The Mad Beauty and the Sick Young Lady [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 11

Su Li had watched almost all of Jiang Zhuoye’s movies at home.

She noticed a pattern, Jiang Zhuoye’s 21st year was the turning point in her life.

Jiang Zhuoye had loved acting since she was a child, and she majored in acting in college, though it was at a less known performing arts school.

Before the age of 21, Jiang Zhuoye played small supporting roles in some TV series. Her acting was mediocre, only her youthful face was considered attractive, and she had very little fame.

However, in that 21st year, Jiang Zhuoye participated in a commercial film, playing the third female lead. As a result, she shone brightly in the film, her acting was explosive, surpassing a host of professional actors, and she became wildly popular.

Immediately after this film, Jiang Zhuoye starred as the female lead in another commercial film. This film went on to set an all-time box office record!

Following the success of this movie, Jiang Zhuoye quickly broke away from her original management company, started her own studio, and became independent. Her career developed rapidly, with each movie’s box office success being higher than the last. She also began to try her hand at being a producer and director.

Jiang Zhuoye did not only act in commercial films; she would also accept literary films with good concepts and strong storylines, even reducing her pay to participate. These literary films, in turn, earned her high praise from industry professionals.

After repeated comparisons, Su Li discovered that the Jiang Zhuoye before 21 and the Jiang Zhuoye after 21 were like two different people!

It’s impossible for a person to achieve such a massive breakthrough in acting skill in such a short period, and even more impossible for their entire aura to undergo such a fundamental change!

The Jiang Zhuoye before 21 had a face full of collagen, with an innocent and carefree look in her eyes and expressions. She smiled like a sweet and naive girl.

But the Jiang Zhuoye after 21 no longer had the innocence of youth in her demeanor. Instead, she possessed a clear wisdom that seemed to come from a deep personal journey, and she never smiled. No one could make her laugh, no matter what cameras she faced.

This also led to Jiang Zhuoye rarely participating in variety shows; a star who doesn’t smile, no matter how beautiful, is not suitable for variety shows.

Moreover, Jiang Zhuoye’s explosion in popularity started at age 21, and all her interviews and live streams were after this age. In front of these cameras, Jiang Zhuoye made no attempt to hide her true nature, often doing things like flipping off the camera.

The more Su Li watched, the stranger she felt. It seemed that Jiang Zhuoye had suddenly transformed into a mature woman in that 21st year, with her own unique set of values.

But despite her curiosity, Su Li did not try to speculate about Jiang Zhuoye’s life experiences. She knew everyone had secrets they didn’t want others to know, and besides, she now considered Jiang Zhuoye a friend and was reluctant to pry into her friend’s privacy.

Su Li believed that if their relationship deepened in the future, all these current doubts would be revealed by Jiang Zhuoye herself.

On the third day of Su Li’s rest at home, she finally received a call from Ying Feiyan, which she immediately rejected.

Ying Feiyan then sent several long text messages. The main point was that the last incident was an accident, that she couldn’t control her pheromones, and that she didn’t deliberately try to make trouble for Su Li, let alone threaten Su Li with a temporary mark… Blah blah blah. Su Li found it ironic and deleted all of them.

On the fifth day, Su Li received another message from Ying Feiyan: “I’m downstairs at your house. If you don’t come out to see me, I’ll wait here indefinitely.”

Su Li asked Aunt Zhang to look out the window. Aunt Zhang came back, full of emotion, and said:

“Miss Ying is really standing downstairs by our house, right on the driveway.”

Su Li felt a little curious, but even more, a quiet sense of schadenfreude.

She didn’t want to personally deal with Ying Feiyan out of respect for the years of their relationship and the fact that she had genuinely loved this person, unwilling to dirty her own hands.

But that didn’t mean she didn’t want to see Ying Feiyan suffer some kind of punishment.

Moreover, just standing downstairs what kind of punishment was that? Su Li felt she was truly magnanimous.

She pretended the matter didn’t exist and continued to draw her comic in her room.

Her serialized comic had accumulated dozens of chapters, and she had gained quite a few new fans. Some online comic platforms also proactively reached out, and Su Li had already selected an editor to help her publish her content on that platform.

The goal wasn’t to make money; Su Li set the work as free to read. Coupled with some commercial promotion, the popularity of Miss Sick’s Daily Life soared.

Looking at the constantly increasing number of comments after the update, Su Li smiled with satisfaction, thinking. Isn’t this much more meaningful than listening to an ex-girlfriend’s repentance?

The weather had been cooling down recently. Coincidentally, it started to rain heavily that evening. The autumn and winter rain was bitterly cold, and the drops felt like ice picks hitting the face.

Su Li didn’t pay any attention until dinnertime when Aunt Zhang came to speak to her:

“Miss Ying is still standing downstairs… It’s raining, and I see she didn’t bring an umbrella. She’s completely drenched. Should we send her an umbrella?”

Su Li was eating strawberries and smiled calmly:

“No need. A top Alpha shouldn’t be so fragile. A rain wash might clear her mind, too.”

Aunt Zhang looked shocked:

“Third Miss, you are truly… getting more formidable.”

Su Li modestly waved her hand:

“No, no, just a small bit of progress.”

After dinner, Su Li read for a while, drew comics for a bit longer, and when she felt sleepy, she went to bed, without once looking out the window.

Outside, the rain poured down, the trees and the wind played a symphony of a squall with their branches and leaves, and the noise lasted all night.

Su Li was awakened in the middle of the night by the loud rain outside the window. She tossed and turned in bed for a long time, unable to fall asleep again. Since her nerves were weak, once she woke up, it was difficult to go back to sleep. She scrolled on her phone, finding it pointless.

