Blame the Villain – Chapter 39
by Little PandaThe Villainous Poor Student (4)
Determined True Daughter Self-Made Entrepreneur x Black-Hearted Lotus Villain Poor Student
Father Song and Mother Song had maintained themselves well — time seemed to have stood still on them, and they looked no different from several years ago. Song Xuyi recognized them at a single glance.
Father Song and Mother Song watched Song Xuyi from a distance, but for a moment couldn’t quite bring themselves to confirm what they saw.
Mother Song in particular had tears welling in her eyes in an instant: their youngest daughter, who once had chubby cheeks and soft, fair skin — how could she have become so gaunt, her skin so parched and withered?
…
Then she saw the red moles behind Song Xuyi’s ear and on her elbow.
Mother Song burst into tears on the spot: this was indeed the little daughter she had yearned for, lost for six whole years!
What on earth had her poor daughter been through all these years…
“It’s all my fault! If I’d watched you more closely that day, you wouldn’t have suffered so much all these years…”
Mother Song clutched Song Xuyi and wept as if her heart would break, and perhaps stirred by the residual emotions left in this body, tears slipped from Song Xuyi’s own eyes as well…
“Today is a day for reunion — let’s not cry anymore. Xuyi is very smart. She always remembered her home address and her parents’ names all these years, which is how she found you…”
“At the same time, we also need to thank little Xuyi,” said the Flower City police officer who had accompanied them, crouching down in front of Song Xuyi. He was a veteran officer in his forties or fifties who, by coincidence, also bore the surname He. He smiled at Song Xuyi with utmost warmth. “Xuyi’s parents wanted to rush over the moment they heard the news, but thanks to the evidence Xuyi provided, our ongoing human trafficking investigation had a crucial breakthrough. To avoid tipping off the suspects, the department delayed for two days — they only came after the criminals had been arrested…”
“Many more children will soon be able to return to their own homes thanks to Xuyi’s help…”
…
With the gentle counsel of those around her, Mother Song stopped crying. The whole group gathered around Song Xuyi, fussing over her, wishing they could make up for all the years they had missed with her.
…
This was an atmosphere He Siyu had no part in.
He Siyu stood quietly to one side, watching it all unfold.
…So these were the city girl’s real family?
They looked like people from another world: clean, tidy, gentle…
And the girl would leave with them, and perhaps they would never meet again…
He Siyu had thought she wouldn’t care.
A life lived on constant alert had long taught her that no one else could be relied upon — that she could depend only on herself.
Yet watching Song Xuyi surrounded at the center of the crowd, thinking that there would be no one left to march over, tiny but bossy, and pat her head; no one to take her hand and vow to protect her; no one to turn quietly in the dead of night and peer at her with wide, dewy eyes to check if she was asleep; no one to cheer, “You’re so amazing at studying!” with bubbling delight…
He Siyu couldn’t quite name what she was feeling — only that it was as if something invisible had gripped her throat, and suddenly she couldn’t quite breathe…
Yet Song Xuyi, for all the people gathered around her, for all the happy life she was about to return to — she lifted her head and looked straight at He Siyu.
Meeting Song Xuyi’s gaze, He Siyu’s heart gave a sudden lurch.
“Mom, Dad, I want to bring jiejie home with me.”
Song Xuyi said this in the local mountain dialect — she’d spoken it deliberately for He Siyu’s benefit.
For a moment He Siyu thought she had misheard, but seeing the insistence in the girl’s eyes, she bit her lower lip and found she couldn’t form the words to refuse…
Seeing that He Siyu didn’t object, Song Xuyi turned and relayed the request to her parents in Mandarin, adding: “Don’t worry, Mom and Dad — when I’m a bit older, I’ll adopt jiejie myself…”
Father Song and Mother Song blinked, jolted from their joy at finding their daughter. They exchanged a glance, their expressions complicated…
“Don’t be silly — we can’t let you raise this older sister,” Father Song said with a wry smile. He drew his daughter aside, crouched down, and carefully explained: “Here’s the thing — after we couldn’t find you, your mother and I were devastated. So we went to a welfare home and adopted an older girl who had lost her own family. We hoped that if you were out there somewhere, someone kind would take you in too, so you wouldn’t suffer…”
At this point, Father Song looked at Song Xuyi, so thin she was practically skin and bones, and his voice thickened: “It’s not that Mom and Dad don’t want to bring your older sister along, but the law says a household can adopt at most one child. We already adopted your older sister Song Han, so we can’t adopt another…”
Song Xuyi pressed her lips together. She hadn’t anticipated this complication — the law limited each household to one adopted child, and the Song family had already adopted the female lead Song Han, which meant they couldn’t also adopt He Siyu.
