CH 113

Villainous Stand-in (11)

“I’m sorry that I didn’t protect you well, which caused you to get hurt,” Li Yuqing spoke softly as she squatted in front of Song Xu Yi’s bed.

Her voice sounded sincere and apologetic, but her gaze was unsettling.

Song Xu Yi couldn’t quite describe the feeling that Li Yuqing’s eyes gave her.

They were naturally charming, but when she looked at Song Xu Yi, there was a dark wildfire burning in them.

It was as if they held a trace of devastation, though she wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination.

Her breathing became erratic once again, and Song Xu Yi could feel her own heart racing in response to Li Yuqing’s beauty.

She couldn’t withstand such a gaze from her.

Decisively surrendering, Song Xu Yi shifted her gaze to the window and awkwardly spoke up, “You don’t have to feel guilty. I volunteered to protect you myself, and I didn’t get seriously injured–“

Li Yuqing interrupted her, holding her hand. “But I feel sad in my heart,” she said.

“Xu Yi is too kind, like a fairy in a fairy tale. I don’t want to see her get hurt in any way.”

“A fairy?” Song Xu Yi was momentarily stunned. Perhaps due to her guilt, she felt uneasy upon hearing the word “fairy” and couldn’t help but turn her head to look at Li Yuqing.

At that moment, Li Yuqing’s eyes were different from the ones that had previously made Song Xu Yi feel uneasy. As she looked up, she resembled the little Li Yuqing who would always leave sweet words and act cute in her dreams…

However, the system had just informed Song Xu Yi that she had been unconscious in the hospital without moving. Everything she had experienced must have been a dream, as evidenced by her torn clothes in reality, which her subconscious mind had reflected in the dream.

Lost in her thoughts, Song Xu Yi failed to notice that Li Yuqing’s gaze towards her had once again become dark.

“Xu Yi,” Li Yuqing suddenly blushed when Song Xu Yi came back to her senses. She appeared very embarrassed, lowered her head, and hastily grabbed the hospital gown from the cabinet next to her, putting it on Song Xu Yi. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to look at your buttons.”

?!

Song Xu Yi was startled, and all the blood rushed to her cheeks. She knew her face had turned as red as a tomato without even looking.

Although Song Xu Yi didn’t want to blush, this situation was beyond her control. Even in her dreams, she couldn’t help it. However, she didn’t feel any embarrassment when facing the younger Li Yuqing.

“We’re both girls, and I have what you have,” Song Xu Yi said, trying to reassure her with a red face. “It’s okay, looking once won’t hurt.” Despite her efforts to remain calm, she could still feel her face burning up.

Perhaps still muddled from just waking up, Song Xu Yi inexplicably added, “If you feel like you’ve taken advantage of me, just show me yours next time…”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Song Xu Yi wanted to bite her tongue off. She had almost forgotten that Li Yuqing, the woman in front of her, who appeared weak and harmless, was the villainess.

But Li Yuqing took her words seriously, blushing as she gave Song Xu Yi a moist-eyed glance. “I understand,” she said.

What did she understand?

Song Xu Yi’s mind was a little confused, but she couldn’t continue talking about this topic. She awkwardly changed the subject, feeling certain she would never look back on the day Li Yuqing showed her.

At Li Yuqing’s insistence, Song Xu Yi stayed in the hospital for two more days. She was bored and could only continue drawing on her tablet.

Her story’s plot had progressed to the part where the female protagonist discovers the deep hatred behind the female celebrity.

With each update, Song Xu Yi had gradually accumulated more readers. They left messages in the comments section, expressing their desire to see the female lead and female celebrity interact more. Song Xu Yi felt that it was time to develop the romantic plot. However, while drawing, she realized that she didn’t know how to depict romantic scenes.

She scrapped several drafts but still couldn’t figure it out, feeling lost. The system couldn’t stand it and hummed in Song Xu Yi’s mind, “The female celebrity has already found the female lead cute. This earnest, diligent, and ambitious girl attracts her bad girl type the most. So, the bad woman tries to get close to the female lead, forcing her to fulfill the ‘self-cultivation of fans’ and sending her messages every day to report on her life, teasing the female lead from time to time…”

Strangely, Song Xu Yi had no clue before, but after hearing the system say this, she suddenly had a burst of inspiration, as if she had been enlightened. Some unknown scenes flashed before her eyes, as if she really saw them happening in front of her, and she had a strange sense of familiarity with this story.

