Blame the Villain – Chapter 40
by Little PandaThe Villainous Poor Student (5)
Determined True Daughter Self-Made Entrepreneur x Black-Hearted Lotus Villain Poor Student
Flower City sat on the coast, one of the first regions to develop, its economy naturally far more prosperous than the inland. But after leaving the village, He Siyu had seen something of the world these past weeks; though the city’s high-rises and wide asphalt roads filled her with wonder, she didn’t lose her composure.
He Siyu remembered the words Xuyi had told her: “Study hard. Learning is the fastest force that can make a person strong. Learning lets you face your own shortcomings and see the vastest world. What you learn will merge into your very bones and blood and shape your entire life…”
He Siyu’s understanding of knowledge was still fuzzy, but she believed Song Xuyi’s words: if Xuyi said so, then learning must hold enormous benefit for her!
Besides, He Siyu didn’t dislike learning.
The outside world was far more bustling than anything she could have imagined. She had already been given opportunities that girls deep in the mountains could never hold onto — and all she had to do was seize them firmly and blend into this different world.
Song Xuyi went home with Father Song and Mother Song, while He Siyu went home with Officer He.
Father Song knew that Officer He had emptied his pockets paying for his wife’s medical treatment and had wanted to give him money, but Officer He flatly refused: “Adopting Siyu is my own affair. It has nothing to do with your Song family. A child I adopt should be cared for by us ourselves…”
Father Song had no choice. He gained a deeper appreciation for Officer He’s character and reflected that growing up in such a household would surely keep He Siyu on a good path. He quietly instructed Mother Song to send He Siyu a share of anything good to eat or useful from now on — after all, He Siyu and their Xuyi had been through hardship together and ought to be lifelong sisters.
When He Siyu followed Officer He from the garden villa back to his unit building, her expression didn’t change.
Officer He’s wife had already received his call. She knew her husband had taken in a poor, ill-fated child in the countryside who resembled their own daughter who had died young. She had scrubbed the place from top to bottom early that morning, and when she saw He Siyu, her eyes turned red —
Such a beautiful girl, nearly destroyed by beasts. Thank heaven that justice was done…
“This is your Auntie Wang,” Officer He introduced. “Good child, from now on treat this as your own home.”
Auntie Wang’s face was kind, and her gaze brimmed with tenderness and affection. He Siyu didn’t know what had come over her — she suddenly felt too shy to meet Auntie Wang’s eyes and bit her lower lip as she lowered her head.
Song Xuyi had long since taught He Siyu how to address adults. He Siyu ducked her head and softly called out to her. Auntie Wang drew He Siyu into conversation, asking her a few questions. She was a veteran teacher who had retired from active teaching for health reasons, with rich experience communicating with children. Her manner was calm and warm.
When He Siyu could answer, she did so in halting Mandarin; when she couldn’t understand, she simply shook her head. After a few exchanges, Auntie Wang could tell this was a bright child who had been held back by circumstance, and her heart ached even more.
Auntie Wang bustled He Siyu into what would be her room from now on, thoughtfully giving her time alone, then went to the kitchen to start cooking.
The room was small but spotlessly tidy. The window stood open, sunlight pouring in. Beside it hung pink floral curtains. A study desk sat before the window, next to a bookshelf full of books. A narrow single bed — its bedding carried the smell of sunshine, clearly sun-dried not long ago. Beside that stood a wardrobe with a few sets of clothes inside, and on top of the wardrobe, a full-length mirror.
He Siyu looked at the girl in the mirror.
It was the first time she had studied herself so carefully. The person in the mirror was both familiar and strange: the girl’s face was tiny, her eyes enormous, her hair neatly combed and tied into a ponytail. For the first time, He Siyu realized — she was… a little pretty.
The creek in the mountain hollow had always cast a hazy reflection, her features never clear. Back then, she had loathed looking at her dirty, disheveled reflection in the water, believing she would spend her whole life in that mountain ravine. She had never imagined she would one day truly escape from that hell — and have a… home.
He Siyu felt a surge of happiness she couldn’t name. Her lips curved, and she smiled at her reflection.
…
Meanwhile, Song Xuyi had also returned to the Song household.
The female lead, Song Han, had heard that Song Xuyi was coming home and had waited anxiously by the door since early morning, not knowing how Song Xuyi would regard this extra older sister. Beside her, Song Ge tried to reassure her — “Xuyi wouldn’t be unreasonable about it” — but felt a bit anxious himself. The little sister he remembered had been fiercely possessive, especially detesting anyone touching her things. He’d need to have a good talk with his sister once he saw her…
But when he saw Song Xuyi as she was now, every word of persuasion died in Song Ge’s throat. The chubby, snow-white little dumpling of a sister from his memories — how had she become this gaunt, skeletal figure? Her hands in particular were covered in chilblains, large and small…
If it had been him — if he had suffered while someone else took his place at home, bathed in love and comfort —
Song Ge bowed his head.
