Blame the Villain – Chapter 248

Real World (2)

Song Xuyi didn’t dare to open a holographic call and only dialed in traditional phone mode. When she heard Rong Yu’s “hello” on the other end, somehow a clear image of Rong Yu appeared before her eyes: that breathtakingly beautiful face with its cold and decisive expression, tightly pressed lips, and even that tiny red mole under her eye that Song Xuyi could still recall.

Looking back now, Song Xuyi realized it must have been when she first saw Rong Yu…

“Do… do you still need someone to pre-pretend to be your wife?” Song Xuyi stammered at the time, her face turning bright red, incredibly grateful that she hadn’t turned on the holographic projection.

A soft laugh came through the phone. As Song Xuyi listened to that laugh, she couldn’t imagine how that stunningly beautiful face would look when smiling, only feeling her ears tingling. Then she heard Rong Yu’s softened voice say: “Yes.”

Song Xuyi couldn’t remember what else she had mumbled afterwards, only remembering that her face was burning hot when she hung up. That night, she slept peacefully for the first time, thinking about telling her grandmother soon that she had a girlfriend and would be getting married shortly.

What Song Xuyi didn’t expect was that the ever-busy Rong Yu appeared again at her courtyard gate the very next day. Though Rong Yu looked somewhat tired, that one glance she gave Song Xuyi when she looked up still makes Song Xuyi’s heart flutter even now…

Grandmother didn’t doubt Song Xuyi’s words because Song Xuyi had been clearly distracted these past few days, and grandmother had indeed seen Rong Yu in the courtyard. Besides, she knew her granddaughter well – the shy yet joyful look in Song Xuyi’s eyes when looking at Rong Yu didn’t seem like acting.

Perhaps Song Xuyi was initially attracted by appearances, but what truly touched her heart was their interaction over that month. Despite being an incredibly busy CEO, Rong Yu chose to stay in their small courtyard, pretending to be a couple with Song Xuyi. At first, Song Xuyi worried that Rong Yu’s cold face wouldn’t appeal to grandmother, but although Rong Yu was a woman of few words, whenever grandmother spoke, she would immediately put down her work to push grandmother’s wheelchair into the sunlight, skillfully prepare digestible meals in the kitchen, and feed grandmother…

So, after a week of living with Rong Yu and learning about their marriage plans, grandmother cheerfully told them to hold the wedding as soon as possible.

Song Xuyi’s wedding was hasty and even simple, but she felt incredibly happy because she married Rong Yu with her grandmother as witness. The two worked together to decorate the courtyard, blew up balloons, cut out ‘喜’ characters themselves [喜 | xǐ | traditional Chinese character for “happiness” used in weddings], and held the wedding following traditional customs under grandmother’s witness, before quietly going to the civil affairs bureau to get their marriage certificate.

On their wedding night, Song Xuyi and Rong Yu signed an agreement, promising not to interfere in each other’s romantic lives, that there would be no substantial relationship between them, and Rong Yu would give Song Xuyi a large sum of money each year.

No matter how Song Xuyi thought about this arrangement, she felt Rong Yu was getting the short end of the deal. After all, without Rong Yu, grandmother wouldn’t have been so happy. Song Xuyi secretly decided: once their superficial marriage contract ended, she wouldn’t take a penny from Rong Yu.

Of course, even though it was a contract marriage, marriage was still a fact. To explain to her small fanbase, the day after their wedding, Song Xuyi took a photo of their marriage certificate, censored Rong Yu’s information, and posted it on social media. Perhaps because Song Xuyi was willing to cooperate, Rong Yu showed a rare smile while taking their wedding photo, slightly turning her head to look at Song Xuyi, looking so beautiful it made one’s heart flutter. Song Xuyi didn’t want others to see Rong Yu like this.

Song Xuyi hadn’t expected this to cause even a small stir – she trended for the first time, but shortly after trending, with Song Xuyi’s consent, Rong Yu paid to have the trending topic removed.

