After My Death, Everyone Repented (Transmigration) - Chapter 21

After Xie Shaojun was picked up by Chi Yi, she never expected that a mere threat wouldn’t scare Jian Qing away.

Instead, Jian Qing waited until nightfall.

Limping on one leg, she kept asking the tombstone’s owner, “Are you still here?”

“Is it you?”

Xie Shaojun didn’t respond anymore. Her mood wasn’t great anyone would feel strange seeing a tombstone bearing their own name.

So this odd atmosphere lingered until dusk, when Jian Qing was called away by an urgent phone call. Her assistant came to pick her up.

Before leaving, Jian Qing wore a smug smile. As she passed Chi Yi, she said, “Cheer up. Stop waiting.”

“She called my name first, not yours. Even if you wait, that’s an undeniable fact, isn’t it?”

Chi Yi looked up, puzzled, then handed Jian Qing a business card. Jian Qing fell silent.

Her expression darkened.

The card landed in her hand, and right in front of Chi Yi, Jian Qing tore it into pieces from top to bottom, scattering them at her feet.

“Pick up your trash and clean it up,” Chi Yi demanded, enunciating each word. Her voice was soft and gentle, yet every syllable that left her lips was icy, carrying an authoritative tone.

Jian Qing glared at her furiously, raising her voice. “Is this fun? Why should I go see a therapist like you? You heard her call my name just now. Why can’t you admit that I mean more to her than you do ”

“First place on the hatred ranking, you mean?” Chi Yi’s eyes locked onto Jian Qing’s, her words cutting deep. “Of course, you’re number one.”

With that the world fell silent.

After Jian Qing left, Xie Shaojun finally understood the relationship between the two they were love rivals.

But Xie Shaojun usually didn’t care about other people’s drama. What concerned her was when she could leave this place.

After being picked up by Chi Yi, Xie Shaojun was now in her hands.

It was getting late, and Chi Yi showed no signs of leaving. Slowly, she pulled a silk handkerchief from her pocket, draped it over the tombstone, and began meticulously wiping away the handprints Jian Qing had left behind.

Chi Yi wiped it over and over. Xie Shaojun, tangled around Chi Yi’s pale fingers, was forced to move up and down with her hand, eating dust in the process. Through the gaps, she caught another glimpse of the name on the tombstone.

Xie Shaojun found it absurd. After staring for a while, she didn’t want to look anymore.

Yet even though the tombstone was already spotless, Chi Yi kept wiping.

Xie Shaojun, trapped in her grip, struggled uncomfortably, trying to break free. But her strength was no match, the necklace was coiled around Chi Yi’s fingers several times, the skull pendant lodged firmly in her palm. After several failed attempts, she gave up.

Though she didn’t want to admit it, Chi Yi’s palm was soft, dry, and warm. She carried no overpowering perfumes, just the faint scent of freesia body wash.

For some reason, Xie Shaojun felt at ease. Drowsy, she ended up falling asleep.

When the last light in the sky vanished, Xie Shaojun woke up, not in her own home, but still pinned in Chi Yi’s palm.

Chi Yi was on a phone call.

“President Chi, Lawrence has requested a video call with you tonight.”

Chi Yi frowned and replied without hesitation, “Contact him to reschedule.”

“If you truly intend to sell the company soon,” the secretary’s voice carried a hint of dejection, “given that Haimi’s stock price is currently overvalued, it’s difficult to find a buyer in such a short time. Lawrence is the wealthiest individual who can mobilize the funds for acquisition most quickly.”

Since Chi Yi happened to be holding the phone with the same hand that was entwined with Xie Shaoyun, the receiver was right by her ear, forcing Xie Shaoyun to overhear the bombshell news that Chi Yi was about to sell her company.

This left Xie Shaoyun stunned for quite a while. Xie Qingcheng had once told her that Chi Yi was widely regarded as a titan in the internet industry. Her first tech company, founded in New York, specialized in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and blockchain.

But later, using that as a springboard, Chi Yi didn’t linger in internet technology. Instead, she took the startup capital she’d earned back to her home country to pursue a new venture research and development in photolithography machines and semiconductor manufacturing.

Many said that Chi Yi’s life’s work was photolithography machines.

Yet now, just as she had achieved success and her enterprise was flourishing, she had decided to sell her shares. It was hard to comprehend.

