The True Past of a 60-Year-Old Supporting Actress
She fooled everyone.
Yan Sui's voice was filled with undisguised sobs.
"Jian Liyun, what nonsense are you talking about!"
Yan Sui straddled Jian Liyun's lap, her hands supporting her on the back of the sofa, tears streaming down her face.
“Sui Sui…”
Jian Liyun was stunned; she hadn't expected Yan Sui to be so heartbroken.
Yan Sui grabbed Jian Liyun's collar and shouted, "What do you mean 'give up on me'?! Do you think I would give up on you?!"
They've come this far, and the dawn of victory is just around the corner. How can they back down now?
For the first time, Yan Sui saw an expression of helplessness on Jian Liyun's face.
Jian Liyun was flustered. She wanted to grab a tissue from the table next to her, but Yan Sui was still sitting on her lap, so she didn't dare to make any rash moves.
Yan Sui said in an almost vicious tone, "Jian Liyun, I will not give up on you, and I will not allow you to give up on yourself, do you understand?"
“Sui Sui, I…”
Yan Sui casually wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. "Let's both calm down."
Bang.
With tears streaming down her face, Yan Sui closed the hotel room door and left.
".001".
Her eyes were still red at the corners, but she was surprisingly calm.
[Yan Sui, the transmigrator, is here.]
Yan Sui took out her phone and began to arrange everything methodically. "I need to see Dean Lei. Please help me conceal my whereabouts from the female supporting character, the female lead, and the male supporting character."
Okay, your request has been received. Your flight ticket for 5 PM today has been purchased. Your passport and visa have also been processed; please pick them up at your home.
After getting into the car to go home from the film set, Yan Sui sent messages to the three of them.
Message sent to Jian Liyun:
[Li Yun, I need to deal with Miss Lu's matter these next couple of days. I hope that when we meet again, you will have figured out exactly what you want and what you want to do.]
The message sent to Lu Shutian was:
[Tian Tian, I need to meet with a director who lives deep in the mountains these next couple of days, so I won't be able to contact you for a while. Once I'm done with my work, I'll arrange a chat with you about your career development.]
Finally, she didn't forget to send a message to Director Kong:
[Director Kong, I'm currently managing two artists and it's giving me a headache. I'm really not feeling well lately, so I'd like to take two days of sick leave. If they come to ask where I am, no matter what they say, please say you don't know. I don't want them to worry.]
.001 exclaimed: 【Transmigrator Yan Sui, you are so meticulous.】
Yan Sui put down her phone, looked at the scenery rushing past the window, and asked, "If I ask you what the truth is about Jian Liyun's past life, can you not tell me?"
Yes, I'm sorry, I cannot tell you.
Yan Sui thought to herself, "Just as I expected."
".001, Luo Yanquan, or rather, before the Supreme God left this world, did he grant you some new privileges?"
.001 is starting to miss that low-level system.
Back when the lower-level systems existed, in the case of one person having two systems, at least the dumbest one was that system.
Now that it's gone, the dumbest thing has become .001.
[Yes, the transmigrator is Yan Sui.] .001 couldn't help but ask, [But how did you guess?]
Yan Sui closed her eyes and pretended to sleep: "Guess."
.001: Silence is my camouflage.
Fifteen hours later.
Yan Sui's plane finally landed in a foreign country. She had left in such a hurry that she hadn't even brought a suitcase.
However, Yan Sui originally planned to make the round trip on the same day.
The time on my phone has automatically switched to local time; it's 10 PM now.
.001's voice was calm and professional: [Transmigrator Yan Sui, I have planned your route through the hospital. You have approximately one hour to communicate with the orphanage director. During this time, no medical staff will appear, and the surveillance cameras will not capture your presence—]
However, I must remind you that all I can do is allow you to communicate with her; I cannot help you rescue her.
Yan Sui walked quickly toward the hospital lobby in front of her: "It's okay, .001, you've already done a great job."
.001 was flattered by a single sentence: "Really? Actually, I know I'm much more reliable than that low-level system."
Yan Sui had already memorized the route map that .001 had just sent her, and she moved nimbly through the hospital corridors and stairwells.
"Speaking of which, why hasn't the system returned yet? Is it going to take this long to fight with its boss?" Yan Sui asked with some concern.
