Blame the Villain – Chapter 5

The Villainous Film Empress (5)

A little rich girl dedicated to saving the world X A paranoid, dark, and vengeful film empress

When Zhao Qingyu woke up, her head was still a little groggy.

A gentle pressure was being applied to both her temples, and a faint fragrance of medicinal herbs lingered beside her. Someone was gently massaging her acupoints,¹ asking softly as they leaned over, “Feeling better?”

Zhao Qingyu recognized the voice.

Remembering everything that had happened before she passed out, Zhao Qingyu’s eyelashes trembled, and she nodded lightly. “Much better! Thank you, Xuyi.”

Song Xuyi looked at Zhao Qingyu, whose pale face added a touch of fragile beauty, and pressed her lips together slightly.

Even in this state, Zhao Qingyu still had the polite and gentle demeanor Song Xuyi was familiar with. This woman had already carved her disguise into her very marrow.

Zhao Qingyu’s agent had already told Song Xuyi everything Zhao Qingyu had been through recently.

Listening to the agent’s account, even the System in her mind fell into a rare silence.

None of this was mentioned in the plot summary. The Zhao Qingyu in the plot summary was a glamorous Film Empress who rejected countless suitors, as elegant and noble as a black swan.

But the Zhao Qingyu before her…

Unlike the male lead Song Jun, a heaven’s favored child² born into an outstanding family, one could only imagine the hardships Zhao Qingyu had to endure to grow into a villain with the power to contend with the male lead’s company.

And the director’s tormenting of Zhao Qingyu was, to some extent, related to Song Xuyi’s neglect of her during this period.

The original host’s affection for Zhao Qingyu had lasted for many years. For Zhao Qingyu in the early stages of her career, the affection of the shrewish and willful Song family princess had indeed helped her avoid many disputes without her realizing it.

After learning the whole story, Song Xuyi felt a pang of guilt. She had been so busy with her studies lately that she had indeed neglected Zhao Qingyu.

Fortunately, there was still a chance to make up for it.

Song Xuyi sighed. After massaging Zhao Qingyu’s acupoints for a while, she took the millet congee³ that the supervisor handed over, carefully scooped up a spoonful, and brought it to Zhao Qingyu’s lips. “This is my first time making congee. How does it taste?”

Even as she asked, Song Xuyi knew the congee she made should be good. Although the original host had never set foot in a kitchen, in the memories Song Xuyi had recovered, the eighteen-year-old her had often made all sorts of congee to care for her grandmother, who had a weak stomach.

This was also what Song Xuyi felt she could do for Zhao Qingyu at the moment. She really couldn’t muster the fanatical expression the original host had whenever she saw Zhao Qingyu, but she could show her concern for Zhao Qingyu in other ways.

Zhao Qingyu looked up at Song Xuyi.

Song Xuyi’s expression was extremely calm. Stripped of all the affected nervousness and excitement, her eyes seemed to hold a hint of apology…

What was she apologizing for?

Zhao Qingyu’s gaze swept past the supervisor behind Song Xuyi. The supervisor could no longer control the jaw-dropped expression on her face. Through the half-open door of the hospital room, Zhao Qingyu saw the director’s flickering gaze outside…

“Thank you, Xuyi.”

A glint in her eyes, Zhao Qingyu smiled and lowered her head to take a sip of the congee.

Privately, she wanted nothing to do with the Song family, but when power was delivered to your door, it would be a waste not to use it.

It was just…

Zhao Qingyu looked up, her gaze falling on the few red dates in the millet congee, and she pursed her lips. The congee made by the little princess of the Song family was unexpectedly fragrant and sweet.

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Song Xuyi breathed a sigh of relief after feeding Zhao Qingyu the congee spoonful by spoonful.

While Zhao Qingyu was unconscious, Song Xuyi had already thought things through. She had little confidence in persuading Zhao Qingyu to give up her attacks on the male lead, but to complete her mission successfully, Song Xuyi decided to settle for the next best thing⁴—get close to Zhao Qingyu and keep track of her movements.