“System, you’re amazing!” exclaimed Song Xu Yi in excitement. “Did you secretly read the novel to catch up? What happened to them later?”

The system hummed twice, and Song Xu Yi could almost imagine the system’s tail wagging in excitement.

“I didn’t catch up by reading the novel. Don’t forget, the female lead is based on you,” the system reminded Song Xu Yi of the first rule of the small world of “no falling in love.” “Think about it, as someone who is serious, responsible, and focused on scientific research, would you be attracted to a scheming female celebrity like that? That’s definitely impossible! After the female lead completed the mission, she left the small world gracefully. As for that bad girl female celebrity… she was so selfish, and she still lived happily even after the female lead’s death–“

The system’s words became a bit stuttered towards the end, but Song Xu Yi didn’t notice.

Song Xu Yi felt a little guilty. If she were the female lead and the female celebrity was someone else, she thought she could control herself. However, she drew the female celebrity to look similar to Li Yuqing, who constantly met her aesthetic standards. Song Xu Yi wasn’t confident that she could resist temptation…

“Xu Yi, I’ve already arranged for someone to take care of the discharge procedures. Once we finish eating, we can leave the hospital,” said Li Yuqing when the topic of the female celebrity’s ending was brought up.

At that moment, Li Yuqing arrived at the door of Song Xu Yi’s ward with a lunch box. Subconsciously, Song Xu Yi hid her tablet under her pillow when she thought of the female celebrity she drew, who resembled Li Yuqing.

Li Yuqing noticed the hidden tablet but didn’t ask anything. She handed the lunch box to Song Xu Yi and sat down beside her with her laptop, busy with her work.

Song Xu Yi was impressed with Li Yuqing’s time management skills. According to the plot synopsis, this should be a crucial period of Li Yuqing’s career development. Yet, she insisted on cooking for Song Xu Yi while she was sick and brought her laptop to accompany her in the ward.

During this time, Li Yuqing’s phone kept ringing, but she didn’t hesitate to answer it in front of Song Xu Yi.

Song Xu Yi was surprised by Li Yuqing’s trust in her, but she didn’t want to pry and simply pretended to put on her headphones and listen to music.

As Li Yuqing’s phone rang again, Song Xu Yi reached for her headphones, but Li Yuqing stopped her by holding her hand.

Li Yuqing then showed Song Xu Yi two movie tickets and smiled brightly. “Auntie called. She and Uncle are going to a concert, and she asked me to pick you up from the hospital and take you to the movies. These tickets are the ones Auntie gave me.”

When Song Xu Yi’s parents heard that she was in the hospital, they rushed over in a panic. However, upon seeing that her injuries were minor, they were relieved. They didn’t blame Li Yuqing when she said the accident happened while they were out for a walk together. Instead, they admired Li Yuqing’s ability to get the introverted Song Xu Yi out of the house. During this time, Song Xu Yi’s parents grew closer to Li Yuqing and treated her like a daughter.

Song Xu Yi wasn’t particularly interested in watching a movie during the day. Her head was filled with inspiration from the system, and she wanted to go home and work on her manga. However, her mother insisted that she get some fresh air, and Li Yuqing was excited about the movie. Reluctantly, Song Xu Yi completed the discharge procedures, changed into her clothes, and followed Li Yuqing to the cinema, grateful for her care during her hospital stay.

Song Xu Yi was taken aback when she saw that her parents had bought her tickets for a horror movie.

There were only a few people in the theater during the day, scattered in various corners. The air conditioning was on full blast, creating a creepy atmosphere in the pitch-black environment.

It had to be said that the special effects and background music of the horror movie were very well done. Not long after the movie started, screams could be heard from various corners of the theater.

However, Song Xu Yi had once been a marshal who had fought on the battlefield. She had seen all sorts of corpses and naturally wouldn’t be afraid of this disguised horror atmosphere.

