Blame the Villain – Chapter 17
by Little PandaThe Villainous Film Empress (17)
A little rich girl dedicated to saving the world X A paranoid, dark, and vengeful film empress
“This path is far from simple. I hope you still feel the same way in four years.”
Huang Shuo gave Song Xuyi a long, deep look before standing up and continuing his climb toward the mountaintop.
The stone path to the summit was long, with several hundred steps. Huang Shuo, with his small and slender frame, looked a little unsteady on the stone slabs. His hair was shot with grey, and his whole person seemed withered and thin. But he climbed upward, step by step, with a firm and stubborn resolve, never once looking back.
To dedicate one’s life to medicine—at the moment of the oath, almost everyone is sincere. But how many truly manage to do it for a lifetime?
Song Xuyi stood up, took a deep breath, and followed behind Huang Shuo.
This was an era where some looked down on idealism. More often than not, idealism had even become a despicable excuse for capitalists to exploit their workers.
The mountain was high and the road was long; the path ahead was fraught with peril. The smart ones had already given up.
But there would always be those foolish-looking, stubborn people who refused to quit. Perhaps no one would ever know their names, but in some forgotten corner of the world, they would pour out their hearts and souls for their beliefs, pressing on without regret, throwing themselves into the fray like moths to a flame, ready to sacrifice everything…1
Song Xuyi wanted to be one of those moths.
When Song Xuyi first heard the news of Huang Shuo’s retirement, she had a feeling he had other plans. Sure enough, not long after she returned, she heard that ‘Old Man Huang had been hired by a certain research institute. He invested his entire life savings to establish a research institute dedicated to Sleeping Sickness.’
Because Sleeping Sickness was a project that bled money, and countless people who had tried to find a cure had all returned in failure,2 the number of institutions in the country currently researching it could be counted on one hand.3
Song Xuyi immediately submitted an application for a winter vacation internship at Huang Shuo’s institute. She hadn’t expected him to come see her in person. His brow was furrowed into a tight knot, and he had the same irritable expression she was familiar with. “You should know, the pay here is very low and the workload is intense. If you can’t handle it, don’t come crying to me…”4
His answer was Song Xuyi’s feigned, gentle smile.
Being a little mischievous, Song Xuyi had, on a whim, imitated Zhao Qingyu’s polite and courteous smile. She never thought the trick would actually work on Huang Shuo. He was taken aback by her well-behaved, polite smile, then waved his hand dismissively and tossed a work pass onto her desk. “Report to my place during the summer vacation,” he grunted coldly. “If you don’t perform well, don’t blame me for firing you…”
Song Xuyi roused her spirits completely and threw herself into her studies with even greater intensity.
Gaining entry didn’t mean she could rest easy.5 After all, everyone knew how demanding Huang Shuo was with his students.
Time flew by as Song Xuyi studied so hard she neglected to eat or sleep.6 Soon, it was the end of the term. All her energy was focused on burying her nose in books; her only diversion was keeping up with news about Zhao Qingyu.
Zhao Qingyu’s fans already knew she was filming a TV drama and were eagerly awaiting its release. After all, Zhao Qingyu was incredibly low-key. She rarely participated in commercial events or marketing campaigns. Only when her work was released could her fans admire her otherworldly beauty.
And Zhao Qingyu was indeed extremely busy. Sometimes, the messages she sent Song Xuyi wouldn’t arrive until three or four in the morning.
Song Xuyi didn’t know why Zhao Qingyu had become so close to her after she’d saved her that one time, but she now considered Zhao Qingyu a friend. Seeing her so busy, she naturally felt a pang of sympathy. She couldn’t help but prepare several doses of calming medicine and mail them over. Worried the medicine would be too bitter, she also bought some preserved and candied fruits and sent them along. And Zhao Qingyu, for whatever reason, developed a habit that she couldn’t shake. From then on, whenever she had so much as a headache, she would pester Song Xuyi to prescribe her something.
One day, Song Xuyi was studying in the library when she got another call from Zhao Qingyu.
