Blame the Villain – Chapter 14
by Little PandaThe Villainous Film Empress (14)
A little rich girl dedicated to saving the world X A paranoid, dark, and vengeful film empress
Song Xuyi thought she was hearing things, but the Zhao Qingyu before her still looked perfectly serious.
Clutching her collar, Song Xuyi told herself she absolutely could not back down this time. She glared at Zhao Qingyu. “My—my clothes aren’t wet underneath, and I didn’t bring a change of clothes…”
“—Achoo.”
But before she could finish, Song Xuyi couldn’t stop a sneeze from escaping.
She was mortified.
Zhao Qingyu, however, frowned deeply.
She reached out to feel Song Xuyi’s forehead, then poured some hot water from the thermos into its cap, took out some cold medicine, and pressed them into Song Xuyi’s hand. “Surely Doctor Song hasn’t failed to notice she’s caught a cold?” she asked, her voice cold.
Of course Song Xuyi knew she had a cold. And strictly speaking, she actually had brought some disposable underwear, tucked away in the inner pocket of her bag…
But she really didn’t need to change, and besides… if she changed, Zhao Qingyu would have seen the shadow on the wall back then, and she would definitely know that Song Xuyi had seen her changing…
It was too humiliating!
“I really didn’t bring a change of clothes for myself. You can check my bag if you don’t believe me…” Song Xuyi’s face was red as she stubbornly continued to lie.
Zhao Qingyu didn’t check her bag.
She stood before Song Xuyi, gazing at her thoughtfully. Something slowly surfaced in her pitch-black eyes. Finally, she sighed, her tone softening a little as she ruffled Song Xuyi’s hair. “Take the medicine first. The water’s getting cold.”
Song Xuyi let out a breath of relief.
Afraid that Zhao Qingyu would bring up changing clothes again, Song Xuyi quickly swallowed the medicine. The moment the hot water entered her stomach, her whole body warmed up considerably. She flexed her stiff limbs, but just then, a gust of cold wind blew in from outside, and she sneezed several more times.
Zhao Qingyu stood up.
She glanced around, saw the raincoat Song Xuyi had taken off, and used a branch to prop it up at the cave’s entrance, blocking the incoming wind.
Next, Zhao Qingyu took out the utility knife Song Xuyi had brought and, in a few quick moves, dismantled the large waterproof bag Song Xuyi had been carrying, fashioning it into a mat and spreading it on the ground.
While taking the bag apart, Zhao Qingyu seemed to discover the secret in the inner pocket. Her movements paused for an instant. In that moment, Song Xuyi’s heart nearly leaped into her throat. But Zhao Qingyu said nothing, not even lifting her head to look at Song Xuyi.
Song Xuyi sighed in relief, her worries settling.
Then Zhao Qingyu moved the pile of half-dry branches closer to the fire.
With this series of actions, the damp, cold cave instantly became much warmer.
Who knew Zhao Qingyu had such strong survival skills!
Song Xuyi watched all this from the side, clicking her tongue in praise.
But…
Tonight, Zhao Qingyu was unusually silent, her face devoid of its usual smile. Was this her true self?
…
Leaning against the wall, Song Xuyi’s thoughts were scattered and aimless. The medicine was probably kicking in, making her feel drowsy and groggy.
“Xuyi…”
Suddenly, Song Xuyi heard Zhao Qingyu call her name.
“Xuyi, come here.”
Zhao Qingyu was sitting by the fire on the mat she had fashioned from the waterproof bag. Her eyes shifted, and she suddenly smiled at Song Xuyi, her voice melodious and gentle.
That smile was simply too beautiful, like ice and snow melting, like a hundred flowers blooming at once. It left the already dazed Song Xuyi completely disoriented.
In a stupor, Song Xuyi slowly shuffled over to Zhao Qingyu’s side. She had just sat down when…
Zzzzip! The sound of a zipper being pulled!
Song Xuyi was instantly wide awake. She stared down in shock.
—Zhao Qingyu had unzipped her down jacket!
Song Xuyi froze, staring dumbly at Zhao Qingyu. But the expression on Zhao Qingyu’s face was extremely calm. Having discovered that Song Xuyi hadn’t been lying—that her clothes underneath were indeed dry—Zhao Qingyu’s knitted brow finally relaxed.
