Blame the Villain – Chapter 232

Villainous Singer (4)

Song Xuyi’s eyes widened.

In the original plot synopsis, a massive energy bomb fell from the sky, killing the male and female protagonists during their wedding ceremony at the residence of the Guardian Song Yi.

Though the plot synopsis didn’t reveal the culprit behind their deaths, Song Xuyi felt certain the system’s perception wasn’t wrong—Lin Ruyu must have been connected to the protagonists’ deaths.

Initially, Song Xuyi hadn’t thought much about it, but now knowing this fact, she couldn’t help but wonder—was Lin Ruyu’s approach to her really just because they were both from the Southwest District?

Now that she had calmed down and her fascination with Lin Ruyu’s beauty had faded, Song Xuyi felt that Lin Ruyu’s intentions weren’t pure.

If she had known about this earlier, Song Xuyi thought she would never have gotten involved with Lin Ruyu, no matter how beautiful she was… but it was too late now.

Song Xuyi didn’t suspect that the system had deliberately waited until now to tell her this. Although shocked after learning Lin Ruyu’s true identity, Song Xuyi processed this information and decided to avoid any further involvement with her after repaying the money for the translator.

After privately raising her guard against Lin Ruyu, Song Xuyi didn’t dwell on it further. She tucked the necklace into her collar and opened the light brain issued by Kelin Academy.

When students enrolled, Kelin Academy provided each with a free light brain to help them familiarize themselves with all matters on Bilin Star and submit daily assignments. As Kelin Academy was considered a lower-tier school on Bilin Star, they issued the cheapest and most basic model. Yet even such a light brain was an extremely rare piece of high technology for poor students like Song Xuyi from Ruoshui Star.

The writing system of Bilin Star differed from Ruoshui Star’s, and Song Xuyi believed that understanding a civilization must begin with learning its written language. Now in the phase of intensively absorbing Bilin Star’s knowledge, Song Xuyi felt time was pressing. She created an unprecedentedly strict study plan, setting daily vocabulary goals, and began staying up late to study Bilin Star’s writing system. Moreover, as Luo Xi had explained: one could only advance to other subjects after mastering Bilin Star’s writing and etiquette.

In Song Xuyi’s mind, regardless of the era, a healthy physique was extremely important.

Therefore, after spending the next few days familiarizing herself with Kelin Academy’s layout—and being stared at like a monster by Bilin Star residents for several days—Song Xuyi discovered a rarely used playground within the academy.

The playground was behind abandoned school buildings, backed by gloomy teaching blocks. Since Bilin Star people weren’t inclined toward physical activity, though robots kept the small playground spotlessly clean, few people ever went there.

Newcomers to Bilin Star typically needed time to adjust.

In the following days, Luo Xi took Song Xuyi on a complete tour of Kelin Academy, experiencing the vast technological gap between Bilin Star and Ruoshui Star.

While other newly arrived children appeared overwhelmed, their eyes darting between various machines in amazement, Song Xuyi—having experienced many worlds—was already worldly and couldn’t fake surprise. As the other children immersed themselves in Bilin Star’s high technology, Song Xuyi, after familiarizing herself with the technology’s uses, opened her light brain and focused on learning characters.

In this strange place, the quiet and gentle Song Xuyi, who caused no disturbances, ended up attracting more attention through her behavior.

Luo Xi couldn’t explain why, but despite Song Xuyi being the youngest of the group, seeing her quiet and composed demeanor made her unconsciously stop treating her like a child. One day, while escorting her back to her room, words spontaneously escaped her mouth—

“You’re doing well, and I truly hope you can keep this up.”

“But I know it must be incredibly difficult for you.” Luo Xi sighed softly as they reached her door, watching Song Xuyi still silently memorizing Bilin Star’s language with closed eyes. This young girl, who in some timelines should be a carefree middle school student, carried worries unsuited to her age: “You don’t know how sad I am! I feel like so many people have changed—they’re forgetting our mission here, trying to assimilate into Bilin Star society and become Bilin Star people…”

“The first batch of people came to Bilin Star five years ago, but they seem to have become Bilin Star people already. I can barely recognize them anymore.”