She turned on the room light, got up, and, with bare feet on the carpet, stood by the window to look outside.

To her surprise, under the cover of the dark, heavy rain, there was indeed a silhouette on the driveway.

Su Li looked closely and recognized that it was indeed Ying Feiyan herself.

Ying Feiyan was standing in the heavy rain with her head bowed, swaying with the wind and rain. Her white clothes were now clinging to her body, making her look like a ghostly figure drifting in the dark night.

Su Li watched silently from her window for a while, then drew the curtains and lay back down in bed.

She hadn’t expected Ying Feiyan to have such surprising perseverance in this matter.

Su Li felt a little annoyed. After thinking for a moment, she sent a message to Jiang Zhuoye: [Asleep?]

After sending it, she felt foolish. It was three o’clock in the morning, and Jiang Zhuoye had to film every day, so tired how could she not be asleep?

Su Li’s finger was on the sent WeChat message, about to retract it, when she suddenly saw the name above change to “Typing…”

A reply quickly followed:

[Just about to. What’s wrong?]

In that instant, a strange warmth surged in Su Li’s heart. It turned out that she wasn’t alone in this cold, rainy night.

The Ying Feiyan downstairs, getting drenched, didn’t count as a person.

Su Li typed out a message:

[Um, Ying Feiyan came to stand downstairs at my house this afternoon to wait for me, and she’s still out there in the rain… I feel a bit complicated.]

Su Li didn’t really know how to express her feelings, but she just had a feeling that Jiang Zhuoye would understand.

Jiang Zhuoye quickly sent a voice message.

It was gentle and low, and the soft, beautiful voice sounded like it was right next to Su Li’s pillow:

“If she wants to stand, let her. At the end of the day, she’s just trying to morally blackmail you, using self-harm to make you feel guilty. What about you? Why are you still awake so late?”

The mist in front of Su Li’s eyes was instantly lifted. She had indeed felt a bit guilty just now, but Jiang Zhuoye was right.

Ying Feiyan staying out in the rain in the middle of the night was banking on Su Li being soft-hearted, waiting for her to forgive out of guilt. Ultimately, wasn’t this just moral blackmail?

Once Su Li understood, the slight feeling of guilt vanished. She replied to Jiang Zhuoye with a voice message:

“You’re right, I’ll ignore her then. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t sleep. It’s okay, I’ll go to sleep now.”

Su Li put down her phone, turned off the light, and prepared to sleep, but a voice call request suddenly popped up on her phone.

Su Li was slightly startled. Seeing Jiang Zhuoye’s profile picture flashing, she quickly answered the call:

“Hello?”

Jiang Zhuoye:

“Can’t sleep? Are you afraid because of the rain?”

Su Li chuckled:

“How could I be? I’m not a child, and besides, there’s no thunder. I’m not afraid.”

Jiang Zhuoye laughed softly on the other end. The laugh traveled through the phone earpiece, gentle and delicate:

“Alright~ I understand. The little girl is afraid of thunder.”

Su Li:

“…Not at all, I’m not afraid!”

Jiang Zhuoye:

“Next time there’s thunder, I’ll keep you company.”

Su Li:

“No need, I told you I’m not afraid.”

Jiang Zhuoye:

“It’s fine… Then let’s treat tonight as a rehearsal for the next thunderstorm. I need to figure out how to coax you to sleep.”

Su Li felt that calling Jiang Zhuoye like this in the middle of the night was a bit strange, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was odd. Maybe other people call their friends late at night too… She just had too little social experience!

Unable to think of anything else to say, she reluctantly agreed:

“Then… alright, you can try.”

Jiang Zhuoye cleared her throat on the other end, and her voice suddenly changed, becoming well-enunciated, with the kind of rhythmic intonation used to coax a child:

“Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived in a magnificent castle. Her lips were as red as blood, her skin as white as snow, and her hair as black as ebony…”

Su Li listened and started to laugh:

“Why are you telling the story of Snow White? I think it’s a bit funny, this might not help me sleep!”

Jiang Zhuoye cleared her throat again, switched to a clear, childlike voice, and began to sing:

“Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye, to Granny’s bridge… Granny praises me as a good baby…”

Su Li originally wanted to interrupt again, but for some reason, she couldn’t bear to stop her.

When Jiang Zhuoye pretended to have a clear, childlike voice, her singing tone was laced with a hint of a smile. The ordinary lullaby was sung with extreme warmth.

Su Li had never imagined a lullaby could be so pleasant to listen to. Perhaps big stars were just multi-talented; even a casual song they sang sounded better than what an ordinary person could manage.

After the lullaby was finished, Su Li still felt a little wanting:

“Are there more?”

Jiang Zhuoye said in the clear, childlike voice:

“What else does Miss want to hear? You can make a request, and I’ll sing it for you!”

Su Li thought about it:

“Then sing your own favorite song.”

Jiang Zhuoye’s voice sank on the other side. After a moment, she said:

“I don’t have a favorite song.”

Su Li said “Huh?” in confusion, and before she could ask more, Jiang Zhuoye interrupted her with a laugh:

“The priority is to coax you to sleep. How about I tell the story of Pinocchio?”

Su Li agreed distractedly.

Jiang Zhuoye then began to tell the story of Pinocchio in the well-enunciated voice of a children’s television host:

“In a small town lived an old man who made toys…”

As Su Li listened, her eyelids grew heavy, and she drifted off to sleep.

Hearing the gradually lengthening breaths on the other end of the phone, Jiang Zhuoye called Su Li’s name twice. When there was no answer, she hung up the call.

Outside the rain drenched window, Ying Feiyan had collapsed to the ground, completely unaware of everything happening inside the house.