After Her Death, They Begged for Forgiveness - Chapter 42

During a break in filming “Clouds Between,” the other actors in the crew began taking group photos and helping each other record videos.

Song Guanjin, dazed and disoriented, was pulled by the other actors to take photos at different spots. In the intervals between camera flashes, she asked blankly, “Isn’t this break time? Why are we still working?”

“It’ll be useful for promoting the drama later.”

After hearing the explanation from the others, Song Guanjin nodded in confusion.

But the incident gave her an idea. Her eyes sparkling, she began searching for the perfect angle, trying to capture the most ideal lighting for a selfie. After taking the photos, she planned to pick a few of the best ones to send to Xu Bingqi.

“Clouds Between” was a suspense drama. Song Guanjin wore a sharply tailored black suit, its fitted silhouette accentuating her slender waist. Underneath, she had on a white silk blouse with the collar slightly open, revealing her delicate collarbones.

The suit trousers fell straight, just covering her black high heels, making her legs appear long and slender.

It was a simple, polished urban style that Song Guanjin rarely tried in her daily life.

Standing tall and straight, the sharp cut of the black suit made her resemble an unsheathed blade, while the exposed collarbones unintentionally added a touch of unique charm.

Big sister is sure to like this!

So, the other actors in the crew witnessed the usually cold and efficient female lead from the drama holding her phone after taking selfies, smiling so sweetly it was like frost melting quietly from a winter plum blossom.

They had always thought Song Guanjin never smiled.

After carefully selecting her favorites, a faint smile lingering on her lips, she sent the most satisfactory ones to Xu Bingqi. Once sent, Song Guanjin leaned forward slightly, staring intently at the screen, waiting for Xu Bingqi’s reply.

After admiring her own beautiful photos one by one, Song Guanjin realized she loved acting even more.

While filming, she could change into outfits of various styles and show her sister photos of all those different looks.

There must be at least one style that big sister likes!

The kitten decided to work hard and strive to land more roles.

But the filming progress was just too slow. Unable to wait for her sister’s reply, Song Guanjin sighed.

She had memorized all the script lines before joining the crew, but only after filming began did she realize that the first day’s shooting required just the first two pages of dialogue.

The lighting crew had to set up the lights, the cinematographer had to adjust the camera angles, and after each scene was shot, the set had to be changed. The prop master’s dagger broke in two before it was even used.

The kitten inwardly lamented how inefficient humans were, while also coming to understand the saying, “The world is just one big makeshift stage.”

In her eyes, all these tedious preparations could have been easily handled with a simple flick of her finger and a spell in her past life, making everything go smoothly.

At that thought, the kitten suddenly froze.

What exactly caused me to forget all spells except for transforming into human form?

Moreover, since she could take human form, she must have had at least a few centuries of cultivation. Yet her memories of the past were extremely vague, she could only recall her most practiced move, the “Kitty Fist.”

But the Kitty Fist was a basic skill for every cat.

Doesn’t that mean I have none of the advantages of a cat demon? Or were those earth-shaking, mountain-moving spells just my imagination?

Song Guanjin thought back to the nightmare that had left a heavy psychological shadow on her not long ago.

Could that nightmare actually be her lost memories? Did she become like this because she was struck dumb by that lightning bolt?

Lost in thought, the blade and sheath of the second dagger prop prepared by the prop master got stuck together. The prop master grew frantic, beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he fumbled to pry them apart.

Song Guanjin propped her chin on her hand, her slender fingers lightly supporting her jaw, her gaze vacant as she immersed herself in her own world.

The director, already overwhelmed, watched her disorganized crew and sighed silently.

Then she focused her gaze on the female lead, who seemed to be spacing out.

While the other actors in the group, after taking a few group photos, were diligently memorizing their lines and rehearsing, Song Guanjin was still lost in thought.

She knew this production had a small budget and couldn’t attract formally trained actors, but did they really have to hire someone so careless as the female lead?

