Blame the Villain – Chapter 10

The Villainous Film Empress (10)

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

Song Xuyi bit her lower lip, feeling a little lost.

            

She didn’t think being compared to a cute little cat was an insult, but hearing it from Zhao Qingyu’s mouth, it just didn’t feel right no matter how she thought about it. She couldn’t shake the feeling that the detestable female villain was plotting something in private.

But Song Xuyi didn’t dare ask Zhao Qingyu why she had given her this gift.

After all, the bloody lesson was right before her eyes. She had merely stopped messaging on WeChat for a few days, and the female villain had shown up at her school without a word. Song Xuyi really did not want to experience that a second time.

            

Remembering the way Zhao Qingyu had smiled at her in the dormitory during the day, her expression full of seductive charm, Song Xuyi’s cheeks couldn’t help but heat up again.

She covered her face, took the small cat doll out, and placed it on her desk cabinet. She haphazardly snapped a photo and sent it to Zhao Qingyu with the message: “It’s very cute.” She considered the matter dealt with.

Zhao Qingyu didn’t reply, probably because she was busy. Song Xuyi was happy about that. She let out a sigh of relief, thinking she had muddled her way through this ordeal, and headed back to the library to continue reading the medical book she hadn’t finished.

            

However, Song Xuyi had forgotten one thing—she might have passed Zhao Qingyu’s trial, but the trials of others were not so easy to pass.

When Song Xuyi returned from the library, she was met with a joint interrogation from her roommates, led by Huang Juanjuan. They surrounded Song Xuyi, their smiles incredibly suggestive. “Xuyi, you’re not being fair. Did you secretly get a boyfriend?”

The small cat on Song Xuyi’s desk was so exquisite and cute that it had naturally caught her roommates’ attention. They had interpreted the “like you” on the cat’s collar in another way, all of them believing it was a confession of love to Song Xuyi.

            

“This… was a gift from a friend.”

Song Xuyi deeply regretted her carelessness and quickly removed the card hanging from the cat’s neck. Her explanation didn’t convince her roommates. In a twist of fate, her mortified expression only made them more certain their guess was right: Song Xuyi definitely had someone she liked!

But in the days that followed, no matter how much her roommates pestered her, Song Xuyi refused to say who he was, which only made the girls in the dorm even more curious.

            

Soon, Song Xuyi’s birthday was approaching.

Father Song and Mother Song always placed great importance on Song Xuyi’s birthday each year, so they naturally wouldn’t let her celebrate it at school.

But Song Xuyi’s dormitory had a rule: whenever someone had a birthday, they would treat the entire dorm to a meal. Not wanting to break the rule, Song Xuyi treated all the girls in her dorm to dinner and a movie a day in advance.

            

A rumor had previously circulated at school that Song Xuyi was studying hard to get a scholarship. But Song Xuyi had dispelled that rumor with her actions: even though she always got first place, she never applied for any scholarships or financial aid. On top of that, Father Song and Mother Song had vaguely heard about the rumor and deliberately had the Old Housekeeper pick Song Xuyi up from school a few times in a mid-range luxury car. The rumor that Song Xuyi was poor quickly collapsed on its own, and her roommates could now let her treat them with peace of mind.

Whether by coincidence or for some other reason, advance screenings for Zhao Qingyu’s second movie had just begun.

It was a low-budget film with a fast production cycle; filming had taken less than half a year in total. The released trailer showed Zhao Qingyu playing the role of a killer.

            

In the trailer, Zhao Qingyu was at times a glamorous and charming lady at a cocktail party, at others a gentle and quiet jiejie like the school flower next door, and at others a black-clad, long-haired figure walking through the darkness with a sharp gaze…

Several hashtags were already trending on Weibo: “Zhao Qingyu’s Fashion Show,” “Jiejie Kill Me,” “I Dream of Zhao Qingyu Seducing Me”…

Song Xuyi knew that in a few years, a saying would circulate in the industry: “If Zhao Qingyu is in it, it can’t be a bad film.” This movie would further solidify Zhao Qingyu’s status in the film world. But even knowing it wasn’t a bad film, Song Xuyi still didn’t really want to see it.

            

She was afraid that after watching this movie, she would completely lose all resistance to Zhao Qingyu’s beauty.

However, her roommates didn’t understand Song Xuyi’s painful and conflicted feelings. And whether it was a case of foes being bound to meet or something else, there happened to be an advance screening on the day Song Xuyi was treating them. Her roommates were overjoyed and all urged Song Xuyi to buy tickets for the screening.

Not wanting to spoil everyone’s fun, Song Xuyi had no choice but to buy the movie tickets. At the same time, she downloaded a chanted version of the 《Heart Sutra》​¹ on her phone. Listening to the monk’s recitation amidst the sounds of an ancient temple bell and a wooden fish, Song Xuyi felt her entire being ascend. She was sure she would have enough willpower to resist the assault of Zhao Qingyu’s beauty on the big screen.

            

Because they were looking forward to the advance screening, the roommates were all absent-minded during dinner. They had put on beautiful makeup before going out, dressed as solemnly as if they were going on a date. This was another thing Song Xuyi didn’t understand: Zhao Qingyu’s female fans seemed even crazier than her male fans.

