Arc 4
The Supporting Female is a Stand-in for the Female Lead (15)
🎃Trick or Treat !🎃
Team Leader Jia stood in the air with a solemn expression.
Ye Wei drifted over to her, “How is my performance?”
Team Leader Jia wanted to praise Ye Wei for doing well, just… “What do you mean by your last words?”
When it came to that, Ye Wei’s fury button was poked, “Blame the Male Lead, ah. How could he recognize the wrong person at such a critical moment. I was really afraid that the Female Lead would notice it and would misunderstand him. I really tried my best to remind the Male Lead!”
Team Leader Jia thought her last words were strange, but after listening to Ye Wei’s explanation, she was enlightened. “Well done.”
Ye Wei nodded, “Thank you, Zuchang, for your praise.”
She completed her task, but she was still worried. The Supporting Female in the original plot also got into a car crash and turned into a vegetable, but the process of the Supporting Female turning into a vegetable was a smooth journey. There was no such thing as the Male Lead mistaking her for the Female Lead! If the Female Lead knew it, wouldn’t she be furious? The Female Lead’s life was also on the line! How could the Male Lead recognize the wrong person? How would the heavy misunderstanding be solved? Wouldn’t it just result in another big drama of sadomasochistic love?
Also! In so many novels and TV Shows, it showed that the Male Lead could recognize the Female Lead at a glance even amidst the crowd! But look at Xu Chi! He was so good at recognizing the Female Lead that instead of Liang Ruowei, he panicked over her!
However, the blame wasn’t all on the Male Lead. She also shared the blame because she didn’t protect her face well. With that ghostly appearance, even she could hardly recognize herself.
It was all thanks to the pain that she could fight for the last breath to remind the Male Lead that he admitted the wrong person!
And honestly, she was quite pleased with her work. She prayed that the Male Lead would realize he had made a mistake and find the Female Lead to make amends.
Still, it made her wonder. Did the Male Lead really love the Female Lead? At such a juncture, he admitted the wrong person. Was there ever a Male Lead as blind as him?
She could only hope the Female Lead had some mercy on him.
Ye Wei nervously opened her personal information bar.
【Congratulations to Commissioner Ye Wei for successfully playing the role of vicious Supporting Female and completing the branch plot】
【Task completion: 100%】
【Task score: 100】
【Lord God’s message: Well done. Keep it up!】
Ye Wei beamed. She glimpsed at Xu Chi, who knelt on the ground at a loss, then at Liang Ruowei, who was lying nearby surrounded by a noisy crowd.
“Jia-zuchang, let’s leave.”
By this time, Team Leader Jia was accustomed to Ye Wei’s ruthlessness. She returned to the Lord God’s place with Ye Wei.
As the two stepped into the gate of the Time and Space Administration Bureau, Team Leader Jia was still doubtful, “I seem to notice that you never stay to take a look after every task is over?”
Ye Wei tilted her head thoughtfully. She let out a sigh, “It’s just because my heart is too weak. I am afraid that I won’t be able to let myself die so simply in the future if I stay to take a look. I have my priorities, my parents are still waiting for me.”
Team Leader Jia: “……Oh.”
She glanced at Ye Wei from the corner of her eyes. She didn’t agree in the slightest when she said her heart was too weak. Although she died quite simply on every task, if other employees were to be placed in her position, they probably would need psychological counseling by now. As far as she was concerned, Ye Wei was the only one that could complete every task one by one in such a short time. She deserved to be the talent that she values!
When the gate of the Time and Space Administration Bureau was nearly sealed, Ye Wei looked back once again. She saw Xu Chi was still motionless with fear apparent on his face, perhaps he was frightened by her words.
She shook her head and resolutely left the world. This time, she really left without nostalgia and never looked back.
Anyway, she had done her best.
————·————·————
Ye Wei was back at the Time and Space Administration Bureau and was about to pull her lottery. She happened to notice a familiar woman rush out beside her. Her face was quite pale and she looked flustered. Behind her, two men were chasing her.
Such a scene was not strange to Ye Wei. When she first stepped here, she too suspected that she had entered a psychiatric hospital and wished to escape back to her home quickly. It took her a lot of time to believe that something unscientific like the Time and Space Administration Bureau really exists.
Later, she encountered many newcomers who tried to run out of the guest house and scolded them all as lunatics.
“009, stop right there! You have been arrested for disturbing the world order. You will be listed as a first-class criminal if you dare to run again!”
009 yelled, “I don’t understand what you are talking about! I just want to go home now! Why are you arresting me!”