It wasn’t just Song Ge. Father Song and Mother Song were anxious too, forcing smiles as they introduced her: “Xu… Xuyi, this is your Song Han-jiejie—”
But Song Xuyi didn’t reject Song Han’s presence as they had anticipated.
Song Xuyi looked at Song Han and smiled. Meeting Song Han’s startled gaze, she reached out her hand first.
“Jiejie, hello!”
Song Xuyi was now eleven, the age for fifth grade. But her elementary education had been interrupted, so Father Song delayed sending her to school for a year. He hired private tutors to help her catch up at home, planning to send her to school formally once she had a foundation after a year.
Since teaching one child was the same as teaching two, and thinking Song Xuyi needed company, Father Song also had He Siyu come over each day for lessons.
Song Xuyi was immensely grateful to have He Siyu as a study partner. After all, Song Xuyi had an adult mind inside — and had been a top student to boot. Making her study elementary school material all over again was genuinely too much for her. She had already settled on her direction for this world, and Song Xuyi had no patience for wasting time. At first, she played along. But once Father Song and Mother Song went back to work and no one was keeping watch, Song Xuyi would pretend to study for half an hour, then go upstairs, boot up her brother’s computer, and get online — even sneaking out to buy stacks of programming books…
Computers were still a novelty at this time, having only recently arrived in the country. Song Ge had begged and pleaded with their parents to buy one. He used to practice typing and play basic Minesweeper and card games, but lately he’d started chatting with friends and stealing virtual vegetables on a program called Ostrich.
Song Xuyi knew this was an era of rapid development. The computer field in particular would explode over the next decade. Many had already caught the scent of opportunity in social networking and begun building platforms. But online shopping sites had yet to take shape. A plan took shape in Song Xuyi’s mind: she wanted to build a fast, convenient e-commerce platform.
Song Xuyi had settled on this plan back when she escaped the village: she wanted to help girls in remote areas, girls like He Siyu.
But this country’s population was simply enormous. Helping that many children would require a fortune beyond counting…
And Song Xuyi understood better than anyone how wildly the internet wave would sweep through the future. Standing at the crest of the era, Song Xuyi wanted to gamble on it!
…
Song Ge treasured this computer — he didn’t even let their parents touch it. Song Han and Song Xuyi were the only two people besides himself he permitted near his precious machine.
Song Han, obedient girl that she was, rarely used the computer, mindful of her teachers’ warnings against games. Song Xuyi was a different story. Song Ge often came home from school to find her on the computer, sometimes tapping strings of symbols he couldn’t understand on certain pages.
Song Ge didn’t know what his sister was doing, but skipping tutoring to play on the computer didn’t look good by any measure. He dropped a vague hint. What he got in return was: “How about Gege1 quiz me on some elementary school questions?”
After stubbornly testing Song Xuyi through three full exam papers, Song Ge — an edgy middle-schooler — concluded his sister was a genius. His sister-con2 tendencies fully ignited, at his sister’s pleading he not only stopped telling on her but even began covering for her with their parents.
The female lead, Song Han, also noticed something was off. But she wanted her little sister to like her and didn’t want to spark family conflict. After some thought, Song Han sided with Song Xuyi too. Perhaps uneasy at heart, though, Song Han gave Song Xuyi all her old study materials. Song Xuyi, aware of Song Han’s inner conflict, occasionally invited her to do homework together. Once Song Han saw that Song Xuyi genuinely could solve many of the problems, she felt reassured…
As for Song Xuyi’s tutors, they initially dropped oblique hints: “No matter how clever you are, you still need to study hard…” But after Song Xuyi repeatedly mastered the material at lightning speed and aced every quiz, the tutors had nothing left to say. They also had a bit of self-interest: if Father Song and Mother Song discovered how fast Song Xuyi was learning, they might end the tutoring early. The Song family paid generously, and the tutors didn’t want to lose the income. So they began turning a blind eye — as long as Song Xuyi grasped the material, they let her do as she pleased afterward.
Since Song Xuyi didn’t focus much on her own lessons, the tutors poured their energy into He Siyu. This girl, raised deep in the mountains, was incredibly hardworking. Though her learning speed couldn’t match Song Xuyi’s supernatural pace, she was outstanding — one in ten thousand. She learned conversational Mandarin in just over a month, retained characters almost photographically, and absorbed knowledge points with remarkable speed. It was only against Song Xuyi’s backdrop that she seemed less dazzling.
“Believe in yourself,” the tutors would urge, worried that He Siyu might feel crushed by Song Xuyi’s brilliance. “Hard work makes up for what you lack. You’re naturally smart. Don’t compare yourself to Xuyi — her learning speed is one in ten thousand. Compare yourself to yourself…”
Whenever this happened, He Siyu would lower her head and smile. The tutors thought she was putting on a brave face, hurting inside — but they didn’t know she was genuinely happy. Praise for Song Xuyi made He Siyu happier than praise for herself.
