After Her Death, They Begged for Forgiveness - Chapter 9

After Xu Bingqi finished saying the drama title, Song Guanjin widened her eyes.

But then she remembered that Xu Bingqi wasn’t particularly interested in TV dramas, so how would she know a title even she herself hadn’t heard of? So she pressed further, “How did you know about it?”

Xu Bingqi cleared her throat lightly and calmly replied, “I stumbled upon it by chance.”

Song Guanjin nodded, half-believing, and made a mental note of the drama title Xu Bingqi had mentioned.

“Thank you, sis.”

Song Guanjin smiled, like a pistachio cracking open with joy.

Xu Bingqi shook her head in amusement. Song Guanjin had a very aloof appearance, yet she often revealed a childish smile, making Xu Bingqi curious about what her upbringing had been like.

She must have grown up happily in a harmonious family, Xu Bingqi thought.

Since there were few people at the time, the waiter quickly brought out the skewers.

Only then did Song Guanjin realize that she had been so focused on venting her frustrations that she had forgotten to order.

She calmly glanced at her bank balance, still over 500 yuan.

No big deal.

It was definitely enough for this meal.

This was the difference between humans and cats. When Song Guanjin was a cat living in the wild, she often went hungry one day and feasted the next. Even if she stored food, she wouldn’t keep too much, preferring to eat it right away, a true opportunist. After taking human form, she hadn’t yet mastered the skill of saving money in such a short time, nor did she even have the awareness to do so.

It was a rather carefree, “carpe diem” kind of attitude.

Before Song Guanjin could finish ordering, Xu Bingqi pushed the grill plate toward her. “Eat first.”

She was in a very good mood today. She had slept until the room was pitch dark before waking up, feeling a lightness of spirit she had never experienced before.

It was a feeling she had never known while living with Xu Qingci and Jiang Ruo.

In the past, every time she woke up, there was only endless oppression, a life of feeling ignored or even discriminated against, with no end in sight.

But now, she would never have to go through that again.

Xu Bingqi opened her phone and, as expected, saw a reply email from the game promotion team sent over ten hours ago.

Between the lines, it was clear they were very satisfied, and at the end of the email, they asked if Xu Bingqi would be willing to collaborate again for the next promotional song.

Xu Bingqi politely replied that she would no longer compose under that identity in the future, then put down her phone and went out to eat.

That was when she ran into the despondent Song Guanjin at the barbecue shop.

Song Guanjin stared at the menu with its wide variety of dishes. After a frenzy of ordering, she confirmed that the total hadn’t exceeded her balance and finally relaxed completely.

Xu Bingqi rarely spoke while eating, a habit she had cultivated over time.

In the past, most of the time, she would eat quietly with her head down, listening to Xu Qingci and Jiang Ruo’s laughter and chatter.

Song Guanjin was even more silent while eating. After all, no cat ever chatted while having a meal.

Skewers kept coming one after another. Xu Bingqi, already full, watched in surprise as Song Guanjin continued to eat heartily.

Shouldn’t a female celebrity be managing her figure?

Or had Song Guanjin channeled her sorrow into her appetite?

Xu Bingqi thought about reminding her but felt that their relationship was neither close nor distant, so she swallowed the words that had risen to her lips and remained silent.

After finishing her meal, Song Guanjin belatedly recalled that Xu Bingqi had deactivated all her social media accounts.

“Sis, why did you stop using your old accounts?”

Satisfied, Song Guanjin wiped the oil from the corners of her lips with a tissue, her already delicate mouth seeming to take on a renewed flush, glowing even more strikingly red.

Xu Bingqi averted her gaze somewhat awkwardly, answering nonchalantly, “It’s nothing really, I just didn’t feel like using them anymore.”

Song Guanjin didn’t press further, as she had come to realize that there were far too many people with peculiar ideas in the world, and she naturally categorized Xu Bingqi among them.

She quickly picked up her phone: “Well then, let’s add each other again.”

Xu Bingqi thought for a moment before taking out her own phone.

She didn’t dislike Song Guanjin, and besides, she had already separated her work account from her personal one. Adding her now wouldn’t cause any significant issues for her job.

Xu Bingqi logged into her personal account and scanned the code to add Song Guanjin as a friend.

Still feeling a bit uneasy, she paused before reminding her, “Don’t share my contact info with anyone else.”

She was genuinely afraid that the plot of the novel would somehow twist its way back, causing her to reconnect with Jiang Ruo and others once again.

After saying this, Xu Bingqi stood up and grabbed her bag. It was almost midnight, and she planned to return to the hotel to rest a bit more and adjust her biological clock.

“How are you getting back?”

Xu Bingqi turned to look at the slender figure of Song Guanjin, feeling a little concerned. “Is it far from your home? If it’s too much, just take a taxi.”

Song Guanjin nodded instinctively, but as she opened the ride-hailing app, a sudden sense of foreboding washed over her.

She directly pulled up her bank account interface.

Sure enough, her balance was less than a hundred yuan. Taking a taxi now would likely leave her struggling to afford meals later.

“Eat, drink, and be merry today, for tomorrow may bring its own worries.”

If things continued like this, she really would have to worry tomorrow.

“It’s pretty close, just a twenty-something minute walk.”

Song Guanjin smiled and waved her phone, but Xu Bingqi inadvertently caught a glimpse of her bank balance.

“Do you only have this one bank account? Is this all the money you have?”

Xu Bingqi was so surprised that she ended up asking what she felt was an overly intrusive question.

Song Guanjin nodded belatedly, then tried to cover it up with a laugh. “It’s fine, the compensation for the contract breach from the crew should be transferred in a few days.”

