The Martial Arts Stunt Double of the Entertainment Circle – Chapter 25
by Little PandaNearly all the girls envied and resented Qiao Chunyi for her luck. Tuoba Xiu was eight years older than her, but he was handsome and wealthy. Marrying a golden tortoise son-in-law1, entering a wealthy family to become a rich man’s wife—even giving up her studies seemed worthwhile.
Gu Min couldn’t quite articulate her own feelings. She had finally gathered the courage to face Senior Sister Qiao again, to thank her for the words that had awakened her from a dream, to show her how much she’d changed, perhaps even to become close friends…
But the woman had already married the man she loved. The Tuoba family’s wealth was something Gu Min could never reach no matter how hard she tried.
Time passed. Gu Min was admitted to Zhongjiang University for graduate studies and arrived with her luggage to seek refuge with her uncle Gu Hang, who worked as a butler in a wealthy family’s home. She had nearly given up hope—until she couldn’t believe her own eyes.
The long-haired woman strolling across the lawn, walking a dog—wasn’t that Senior Sister Qiao?
The upscale residential district where the Tuoba family lived was extravagantly luxurious, but none of the opulent scenery caught Gu Min’s eye. She gazed greedily at Qiao Chunyi’s graceful silhouette and blurted out, “Hello, excuse me—could you tell me where Building 12 is?”
Senior Sister Qiao seemed to have forgotten her. But that was fine. The days ahead were long, and she had all the time in the world to build their friendship. She would become Senior Sister Qiao’s closest friend.
And yet…
Gu Min felt the warmth that had just returned to her body drain away, cold seeping out from within.
Tuoba Xiu’s lecherous gaze. Jiang Guilan’s hypocritical smile. Her uncle’s evasive answers. The glass of hot milk specially prepared for her at the dinner table… She should have sensed something wrong. How could Gu Hang, who was supposed to guide her to her room, suddenly have an urgent matter to attend to? Why had he told her the room was at the end of the second floor?
That was Senior Sister Qiao and Tuoba Xiu’s bedroom.
She woke up, and the world turned upside down. Senior Sister Qiao’s eyes were ice-cold as she ordered the bedding and mattresses dragged out and burned. The whole world seemed to point fingers—Gu Min was a shameless slut who had seduced the man of the house on her very first day at the Tuoba residence, daring to spend the night in the master bedroom until dawn. You really couldn’t judge a book by its cover; such an innocent-looking girl, and yet so calculating.
Gu Min knew that at this point, no amount of explaining would convince anyone. She couldn’t wash herself clean even if she jumped into the Yellow River2. The only thing she could do was never appear before Senior Sister Qiao again, never cause her any more distress. She packed her things and left that very day.
But fate refused to let her go.
Bouts of nausea and vomiting that couldn’t be explained away as gastroenteritis. Rumors spread through the university that she was pregnant—no one knew which person with partial knowledge had spun the tale, but Gu Min was painted as a kept woman, a mistress bankrolled by a wealthy businessman. Then the story evolved: the legitimate wife whose marriage Gu Min had wrecked as the other woman was none other than the senior sister who had once helped her so much. That set off a firestorm.
Jiang Guilan, who had been keeping close watch on her, hired a renowned fortune teller to divine whether Gu Min’s child was a boy or a girl. The otherworldly-looking3 gentleman collected ¥100,000 in incense money4 and swore with absolute certainty that the child was a boy of great destiny.
Jiang Guilan was ecstatic. She had Gu Hang lure Gu Min to the house, timed perfectly for Qiao Chunyi’s return, then held Gu Min’s hand and dabbed at her eyes in a performance of tears. Qiao Chunyi, already at the breaking point of tolerating her husband’s infidelity, heard Jiang Guilan promise Gu Min and her unborn child that she would “see justice done”—and detonated. She demanded a divorce from Tuoba Xiu.
Qiao Chunyi tucked the hot water bottle against Gu Min’s chest, adjusted the blankets, and sat by the bed in a daze.
Did she hate Gu Min? Of course she did. Even up until the moment she saw her current condition this morning, she had still hated her. But to say she loathed her or wished her dead—that wasn’t quite it.
Her gaze shifted to Gu Min’s face. Though asleep, her brows were still tightly knit. The swollen, bright red palm print on her right cheek stood in stark contrast to her sallow complexion. The ends of her hair were brittle and yellow from malnutrition, stuck to her face with sweat.
Qiao Chunyi slowly revisited the memories that had caused her so much agony, the past she had once sealed away in her mind. Gu Min’s arrival, her shy, slightly eager smile. The moment she opened her bedroom door to find Gu Min sleeping alone in her bed, trembling with rage as she ordered the bedding dragged out and burned. Tuoba Xiu’s excuse about “climbing into bed in the middle of the night.” Jiang Guilan’s hypocritical mediation…
Was it really as she had seen it? Qiao Chunyi’s heart wavered.