Did she think she could slack off just because she felt she did well in the last scene?

Although she had to admit Song Guanjin’s acting in the first scene was indeed excellent, the director felt she still needed to remind the female lead to thoroughly memorize her extensive lines, so as not to slow down the filming progress later.

“Ms. Song, have you memorized all your lines?”

“Ms. Song?”

The director had to ask twice before Song Guanjin snapped back to reality and realized “Ms. Song” was referring to her.

So, she had finally reached the point where people called her “Ms. Song.” Even though she had been addressed that way many times today, Song Guanjin still wasn’t quite used to the title.

“I’ve memorized them.”

Song Guanjin took the script out of her backpack and handed it to the director. “I can start acting any scene right away.”

The young director had never seen such an arrogant newcomer.

How could she be this arrogant? She refused to believe a newcomer who had never acted before could have such outstanding ability.

As far as she knew, even the rising star Jiang Ruo didn’t possess such a strong capability.

Besides, her low-budget production couldn’t possibly attract a talented actor like Jiang Ruo.

The director decided to teach Song Guanjin a lesson, which could also serve as a warning to the other actors.

“Then let’s try Scene 102.”

The director was certain this newcomer didn’t even know what Scene 70 was about.

However, when she took Song Guanjin’s script, she was immediately stunned. The script was densely annotated with insights into the lines, and the edges were frayed from frequent use.

Could she actually know what Scene 70 was about?

This was the first time the director had seen such a dedicated newcomer. Her gloomy eyes instantly lit up, as if she had spotted a sprout of hope breaking through the barren ground of the set.

Song Guanjin began rehearsing alone.

When she delivered the final line of Scene 70, the set fell into complete silence. The sounds of other actors reciting their lines vanished entirely.

Then, amidst the flood of praises from everyone, the cat on set squinted its eyes contentedly.

It wasn’t until the prop master shouted, “This time, the dagger is definitely fine!” that the tension broke.

With the prop fixed, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, hopeful they could finish on time.

Song Guanjin took one last reluctant glance at her phone. The chat window with her sister was still frozen on her last selfie, with no new messages.

Once filming was over, she was determined to find her sister and whine and complain to her heart’s content!

Xu Bingqi stared at the dozens of photos sent by Song Guanjin, lost in thought. Should she tell the kitten that she was already on her way to visit the set?

Ever since leaving the flower shop, she had been wavering over whether to surprise the kitten with a visit to the set.

This was the kitten’s first scene would it go smoothly? What would the kitten think when she saw the bouquet? Would she be nervous while filming?

Xu Bingqi pondered repeatedly, envisioning countless possible scenarios in her mind. In the end, her longing for the kitten swept away all hesitation, and she decided to head to the location Song Guanjin had sent her that morning.

By the time Xu Bingqi arrived, Song Guanjin was filming her last scene of the day.

Her gaze cut through the crowd, landing precisely on Song Guanjin. The surrounding noise faded into a blurry backdrop, leaving only Song Guanjin’s graceful figure standing out like the most vivid stroke in a painting.

Xu Bingqi felt as though she could hear her heart suddenly accelerate, like an engine abruptly roaring to life.

The scene before her seemed strangely familiar, as if many years ago, she had also glimpsed a woman through a crowd, falling for her from afar in that single moment.

But that was impossible. Before her rebirth, she had never been drawn to anyone. This sense of déjà vu felt like a fantasy.

Perhaps this feeling of familiarity was just an illusion.

By the time Xu Bingqi snapped back to reality, Song Guanjin had already finished her last scene and was weaving through the bustling crowd, walking briskly toward her, strands of hair fluttering in the wind.

Song Guanjin hadn’t expected Xu Bingqi to actually come. Her previously steady breath suddenly grew rapid and uneven.

Her hands lifted instinctively, then hesitated and lowered, before finally gently taking Xu Bingqi’s hand, feeling the warmth radiating from the other’s fingertips.