How could she do that?!
Song Xuyi’s face flushed with shame. She had left in such a hurry that she was wearing a set of rabbit pajamas underneath, and worried about the cold, she had haphazardly thrown a sweater on top. The hood of the rabbit pajamas wasn’t tucked into her collar, leaving a pair of rabbit ears sticking out. The thought of Zhao Qingyu seeing her in such a sloppy, chaotic state made Song Xuyi want to crawl into a hole in the ground.
She wanted to zip her jacket back up, but meeting Zhao Qingyu’s gradually chilling gaze, Song Xuyi inexplicably felt like a field mouse being stared down by a snake in an episode of Animal World1. Her body stiffened. Deciding to just smash a cracked pot since it was already broken2, she finally took off the down jacket, her face burning.
But Zhao Qingyu didn’t even look at what she was wearing.
The moment Song Xuyi took off her jacket, the zzzzip of another zipper sounded beside her, and then she fell into a warm embrace.
Zhao Qingyu wrapped her own large down jacket around Song Xuyi, holding her as they sat on the mat. She then picked up the jacket Song Xuyi had just removed and draped it over them as another layer. Only then did she speak, her voice dry and hoarse. “This way, you won’t be cold…”
Song Xuyi didn’t know what she could possibly say.
She just felt her whole body grow hot and stiff, her face so scalding it felt like it could drip blood. She didn’t dare to move a muscle.
It was only then that she remembered: she hadn’t told Zhao Qingyu that the disposable underwear was in the inner pocket. Zhao Qingyu probably hadn’t found it when she changed. That meant that underneath her down jacket, Zhao Qingyu was only wearing the loungewear she’d brought, with no bra. And right now, Song Xuyi’s head was buried in Zhao Qingyu’s neck, her arm touching Zhao Qingyu’s…
For a moment, Song Xuyi just wanted to cry.
“Now you can sleep peacefully!”
Above her, Zhao Qingyu spoke softly, patting her on the back.
But how could Song Xuyi possibly sleep in a situation like this?
Inhaling Zhao Qingyu’s delicate fragrance, Song Xuyi only felt hotter, as if she were about to burn up!
She closed her eyes, but for a long time, she didn’t feel the slightest bit sleepy.
“I can’t sleep. Why don’t you sleep first? We can take turns keeping watch. I’ll wake you up in the second half of the night…”
Song Xuyi opened her eyes and looked up at Zhao Qingyu. Maybe once Zhao Qingyu is asleep, I can quietly move away, and then it won’t be so awkward…
“Can’t sleep?”
Above her, Zhao Qingyu was silent for a moment. Song Xuyi wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but Zhao Qingyu’s face seemed a little red, too.
Her voice grew increasingly hoarse, as if she were suppressing something. She took a deep breath, then patted Song Xuyi’s back gently, as if coaxing a child. “…Then how about I tell you a story?”
Song Xuyi didn’t want to hear a story, but Zhao Qingyu had already begun:
“About twenty-some years ago, a woman was born in a small mountain village. She was a posthumous child; her father had passed away before she was born. Her mother struggled to raise her until she was eight, and then she, too, passed away. It was only then that the girl learned that most of the women in her family had the ‘Sleeping Sickness,’ and many didn’t live past thirty…”
“The people in the village didn’t give up on her. They fed her, clothed her, and sent her to school. When they heard she’d gotten into a film academy and would become the village’s first top student, every family donated money and goods, just wanting her to be able to study well…”
“At first, she was determined to become a big star so she could repay the villagers in her lifetime. But in her senior year, she met a man. He was born into a rich and powerful family and pursued her passionately. She fell for him and became pregnant with his child…”
“She thought she had found her ideal husband, but she never expected the man’s mother to use the ‘Sleeping Sickness’ as a reason to drive her away from his side…”
…
Song Xuyi had never expected to hear such a story.
It was too real, so real it seemed as if it had actually happened.
A wave of sadness washed over Song Xuyi.
The life of the woman in the story was just too tragic. Especially when she heard the woman had gotten pregnant, she faintly guessed at something, but she didn’t dare to ask, only lowering her head in silence.