“Xuyi, although your background is better than ours, and your father can afford to support you, we still have countless enslaved people on Ruoshui Star. We can’t abandon them…”

Song Xuyi looked at Luo Xi’s sorrowful eyes and let out a soft sigh.

During this period, more or less, some people had already come to test Song Xuyi’s attitude.

Luo Xi’s perception wasn’t wrong—the Ruoshui Star people who were transported here were a mixed bunch. However, undeniably, the tall, slim, and beautiful Ruoshui Star children perfectly matched Bilin Star people’s aesthetics. Faced with Bilin Star’s deliberately displayed absolute wealth and technological advantages, not just children but even adults found it hard to resist—by now, quite a few older Ruoshui Star students had started romantic relationships with Bilin Star people.

Like Luo Xi, Song Xuyi knew she had no right to interfere with other Ruoshui Star people’s choices, but for a planet to rise, it needed some stubborn citizens: like Luo Xi, who wore thick glasses year-round, automatically maintaining a gulf between herself and Bilin Star people, being called an obstinate Ruoshui Star person by others.

Song Xuyi admired such people and was willing to become one herself.

“My father always taught me to remember my identity as a Ruoshui Star person, never to forget it no matter what.” Song Xuyi understood Luo Xi’s anxiety and spoke softly to comfort her, but she didn’t say much else: although she felt Song Yi wasn’t a bad person, in the original plot synopsis he eventually became Bilin Star’s Guardian, and before knowing what happened, Song Xuyi didn’t dare speak too definitively.

She demonstrated her identification with Ruoshui Star identity through actions, even if it seemed somewhat chuunibyou [teenage syndrome characterized by delusional behavior]: Song Xuyi never removed her thick glasses.

If she had thought about getting surgery to remove her glasses when first arriving on Bilin Star, after learning that Bilin Star people judged whether Ruoshui Star people would accept their advances based on whether they wore glasses, Song Xuyi continued wearing them to reduce trouble.

Although Song Xuyi’s appearance wasn’t as outstanding as Lin Ruyu’s, this body of hers was still considered an approachable beauty. Song Xuyi deeply despised how Bilin Star people looked at her as if she were their possession. After wearing glasses, such looks decreased significantly, and after a few days of adjustment, Song Xuyi gradually got used to wearing glasses.

For those who didn’t want to join Bilin Star and wished to break free from their dependent status, these students had no other option except studying hard.

To demonstrate a welcoming attitude toward these students and help them adapt to life on Bilin Star quickly, Kelin Academy conducted language tests for children from Ruoshui State every six months. The next test would be in a month; otherwise, they would have to wait another half year for the next examination.

The others who arrived with Song Xuyi planned to wait for the test in six months, but she decided to take a chance, thus studying even more diligently, dedicating almost all her time to learning.

During this month, Song Xuyi also gradually became familiar with using the light brain.

She worked hard at recognizing Bilin Star’s writing system and could now fully understand the content of an article. Thus, when news about Lin Ruyu popped up on the light brain, Song Xuyi couldn’t help but click on it when she saw Lin Ruyu’s face on the cover—stunning beyond compare despite her young age.

Song Xuyi stumbled through reading the entire article and roughly understood its meaning. The gist was that a recent official organization had initiated a vote, and Lin Ruyu had become the most desirable marriage candidate among Bilin Star men in recent years, with the article lavishing unrestrained praise on her.

Song Xuyi hadn’t expected Lin Ruyu to have such high reputation on Bilin Star. As a person from Ruoshui Star, having so many followers on Bilin Star meant that, in some ways, Lin Ruyu could be considered extremely successful.

Song Xuyi finished reading the article with the intention of practicing Bilin Star language. When she scrolled to the end, a video appeared of Lin Ruyu singing.

Having a slight obsessive-compulsive disorder [OCD], Song Xuyi strongly disliked leaving things unfinished, so thinking to complete the article, she clicked on the video.

In the video, Lin Ruyu wore all black.