“You disturbed the world order, of course we have a reason to arrest you.” Special Agent No. 3 retorted coldly, “Also, your body in the original world has become a vegetable. Even if you run back now, you can only lie in the hospital bed for a lifetime. Even if your mind is conscious, your body is not.”
009 bit her lips, full of reluctance, “I refuse to believe it!”
Special Agent No. 3 conceded, “009, it’s not that you don’t have a chance to go back. You can go back, but the premise is that you have to pass the assessment of the Time and Space Administration Bureau.”
009’s eyes brightened right away. She probed with caution, “You mean I can go back?”
“Yes.”
“Is it true? You are not lying?”
“I never lie. That is a rule made by the Lord God. No one can change it. If you really want to return to your world, I suggest you first familiarize yourself with what our Time and Space Administration Bureau is like.”
009 pondered over Special Agent No.3’s words and she returned to a more composed self. The doubt had not yet been erased from her face though. She couldn’t completely believe Special Agent No. 3.
Special Agent No. 3 was nonchalant to her reaction, “You have no other choice but to trust us.”
“At last, I will give you a choice. First, go to jail. Second, participate in the assessment. I will give you three seconds!”
“One, two…”
“Fine! I will participate in the assessment!” 009 nervously picked to participate in the assessment.
Ye Wei watched as 009 was taken away by the two special agents. They nodded at Ye Wei with a smile and Ye Wei smiled back.
She watched them for a period before resuming her steps to the lottery room.
Her hands seemed to be stinkier than before. How could she pull a thing such as “Stronger than Ox”?
She didn’t want to be as strong as an ox ah!?
She was so mad that she went back to her real world for three days to be a salted fish before she was soothed.
In addition, her mother said that her cousin and her cousin-in-law had taken their wedding photos. Her mother showed it to her, it was a pity she could only listen and couldn’t see it.
When she returned to the Bureau, Wang Ling from the Supporting Female Counterattack Team next door visited her for a trade, “I heard you drew a Disastrous Beauty System[1] previously?”
Ye Wei nodded, “Are you going to compete for favor in ancient times for your next task?”
Wang Ling excitedly told Ye Wei, “Correct! Not only that, the favor I’m competing for is the Emperor’s favor. I will soon be able to stage a real version of the Legend of Concubine Zhen Huan[2]! Regardless, it is undeniable that the harem is loaded with beautiful women. I may have drawn several Systems, but we can only use one System in each world. I have no suitable System in my pocket for this task. I heard you have it, so I came here for an exchange. Do you mind?”
Ye Wei didn’t mind this kind of trade. As long as the System wasn’t bound, it could be traded. Once bound, the System could no longer be unbound, meaning that it was impossible for her to retrieve it. “Then, do you have a Chinese Medicine System?”
Wang Ling bitterly smiled, “I heard that the Chinese Medicine System can even revive the dead. A miraculous System like that, even if I have done several tasks and pulled the lottery many times, it is still far from my reach. However, I have a Cook System and a Test God[3] System… How about it?”
Ye Wei had no expectations, to begin with. She casually requested the Cook System. “Also, please help me keep an eye on who has a Chinese Medicine System. If somehow you get it, I want to trade it.”
Wang Ling patted her chest and agreed, “I heard you are in a vegetative state in the real world?”
“Mn, have been for more than two years.”
“How nice. I died directly in the real world.”
“……”
Wang Ling stayed for a chat before she ran merrily with the Disastrous Beauty System.
————·————·————
Ye Wei began preparing for her next task, oblivious that Team Leader Jia was called by the Lord God of the System again because of her.
And, the reason was, the same as before, the main line of Ye Wei’s task collapsed again!
How did it collapse when she completed it with full marks?!
Moreover, the collapse was not the usual collapse where a vicious Supporting Female disrupted the main line and caused it to collapse. Similar to her previous task, the world’s main line collapsed, but it regenerated another new main line, so the world didn’t entirely collapse.
It happened too many times when it came to Ye Wei that the Lord God became numb.
What was the problem with Ye Wei?
Obviously, it had reviewed Ye Wei’s progression during her task.
Obviously, there was no deviance from the original plot, so why did such a huge change occur?
The Lord God and Team Leader Jia looked at each other, but the culprit, Ye Wei, had already started her next task.
————·————·————
The first time Auntie Zhang saw Ye Wei, the girl was thin and small. Her hair was a bit greasy and tied behind her head.
She wore shabby clothes, carrying a school bag with a Mickey Mouse pattern on her back. The bag probably had been used for so long because the hole in the school bag was not the least of the problem, even the zipper handle was nowhere to be found. The zipper base was pulled in the middle of the bag, and it was able to ‘close’ the bag, with noticeable huge gaps on the left and right sides of the bag. It could be seen that there were books and clothes stuffed in the bag from the bulging of it.