How could she ever compare herself to Xuyi?
Everything she had was a gift from Xuyi. Xuyi was her deity: brilliant, powerful, capable of anything, creating miracle after miracle — worthy of all the finest things in this world.
By late February, Spring Festival arrived.
The city hadn’t yet banned firecrackers. Around the Little New Year3, every household began bustling: buying New Year gifts, scrubbing their homes clean…
The mountain village had celebrated the New Year too, but as far back as He Siyu could remember, her own family had never observed it. During New Year, she and her mother were considered bad luck — and would receive a beating for it…
This was He Siyu’s first New Year.
He Siyu loved the home Officer He had given her. She was diligent and sensible around the house. Over the course of a month, Auntie Wang had come to treat He Siyu as her own daughter.
Locals didn’t eat dumplings on New Year’s Eve, but Auntie Wang was from the north. On New Year’s Eve, she began teaching He Siyu to make dumplings.
Officer He was on duty at the station. He Siyu stayed with Auntie Wang and wrapped a whole pile of dumplings. Her first one came out ugly, but every one after was neat as a work of art.
He Siyu really wanted Song Xuyi to taste the dumplings she’d made. Song Xuyi had shared so much with her, and she was willing to share everything she had with Song Xuyi.
But the buses stopped running on New Year’s Eve. He Siyu had no way to deliver them.
…
He Siyu didn’t understand what was wrong with her. She should have felt content. But perhaps because Xuyi wasn’t here, He Siyu felt inexplicably restless.
He Siyu went with Auntie Wang to the police station to deliver dumplings to the officers on duty.
Firecrackers weren’t banned yet. On the way back, some households had already begun setting off firecrackers.
By February, the coastal weather had turned warm. The streets were lined with flowers and teeming with visitors. Amid the crackle of firecrackers, children played in the road, neighbors exchanged beaming “Gong xi fa cai4” greetings, and scraps of red firecracker paper drifted down onto He Siyu’s hair. She cupped her hands over her ears, blinked — and caught by the festive mood, couldn’t help but smile…
Click.
He Siyu looked up on instinct — and saw Song Xuyi standing ahead, holding a camera.
Father Song and Mother Song were businesspeople who firmly believed in luck. On New Year’s Eve, they’d come out to walk the flower market…
Auntie Wang saw it was still early, so she joined the Song family for a stroll.
Song Xuyi pulled He Siyu along beside her, patting her chest with solemn promise: “The photo I just took of you is going to turn out so beautiful…”
He Siyu glanced at Song Xuyi, but her face showed an unusual hint of disappointment. “The dumplings are gone. I didn’t know I’d run into you — I didn’t save any for you…”
“That’s okay — you can make them for me next time!”
Song Xuyi adored how sweet and well-behaved He Siyu looked. If she hadn’t been physically younger than He Siyu, she would have loved to stuff a big red envelope into her hands. But since she couldn’t give a red envelope, Song Xuyi pressed a large bouquet of flowers and a pot of kumquat into He Siyu’s arms instead: “May flowers bring fortune, and may all your wishes come true!”
Seeing Song Xuyi, the restlessness in He Siyu’s heart was soothed completely.
She carried the flowers and kumquat home with care and devoutly lit three oil lamps — in the living room, at the doorway, and by the stove. She kept watch over the flames without blinking until dawn.
She had received so much this year.
She was doing wonderfully now. She had no other wish — only this: amid the firecrackers that crackled through the night, to light the New Year’s Fire5 for Xuyi and pray with all her heart:
“May Xuyi be safe and well, year after year.”
The author has something to say:
I’m tearing up, family. I did some soul-searching — just what have I done in the past that made you all too scared to trust my hints?
Blurb:
System: I said no dating, NO DATING!!!
Xuyi: “I can’t help it — the villain is too beautiful. I can’t bear to see her cry…”
Boohoo — yesterday’s update already had the tears. Can romance be far behind?!
And yet…
And yet…
And yet…
That year, beneath the apricot blossoms in the fine drizzle, my feelings were misplaced after all… (shrugs/jpg)
(weathered, taking a drag of a Hua Zi/jpg)
Footnotes
- An affectionate term for an older brother, used between siblings or close family.
- Slang for someone with an excessive, doting attachment to their younger sister.
- A festival celebrated on the 23rd or 24th of the 12th lunar month, marking the day the Kitchen God reports to heaven; also called the Festival of the Kitchen God.
- A traditional Chinese New Year greeting meaning 'wishing you wealth and prosperity.'
- A fire kept burning all night on New Year's Eve, a Chinese folk custom symbolizing longevity and the warding off of evil.
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