After Her Death, They Begged for Forgiveness - Chapter 40

“I’ll look into it. Come home with me, alright?”

The scratches on Xu Qingci’s face still throbbed faintly as she spoke, enunciating each word deliberately: “I won’t allow anyone to say such things ever again.”

At the very least, she wouldn’t let Xu Bingqi hear those venomous words anymore.

Xu Bingqi shook her head: “No.”

That wasn’t her home. It was Xu Qingci and Jiang Ruo’s home.

“Why?” Xu Qingci took a step forward but halted when she saw Xu Bingqi pick up the glass again. “Whatever requests you have, just name them.”

She had never spoken to her daughter like this before, fearing it might make her push her luck.

But now she believed she could compensate her daughter, making up for the lack of companionship and affection in the past.

She had given Xu Bingqi very little love before, and with such favorable conditions now, she refused to believe Xu Bingqi wouldn’t be tempted.

“I’ve repeated my request many times: stop appearing in front of me and stop interfering in my life.”

Xu Bingqi swiveled the recliner, avoiding Xu Qingci’s gaze.

The listless apathy that had weighed her down seemed to have dissipated somewhat, but in its place, a wild, uncontrollable irritability had sprouted like weeds.

Xu Bingqi felt that if she kept looking at Xu Qingci, there wouldn’t be a single glass left intact.

“I’ve cleaned everything up.”

Gu Xiaozhou, having meticulously swept up every shard of glass from the floor and double-checked three times to ensure nothing was missed, whispered with a hint of pride.

She felt she was the most useful person among the three of them.

While Aunt Xu had driven Xu Bingqi to turn away in anger, she had quietly cleaned up the broken glass.

Only through comparison could one see improvement, and she felt this visit had been worthwhile.

But no one in the room responded to her.

“You’re my daughter. Why can’t I appear in front of you?” Xu Qingci took a deep breath, intending to meet halfway. “Alright, how about this: the boyfriend Jiang Ruo found really isn’t suitable. I’ll have a serious talk with Ruo about it and come find you again after resolving this matter.”

Xu Qingci still believed it must have been Jiang Ruo’s boyfriend who had spoken out of turn, reopening Xu Bingqi’s old wounds and angering her.

If she taught that man a lesson and let Xu Bingqi vent her anger, Xu Bingqi would surely come home obediently.

The more Xu Qingci thought about it, the more convinced she became, even growing impatient to settle the matter as soon as possible.

Xu Bingqi remained silent, like a voiceless statue.

To her, Xu Qingci’s reasoning seemed utterly fantastical. She couldn’t understand why the usually shrewd Xu Qingci would entertain such a naive idea.

She didn’t even know where to begin refuting such an absurd notion.

Xu Qingci received no response from Xu Bingqi and couldn’t see her expression, but she instinctively took it as silent agreement with her decision.

Her mood instantly lifted.

It would take less than a month to handle this matter. She could bring her eldest daughter home before the New Year.

Besides, there were two cats at home, the very kind of pets Xu Bingqi had loved as a child. She could surprise Xu Bingqi with them upon her return.

“Bingqi, take care of yourself. We won’t disturb you any further.”

Although she couldn’t pick up her daughter for dinner today, the thought of bringing her daughter home after handling Xiao Hua’s matter made Xu Qingci feel as if a spring sprout was slowly emerging in her heart.

She tried her best to speak to her daughter in a gentle tone, but unsurprisingly, she received no response.

It didn’t matter. This was a good starting point, their relationship would gradually improve over time.

It definitely would.

The hotel room fell silent once again.

Xu Bingqi leaned back calmly on the recliner, suddenly realizing that her emotions this time were quite different from how she usually felt when encountering Xu Qingci and Gu Xiaozhou.

In the past, she would strive to express her truest feelings, sharply questioning how Xu Qingci and the others could stand before her and utter such hypocritical words.

But now, aside from moments of anger, she felt nothing but indifference and a desire to use these people.

The halos of human relationships such as that of a mother and a once-close friend were slowly fading. It seemed she was increasingly treating these people like NPCs.

And she didn’t even feel that there was anything wrong with doing so.

Xu Bingqi sat in a daze for a while before calling the hotel’s complaint line to report that the staff had disclosed her room number without permission.

After leaving the hotel where Xu Bingqi was staying, Xu Qingci suddenly grew uneasy again.

“Will Bingqi really come home in the future?”

Gu Nan was surprised that her usually proud friend could also feel insecure. “Why wouldn’t she? Handle this matter seriously, make your stance clear, and let the child vent her frustrations.”

Xu Qingci nodded silently.

Perhaps she was just overthinking it.

Gu Xiaozhou didn’t join the elders’ conversation; she was busy ordering takeout for Xu Bingqi.

While cleaning the room, she noticed how tidy it was there wasn’t even any food packaging in the trash and guessed that Xu Bingqi might not have eaten lunch.

Gu Xiaozhou searched for healthy meal options while entering the address and contact information.

“Tell the hotel manager we won’t be going. Have the prepared food delivered directly to the address I provided.”

Xu Qingci made a call, hung up, and then continued asking her friend, “What counts as handling this matter seriously?”

Gu Nan smiled faintly. “Isn’t this the kind of thing you’re best at? Jiang Ruo is also confused, probably because it’s her first relationship, and she’s been fooled by that freeloading pretty boy.”