.001, on the other hand, was quite indifferent: "It might have been a long battle, Yan Sui, the transmigrator. Don't worry, even without a low-level system, I can still assist you in completing the mission."
Yan Sui felt regretful: "The system would probably love to do this kind of thing with me. It's a pity that it missed the chance to work like a secret agent this time."
.001 snorted coldly, a hint of arrogance even audible in the icy electronic voice.
[Transmigrator Yan Sui, I am now the system serving you. Please do not mention other systems in front of me too much, as this will affect my computing efficiency.]
"puff."
Hearing .001 say that, Yan Sui completely lost her composure. She suppressed her laughter and walked upstairs, finally arriving at the corresponding floor.
And just as planned in Project 001, the long hospital corridor was completely empty.
Standing in front of ward 9025, Yan Sui turned the doorknob, and it creaked—
She slowly pushed open the door to the ward.
Unlike a typical ward that has three or four beds, this ward only has one bed, but the room is four or five times the size of a regular ward.
Besides the hospital bed, there was a sofa and a TV next to it, and even a separate living room not far away.
Even when Yan Sui was hospitalized in the original world, she had never stayed in such a luxurious VIP ward; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it as a presidential suite.
Despite the luxurious decor, the person in the hospital bed was in excruciating pain.
The woman in the hospital bed was still wearing an oxygen mask. Her limbs were bound with restraints. Although her eyes were open, her gaze was unfocused, and she couldn't see anything clearly.
"ah……"
"ah……"
She would occasionally let out painful cries, but perhaps because her body was too weak, even her cries were barely audible, short and urgent.
Even though Yan Sui had come to her side, she remained immersed in her own pain, ignoring Yan Sui beside her.
"Dean Lei?"
Yan Sui tentatively opened her mouth, but the other party still seemed unable to communicate.
This is going to be a bit tricky.
Yan Sui asked in her mind, ".001, is there a solution?"
[Host, there are two solutions. First, you can use your remaining two chances to consume your life force, but I don't recommend it; second, you have over two hundred days left in this world, you can take ten days to give her one hour of lucidity.]
“You only change it by one hour every ten days,” Yan Sui smiled, “.001, your system is pretty ruthless.”
Despite saying that, Yan Sui still agreed.
[For the next hour, Yan Sui, the transmigrator, will be no different from an ordinary person.]
The woman on the hospital bed stopped wailing in pain, and her complexion gradually became rosy again.
Yan Sui pulled off her oxygen mask: "Dean Lei, hello."
Leisa was shocked by the changes in her body, "How come..."
Yan Sui pulled up a chair and sat down next to the hospital bed. "Dean Lei, time is of the essence, so I'll get straight to the point."
"I am Yan Sui, Jian Liyun's agent. I am here today to ask you about your relationship with her."
Leisha took a deep breath. She tried to sit up and grab Yan Sui, but the restraints kept her lying on the bed: "Let me go, let me go!"
When a woman is emotionally agitated, it can hinder their subsequent conversation.
Yan Sui raised her voice a few decibels, "Dean Lei, I understand how you feel, but if you want to escape from this pain as soon as possible, I suggest you have a proper talk with me."
Lei Sha's face screamed "I don't believe you!" Yan Sui remained calm: "I know a little about your past with Jian Liyun, and I also know that this hospital is owned by the He family, and the doctors are treating you at He Chenyu's behest. Tell me your true past with Jian Liyun, and I can have a good talk with her. She will give you and me a satisfactory answer."
Leisa finally stopped struggling.
Her lips were chapped from dryness, and her eye sockets were deeply sunken from prolonged fatigue and torment.
"What do you want to know?" Leisa asked blankly.
“Jian Liyun’s experiences in the orphanage,” Yan Sui emphasized, “her real experiences.”
"Hahahaha..." Leisa's lips curled into a strange arc, and her lips, which had been suddenly pulled open, broke open and began to bleed.
“It’s understandable that she hates me,” Resa laughed maniacally, “but I haven’t treated her badly either, I don’t deserve this!”
Yan Sui began to guide the other party: "Could you tell me exactly what happened?"
Leisha glared at Yan Sui with a ferocious look: "I just wanted every child to have a home, I did nothing wrong!"
Yan Sui frowned. Lei Sha's emotional state was too extreme. Even if her body returned to a normal state, it would still be very difficult to communicate with her.
