The Villainous Film Empress (2)
A little rich girl dedicated to saving the world X A paranoid, dark, and vengeful film empress
To prevent any further accidents, Song Xuyi locked her door the moment she returned to the Song family’s grand residence and began to receive the body’s memories.
Perhaps because the original owner was the only girl of her generation in the Song family, she was thoroughly doted on. Unlike her two older brothers, who were constantly reminded about inheriting the family business, her parents’ expectations for her were much more relaxed. They had named her Song Xuyi, with the meaning of “permitting all wishes,” hoping she would grow up happy and carefree.
Raised with such indulgent nurturing and the flattery of those around her, the original owner’s personality inevitably became warped—what was now just a bit of willfulness would later develop into reckless abandon. Because of her crazy infatuation with the villain Zhao Qingyu, upon learning that Song Jun liked Zhao Qingyu, the original owner decided to make Zhao Qingyu marry into the Song family and become her sister-in-law in name. She began to find fault with the female lead Sun Wan at every turn, becoming the direct driving force behind Sun Wan’s eventual heartbreak and decision to run away while pregnant…
Fortunately, things hadn’t reached that stage yet…
After receiving the body’s memories, Song Xuyi sighed with complicated feelings.
She picked up some makeup remover and first took off the disastrous makeup, which was as messy as a ghost’s scribbles,1 revealing the original owner’s lovely and cute features. Next, she pulled out a textbook. Seeing the colorful little portraits of Zhao Qingyu of all kinds inside, and recalling the original owner’s frenzied stanning of Zhao Qingyu, Song Xuyi felt a headache coming on. After a moment’s hesitation, she just randomly found a box and stuffed the portraits inside…
“Aren’t you afraid of deviating from your character settings?” the System popped up again.
Song Xuyi recalled a certain segment from the original owner’s memories. Her eyelashes trembled as she shook her head. “They won’t suspect a thing.”
Ever since becoming obsessed with Zhao Qingyu, who had participated in a talent competition three months ago, the original owner had already done all sorts of unimaginable things:
For instance, using her father’s name to make all Song Group employees vote for Zhao Qingyu, secretly flying the family helicopter to the competition venue to support Zhao Qingyu, emptying her allowance to hire a water army2 for Zhao Qingyu, and even forcing her own family’s company to develop cheating glasses because of a casual word of encouragement from Zhao Qingyu: “Xuyi should study hard and get into a good university.”
The original owner’s various crazy acts eventually became so extreme that even her doting parents couldn’t stand it anymore. For the first time in their lives, they restricted her allowance and assigned a driver and bodyguards to watch her closely.
Therefore, given the Song family’s bottomless indulgence of Song Xuyi, she didn’t think her current actions would make them notice anything amiss.
And subsequent events proved her guess right.
Before long, the old housekeeper came to knock on her door and ask her to come down for dinner. When he saw Song Xuyi with her messy makeup removed, he showed no suspicion, just as she had expected. Instead, he looked at her with admiration in his eyes. “Miss, you look as beautiful as Madam was when she was young…”
“Really?” Song Xuyi blinked and curved her lips into a smile. “I also hope I’ll be as pretty as Mom is now in thirty years.”
The old housekeeper’s smile froze for a moment. He quickly put it back on, but he lowered his head and said no more, silently leading Song Xuyi downstairs.
The Song Group was working on a major project with a foreign partner recently, so Father Song and Mother Song had gone abroad. Her two older brothers were also busy with their own careers. For this meal, Song Xuyi was eating alone.
Song Xuyi was in no mood to enjoy the fine food. She quickly finished her meal and returned to her room.
Her memories of her own past were a complete blank. All she could rely on was a system and a plot summary. After clarifying her situation, Song Xuyi quickly laid out her future plans: do everything possible to prevent contact between the male lead Song Jun and the villain Zhao Qingyu, while also figuring out the reason for Zhao Qingyu’s hostility toward Song Jun and finding a way to resolve her hatred.