Xu Qingci frowned. Gu Nan’s words made sense. She also felt that this man was seducing Jiang Ruo while undermining Xu Bingqi, and he needed to be dealt with properly.

Gu Xiaozhou had just felt proud of her quick thinking, but then she realized her idea wasn’t original Auntie Xu was also sending food to Xu Bingqi and instantly felt deflated.

After lodging her complaint with the hotel, Xu Bingqi remained silent for a moment before starting to search for the best psychiatrists and psychological counselors in the city.

She wasn’t sure if she had a psychological disorder, so she needed to first get a diagnosis from the psychiatric department at the hospital.

But psychological counseling was also essential. Xu Bingqi planned to find a counselor to help her navigate her current mental state.

She had to address her psychological issues before appearing on the music variety show, she couldn’t delay any longer.

Before today, she had already taken stock of her savings and estimated she could use one-third of it to open a small music production company.

Music variety shows were likely when she received the highest amount of discussion, making it the perfect opportunity to build her own company team.

After scheduling an appointment with the psychologist, Xu Bingqi would open her phone every five minutes.

Each time, she would tap into the chat window with Song Guanjin, confirm that Song Guanjin hadn’t sent any messages, and then calmly close her phone screen.

She feared receiving a message from Song Guanjin, and she also dreaded how to reply if one came.

Xu Bingqi hoped that Song Guanjin wouldn’t let today’s confession affect her mood.

In reality, Song Guanjin did feel down for a while. The kitten had to comfort herself for quite some time before mustering the courage to post again.

[“OP, you, you, you shouldn’t confess like that.”]

[“You’re still just friends right now, so this outcome was to be expected.”]

[“First, check if you’ve been blocked or deleted? If you’re blocked, it’s basically game over.”]

The kitten had managed to console herself precisely because she hadn’t been blocked. She slowly typed a reply: [“Not yet.”]

[“The ‘not yet’ here is so telling.”]

[“Everything was going so well before, but it all fell apart at the last moment.”]

[“Try sending a message first?”]

[“How can you just send a message like that? It’s awkward, and what if the other person sees it and blocks or deletes you?”]

The comments section didn’t come to any useful conclusions, and Song Guanjin felt she had to rely on herself to figure things out.

The kitten racked her brains and finally came up with a good idea.

Her sister had previously given her the hotel address and room number, so she could start by ordering some milk tea and desserts for her sister.

As a result, Xu Bingqi received four separate food deliveries.

Only one of them was something she had ordered herself.

Xu Bingqi immediately recognized that the exquisitely packaged delivery box brought by the courier was definitely from Xu Qingci.

She had thought she would at least feel a sense of disgust, but she felt no emotional fluctuation at all, only a barren calm.

“I don’t want it. Send it back.”

If not for her concern about wasting food, she would have thrown this hypocritical gesture straight into the trash.

The delivery person seemed a bit helpless: “Miss Xu, this can’t be returned.”

Xu Bingqi wrote down an address: “Then please deliver it to this address instead.”

She then turned her attention to the second delivery, which also wasn’t hers. Picking it up, she saw that the contact number belonged to Gu Xiaozhou.

Xu Bingqi took another piece of paper and wrote down an address: “Please deliver this to this address.”

“Please show me your payment QR code. I’ll transfer the delivery fee to you.”

Xu Bingqi directly transferred 600 yuan: “The address might be a bit far. Thank you for your trouble.”

Then, as if remembering something, she added, “Please tell them not to bother me anymore, or I’ll personally throw the food in their faces.”

She picked up her own delivery and noticed the third delivery person looking at her expectantly.

Xu Bingqi picked up the fourth delivery and saw a note that read, “From the owner of the pomegranate~ Don’t be angry anymore~”

Her hand, holding the delivery bag, froze. She couldn’t quite describe what she was feeling, it was like drinking a cup of sweet and sour kiwi juice, instantly muddling her thoughts.

“Thank you.”

In the end, Xu Bingqi carried two deliveries back to her room.

She didn’t immediately open the delivery bags. Instead, she picked up her phone and scrolled to the chat window with Song Guanjin.

But even as the screen went dark again, she still didn’t know what message to send.

From the blackened screen of her phone, she caught a glimpse of her own slightly bewildered expression.

【Thank you.】

Xu Bingqi quickly typed these three words and sent a red envelope wishing Song Guanjin a smooth start to her filming schedule. The moment the message was successfully sent, she flipped her phone over abruptly, as if scalded.

Then, Xu Bingqi unwrapped the takeout and began to eat.

The takeout Song Guanjin had ordered for her was milk tea and small desserts. Normally, she wouldn’t eat such things after the afternoon, but perhaps because she hadn’t eaten all day, Xu Bingqi quietly finished everything Song Guanjin had ordered.

After taking the last sip of milk tea, Xu Bingqi sighed. She could imagine the nightly indulgence of a cat’s eating habits.

Fortunately, Song Guanjin was a cat demon, surely, she could maintain her figure through magic, right?

When Song Guanjin received Xu Bingqi’s message, her cat ears suddenly popped out from her hair. She bounced onto the bed and rolled around happily.

So, what if it’s starting over from scratch!

After learning from her past failures, she was absolutely confident!

After rolling contentedly on the bed for half an hour, the cat gradually came to a stop.

Suddenly, she remembered something important.

【Sis, will you still come find me tomorrow night after I join the crew? I promise I’ll be very well-behaved tomorrow [pitiful]】

Support