After Her Death, They Begged for Forgiveness - Chapter 65

Xu Bingqi didn’t continue watching Jiang Ruo’s disheartened expression. Just as she turned to leave, Xu Qingci grabbed her sleeve: “Bingqi, even though Jiang Ruo isn’t your biological sister, she’s still injured right now. Could you stay with her a little longer?”

Xu Bingqi was slightly taken aback. She had a feeling that Xu Qingci wasn’t genuinely concerned about Jiang Ruo either. After all, her staying would only further shatter Jiang Ruo’s psychological defenses, yet Xu Qingci seemed completely unaware of this.

If Xu Qingci had paid even a little attention to the conversation between her and Jiang Ruo, she should have realized that her presence would only hinder Jiang Ruo’s recovery.

“No,” Xu Bingqi replied, her face still devoid of any extra expression. “I have other matters to attend to. If you want to stay here with her, you can do so yourself.”

In the past, she had despised Xu Qingci’s moral coercion and would feel hurt and distressed because of it. But now, it was difficult for her to feel any emotional turmoil.

“What other matters? Are they important?” Xu Qingci still held onto her daughter’s sleeve, unwilling to let go. “Do you need my help?”

If there were no special circumstances, her daughter would never actively seek her out, so this opportunity felt particularly precious.

She wanted to see her daughter a little longer.

“No need,” Xu Bingqi tried to tug her clothes free but sighed when she found she couldn’t. “You don’t have amnesia, do you?”

Xu Qingci didn’t understand why Xu Bingqi would suddenly ask such a question and shook her head in confusion.

“Then you should remember what I said in the hospital room last time, right?” Xu Bingqi sounded impatient. “I don’t want to see any of you anymore, and I told you not to bother me again.”

She glanced at the gradually darkening sky outside the window. “Besides, I have other plans tonight.”

At this point, Xu Bingqi recalled Song Guanjin’s appearance during last night’s video call, and the tips of her ears faintly flushed red.

Xu Qingci paused for a moment before slowly releasing Xu Bingqi’s sleeve.

She had noticed her daughter’s slightly embarrassed expression and couldn’t help but ask, “Bingqi, are you in a relationship?”

On the hospital bed, Jiang Ruo, her face pale, heard Xu Qingci’s question. Her unfocused pupils finally sharpened, and her weak gaze turned toward Xu Bingqi.

Impossible!

There’s no way Sister could have fallen in love with someone else!

“What does it have to do with you?” Xu Bingqi couldn’t be bothered to answer such a question. As she hurriedly left the room, Xu Qingci caught up and grabbed her again, making her even more impatient. “This is my private matter.”

“I know, I know it’s your privacy,” Xu Qingci said, but she still held onto Xu Bingqi, refusing to let go. “But I need to know if that person is reliable. I don’t want you to be deceived like Jiang Ruo.”

Xu Bingqi had never been in a relationship before. What if she, too, fell for someone with sweet words and empty promises?

The possibility was very high.

Xu Qingci even imagined the scenario of Xu Bingqi being deceived emotionally and physically, tightening her grip on her daughter’s hand. “At the very least, you should introduce them to me.”

“I’m not in a relationship,” Xu Bingqi sighed. “Can you let go of my hand now?”

For so many years, Xu Qingci had never paid much attention to her, and she never expected that Xu Qingci would react so strongly to her being in a relationship now.

Moreover, even if she were to start dating, she wouldn’t do something like introducing her cat to Xu Qingci.

Such a thing would be utterly meaningless, only making both her and the cat uncomfortable. Thinking of the cat’s furious, bristling appearance, Xu Bingqi couldn’t help but curl her lips into a faint smile.

Xu Qingci didn’t release her daughter’s hand; instead, she grew even more certain of her suspicions.

Xu Bingqi’s current state was clearly one that only came with being deeply in love so much so that she had reached the terrifying point of smiling tenderly at the mere thought of the other person.

Her daughter was definitely a love-struck fool!

“Bingqi, don’t lie to me,” Xu Qingci sighed. “I’m truly worried that you’re too naive and might easily be deceived.”

The smile quickly vanished from Xu Bingqi’s face.