“Doctor Song, my head hurts so much.” Song Xuyi went outside the library to take the call. The voice on the other end had a slightly coquettish lilt to it, and through the sound alone, Song Xuyi could almost picture the woman on the other end lounging sensuously. “Could you prescribe me that medicine from last time again…”
“…”
“Medicine isn’t food,” Song Xuyi said. She was a pushover at other times, but she had a habit of getting irritable whenever her studying was interrupted. Now, even her voice was a little colder. “You’re always saying you have a headache. Shouldn’t you go to a hospital and get it checked out…”
“Oh, are you studying?” After all this time, Zhao Qingyu naturally knew about this habit of hers. The voice on the phone instantly became serious, and her volume dropped a notch. “Then you study hard. I’ll contact you at noon…”
“Next time, I’ll get some calming herbs and make you a sachet. Your headaches are probably from lack of sleep. You need to pay attention to getting enough rest…” Her temper subsided, and Song Xuyi’s voice returned to its usual calm. She even felt a small pang of guilt, thinking Zhao Qingyu was planning to hang up because she’d sensed her impatience. She added, a little embarrassed, “I’m afraid I’ll forget, so remember to remind me…”
“Xuyi-xuejie!”
However, before Song Xuyi could finish, a delighted call came from the side, causing everyone nearby to look over at her.
“I have five more problems I can’t solve. Could you teach me…”
Song Xuyi’s brow furrowed as she looked at the boy who was staring at her with delight.
Over the past year, Song Xuyi had shed her former awkwardness and blossomed into a graceful beauty.
The students in her year all knew that Song Xuyi was focused on her studies and had no interest in dating. Even though some harbored feelings for her, they rarely disturbed her. But the new, reckless first-year students were a different story.
Among the first-year students was a student named Chen Qi. He was tall and handsome and claimed to have fallen for Song Xuyi at first sight. He began to pursue her intensely. At first, it was a more restrained approach—sending milk tea, asking her to movies. But after Song Xuyi refused, he didn’t stop. Instead, he began to act as if he were her boyfriend, even starting to follow her to the library and periodically bothering her with extremely basic questions…
“You can find the answer just by flipping through the book,” Song Xuyi said, patiently explaining to Chen Qi as she looked at the incredibly basic problems he’d handed her. “It’s in Chapter Five of the textbook.”
“Xuyi-xuejie is so amazing!” Chen Qi, however, seemed completely oblivious to her impatience. After finding the answer, he sidled closer. “Let’s study together, xuejie! That way, if I run into any problems I don’t understand, I can ask you…”
“Xuejie doesn’t think I’m stupid, right?” Chen Qi brazenly placed his books on the table opposite Song Xuyi. “When you rejected me, you said you thought of me as a friend…”
Chen Qi’s loud voice made people in the study hall look over frequently. Seeing the various meaningful glances cast her way, Song Xuyi’s face turned cold, and she decided to set things straight with him once and for all. “Come outside first. We need to find a place to talk—”
“—Xuyi, my headache really is getting worse!”
Song Xuyi had thought Zhao Qingyu had already hung up, but at that moment, her voice suddenly sounded from the phone again.
Only now, Zhao Qingyu’s smiling tone had lost all its warmth. Her flat, declarative voice seemed to be laced with ice shards. “You’re right. I think I need a face-to-face consultation now—”
Zhao Qingyu hung up after saying that.
Song Xuyi didn’t know what she was planning, but she had no time to worry about it right now. She led Chen Qi aside, intending to make things perfectly clear.
But Chen Qi’s gaze was fixed ardently on Song Xuyi. “Just because Xuyi-xuejie doesn’t like me now doesn’t mean you won’t like me in the future. I like you so much, you’ll definitely be moved by me one day…”
“But I don’t feel moved at all,” Song Xuyi said, her face cold. “I don’t like you. Your so-called affection has only caused me trouble.”
“Then what kind of guy do you like?” The smile on Chen Qi’s face finally vanished. His expression hardened as he grabbed Song Xuyi’s hand. “Song Xuyi, you need to stop playing hard to get! If you don’t like me, why did you smile at us during the freshman orientation?”
