studying Public Administration at Guangxi University, the lively and active Yanghua Ju joined extracurricular clubs like the street dance team and modeling group. The basic skills she learned in these clubs laid the foundation for her future career as a professional model.

In her sophomore year of college, while ensuring her academic responsibilities were met, she began taking modeling gigs outside of school. During her work, Yanghua Ju met some teachers from hairdressing academies. These teachers needed models for styling, and she started working as a model agent, helping them find models and earning some pocket money. This job helped her achieve financial independence, no longer needing to ask her parents for money.

It was also during this time that she became dissatisfied with her current situation and wanted to be noticed and seen as a better version of herself. Thus, Yanghua Ju participated in various modeling competitions, winning many awards big and small. The honors she received from these competitions were a testament to her continuously improving abilities. At the end of 2019, representing Guangxi, Yanghua Ju participated in the 69th Miss World contest and became a winner in the China finals.

As long as the direction is right, all efforts are worthwhile; when opportunities arise, all sacrifices will be rewarded. However, these achievements were not the end for Yanghua Ju, but rather the beginning. "Having ambition is never a derogatory term; it takes me to higher places." Life is full of challenges, but no matter the circumstances, she always plans her life well.

In 2020, as the pandemic swept across the globe, Yanghua Ju spent most of the year taking online classes at home, and her modeling-related work was also forced to a halt. With a lot of free time, she began to think about doing things she enjoyed.

Thinking back to her days as a model, she learned many makeup techniques from makeup artists and had a particular interest in this area. With a strong desire to share, Oxidized Chrysanthemum wanted to use social media to share her beauty knowledge with those who wanted to become more beautiful, bringing them along on a journey of beauty.

Thus, she registered accounts on several popular platforms and became a beauty blogger. Through hard work, in two years, Oxidized Chrysanthemum's accounts attracted over a million followers across the internet. However, a girl who aims to reach greater heights never stands still.

A treasure trove blogger who looks good even in a sack

In September 2022, Oxidized Chrysanthemum launched a short video series titled "Everything Can Be Worn." The first video featured her walking the runway in a sack, starting with a dialogue, "You all say I look good even in a sack!"

We see Oxidized Chrysanthemum, with a bare face, smiling as she picks up a red tote bag. She swiftly cuts and tailors it, sticks it with tape, wraps it around herself, and the camera turns to reveal a modern lady in a red shiny strapless short dress, walking elegantly towards us.

This video went viral, with fans frantically sharing and liking it, garnering 250,000 likes. In the comments, someone exclaimed, "So beautiful! This isn't a sack, it's haute couture." "Chrysanthemum makes a sack look like something I can't afford!"

While some praised her, others challenged her, "I don't believe it unless you wear a sack with urea!" Oxidized Chrysanthemum boldly responded: "Filmed it, wait for it!"

A few days later, her video walking the fields in a yellow urea bag was released, shocking fans again: "Indeed, she looks good even in a sack!" This video received over 440,000 likes.

She confidently commented, "What should I shoot next?"

Suggestions poured in for her to wear sheets, curtains, fishing nets, bamboo mats, trash bags, cardboard boxes, mops, CDs, yoga mats, toilet anti-slip mats, bubble wrap, banana leaves...

Sheets, curtains, and fishing nets are still fabrics, but the other bizarre items posed a real challenge. To pull off these "rags" was not only a test of Oxidized Chrysanthemum's figure and looks but also her design, aesthetic, and hands-on skills.

These "rags," after her design, cutting, and sewing, then worn and filmed, conveyed through the screen a sense of comfortable fashion and sophistication. She successfully tackled every "impossible" challenge others thought of.

Every time a video from the "Everything is Wearable" series is released, it triggers a frenzy of likes and shares. Especially notable is the video where she wears her grandmother's floral bedsheet in the fields, which received over 2 million likes.

This turned the fate of Oxidized Chrysanthemum around, with her fan base skyrocketing. In just a few months, she became a blogger with tens of millions of followers, and her videos amassed billions of views across the internet.

However, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Behind every success and glamour, Oxidized Chrysanthemum has put in a lot of hard work.

Producing a 2 to 3-minute video takes her 8 to 10 hours of shooting and another 5 hours of editing.

Turning an item or scrap into a piece of clothing with a high-fashion sense often requires her to rack her brains, repeatedly sewing, trying on, and improving until she is satisfied.