Song Xuyi didn’t want fame. She had entered the entertainment circle only to make money, and actually disliked or even resisted acting. She had forced herself to continue acting only due to her professional attitude. Now that she had some savings, Song Xuyi had already started planning her retirement from the industry.

A few days after their contract marriage, Rong Yu hurriedly returned to work at her company due to some urgent matter. The next time Song Xuyi saw her was at grandmother’s funeral – perhaps seeing Song Xuyi married and feeling she wouldn’t be lonely in her later years, grandmother passed away shortly after Song Xuyi’s wedding. Grandmother passed with a very peaceful smile, having lived to a respectable age, but even though she had mentally prepared herself, Song Xuyi still felt immensely sad.

It was Rong Yu who accompanied Song Xuyi through that difficult and lonely period. Though they were only contract wives, Rong Yu performed almost perfectly, helping Song Xuyi arrange the funeral and receive guests. It was during this time that guests captured the first photo of them together – the angle was perfect: Song Xuyi looking pitiful in mourning clothes beside the stunningly beautiful woman in black, creating an eerily beautiful scene in the cold cemetery. After someone recognized Song Xuyi, it quickly trended again.

Someone somehow recognized Rong Yu as the person beside Song Xuyi, and suddenly topics about Song Xuyi and Rong Yu dominated the trending lists. No one had expected Song Xuyi would marry a super-wealthy person like Rong Yu, and even more surprisingly, no one had imagined Rong Yu would be so beautiful – even more star-like than Song Xuyi herself…

Song Xuyi felt extremely guilty, after all, Rong Yu had always kept her appearance hidden from the public, but it was exposed because of her. However, Rong Yu never blamed Song Xuyi at all, instead comforting her: “This is fine too, now everyone knows we’re married.”

The more Song Xuyi interacted with Rong Yu, the more her heart was moved. After emerging from the grief of grandmother’s passing, Song Xuyi felt incredibly grateful for everything Rong Yu had done during that time. She focused on playing the role of a good wife to deal with Rong Yu’s family, and moved into Rong Yu’s cold and minimalist home at her suggestion. However, strangely, Rong Yu’s family never appeared. Only Sister Zhong the housekeeper took care of her at home.

Song Xuyi found this very strange. Sister Zhong told her that Rong Yu’s parents were scientists, always busy with research and rarely leaving their laboratory, but even now, Song Xuyi had never met Rong Yu’s parents.

During their three years of contract marriage, Song Xuyi gradually reduced her workload, spending most of her time in Rong Yu’s villa. To repay Rong Yu, Song Xuyi transformed the cold villa into a cozy, livable space, quietly keeping track of Rong Yu’s news, playing the role of a qualified wife when Rong Yu needed her, accompanying her to various business functions…

Rong Yu remained consistently gentle and considerate towards Song Xuyi, and Song Xuyi fell deeper and deeper.

Ever since people learned that Song Xuyi had married Rong Yu and witnessed Rong Yu’s stunning appearance, the public became intensely curious about this beautiful tycoon, and news about Rong Yu always drew massive traffic. Paparazzi constantly watched the wives for news, occasionally spreading divorce rumors, as many believed Song Xuyi, a D-list actress, wasn’t worthy of Rong Yu.

Song Xuyi used to think the same, which is why she only dared to secretly harbor feelings for Rong Yu without confessing. What made Song Xuyi finally determine to propose divorce was an incident that happened recently: that night, Rong Yu was drinking alone for some unknown reason, her face frighteningly pale. Song Xuyi gathered her courage to comfort her, and somehow – perhaps Rong Yu mistook her for someone else – Rong Yu kissed her and passed alcohol into Song Xuyi’s mouth…

Song Xuyi had a low alcohol tolerance. After that sip of alcohol, she passed out. When she woke up, Rong Yu was no longer beside her. Song Xuyi only remembered their kiss; everything after that was blank.