“Don’t be so ungrateful.7 If you think about it, you’re the one who’d be climbing up by being with me!8 My family owns two companies! The number of girls who’ve chased me since I was a kid could line up from here to the school gate. And your family…”
“Let go!”
Song Xuyi was stunned by his sophistry.9 She struggled to pull her hand free, but Chen Qi’s grip was incredibly strong. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t break away…
Slap!
Someone nearby let out a cold laugh. Then, a hand forcefully grabbed Chen Qi’s arm, and a sharp slap landed squarely on his face.
“Who is it?”
Chen Qi released Song Xuyi’s hand and looked over, furious. A woman wearing a face mask and a cap was standing in front of Song Xuyi.
The woman said nothing, only waving a hand behind her. Two bodyguards tightened their grip on Chen Qi, and in an instant, his face flushed bright red.
“Two companies in the family?” the masked woman sneered, opening her phone and playing a video of Chen Qi harassing Song Xuyi. “Your mother’s company is an empty shell deep in the red, and your father has two illegitimate sons. Is threatening girls all you have left…?”
“If I ever see you harassing my… meimei again”—the woman gave a look, and the two bodyguards pretended to accidentally kick Chen Qi in the knee—she narrowed her eyes and let out a cold laugh, “you know what kind of price you’ll pay…”
Face flushed red, Chen Qi left the library.
Song Xuyi let out a sigh of relief.
“What are you doing here?”
Song Xuyi had no classes that afternoon, and now she was in no mood to continue studying. She took Zhao Qingyu to a small restaurant next to the school, found a private room, ordered two glasses of juice, and closed the door.
“I wasn’t planning on coming,” Zhao Qingyu said, her head lowered. “I know you don’t like me coming over. I really was just passing by…”
Except that ‘passing by’ had involved stopping at the school gate for half an hour. And thank goodness… for that half an hour.
The thought of Chen Qi stirred a baleful energy10 in Zhao Qingyu’s heart. While filming, she hadn’t given up on expanding her company. She already had enough resources on hand and had investigated Chen Qi’s background on the way over. There were, in fact, many more ways to teach him a lesson:
For instance, she could bankrupt his parents’ companies, or quietly arrange for someone to destroy the hand that had touched Song Xuyi…
Failing that, she could leak intimate photos of that dog scumbag and his ex-girlfriend…
If it were the old Zhao Qingyu, she would never have let Chen Qi off with just a single slap.
But in front of Song Xuyi, Zhao Qingyu could only suppress her true nature.
The most laughable thing was that even a scumbag like that could so righteously declare his feelings, while her own love could only be buried deep in her heart…
A torrent of bitterness surged through her. Zhao Qingyu bit her lip hard, a bitter taste filling her mouth. With her head still lowered, she drank the juice Song Xuyi had brought in, tasting nothing.
Suddenly, a sigh came from above her head.
“Don’t be angry anymore. It’s not worth getting angry over someone like that…” she heard Song Xuyi say softly.
No, you don’t understand. I’m not angry. I’m so jealous I’m about to go insane… But even as she thought this, Zhao Qingyu didn’t dare lift her head. She had discovered that, over these past days, she was completely unable to act in front of Song Xuyi. She was terrified that Song Xuyi would see through her disguise and her violent cruelty with a single glance.
She was about to lose control. It was the same feeling—this rage that made her want to destroy everything—that she’d felt when she secretly saw Song Jun being adored by thousands on the awards stage, when she heard that her beast of a father had died, when people mocked her for being a bastard child…
In the past, she would have avoided everyone and digested it alone. But now, she couldn’t bear to leave Song Xuyi. It had been 113 days. It had taken so long just to see her…
A pair of soft hands began to massage Zhao Qingyu’s temples.
“Didn’t you say you were dizzy? I learned a set of acupressure massage techniques. Why don’t you try it?”
