Blame the Villain – Chapter 4
by Little PandaThe Villainous Film Empress (4)
A little rich girl bent on saving the world X A paranoid, dark, and vengeful Film Empress
Since Zhao Qingyu’s reputation was currently not prominent, Song Xuyi feared she might face difficulties at the banquet. Thus, as soon as she finished her social obligations, she immediately went back to find Zhao Qingyu.
However, after searching the entire banquet hall, Song Xuyi could not find her.
“Is Miss looking for Miss Zhao?” The old butler walked over with a smile and handed Song Xuyi a small black velvet box. “Miss Zhao said she had matters to attend to and left early. She entrusted me to pass this gift on to you…”
Song Xuyi accepted the gift, subconsciously breathing a sigh of relief.
She could calmly face anyone else in this world, but perhaps because she knew Zhao Qingyu would become the great villain in the future, she always felt involuntarily nervous when facing her.
Song Xuyi opened the gift.
She had already received many presents that night. When treating the little princess of the Song family, the guests naturally dared not be perfunctory. A dazzling array of exquisite and expensive gifts had piled up. Song Xuyi originally thought she wouldn’t be moved, yet when she saw Zhao Qingyu’s gift, she was still stunned for a moment.
It was a small necklace. Its pendant had been ingeniously crafted into the shape of a scalpel. The workmanship looked extremely delicate, and its jade-green center seemed to glow under the lights.
Song Xuyi had to admit that this was her favorite gift received that night.
Everyone, including the host body’s family, thought Song Xuyi’s decision to study medicine was just a momentary whim. Only Song Xuyi herself knew her own resolve:
She was a Task-doer. There might be countless missions in her future, yet so far, she only retained her memories up to the age of eighteen. In such a disadvantaged position, in order to increase her future survival rate, Song Xuyi urgently wanted to learn some skills. Medicine, undoubtedly, was one of the most practical survival skills.
Furthermore, it was also the dream of her eighteen-year-old self.
Yet Song Xuyi hadn’t expected that in this world, only Zhao Qingyu believed she truly wanted to study medicine.
“The villain is truly too terrifying!”
The System spoke up again, interrupting Song Xuyi’s mixed emotions. “One look and you can tell this necklace was prepared in advance. She must have been constantly keeping an eye on the Song family’s news to know about your university application choices so quickly. Task-doer, you must be extra vigilant…”
It wasn’t difficult to find out that Song Xuyi had been accepted into medical school. Anyone who paid attention could easily learn of it—after all, Father Song and Mother Song practically wished they could let the whole world know about Song Xuyi’s excellent exam results.
It was just that Zhao Qingyu’s ability to read people and figure out their hearts…
Song Xuyi pursed her lips, her mood complicated as she tightly gripped the necklace.
The System’s words weren’t wrong. This was exactly what made Zhao Qingyu so terrifying—she was as alluring as a poppy flower. Even knowing Zhao Qingyu was not someone to trifle with, Song Xuyi still immensely liked the necklace she had gifted.
The summer vacation passed quickly.
Breaking away from the original host’s lively and social nature, Song Xuyi stayed at home during this period, wholly devoted to previewing her university courses. She didn’t know if it was an illusion or for some other reason, but the knowledge in the books clicked for her almost instantly. Song Xuyi even felt as though she had studied these subjects before. However, that seemed impossible. After all, in the eighteen years of memories Song Xuyi had recovered, she had applied to an art academy under an agency’s arrangement to earn money for her grandmother’s medical care.
Seeing Song Xuyi’s studious attitude, the Song family belatedly realized that she genuinely wanted to study medicine.
Having understood this, the Song family became even more cautious in their treatment of her, acting as though she were a glass doll, fragile and easily broken.
The family originally planned to have a driver commute Song Xuyi back and forth every day. However, insisting she “wanted to live like a normal person,” Song Xuyi disregarded their objections, declined the drivers and bodyguards, and moved into the university dormitories with simple luggage.
Many people in this batch of students knew of Song Xuyi. After all, her looks were unmatched among the current cohort of medical students. Yet, what truly made her famous was not her appearance, but an incident that happened shortly after the semester began.
Generally, first-year medical students did not come into contact with cadavers during their first semester; that time was dedicated to foundational general courses. Unexpectedly, Song Xuyi’s cohort encountered a teacher nicknamed the Old Demon of Black Mountain1, Huang Shuo. Huang Shuo was a clinical medical expert heavily sought after by major hospitals. Yet, for decades, he had firmly stayed at the university’s affiliated hospital. Experts of his caliber usually only mentored master’s or doctoral students. This year, however, for reasons unknown, Huang Shuo had voluntarily stepped down to teach undergraduates.
Huang Shuo was exceedingly strict. Less than a month into the semester, he had tormented the freshmen into a state of unspeakable misery. Because he was thin and dark-skinned, he secretly became the “Old Demon of Black Mountain” on the students’ lips. His teaching style was vivid and entirely unpredictable. Anatomy class was clearly scheduled for the following semester, but while lecturing on 《Histology》, the old man took a sudden whim and marched a massive horde of students straight into the dissection room.
