After My Death, Everyone Repented (Transmigration) - Chapter 15

Haimi Technology’s primary research project this year is a 6nm chip.

Given the current state of domestic chip manufacturing, overcoming this challenge would be equivalent to making progress from scratch.

A few hours ago, the latest technical data developed by the R&D department, based on the chip’s thinness, was reported as stolen.

This constitutes an extremely severe case of research and development leaks.

Chi Yi spent the entire day urgently convening meetings. The heads of the R&D, marketing, legal, and all other departments sat stiffly in their seats, working overnight to discuss contingency plans.

The late autumn wind carried a bone-chilling cold.

At midnight, the conference room door opened, and the gust of cold air sent shivers down the spines of the executives gathered around the table.

Yet the woman at the head of the table remained motionless. Despite the autumn chill seeping into her bones, she showed no intention of ending the meeting.

The door was quickly closed again. Secretary Wang entered, carrying a stack of the latest investigation reports. As she walked to the head of the long conference table, she noticed to her surprise that Chi Yi was checking her phone at such a critical moment.

She was doing so frequently. While the legal director droned on about lengthy litigation procedures, pausing occasionally to catch his breath, Chi Yi would glance down at her phone.

The slim phone, mirror-like in its reflection, remained silent, with no notifications of unread messages appearing.

A few seconds later, Secretary Wang arranged the documents in order, placing them on the table right in front of Chi Yi.

Chi Yi flipped through the first two pages with her usual composure.

Since these documents contained the latest emergency response plan, several department heads paused their discussions, waiting for Chi Yi’s next instructions.

But when she reached the third page, the folder was abruptly snapped shut. Chi Yi picked up her phone.

Pursing her lips, her mood visibly sour, she stood up expressionlessly, correcting the flaws in the proposals just presented by the department heads. She then exchanged a few words with Secretary Wang, briefly delegating follow-up tasks.

The whole exchange lasted no more than a minute. Then, phone in hand, she left the conference room.

Inside, the executives who had just witnessed Chi Yi’s shifting mood tonight collectively slumped in relief, exhaling deeply.

Chi Yi was in a terrible mood, this was the most obvious takeaway for everyone present.

Ever since her return from a business trip to Tainan a week ago, Chi Yi had been like this. Those around her could feel an almost suffocating pressure radiating from her.

Chi Yi’s office was located on the 68th floor of Haimi Technology’s landmark building in the tech park. Her private elevator took her directly there. The trip from the conference room to her office took less than two minutes, yet Chi Yi checked her phone no fewer than ten times during that short span.

Xie Shaojun’s friend had stopped calling to harass her.

Chi Yi thought that, in this regard, Xie Shaojun’s friend was just like Xie Shaojun herself lacking the perseverance to see things through.

Resting her hand on the desk, she tapped her fingers absentmindedly, ignoring the contingency plan Secretary Wang had submitted.

Lost in thought, she removed the glasses perched on her slender nose bridge and set her phone aside. Yet her gaze involuntarily drifted back to it.

There was still no word from Xie Shaojun. Chi Yi didn’t particularly want to deal with her anyway.

Xie Shaojun’s casual attitude toward divorce had deeply hurt Chi Yi. At first, Chi Yi thought it was just Xie Shaojun being emotional and assumed she would regret it later.

But then Chi Yi realized Xie Shaojun might not have been joking. Her words were filled with exhaustion over their relationship, leaving Chi Yi feeling helpless rather than just hurt.

She asked Wang Mi if she was the kind of person who made her partner feel exhausted.

Wang Mi replied, “Of course not.”

But the look on his face betrayed the lie.

A person’s character is formed early in life and is hard to change. Chi Yi’s personality made Xie Shaoyun uncomfortable. Though it pained her deeply, Chi Yi also knew she couldn’t force things.

In this brief marriage, Xie Shaoyun had repeatedly expressed her exhaustion. No matter how much Chi Yi persisted, it was futile. It was better to be rational, step back to a safe distance, and let the other person be happier.

That’s what Chi Yi thought. She always had many ways to distance herself from emotions, endless documents to read, projects to negotiate, and nonstop toasts at the dining table. She didn’t need much rest; her brain could immerse itself in work at any moment, crowding out the sense of rupture brought by Xie Shaoyun’s demand for divorce.

But the reality was, the effortless control she imagined never materialized.

Insomnia, distraction, and even occasional bouts of extreme resentment surfaced.

Yesterday, opening the fridge, Chi Yi saw the yogurt Xie Shaoyun had bought. Without thinking, she vengefully threw it into the trash. But later, she dug through the garbage to retrieve it.

She wondered if she should return the yogurt to Xie Shaoyun—after all, it was about to expire.

As an outstanding entrepreneur, Chi Yi didn’t go to Xie Shaoyun that night. Instead, she waited until the morning after Xie Shaoyun’s birthday to call her driver.