The gentle pressure massaged Zhao Qingyu’s meridians. Like a wild beast whose fur was being smoothed,11 the rage and agitation that usually tormented her for so long miraculously began to disappear, bit by bit…
Zhao Qingyu opened her eyes. She stared blankly at Song Xuyi’s reflection in the juice glass before her and pursed her lips. So, the juice was grape-flavored!
How she wished this moment could last forever…
The hazy, sweet music from outside the private room, the fresh scent of the girl’s hair, and the sweetness lingering on her tongue…
Zhao Qingyu sighed softly and closed her eyes again.
Perhaps it was all fate.
She had once been a mad dog, poisoned by her own venomous resentment. And Song Xuyi was her one and only medicine, both bitter and sweet, obtained through a lifetime’s worth of luck.
LP: Re-translated on January 15, 2024
Footnotes
- This passage uses a series of four-character idioms (chéngyǔ) to describe absolute dedication: 呕心沥血 (ǒuxīn lìxuè, to pour out one’s heart and soul), 义无反顾 (yìwú fǎngù, to press on without regret), and 飞蛾扑火 (fēi’é pūhuǒ, a moth darting into a flame).
- Original idiom: 铩羽而归 (shāyǔ érguī), literally ‘to return with broken wings’.
- Original idiom: 屈指可数 (qūzhǐ kěshǔ), literally ‘can be counted on one’s fingers’.
- Original: 哭鼻子 (kū bízi), literally ‘to cry from the nose’. A colloquial way of saying to snivel or whine like a child.
- Original idiom: 高枕无忧 (gāozhěn wúyōu), literally ‘to sleep on a high pillow without worries’.
- Original idiom: 废寝忘食 (fèiqǐn wàngshí), literally ‘to neglect sleep and forget food’.
- Original idiom: 不识抬举 (bùshí táijǔ), literally ‘to not recognize an honor being bestowed’. It means to fail to appreciate a favor or not know what’s good for oneself.
- Original: 高攀 (gāopān), a term for marrying or associating with someone of a higher social or economic status.
- Original idiom: 强词夺理 (qiǎngcí duólǐ), literally ‘to twist words and snatch logic’. It means to argue illogically and stubbornly.
- Original: 戾气 (lìqì). A term from traditional Chinese culture describing a kind of negative, hostile, or destructive energy that can accumulate in a person or place. It implies a disposition towards violence and malevolence.
- Original: 顺毛 (shùnmáo). A colloquial phrase that likens calming an upset person to stroking an animal’s fur in the direction it grows to pacify it.
Please author I really love this story😕
I’m so looking forward what will zhao qingyu do to make song xuyi fall inlove with her with song xuyi’s detached attitudes😕
I really apologize, I don’t have time to re-translate chapters at the moment. But, you can still read the initial translation at: https://littlepandatranslations.blogspot.com/2022/12/blame-villain-chapter-18.html?m=1
It’s until chapter 35 there, the translation is not perfect but enjoy? 🙏
Also, I will try to have the time to re-translate completed novels again.
Thanks for your time and effort author. Just take your time no worries. We’ll patienty wait for it😊
It’s okay author thank you so much. I’ll make do with this. Thanks for your hardwork❤️
Author where is the chapter 18 to this? Why did it jump up to chapter 38???
I mean it jump up to chapter 36?
It’s okay author thank you so much. I’ll make do with this. Thanks for your hardwork❤️
Also, I will try to have the time to re-translate completed novels again.
Thanks for your time and effort author. Just take your time no worries. We’ll patienty wait for it😊
Please author I really love this story😕
I’m so looking forward what will zhao qingyu do to make song xuyi fall inlove with her with song xuyi’s detached attitudes😕
I really apologize, I don’t have time to re-translate chapters at the moment. But, you can still read the initial translation at: https://littlepandatranslations.blogspot.com/2022/12/blame-villain-chapter-18.html?m=1
It’s until chapter 35 there, the translation is not perfect but enjoy? 🙏
I mean it jump up to chapter 36?
Author where is the chapter 18 to this? Why did it jump up to chapter 38???