That day, even the burliest, most robust guys in the class couldn’t help but throw up. Afterward, some girls couldn’t even stomach the thought of braised pork for half a year.
Yet there was one delicate, pretty girl who, while everyone else gave the tables a wide berth, stood at the very front of the group. Her expression was completely normal. She watched Huang Shuo’s procedure with almost rapt fascination and answered the several questions he threw out fluently.
That day, it wasn’t just Huang Shuo; almost everyone remembered this girl’s name—Song Xuyi.
How could they not remember the monstrous girl who not only avoided a scolding from the volatile Huang Shuo but actually earned an “not bad” evaluation from his lips?
Furthermore, people later discovered that Song Xuyi’s Gaokao2 scores ranked near the very bottom of the entire medical school. This severely provoked the overwhelming competitive spirit of the young students. Under Song Xuyi’s objective stimulation, the class plunged into a new round of grueling studies before they could even taste the “freedom” their high school teachers had promised them.
Every teacher loved to tell their students, “You are the worst batch I’ve ever taught.” But with this batch, the teachers were thoroughly astounded. They had seen plenty of juniors studying fiercely for their postgraduate exams, but they had never seen freshmen work this hard!
However, even with their collective effort, everyone still lost to the “monster” Song Xuyi during the midterm exams.
“Xuyi, how exactly is your brain wired? How can you memorize so many points?” On the day the results came out, her roommate Huang Juanjuan hugged Song Xuyi’s arm and sighed repeatedly. “To prevent the gap between us from getting too large, the organization has entrusted me with a daunting task. Tomorrow, no matter what, I must drag you to our group activity! It’s our first class event, so don’t you dare stand me up…”
Huang Juanjuan was the vice-class monitor. She was a frank, enthusiastic person who had good relationships with everyone in the class.
Song Xuyi genuinely didn’t want to attend the activity. She cherished every opportunity to study and immersed herself in it wholeheartedly. To her, studying medicine wasn’t just academic work; it was a hobby and a joy.
Moreover, Song Xuyi wasn’t just systematically studying modern medical theory at the university; through Father Song’s connections, she had also found an elderly traditional medicine doctor to learn from. On weekends, she often went to the old gentleman’s clinic to shadow him as an apprentice.
But since Huang Juanjuan had put it that way, and Song Xuyi didn’t want to isolate herself from the class, she thought about it and nodded. “I’ll call my family to let them know…”
This group activity was scheduled for the weekend.
The class had wanted to go on an outing for a long time, but due to their heavy coursework and the Old Demon of Black Mountain breathing down their necks, they could never find the time. They were only able to organize this trip because Huang Shuo was out of town on business, allowing everyone to squeeze out a two-day weekend.
Because time was limited, they didn’t plan to go far. The itinerary was simply to tour the Film City in the neighboring municipality.
The classmates all took a chartered bus together. Song Xuyi hadn’t expected her body to be so delicate. Perhaps because she had never ridden a bus before, she ended up vomiting uncontrollably for the entire ride, utterly shocking her traveling classmates.
When they finally endured the journey and arrived at the hotel next to the Film City, the hotel manager—who had been pre-arranged by Mother Song—was given a massive fright upon seeing Song Xuyi’s pale, motion-sick state. However, mindful that Song Xuyi was keeping her family background a secret, the manager could only use “customer care” as an excuse to send a mountain of medicine and supplements to her room.
This move genuinely shocked Huang Juanjuan.
Huang Juanjuan had been incredibly guilty the entire way, believing Song Xuyi had forced herself to come out solely because of her. She had been handing over water, carrying bags, and taking meticulous care of Song Xuyi on the road.
Song Xuyi didn’t want Huang Juanjuan to waste all her time looking after her. After much persuasion, she convinced her roommate to go out with the rest of the group first. Seeing how impeccably the hotel manager was serving Song Xuyi, Huang Juanjuan finally relaxed and headed into the Film City with the others.
Song Xuyi stayed at the hotel and slept. By the time she woke up, the dizzy, heavy feeling in her head had mostly dissipated. The sky outside had grown dark. Just then, Huang Juanjuan called to check on her, and Song Xuyi agreed to enter the Film City and reunite with the main group to enjoy the night views.
The manager thoughtfully arranged for a supervisor to guide Song Xuyi into the Film City.
The studio base was massive. Huang Juanjuan’s location was deep inside the Film City. If one followed the standard tourist paths, it would take a long time to walk there. This was especially true recently, as several production crews were filming inside, forcing visitors to detour around the sets and wasting a considerable amount of time.
However, Song Xuyi had no such worries. This Film City happened to be a property of the Song Corporation. Led by the supervisor who knew the routes perfectly, Song Xuyi navigated the Film City practically unimpeded.
