I think I actually find her situation more awful and less hopeful than mirror girl's

Yes, and now it's clear that her earlier feeling of being unlovable was all about her, and not about not being pretty enough or whatever. :-( Maybe fate will make her cross paths with Dr Cheng, and that will help?

Did you ever publish it, by any chance? I just tried my best to hunt it down on AO3, but couldn't find anything.

Oh, sorry -- probably impossible to find via tags. It's a subplot in Once Upon a Time in Dixing, my Dixing caper fic.