She even brought a cake.

The cake had been ordered in Beicheng. Half a month earlier, she’d sent someone to commission a custom design and flavor from a pastry chef. It had been airlifted to her doorstep that morning. Chi Yi got into the car holding the nearly expired yogurt and the cake.

But the slight upward curve of her lips flattened the moment the driver asked for Xie Shaoyun’s home address.

Chi Yi couldn’t answer. She didn’t know where Xie Shaoyun lived now.

–

The documents were finally opened. Chi Yi tried to shift her focus, but when the tadpole-like data and models appeared before her, the data chains in her mind refused to take shape.

Of course, she didn’t attribute this to her own lack of concentration. The root of her distraction, she concluded, was the endless, unreasonable harassment calls from Xie Shaoyun’s friend.

Chi Yi picked up her phone and thought about it. This friend hadn’t done anything wrong by calling her. She and Xie Shaoyun hadn’t yet filed for divorce, so legally, they were still wives.

If her wife was drunk, it was perfectly reasonable for a friend to call and inform her.

And if Chi Yi didn’t answer, that would be the impolite thing.

Chi Yi told herself she wasn’t actively pursuing anything—it was just that Xie Shaoyun was drunk and pitiable.

Taking it a step further, perhaps Xie Shaoyun’s drunkenness tonight was due to regret over the breakup. Chi Yi couldn’t deny her the chance to save face.

Thinking this way, Chi Yi dialed Xie Shaoyun’s number.

The first time, no one answered.

The second time…

Chi Yi dialed for a full half-hour without any intention of giving up. Finally, the call connected.

“Hello?” A soft, delicate voice came through the line, but it wasn’t Xie Shaoyun’s.

Chi Yi paused, pulled the phone away to check the screen, and confirmed she’d dialed Xie Shaoyun’s number. “Is this Xie Shaoyun’s phone?” she asked.

Jian Qing replied, “It’s my sister’s. I’m Jian Qing. And you are…?”

Xie Shaoyun’s phone had Chi Yi’s contact saved, Jian Qing couldn’t have missed it. The question was deliberate.

“Chi Yi.”

“Ah, good evening, Sister Chi.” Jian Qing feigned ignorance and asked, “Did you just get back from a business trip?”

“Business trip?” Chi Yi echoed the question.

“It’s my sister’s birthday today. My uncle and aunt asked why you didn’t come. My sister told them not to bother you, saying you were away on a trip.”

Chi Yi didn’t refute it, nor did she expose Xie Shaojun’s lie. Instead, she played along, responding indifferently, “Mm.”

“Jun-Jun isn’t home tonight. Earlier, my uncle hit her, and her phone was left at home.” Jian Qing deliberately recounted every detail of Xie Shaojun’s situation before she went out drinking, her words laced with an intimate tone, as if trying to probe the nature of Chi Yi and Xie Shaojun’s marital relationship. But this tactic had no effect on Chi Yi, who remained silent throughout.

Left with no choice, Jian Qing abruptly changed the subject and asked, “It’s so late did you call to pick up Jun-Jun’s phone for her?”

Chi Yi thought for a moment and smoothly lied, “She’s asleep. Just hand the phone to me.”

At two in the morning, Chi Yi’s car pulled up by the roadside opposite the Xie residence.

Jian Qing, who had been waiting outside, walked over and tapped on the car window. Chi Yi instructed the driver to step out and open the door for Jian Qing.

Under the bright interior lights, Chi Yi closed a file and glanced at Jian Qing.

She had come out wearing a cotton candy-patterned cartoon pajama set, slippers on her feet, her collarbone and calves exposed, casual and carefree, her soft hair draped over her shoulders.

She seemed to smile often, the expression lingering at the corners of her lips as she called out sweetly, “Sister Chi Yi.”

Then, hesitating, she glanced at the “driver” inside and outside the car. “I’d like to talk to you about my sister. Is it okay to speak freely with outsiders around?”

The implication was clear: should the driver leave?

Chi Yi gave her a strange look. “The two of us alone together would actually be the inappropriate scenario here.”

Jian Qing stiffened slightly under her pointed gaze but quickly forced another smile.

The phone was tucked in Jian Qing’s pajama pocket, and she made no move to retrieve it. Instead, she sat down on the seat opposite Chi Yi and asked, as if casually, “How did you and my sister meet?”

Chi Yi replied matter-of-factly, “You can ask her that.”

“My sister has issues with me. She wouldn’t talk to me about these things.”

Jian Qing seemed less interested in returning the phone and more intent on venting. With a pained expression, she said, “I didn’t even know you two got married. Because Jun-Jun resents me, and because my uncle and aunt favor me, I thought it best to leave for a while a few years ago—to stand on my own feet. I figured once we were older and more mature, things might smooth over between us.”