When she sang her first line, Song Xuyi, who had been casually organizing the world’s mechanical systems, suddenly stopped writing: Lin Ruyu’s voice was incredibly beautiful. At the moment her first note rang out, Song Xuyi’s entire body broke out in goosebumps—

It was strange.

Though Lin Ruyu herself appeared extremely aloof and seemed uninterested in many things, her voice was filled with power, carrying an ethereal quality that struck straight to the soul, inexplicably moving people to tears while inspiring a deep desire for self-improvement amid the melancholy…

The pursuit of beauty is universal across all eras.

Song Xuyi had never heard such a beautiful voice, and in that moment, she completely understood why Lin Ruyu was so popular on Bilin Star. Her world-stunning face combined with her amazingly beautiful voice would gain her importance on any planet.

Although she knew in her heart that Lin Ruyu was a villain who might belong to the opposing camp in the future, Song Xuyi couldn’t help but set the song on single-track repeat.

Song Xuyi hadn’t specifically searched for Lin Ruyu’s songs, but as a lower-tier institution, Kelin Academy rarely received a student with such social attention. Naturally, they put in full effort to increase Lin Ruyu’s popularity, hoping Kelin Academy would enter public view and facilitate recruitment.

Therefore, Kelin Academy strongly supported Lin Ruyu’s development: they set all bell sounds to her songs.

Song Xuyi was incredibly surprised when she first heard this: who knew who came up with such a bizarre idea, since students across all timelines universally despised bell sounds.

What Song Xuyi hadn’t expected was that the school administration had convinced Lin Ruyu to record holographic images, setting up welcome messages at the electronic doors of each subject classroom. Early-arriving students could see Lin Ruyu’s lifelike hologram step down from the door, smiling and greeting them warmly.

While Ruoshui Star students were indifferent, Bilin Star students were completely taken with this approach. A strange trend of ‘waiting for the first greeting’ spread among Bilin Star students, with everyone rushing to be the first student in class to interact with Lin Ruyu’s greeting.

And it had to be admitted that the decent status of Ruoshui Star people at Kelin Academy had some connection to Lin Ruyu’s explosive popularity…

Song Xuyi listened to these gossips without taking them to heart. She was focused solely on preparing for the language test and learning professional knowledge as quickly as possible. Because of her petite build, being the youngest among all students, and her harmless appearance with glasses that made her look like an obedient bookworm, everyone couldn’t help but favor her a bit, willing to tell her anything.

Everyone thought Song Xuyi wouldn’t pass the language test, since learning a language wasn’t something that could be accomplished overnight. In current records, Lin Ruyu was the fastest to pass the language test, but even she took over three months, while most people took two to three years.

Fearing that failure might crush Song Xuyi’s spirit and affect her mentality, many people came to advise her against it.

Seeing too many people coming to persuade her, even Luo Xi approached with hesitation. Knowing that Luo Xi had always been ‘hating that iron can’t become steel’ [disappointed] with Lin Ruyu, Song Xuyi casually made an excuse: “I just want to try to see if I can surpass Lin Ruyu, and I want to earn money sooner to repay her for the translator.”

After Song Xuyi said this much, Luo Xi stopped trying to prevent her and shared her reason with other students. However, within a few days, strange rumors spread among Ruoshui Star students, saying that Song Xuyi immensely admired Lin Ruyu and was single-mindedly trying to emulate her, which was why she was working so hard to learn the language.

When this rumor reached Luo Xi and Song Xuyi’s ears, unlike Luo Xi’s righteous indignation, Song Xuyi remained very indifferent, believing that rumors stop with the wise. She thought that by avoiding further contact with Lin Ruyu, the rumors would naturally die down.

However, the series of events that followed were beyond Song Xuyi’s expectations.

A month later, Kelin Academy’s language test began on schedule. When Song Xuyi, noticeably smaller than other students, entered, she quickly caught the examiners’ attention.

The examiners casually tested this young girl whom they thought would definitely fail the language test. However, Song Xuyi’s ability overturned their impression: she appeared extremely proficient in Bilin Star’s language, and though she still stumbled over some difficult words, she was more than capable of passing the language test.

