Transmigration: The Fate of the Villainess

The news of the death of the top actress in Hollywood was as popular as the news of his birth, not only because they were on the same day, but also because his birth was the cause of the talented Thai actress’ death.

His father, ‘Li Wenrou,’ was the number one actor in China and the lover of the internationally known actress, ‘Yoknapha,’ or ‘Xiao Yu.’ They had been together for over nine years, but in the last three, his father had cheated on her with his mother, ‘Song Lianhua,’ the gentle and beautiful Chinese actress. Despite knowing that what he did was wrong, his father could not leave his mother, who was a good person. At the same time, the deep affection over nine years that he had for that actress was too much for his father to let go of her.

Those were the factors that drove the actress to commit suicide on the same day Song Lianhua gave birth to him.

This was the sin that followed Li Wenrou to his grave and accompanied Li Mingxian from the first moment of his life.

Though he was born sinned, he was raised with full attention and love from the father who wished to protect his son from everything that had happened, while he himself was condemned by society. The top actor was just an ordinary man who was drowning in guilt, yet could not express it since he still had the responsibility for a baby’s life.

Li Wenrou’s family was wealthy to a degree. Raising Li Mingxian without being offered a single role was not too financially difficult, though it weighed him down emotionally every time he looked at his son.

Li Mingxian could never understand why the man whom his grandfather had described as being full of smiles was never smiling. Even he, his son, had never seen his smile. The only exception was the person in the photo his father kept in a drawer in his office.

One time, Li Mingxian secretly opened that drawer to see the person his father smiled at. He saw a stunningly beautiful woman with dark, enchanting eyes. His father was in that picture, too. They were wearing wedding attire. Though it seemed to be taken from a set, the expressions on their faces and in their eyes were real, not mere professionalism.

.....

Li Mingxian, at the age of ten, brought that picture to ask his father directly. Li Mingxian was a clever child and was mature for his age. Thus, Li Wenrou was not angry, only giving him a smile. A sorrowful smile…

“If your mother wasn’t pregnant first, then you might have been born as this woman’s child.”

Those words from his father were unfair to his mother, yet they did not anger Li Mingxian. Instead, he felt strangely happy. “Who is she?”

Everything was revealed to Li Mingxian. The boy was old enough to know everything and accept it.

Li Mingxian now knew what his father had kept hidden. Though the incident had faded with time, its aftermath still lingered in the heart of one who remained. His father was never happy, not even once, after witnessing Yoknapha on that day. It was his hesitation and his weakness that pushed everything to the tragic end.

Li Mingxian understood his father’s feelings. Still, he was disappointed in the person who had birthed him. In the end, his father’s dedication to him ever since his birth made it impossible for him to feel angry.

He was curious. He wanted to know why Yoknapha could so easily decide to end her life. But the answer to everything led back to his birth mother’s fault.

After the story was told to the end, the ten-year-old boy was overcome by emotions he did not know. Disappointment? Guilt? Sympathy? He could not understand himself, not until the day his father left him before he could turn eleven years old.

Li Wenrou died of heartbreak.

His father had always taken good care of himself. How could a top actor not exercise and control his diet? He was never ill, nor was he diseased. The only illness that had taken his father away from him was the illness that stemmed from the deterioration of the soul.

Li Wenrou had asked of him for only one thing before he passed. And that one thing became the highest purpose in Li Mingxian’s life. He did not care about what had happened long ago. The unknown emotions were turned into determination to accomplish what both he and his father desired.

Li Mingxian lived a normal life. Almost no one could remember what had happened ten years ago until he, at the age of thirty, revived it by buying the rights to remake the series [This Life, the villainess will win against all odds]. As a businessman who had connections within the entertainment circle, he had announced on that day that he was Li Wenrou and Song Lianhua’s son.

This series being remade was already popular news. The fact that he announced his background further roused the intensity of the responses. There was both positive and negative feedback from those who had dug up the mistakes made by Li Wenrou and Song Lianhua in the past. Still, Li Mingxian insisted on creating this series again. Not because of its popularity, but because he wanted the world to remember that woman named ‘Yoknapha.’ This series was a tribute to her…

The villainess behind the screen, but the pitiful heroine in real life.

“Does Mr. Li want to remake this series for the deceased Ms. Xiao Yu?” A journalist asked on the day that the conference was held to announce the high-budget television show that had already finished casting.

“That’s correct,” Li Mingxian flatly replied. The events of the past that were told to him made him no longer able to smile or enjoy his life. He had grown up indifferent to the world.

“Then the casting for the actress who will inherit the role of Bai Yu from Ms. Xiao Yu will be the hardest part, correct?” Li Mingxian nodded. Then, the woman who played Bai Yu in this remade version explained the difficulty of the process that she had experienced for him, who did not prefer talking.

Journalists bombarded them with more questions. To which the actors and directors alternately answered, each answering the question that was relevant to their job or responsibility. That was until a question was aimed at Li Mingxian again.

“Is Mr. Li’s choice to remake this series influenced by your father, Mr. Li Wenrou, who played the male lead in the original?”

As soon as her question ended, the lively atmosphere died down. What was left was only the sound of camera shutters.

“This is my own judgment…” Li Mingxian swept his eyes through the crowd that was all waiting for his answer. “…And my father’s last wish.”

The sounds of various exclamations were heard after he finished. People harshly condemned Li Wenrou for the story of thirty years ago, but today, the son of the deceased was telling the genuine wish of the culprit, and it was a wish that was the polar opposite of what he had received from society.

It seemed that Li Wenrou truly loved Yoknapha and regretted everything that had happened.

“Mr. Li will be starring in the show as well. But why don’t you take the same role as your father?” A question came amidst the murmur of the crowd.

“I wanted to play Bai He more…” Li Mingxian’s answer caused everyone to quiet down once more. “…The series is being remade as a tribute to Ms. Yoknapha, who played Bai Yu, so I want to be the man who loved that villainess the most…”

“…”

“…And that man was Bai He, Bai Yu’s brother.”

Even if everything was a fictional story within a series…

He still wanted to wholeheartedly love that villainess.

He wanted to love that villainess and do everything for her.

He wanted to love that villainess, no matter how cruel she was.

He wanted to love that villainess and never betrayed her until his last breath.

He wanted to love that villainess for his father, who could not do so in this life.

This was Li Wenrou’s last wish that Li Mingxian could fulfill…

He wanted to love her the same way she had loved him.