Song Xuyi didn’t want to continue this one-sided love anymore.

She was very timid, afraid that one day she wouldn’t be able to hold back and would confess her feelings to Rong Yu. But to Song Xuyi, Rong Yu was like a distant star, their social status vastly different. Song Xuyi didn’t think she could reach for such a flower on a high peak [高嶺之花 | gāolǐng zhī huā | meaning someone unattainable].

Moreover, Rong Yu’s disappearance these past few days confirmed her attitude: that night was an accident, and she probably didn’t know how to face Song Xuyi now…

So the best solution was to divorce Rong Yu before falling in too deep. It was time to live according to her own wishes: after all, Song Xuyi had been self-studying medical knowledge all these years, wanting to retake the college entrance exam, attend medical school, and fulfill her dream.

So Song Xuyi gathered her courage and called Rong Yu, but unexpectedly, Rong Yu’s secretary answered. The secretary’s voice was very urgent over the phone, telling Song Xuyi that while developing a holographic simulation world game, Rong Yu’s consciousness had been trapped in the game world by her nemesis, and asked if Song Xuyi could help rescue her…

Most of the company’s systems had been taken over by Rong Yu’s enemies, who had even destroyed the main system of Rong Yu’s research. The secretary told Song Xuyi that to save Rong Yu, she would need to enter the game too, but those people would use programs to track Rong Yu’s whereabouts. If Song Xuyi went in to save Rong Yu, she would also face danger.

But Song Xuyi chose to enter the game without hesitation.

……

As scenes from the past three years flashed before her eyes, Song Xuyi found that besides melancholy, she no longer felt the sadness and inferiority of before. Her heart had become full and confident, and she began to look forward to life with anticipation…

Song Xuyi liked this change in herself. After showering and changing clothes, she smiled at herself in the mirror, but instead of going to see Rong Yu, she returned to their home.

Song Xuyi knew she still loved Rong Yu, especially when thinking about that face that was impossible to resist, but having decided on divorce, she felt she should steel her heart and distance herself from Rong Yu. After all, Sister Zhong and Rong Yu’s secretary were being evasive, and Rong Yu still had many strange secrets – Song Xuyi didn’t want to wade into secrets she shouldn’t know.

After returning home, Song Xuyi read some medical books for a while. Strangely enough, while these reference books used to be incredibly difficult to understand when she was earnestly preparing for medical school, now she could grasp their meaning after just one reading, as if she had studied this knowledge before.

Song Xuyi found this very strange, and also noticed her desire to attend medical school wasn’t as strong as before. She thought it might be because of the shock from entering the game to save Rong Yu, but Song Xuyi couldn’t clearly remember anything that happened in that small world…

Song Xuyi decided to go to bed early, hoping these symptoms might ease by tomorrow.

She dozily had a dream where she got into medical school and successfully researched a cure for some difficult disease, but Song Xuyi found herself meeting someone in the dream – a woman who looked exactly like Rong Yu. After seeing that face, her dream self, just like in reality, couldn’t help but get flustered, blushing and heart racing at her flirtations…

However, the real Rong Yu would never flirt with girls like that—

As Song Xuyi savored this dream, feeling inexplicably regretful, she opened her eyes and suddenly stared wide-eyed, almost falling off the bed—sleeping on the other side of the pillow was the owner of the face she had just dreamed about!

Hadn’t Rong Yu always slept in the next room? Had she mistakenly walked into her room?

Song Xuyi froze for a moment, just about to get up when the sleeping Rong Yu opened her eyes—

She quietly gazed at Song Xuyi’s face, her eyes twinkling like stars, and perhaps because she had just woken up, Rong Yu’s usually pale face had a hint of blush—

“Good morning, wife!” Rong Yu’s lips curved into a smile as she spoke softly.

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The author has something to say:

Xuyi: Oh no, I saved her, but she’s still confused ⊙▃⊙~

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LP: Re-translated on February 04, 2025

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