Her voice also became more stern, "Dean Lei, please explain in more detail. We have limited time, and if you don't explain clearly enough, I can't help you."
Resa made one last attempt to break free of the restraints—
Unsurprisingly, she failed.
The bulging veins on her forehead subsided as she lost her strength, and she lay on the hospital bed, panting heavily: "...I'll talk."
Qiming Orphanage was founded by Lei Sha, who was 25 years old.
At that time, Resa had just learned from a medical examination that she was infertile. This news was like a bolt from the blue for her, who wanted to start a family and have children. So, she decided to start an orphanage.
Even though these children are not related to her by blood, even though these children cannot stay in the orphanage for their entire lives, even though the ultimate goal of taking in these children is to send them to other families... Rasa felt it didn't matter, she was happy to do such a thing.
That was what Resa originally thought.
But the gap between her ideal and reality far exceeded her expectations:
Only half of the children in the orphanage are healthy; the other half either have various illnesses or are missing limbs. Raising such a group of children would be an expense that Leisa could not afford for a long time.
Both of Raisa's energy and savings were quickly depleted, and her original family did not support her doing such a thing, so they naturally cut off all contact.
Her once enthusiastic heart gradually grew cold, and when a child she had already adopted was returned, Resa's mindset completely changed.
That was the first time she had ever lashed out at the children in the orphanage.
"I told you to behave! Why don't you listen to me! If you don't behave, no one will want you!"
From then on, Raisa would punish the "naughty" children.
When talking to Yan Sui, Lei Sha downplayed the word "punishment".
Yan Sui had clenched her fists so tightly that her fingertips dug into the soft flesh of her palms, but she was oblivious to the pain.
"So, the punishment you're talking about is locking the children in wooden boxes?"
Leisa let out a harsh, hoarse laugh: "Yes, I'm a good mother. Although I locked the children in the box, I also punched holes in it so they wouldn't suffocate."
If you cannot bear such responsibility, you should seek help from society as soon as possible so that capable people can maintain the operation of this orphanage. You should not continue to take in new orphans after you have become psychologically twisted and abnormal.
Yan Sui thought this to herself, but didn't say it aloud.
What's done is done, there's no point in saying anything more now.
Staring at the cold, white ceiling, Leisha's gaze gradually became unfocused.
"Jian Liyun... is a smart and beautiful child."
Yan Sui subtly adjusted her posture and began to listen more attentively.
Like some other children, Jian Liyun was abandoned at the orphanage gate while still an infant, with nothing but a note with her name tucked inside her swaddling clothes.
Leisa was used to this kind of situation and immediately called the police, but there was still no follow-up.
Perhaps because she grew up in this environment, Jian Liyun was almost never crying or making a fuss, and was very quiet from a young age.
She silently accepted everything about the orphanage.
The orphanage gave her food, a place to live, and the opportunity to go to school, but it also gave her pain, suffocation, neglect, and burdens that she shouldn't have had at her age.
Lei Sha was rambling on when Yan Sui suddenly interrupted, "But back then, she was probably the type most likely to be adopted, right?"
Moreover, Jian Liyun was abandoned at a young age. Some adoptive families worry that the child is too old to be properly cared for, but Jian Liyun does not have this problem.
Yan Sui believed that if Lei Sha was willing, Jian Liyun could probably be adopted when she was two or three years old.
Leisha's cloudy eyes darted around, and she looked at Yan Sui with a grin.
"I did it on purpose."
"What?" Yan Sui frowned.
Lei Sha let out a long sigh of relief. "Yan Sui, I did it on purpose. I deliberately prevented Jian Liyun from being adopted."
Lei Sha never admitted it, but she knew very well that she was actually very jealous of Jian Liyun, and even harbored malice and hatred towards her.
It sounds unbelievable and illogical, but it is true.
Lei Sha was jealous of Jian Liyun's good looks and healthy body; she also hated Jian Liyun's family for abandoning such a good child, one that she herself could never have in her life; and she hated even more Jian Liyun's maturity. In this orphanage where everyone was fighting tooth and nail for a few bites of food, Jian Liyun remained calm and detached, as if she were an outsider.
Lei Sha hopes that Jian Liyun can live a happy life, but she doesn't want Jian Liyun to be too happy.
This contradictory and complex psychology led her to often exhibit contradictory behaviors when dealing with Jian Liyun.