Despite this, the plot of the movie was interesting, so Song Xu Yi watched it with relish.

As the plot progressed, the scenes became scarier, and the screams in the cinema grew louder, especially from a girl a few rows down from Song Xu Yi who repeatedly screamed in fear, causing her boyfriend to console her.

However, after a high-energy scene, the girl surprisingly didn’t scream. Curious, Song Xu Yi looked over and, in the faint glow of the screen, saw them kissing.

Taken aback, Song Xu Yi turned her face away, feeling a little embarrassed. She then met Li Yuqing’s strange gaze.

“Aren’t you scared, Xu Yi?” Li Yuqing’s eyes seemed a bit peculiar.

“It’s okay,” Song Xu Yi didn’t think much of it and assumed that if Li Yuqing had been watching for so long without screaming, she probably wasn’t scared. She asked casually, “Aren’t you scared either?”

Li Yuqing was taken aback, and then she bit her lip tightly. She seemed extremely embarrassed and leaned over the seat to get close to Song Xu Yi’s ear. Her unique fragrance wafted over, and perhaps because she had just witnessed the couple kissing, Song Xu Yi suddenly felt something was off and became inexplicably agitated.

Li Yuqing’s gentle breath brushed past her ear, and Song Xu Yi heard her voice tinged with shyness: “I’m actually very scared, but I want to know who the killer is, and I don’t want to be scared out of my wits in public…”

“Xu Yi, when the high-energy scenes come up, can you help block my view? I’m too scared to move.”

Li Yuqing’s voice sounded pitiful.

As Song Xu Yi thought about Li Yuqing’s pitiful look, trembling in her seat while being scared by the movie, she regretted neglecting her while focusing on the plot before. She naturally agreed to help her.

The latter half of the movie was the most thrilling part. Various horror scenes appeared frequently, and the real culprit gradually emerged.

Throughout the process, Song Xu Yi was very responsible. Whenever a scary scene appeared, she leaned over to cover Li Yuqing’s eyes and whispered the plot to her.

When the protagonist discovered the real culprit and tied him up, Song Xu Yi thought the movie was almost over and released her hand that was blocking Li Yuqing’s vision. However, the scene on the screen suddenly changed, and countless rotten corpses emerged from all directions, filling the screen. The protagonists were trapped by various terrifying and hideous corpses, and the laughter of the real culprit echoed in the entire cinema, saying, “You will never catch me…”

The screams in the cinema were deafening. The movie had ended, and it seemed that the confrontation between the main characters and the real culprit would be extended to the second part, but Song Xu Yi was no longer in the mood to ponder the plot.

Suddenly, a dead body fell from the top of the protagonist’s head on the screen, and Song Xu Yi turned to cover Li Yuqing’s eyes. Li Yuqing seemed to be scared by the images on the screen, turning around and rushing into Song Xu Yi’s arms, trembling.

Song Xu Yi couldn’t help but comfort her, “It’s okay, it’s all fake, the movie has ended!”

But Li Yuqing begged softly, “Xu Yi, don’t let go, I can’t bear to look…”

Song Xu Yi didn’t expect Li Yuqing to be so scared, so she comforted her by patting her shoulder with one hand and covering her eyes with the other.

It wasn’t until the cinema lights came on and people began to leave that Li Yuqing seemed to snap out of it. She let go of Song Xu Yi’s hand and felt a little embarrassed as she softly apologized, “Xu Yi, I’m sorry, I was just too scared.”

Song Xu Yi remained silent.

The excellent lighting in the cinema highlighted Li Yuqing’s flawless skin, which resembled a beautiful piece of jade, and her delicate, slightly glistening red lips…

Watching such beauty under the light was becoming more and more breathtaking.

Song Xu Yi’s throat tightened.

Li Yuqing blinked her eyes, and her long eyelashes, like two small brushes, lightly brushed against Song Xu Yi’s palm.

As if being tickled by a feather, a strange tingling sensation suddenly arose in her heart, and her heartbeat accelerated, as if it was going to jump out of her chest.

“Xu Yi?” Li Yuqing called out softly.

Song Xu Yi was taken aback, as if waking from a dream, and released her hand, blushing.