Villainous Stand-in (4)
Song Xuyi did not take Li Yuqing’s polite remark about designing clothes for her to heart.
Others might not know and think that Li Yuqing was just a leisurely, beautiful vase cultivated by the Song family, but Song Xuyi was very clear about the ferocious heart beneath Li Yuqing’s vase-like exterior: How could a vase bring down the entire Song family in the future?
At this moment, the wind started to blow outside, with a few raindrops mixed in, and the distant rumble of thunder seemed to suggest that a heavy rain was about to fall.
The organizers hurriedly rushed to find umbrellas.
After Father Song’s car arrived, Song Xuyi got into the car without exchanging pleasantries with Li Yuqing. After the car started, Song Xuyi couldn’t help but look back: the rain was getting heavier, and Li Yuqing was slightly tilting her head upwards, looking at the distant lightning as if in a trance. The streetlight illuminated her perfectly contoured side profile and slender neck, making her look like a perfect painting.
“Since ancient times, beauties have always had unfortunate fates…”
Song Xuyi sighed and couldn’t help but lament to the system.
The system’s reaction, however, seemed as if something had suddenly stepped on its tail, responding cautiously: “You feel sorry for her? Xuyi, don’t forget that she is the main villain!”
At this moment, Song Xuyi realized that the system had an inexplicable animosity towards Li Yuqing, but considering the system’s standpoint, Song Xuyi could understand its feelings.
Secretly deciding to talk less about Li Yuqing with the system in the future, Song Xuyi changed the subject and started discussing her own manga with the system…
The rain stopped shortly after it began.
Song Xuyi returned home and drew her manga for a while, but after a night of socializing, she was utterly exhausted and soon fell asleep.
Song Xuyi didn’t expect to dream of Li Yuqing again.
This time, Li Yuqing appeared older, about six or seven years old. When Song Xuyi arrived, it was also a thunderstorm night. The house was brightly lit, and the little girl was curled up alone under the blanket, trembling with her eyes tightly shut.
Song Xuyi thought it was a dream and was determined to wake up from it. However, for some reason, she just couldn’t wake up. Instead, the little girl under the blanket let out a sharp scream…
Song Xuyi sighed. Even though the real-life Li Yuqing was a powerful and independent main villain, Song Xuyi couldn’t bear to see the pitiful little girl so panicked. She couldn’t help but move to the girl’s bedside—
“Do you remember me?” Song Xuyi tried to soften her tone and spoke gently.
The little girl’s grip on the blanket tightened, and her long eyelashes fluttered slightly. She slowly opened her eyes and sneaked a glance at Song Xuyi.
“It’s you!” The little girl seemed to remember Song Xuyi. She extended a hand from under the blanket and gently tugged at the hem of Song Xuyi’s clothes. “Why are you here again?”
The little girl’s eyes were glistening with tears, and her voice carried a soft nasal tone, making her sound both tender and endearing. Song Xuyi’s heart immediately melted into a puddle.
“Because I knew you were scared, the heavens sent me to you again!” Song Xuyi skillfully started to placate the little girl.
The little girl didn’t seem to doubt Song Xuyi’s words at all and shyly rubbed her eyes. “A stormy night like this is too scary. The maid went home, my sister is at school, my parents are at the company, and I don’t dare to wake up grandpa. I can’t sleep alone…”
Song Xuyi softly hummed in acknowledgment and couldn’t help but stroke the little girl’s silky-soft hair. “Then I’ll stay here with you.”
The little girl nodded and closed her eyes.
Outside, the lightning and thunder continued. Whenever a loud thunderclap sounded, the little girl would open her eyes just a crack and sneak a peek at Song Xuyi—
Song Xuyi initially pretended not to notice, but eventually, she felt a bit playful. When the young girl stole another glance at her, she turned her head and met the girl’s gaze.
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——Big eyes staring at small eyes.
The young girl was far from the composed demeanor she would have when she grew up. Her face turned red instantly, and she shyly pulled up the quilt to cover her chin, closing her eyes.
Time passed little by little.
The young girl’s breathing gradually became steady.
Song Xuyi breathed a sigh of relief. She originally thought that the dream would end once the young girl fell asleep. However, perhaps due to the bad weather causing a circuit breaker trip, the light flickered a few times and then suddenly went out. A lightning bolt as thick as an arm lit up outside the window—
Song Xuyi frowned and was about to check the circuit breaker. Before she could get up, a warm body burrowed into her arms.