“But then she met you.”

Jian Qing’s words were disjointed, jumping from one topic to another without clear intent.

Chi Yi listened for a few sentences but quickly realized there was nothing of interest no explanation for why Xie Shaojun had been hit that night, no mention of whether Xie Shaojun regretted the decision to divorce.

Having no patience for irrelevant chatter, Chi Yi reopened the file she hadn’t finished reading earlier and corrected several errors in one of the reports.

When Jian Qing finally looked up and saw what Chi Yi was doing, her smile froze for a long moment. Perhaps Chi Yi had a unique talent for infuriating even the most saintly of people, because Jian Qing’s composure cracked. Without thinking, she blurted out bluntly, “Sister Chi Yi, you don’t actually like my sister, do you?”

Chi Yi leaned her elbow against the left car window, pushing the laptop aside. The glaring screen cast a faint glow in her dark, gem-like eyes, deep and luminous.

Her soft lips parted as she spoke to Jian Qing, “I suggest you get a pair of glasses. Can’t you see? Many people like Xie Shaojun, but Xie Shaojun chose me. So why wouldn’t I like her?”

Jian Qing narrowed her eyes, lips trembling slightly. The prepared accusations suddenly stuck in her throat. She had wanted to ask, If you like her, why didn’t you show up for her birthday?

But under Chi Yi’s matter-of-fact tone, the question felt baseless and clumsy. Suppressing the jealousy threatening to spill over, Jian Qing pretended Chi Yi hadn’t noticed her secret, obsessive possessiveness over Xie Shaojun.

With a sweet, docile smile, she handed the phone back to Chi Yi. “I was just worried about how you’d be after marriage. Hearing you say you love her puts my mind at ease.”

Chi Yi took Xie Shaojun’s phone and gestured for Jian Qing to leave.

Yet after just two steps, Chi Yi called her back, eyes fixed on the skull pendant around Jian Qing’s neck. Frowning, she said, “Give me the necklace too. I don’t like others wearing her things.”

“Huh? You think this is my sister’s?” Jian Qing lifted the pendant, staring unblinkingly into Chi Yi’s eyes, not missing a single flicker of emotion.

After a moment, she calmly replied, “You must be mistaken. This necklace is mine.”

Chi Yi froze. “What?”

“I said this pendant was a precious gift from a childhood friend.”

Jian Qing watched as Chi Yi’s expression turned strange.

“Is there a problem?” she asked innocently.

The nearby water cup tipped over, scalding liquid spilling across the table. Chi Yi stepped back to avoid it but made no move to wipe it up. Her gaze bore into Jian Qing’s.

Then, slowly, she looked Jian Qing up and down, a full two seconds of scrutiny, before asking evenly, “What was the name of this childhood friend who gave you the necklace?”

“Xiao Chi!”

Xie Shaojun slept late. By the time she woke, the sun was high, and the air around her felt weightless. Bathed in the warm morning light, she lay blankly in bed for a while before her senses returned.

Instinctively, she sat upright, bracing for a scolding. A moment later, realizing her surroundings, she tugged at her lips and laughed into the blankets for a long time.

Spending too much time with Chi Yi has made me downright servile.

Unlike Xie Shaojun’s restful night, Chi Yi sported two heavy dark circles under her eyes today. After an urgent morning meeting, she visited the factory to assess the issues with the R&D project.

Just before lunch, Xie Shaojun’s call came through.

“Chi Yi?”

A quiet “Mm” answered her.

Chi Yi didn’t give Xie Shaojun the chance to ask why she had retrieved the phone, preempting her. “Jian Qing called me last night. I went to the Xie family to get your phone for you.”

Xie Shaojun sincerely thanked her after all, she had no intention of returning to the Xie family before her death.

“Could you pass it to Secretary Wang? I’ll contact her to pick it up later.”

Chi Yi agreed, saying it was fine, but then fell silent, unwilling to hang up the phone. Xie Shaoyun had to urge her, “Can we hang up now?”

Chi Yi didn’t respond. After three seconds of silence, she finally said softly, “Let’s meet.”

Thinking it might be about the divorce, Xie Shaoyun readily agreed, “Sure.”

“Are you free today?” Xie Shaoyun asked.

Chi Yi replied, “I’m on my way to Country M right now. There’s something I want to ask you when I get back from this business trip.”

Xie Shaoyun didn’t press for details. Standing on the brink of their impending separation, she politely said, “Then have a safe trip,” and “Goodbye.”

Chi Yi opened her mouth slightly, holding the phone, pausing for what felt like an eternity.

It wasn’t until her secretary nudged her arm that Chi Yi snapped out of it. Her expression grew even darker, like an already detonated bomb the composed, aloof goddess aura shattered, exploding into a stormy, blackened mess.