Besides, Zhao Qingyu looked so obedient and harmless as she lowered her head to drink the congee…

This version of Zhao Qingyu gave Song Xuyi courage.

“Qingyu-jie,” Song Xuyi crouched in front of Zhao Qingyu and, with the System’s encouragement of “Go, Xuyi!” in her mind, bravely looked directly into Zhao Qingyu’s eyes. “We’ve met so many times. Isn’t it about time we added each other’s contact info?”

“Do you want to scan me, or should I scan you…”

Zhao Qingyu looked up.

The girl’s voice was clear and bright, her face still holding a trace of baby fat, and her eyes looked over expectantly…

This kid had suddenly gotten bold. What was she planning now?

A hint of a smile crossed the depths of Zhao Qingyu’s eyes. That smile made her beautifully shaped eyes sparkle, bringing the red mole at the corner of her eye to life. In that instant, she was full of charm and grace.⁵

The kid’s face… seemed to be red again.

Zhao Qingyu narrowed her eyes.

Actually, the old Song Xuyi had also asked for her contact information before. But for some reason, perhaps because her mood was more relaxed after her illness, Zhao Qingyu no longer felt the annoyance that Song Xuyi’s previous spoiled and clingy behavior used to cause her. This time, she felt no aversion at all…

“You can scan me!” Zhao Qingyu heard herself say softly. She took the phone her agent handed her and opened her QR code—

Song Xuyi took a deep breath, hastily scanned the code, and lowered her head, not daring to meet Zhao Qingyu’s gaze again. She tried hard to cool the heat on her cheeks, but it just wouldn’t go down…

How could Zhao Qingyu’s smile be so bewitching?!⁶

If Zhao Qingyu’s previous smiles were like a mask, Song Xuyi was certain that just now, Zhao Qingyu had let down her guard and smiled genuinely…

That smile made Song Xuyi’s heart, which she thought had calmed down, start pounding violently once more.

Song Xuyi silently cursed her own weakness while forcing herself to focus, her eyes falling to Zhao Qingyu’s WeChat profile on her phone.

Only after asking did she remember that the original host had also asked for Zhao Qingyu’s WeChat before, but she had hit a few soft nails⁷ and been turned down by Zhao Qingyu. She never expected to succeed this time.

Zhao Qingyu’s WeChat name was a simple character, ‘Zhao’, and her profile picture was a photo taken from behind—a woman holding a little girl’s hand amidst flowers.

“Is this you as a child?”

Song Xuyi’s eyes flickered. She tapped on the profile picture and pointed at the little girl’s back, subtly probing, “This little girl looks so cute.”

The photo looked quite old. Song Xuyi had a feeling it held special meaning for Zhao Qingyu.

Zhao Qingyu looked at the photo on Song Xuyi’s phone and nodded. As if suddenly stung by something, the smile in her eyes instantly vanished, but her voice still carried a hint of laughter. “You can tell she’s ‘cute’ just from her back?”

But she had tacitly confirmed that the little girl was her.

“Because you’re so beautiful now, you must have been pretty as a child too,” Song Xuyi explained forcefully. She glanced at Zhao Qingyu and, seeing no sign of resistance, pointed to the woman beside the girl and continued, “Auntie must have been a great beauty too!”

“I really want to know what Auntie looks like now, and who’s prettier, you or her…”

“Some people say I look a lot like her,” Zhao Qingyu said, looking at the slender figure in the photo. Her eyes dimmed, and she once again put on that flawless, gentle mask. “I’ve forgotten what she looked like, too. She must have been very beautiful back then…”

“—She’s been dead for many years.”

“S-Sorry.”

Song Xuyi hadn’t expected that answer. After a moment of shock, she couldn’t help but look up to observe Zhao Qingyu’s expression. The smile on Zhao Qingyu’s face had faded slightly. She lowered her slender neck, and her eyes looked like a pool of stagnant water,⁸ without a single ripple…

It was a disguise anyone could see through.