"...To be fair, I did make her take on a lot of things that had nothing to do with her. I made her take care of the other children in the orphanage, and I made her clean and do laundry, but,"
Resa's chest heaved violently. "I also sent her to the best school in the area! When she wanted to improve her studies, I even found her other teachers to tutor her! At that time, the orphanage was already facing serious financial problems, but I was still willing to spend the money on her!"
"Even if I have my faults towards her, she wouldn't be where she is today without me! If it weren't for me, she would have frozen to death outside the orphanage on that snowy winter night!"
Yan Sui lowered her eyes, her long, thick eyelashes concealing the emotions within them.
“You’re right. So if it weren’t for her, you definitely wouldn’t have survived to this day.”
Cause and effect are cyclical, and retribution is inevitable.
Leisha was taken aback, then let out an extremely unpleasant laugh.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
As she laughed, tears streamed down her face, soaking her pillow and turning into dark water stains.
"I've been tormented by suffering for so many years, and even if I owed her something back then, I should have paid it back long ago."
Leisa looked desperate. "Do you know why she insisted on keeping me alive?"
Yan Sui shook her head; she really hadn't expected that.
"Because I am the elder she cares about and respects the most, and I am her 'Achilles' heel'."
Leisha emphasized the word "weakness" heavily, and the whole sentence was full of sarcasm.
“At that time, the orphanage was facing a major problem. I even thought about whether I should take all the children in the orphanage with me to die. But He Chenyu appeared at that time. He made a deal with Jian Liyun and solved all the problems.”
"I was sent to a hospital owned by the Ho family abroad for treatment, and the other children in the orphanage were also successively given up for adoption or transferred to orphanages founded by the Ho family. Everything seemed to be getting better—"
Lei Sha gave a sorrowful smile, "But do you know, Jian Liyun is a natural-born actress."
"She could fool everyone silently. In He Chenyu's view, by controlling me and the children in the orphanage, he could use this to threaten Jian Liyun. In reality..."
Jian Liyun didn't care at all.
Resa closed her eyes wearily: "I did survive thanks to the new treatments here, but at the cost of losing my original quality of life and the dignity that a person should have."
She took a few breaths before continuing.
“Yan Sui, do you know what it feels like to be covered in tubes and patches, to be turned over and over like an animal, completely naked? I’ve been going through this every single day of the year. I can’t leave this ward, and many times I don’t even have the right to get out of bed. I can only lie on the hospital bed, feeling like I’m living a life worse than death, staring at the ceiling, unable to do anything.”
When Jian Liyun was punished by being locked in a wooden box before, she had resisted. When she was ordered around by the other children in the orphanage and felt sad because she was the "big sister" and had to give in to everyone, Jian Liyun did think about suicide. She was too tired.
Ke Leisha saved her. This woman, whose hands were calloused from years of hard work, held Jian Liyun's shoulder and said to her, word by word, "Living is more important than anything else."
So when Lei Sha was suffering terribly from the treatment and wanted to find a way out, Jian Liyun returned her words from back then exactly as they had said.
“As for those children…” Leisa finally opened her eyes again, her eyes already wet. “Do you think Jian Liyun treated them well? They were all taken care of by Jian Liyun when they were young, and they were arrogant and took it for granted when facing Jian Liyun, thinking that Jian Liyun should take good care of them… But in the end, it’s all my fault.”
Yan Sui remained silent throughout, listening quietly the whole time.
But how could she not understand that no matter how beautifully Lei Sha described it, for Jian Liyun at that time, it was still a form of bullying from her elders and peers, disguised as love and responsibility?
Tears welled up in Lei Sha's eyes again, her gaze filled with belated terror: "In the end, all those children were controlled by He Chenyu. They either worked for the He family's company or had countless connections with the He family. He Chenyu often used them to threaten Jian Liyun, but Jian Liyun didn't really care—"
"Or perhaps this is what she wanted."
He Chenyu thought he had Jian Liyun under his control, but little did he know that she was using him as a sharp blade to kill him.
If Jian Liyun didn't comply with He Chenyu's wishes, He Chenyu would torment Lei Sha and the children from the orphanage, thinking that this would force Jian Liyun to submit.
Jian Liyun did indeed "yield" time and time again, but only to prolong the torment they endured.