Xu Bingqi hesitated for a moment, then covered Song Guanjin’s hand with her palm, giving a slight, firm squeeze in return.

“Why are your hands so cold?”

A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of Song Guanjin’s lips. “It’s too cold. My hands were exposed the whole time during filming.”

This way, her sister definitely wouldn’t have the heart to let go.

“Sister, I thought you weren’t coming today.”

Song Guanjin murmured coquettishly, but her physical contact with Xu Bingqi remained appropriately restrained just a gentle handhold, perfectly measured.

After reviewing the comments section last night, Song Guanjin had devised a new strategy: “boiling a frog in warm water.”

She needed to take it slow and steady, starting with holding hands like friends. Once Xu Bingqi gradually let her guard down, she could slowly introduce more physical contact, ultimately bridging the gap from friendship to romance.

The moment Xu Bingqi returned the handhold, she was reminded of last night’s steamy, lingering dream. Her breath hitched unconsciously, and her grip on Song Guanjin’s hand tightened slightly.

She tried hard to shake off those damp, vine-like fantasies, reminding herself that humans and demons were different, a relationship between species with such disparate lifespans could never end well.

She must not cross that line called friendship.

“Did filming go smoothly?”

Xu Bingqi looked straight ahead, forcing her attention onto topics appropriate for friends.

“It went very well.”

The kitten eagerly followed her sister’s lead, chattering on about how she had showcased her exceptional acting talent in front of everyone.

“Sis, everyone says my acting is way better than Jiang Ruo’s.”

Song Guanjin was a cat who held grudges. Remembering how her previous role had been replaced because of Jiang Ruo, and recalling how Jiang Ruo had recently come to her doorstep to provoke her, she couldn’t help but compare herself to Jiang Ruo.

“That’s great.”

Xu Bingqi humored the proud little cat but thought for a moment before adding, “Try to avoid Jiang Ruo as much as possible from now on. Don’t confront her directly.”

In this world, no one could rival the protagonist’s luck. She worried that the inexperienced little cat demon might find herself at a disadvantage in a confrontation with the protagonist.

On the surface, Song Guanjin obediently agreed, but inwardly, she scoffed.

Jiang Ruo was just an ordinary human, while she, though temporarily stripped of her magical powers, was still a cat demon. As humans would say, “A starved camel is still bigger than a horse.” She refused to believe that the wisdom she had accumulated over her long life would lose to a human girl in her twenties.

“Oh, by the way, Sis, many of the crew members on set are your fans.”

The cat demon steered the conversation away from Jiang Ruo and onto a topic she was more interested in, her eyes sparkling with tiny glimmers of light. “So many people are waiting for you to update.”

And she had spared no effort in promoting her sister’s work.

Song Guanjin was very satisfied with everything that had happened since joining the crew. Everything was moving in a positive direction.

The cat believed that in the near future, she would surely achieve success in both love and career! From then on, she would ascend to the peak of her demon life!

However, the image of her holding hands with Xu Bingqi soon fell into the eyes of another person, igniting a flame of jealousy in the girl’s previously calm gaze.

Ever since Jiang Ruo had seen Song Guanjin at Xu Bingqi’s home, she had kept a close watch on this highly skilled individual.

She had immediately obtained news of Song Guanjin joining the crew and easily arranged for someone to monitor the seemingly makeshift “Clouds” production team.

Sure enough, Xu Bingqi had visited the set.

She had known all along that the relationship between these two was anything but ordinary.

“System, how many points would it take to make someone meet with an accident?”

[Host, perhaps you should focus on the plotline first?]

The plot deviation value kept rising, but its host seemed unconcerned. The system worried that if things continued this way, the task completion would be delayed indefinitely.

If the plot failed to progress toward the finale, both it and the host would be trapped in this novel world forever. The host would age, get sick, and die like an ordinary person, and once the host died, the system would vanish along with her.

“Stop wasting time. Just tell me how many points it takes to eliminate someone.”

The response came in Jiang Ruo’s increasingly cold and obsessive voice.

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