She carried a few transparent plastic bags in her hand. There were clothes and shoes, also wild vegetables and fruits in them. One of the plastic bags contained something dark, which she couldn’t recognize—— Later, Ye Wei told her that it was a piece of bacon that had been smoked in front of the stove for a year. The reason why it was dark was there was too much smoke and ash during the smoking. For her, the bacon was a luxury, she had been reluctant to eat it. She brought it here because she considered it the best meeting gift she could present.
The girl was loaded with many things, but she appeared to be fine and didn’t feel the things were heavy.
Ye Wei observed the luxurious villa that screamed money in front of her and revealed a happy smile. Her skin was sun-kissed and her teeth were white. Her smile gave the impression of a rustic and honest girl.
“Come in. Xiansheng, Taitai[4], and Xiaojie are waiting for you.”
Ye Wei’s eyes sparkled with anticipation, “The Xiansheng and Taitai you speak of, are they my parents?”
Auntie Zhang took a good look at her. Her face was a bit dirty, but she could vaguely see her employers’ shadow on her, if her temperament wasn’t taken into account, of course… “Yes.”
Ye Wei’s smile bloomed even more, “Wow! I’m so happy! I have parents too!”
Who would have guessed that the daughter of the Ye Family who had been pampered by them for 18 years was not their own? Even, their biological daughter was a village girl who grew up in the mountains!
————·————·————
“I’m Ye Wei…”
“Not Liang Ruowei…”
“You admitted the wrong person again.”
As Xu Chi slumped there, he watched Ye Wei vomit blood from her lips but fought for breath to tell him that she is Ye Wei, not Liang Ruowei.
Her face was smeared with blood, and her expression was indistinguishable. Those eyes struggling to open became dull and lifeless, her pair of eyes were no longer as bright and brilliant as they used to be.
She looked at him with obvious stupefaction. It was mixed with self-mockery and helplessness. As if saying, how can she be mistaken again? Why does she get mistaken again?
Those eyes trapped him.
Invisible hands squeezed his heart and he suffocated.
“Ye Wei……”
She coughed again. She kept her gaze on him, lips opening and closing, struggling to utter syllables. It became even harder with the blood constantly vomiting from her lips. She coughed blood and her voice became ragged. Her situation was really horrible.
Until she couldn’t hold on and her head tilted, she passed out.
At the same time, Xu Chi could feel his heart stop beating for a second.
The fear he felt was unimaginable. It was the kind of fear he never tasted. He cupped her face, ignoring all the blood running down his palm. His voice trembled, “Ye Wei, I’m sorry, I know it’s you! I know you are you!”
“I didn’t admit the wrong person! Ye Wei, wake up, I said, I didn’t admit the wrong person!”
“Can you hear me? I didn’t admit the wrong person!”
“I know it’s you. Really, this time, I didn’t admit the wrong person!”
“You are Ye Wei!”
“Ye Wei, Ye Wei——”
Xu Chi never thought that one day, he would see Ye Wei lying on the ground, mottled with injuries, dying. The face that always cheered him up was beyond recognition. Her eyes were hidden beneath the lid and her eyelashes were clotted with dried blood. Her breath became lighter……
Such Ye Wei seemed to be able to breathe her last at any given moment.
He was afraid. Afraid that Ye Wei would die, afraid that Ye Wei would be gone from his life forever.
Xu Chi’s fear and dread of losing Ye Wei override every inch of his mind, making him unable to think of anything else.
His mind was occupied by Ye Wei.
When the ambulance arrived, Ye Wei was put on the stretcher and carried to the ambulance. He followed closely by her side without blinking. He was afraid that if he blinked, Ye Wei would vanish.
Liang Ruowei was also carried over. She lay on the stretcher, looking up at him sadly, “Xu Chi…”
Xu Chi spared a glance at Liang Ruowei, his blank mind eventually remembered Liang Ruowei was also in the accident. He discerned the guilt and fear on her face as she called his name.
He abruptly was aware that the distinction between Ye Wei and Liang Ruowei was so huge. Apart from their similar appearances, the two were the polar opposite, two different people with different hobbies and personalities.
Why did he regard Ye Wei as a substitute for Liang Ruowei? Just because their faces look similar? Why did he impose all of Liang Ruowei’s hobbies on Ye Wei?
Ah. All these things… How much injustice has he done to Ye Wei.
Liang Ruowei could only stare at Xu Chi’s stunned appearance for a short time as she was quickly carried to the ambulance. The door of the ambulance was closed, and Xu Chi disappeared entirely from her sight.