“Impossible,” Xu Bingqi said, trying to pull her hand away from Xu Qingci’s tight grip. “Don’t make baseless assumptions.”

This time, Xu Bingqi used so much force that Xu Qingci felt a sharp pain in her fingers and had no choice but to let go.

“Sister,” Jiang Ruo, who had been silent until now, suddenly revealed a gentle smile. “The person Sister likes is Song Guanjin, isn’t it?”

She smiled understandingly. “Song Guanjin likes Sister too. You two could be called mutually in love, so it’s only a matter of time before you start dating.”

Jiang Ruo knew she was inflicting a thousand wounds on the enemy at the cost of eight hundred to herself. As she spoke these words, she felt her heart bleeding, aware that she was tearing open a wound in her heart that was already drenched in blood.

To maintain her gentle smile, she dug her nails deeply into her palms, and moments later, she felt warm liquid slowly seeping out.

“Song Guanjin?” Xu Qingci glanced at Jiang Ruo before quickly turning her gaze back to Xu Bingqi. “That name sounds familiar.”

She thought for a moment. “Is that the friend you visited in the hospital last time?”

Back then, she had mistakenly assumed her daughter had come to the hospital to see her, only to later learn that Xu Bingqi had come to visit her friend who had been injured on set.

Moreover, according to her assistant, Xu Bingqi had waited in the emergency room until her friend woke up.

Xu Qingci had felt vaguely dissatisfied with this friend of her daughter’s from the start. The assistant had mentioned that the friend had been quite rude, even holding her daughter’s hand and acting coquettishly as if no one else was around.

If this friend were truly gentle, sensible, and valued family bonds, shouldn’t she have urged her daughter to visit her sick mother?

It was clear that this Song Guanjin was also rebellious and didn’t value family relationships.

If Xu Bingqi spent time with someone like that, she would only drift further and further away from her.

“Bingqi, is Song Guanjin a minor actress?”

Xu Qingci softened her tone. “She has no background. Perhaps the only reason she’s getting close to you as a friend is for some ulterior motive. And in such a situation, you’ve fallen for her?”

Xu Bingqi had originally planned to leave the hospital room immediately. After all, she had already told Jiang Ruo about Xiao Hua being taken away for investigation. But she never expected things to escalate like this.

And now, Xu Qingci was even subtly speaking ill of her cat.

She couldn’t just walk out as if she hadn’t heard anything; she even felt her rationality was being completely drained by Xu Qingci’s words.

Xu Bingqi’s usually indifferent eyes were now tinged with anger, her thick eyelashes trembling violently. “What right do you have to say that about her?”

“She has been so good to me, what’s wrong with me liking her?” Xu Bingqi felt as if a fire were burning in her mind. Her once-calm tone grew increasingly intense. “For over twenty years, you neglected me. Now, out of guilt, you force your way back into my life without considering my feelings, and even hypocritically question my friend under the guise of caring for me. Don’t you think that’s despicable?”

Jiang Ruo lay on the hospital bed, a faint, almost imperceptible smile curling at the corners of her lips.

The more her sister defended Song Guanjin, the more Xu Qingci would dislike Song Guanjin perhaps even enough to take covert action against her.

But after smiling, she felt a pang of sorrow. When Xu Bingqi herself was slandered by Gu Xiaozhou or Xu Qingci, she remained calm and indifferent. Yet, for Song Guanjin, she grew so angry that her voice turned slightly hoarse with rage.

That Song Guanjin was like a bewitching enchantress, completely captivating her sister’s soul.

But it didn’t matter. If all went as expected, her sister would soon be driven away by Xu Qingci’s words. Once her sister left, Jiang Ruo could continue dropping hints to Xu Qingci about Song Guanjin.

If she couldn’t have peace, then Song Guanjin shouldn’t either.

Moreover, if Song Guanjin’s career suffered because of Xu Bingqi, wouldn’t that create a rift between them?

Thinking of this, Jiang Ruo lowered her head and chuckled softly, her entire body trembling with suppressed laughter to avoid making a sound.

“When I was being attacked online, you thought I was orchestrating it all myself. But Song Guanjin always believed in me, she was the one who stood by me during that time!” Xu Bingqi’s stray strands of hair fell beside her ears, making her appear somewhat obsessive. “She is a genuinely good person!”

