Achieving A Happy Ending With The Tragic Female Lead [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 73.1

Guan Yue only felt the woman was being bizarre. She wanted to tell her to rein it in, but it wasn’t appropriate to say anything in front of so many people.

By the afternoon, a strong wind picked up. After the sky darkened, the rain gradually intensified.

By evening, the rain the director and crew had long awaited finally fell.

The sets for these two scenes had long been prepared, so the director immediately decided to film the rain scenes first.

Since the first half involved Su Mi kneeling in the rain to receive punishment, she went to the dressing room first to change. The clothes she changed into were quite thin. When she stepped out, she immediately felt the bone-chilling cold brought by the temperature drop.

Before filming started, the director said to her, “Teacher Su, this rain is quite cold. I hope you can endure it for a bit.”

Su Mi handed her shawl to Xiao Xin and nodded to the director. “It’s only right.”

As the area was cleared, Su Mi walked into the rain. The torrential downpour soaked her to the bone instantly, and the noisy rain even swallowed some of the surrounding sounds.

After finding her position, Su Mi raised her hand toward the director to signal she was ready.

The clapperboard loader also ran over through the rain to mark the scene.

[Raindrops fell in strings from the gray-tiled eaves, forming a dense bead curtain.

Beyond the curtain, Duan Yuebai knelt in the rain with a straight back, letting the rushing water drench her.

Behind her stood a servant holding a rattan whip, while the dignified Madame Duan stood beside her. The butler held an oil paper umbrella for her from behind.

“Mother, I want to take her away.”

“You insolent child! How dare you say such things in front of the ancestors!” Madame Duan scolded. She composed herself. “If you admit your mistake now and promise never to speak such nonsense again, and never see that woman again, I will overlook your words.”

” I am not wrong. Why should I admit it?” Rain blurred her vision, but it did not blur her heart.

Madame Duan was so angry she threw the Buddhist prayer beads in her hand at her. They hit Duan Yuebai’s back before falling into a puddle.

“Madame, please don’t be angry. The Eldest Miss has a temper just like yours; you cannot be harsh with her,” the butler whispered.

Madame Duan looked at the person in the rain. “She dares to challenge me; that means her wings have grown strong. I want to see today just how strong they are.”

“I ask you one more time, do you admit your mistake?”

In the rain, Duan Yuebai spoke word by word: “What wrong have I committed?”

Madame Duan’s chest heaved with anger. She pointed a finger. “Beat her.”

When the bamboo strip fell, Duan Yuebai’s pale jaw tightened for an instant, but she didn’t make a sound.

“I ask you again, do you know your mistake yet?”

Duan Yuebai remained firm: “I have done no wrong.”

“Good, very good! Keep beating her!”

The bamboo strip fell again and again on Duan Yuebai’s straight back as the rain continued to wash over it.

“Madame, we cannot beat her anymore.” The butler could not bear to see the Eldest Miss, whom he had watched grow up, suffer like this.

Madame Duan’s heart was also aching. This was the pearl she had held in her palm for so many years; every time the bamboo strip fell, her heart felt the pain too.

Finally, she suppressed her tears, turned her face away, and waved her hand.

The butler, always observant, immediately called for the beating to stop.

Duan Yuebai could no longer tell if it was rain or cold sweat on her face. She propped her hands on the ground and slowly stood up. “Thank you, Mother.”

“How did I ever give birth to someone like you…” Madame Duan’s face still held anger, but it was mostly helplessness and heartache.

Madame Duan sighed deeply, not wanting to say more. “Let’s go. We’re going back.”

The butler looked at Duan Yuebai: “Then the Eldest Miss…”

Madame Duan turned her head: “Since her bones are so tough, let her find her own way back. No one is allowed to help her.”

The butler was holding the umbrella for Madame Duan, she couldn’t do anything for the Eldest Miss now. She could only follow Madame Duan away, and the servant with the whip followed as well.

Only Duan Yuebai remained in the open space outside the ancestral hall.

She stood there for a while, then, amidst the dim night and the pounding rain, she began to walk toward her own quarters.

She didn’t stop once until she finally reached her room.

The lights inside were still on. She reached out to push the door, but it didn’t budge at first.

The door was opened from the inside, revealing the face of the maid, Juzi. Upon seeing Duan Yuebai, she immediately cried out, “Eldest Miss!”

Then another person rushed forward, it was Qi Youwei. Her eyes were red, looking as if she had just been crying.

“I heard you had a dispute with the Madame, so I came to find you, but you weren’t here… I wanted to go look for you,” she said with a hint of grievance, “but Juzi blocked the door and wouldn’t let me out.”

“Juzi was only following my orders,” Duan Yuebai said to her with a smile.

Qi Youwei looked at her pale lips. “Were you punished? I heard the Madame is very strict.”

With the door open, the wind kept blowing in. Juzi hurried to close it. Seeing this, Qi Youwei took off her own shawl and wrapped it around Duan Yuebai.

