After Her Death, They Begged for Forgiveness - Chapter 19

The plot corruption value had risen to 40%.

This meant that the personalities and emotions of Xu Qingci and others had partially broken free from the constraints of the plot, like melting snow gradually revealing their original forms.

Jiang Ruo’s face was as dark as ink as she looked at the male lead standing before her, struggling to suppress the disdain at the corner of her lips.

She was utterly tired of all these robotic male leads.

For instance, the charmingly arrogant male lead in front of her couldn’t read her gloomy expression at all: “Woman, you’ve successfully caught my attention.”

Jiang Ruo raised an eyebrow mockingly.

In the novel’s plot, the male lead, Xiao Hua, was completely unaware of her identity at this point, so he flirted with her without a shred of respect. Later, when he found out she had become the hottest celebrity and Xu Qingci’s most beloved daughter, he immediately changed his attitude.

It was as if he had lifted her up to the heavens.

How could such an utterly pragmatic attitude make people exclaim, “It’s so sweet!”?

Even more bizarrely, by the end of the novel, after the female lead, Jiang Ruo, inherited all of Xu Qingci’s wealth, she gave every last bit of it to Xiao Hua and chose to stay at home, living off the allowance he gave her each month.

The reason? Xiao Hua was worried others would covet her beauty.

Thus, the female lead, Jiang Ruo, willingly became a caged golden canary.

In the extra chapters, whenever Xiao Hua felt jealous, he would cut off Jiang Ruo’s financial support, a slight smirk on his lips as he watched her plead softly.

For Jiang Ruo, who was currently following the novel’s plot, this was not a romance novel but a horror story of repaying kindness with enmity.

She truly couldn’t understand how this novel was labeled a “sweet romance” or “everyone’s favorite.”

However, while following the plot, she thought about it seriously and concluded that, from the male lead Xiao Hua’s perspective, it was indeed a well-deserved sweet romance.

Unfortunately, Jiang Ruo had no interest in playing the naive, innocent little bunny. She was only interested in Xiao Hua’s young, healthy body.

This body was designated by the novel as robust and full of vitality, capable of living a long life.

She needed it.

It was just a pity that the first time, due to carelessness, she had been one step too late.

Jiang Ruo stared intently at Xiao Hua’s sculpted, well-defined muscles, her eyes revealing a hint of appreciation.

It was the kind of appreciation a girl might have after spending a long time picking through a dazzling array of toys and finally selecting the perfect, exquisite stuffed animal.

Noticing Jiang Ruo’s intrigued gaze, Xiao Hua maintained his outwardly wild and unrestrained demeanor, but inwardly, he was ecstatic.

He was certain he had secured a ticket to win the favor of the woman before him.

Unfortunately, he didn’t know that this was, in fact, a ticket straight to the gates of hell.

Jiang Ruo curled her lips in satisfaction, but when she met Xiao Hua’s gaze, she reverted to a timid expression: “Can you help me with something?”

Xiao Hua stepped closer to Jiang Ruo, his expression confident as if he had spotted a weak and vulnerable prey: “So, what’s in it for me?”

Jiang Ruo lowered her head like a flower battered by wind and rain, biting her lower lip slightly, appearing utterly helpless.

The prey seemed to have fallen into the net. Xiao Hua smiled in satisfaction: “Woman, once I help you, I’ll take whatever I want.”

“Help me find someone and bring her to me,” Jiang Ruo automatically filtered out Xiao Hua’s nauseating nonsense. “Her name is Xu Bingqi. You must have heard of her.”

Xiao Hua was stunned for a moment before slowly asking, “What is your relationship with her?”

Jiang Ruo lowered her head and sneered silently. This kind of male lead was just like that flirting recklessly without even knowing his own identity.

“I’m her fan,” Jiang Ruo said timidly in a low voice. “She deleted her account, and I’m very worried about her.”

So the woman in front of him had nothing to do with the Xu family. Xiao Hua felt a bit disappointed, and his tone grew slightly impatient. “You’re actually a fan of someone like that? Isn’t she just a waste propped up by the Xu family’s wealth?”

There was a hint of resentment in Xiao Hua’s words. If he had been born into the Xu family, he would undoubtedly have been far more capable than Xu Qingci’s biological and adopted daughters.

In that case, the vast family fortune would have been his. He wouldn’t have had to cling to the chaotic Xiao family as if it were a treasure.

When Jiang Ruo heard the word “waste,” she slowly raised her head, her expression as cold as a millennia-old snowy mountain.

[Please maintain the female lead’s persona in front of the male lead.]

Jiang Ruo lowered her head again.

She absolutely could not let the corruption value reach 100% before completing the entire novel’s plot.

“Can you do it?”

“Woman, you can’t say ‘no’ in front of a man.”

Xiao Hua’s competitive spirit was thoroughly ignited. He straightened his sleeves and said, “Wait obediently for me to come back and claim my reward.”

As soon as Xiao Hua’s figure disappeared around the corner, Jiang Ruo gently closed her eyes. When she opened them again, a chilling coldness filled her gaze, as if her timid expression had been nothing more than a fleeting illusion.

She was the kind of person who only enjoyed squeezing others dry, extracting every last bit of their usefulness.

As for giving rewards, to her, it was nothing but a far-fetched fantasy.

All she hoped for now was that this utterly boring man would be more efficient than Gu Xiaozhou.

After all, as the male lead in the novel, his luck and golden fingers were something a supporting character like Gu Xiaozhou could never compare to.

