Villainous Stand-in (10)
Yuqing thus moved into the Song family.
Unlike the Li family’s inherent wealth and refinement, Old Master Song loved extravagance. The villa was also built in a manner of splendid grandeur, with a total height of four floors.
When Li Yuqing stepped through the door of the Song family, a man dressed as a Taoist priest was performing some mysterious rituals, waving a peachwood sword (used in Chinese culture to ward off evil spirits) from side to side. Upon seeing Li Yuqing, he circled around her a few times and finally whispered something into Old Master Song’s ear.
The Taoist spoke very quickly. Song Xuyi only caught a few phrases like “this woman has long-lasting blessings” and “given time, she will soar to great heights”.
These Taoists were skilled at reading people. Since Old Master Song was a generous patron, naturally, the Taoist said things that Old Master Song liked to hear. But there was one thing Song Xuyi felt he got right: Li Yuqing indeed became immensely wealthy later on. However, her wealth had nothing to do with the Song family; instead, it became a sharp blade hanging over the Song family, ready to ruthlessly stab into the heart of the Song family at the right moment…
After hearing the Taoist’s words, Old Master Song’s gaze towards Li Yuqing became even more amiable.
The Song family had many rooms. Old Master Song arranged for Li Yuqing to stay on the second floor. All the rooms on the second floor were empty, except for a certain room at the end of the corridor where doctors were constantly coming in and out.
Hearing the shouting from that room, Song Xuyi understood: that should be the room where Song Shi resided.
Song Xuyi was not wrong. Not long after, as described in the plot summary, Old Master Song took Li Yuqing to the room at the end of the second floor to meet the insane Song Shi.
Song Shi had been staring blankly out the window, his whole person as thin as a skeleton. Upon seeing Li Yuqing, it seemed as if he was suddenly hit by something. A deep pain flashed through his eyes, and he suddenly reached out to grasp Li Yuqing’s hand—
“Yuyun!”
Song Shi’s strength was immense, and several distinct bruises appeared on Li Yuqing’s fair arm.
However, after clearly seeing Li Yuqing’s face, Song Shi held his head in dismay and squatted down, hoarsely uttering his first words in days: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
The accompanying doctors was overjoyed at the sight. Despite their numerous attempts, Song Shi had never shown any reaction. This was the first time they saw Song Shi exhibit a significant emotional response, and they unanimously suggested to Old Master Song to bring Li Yuqing to visit Song Shi more often.
Seemingly frightened by the deranged Song Shi, Li Yuqing hung her head low and shrank into the corner of the wall. Song Xuyi silently took her hand, quietly offering her comfort.
“Yuqing, Song Shi is my most cherished grandson. Seeing him like this now, my heart is truly in agony,” Despite Li Yuqing retreating to the corner, Old Master Song did not let her off. He walked over to her side and sighed heavily, “I, an old man, do not have many years left to live. I only wish for my grandson to recover. You saw it yourself, Song Shi only reacts to you. Consider it my old man’s plea; could you spend more time with your Brother Song Shi during this period?”
Old Master Song acted very well, appearing like any concerned grandparent. However, he himself always stayed five steps away from Song Shi and had even moved to the third floor to distance himself from Song Shi. Now, he shamelessly asked a little girl like Li Yuqing to accompany Song Shi. Even knowing that according to the plot, Song Shi would eventually recover, Old Master Song’s behavior was still utterly shameless.
However, Li Yuqing was now dependent on others and had no ability to resist Old Master Song’s unreasonable demands. She could only force a timid smile and nod, “Yuqing understands. I will definitely spend more time with Brother Song Shi in the future.”
Old Master Song was very satisfied with Li Yuqing’s tactful response.
Perhaps discovering Li Yuqing’s multiple utilities, Old Master Song waved his hand, instructing the butler to buy a large pile of clothes and toys for Li Yuqing’s room. In front of the butler, Li Yuqing acted extremely fond of these toys, expressing endless gratitude towards Old Master Song. However, once the butler left, Li Yuqing’s face immediately turned cold. She went into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and desperately used water to wash the part of her arm that had been touched by Old Master Song…
“Yuqing, what are you doing!”