“Never mind, I won’t ask for now. Change your clothes first.” Qi Youwei pulled her further into the room.

After entering, the shawl accidentally slipped off. When Duan Yuebai bent down to pick it up, she strained her back and couldn’t help but hiss in pain.

Qi Youwei immediately went to check Duan Yuebai’s back, but she was wearing black today, so nothing could be seen.

This normally fragile woman found strength from somewhere, pulling Duan Yuebai to sit by the bed. She then started to unfasten her clothes, and Duan Yuebai couldn’t stop her.

Several prominent red welts were spread across her fair back, some of the wounds seeping tiny beads of blood.

Duan Yuebai didn’t hear a sound from the person behind her. She took the initiative to explain: “Actually, it just looks scary. Mother had them hold back, otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to walk back on my own.”

But Qi Youwei still didn’t speak. She turned around and, as expected, saw Qi Youwei with red eyes, looking like she was about to cry.

Duan Yuebai hurried to comfort her, even ignoring her own injuries and wet clothes.

Midway, Juzi knocked on the door, saying the butler had sent someone over with medicine.

Qi Youwei wiped the corners of her eyes, stood up to open the door, and brought the medicine in, insisting on applying it for Duan Yuebai.

Duan Yuebai agreed.

“Am I a burden?” Qi Youwei asked softly as she carefully applied the medicine. “My family thought I was a burden, so they ‘sold’ me to your house. Now I seem to have become your burden too.”

Duan Yuebai turned and caught her hand that was applying the medicine, her usual gentle tone gaining a hint of urgency: “Don’t talk nonsense.”

Under the lamplight, Qi Youwei looked up at her. Not knowing where the courage came from, she suddenly leaned up and kissed her on the lips.]

“Cut! Good, this take is a wrap!” The director signaled for everyone to take a break. “Teacher Su, go change quickly and dry your hair, then we’ll continue with the next one.”

Su Mi didn’t waste a second and went to prepare.

When a staff member returned with a cup of hot ginger tea, they couldn’t find Su Mi. “Eh, where did Teacher Su go? I have the ginger tea here.”

Guan Yue recalled the icy coldness of Su Mi’s hand when she held hers during the scene.

She walked up to the staff member. “Give it to me. I happen to be looking for Teacher Su.”

“Alright, thank you, Teacher Guan.” The staff member handed it over relieved and went back to other tasks.

Guan Yue went to the dressing room. The makeup artist was outside chatting with the styling team. She walked in alone but didn’t see Su Mi.

She walked further in and saw the changing room door was closed. She tried calling out: “Su Mi, are you in there?”

The door handle turned, and Su Mi, having changed her clothes, stood there. “What are you doing here?”

Guan Yue said nonchalantly, “The staff were too busy, so I helped them bring you some ginger tea.”

A flash of amusement crossed Su Mi’s eyes. She took the cup and took a few sips.

“The next scene starts soon. Are you nervous?”

“We’ve… rehearsed it so many times. There’s nothing to be nervous about.” Guan Yue didn’t look at her while saying this.

“Have you heard of short term memory retrieval?” Su Mi asked suddenly, swirling the cup in her hand.

Guan Yue looked at her strangely. “I know it. Why mention that all of a sudden?”

Short term memory retrieval can bring back stimulus information from short term memory, when the stimulus reappears, the memory can be recalled again.

Guan Yue seemed to realize what she wanted to do. She immediately tried to turn and leave, but she was a step too slow.

Su Mi pulled her back, cupped her face with one hand, and kissed her.

Outside, the makeup artist, fearing Su Mi was waiting for her, quickly ended her discussion and came back to check.

Standing at the doorway, she saw Guan Yue standing outside the changing stall, one hand braced against the doorframe, her upper body leaning slightly into the stall.

She could vaguely hear Teacher Guan’s voice calling out to Teacher Su in a tone of exasperation.

“Su Mi, you….”

“Teachers, are you ready?” the makeup artist asked tentatively from the door.

Hearing the voice, Guan Yue bolted backward, a hint of panic on her face.

Then Su Mi walked out, still holding the ginger tea. She explained to the makeup artist, “I accidentally spilled the ginger tea on Teacher Guan’s…” She glanced at Guan Yue’s lips. “…hand.”

The makeup artist nodded understandingly. No wonder Teacher Guan sounded so exasperated.

Guan Yue was furious but couldn’t speak, so she could only let her anger simmer.

Su Mi sat down to prepare for makeup. When the makeup artist saw her lip color, she felt it was a bit strange.

She remembered that when she saw Teacher Su earlier, her lips were quite pale because she was soaked through.

“Teacher Su, did you just put on lipstick? Why did your lip color suddenly get darker?”

Hearing this, Su Mi instinctively looked at Guan Yue in the mirror. Seeing the latter looking as if she wanted to bite her, Su Mi pressed her lips together. “I just drank the ginger tea. It was a bit hot.”