What Jiang Ruo didn’t know was that Gu Xiaozhou had already, after days of having people track Song Guanjin’s whereabouts, traced Xu Bingqi’s current residence.

With a sinister expression, Gu Xiaozhou watched Song Guanjin leave while touching her hair, then stepped out from the shadows of the corner.

Leaving while touching her hair, who knows what kind of pretentious act she was putting on in front of Xu Bingqi.

Thinking about how Xu Bingqi, who had rarely sought attention from her before, would surely be fooled by such cheap tricks, the furious Miss Gu gritted her teeth.

Miss Gu thought to herself that she had once been close friends with Xu Bingqi for many years and had a duty to pull Xu Bingqi out of this “gentle trap” and make her face reality.

She had seen plenty of women like Song Guanjin, the type who clearly coveted Xu Bingqi’s status as the Xu family’s eldest daughter and were just trying to cozy up to her.

She had already figured out why Song Guanjin had used her personal account to repost evidence for Xu Bingqi: it was an investment, leveraging temporary emotions and favors.

Hah, what a cunning woman.

She absolutely could not let such a scheming lowlife succeed.

Feeling righteous and indignant, Miss Gu knocked on the door.

Xu Bingqi instinctively assumed it was Song Guanjin, who had just left, returning for something she forgot. Without much thought, she opened the door.

“Did you forget some?”

The rest of her words stuck in her throat when she saw Gu Xiaozhou.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

Hearing Xu Bingqi’s familiar tone, Gu Xiaozhou’s anger flared even more. She knew that the vase Song Guanjin was quite skilled in just over a month, she had managed to become so close to Xu Bingqi.

Xu Bingqi stepped aside to make space. “Come in.”

There were many questions about the plagiarism scandal trending online, and she could only hope to unravel them by meeting Gu Xiaozhou in person.

Gu Xiaozhou hadn’t expected Xu Bingqi to let her in so easily, especially since Xu Bingqi’s attitude during their last encounter had been far from friendly.

Could it be that after living away for over a month, Xu Bingqi had started to regret it? Had she realized that old friends were actually better?

A faint sense of smugness began to spread in her heart.

But that feeling vanished instantly when she noticed the two cups still sitting on the coffee table.

On the table were two mugs, one was a mug, and the other was also a mug.

Though the two mugs were different.

Gu Xiaozhou easily recognized the retro brown mug as Xu Bingqi’s. But the other one, a Pikachu-themed mug.

Did it belong to that smug, pretty face?

Gu Xiaozhou felt a faint, lemony bitterness rise in her heart.

Back in the day, even when she visited the Xu household, Xu Bingqi had never specially bought her a cute, cartoon-style mug!

That pretty face, already in her twenties, was still acting all adorable around Xu Bingqi.

Gu Xiaozhou strode quickly to the sofa, smoothed the stray hairs on her forehead, and sat down. “Explain the cups,” she demanded.

Xu Bingqi wasn’t entirely sure if Gu Xiaozhou had been possessed.

Last time they met, she had been full of sarcasm. Why was she suddenly asking about cups now?

“Is there a problem?”

Xu Bingqi couldn’t be bothered with such trivialities. Just as she was about to steer the conversation toward more serious matters, she heard Gu Xiaozhou’s voice, tinged with shock and hurt: “You bought a cup just for that pretty face?”

“She’s not a pretty face,” Xu Bingqi replied coldly. “She has a name, Song Guanjin.”

Xu Bingqi was defending that opportunistic pretty face right in front of her, her longtime friend.

“Hah, how intimate.”

Gu Xiaozhou smoothed the stray hairs by her ear once more. “After all these years of friendship, you never once prepared a cup just for me.”

And such an adorable Pikachu mug at that.

“I did prepare one. Didn’t you shatter it the first time you saw it?”

Xu Bingqi cut off Gu Xiaozhou’s pointless tantrum.

Gu Xiaozhou’s hand, which had been stroking her hair, froze.

A long-buried memory suddenly flooded back with vivid clarity.

Back when they were teenagers, Xu Bingqi had been fond of brightly colored cups. She had even sketched a design for a pudding-themed mug and had it custom-made.

Then, full of anticipation, she had gifted it to Gu Xiaozhou.

“Such a tacky cup,” Young Miss Gu had remarked after a cursory glance. “Fitting for someone as tacky as you.”

Then she had casually knocked it to the floor.

Gu Xiaozhou withdrew her hand, her nails digging into her expensive coat.

“I was so young back then. How could I have liked that kind of cup?”

Her tone was part complaint, part excuse.

“Guanjin likes it very much,” Xu Bingqi said, unwilling to dwell on such a trivial matter with Gu Xiaozhou. “You didn’t come here just to reminisce about the past, did you?”

She wasn’t surprised that Gu Xiaozhou had found this place. It was only a short-term rental, after all. Once her new home was renovated, she would move out, so it didn’t matter whether Gu Xiaozhou knew her address.

Right now, she just needed a suitable opportunity to subtly steer the conversation toward the recent scandal.

Guanjin such an intimate way to address her.

Who knows how they address each other in private? Xiao Jin? Darling?

What exactly is the relationship between these two? Are they really just friends? Or is it something more?

The more Gu Xiaozhou thought about it, the more uneasy she became. She straightened her coat and stood up.

Xu Bingqi looked at her with confusion, wondering what whim had struck the capricious young lady this time.

Then she watched as Gu Xiaozhou strode directly toward the bedroom.

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