Song Xuyi originally thought that Li Yuqing had gone to the restroom. When she noticed that Li Yuqing hadn’t come out for a long time, she sensed something was wrong. By the time Song Xuyi rushed into the bathroom, Li Yuqing’s arm was already swollen and red.
“Dirty.” Li Yuqing spoke softly, turning her head to look at Song Xuyi, her eyes unfocused. She continued to scrub her arm insistently with soap, “Sister, I feel so disgusted with myself…”
Song Xuyi’s nose stung with emotion. She forcibly took the soap from Li Yuqing’s hand and held Li Yuqing’s hand tightly—
“It’s not dirty. Yuqing is cleaner than anyone here,” Song Xuyi looked into Li Yuqing’s eyes, which were filled with deep-seated hatred and self-loathing, and felt a sharp pain in her heart. She couldn’t help but squat down slightly, using Li Yuqing’s arm to touch her own face—
“Yuqing, look at me. You are not dirty at all. The person your hand is touching is not your enemy but me, who is willing to give you all my good fortune and who cares for you deeply…”
Li Yuqing did not respond. She stood there in a daze, biting her lower lip so hard that it turned white.
“Yuqing, your family wouldn’t want to see you tormenting yourself like this either—” Song Xuyi sighed, unable to resist reaching out to hug Li Yuqing’s trembling body.
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Cool liquid dripped onto Song Xuyi’s neck. She turned her head and turned up the water flow from the faucet.
Amid the sound of running water, Li Yuqing tightly hugged Song Xuyi’s waist and finally began to sob softly—
“I’m sorry, I lost Grandpa’s portrait! I’m sorry, I called a thief my father…”
……
Song Xuyi knew the deep sense of guilt in Li Yuqing’s heart, but rather than letting Li Yuqing keep it bottled up inside, it was better to let her vent it out.
“Grandpa and the family will forgive Yuqing; they know it wasn’t Yuqing’s wish…”
Song Xuyi gently patted Li Yuqing’s back, softly coaxing her. Accompanied by the ‘splashing’ sound of water from the faucet, Li Yuqing’s sobbing gradually subsided, and her stiff body finally started to relax bit by bit.
Song Xuyi breathed a sigh of relief and carefully wiped Li Yuqing’s face, hands, and feet clean with a towel. Initially, she thought it would be very strenuous to carry Li Yuqing, but to Song Xuyi’s surprise, Li Yuqing was pitifully light for her age.
Song Xuyi thought for a moment and decided not to wake Li Yuqing. She carried Li Yuqing to the bed in a position as if she were holding a baby, laboriously but with care.
After all, Li Yuqing was already over ten years old. Carrying her this short distance left Song Xuyi utterly exhausted. Just as she was about to get up to turn off the light, she found herself being tugged by the corner of her clothes. Sensing that Song Xuyi was about to leave, Li Yuqing used both her hands and feet to tightly hold onto Song Xuyi, even letting out a couple of ‘humph’ sounds from her nose.
Song Xuyi couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly, but this childlike side of Li Yuqing would become less and less common in the future. Feeling a pang of tenderness, Song Xuyi sighed, covered Li Yuqing with the blanket, and lay down beside her…
Song Xuyi had a dream.
She never expected to have a dream within a dream: she dreamt of a little bear nuzzling her face, leaving wet, slobbery marks on her cheeks…
Her cheek felt a bit itchy. Song Xuyi instinctively wanted to push the little bear away, but her fingertips touched something soft and tender.
Song Xuyi opened her eyes and was met with the beautiful face of Li Yuqing, just inches away: Li Yuqing had a small widow’s peak (a V-shaped point at the hairline), and though she was only in her early teens, she already showed the budding beauty of a future stunning woman. The faint morning light shone on her face, softening her striking features, making her look as beautiful as an angel.
Song Xuyi touched her own face, and indeed, her cheek felt a bit wet.