The movie was just as Song Xuyi had expected—full of suspense and tightly paced. Gasps echoed continuously throughout the theater. Meanwhile, Song Xuyi’s plan to listen to the 《Heart Sutra》 was dead before it even began. When Huang Juanjuan saw that Song Xuyi was actually wearing headphones, she blew a gasket on the spot and immediately ripped them off. “My wife is so beautiful, everyone came here for her, and you’re listening to music now that we’re in the theater?!”

Song Xuyi didn’t dare let Huang Juanjuan know she was listening to the 《Heart Sutra》, so she could only watch the movie along with them. And, as expected, she was drawn into the plot.

            

The brilliant female killer completed several missions in a row, fraught with peril yet always managing to turn danger into safety. Some people couldn’t hire her even for a sky-high price, yet a little girl who wanted to avenge her parents hired her with just a single lollipop. The rich and cruel who had committed every evil deed were prey in her hands. She moved between blood and darkness, the most mysterious legend in the city.

In the end, the boss of the Killer Group smiled and wrapped his arm around her waist, promising her the position of his fiancée. But then the woman smiled, and in the next instant, a distant gunshot shattered the boss’s chest…

The film was two hours long. During the latter half of the movie, it seemed like people were continuously walking in, and gradually the surrounding aisles were filled with standing people. But in the dim light, none of the audience members were in the mood to pay attention to these latecomers.

            

“No one can command me!”

Watching the black-clad Zhao Qingyu on the screen, her eyes icy and her lips curled into a cold smile after killing the group’s boss, Song Xuyi almost lost control and joined some of the girls in the audience in shouting “Wife”​²!

Awooo, why did the villain have to have such a face that could enchant all living beings?

            

…

The movie ended, and the lights above came on. Huang Juanjuan turned her head, about to discuss the plot with Song Xuyi, when she suddenly let out a sharp scream!

Following Huang Juanjuan’s gaze, Song Xuyi saw Zhao Qingyu walking in the aisle beside them.

            

Zhao Qingyu was wearing a well-tailored business suit dress. Along with the director and several main cast members, she was walking down the side aisle toward the front of the screen.

The moment they saw this group, the audience went wild, shouting “Wife Qingyu!” The cheers from Song Xuyi’s roommates were so loud they nearly deafened her!

At that moment, however, Song Xuyi was incredibly grateful that there were so many people. This way, Zhao Qingyu wouldn’t necessarily spot her hiding in the crowd. And with the crowd as cover, Song Xuyi could boldly size Zhao Qingyu up.

            

Today, Zhao Qingyu seemed to have deliberately dressed a bit more maturely. She had her hair up in a bun, revealing a smooth, bright forehead and a slender neck. She wore a pair of simple pearl earrings, making her look bright and capable—a different style from her usual.

The host explained that the celebrity fan meeting was originally scheduled for another movie theater, but there had been an unexpected issue with that theater’s equipment, so the event had been moved to this cinema.

Generally, these kinds of fan meetings don’t last very long.

            

The director and main cast greeted everyone, the media asked a few routine questions, and then came the final game segment. The meeting was almost over.

Time passed, and soon it was time for the game segment.

When the host announced they were going to draw a fan from the audience to get a hug from Zhao Qingyu, the entire theater erupted.

            

“Wife, pick me, I’m super sweet…”

“Wife…”

“Qingyu, pick me!”

            

All sorts of voices rose and fell, the screams nearly threatening to blow the roof off.

Song Xuyi kept her lips pressed tightly together, thinking that with so many people, Zhao Qingyu would definitely not pick her. But she had forgotten about the few roommates who had come with her.

Her roommates—it wasn’t clear who started it—shouted in unison: “Pick Xuyi! It’s Xuyi’s birthday tomorrow!”

            

“Pick Xuyi!”

…

The voices of a few people drowned out everyone around them.

            

In that instant, Song Xuyi felt a chill in her heart. She froze in her seat, only able to watch as Zhao Qingyu glanced in her direction with a smile that was not quite a smile, then turned her head and said something to the host with a grin.

“Alright, then let’s invite our lucky fan, Miss Xuyi, to the stage!”

When the host finished speaking, Song Xuyi’s roommates were ecstatic. They practically pushed Song Xuyi in front of Zhao Qingyu. Even if they couldn’t go on stage and hug Zhao Qingyu themselves, just being exposed to their idol’s line of sight along with Xuyi was a kind of happiness!

            

Before she could even react, she was standing on the stage. Looking at her happy roommates nearby, Song Xuyi’s face turned beet red. She didn’t know what kind of expression to make. If she had a choice, at that moment, she just wanted the ground to swallow her whole.

Song Xuyi truly couldn’t understand: why did so many things that caught her off guard always happen whenever she encountered Zhao Qingyu?

Especially when the female villain before her was smiling so seriously and opening her arms. “Xuyi, a happy early birthday to you!”

            

The screams rang out once more.

Some of the media members at the fan meeting couldn’t help but raise their cameras.

In the hazy light, the shy and lovely young girl and the bright and elegant female star formed an unusually harmonious picture.

            

And for some reason, Song Xuyi often thought of this moment long after it had passed: the woman’s smiling eyes, the pleasant scent of her perfume, and the soft chuckle she had whispered next to her ear—

“Kiddo, why do you always blush when you see me?”
…

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The author has something to say:

            

Song Xuyi: Because the female villain is too shameless for teasing a little girl!

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LP: Re-translated on December 14, 2023

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