Chapter 1454: The Blackened Good Girl (End)

“No, no, this isn’t how it’s supposed to be!”

Clutching her head, Wu Lingling screamed in terror, on the verge of a complete breakdown. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. None of this was supposed to be like this.

But no one paid any attention to her. They only assumed she couldn't accept the outcome.

Still, everyone found it somewhat strange. Just moments ago, Wu Lingling had looked completely indifferent to life and death, but now they saw a different expression in her eyes.

It was as though she had been wronged.

This woman really changed quickly.

But remembering that she had stabbed the man she loved with her own hands, no one found it that surprising.

Wu Lingling struggled desperately, but she couldn't break free.

“It’s not like this. I didn’t…”

The image of herself personally stabbing Lu Jing flashed through her mind, and her voice abruptly stopped.

She could no longer shout that she hadn't killed anyone.

Hadn’t she?

No matter what, she could never forget the moment she had personally stabbed Lu Jing to death.

No.

That wasn't her.

How could she have killed Lu Jing?

And everything here was different from what she had experienced.

Her life shouldn't have been like this.

Her life should have been dazzling and brilliant.

Her Lu Jing should have become the heir to the Lu family, a man admired by countless men and desired by countless women.

And she, Wu Lingling, should have become a talented woman. Starting from her first year of high school, she should have undergone earth-shaking changes.

She should have become beautiful.

Her grades should have improved.

From a delinquent girl nobody liked, she should have become an outstanding student loved by everyone.

Why were her memories different?

Sitting in prison and thinking about it for a long time, Wu Lingling finally understood.

Staring at the ray of light shining through the window, she whispered,

“It was her.”

Who else could it be?

Naturally, Tang Guo.

Everything began with Tang Guo.

In this world, Tang Guo had never answered her call, so she had never been dragged into the gangsters' affairs.

Instead, because she had failed to satisfy them, she herself had become entangled with them, been forced into taking those photographs, and ultimately suffered this tragic fate.

Tang Guo had been reborn!

Yes.

She had to have been reborn.

Wu Lingling's eyes turned vicious as she bit her lip tightly.

Why could Tang Guo be reborn back to the beginning, while she herself could only be reborn at this point?

Why, when Tang Guo clearly knew those gangsters were monsters, had she chosen to stand by and do nothing?

Sure enough, Tang Guo was a hypocrite.

She had deserved her fate in the previous life.

In her past life, she shouldn't have treated Father Tang and Mother Tang so well.

Tang Guo was an ungrateful wretch.

Host, are you happy? the System asked gleefully. I really didn't expect this world to be so interesting. Wu Lingling actually got reborn at this moment. Hahaha!

Whether Host was happy or not, he certainly was.

Looking at the hatred and ferocity in Wu Lingling's eyes, Tang Guo found that it was no less than that of the previous Wu Lingling who had possessed all her memories.

“I'm happy.”

Very happy.

Later, Wu Lingling applied to see Tang Guo.

Tang Guo went.

The two looked into each other's eyes.

Suddenly, Wu Lingling exploded.

“It was you, wasn’t it? You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

The pure smile on Tang Guo's face turned wicked, and her voice became like a curse as it entered Wu Lingling's ears.

“Yes, I did it on purpose. What can you do about it? Endure it, Wu Lingling.”

With the System's interference, none of Tang Guo's words were picked up by the surveillance devices.

Smiling happily, she turned and left, paying no attention to Wu Lingling screaming and thrashing wildly behind her.

“Why are you so happy?”

Outside the prison, Qiao Ge had long since been bewitched by the lingering mischievous smile on Tang Guo's face. He tightly held her hand.

Standing on tiptoe, Tang Guo whispered into his ear,

“This Wu Lingling is that Wu Lingling.”

Qiao Ge froze for a moment.

Then he laughed as well.

No wonder.

No wonder she was so happy.

“Guoguo, I’ll be very obedient in the next life too. You’ll find me again, right?”