Too many suspicious details, but in her blind fury she hadn’t thought them through. Looking back now, Gu Min had shouldered all the blame. If she were truly the kind of deeply calculating woman who coveted wealth and status, why hadn’t she tried to clear her name? Why had she silently become the target of universal scorn?
Even ending up sleeping on the streets?
The thought that she might have been played sent Qiao Chunyi’s emotions spiraling. Her mind was chaos. She couldn’t bear to look at the pitiful Gu Min any longer, so she rose and slipped out the door.
Tuoba Jiao entered her older sister’s room and found everything endlessly fascinating. Though the entire apartment—her sister’s and Aunt Qiao’s place—might not even be as large as her own bedroom, it had the warmth of a home that the Tuoba Residence lacked.
Tuoba Yan increasingly felt that this younger sister of hers was hopelessly naive—without someone watching over her, she’d be abducted and sold off in minutes. She had Tuoba Jiao sit on her small bed, poured her a cup of hot water mixed with brown sugar, and said, “I don’t have much to offer here. Have some sugar water.”
Tuoba Jiao quickly took the cup, cradling it warmly in her palms, her eyes quietly surveying the room’s decor. She sipped the brown sugar water and found it soothing and sweet, the warm liquid seeming to seep warmth straight into her heart—an indescribable sense of comfort and security.
Tuoba Yan suddenly remembered the roujiamo she’d left on the coffee table. She got up, retrieved it, and handed it to Tuoba Jiao.
“You didn’t eat breakfast, did you? Fill your stomach a bit. Once you’ve rested up, tell me what exactly happened.”
Tuoba Jiao was indeed hungry. “Thank you, Sister,” she said softly, unwrapping the plastic bag and taking big bites of the lukewarm roujiamo, looking like a starving little puppy, yet still mindful of her manners, trying to control her eating speed.
Tuoba Yan tucked the hair at her temples behind her ears so the Silly Bunny of a sister wouldn’t eat her hair too, then refilled her cup with water and set it on the nightstand.
When Tuoba Jiao had eaten her fill and was contentedly sipping water, Tuoba Yan asked:
“Earlier—that was your mom? The injuries on her body were from Tuoba Xiu?”
Tuoba Jiao’s movements froze. As if recalling something terrifying, fear crept into her eyes. “Yes…”
Tuoba Yan watched her sister recoil at the mere mention of the name, her disgust for this nominal father deepening. Her gaze swept across the sleepwear collar that had fallen open on Tuoba Jiao’s shoulder—there seemed to be discoloration. She stood up, reached out, and gently brushed aside the tangled hair covering it. Finger-shaped bruises, pressed deep into the skin!
Tuoba Yan asked in disbelief, “He hit you too?!”
Tuoba Jiao reached up to cover the bruise but couldn’t move Tuoba Yan’s arm. She said dimly, “He didn’t hit me. Mom blocked him… so he hit Mom instead.”
Tuoba Yan was silent for a long moment. Finally, she said coldly, “Just wait.”
She found a few outfits from her middle school days in the closet, patted the head of her anxious-looking sister—the hair was soft, just like Tuoba Jiao herself, pleasant to the touch—and said, “I’ll step out. Change into these.”
She needed to find a way to toughen up her little sister. After all, Jiao would grow up, build her own life and family, and Tuoba Yan couldn’t protect her from every little thing.
Tuoba Yan plotted in her mind as she pushed open the door and stepped out.
The author has something to say:
Another update tonight, celebrating breaking 1,000 bookmarks? Also, thank you all for your love—whether it’s comments, bookmarks, or landmines, your support makes this Tang feel so ashamed, always thinking I’m too greedy and lazy, unworthy of so many little angels’ affection… oh my, the more I ramble the more tangled it gets, off I roll to write!
Footnotes
- 金龟婿 | jīn guī xù | Literally 'golden tortoise son-in-law'; a Chinese idiom for a wealthy, high-status husband, likening him to a rare and precious golden tortoise that brings fortune to the bride's family.
- 跳进黄河也洗不清 | tiào jìn Huáng Hé yě xǐ bù qīng | Literally 'cannot wash clean even by jumping into the Yellow River'; a common Chinese idiom meaning one's name is so thoroughly tarnished that no amount of effort can clear it, referencing the Yellow River's historically muddy, sediment-heavy waters.
- 仙风道骨 | xiān fēng dào gǔ | Literally 'immortal wind and daoist bones'; describes a person with an ethereal, otherworldly bearing traditionally associated with Daoist sages and spiritual masters.
- 香火钱 | xiāng huǒ qián | Literally 'incense money'; originally donations offered at temples to purchase incense, the term broadened to include fees paid to fortune tellers, spirit mediums, and religious practitioners for their services.
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