After the meal, she had a strange thought she didn’t want to appear too pitiful in front of Xu Bingqi.

Even though during their first meeting she had considered treating Xu Bingqi as a long-term meal ticket, now she was trying hard to earn her respect.

Xu Bingqi sighed as she looked at Song Guanjin, who was trying hard to act composed.

“I’ll transfer you 5,000 yuan for now. You can pay me back whenever you have the money later.”

For the first time, Song Guanjin felt that her judgment had been spot on, the long-term meal ticket she had once targeted indeed had the awareness of a long-term meal ticket.

But she didn’t feel particularly happy about it.

Even though she genuinely needed the money right now.

Song Guanjin gently bit her lip, feeling her entire face grow warm.

“It’s no big deal. When you become famous, just remember me, okay?”

To ease the young girl’s nervousness, Xu Bingqi casually cracked a joke.

Song Guanjin nodded firmly. “I definitely will.”

Xu Bingqi smiled, realizing for the first time that she might actually be pretty good at comforting people.

Or perhaps Song Guanjin was just easier to comfort.

After all, in the past, when she had comforted Xu Qingci over company troubles, all she received in return were Xu Qingci’s scrutinizing and guarded looks.

“Bingqi, these matters are none of your concern. You should focus on taking care of yourself first.”

She always believed Xu Bingqi’s comfort was driven by ulterior motives.

For a long time afterward, Xu Bingqi thought she simply wasn’t good at comforting others.

She grew increasingly silent.

Later, Xu Qingci very naturally remarked that Xu Bingqi “lacks empathy, has a hard heart, and is nothing like Ruoruo.”

It wasn’t until she was reborn that Xu Bingqi truly realized none of this was her fault.

No matter how hard she tried to change, she would never gain Xu Qingci’s approval.

Now, Song Guanjin’s sincere and passionate gaze made her truly feel that she wasn’t as bad as Xu Qingci had made her out to be.

Xu Bingqi smiled faintly: “Hurry and get a taxi. Be careful on your way home.”

After bidding farewell to Song Guanjin, Xu Bingqi slowly walked back toward the hotel.

The night wind was cold, and Xu Bingqi kept her hands in her pockets the entire way.

It wasn’t until she returned to her hotel room and took out her phone again that she noticed the promotional song for the game character on social media had already surpassed a million plays.

The game company had only released it less than an hour ago.

At that moment, the viewer count showed 100,000+.

Xu Bingqi checked several times before confirming the numbers were accurate.

This was a level of plays and likes she had never achieved before.

The top comments in the comment section had likes numbering in the tens of thousands.

【Our Little Deer’s singing is as stable as ever, and the composition is really strong this time】

【Little Deer’s god-tier singing isn’t surprising, but how did Xu Bingqi’s composition become so amazing this time?】

【Gotta admit, the composition didn’t drag it down this time. Is this really her usual standard?】

【To be fair, her compositions were always good before, but they lacked emotional depth, so they never went viral】

【Did the Xu family buy bots for their precious daughter again? Someone’s sneaking in biased praise】

【Exactly, Xu Bingqi’s fans are rewriting history again. Let’s see if she can maintain this level in the future】

The game company clearly hadn’t expected such astonishing data in less than an hour, but the marketing team quickly seized the opportunity. In addition to tagging the singer and the main creators in the pinned comment as usual, they mentioned that this would be Xu Bingqi’s final composition.

They removed personal information from the email replies and posted evidence to confirm that Xu Bingqi would no longer take on song composition work in the future.

As the play counts and shares continued to rise, Xu Bingqi felt a bit dizzy, as if she were floating on a cloud.

This completely exceeded her expectations.

After the game company announced that Xu Bingqi would no longer compose, the hashtag #XuBingqiNoLongerComposing trended.

Many people remained skeptical.

【Just a new marketing tactic】

【Probably a publicity stunt. She has no talent anyway without the composer title, she’s just useless】

【The more it seems fake, the more likely it’s true. She really hasn’t been active online for a long time】

【It might be real. She seems pretty low-key and doesn’t chase clout】

【Are people crazy? Calling Xu Bingqi low-key? She’s not low-key, she’s just hopeless】

【No need to argue now. We’ll find out eventually】

Xu Bingqi calmly scrolled through the comments one by one. After reading a small portion, she closed her phone.

The recent song’s explosive popularity proved that she had indeed broken through her previous compositional bottleneck, but Xu Bingqi was not satisfied with stopping there.

The road ahead was still very long, and a clearer plan gradually took shape in her mind.

Amidst the clinking of glasses, someone bent slightly and raised their cup to toast Xu Qingci, their flattery tinged with a hint of confusion: “The last composition by your daughter was truly a success, but why has she decided to stop composing? Has Madam Xu made other arrangements for her?”

Everyone else also turned their gaze to Xu Qingci. If both Jiang Ruo’s entry into the entertainment industry and Xu Bingqi’s retirement from composing were orchestrated by Xu Qingci, it might indicate that the Xu family heir was not necessarily Jiang Ruo after all.

After all, Xu Bingqi was Xu Qingci’s biological daughter, and everyone began to waver in their assumptions.

If Xu Qingci were to change her mind, they would need to start currying favor with the supposedly cold and incompetent Xu family eldest daughter ahead of time.

Xu Qingci held her wine glass, momentarily lost in thought.

She knew nothing about Xu Bingqi’s current activities, nor did she want to know.

After a brief silence, she said coldly, “She’s just messing around on her own.”

Then she added emphatically, “I stopped bothering with her long ago.”

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