————·————·————
Xu Chi grew up with his grandfather. He didn’t have parents and he didn’t know what it was like to have parents. Sometimes, he envied others for having both of their parents by their side, yet he only had his grandfather.
His Grandpa was strict with him. He always taught him to learn all kinds of things. In addition to studying, his Grandpa also sent him to the army during the winter and summer vacations. His Grandpa said he did all that because he hoped Xu Chi would have enough ability to protect himself; He hoped that no matter what difficulties Xu Chi encountered, Xu Chi could find ways to survive.
His Grandpa may be strict, but he also gave him the best love. His childhood was not cold, it was loaded with his Grandpa’s love.
He grew up under the expectation and education of his Grandpa. He believed he was strong enough to face any difficulties and nothing could defeat him.
And that was indeed the case. He was firm enough and strong enough. He met his Grandpa’s expectations and fulfilled all of them. It gave him confidence in himself.
He was confident that he wouldn’t make any mistakes— Ye Wei is just a substitute for him.
He thought that, he did not love Ye Wei.
For him, Ye Wei was not ‘Ye Wei’, but another ‘Liang Ruowei’. He missed Liang Ruowei, so there was Ye Wei by his side.
He was overly confident, firmly believing his mind would never change. So, he never truly faced Ye Wei, let alone face his true feelings.
That night, when Ye Wei discovered that she was just Liang Ruowei’s stand-in, that he had never loved her, he was so uncomfortable. He thought the discomfort was out of guilt and remorse. Thus, he wanted her to forgive him. All along, the reason why his heart was so uncomfortable that night, aside from guilt, was because he was afraid Ye Wei, who knew the truth, would be mad, would be sad, would hate him, and ultimately, would leave him behind.
He never thought that he would come to love Ye Wei.
Yes, when did he fall in love with Ye Wei?
He actually fell in love with Ye Wei?
He stood blankly outside the operating room. He was unable to remember when this feeling bloomed, when Ye Wei was no longer Liang Ruowei’s stand-in in his heart, when Ye Wei became only ‘Ye Wei’ and no one else. Was it from a long time ago that he had already unknowingly loved her…?
His realization came when he saw Ye Wei was in a critical condition. He didn’t want Ye Wei to disappear from his world forever. To be unable to see her, hear her, or touch her. He didn’t want Ye Wei to exist only in his memory.
He even felt that it wouldn’t matter if Ye Wei never forgave him, if Ye Wei got together with Zhao Qi. Nothing mattered at all, as long as she could live well and happily.
As long as she could live, he would pay for any price.
His palm rested on his heart, the pain was agonizing.
The doctors and nurses paced before him. He watched as Ye Wei’s parents, her older brother, and her sister-in-law inquired about Ye Wei’s situation. He watched them crying while signing their signatures on the notice of critical illness.
————·————·————
He was entrenched outside the operating room for a day and night. He felt that the time stretched out for a long time. Every minute and second of waiting was suffering on its own. The pain in his heart grew as time ticked. Time passed quickly, and slowly, as he waited. With what felt like the longest blink of an eye, the doctor exited the room. The doctor informed him, the operation was successful and they successfully removed the glass fragments from Ye Wei’s brain. However, the trauma her brain suffered likely caused her to never wake up.
Cao Heng consoled, “Ye Wei is so strong, I believe she will eventually wake up.”
Though, he had no confidence in his words. Because, in many cases, life is tenacious, but also fragile. It was not enough to persevere only by perseverance.
Xu Chi looked up at him, “Are you telling the truth?”
Cao Heng: “……”
He stared at Xu Chi, “You know, Ruowei asked the same thing to me.”
Xu Chi frowned at Cao Heng.
Cao Heng questioned him, “If Ruowei is out of guilt, what about you? Is it also out of guilt?”
Xu Chi went quiet.
Day by day, Xu Chi waited.
But, Ye Wei never opened her eyes again.
She slept quietly on the hospital bed.
She could no longer be as lively as before.
She could no longer continue her life.
Because of his selfishness, Ye Wei’s time ceased to move.
By this point, he would be a fool if he did not realize Ye Wei’s weight in his heart. No matter how dense he was, he could understand that Ye Wei was not a mere substitute in his heart.
He fell in love with Ye Wei, but Ye Wei thought he mistook her for Liang Ruowei.
Until she died, she believed that she was just a substitute in his eyes.
She would never know that he loves her.
Never.