The examination process went very smoothly. Seeing the admiration in the examiners’ eyes, Song Xuyi secretly felt relieved, thinking success was almost certain. However, a small incident occurred at the end of the test.

“How amazing!” The examiner couldn’t help but exclaim while looking at Song Xuyi, who kept her head lowered and appeared extremely docile with her large-framed glasses: “What an incredible language talent!”

A Ruoshui Star girl taking the test nearby heard the examiner’s praise and added with a smile: “Xuyi not only has talent but is also very hardworking. Because her idol is Lin Ruyu, and she heard that Lin Ruyu passed the test in just three months back then, she aspired to follow in Lin Ruyu’s footsteps…”

?!

Song Xuyi’s eyes widened.

Although her entire being screamed ‘That’s not true, I didn’t,’ the examiners interpreted this as shyness, after all, there were plenty of young people who admired Lin Ruyu nowadays, especially since Song Xuyi came from the same planet as her.

“Then you must be good at singing too? Perhaps you want to pursue a singing career like Miss Lin?” one examiner asked enthusiastically.

Song Xuyi shook her head: “I want to major in robotics development.”

“That’s the most difficult major on our entire planet,” the examiner waved dismissively, convinced Song Xuyi was just being shy, and encouraged: “Could you sing a little tune for us?” The examiner smiled: “You truly know your idol Miss Lin well. Back when she took the language test, she also said she wanted to study robotics, but she drew a singing question, and I’ll never forget her beautiful voice. Afterward, I recommended her to my good friend, and then she joined my friend’s company, becoming globally famous in just a few short years…”

“Child, don’t be afraid, just hum any song by your idol? Like today’s bell tune.” The examiner looked at Song Xuyi expectantly: “Show yourself boldly, who knows, you might be the next Miss Lin, able to give us another unforgettably beautiful voice…”

Song Xuyi’s face turned red.

However, the test wasn’t over, and this was like a bonus question in the examination. Although Song Xuyi was unwilling, facing the examiner’s expectant gaze, she cleared her throat and hummed a tune—

Song Xuyi had always been tone-deaf, and singing in front of everyone felt like public execution to her. She was so embarrassed that even her ear tips turned red, and after finishing, she didn’t dare look at anyone’s reaction.

A moment of silence.

“Ahem, I think I’ll also never forget your singing for the rest of my life.” The examiner finally broke the silence, speaking after a while, seemingly suppressing laughter: “You’re a rational child, knowing that rather than choosing music, it’s better to study robotics development.”

“Though robotics development is difficult, it’s not impossible! Go on, child, you can surely fulfill your senior Lin’s former wish.”

This was their way of indicating she had passed.

Song Xuyi bowed in thanks, biting her lower lip and leaving the examination room with a red face. She took several deep breaths before regaining composure—though the process was somewhat embarrassing, she had achieved her goal.

Song Xuyi ran several laps around the small playground, completely putting the incident out of her mind, then returned to her dormitory to prepare for future studies…

What Song Xuyi didn’t know was: after she left, the examination room erupted in enormous laughter, with the examiner who had asked her to sing laughing uncontrollably: “Heavens! I’ve never seen anyone sing so off-key like this!”

The examiner took out his light brain, unable to resist pulling up the surveillance footage of Song Xuyi singing, watched it and laughed for quite a while more, before finally saving the video and sending it to Lin Ruyu’s official account’s private messages—

“I hope Miss Lin sees this video,” the examiner sighed with laughter: “These Ruoshui Star people are truly a strange species, capable of producing excellent singers like Miss Lin, yet also able to be as off-key as Miss Song… I really look forward to Miss Lin seeing this video, wondering what her reaction would be when she hears her song sung so off-key by Miss Song—”

Though saying this, the examiner didn’t think Lin Ruyu would see the video: she was now a widely beloved singer, likely receiving tens of thousands of private messages daily, probably having no time to read them.

When Song Xuyi passed the language test, her light brain’s permissions were further expanded, displaying the course selection interface. She unhesitatingly chose “Robotics Development.” As Bilin Star’s specialty and Kelin Academy’s most challenging subject, the robotics program used an elimination system—if she failed several exams, Song Xuyi would be removed from the program and forced to choose another major.

