After Her Death, They Begged for Forgiveness - Chapter 14

Memories from her past life surged over her like a violent storm.

Xu Bingqi even exited the interface to check the date again.

December 21, 2029, a date completely different from the day she had been falsely accused of plagiarism in her previous life.

Xu Bingqi furrowed her brows, not because she couldn’t handle the situation, but because the incident had erupted far too early.

The situation had evolved to this point, deviating drastically from the trajectory of her past life and veering in the opposite direction of the novel’s plot.

Could it really be the butterfly effect at play seemingly insignificant yet capable of triggering a massive chain reaction?

Xu Bingqi curled up slightly, but it wasn’t out of nervousness or fear.

Her muscles tensed subtly, every inch of her body gathering strength like a bowstring pulled taut, brimming with a sharp, ready-to-strike intensity.

She could smell the turning tide of fate.

Xu Bingqi took a deep breath and opened the comments section under the hashtag #XuBingqiPlagiarism.

【No wonder she deleted her account just trying to make a quick buck and run, huh?】

【How can she plagiarize so many composers and still sleep at night?】

【But her best song doesn’t seem plagiarized. Maybe she does have some talent after all.】

Xu Bingqi sneered coldly. By that time, she had already left the Xu family, so they couldn’t have collected her composition records.

【Why are people still defending Xu Bingqi? Her last song was probably ghostwritten.】

【Right? The Xu family is loaded, after all.】

Xu Bingqi’s expression remained calm as she coldly watched the absurd farce unfolding before her like a clown’s performance.

She thought she could probably guess who was pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Aside from that person, no one else would lose their composure so completely and act so rashly when provoked.

Unfortunately for them, this time, their calculations were about to fail.

The storm of her past life was nothing compared to the gentle drizzle she now faced.

Her phone vibrated just then.

It was a voice call from Song Guanjin.

What was bound to come would eventually arrive. Xu Bingqi sighed and pressed the answer button.

She had already anticipated the content of this call: Song Guanjin would accuse her of plagiarism, then angrily cut ties, declaring she wanted nothing to do with a friend like her.

It’s no big deal, Xu Bingqi thought.

After all, she had already endured a long time without the care of family or the companionship of friends.

Being alone really wasn’t that bad.

Unconsciously, Xu Bingqi tapped her fingertips against the edge of the bed, waiting for Song Guanjin to speak.

“Sister Bingqi, did you just wake up?”

“Mm.”

Song Guanjin didn’t immediately bring up the plagiarism scandal trending online, but Xu Bingqi didn’t relax. The hashtag had already blown up, she didn’t believe Song Guanjin was just checking if she was awake.

“That’s good. I ordered you some takeout, it’ll be there in a few minutes. Make sure to eat it while it’s hot.”

Hearing the surprise in Xu Bingqi’s voice, Song Guanjin added, “I figured you wouldn’t be in the mood to make breakfast, but you still need to eat properly. Only with a full stomach can you tackle problems.”

Xu Bingqi’s voice was slightly hoarse. After a moment’s hesitation, she replied softly, “Thank you.”

She had expected Song Guanjin to criticize her like everyone else. In her most optimistic scenario, Song Guanjin would only react with the same astonished sigh as Jiang Ruo, lamenting, “So even Sister Bingqi plagiarized.”

While the entire internet was accusing her of plagiarism, it turned out there were still people concerned about whether she was upset or had lost her appetite.

Song Guanjin guiltily tugged at her cat ears. She had woken up this morning to find them stubbornly refusing to retract, but after seeing the trending searches, she couldn’t help worrying about Xu Bingqi. So,

“Sis, your delivery is here. Come get it.”

As soon as Song Guanjin finished speaking, Xu Bingqi heard a steady, unhurried knock at the door.

Without much thought, she walked over and opened it.

The delivery person looked somewhat familiar.

Before knocking, Song Guanjin had hastily put her hat back on, but in her rush, she had worn it crookedly. Two fluffy tufts of hair peeked out from beneath her bangs, giving her an indescribable cuteness.

Xu Bingqi stood frozen at the door for a few seconds before remembering to step aside and let Song Guanjin in.

“Aren’t you suspicious that I plagiarized?”

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Bingqi couldn’t resist asking.

The cat-turned-human tilted her head in confusion.

“Plagiarism” was undoubtedly a serious issue for humans otherwise, Xu Bingqi wouldn’t have ended up on the trending searches so quickly.

But in her mind, Sister Bingqi was a gentle and kind person. Someone who would extend a helping hand to her when she was in trouble, despite having met only a few times, was undoubtedly a very, very good person.

The cat trusted her instincts more.

She believed Xu Bingqi was pure and honorable, definitely not the villain portrayed in the trending searches.

“I only believe you.”

Song Guanjin looked intently into Xu Bingqi’s eyes, enunciating each word clearly.

Xu Bingqi froze in place.

Even though the entire internet was flooded with evidence of her plagiarism, there was still someone who could firmly declare their belief in her, steadfastly choosing to stand by her side.

She had never experienced this feeling before, a warmth so overwhelming it made her dizzy.

“Thank you.”