Xu Qingci stood frozen in place.

She had never seen her daughter like this before. In fact, her daughter had never screamed at her so passionately, as if defending her most treasured possession.

“I was just reminding you,” Xu Qingci said, knowing she couldn’t provoke Xu Bingqi further at this moment and opting to feign weakness. “It was my mistake.”

Arguing with Xu Bingqi now would only deepen her daughter’s resentment. It was better to placate her first and then quietly investigate Song Guanjin.

A minor actress like her, it wouldn’t take long to uncover all her secrets.

Xu Bingqi stood there, her chest still heaving with anger, the hollow of her collarbone shifting subtly with each breath.

“Guanjin is the most important person to me,” Xu Bingqi said, her voice gradually calming as her breathing steadied. “If any of you target her, I will make sure you pay for it.”

With that, she stormed out of the room, the door slamming against the frame with a heavy thud.

Xu Qingci’s fingertips trembled slightly. “So Bingqi is this protective of that actress named Song Guanjin.”

Jiang Ruo lowered her gaze and smiled faintly, as if sincerely comforting Xu Qingci. “Song Guanjin is very beautiful and loves to act coquettishly around Sister. It’s only natural that Sister likes her.”

“When she was filming, my sister even visited her on set,” Jiang Ruo said slowly. “But it seems she’s gone elsewhere to shoot the remaining scenes now. I suppose she can only contact my sister online at this point.”

Xu Qingci’s brow twitched slightly upon hearing this, but then she asked with confusion, “How do you know all this so clearly?”

She herself had to think for a moment upon hearing Song Guanjin’s name before realizing who that person was, yet Jiang Ruo seemed quite familiar with Song Guanjin, even knowing her recent movements in detail.

“We’re both in the acting industry, so I know a bit more about her,” Jiang Ruo met Xu Qingci’s puzzled gaze and smiled gently. “Besides, I’ve met her a few times. Her temper isn’t very good, so she left quite an impression on me.”

After hearing this, Xu Qingci frowned. Jiang Ruo had always been gentle in nature and never spoke ill of others’ tempers. For Jiang Ruo to describe someone this way, it couldn’t just be ordinary bad temper more likely, the person could be considered downright difficult.

Her daughter liked that person so much, she would definitely be completely under their thumb.

But she couldn’t just openly forbid her daughter from dating that person, could she?

That would only make her daughter resent her more.

Xu Qingci sighed, deciding she should first investigate this actress named Song Guanjin.

Even when making the video call, Xu Bingqi’s mood remained quite sour, and it peaked when she saw Song Guanjin.

Song Guanjin wore a white camisole crop top that revealed her delicate collarbones and slender neck. The top was as transparent as cicada wings, faintly showing the glow of her skin beneath. The hem of the top just reached her waist, exposing a section of pale waistline.

Xu Bingqi’s eyes grew warm and moist. Her kitten still didn’t know that Xu Qingci and the others were speculating maliciously about her, and had even dressed up carefully for their video call.

“Sister, you don’t seem very happy. Did someone upset you?”

The kitten immediately became flustered. She had originally planned to show her sister her completely exposed, smooth legs, but seeing the tears glistening in her sister’s eyes, she quickly shifted to comforting her.

“No,” Xu Bingqi didn’t want her kitten to know about these troublesome matters, adjusting her emotions. “I was just feeling a bit tired earlier.”

Song Guanjin studied her sister’s face carefully. Her sister did seem to just have slightly reddened eyes, but her expression was calm maybe she really was just tired lately.

The kitten nodded obediently. “Then let me help sister relax.”

Relax? How exactly?

While Xu Bingqi was still wondering, she saw Song Guanjin slowly move the phone away, letting the camera gradually pan downward past her shoulders, her waistline, finally coming to rest on her smooth legs.

“It’s all because sister was in such a hurry to video call. I didn’t even have time to finish getting dressed.”

Xu Bingqi let out a very soft breath. She turned her face away, her earlobes burning red as if about to drip blood.

Even though she hadn’t drunk any coffee, she suffered from insomnia that night.

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