“Mm.”

---

✦ Translator's Note — On Villains

Okay, so... this isn't exactly one of my favorite arcs either. 😂

But this time, the problem isn't that the author wrote the situation too well. If anything, my main issue is that Wu Lingling felt a little too much like a caricature of a villain.

I mean, I absolutely believe that there are people in real life who blame everyone else for their problems. 😂

Didn't do well? Someone distracted me.

Didn't win? The match must have been fixed.

Things aren't going well in my life? Obviously, someone else is responsible.

People like that definitely exist. But Wu Lingling takes that mindset to such an extreme that sometimes I was just sitting there thinking, Girl... are we really doing this? 😭

I can understand the inferiority complex. I can understand growing up constantly being compared to someone who seems to excel at everything and eventually developing resentment toward that person. That's actually very believable to me.

But the way Wu Lingling's feelings developed into “everything wrong with my life is Tang Guo's fault” felt a little too exaggerated.

There was also the whole question of whether she was simply “born this way,” which I found interesting, but I'm not going to open the entire nature vs. nurture debate here because then this Translator's Note would somehow become a psychology dissertation. 😂

Personally, I find it much more interesting to think about how someone's environment, experiences, choices, and personality all interact with each other.

Anyway, enough about Wu Lingling's villain credentials. 😂

Because despite my complaints about her, I have to admit that her comeuppance was incredibly satisfying.

Like... yes. Very satisfying. No complaints there. 😂

Especially the fact that she eventually remembers her previous life.

Because it's not simply that she loses everything and gets to think, “Oh no, my life is ruined.”

She has to remember why she had everything in that previous life.

She had built her happiness on Tang Guo's suffering. Her comfortable life, her opportunities, everything she thought she deserved—it was all made possible because Tang Guo was the one who paid the price.

And then she gets another life where she has to live without all of that.

Honestly?

Deserved.

And the fact that she doesn't even seem to fully understand the irony of it makes it even better. 😂

But there was another part of this arc that I actually appreciated quite a bit—the parents.

Because while reading the original host's story, I kept finding myself thinking:

“Wait. What were her parents doing this entire time?”

These are not parents who don't love their daughter. They genuinely do.

Which honestly makes it more frustrating.

Because Tang Guo went from being a model student and a good child to suddenly having declining grades, becoming increasingly hostile toward her cousin, and behaving in ways that were completely unlike her.

And instead of sitting down and asking:

“What happened to our daughter?”

or even taking her to a psychologist and trying to figure out what was going on...

they ended up apologizing to the very person who had contributed to their daughter's suffering.

Like...

HELLO?! YOUR DAUGHTER IS CLEARLY NOT OKAY. 😭

Even if the original Tang Guo became prickly and difficult because of everything she had experienced, that's exactly when parents should be paying MORE attention, not simply assuming their child has become unreasonable.

So I actually liked that the parents didn't just get to go on living happily ever after once everything was resolved.

Because eventually, they had to realize that the person living the life they thought was their daughter wasn't really the same daughter they'd lost.

Of course, they don't know the whole truth about the task taker or the system or anything like that. But they can still feel that something is different.

And honestly, I think that regret was deserved.

Not because they were horrible parents who didn't love their daughter.

But because sometimes loving someone isn't enough if you fail to notice that they're hurting.

And that was probably the part of this arc that stayed with me the most.

So overall?

Wu Lingling: a little too cartoonishly unreasonable for my taste🤡

The revenge/comeuppance: Absolutely satisfying. No notes. 👌

The parents finally realizing something was wrong: Probably my favorite part of the whole arc.

And yes, I know I said this isn't one of my favorite arcs, but somehow I've still managed to write an entire essay about it. 😭

That's probably a sign that it gave me more to think about than I expected.

Anyway, what did you guys think?

Did Wu Lingling's character work for you, or did she also feel a little too “Tang Guo ruined my life because the sun rose this morning” sometimes? 😂

—Cy