Ling Chao's early history is identical to her deceased Prime counterpart's. Born in Qingdao to two devoted business worker, she later moved to New York, where she was raised to be charming but cutthroat, shrewd woman with a mind for business and accounting. After attending business school and spending several years working in China, the death of her father brought her back to the US. Discovering her superhuman ability only made that much ruthless - at least until 2006 came, the Bomb robbing her of her job, place in life, and her mother.
She had just been accepted for a working position at regrettable and irreputable establishment known as Rapture when the Outbreak started in 2008. One of the supposedly fortunate survivors, she eventually wound up in the Hub with numerous others, including Kain Zarek. Despite her increasing nihilistic view of the world around her, she struck up something resembling a friendship with Zarek and became one of the Hub's scavengers and one of "K-Mart's" enforcers, keeping his goods safe from internal scavenging.
All of that changed in 2011 when Magnes Varlane and Elisabeth Harrison arrived from the Prime timeline. Eventually joining them on a timeline spanning adventure, Ling left her ruined world behind her, but not before losing most of the few people she considered friends. While where they found themselves, a supposed Evolved utopia, was better than the dying the world they came from, Ling - now going by the name Song Xiaoran - was forced to keep a low profile, working as an accountant at small local business. She used this to help fund her, Kain, and Kaylee's lives in this world, discreetly funneling money from her employer until they could complete a heist that would make them rich. And that heist happened - but the consequences were immense, with Kain being apprehended and thrown into Rikers for the act. Soon after, her embezzling was discovered, and once she fled she linked up with Kaylee and the two of them planned a heist of their own, with the goal of rescuing Kain from his imprisonment.
Again, successful - but not without consequences, forcing the three of them to live on the run until they received word that the time to jump worlds had come once again. Ling joined them in this trip, but was incensed to discover that the literal opposite of where they had come from awaited on the other side. Feeling a resurgence of her once nihilistic beliefs, Ling turned to taking her frustrations out on Marauders and DoEA patrols that she would find with others out in the Wasteland. When the time to leave came once more, she jumped at it without a second thought - this time without one of her treasured friends, and another joining at the last minute.
Arriving in the Flood Timeline left Ling with more time to reflect, turning her more introspective than she had been previously in her life. Unfortunately, there was little time to dwell once they arrived in the arcology, a trip which culminated in Ling and several others finally making the leap to Magnes' hometime line - but not without one last, stunning view of another life.
Even this didn't go as planned, and Ling found herself alone in New York upon arrival, with no knowledge of what had become of her friends. Her first few days were spent at or around the Deveaux Building, mostly in her smoke form so as to avoid problems of hunger or detection - while she plotted her next move. Not knowing the reputation of her counterpart in this world, she decided to take up a new name and persona, until she could glean more information about herself in this world.
It was a week later that Sun Xiaolu arrived in the Safe Zone, using her ability to get the lay of the land, stay fed and alive, acquire money and clothes, and try to establish as much of a living for herself as she can. So far? It's not going fantastically. Without documentation, registration, or a license, things have proved difficult.
But if there appears to be anything she does well, it's persevere. Maybe despite herself.