After all, in the plot, Zhao Qingyu didn’t even like Song Jun and had repeatedly rejected his advances. It was impossible that she schemed against Song Jun’s company out of love-turned-hate later on; there had to be another reason.
After discussing the plan with the System, Song Xuyi blocked it and got into bed, ready to sleep.
She had thought she would toss and turn, unable to fall asleep. But to her surprise, she quickly fell into a dream.
The dream was a chaotic jumble. Song Xuyi dreamed of her eighteen-year-old self.
At eighteen, she only had her grandmother. Even though her grandmother had Alzheimer’s and a severe heart condition and could no longer recognize the granddaughter right in front of her, she still remembered that her granddaughter’s favorite food was the sweet and sour spare ribs she made by hand.
In the dream, Song Xuyi couldn’t afford her grandmother’s high medical bills. She tried to borrow money from all her relatives and was met with closed doors everywhere.3 Fortunately, heaven never seals off all paths.4 Song Xuyi was scouted by a talent agency. While undergoing the various training and performances arranged by the agency, she struggled to continue her studies…
The high-intensity work and training, her grandmother’s worsening condition—running between the hospital, the agency, and school, Song Xuyi’s grades kept dropping, from the top five in her class to the top ten, then to the top twenty…
Even in a dream, Song Xuyi could feel the sorrow and suffocation she had felt at that time.
At the very end of the dream, the scene suddenly changed, and a crying face appeared—it was the original owner, wearing unsuitable heavy makeup, but her expression was not as arrogant and domineering as described in the plot. She was sobbing, looking at Song Xuyi with sad eyes. “You can understand me, right? You have to help me…”
Song Xuyi sighed and gave a gentle nod.
Ding-ling-ling!
The alarm clock rang abruptly. Everything from the dream was still vivid in her mind. Song Xuyi opened her eyes, the corners still wet with tears. Blinding sunlight shone through the gauze curtains. In that instant, something that had been coiled in her heart dissipated, melting into the dancing sunbeams.
—The original owner’s consciousness, in that instant, completely left this body.
A knock came from outside the door. It was the old housekeeper. “Miss, it’s time to get up.”
Song Xuyi wiped her tears, stood before the mirror, glanced at the small red birthmark on her wrist, then looked away, put on her school uniform, and went downstairs.
“Grandpa Chen,” Song Xuyi said after quietly finishing her breakfast, having made up her mind. She pursed her lips, looked up at the old housekeeper standing to the side, and spoke softly, “Could you please help me hire some tutors as soon as possible?”
“I want to study hard. In the future… I want to be a doctor.”
This was not only the dream of the eighteen-year-old Song Xuyi, but also a wish the original owner had hidden in her heart, one she no longer dared to remember.
The old housekeeper was stunned for a moment.
Then, he smiled as indulgently as ever. “Of course, you can. I will report this to the Old Master and Madam right away.”
“When she was little, Miss always used to clamor about wanting to be a doctor. It’s been a long time since she’s said that!”
…
After that, Song Xuyi began a period of intense review.
She had transmigrated right at the time of the second mock exam, with three months left until the Gaokao.5 The knowledge system of this world was similar to her own, and even a bit simpler. Song Xuyi knew the original owner had a poor foundation, so she studied almost day and night. Her rapid progress made her tutors click their tongues in amazement, but her family was even more shocked. They had originally thought this was just another one of her fads, a three-minute passion,6 but they never expected her to be serious this time, to the point of turning over a completely new leaf.
At the same time, Father Song and Mother Song’s major overseas project was finalized. Song Xuyi opportunely recommended Song Jun to be the project’s overseas executor.
Song Jun was a member of the Song family in name, but he actually had no blood ties to them. Song Jun’s great-grandfather was an orphan who had happened to save the Song family head at the time, so he was adopted by the family and given the surname Song. After so many generations, Song Jun’s family had grown more and more distant from the main family. Later in the plot, Song Jun would even break away from the Song family in anger because he was dissatisfied with the original owner interfering in his and Sun Wan’s marriage.