This gave Song Xuyi an increased sense of urgency. She frantically prepared before classes began, only learning that her singing video had been circulated and gained massive attention on the light brain when Luo Xi came to her door with a worried expression…

Some people were imitating Song Xuyi’s off-key singing, others jokingly commented this showed the singer’s deep love for Lin Ruyu, trying so hard to perform her song despite singing like that; someone even drew simple cartoon expression stickers of Lin Ruyu, where she held a small sign saying: “Sang very well, please don’t sing again”…

Song Xuyi’s singing video had become everyone’s joke.

“These Bilin Star people are too much!” Luo Xi cried in anger: “Your singing video was private, how could they spread it in public like this?”

Song Xuyi saw the singing video with the singer’s face blurred—though strangers might not recognize her, acquaintances could instantly tell it was Song Xuyi.

But to Luo Xi’s surprise, Song Xuyi’s expression remained extremely calm, so calm that Lin Ruyu couldn’t help but ask: “Aren’t you angry?”

“I am angry.” Though saying she was angry, Song Xuyi’s expression remained composed. Seeing her like this, Luo Xi’s anger felt like it had been doused with cold water, and she gradually calmed down too.

“But aren’t they always this arrogant?” Song Xuyi continued reading her materials with lowered head: “On their planet, we’re just parasites, while on our planet, they’ve overstepped their bounds and become the masters…”

“To change this situation,” Song Xuyi looked quietly at Luo Xi: “We must defeat them!”

Luo Xi bit her lower lip, instinctively wanting to say Song Xuyi was being delusional, that the backward Ruoshui Star could never defeat Bilin Star. However, seeing the light brain in Song Xuyi’s hands and her determined gaze, the words suddenly caught in Luo Xi’s throat…

With unknown emotions flooding her heart, Luo Xi bit her lip.

As it turned out, only a few people who knew Song Xuyi recognized her in the video. These people also made jokes, but Luo Xi discovered that as long as Song Xuyi didn’t care, others’ words couldn’t hurt her.

Only then did Luo Xi realize that this seemingly tiny girl possessed an unmatched resilience, seemingly unaffected by external matters.

She put her words into action: studying from early morning to late night, always being the first to arrive at the classroom, spending all day in classrooms and the library.

But to others, Song Xuyi’s early arrivals and late departures further confirmed the rumor that she was Lin Ruyu’s obsessed fan: everyone spread word that she arrived early to get the first greeting from the electronic door each day.

As rumors grew wilder, Song Xuyi couldn’t be bothered to clarify, but she hadn’t expected these rumors would reach Lin Ruyu’s ears.

She’d never imagined that Lin Ruyu would seek her out—

It had been nearly two months since she last saw Lin Ruyu. The small running track Song Xuyi used was usually quiet. That day, after checking some materials not available on the light brain at the library, it was already dark when she finished. Song Xuyi planned to run a few laps before returning to study, never expecting Lin Ruyu to suddenly appear here.

Under the dim streetlights, Lin Ruyu appeared even more exquisite and beautiful. She seemed to particularly favor black and white clothing, now wearing a white shirt with her hair tied up, revealing her delicate forehead.

Though knowing she shouldn’t, Song Xuyi couldn’t help but look at Lin Ruyu twice: why had she come…

“That video wasn’t posted by me.” The girl seemed somewhat agitated. She leaned against the wall of the secluded running track, dropping her previous nonchalance, blocking Song Xuyi’s path with furrowed brows as she spoke softly…

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The author has something to say:

Several years later, after they got together, whenever they had a disagreement, Lin Ruyu naturally couldn’t bear to blame Song Xuyi, and could only turn her back on her, sulking for no more than half an hour—

Each time, Song Xuyi would play along to comfort her: “Don’t be angry, if you keep sulking, I’ll sing for you. (#^.^#)”

Lin Ruyu: …

“—Pfft!”

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LP: Re-translated on January 14, 2025

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