Xu Bingqi’s voice trembled, her eyes slightly reddened, glistening with a layer of unshed tears.

Song Guanjin shook the food container somewhat sheepishly. “Let’s eat quickly. After we finish, we’ll figure out how to clear your name.”

When Xu Bingqi opened the breakfast container, she froze again. She had never mentioned her preferences to Song Guanjin, yet everything in the container was perfectly suited to her taste.

Especially the fully cooked fried egg with a faint hint of vinegar, it was a flavor she particularly loved.

But very few people knew about this. Even her mother had forgotten about it after adopting Jiang Ruo.

Seeing the surprised expression on Xu Bingqi’s face, Song Guanjin knew she had given the right instructions to the restaurant.

Although she had never seen Xu Bingqi eat breakfast before, a strange intuition had told her about Xu Bingqi’s taste preferences.

It felt almost like an instinct.

After inviting Song Guanjin to sit down, Xu Bingqi glanced at her curiously. “Do you want to take off your hat?”

The room temperature was over 20 degrees Celsius hardly a reason to keep a hat on.

“It’s fine, I like this hat.”

Song Guanjin dodged the question guiltily, forcefully changing the subject. “Sis, how are we going to resolve this?”

She had originally prepared to battle netizens for three hundred rounds today, but her plans were thwarted before they even began her alternate account had been reported and banned after just a few replies.

Although Song Guanjin believed in Xu Bingqi, she couldn’t make everyone else believe, especially with so much evidence circulating online.

As early as over a month ago, Xu Bingqi had already gathered evidence of her computer being remotely monitored, so she wasn’t panicking now.

She had initially intended to leave some room for reconciliation and hadn’t disclosed the evidence of her computer being remotely monitored in advance. But since others were relentless, employing such despicable tactics in both her past and present life, she no longer cared about the consequences of exposing the truth for others.

They deserved every bit of it.

“A long time ago, someone installed a remote monitoring virus on my computer. As a result, every piece of music I composed was recorded, and someone was assigned to post it online in private posts, only making them public when they wanted to expose me,” Xu Bingqi patiently explained. “Not long ago, I recorded evidence of my computer being remotely monitored, and I have backups of all my compositions, with timestamps earlier than when they posted the scores online.”

After Xu Bingqi finished speaking, Song Guanjin widened her eyes in shock. “How could there be such malicious people!”

Xu Bingqi smiled faintly and sighed. “I don’t know either.”

The malice they harbored toward her was bottomless, far surpassing mere dislike.

Song Guanjin urged anxiously, “Then let’s clarify this quickly and give those people a hard slap in the face.”

Xu Bingqi nodded gently.

Although her current account remained unaffected, she had no intention of enduring baseless slander or letting her reputation be tarnished without cause.

For her present self, and for her past self, who had been wronged and left defenseless.

“I need to create a new account to release the evidence,” Xu Bingqi said softly. She didn’t want to expose her newly established account or associate it with the name “Xu Bingqi,” as doing so would risk being dragged back into the novel’s plot.

Gu Xiazhou felt a growing unease after the hot search exploded.

She had been too impulsive, she thought with regret.

Xu Bingqi’s reputation had hit rock bottom, and it might implicate Jiang Ruo, who was currently filming on set.

But then again, Gu Xiazhou reconsidered, Xu Bingqi had already moved out of the Xu family. It would be easy to spread rumors online that Xu Qingci and Jiang Ruo could no longer tolerate Xu Bingqi’s despicable behavior and had expelled her.

Gu Xiazhou’s unease slowly faded, replaced by a faint sense of satisfaction.

Xu Bingqi was in no position to protect herself now, and that fragile, beautiful flower vase would undoubtedly abandon her without hesitation.

At this thought, Gu Xiazhou curled her lips into a slight smile. Once Xu Bingqi fell into destitution, if she came begging, perhaps she could mercifully forgive her this time maybe even arrange a position for her in the Gu family’s company.

As long as Xu Bingqi could revert to that timid, submissive version of herself who revolved around her, she might even throw her a bone.

Gu Xiazhou glanced at the trending topics again with pleasure, eagerly anticipating the sight of Xu Bingqi pleading for mercy.

“Plot Progress: 35%, Plot Corruption: 15%. Please resolve this as soon as possible. Jiang Ruo’s mood had been sour ever since she saw the trending search.

The exposure of Xu Bingqi’s plagiarism had happened too early, severely disrupting the plot’s progression.

If the plot corruption reached 100%, the novel’s storyline would collapse in this world, and her mission would fail.

Most importantly, it would become much harder for her to obtain that person.

This time should have gone more smoothly. How did it come to this?

Jiang Ruo was restless throughout the filming, but given her status, no one dared to step forward and remind her.

The scene, which should have conveyed the female lead’s growing affection for the male lead, was largely overshadowed by Jiang Ruo’s cold and disdainful gaze.

During the break, she anxiously picked up her phone, intending to use her resources to suppress the trending topic or even have it removed entirely, hoping to minimize the damage to the plot.

But the new hot search that greeted her eyes sent her mood plummeting to the depths.

#Xu Bingqi Clarifying Evidence#

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