For the audience, a short video is a feast of beauty, but for Oxidized Chrysanthemum, it's often a painful ordeal.

 ● Oxidized Chrysanthemum's Dress Made from Curtains

To achieve a beautiful effect in her videos, she has braved extreme conditions: enduring 72°C heat at Flaming Mountain for the perfect location; wearing mop cloth and barefoot in freezing temperatures, posing repeatedly even when shivering; kneeling on pebbles until her knees are bruised and purple.

Despite her fear of heights, she climbs rooftops to find the best shooting angles.

● She Makes Quilts Look Like Haute Couture

After the video goes online and starts earning money, Oxidized Chrysanthemum still has to liaise with businesses, working 14 hours a day, often until 3 or 4 in the morning, sometimes eating by the roadside or sleeping in the live broadcast room.

Fate favors the hardworking, and in March 2023, Oxidized Chrysanthemum received an invitation from L'Oréal Paris to walk the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Small-Town Girl on the Cannes Red Carpet

At the annual Cannes Film Festival, a gathering of stars and celebrities, 23-year-old Oxidized Chrysanthemum was thrilled and surprised to be invited, screaming with excitement.

This was her first time walking the red carpet at one of the world's most prestigious stages, and her first time among so many stars. She took this trip very seriously, starting visa procedures early and preparing jewelry and dresses, determined to shine on the Cannes red carpet.

But life is unpredictable. 72 hours before the Cannes Film Festival, Oxidized Chrysanthemum's wisdom tooth became inflamed, causing her face to swell significantly and keeping her awake all night in pain, compounded by menstrual cramps.

Despite taking many medications, her face showed no signs of reducing swelling, leaving her in tears. Friends advised her to give up, but she refused to back down.

"As long as the universe is undecided, we are all dark horses!" Giving up without trying is not in her nature. Even with the swelling, she seized this hard-earned opportunity, doing her best to be in top condition.

Oxidized Chrysanthemum tried everything to reduce the swelling, from medication to ice packs, and even looked for veils and props to hide her swollen face. On the day of the Cannes Film Festival, her swelling had reduced significantly, almost imperceptible, though her tooth still hurt.

Regardless, she reminded herself to walk the red carpet in the most perfect state, leaving no regrets. She walked with poise and perfection. Even a one-second spotlight from the official cameras was enough to satisfy her.

● Oxidized Chrysanthemum Makes an Appearance on the Cannes Red Carpet

What Oxidized Chrysanthemum did not expect was that the officials actually gave her nearly 10 seconds of screen time, and she even appeared on French news. This girl from a small town finally let the whole world see her, and also secured more opportunities to showcase herself.

Able to hold her own at Cannes, and withstand pressure

No matter how dazzling the halo on stage, once off stage, it's an ordinary world. Among the multitude, we all have to live among the crowd. With fame, inevitably comes skepticism, but Oxidized Chrysanthemum lives confidently and openly, never disturbed by these voices.

● Oxidized Chrysanthemum Transforms a Yoga Mat into a Gown

Some say she dresses revealingly, to which she boldly responds in a video: "I was born naked, it's your thoughts that are improper!"

When buying clothes and jewelry, as long as they look good and fit well, she doesn't mind whether they are branded or not. Can you imagine that the hairpin Oxidized Chrysanthemum wore on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet cost only 9.9 yuan, and the gown she wore to a brand event was only 300 yuan?

Yet, this simple attire did not diminish her beauty. Among a gathering of stars, she still shone brilliantly.

● Oxidized Chrysanthemum Wearing a 300 Yuan Gown

A netizen commented: "A 300 yuan dress worn by her feels like it's worth 3 million." Turning cheap into luxurious, making inexpensive, even discarded items look like high-end fashion, all stems from Oxidized Chrysanthemum's generosity and confidence.

Whether she's the ordinary Oxidized Chrysanthemum or the model on the international stage, she presents herself calmly and confidently.

 ● With Oxidized Chrysanthemum, Even a Mop Can Turn Decay into Magic

She's not afraid to expose her flaws, and also fully showcases her strengths. With pride, she still maintains an innocent heart, striving, down-to-earth, and grounded; with capability, she also remembers to give back to society, establishing the "Oxidized Chrysanthemum Scholarship", and is respectfully called "Good Senior Sister of Xi University" by her juniors. Thus, in the midst of many affirmations, those doubts also fade away.