But if He Siyu were left at the welfare home without her keeping watch, Song Xuyi feared she would go astray and become as ruthless as she had been in the original plot. Besides, He Siyu had only just begun learning Mandarin — apart from Song Xuyi herself, no one could understand her local dialect. Song Xuyi couldn’t bear to leave her isolated and alone here…
“Isn’t there some other way?” Song Xuyi clutched Father Song’s arm and pleaded. “All these years, jiejie is the only person who was ever good to me!”
Father Song’s heart ached anew at those words. He couldn’t bear to deny his daughter anything right now — but their family truly couldn’t adopt another child…
“We’ll be staying here for a few days,” Father Song said, his eyes glistening as he patted Song Xuyi’s head. “I’ll think of something these next few days — I’ll find a way to bring this older sister back to Flower City with us…”
If their own family couldn’t adopt the child, perhaps he could ask relatives or friends if they’d be willing. The Song family could cover the living expenses…
Song Xuyi knew Father Song was in a difficult position. She nodded obediently, already turning the problem over in her mind: if she couldn’t bring He Siyu along, could she find a way to stay in this city with her?
No one noticed the veteran police officer from Flower City glance at He Siyu — and when he caught sight of the red mole beneath her eye, his eyes widened slightly.
…
Since Father Song and Mother Song had already adopted a child, taking Song Xuyi from the welfare home required proof that she was indeed a Song. As a precaution, Song Xuyi stayed at the welfare home for several more days until the paternity test results — ordered at great expense by Father Song and Mother Song — came back. Only then did they have the authority to complete the paperwork and bring Song Xuyi home.
Father Song and Mother Song had been certain all along that Song Xuyi was their daughter. Seeing the conditions at the welfare home broke their hearts, and while they waited for the results, they bought her a mountain of food, clothes, and toys — as if to compensate. But no matter what they bought, Song Xuyi always made sure to get a share for He Siyu. Meanwhile, she kept a private mental ledger, determined to repay the Song family once she started earning her own money…
Mother Song had stylish taste and picked clothes that fit perfectly. Seeing Song Xuyi insist on buying something for He Siyu every single time, she was both glad her daughter had a companion through hard times and couldn’t resist teasing: “My Xuyi knows how to dote on someone now! I raise Xuyi, and Xuyi raises Siyu…”
Song Xuyi’s hands froze. She ducked her head and laughed, a little embarrassed.
Mother Song was only joking — she had no idea that Song Xuyi was genuinely raising He Siyu as her own child.
He Siyu had undergone a transformation beyond recognition in this time.
She’d changed into new clothes and scrubbed her face clean — and already a boy at the welfare home had blushed and offered her a lollipop!
Song Xuyi couldn’t help but wear an auntie smile1 at the sight…
And in these days, He Siyu had grown more cheerful. She’d begun actively learning Mandarin from Song Xuyi, and within a few days, while other words still came haltingly, she could call out “Xuyi” with effortless smoothness. Her voice, too, was gradually losing its hoarseness, recovering the clear, sweet tone a young girl should have.
Everything was moving in the right direction.
A few days later, news came from the neighboring city: the police, bringing a forensic examiner, had trekked over mountains and into the village. An autopsy confirmed that He Siyu’s mother had died from external trauma, and the charge of intentional homicide against He Biao was upheld.