Along the way, Song Xuyi indeed saw many crews filming, including several big-name actors. The supervisor, having heard rumors that the Song family’s little princess was a fan of a certain actor, intentionally slowed her pace. But seeing Song Xuyi’s complete lack of interest, the supervisor put away those ulterior motives and dutifully focused on leading the way.
However, toward the latter half of their walk, Song Xuyi stopped dead in her tracks.
Following Song Xuyi’s gaze, the supervisor saw a brightly lit production set.
It was a martial arts scene: a woman in soaking-wet period clothing was fighting several men in the water.
The set lights shone down on the woman’s stunningly beautiful, captivating face. Her combat movements were clean and decisive. Even without speaking a single line of dialogue, her stubborn yet cold, aloof temperament was perfectly portrayed through her actions…
The supervisor stopped involuntarily. She had passed several sets along the way, but she had never seen anyone who made people unconsciously want to stare quite like this woman…
To the supervisor, the performance was already flawless.
Yet, for some reason, the director seemed entirely dissatisfied. He continuously frowned and yelled “cut” five or six times, though he never pointed out exactly what the woman was doing wrong.
The extras fighting the woman had already been swapped out for a fresh batch, but the woman remained standing in the pool, her dress soaking wet…
Watching the woman in the water and the smug look on the director’s face, Song Xuyi frowned.
It was mid-December. The weather had grown cold, and the night temperature hovered just a few degrees above zero. Fearing Song Xuyi might catch a chill, the supervisor had thoughtfully prepared a down jacket and a hand warmer for her in advance, yet that woman had been standing in the water this whole time…
If this were standard filming, Song Xuyi could understand the actor’s job, but the scene before her was blatant workplace bullying…
What was more, this person was Zhao Qingyu.
Song Xuyi took a long look at Zhao Qingyu. Taking a deep breath to calm her complex emotions, her face darkened as she walked up to the director and blocked the camera.
Seeing the situation turn sour, the supervisor hastily pulled out her phone to make a call…
“Where did this wild brat come from—” The director was just about to lose his temper when he took the phone from the supervisor’s hand. His eyes widened little by little…
Zhao Qingyu didn’t know how long she had been standing in the freezing water.
She had always known the director harbored ulterior motives regarding her. However, having previously heard that the little princess of the Song family was extremely fond of her, the director had curbed his filthy intentions and focused wholeheartedly on guiding her acting.
Yet, over the past six months on set, it seemed the little princess of the Song family had completely forgotten about Zhao Qingyu after starting university. Seeing this, the director began dropping overt hints and subtle suggestions…
Zhao Qingyu, naturally, refused to agree to them.
On the surface, the director laughed it off, but in secret, he began doing everything in his power to wear Zhao Qingyu down.
Her vision gradually blurred bit by bit. The frigid temperature seemed to seep through the icy river water straight into her marrow, but Zhao Qingyu actually felt a sense of relief in her heart. She had always lived in the dark, treacherous depths of the world; these schemes and calculations were already common occurrences to her…
This time, Zhao Qingyu was intentionally refusing to yield.
She was making a bet. A bet that the director wouldn’t dare have a death on his hands.
Besides being lecherous, this director was incredibly vain and thirsty for success. Although Zhao Qingyu was a newcomer with shallow roots, she had accumulated a massive fanbase during her talent show days. The director absolutely wouldn’t want to shoulder the reputation of “tormenting an actress into a comatose state.” After this incident, he surely wouldn’t dare provoke her again…
Everything went exactly as Zhao Qingyu predicted. Seeing her refuse to soften, the director made things difficult for her time and time again.
It was time.
In a daze, Zhao Qingyu heard someone on the shore calling her name. She shook her blurry vision and took two steps forward—
Sure enough, the expected wave of dizziness crashed over her.
But…
Zhao Qingyu didn’t hit the ground as she expected. She fell into a warm, fragrant embrace.
“Zhao Qingyu!…”
Why was there an anxious voice?
Zhao Qingyu struggled to open her eyes. Swaying before her was a familiar scalpel-shaped pendant…
So it was her!
Zhao Qingyu let all the strength leave her body, allowing the darkness to submerge her, yet the corners of her lips curled up slightly on their own accord—
That child who was clearly terrified yet still approached her, who was pampered and adorable, as innocent as a blank sheet of paper!
The author has something to say:
Note: The information about medical students was Baidu’d by the author and differs from reality, so please read it as a fictional setting.
I was dragged away on a business trip recently and had no time to type ~~(>_<)~~
I should be able to update daily for the next week.
Mwah~
Footnotes
- A famous antagonist from the classic Chinese fantasy tale 'A Chinese Ghost Story' (Qiànnǚ Yōuhún). Used here as a humorous nickname for an exceptionally terrifying and strict authority figure.
- The Gaokao (gāokǎo) is China's notoriously difficult national college entrance examination. A student's score is the single most important factor in determining their university admission and future career prospects.
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