An unpleasant feeling suddenly stirred in Song Xuyi’s heart.

“What do you have to apologize for?” Song Xuyi heard Zhao Qingyu say softly. “All of this is my fate. Just like you being the little princess of the Song family, the center of everyone’s attention—that’s your fate, too…”

Song Xuyi was taken aback. She hadn’t expected such words from Zhao Qingyu, but on second thought, it didn’t seem surprising at all.

But, could so-called fate really not be overturned?

Remembering the secret the original host had hidden in her heart, too afraid to speak of, Song Xuyi pressed her lips tightly together.

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Because she had taken Zhao Qingyu to the hospital, Song Xuyi had stood up Huang Juanjuan and her other classmates. Although she used the excuse of getting lost in the Film Base, she couldn’t miss the class gathering again the next day. So, she spent the morning with her classmates, visiting some small scenic spots near the Film Base.

Due to her motion sickness on the bus, Song Xuyi didn’t travel back with her classmates. She set aside some time in the afternoon to visit Zhao Qingyu at the hospital. Zhao Qingyu’s complexion looked much better.

Perhaps Song Xuyi’s arrival had intimidated the director, or perhaps the director didn’t want to blow things out of proportion, but he had given Zhao Qingyu three days off.⁹

Zhao Qingyu had once again reverted to her gentle and considerate self. In just one day, the doctors and nurses in the hospital room had become extremely fond of her. Seeing this, Song Xuyi had to admit that Zhao Qingyu was truly a dab hand¹⁰ at winning people over.

Although Zhao Qingyu still hadn’t let her guard down, Song Xuyi felt that this trip wasn’t a total loss. At the very least, she had managed to get Zhao Qingyu’s WeChat.

She said goodbye to Zhao Qingyu and then took the car Mother Song had sent to return to school.

What Song Xuyi didn’t know was that not long after she left, Zhao Qingyu was also discharged from the hospital.

By the time Song Xuyi arrived at school, Zhao Qingyu had arrived at the entrance of a certain hospital.

She greeted the patrolling nurses along the way, walking familiarly through the wards before finally stopping in front of a single room.

A woman was sitting in the room.

The woman had wasted away to skin and bones,¹¹ like a living skeleton. Only her yellowish-brown, shifting eyeballs showed that she was still alive.

Zhao Qingyu pushed open the door, greeted the caregiver at the side, and then looked at the woman on the bed. “Mom, it’s Qingyu. I’ve come to see you.”

“Qingyu!” The woman seemed greatly shocked. She shot to her feet, tremblingly picked up a plastic cup from the side, and shakily held it to the lips of a cloth doll on the headboard. “Be good, Qingyu, drink the water. After you drink this, all your troubles will be gone…”

Then, the woman threw the doll aside and clutched her head, sobbing loudly. “Why did you have to run? People like us should have accepted our fate long ago. I shouldn’t have given birth to you…”

“Qingyu,” the caregiver looked at Zhao Qingyu’s still-smiling face and sighed. “Don’t take it to heart. The doctor said… Mrs. Zhao might not have much time left…”

“I’m not taking it to heart.”

Zhao Qingyu shook her head, watching as the woman stood up again. Her expression changed from its previous misery, becoming sharp and mean. “Zhao Fang, I’ve checked your family for five generations! Almost without exception, the girls in your family have died from the ‘Sleeping Sickness’ before they turned thirty! You, a short-lived bitch embryo,¹² why did you have to come and harm my son…”

Seeing that the caregiver seemed about to say more, Zhao Qingyu finally let the smile drop from her face, her eyes turning dark and deep. “I have never blamed her…”

Her once beautiful and gentle mother had already died at the age of thirty.

What lived on was a tormented, vengeful spirit trapped in the past, unable to find release. And her—an unscrupulous,¹³ vengeful demon about to launch her revenge.

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LP: Re-translated on December 3, 2023

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