Villainous Movie Star (9)
After a three-day holiday, Zhao Qingyu returned to the set.
Everyone knows that Zhao Qingyu has become popular: her name has appeared dozens of times on Weibo’s trending topics, and countless people have begun praising her acting skills. Her fan base is visibly increasing at a rate of several hundred thousand followers per day.
Zhao Qingyu’s appearance is a recognizable kind of beauty. At not even 22 years old, she possesses such talent. As long as she remains committed to this path in the future, one can imagine the brilliant future that awaits her.
Zhao Qingyu herself is extremely low-key and practical. Apart from cooperating with the set’s promotions, she spends the rest of her time stationed on the set.
As for Song Xuyi, her life is equally busy. After the first day of the Lunar New Year, she dove into the old man’s pharmacy, and then there was the busy schoolwork after classes resumed…
In the following months, until Song Xuyi’s midterm exams arrived, the two of them didn’t meet again. Song Xuyi would only see Zhao Qingyu in the hot search and trending topics.
Every time Song Xuyi saw Zhao Qingyu on the screen, she would feel a sense of daze because they were in contact almost every day.
Unlike before, when Song Xuyi would check in unilaterally, after New Year’s Eve, Zhao Qingyu would occasionally reply to Song Xuyi, but their timelines didn’t match. Often, when Song Xuyi sent a message in the morning, Zhao Qingyu would reply late at night, sometimes even delaying it until the next day. What made Song Xuyi feel even more strange was that she and Zhao Qingyu would continue chatting intermittently like this…
Zhao Qingyu’s replies gave Song Xuyi some fleeting confidence, making her think that maybe there was still a chance to try and help Zhao Qingyu overcome her inner struggles. So, Song Xuyi started thinking of ways to send Zhao Qingyu some soul-soothing messages or various philosophical stories in an attempt to enlighten her.
At times like these, Zhao Qingyu’s replies would become particularly brief.
But once Song Xuyi felt that the “needle of Zhao Qingyu’s heart was as deep as the sea” and wanted to find an excuse to give up on checking in, Zhao Qingyu would say things like “kindness is a beautiful virtue” or show Song Xuyi donation records, causing Song Xuyi to continue harboring the delusional thought of “even villains can be redeemed, maybe I should try harder.”
After several instances like this, Song Xuyi finally realized belatedly: this despicable villain Zhao Qingyu seemed to be toying with her!
It’s not that Song Xuyi was particularly upset because she had long prepared herself for failure, but she still felt defeated in her heart. Zhao Qingyu was truly difficult to approach. She probably sensed Song Xuyi’s intention of wanting her to let go of hatred and deliberately teased her like this.
(Originally translated on littlepandatranslations.com, let's go!)
Feeling defeated in her heart, coupled with the approaching midterm exams, Song Xuyi unilaterally decided to stop checking in and fully immersed herself in midterm exam preparations.
The temperature in May had started to rise, and Song Xuyi, being in a coastal city, could already wear short sleeves in May.
Song Xuyi was just a few days away from turning nineteen. Mother Song couldn’t stand her daughter’s lack of interest in dressing up, so she forcefully stuffed her with many clothes. On this day, Song Xuyi wore a white long dress, with black hair flowing down to her waist, and a beautiful face. When she walked around the campus, she unknowingly caught the attention of many people.
This exam was not difficult. Song Xuyi and Huang Juanjuan were the first to finish and leave the examination hall. Huang Juanjuan needed to use the restroom and playfully asked Song Xuyi to hold her books. Song Xuyi smiled as she watched Huang Juanjuan rush into the restroom. Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder.
“Xuyi.”
The person was wearing a loose-fitting T-shirt that obscured their figure, with a baseball cap and a mask. They were carrying a shopping bag, and Song Xuyi could only see a pair of smiling eyes beneath the brim of their cap.
However, based on the red mole near the corner of their eye and their voice, Song Xuyi had already recognized them—
Is Zhao Qingyu… has she gone crazy?
She’s incredibly popular right now, with countless fans. Even her roommates are her fangirls. How dare she boldly walk into the university campus like this?!
Song Xuyi was startled and quickly grabbed Zhao Qingyu, intending to walk outside the campus.
However, even though Zhao Qingyu looked thin, and no matter how hard Song Xuyi tried, she couldn’t move her…
“I want to try the lemon chicken feet from your school,” Zhao Qingyu’s voice sounded muffled from beneath her mask, and her gaze fell on their joined hands. Her eyes curved with a smile. “Ever since you mentioned it to me a few times, I’ve been wanting to taste it…”
Song Xuyi was taken aback, never expecting that Zhao Qingyu’s daring trip to the school was for this reason.
What she didn’t expect even more was that Zhao Qingyu seemed afraid of her refusal. Immediately, she grabbed Song Xuyi’s arm and shook it, calling out in a playful tone, “Xuyi…”
Song Xuyi met Zhao Qingyu’s pretended pitiful gaze, and her heart melted. She was completely defeated.