She couldn’t help but glance at Li Yuqing. The young girl seemed to have just taken a bath, as her hair was still somewhat wet and dripping water.
Was it the water from Li Yuqing’s hair that fell onto her face?
Song Xuyi didn’t think much of it and simply advised Li Yuqing to dry her hair early to avoid catching a cold. Just as she straightened up and was about to get out of bed, the young girl moved closer and threw herself into Song Xuyi’s arms, hugging her tightly like a bear.
“Big sister, it’s so good to have you!”
The young girl deliberately softened her voice, making it sound tender and delicate. Song Xuyi hadn’t expected the girl to suddenly become so clingy. Her face felt a bit warm, but the girl’s dependent and affectionate demeanor made her heart tremble with affection. She couldn’t help but pat Li Yuqing’s head, “Because Yuqing is a good child, of course I will protect you.”
Apparently not expecting Song Xuyi to say this, Li Yuqing was momentarily stunned—
“Will big sister always protect me in the future?”
Li Yuqing spoke softly, tightening her grip around Song Xuyi.
Song Xuyi pressed her lips together.
She knew that Li Yuqing deeply craved her companionship at this moment, yet Song Xuyi herself did not know when she could return to the real world. Thus, she could only give Li Yuqing an ambiguous answer: “This is not something I can decide. When I have a choice, I will accompany you as much as possible.”
Even though she tried to say it as gently as possible, Song Xuyi knew that Li Yuqing must have understood her words and therefore was somewhat unhappy. But Li Yuqing had always been a sensible young girl. She buried her head in Song Xuyi’s embrace for a long time, and finally spoke in a muffled voice:
“I understand, big sister.”
To Song Xuyi, this was just a minor episode.
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Song Xuyi originally thought that this matter was over: Li Yuqing would accept the fact that, like before, she might suddenly leave one day.
However, Song Xuyi belatedly realized in the following days that Li Yuqing had become extremely strange recently. Li Yuqing became even more clingy, and there suddenly appeared many sets of obviously much larger clothes in the bedroom…
“Big sister, I bought my clothes too big!” Li Yuqing blinked her beautiful eyes and tugged at Song Xuyi’s sleeve: “I remember when you came before, you didn’t wear this set of clothes. So, fairies also change clothes, right?”
“Do you want to try changing into a different set of clothes? I checked, and these clothes will fit you perfectly…”
Song Xuyi had never tried changing clothes in a dream before, always feeling that this might trigger some ‘supernatural event’. However, the young girl’s gaze was just too eager, and Song Xuyi conceded, deciding to give it a try—
Sure enough, as Song Xuyi had anticipated, the mirror reflected only a set of clothing floating in mid-air. If someone else saw this, their jaw would definitely drop.
Song Xuyi could only change back into her original clothes.
Two buttons were missing from the shirt; they probably fell off unnoticed while changing clothes. Song Xuyi searched for a long time but couldn’t find them and couldn’t use the buttons from the dream as replacements. Thinking that only Li Yuqing could see her anyway, Song Xuyi let it go.
However, the missing buttons were somewhat inconvenient. The originally proper shirt turned into a V-neck after losing two buttons, revealing Song Xuyi’s delicate collarbones and some faintly discernible cleavage. Since Li Yuqing liked to sleep while hugging Song Xuyi, Song Xuyi had to change into the dream’s pajamas when sleeping and switch back to her own clothes after waking up. Probably due to the frequent changing of clothes, one day, Song Xuyi found that the hem of her shirt had torn open.
Fortunately, the tear wasn’t significant, so Song Xuyi didn’t pay much attention to it.
Perhaps because she had finally accepted her current situation mentally, Li Yuqing seemed noticeably happier in the following days, and there were no more instances of emotional breakdowns.
However, Song Shi’s treatment encountered a bottleneck.
Although Song Shi would say a few words to Li Yuqing and show concern for her health, he still ignored everyone else.
