After Her Death, They Begged for Forgiveness - Chapter 17

Song Guanjin’s gaze remained fixed on the ends of Xu Bingqi’s hair.

It must be the sweet fragrance of the shampoo in Xu Bingqi’s hair that’s drawing me in, Song Guanjin speculated to herself.

After all, for a cat with a keen sense of smell, all sorts of novel scents were bound to be captivating, this was perfectly normal.

Xu Bingqi clearly noticed that ever since they stepped outside, Song Guanjin had deliberately or unintentionally slowed her pace, creating a slight distance between them. The space that was once shoulder-to-shoulder now held a gap.

A wave of confusion rose in Xu Bingqi’s heart. Her footsteps unconsciously paused as she slowly turned her head, meeting Song Guanjin’s unwavering stare.

“What’s wrong?”

Xu Bingqi stood still, her brows slightly furrowed, a trace of bewilderment in her eyes.

“Nothing, it’s justyour shampoo smells really nice.”

Song Guanjin lightly pressed her lips together, flustered as she averted her gaze.

While cats might compliment a feline friend on having thick, odor-free fur, she knew humans couldn’t just tell a friend that their hair “smelled good.”

That would freak people out.

Xu Bingqi didn’t notice the faint, suspicious blush coloring Song Guanjin’s ears.

She simply felt the answer was a bit odd for the situation.

It would have made more sense if Song Guanjin had told her there was dandruff in her hair rather than praising her shampoo.

“I still have a few unused bottles at home. I’ll bring you one next time we meet.”

Xu Bingqi raised her brows slightly, a helpless smile gracing her lips as she shook her head gently. Then, she extended her hand toward Song Guanjin, palm upturned, with an inviting yet firm gentleness. “Come on, hurry up.”

Song Guanjin leaned back slightly, her body tensing. Her feline instincts warned her of an unexpected danger.

Xu Bingqi was like a mysteriously alluring creature, radiating an enchanting yet unsettling aura, extending her fair, slender fingers to gently lure her closer to the brink of peril.

I can’t go over there, I’ll be completely disarmed by how good she smells.

A little kitten would never fall into a trap!

Xu Bingqi frowned in thought for a moment, feeling that her actions weren’t crossing any boundaries between friends. Smoothing her expression, she directly reached out and took Song Guanjin’s hand. “Let’s go.”

The little kitten hadn’t willingly walked into the trap, but this trap was cunning, it silently wrapped around her like vines, leaving her no escape.

Song Guanjin felt like crying but had no tears. Didn’t humans say, “I don’t provoke others if they don’t provoke me”? So why was her sister so overbearing?

But her sister’s hand was so soft, the smooth skin pressed against her palm. Song Guanjin could feel the faint calluses on Xu Bingqi’s fingertips, formed from playing musical instruments.

Song Guanjin found herself reluctant to climb out of the trap now.

Dazed, she followed Xu Bingqi to the underground parking garage, only gradually snapping back to reality when Xu Bingqi came to a stop.

“Get in the car.”

Xu Bingqi smiled helplessly, her gaze resting on Song Guanjin. She sensed that the other girl seemed completely out of it, as if her mind were somewhere else entirely.

Well, since she’d already fallen into the trap, the kitten obediently let down her guard and gave up resisting, settling directly into the passenger seat.

The little kitten hadn’t yet learned to get a human driver’s license, but her eyes were already glued, as if magnetized, to Xu Bingqi’s distinct, well-defined fingers gripping the steering wheel.

If her sister were to teach her how to drive, she was sure she’d learn in no time.

Song Guanjin imagined the scene of Xu Bingqi teaching her how to drive Xu Bingqi’s slender, soft fingers would overlap with hers, her body would lean slightly toward her, her hair would fall beside Song Guanjin’s shoulder, and if she turned her head, she could feel the warmth of Xu Bingqi’s breath.

Song Guanjin felt as if her ears were being gently licked by flames, the heat spreading rapidly.

Xu Bingqi adjusted the air conditioning slightly lower. “Still feeling hot? Are you sure you don’t want to take off your hat?”

She was a little curious why Song Guanjin insisted on keeping her hat on. Could it be that the hat served as some kind of comfort object?

Song Guanjin tried to retract the cat ears on her head. Although her mind was still hazy, the effects of the alcohol were gradually wearing off. The soft cat ears nestled in her hair trembled slightly before slowly disappearing into her strands.

With that, Song Guanjin slowly removed her hat and immediately checked her reflection in the compact mirror she carried with her. Only after confirming that the cat ears had completely vanished did she relax.

Afterward, she fluttered her eyelashes, forcing her gaze away from Xu Bingqi’s fingertips. She knew it was impolite behavior after all, as a cat, staring intently at another’s paw pads would surely earn her a warning swat.

After some thought, Song Guanjin took out her phone.

She did have some questions that needed searching.

[What to do if you like the scent of a friend?]

As soon as she hit enter, a variety of posts popped up.

At the top was: [Always smelling a friend’s scent and having a strong urge to snuggle.]

Right after that was an ad for scented beads, followed by posts like: [You really can smell the scent of someone you like!], [My girlfriend smells amazing], [Sis, you smell so good].