She knew that Zhao Qingyu probably imitated Huang Juanjuan behavior of being coquettish with her, but… probably no one in the world could resist Zhao Qingyu’s cuteness…
Gritting her teeth, Song Xuyi saw her classmates starting to come out in groups after finishing the exam. She handed Huang Juanjuan’s books to another classmate and decisively grabbed Zhao Qingyu’s hand, swiftly entering the dormitory building.
It wasn’t until after locking the dormitory door that Song Xuyi finally breathed a sigh of relief. She gritted her teeth and made a phone call to order some lemon chicken feet and other snacks as a campus delivery. Then, she stared at Zhao Qingyu with determination, saying, “Sister Qingyu, you…”
“I was wrong. I shouldn’t have lied to you!”
However, before Song Xuyi could finish her sentence, the villain on the other side quickly apologized, going along with the flow. “Actually, I wanted to come and see you…”
“You haven’t been paying attention to me lately, making me feel like you wanted to distance yourself,” Zhao Qingyu took off her mask, sounding serious if one ignored the laughter in her eyes. “I think it’s time for me to reassure my loyal fan, so after finishing shooting last night, I rushed over overnight…”
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“Xuyi, are you happy to see me?”
……
Happy?
Song Xuyi forced a stiff smile, tugging at the corner of her mouth. She had never seen someone as shameless as Zhao Qingyu!
What kind of trick was she planning to play?
Song Xuyi looked at Zhao Qingyu warily, but Zhao Qingyu just smiled at her. Song Xuyi couldn’t understand why she was so delighted to see her, but her face involuntarily turned red.
Song Xuyi couldn’t help but hate her flirtatious nature in that moment.
“I didn’t distance myself.” Song Xuyi was the first to give in and tried to persuade the cunning villain across from her to let her off the hook. However, Zhao Qingyu didn’t seem satisfied and continued to gaze at her with a smile. “Just a friendly reminder, isn’t your roommate coming back soon?”
Song Xuyi closed her eyes, her face turning red.
“I promise I didn’t distance myself. I will make sure to message you on time from now on.”
Song Xuyi felt like she had exhausted all her strength as she made this concession.
“Well then, Xuyi, I appreciate your efforts!” Finally, Zhao Qingyu’s voice came, filled with a satisfied smile. “I’m really happy.”
Song Xuyi let out a bitter smile, relieved, and once again cursed herself a hundred times for being foolish and getting drunk.
She and the voice in her head, the system, were in agreement that Zhao Qingyu’s arrival had another purpose. They remained on high alert. However, after waiting for over ten minutes, Zhao Qingyu made no further moves:
She simply sat quietly on a chair in Song Xuyi’s dormitory, looking around as if curious, occasionally meeting Song Xuyi’s gaze. Her eyebrows and eyes would curve into an extremely joyful expression, different from her usual gentle and fake smile. Song Xuyi couldn’t describe this feeling, but whenever she locked eyes with Zhao Qingyu, she felt a tingling sensation in her chest…
The system, as always, saw through the situation in a single sentence: “Why does Zhao Qingyu become more beautiful after entering the entertainment industry? She’s like a seductive fox spirit from a book…”
Song Xuyi wholeheartedly agreed.
The seductive fox spirit, Zhao Qingyu, didn’t stay for even half an hour.
When the delivery guy arrived, Zhao Qingyu didn’t cause any trouble as Song Xuyi had imagined. She patted Song Xuyi’s head, quickly retracting her hand before Song Xuyi could react, and with a smile, she took the lemon chicken feet and actually left the campus gates…
Song Xuyi and the system exchanged puzzled glances. “Could it be that she came all this way… just to reassure a loyal fan?”
Song Xuyi was usually more open-minded and decided not to dwell on things she couldn’t understand. She wholeheartedly focused on reviewing for the afternoon exam. It wasn’t until after the exam that Song Xuyi realized Zhao Qingyu had sent her a message on WeChat.
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“Do you like the gift?”
A gift?
…It seemed that Zhao Qingyu had left a bag on her desk in the dormitory.
It was only at this moment that Song Xuyi remembered that her birthday was coming up in a few days.
Could it be that Zhao Qingyu came all this way to give her a gift?
Song Xuyi instinctively denied this speculation, but her heart couldn’t help but skip a beat, twice as fast…
She returned to her dormitory, found the bag, and opened it. Inside the box was an exquisite little cat plush toy: amber-colored eyes, pointed ears, fluffy tail, and a lifelike expression.
Song Xuyi couldn’t help but admit that the little cat plush toy looked incredibly cute. She was about to reply to Zhao Qingyu with “I love it” when suddenly, her eyes widened in astonishment:
Hanging around the cat’s neck was a delicate little card with two words written in elegant font:
-“like you~”
?!
Like you?
The author has something to say:
The phrase “like you” also has another meaning that everyone knows, hehe.
LP: Re-translated on December 12, 2023