The Song Jun in the plot summary was extremely capable, so he was naturally qualified for the job. Besides, there was better medical care abroad, which would be more convenient for him to get his grandmother treated.
And the female lead, Sun Wan, happened to be studying abroad in the very country Song Jun was heading to. Given Sun Wan’s feelings for Song Jun, there was no doubt that something would develop between them…
Although they were somewhat puzzled by Song Xuyi’s sudden recommendation of Song Jun, after investigating his resume and learning of his capabilities, the Song family went along with her suggestion and gave him the project.
This trip abroad would keep Song Jun out of the country for at least two years, so he naturally wouldn’t have any more contact with the villain Zhao Qingyu, whose fame was rapidly rising in the entertainment industry.
Things went just as Song Xuyi had predicted. Although Song Jun didn’t know why this highly coveted project had landed in his lap, he accepted it and took his grandmother abroad.
Hearing the news of Song Jun’s departure, Song Xuyi breathed a sigh of relief. After that, she threw herself into her studies day and night. As for the villain Zhao Qingyu, being the most dazzling contestant in the competition, she had defeated her rivals with an overwhelming number of votes and successfully secured the lead role in a movie. She was now on a closed film set.
In any case, Zhao Qingyu couldn’t get to Song Jun now. Besides, every time Song Xuyi recalled her own behavior in front of Zhao Qingyu that day, she felt a chill in her heart. Although she was still voting and campaigning for Zhao Qingyu during this period, Song Xuyi herself never appeared before her again…
This intense state of study continued until the end of the Gaokao.
This time, Song Xuyi was no longer desperate as she had been in her dream. She achieved an unexpectedly high score on the Gaokao, meeting the cutoff for a famous local medical school.
Father Song and Mother Song’s hearts ached for their daughter’s hard work. Seeing her excellent results, they ignored her protests and insisted on holding a grand school entrance banquet, wishing the whole world could know that the Song family’s good-for-nothing little daughter had turned over a new leaf and achieved great results.
Song Xuyi was held upstairs by her mother for half a day to get her look done.
Looking at the fair-skinned, slender-waisted little lady with bright eyes and pearly teeth in the mirror, Mother Song, known as the Iron Lady of the business world,7 found herself unconsciously wiping away tears after her initial amazement. “My Xuyi has become a young lady all of a sudden. Mom really wishes you would never grow up…”
Song Xuyi pursed her lips, not knowing how to comfort her mother. Fortunately, the old housekeeper knocked on the door just then. “Madam, Miss, the guests have all arrived!”
Song Xuyi breathed a sigh of relief, helped her mother dry her tears, and the two went downstairs together.
In the main hall, goblets and wine glasses crisscrossed8 in a lively scene. Song Xuyi put on a smile and dealt with the guests’ congratulations, whether sincere or fake. Feeling extremely uncomfortable in such a setting, she was just about to find an excuse to slip away after a round of toasts when Father Song suddenly walked over mysteriously and pulled her to the entrance.
“Xuyi, Dad has a surprise for you…”
Song Xuyi’s heart leaped, and a sense of foreboding washed over her. She subconsciously looked toward the courtyard—parked behind a row of luxury cars was an inconspicuous nanny van.9
As if to confirm her suspicions, the long-silent System piped up at that moment, its tone filled with amazement. “Your father is truly a strange man to think this is a surprise…”
In the hazy glow of the streetlights, the van door slid open, and a slender figure emerged. The person got out of the van and looked over. With skin whiter than snow, black hair, and red lips, she gave Song Xuyi a small smile. In that fleeting moment of beauty, she seemed to outshine even the bright moon behind her…
“Long time no see, Xuyi.”
The author has something to say:
Papa Song ^^: Surprised? Unexpected?
Song Xuyi: ……T_T
LP: Re-translated on November 29, 2023
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