Old Master Song was dissatisfied with the progress of Song Shi’s treatment and had reprimanded the treating doctors multiple times. He also had several conversations with Li Yuqing, hinting that she should ‘cling to’ Song Shi more and imitate her elder sister…
Li Yuqing did not follow Old Master Song’s instructions.
After being reprimanded by Old Master Song once again, Li Yuqing, facing Song Xuyi’s worried gaze, squatted in front of the despondent Song Shi’s wheelchair, looking directly into his withered eyes: “Brother Song Shi, I’m actually very afraid of Grandpa Song.”
Song Shi seemed surprised that Li Yuqing would speak this way and glanced down at her, tugging at the corners of his lips: “No one in the entire Song family is not afraid of him.”
“I actually don’t like trying to please you either,” Li Yuqing continued, lowering her head: “But Grandpa Song said I have to please you. I don’t want to live in a dark, damp rental room anymore, and I don’t want to go hungry for two or three days at a time… So I deliberately imitate my sister and overcome my fear to come to see you every day—”
“Brother Song Shi, I know you’re pretending to be sick. I don’t know why you’re pretending, but I want to live a good life—”
……
Li Yuqing kept her head lowered without looking up, while Song Shi seemed too ashamed to face her, covering his face with his hand.
After a long while, Song Shi finally lowered his hand.
There was a hint of fatigue in his eyes, and although he was a young man, his voice sounded like that of an old man who had weathered many storms: “I understand.”
“Yuqing, I will protect you. This is what I owe your sister.”
After that, Song Shi indeed started to recover.
As a result, Old Master Song’s attitude towards Li Yuqing improved significantly. He began sending her to school and giving her a large amount of pocket money every month…
At that time, electronic devices were becoming widespread. When Li Yuqing asked for the latest mobile phone and computer to play games, Old Master Song was more than happy to see her indulging in such distractions and naturally agreed to everything.
However, Old Master Song did not know that under his nose, the little girl who claimed to want to play games had started self-studying business knowledge. She contacted the person responsible for the wealth left overseas by Old Master Li and began making business investments. Under the guidance of Song Xuyi, who had once been the richest person, Li Yuqing made rapid progress…
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, Song Xuyi had been in the dream for more than half a year.
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As time passed, a sense of panic gradually surged in Song Xuyi’s heart. She did not know how much longer she would have to stay in this dream, nor how much time had passed in reality. Li Yuqing seemed to notice Song Xuyi’s unease and clung to her more each day, trying all sorts of ways to make her happy. Hugging Song Xuyi and acting coquettishly, she promised: “Sister, if you stay, I will do my best to treat you well. Although I have nothing now, in the future, whatever you want, I will give it to you…”
Therefore, when one day Song Xuyi opened her eyes and saw the bright incandescent light above her head, smelled the scent of disinfectant in the hospital, and saw the joyful smile of Li Yuqing in reality, Song Xuyi almost instinctively thought of the little Li Yuqing in her dream: After she woke up, what would the little Li Yuqing in the dream become?
“You were in a coma for a day and a night this time. Fortunately, the examination showed no major issues. The doctor said you were sleep-deprived recently, so I didn’t wake you up and let you rest a bit more…”
Li Yuqing was still saying something, but Song Xuyi could no longer hear it.
Song Xuyi looked at the clothes she was wearing: it was still the shirt she had worn before she fainted, but perhaps due to a series of examinations, two buttons were missing from the shirt, and there was a tear at the back, exactly the same as what she wore in the latter part of her dream!
This was too much of a coincidence!
A horrifying guess flashed through Song Xuyi’s mind at that moment, and she couldn’t help but glance at Li Yuqing beside her: Li Yuqing happened to be looking at her too. Song Xuyi didn’t know if it was her illusion, but Li Yuqing’s hooked eyees overlapped with those of the Li Yuqing in the dream…
Was everything in the dream really… just a dream?
The author has something to say:
Heeheehee, this can be considered a relatively “fat” chapter~ (In Chinese internet slang, a “fat” chapter typically means a longer or more content-rich chapter compared to others.)
LP: Re-translated on July 17, 2024