He Biao, having failed to find He Siyu in the city, had cursed and muttered his way back to the village — only to be greeted by cold shackles and a death sentence that would follow soon after…
Six months after He Siyu’s mother’s death, long-overdue justice had finally arrived!
“Siyu, you never have to worry about He Biao coming for you again…”
After relaying everything to He Siyu, Song Xuyi threw her arms around her, overwhelmed with emotion.
He Siyu said nothing.
She blinked, turning her face away from Song Xuyi’s gaze. The rims of her eyes reddened by degrees, and large tears rolled down from her clear, bright eyes…
He Siyu didn’t understand what was happening to her.
In He Siyu’s understanding, crying was a sign of weakness. She hadn’t wanted to cry — and especially not in front of Song Xuyi. But the moment Song Xuyi held her, the moment she felt the girl’s warmth, the tears fell before she even realized it…
Song Xuyi froze.
He Siyu’s crying was the silent kind — teardrops gathered on her long, butterfly-wing lashes like dew, setting off her sharp chin, her pale cheeks, her bitten-red lips, making the sight heartbreakingly beautiful…
Watching He Siyu weep, Song Xuyi’s heart twisted. A line surfaced in her mind: Children cry and fuss because crying makes them feel that someone cares; but those whom no one cares about can’t even afford to cry out loud.
…
Song Xuyi had never imagined a child could cry so heartbreakingly, so wrenchingly.
“I’ll be twice as good to her from now on!”
Song Xuyi knew He Siyu needed to let it out. She held her in silence, saying nothing — but in her mind, she told the System: “My heart aches for her so much…”
The System hesitated, looking at the red mole beneath He Siyu’s eye. It felt a vague sense of unease — but then reminded itself that He Siyu was still just a child, not yet corrupted like the villains of the previous two worlds. Besides, she really was crying so pitifully. So it echoed Song Xuyi’s words: “She will surely be moved by you…”
The next day, Father Song told Song Xuyi: Officer He, who had come along with them, had decided to adopt He Siyu — and He Siyu herself had agreed.
Officer He had once had a daughter of his own. She had accidentally drowned recently due to a congenital intellectual disability. His wife’s health had been deteriorating ever since, wasting away in depression day after day. By coincidence, his late daughter had also had a red mole beneath her eye — and the moment he saw He Siyu, Officer He had felt the impulse to adopt her.
Song Xuyi was overjoyed: Officer He was a perfect choice! Growing up in a police officer’s home, steeped in righteousness, He Siyu would surely never become the ruthless figure from the original plot!
Once everything was settled, the group boarded a train bound for Flower City.
The train swept the scenery swiftly behind them, just as it did the painful past that was already behind them.
“Siyu-jie, you’re so amazing — you can already write so many characters…” Seeing He Siyu still diligently doing her homework on the train, Song Xuyi admired the young girl’s tenacity more than ever. “We’ll go to school together and take the college entrance exam together. I’ll help Officer He raise you…”
Amazing? Since when was she amazing?
She was clearly the amazing one: she’d led her out of the village, escaped He Biao’s pursuit, learned so quickly, and everyone liked her…
He Siyu’s lips curved slightly. Listening to Song Xuyi chatter on about the future, a flicker of happiness stirred in her heart.
She didn’t know why she was happy. It was as if seeing Song Xuyi was happiness itself.
Her life had been rotting, reeking — yet Song Xuyi had pulled her out of the muck, like a shaft of light piercing into a dark, sealed space, making the world suddenly, impossibly bright.
And a new life was unfolding, slowly, to the clatter-clack of the train…
The author has something to say:
Hehehehehe.
She’s finally crying!
For you lovelies who aren’t sure what this means, please go read the book summary again~ (withdraws the desperately reaching Erkang hand2!)
Footnotes
- A Chinese internet slang term for a fond, indulgent, or doting smile, typically directed at children or young people — as an aunt would smile at a beloved child.
- A popular Chinese internet meme referencing the dramatic outstretched-hand pose of the character Erkang from the classic TV drama 'My Fair Princess,' used humorously to convey desperate gesturing or hinting.
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