Footnotes
[1] From Chapter 33 ↵
[2] 甄嬛传 – zhēnhuán chuán. Also known as Empresses in the Palace; Inner Palace: Zhen Huan Biography; or The Legend of Concubine Zhen Huan. A 76-episode historical/political/harem drama set in Qing Dynasty. It is the prequel to another drama, Ruyi’s Royal Love. ↵
[3] 考神 – kǎoshén. The kind of God that you pray for a successful exam.↵
[4] 太太 – tàitai. A married woman. Mrs. Madam. Wife. ↵
Ry’s Corner
I relate spiritually to Ye Wei about her bad luck. Sigh.
I want to believe 009 is the ‘Ye Wei’ in Xu Chi’s world and she succeeded in the assessment and later returned back to her body and woke up from her vegetative state. Whether she got together with Xu Chi again or not, well, who knows. ∠( ᐛ 」∠)_
I noticed there are ads at the bottom of the post now. Sorry about that, I’m using WordPress Free, you see. So it is not up to me whether there are ads or not in my post. If I could, I would remove it because I dislike ads QAQ I can’t remove it because I’m a freeloader of WordPress, please bear with me QAQ
My head is aching because I remember there is another, older, version of this Arc where there are some differences in LRW’s previous life, but the RAW in Jinjiang is the newest one and I can’t find the older version to verify my memory. I only remember that there are more crumbs of the Supporting Female ‘Ye Wei’ and Xu Chi in their previous life, where they are not influenced by the plot and Liang Ruowei is not the ‘Female Lead’. If I remember it correctly, in the previous life of the older version, LRW is worse than she is now and Xu Chi is better than he is now. Xu Chi even admonished LRW harshly because of her outrageous action. It’s only one or two paragraphs difference, though. But I consider Xu Chi redeemable because of it? I swore I have read it somewhere??? Orz. If only Jinjiang allows us to see the past version of a chapter. My brain often plays pranks on me, so nevermind, I give up, maybe I remember it wrong? But I swear—
On a side note, please don’t drive when you are emotionally unstable, just take a rest or stop the car. It can lead to accidents and it’s not a delightful experience for the driver and the passenger. I can vouch for that.
And, that wraps up Arc 4. Now, let’s jump into Arc 5.
Aside from being busy and lazy, I have no other excuse. Please don’t smack me.
I have a hard time picking up things after I leave them for some time, such as when I left my laptop behind and stopped translating. It took me until late September before I picked it up again and put it back in my schedule, all because I noticed the Memory Lost in Space on my bookshelf and re-read it. The pain it gave to my soul convinced me that I should stop procrastinating. Even by then, with my increased workloads (and new games, plus the events, oops), I can’t translate as much as before and could only squeeze some time in between. I planned to release 12 chapters at once to cover the missed updates, but as you can see, it will be too long before I can finish 12 chapters (or more, if I miss another week lmao) and it will be postponed to a further date. I decided to finish Arc 4 first (around 6 chapters) and the remaining 6 chapters will be for next month because my brain is failing me. Maybe I will do daily updates until the 6 chapters are all done, or maybe I will update twice a week, it all depends on the situation.
Also, another unimportant piece of news, I got my worldview shaken when I returned home. I can put it aside because it didn’t directly affect me and my life, though. The thing happened in my neighborhood so whether I like it or not, I will keep hearing one or two about it. It has been months and the topic is still ongoing in my neighborhood. As a netizen myself, I can understand why the topic is still on fire. It was kinda fucked up ngl so I won’t divulge it.
Anyway, I hope none of you have gotten tired of me. Happy Halloween◝( • ω • )◜
————·————·————
Yin Nanzhao, you fool.
If you like what I do please consider buying me ko-fi! Who needs sleep, anyway. I don’t offer Advanced Chapters like Lyre yet, but you are free to water this thirsty cat!
Words count (excluding title, footnotes, TL’s corner): 3752
Support Me on Ko-Fi!
The chatting guest on the seat went, so the book slept.
Welcome back~
hehe even if it took some time, i’m glad you’re returning to this series!
thanks for the chunky update
Ah, Ye Wei. The poor girl never quite gets the job done right.
Task failed successfully ˘▽˘
Welcome back and thank you so much for translating this gem of a story again! Take your time and know that you are appreciated!!!
Thank you for the satisfying translation. I’m also glad that you posted this arc all at once.
thx for the ch!! keep up the good work :))
Omg me too!! I’ve read the MTL last year and that liang person is not the real female lead, that’s why i was confused.. like why is the story changed so much? I thought i was hallucinating and maybe i read a similar story but nope! This is the novel that i’ve read before.
Thank you for translating and is this really the end if this arc I kinda feel that something is missing
Thank you for translating and is this really the end if this arc I kinda feel that something is missing and kinda feel like the ending for this one is too