The young girl hugged Song Xuyi’s waist tightly, trembling: “Sister, please don’t go, I’m scared!”
Song Xuyi sighed and had to sit by the bed to comfort the frightened young girl. However, no matter how much Song Xuyi explained, the young girl wouldn’t let her go check the circuit. Song Xuyi didn’t expect the young girl to be so clingy. She had no choice but to follow the young girl’s request, close the curtains tightly, and lie on the bed with her, telling her stories.
“You don’t really need to be afraid of thunder and lightning,” Song Xuyi said, listening to the sound of rain outside and watching the occasional flash of lightning through the window. Suddenly, a memory surfaced in her mind. It was a memory belonging to Song Xuyi herself, also on a stormy night. Her grandmother, who had not yet been afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, gently patted her head and comforted her softly—
“Xuyi, don’t be afraid of stormy nights. The lightning and thunder are actually your parents in heaven thinking of you. They want to come to the mortal world to see you, but it’s too dark, so they can’t see you clearly. That’s why they use lightning to create light to see you and use thunder to tell you: ‘They are doing well, and you should take good care of yourself too’…”
“I see.”
When Song Xuyi realized it, she had unconsciously shared these words with the young girl. The young girl’s soft voice echoed in Song Xuyi’s ear, and her warm hands held Song Xuyi’s face: “Sister, don’t cry. I don’t have relatives in heaven, so this rain must be your relatives missing you. Sister, you are a fairy, and the relatives of fairies are good people. I won’t be afraid…”
Was she crying?
Realizing that the young girl had noticed her tears, Song Xuyi felt a bit embarrassed. Listening to the young girl, she remembered the tragic events that befell Li Yuqing—her parents and sister died in a car accident, followed shortly by her grandfather’s passing. With a sigh in her heart, she couldn’t help but hold Li Yuqing tighter.
……
When Song Xuyi opened her eyes again, it started raining outside once more.
The temperature seemed to have dropped a bit. The rain hit the glass with a ‘pat-pat’ sound, making the room a little cold. Song Xuyi got up to close the window, recalling the scenes in her dream, and couldn’t help but look in the direction of the old house: What could Li Yuqing be going through on such a stormy night?
Almost at the same time Song Xuyi opened her eyes, Li Yuqing in the old house also opened her eyes.
The sound of things being thrown ‘bang bang’ came from downstairs. Li Yuqing frowned slightly, habitually took out some medicine from the drawer, and went downstairs.
Usually graceful and elegant, Song Shi now resembled a raging beast, holding a shattered vase in his hand. His eyes were bloodshot as he angrily glared at the servants looking at him, shouting hysterically—
“You are all murderers! Terrible executioners…”
The servants exchanged terrified glances, and no one dared to step forward except for a young caregiver girl. However, she couldn’t restrain the crazed Song Shi and could only cling to his arm, her face streaming with tears—
When they saw Li Yuqing coming downstairs, the servants, as if seeing a lifeline, hurried to meet her: “Miss Li, sir, he…”
Li Yuqing nodded to indicate she was aware and took two steps forward with the medicine in hand.
In a fit of rage, Song Shi threw the vase at her!
The vase grazed Li Yuqing’s arm, leaving a noticeable bloodstain.
Li Yuqing, however, did not stop walking. She slowly approached Song Shi and spoke softly, “Brother Song Shi, it’s me, Yuyun. I have never blamed you.”
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“Yuyun?” Upon hearing this name, Song Shi’s body shuddered violently. A glimmer of awareness returned to his previously vacant eyes, and his tense body gradually relaxed—
“I’m sorry!”
As if recognizing Li Yuqing, Song Shi choked out these words, covering his face with his hand.
Li Yuqing handed the medicine to the girl beside Song Shi. The servants skillfully stepped forward to bandage Li Yuqing’s arm wound. The girl hurriedly fed the medicine to Song Shi, whose ferocious expression gradually softened, and his heavy breathing began to stabilize—
Seeing this, the servants breathed a sigh of relief and hastily cleaned up the debris on the ground. Li Yuqing stood silently behind Song Shi, watching the young caregiver girl gently wipe Song Shi’s face. Despite her efforts to conceal it, the girl’s gaze towards Song Shi was filled with unmistakable affection…
“Yuqing, you should move out!”