“Those children haven’t realized the truth yet,” Leisa stared intently at Yan Sui, whose expression remained calm. “I’m the only one who knows the truth, but I can’t tell anyone. But thankfully, you’ve come.”
Yan Sui's voice was unreadable: "Yes, thank goodness I came."
Lei Sha's expression gradually turned ferocious. "I've told you everything I need to tell you. Jian Liyun is too scheming, and she always knows how to say one thing to one person and another to another, so no one can see through her true colors. You also need to be careful. Even if you catch her red-handed, she may not be able to be controlled by you."
[It's not that they weren't being manipulated.]
.001 suddenly spoke up, and Yan Sui didn't forget to respond in her mind, "So, .001, now that the system isn't here, you're taking its place and starting to complain?"
Yan Sui remained calm and asked, "Then, in your opinion, what should I do?"
Lei Sha's eyes revealed madness: "Go tell He Chenyu the truth. Once we are no longer of any use to him, he will no longer allow doctors to treat me."
Yan Sui raised an eyebrow. "But what about the children in the orphanage who work for the He family's group?"
"I can't control it anymore... I can't control it anymore!" Leisa completely broke down, gritting her teeth as she said, "I shouldn't have had that saintly moment to start the orphanage in the first place. I regret it now! To hell with the orphanage, I just want to be free. As for what happens to others, that's none of my business!"
Lying in her hospital bed for years, Resa's will had been completely broken.
All she wants now is to die.
She wanted to die with dignity and respect, like a human being.
Yan Sui stood up and looked down at the woman on the hospital bed who was so thin she was barely recognizable as a human.
"So, right now, what you want most is to be free, isn't that right?"
Leisa nodded emphatically.
Yan Sui hummed in agreement, "I understand, thank you for telling me all this. I'll have a good talk with Jian Liyun when I get back, and I'll also try my best to help you get out of this situation as soon as possible."
Lei Sha's eyes widened suddenly: "You're not planning to cooperate with He Chenyu?! After all I've said, are you still siding with Jian Liyun? Don't you understand? Jian Liyun is a liar, a devil! No matter how softly she speaks to you, it doesn't change the fact that she's a pervert!"
Leisha was so anxious that she tried to sit up in bed, but the restraints were still tightly binding her.
“Yan Sui, Yan Sui,” Lei Sha almost pleaded, “Listen to me, I promise everything I just told you is true. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the other children from the orphanage; they can testify that what I said is true…”
“I believe what you just said is true,” Yan Sui interrupted gently. “However, I still choose to stand by Jian Liyun’s side, do you understand? I will try my best to persuade Jian Liyun to give you a good ending, but the final decision is still in her own hands.”
No matter what choice Jian Liyun makes, Yan Sui will respect and understand it.
Leisa looked desperate: "You're still the same as I was, you've been deceived by her."
“Jian Liyun is very good to me,” Yan Sui finally smiled. “Of course, not the kind of ‘good’ you’re to me, but a gentle, considerate kind that makes me unconsciously rely on her. Do you know why that is?”
Yan Sui's voice seemed to have a magical power, and Lei Sha actually calmed down. She shook her head.
She genuinely didn't know, and found it hard to imagine, that Jian Liyun would actually be so wholeheartedly good to someone.
Yan Sui took out a small mirror from her bosom.
A slight smile played on her lips. Come to think of it, this was something Sister Wei had hurriedly stuffed into Jian Liyun's bag while she was getting her makeup done on set.
They said this mirror was durable and easy to use, so Yan Sui carried it with her and used it to look in the mirror whenever she wanted to touch up her makeup.
Now it has unexpectedly come in handy.
Yan Sui held up a mirror, pointing the mirror at Lei Sha's face.
The mirror reflected an eye with bloodshot whites, its gaze a mixture of fear, malice, and hatred.
“The human heart is a mirror,” Yan Sui said, her tone unconsciously carrying a touch of compassion. “How you express your feelings to her is how she will express them to you.”
[Author's Note]
You wouldn't believe it, would you? Our little Jian is a wolf in sheep's clothing! [doge emoji with rose in hand]
P.S.: This novel is expected to conclude in late July, and there will be three endings (you know what I mean). But please don't mention it too obviously in the comments, as the author is afraid of being censored, since the crackdown is strict these days. [Please!]
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