None of them seemed to match her dilemma.

She and Xu Bingqi were just very, very, very normal friends.

They were nothing like those lesbians who were in love without realizing it.

As a cat demon, she and Xu Bingqi were fundamentally different, they could never be lovers.

It seemed human emotions hadn’t evolved to be as rich and nuanced as those of cats. Disappointed, Song Guanjin closed the social media search.

Bored, the cat-like girl closed her eyes, sinking into the warm, quiet atmosphere inside the car.

Before long, a soft, steady breathing sound gently broke the surrounding silence.

Xu Bingqi’s gaze inadvertently drifted to the rearview mirror, and with a slight turn of her eyes, she caught sight of Song Guanjin sleeping with her head tilted back. She paused for a moment, her eyes lingering on Song Guanjin’s face. In her usually cool gaze, a hint of tender affection quietly surfaced.

She really wished she had a little sister like Song Guanjin.

Earlier, when she had finished compiling the evidence, Song Guanjin was the first to repost it using her main account.

At this moment, she couldn’t help but think of her own sister, Jiang Ruo.

In her past life, when she was in dire straits, Jiang Ruo had looked at her with the same shocked expression as everyone else. She still remembered Jiang Ruo’s astonished voice: “So, Sister actually plagiarized so many compositions.”

The wording was ambiguous, as if Jiang Ruo had already known that Xu Bingqi had plagiarized other composers’ work but hadn’t realized the extent of it.

Since this was said in a semi-public setting, many people took it as additional proof of Xu Bingqi’s plagiarism.

After all, even her own sister, who had lived with her for so many years, had almost admitted that Xu Bingqi plagiarized.

Xu Bingqi couldn’t help but compare Jiang Ruo’s behavior with Song Guanjin’s.

For the first time, she experienced what it truly felt like to be favored.

Xu Bingqi sighed. She knew she shouldn’t compare Jiang Ruo’s actions with Song Guanjin’s.

Jiang Ruo had already been one of the few people around her who hadn’t spoken harshly to her. She couldn’t dismiss Jiang Ruo over a momentary, unintentional mistake, nor could she demand that others stand by her as firmly as Song Guanjin just because Song had done so without hesitation.

Perhaps Song Guanjin’s unreserved favoritism had made her a bit carried away, Xu Bingqi thought.

Xu Bingqi turned her head, her dark eyes slightly lowered, resting on Song Guanjin’s sleeping face. Song Guanjin’s cheeks were tinged with a faint blush, her slightly pouted lips parted just a little, carrying a hint of innocent charm, as if she might murmur softly at any moment.

A wave of inexplicable tenderness surged in Xu Bingqi’s heart. They had already reached the restaurant entrance, but she couldn’t bring herself to wake Song Guanjin.

After a brief pause, Xu Bingqi gently tapped Song Guanjin’s shoulder: “We’re here, time to wake up.”

She had never experienced being woken up gently herself, so she could only try her best to mimic the soft tone she remembered Xu Qingci using when waking Jiang Ruo.

Xu Qingci was somewhat distracted while listening to her secretary’s itinerary report.

Judging from today’s trending searches, it seemed her eldest daughter had no intention of returning to the Xu family.

Although she appeared calm and composed while chatting with Ruoruo, and her words didn’t betray any urgency for Xu Bingqi’s return, she hesitated after putting down her phone.

She suddenly realized she had never deeply considered why Xu Bingqi left home.

When she first noticed Xu Bingqi had moved out of the villa, her immediate thought was that Xu Bingqi was throwing another tantrum over Jiang Ruo’s birthday banquet.

Xu Qingci detested when others used emotional manipulation to force her to compromise, even if that person was her own biological daughter.

She was certain Xu Bingqi would come back in a sorry state before long.

Her eldest daughter didn’t have any particular skills, she just needed to wait until her savings ran out and she returned home.

But now, Xu Qingci vaguely felt this assumption might be completely wrong.

Xu Qingci tried hard to recall what exactly happened the last time she saw Xu Bingqi.

She remembered seeing Xu Bingqi at the hospital entrance, and at the time, Xu Bingqi seemed to be holding a medical examination report.

Xu Qingci took a deep breath, feeling as if her heart had been squeezed tightly, making her breath catch.

Why did Bingqi suddenly go to the hospital for a check-up back then?

What were the results?

She hadn’t paid any attention to it at the time. She had only thought Xu Bingqi was being willful and unreasonable for skipping her sister’s birthday banquet out of spite. Her mind was filled with anger, she hadn’t considered why Xu Bingqi, who seemed perfectly fine, would go to the hospital for an examination.

Xu Qingci interrupted her secretary’s meticulous and orderly report: “Can the schedule be compressed?”

The ever-dutiful secretary was taken aback. Xu Qingci rarely requested changes to her itinerary, and whenever she did, she carefully considered it never interrupting so abruptly without a word.

It seemed like a spur-of-the-moment decision.

This was completely out of character for Xu Qingci.

Xu Qingci didn’t pause, continuing rapidly, “There’s a hospital where Bingqi had a check-up before. Arrange for someone to retrieve the final examination report.”

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