After a long while, Song Shi, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them and spoke softly.
He did not look at Li Yuqing. Instead, he glanced at the caregiver girl beside him, then turned his head to gaze at the lightning and thunder outside the window, as if he had finally made up his mind, “Such a stormy night is my trauma, and it is also your trauma. We should both try to let go of the past and strive to live on…”
Song Shi stood up, seemingly afraid that he might regret his decision, and immediately made a phone call to arrange the house…
Li Yuqing watched Song Shi’s back, a fleeting hint of mockery flashed in her eyes, but she said nothing.
She recalled what she had said to Song Shi during the banquet—
“Brother Song Shi, weren’t you curious about the cute friend I’ve been telling you about? She is your cousin Xuyi—”
“I want to visit Xuyi’s neighborhood next time. I heard that she lives in the former faculty dormitory, and the environment is particularly good, and the people in the neighborhood are also very kind…”
Listening to the content of Song Shi’s phone call, Li Yuqing’s lips curled up silently: as expected, Song Shi gave her a satisfactory arrangement.
Song Xuyi slept dreamlessly for the rest of the night.
At her home.
Song Xuyi also didn’t expect that she and Li Yuqing would take the same elective course. Li Yuqing, who rarely appeared at school, immediately attracted a lot of attention when she showed up. Li Yuqing seemed extremely happy to see Song Xuyi, shedding her previously cold demeanor, and sat next to Song Xuyi, borrowing her notes.
Song Xuyi was always serious in class, and even though a great beauty was sitting next to her, it didn’t affect her. Instead, it was the system continuously chattering in her mind: “Xuyi! She’s secretly looking at you!” “Xuyi, she’s smiling at you again, with a bewitching smile, she definitely has bad intentions…”
Song Xuyi, tired of the system’s incessant chatter, simply blocked it out.
It wasn’t until after class that Song Xuyi had time to turn and look at Li Yuqing. Facing the ‘bewitching’ smile that the system mentioned, Song Xuyi couldn’t help but blush.
“Xuyi,” seeing Song Xuyi’s reaction, the smile on Li Yuqing’s lips deepened. She returned Song Xuyi’s notes and said with a smile, “I’ve skipped many classes, and I haven’t finished copying the notes yet. If I get the chance, I’d like to borrow your notes again.”
Song Xuyi originally wanted to just lend her the notes, but remembering Li Yuqing’s role as a villain, she nodded instead, thinking that the ‘chance’ Li Yuqing mentioned would probably come in ten days or half a month.
However, Song Xuyi didn’t expect this chance to come so soon.
Song Xuyi lived in a two-unit-per-floor layout. When she moved in, she heard that the family in the opposite unit had gone abroad and that the house had been vacant for a long time. Therefore, Song Xuyi’s family was the only one living on this floor.
However, when she returned, Song Xuyi saw a moving company going in and out of the neighboring unit.
Did the neighbors rent out their house?
Song Xuyi glanced over but didn’t pay much attention. Although the noise from the moving was somewhat loud, as soon as she put on her headphones, she immersed herself in her own world.
Time passed bit by bit, and by the time Song Xuyi woke up from her creative work, it was already dark outside.
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Song Xuyi casually made a packet of instant noodles, planning to continue drawing after eating. But as she was preparing the noodles, the sound of cooking came clearly from next door, and the aroma of the food wafted over, making Song Xuyi’s stomach growl. Suddenly, the instant noodles in her hand didn’t seem so appetizing anymore…
Song Xuyi took a few bites of the noodles with little appetite and couldn’t resist opening the food delivery app to order some crayfish. Not long after, there was a knock on the door—
Did the delivery arrive so quickly?
Song Xuyi opened the door and immediately widened her eyes—
The door across the hall was open, revealing a dining table in the center, filled with dishes. Li Yuqing, dressed in casual home clothes, stood in front of her own apartment, smiling gently and kindly: “Xuyi, would you mind joining me for a simple meal?”
The author has something to say:
Xuyi (shivering): What if I say I mind having a simple meal with you?
Li Yuqing (kindly and gently): If you mind having a simple meal with me, you wouldn’t mind having simple meals with me for a lifetime, right? (^â–½^)
(Damn, writing this chapter in the middle of the night makes me crave crayfish too!)
LP: Re-translated on June 29, 2024