After Her Death, They Begged for Forgiveness - Chapter 29

With her mind foggy and dizzy, Song Guanjin couldn’t properly process Xu Bingqi’s words.

Her gaze seemed glued, fixated solely on Xu Bingqi’s lush, rosy lips like two petals parting and closing yet she heard no sound, as if the world around her had fallen into complete silence.

Song Guanjin’s eyes burned with intensity. Her head tilted back, stretching the line of her neck to its limit, her tongue eager to taste the crimson softness of Xu Bingqi’s lips.

In that fleeting moment, Xu Bingqi thought she caught a faint, sweet scent of wine lingering in the air probably just her imagination.

Suddenly, Xu Bingqi pushed away the cat that had been mere inches from her face, heaving a sigh of relief as the feline landed on the floor.

The moment she touched the ground, Song Guanjin shuddered. The dazed look in her eyes vanished as if splashed with cold water, replaced by instant clarity.

“Don’t worry, Pomegranate. Once your heat cycle is over, I’ll take you to get spayed.”

Good. Now that she was back on the ground, the cat finally understood what Xu Bingqi was saying.

Don’t worry? Being spayed was exactly what she should be worrying about!

Xu Bingqi quickly snapped a few photos and sent them to Song Guanjin, informing her that Pomegranate had entered her heat cycle and must be taken for sterilization once it ended.

After refilling the automatic feeder with enough kibble and water, Xu Bingqi straightened up and gazed expectantly at Pomegranate, her eyes glowing with tenderness.

Song Guanjin pretended nonchalance, swishing her tail as she sauntered away.

Having already tasted the delicious food of humans, she had no intention of touching that dry, bland cat kibble again.

“Maybe Pomegranate isn’t hungry right now.”

Xu Bingqi murmured to herself before picking up a cat teaser. With a gentle flick of her wrist, the fluffy toy began to sway. She turned her hopeful gaze back to Pomegranate, anticipation rekindled in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Gu Xiaozhou’s face was dark enough to drip water. She had been standing outside Xu Bingqi’s rented apartment for what felt like an eternity.

In truth, she had arrived in Xu Bingqi’s neighborhood as early as the previous night.

The ever-confident Young Miss Gu believed that with the help of her beagle, she could win Xu Bingqi’s forgiveness much faster.

Sure, she had initially intended to ruin Xu Bingqi’s reputation but hadn’t she failed? Surely Xu Bingqi would forgive her quickly.

Clutching this naive hope, Gu Xiaozhou drove all the way to Xu Bingqi’s complex. But the moment she parked, her expression soured completely: Xu Bingqi’s home was pitch-black, not a single light on, standing silent and isolated like a deserted island.

Maybe she just went out shopping, Gu Xiaozhou tried to reassure herself.

As time dragged on, her expression grew increasingly grim.

Knowing Xu Bingqi’s disciplined and restrained nature, she would never stay out all night. Gu Xiaozhou was determined to wait it out.

She waited until her beagle’s barks softened into whimpers, until eventually the dog lay down on the ground and fell asleep.

Moonlight glided like water across the expensive dial of Gu Xiaozhou’s watch, the hands already pointing to 2 a.m.

Her shadow stretched long under the moonlight, a solitary figure standing guard outside Xu Bingqi’s rented apartment, merging into the night itself.

The winter wind bit into her face until she could no longer feel it.

She stood in place, her tall frame beginning to tremble uncontrollably.

It seemed Gu Xiaozhou, who had always been proud, had finally understood something. Xu Bingqi had stayed out all night, where else could she have gone? Deep down, she had already known the answer.

After a long while, the young lady Gu, unable to hold out any longer, returned to her car with her drowsy Beagle.

She hadn’t slept all night, yet she felt no exhaustion. Instead, her mind was gripped by a morbid excitement, as if she had been torn from the normal rhythm of her biological clock.

At six in the morning, Gu Xiaozhou arrived at Xu Bingqi’s doorstep. Her makeup was flawless, and she exuded the innate elegance of her upbringing, but her eyes were fixed intently on the tightly shut door, as if trying to pierce through it with her gaze.

She was determined to wait.

As Xu Bingqi approached the stairwell, a rich, familiar perfume suddenly filled her nostrils so familiar that it made her feel momentarily dazed.

Xu Bingqi’s expression turned icy. She had clearly warned that person before.

Ascending the stairs, she was unsurprised to find Gu Xiaozhou leaning against the railing.