The effects of the medicine surged, and Song Xuyi didn’t even know when she fell asleep.
She didn’t know how much time had passed, but in a daze, she seemed to hear a sigh. It felt as if someone, tenderly and with great restraint, had pressed a kiss to her forehead…
Zhao Qingyu didn’t know whether to count her luck as good or bad.
She had originally planned to secretly visit her grandparents’ graves to pay her respects, but halfway there, she ran into extreme weather.
Perhaps fate had taken pity on her. Not long after noticing the weather turning, she found a cave. Inside were some dry branches left by people before, just enough to help her ward off the cold.
But outside, the rain and hail continued to fall relentlessly. The temperature dropped lower and lower, and her damp clothes clung to her body. Cold and hungry, for the first time, Zhao Qingyu suspected she might not make it.
She had endured so much hardship in her life:
As a child, she watched her mother, gloomy and depressed, crying all day long. At a young age, Zhao Qingyu sold flowers and collected scraps to support her mother and herself.
Her mother survived past thirty, but she couldn’t accept the reality that she didn’t actually have the “Sleeping Sickness,” and in the end, she went mad. In the days before Auntie Liu appeared, Zhao Qingyu’s life was incredibly difficult: she stayed home every day to watch over her mad mother, enduring her beatings. When she was hungry, she even rummaged through trash heaps for food.
In the early days of starting her business, she was cheated by a partner and nearly lost her entire investment. When she first entered the entertainment industry to hone her acting skills from the bottom up, she was bullied and slapped by an A-list actress.
…
Those painful memories surfaced in her mind one after another. When Zhao Qingyu came to her senses, she found she was once again thinking of Song Xuyi.
For the past month, her morning runs with Song Xuyi had been her happiest moments.
Zhao Qingyu had actually realized it recently: she seemed to have fallen for Song Xuyi.
That was why she deliberately pestered her, forcing Song Xuyi to chat with her every day. She loved to tease her and watch her blush…
Zhao Qingyu had never thought she could be so childish.
But she could only restrain her feelings. She was burdened with too much darkness; she wasn’t worthy of Song Xuyi, who was like a little sun.
What’s more, even though her mother had escaped the “Sleeping Sickness,” the genetic predisposition was still there. She might not be able to escape it herself. There was still a high probability she wouldn’t live past thirty.
…
Previously, Zhao Qingyu had been consumed with thoughts of revenge against that man’s family and had never imagined she would fall for someone. She had originally planned to distance herself from Song Xuyi. She had already made up her mind: once Song Xuyi’s summer break was over, she would cut off all contact with her for good.
But she had never expected Song Xuyi to put herself in danger to find her!
All her emotions came pouring out that night: sadness, self-blame, anxiety, heartache… Zhao Qingyu could no longer squeeze out a fake smile.
She desperately wanted to tell Song Xuyi: I really, really like you! I’ve never liked someone like this before, liked them so much it makes my heart ache…
But Zhao Qingyu couldn’t say the words. Even her embrace had to be cautious and careful.
She told Song Xuyi her mother’s story only to remind herself: right now, she had no right to love Song Xuyi.
In the darkness, she made a silent vow to Song Xuyi that from now on, she would do everything in her power to be good to her, without letting her know her feelings and causing her trouble…
And yet, in the end, she couldn’t stop herself from pressing her lips reverently to Song Xuyi’s forehead. If… if heaven takes pity, and I’m lucky enough to live past thirty, then, at that time, I will definitely let Song Xuyi know how I feel…
The author has something to say:
I’ve been sent on a business trip. It’ll be for about twenty-something days, and I’ll only have time to write at night.
The updates from now on will be quite late, so everyone, please don’t stay up. Just read them during the day.
LP: Re-translated on January 11, 2024
Footnotes
- ‘Animal World’ (Dòngwù Shìjiè) is a long-running and well-known nature documentary program in China, similar to programs like ‘Planet Earth’.
- Original: 破罐子破摔 (pò guànzi pò shuāi). An idiom meaning to give up on a bad situation and act recklessly. Since things are already a mess, one might as well let them get worse.
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