Xu Bingqi shook her phone and said coldly, “I believe I told you that if you showed up in front of me again, I would release the recording.”

Gu Xiaozhou stared blankly at Xu Bingqi, who noticed the heavy shadows under her eyes, dark as if stained by the night.

But that had nothing to do with Xu Bingqi.

“You’re in the way.”

Gu Xiaozhou looked at Xu Bingqi’s expressionless face, seemingly unable to comprehend why the other’s attitude was so cold.

It was like a frigid, towering wall had risen between them.

But just two months ago, things hadn’t been like this.

Two months ago, Xu Bingqi would care about her thoughts, carefully plan what gifts to give her, and look at her with a gentle warmth in her eyes.

“It seems you didn’t take my warning seriously,” Xu Bingqi frowned. “Or does Miss Gu not consider this recording evidence to be of any importance?”

Xu Bingqi’s cool voice pulled Gu Xiaozhou back from her memories.

Gu Xiaozhou’s gaze struggled to focus, settling on the phone in Xu Bingqi’s hand.

Was the recording evidence important? Perhaps it was.

Gu Xiaozhou nodded, her eyes suddenly gleaming brightly. “If you post it online, will you forgive me?”

The recording evidence could be the hope for thawing their relationship. Maybe if Xu Bingqi released it, she could forgive her.

She had thought it over carefully all night and finally realized she couldn’t bear to lose Xu Bingqi as a friend.

She could accept the recording being made public after all, for the Gu family’s public relations, it would only be a temporary nuisance.

But she truly couldn’t stand Xu Bingqi’s indifference. It felt like being isolated in an invisible ice cellar, every second an agony.

Moreover, Gu Xiaozhou held another secret hope. Xu Bingqi had always been soft-hearted toward her; even when she lost her temper, Xu Bingqi would endure it silently. She refused to believe Xu Bingqi could truly bring herself to post the recording online.

Yes, Xu Bingqi was just threatening her again, as she had done before.

“You stayed out all night. I was worried about you.”

Under Xu Bingqi’s stunned gaze, Gu Xiaozhou continued slowly.

Xu Bingqi looked at Gu Xiaozhou standing before him, her dark circles heavy, unable to understand why she insisted on performing this act of a prodigal son returning with deep affection in front of him.

Seeing Xu Bingqi hesitate to take action, Gu Xiaozhou grew even more convinced of her judgment Xu Bingqi simply couldn’t bear to let her endure the storm of online criticism.

He still cared about her, after all.

Summoning her courage, Gu Xiaozhou reached out to tug at Xu Bingqi’s sleeve, but as soon as she met his icy gaze, she slowly withdrew her hand.

“Gu Xiaozhou, you’ve always been like a child,” Xu Bingqi said seriously, looking at his former friend. “Because no matter what you do, someone always has your back, you feel free to act recklessly.”

“Even now,” he paused, “the greatest hardship you’ve ever faced is probably your unrequited love for Jiang Ruo.”

“You’ve never had to take responsibility for any of your mistakes, so you’ve never learned to fear the consequences.”

Gu Xiaozhou’s lips parted slightly, instinctively wanting to refute him, but she found she couldn’t counter a single word he said.

“I’ve always regarded Ruoruo as my best friend. It wasn’t about unrequited love,” she murmured softly.

Xu Bingqi didn’t pause, as if he hadn’t even heard her response, and continued, “Just like now, you say I can release the recording online, but deep down, you’re fearless.”

“You think I’ll soften, that I’ll consider your reputation and continue enduring your endless harassment.”

He paused briefly before adding, “But why should I?”

“I, too, would like to keep indulging you as before, but that would only perpetuate treating you like a child who can’t take responsibility. You’d never grow up, never face the consequences of your actions.”

Xu Bingqi sighed softly, his fingers swiftly gliding across his phone screen. “Xiaozhou, I should have started treating you like an adult a long time ago.”

Gu Xiaozhou’s eyes widened slightly.

Yet she seemed to have lost the strength to stop him. She felt as though she couldn’t even lift a finger, couldn’t even muster a plea from her throat.

She had always believed Xu Bingqi would tolerate her unconditionally. Even when he warned her last time, she had only doubted him for a moment.

But the illusion she had clung to for so long shattered in that instant.

“The Gu family’s PR team has always been strong,” Xu Bingqi said with a faint smile. “Maybe in your eyes, this isn’t even a big deal just a week or two offline.”

“But I still want to teach you a lesson, and at the same time, seek justice for the person I used to be.”

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