Xie Shaoyun couldn’t help but glance at Chi Yi, who was staring at the tombstone. Her expression was obscured by the darkness, and after a long silence, she finally responded to the secretary with a quiet, “Alright.”

The call ended, and Xie Shaoyun was jostled several times.

Chi Yi seemed ready to leave. She slowly opened her bag, crouched down until her gaze was level with the tombstone, and softly called out, “Xie Shaoyun.”

“I never let you eat candy before because I was afraid too much would give you cavities. Remember during those six months of tutoring? I took you to the dentist so many times, and you wouldn’t even open your eyes. A tattoo artist, of all people, how could you be afraid of the dentist?”

“Now you can have some.” Chi Yi’s slender fingers lingered tenderly over the tombstone before she reached into her bag for the Popsicles she had prepared.

She rummaged through three compartments but only pulled out one lollipop wrapped in lace, exquisitely packaged, resembling the spherical shape of a Popsicle.

Chi Yi’s eyelashes trembled slightly. She tossed the lollipop aside and searched her bag over and over again, more than a dozen times. Then she checked the pockets of her beige wide-leg pants, but still found nothing.

In Xie Shaoyun’s field of vision, Chi Yi’s face remained indistinct. But she could sense the stiffness in Chi Yi’s fingers, the damp sweat gathering in her palms.

Her usually poised legs were bent awkwardly as she searched fruitlessly for far too long. Then Xie Shaoyun heard Chi Yi’s slow, disbelieving murmur of self-reproach:

“Last week at Marlon’s, I bought so many Popsicles. On the way out, I ran into Secretary Wang and her son, Zhuangzhuang. I thought you wouldn’t mind if I shared your candy with the boy, so I kept your favorite apple flavor and gave the rest to him.”

Chi Yi pressed her lips together tightly, muttering to herself, “I definitely brought them…”

She seemed unable to accept her own oversight and began searching all over again. until Secretary Wang’s next urgent call came through.

Chi Yi hung up without another glance at the tombstone, melting back into the night.

Xie Shaoyun heard her whisper, “It’s my fault… I always ruin everything.”

“No wonder you called Jian Qing today instead of me.”

It was in that moment Xie Shaoyun detected the raw, fleeting crack in Chi Yi’s otherwise calm voice.

In the darkness, her legs seemed to suddenly buckle as if struck, and Xie Shaojun could see from her perspective how the light fragmented her shadow into scattered pieces.

For some reason, Xie Shaojun felt a pang of discomfort. The impatient threat she had thrown at Jian Qing had unexpectedly become the heavy hand that crushed someone else’s emotions.

From childhood, Xie Cheng had taught Xie Shaojun that a girl could be delicate but never weak.

She could be proud but never spoiled.

Bravery, freedom, and fearlessness were the first lessons every Xie family girl had to remember upon entering this world.

Whether it was Xie Shaojun, Xie Qingcheng, or Xie Cangxin, Xie Cheng had raised them all the same way.

They had the right to do anything that brought them joy. If something they did later made them regretful or guilty, they didn’t need to consider external factors as long as turning back to correct it would make them happy, that was the best choice.

Even though Chi Yi’s emotional breakdown had nothing to do with Xie Shaojun, seeing the poised elite woman bent under the weight of the night, Xie Shaojun thought for a moment, then lifted her head in the darkness and called out her name: “Chi Yi, hello, I’m Xie Shaojun.”

Throughout the long descent from the mountain, Chi Yi didn’t respond. She walked out of the cemetery, where a driver was waiting by the roadside.

Chi Yi abruptly stopped. Xie Shaojun couldn’t see her face, only those straight legs trembling as if they might collapse at any moment, losing all grace.

Without quite knowing why, Xie Shaojun spoke up again: “Hey, can’t you hear me?”

Chi Yi’s expression first went blank, then she lowered her head, looking around in confusion for the source of the voice. After all, this was no longer the cemetery, there were no tombstones, just a long winding mountain road.

In the distance, the driver parked the car properly. Further away, a black sedan appeared on the horizon, drawing closer.

“Xie Shaojun.” After a full fifteen seconds of observation, Chi Yi raised her hand. She was slightly nearsighted, her gaze focusing on the skull necklace near her feet, and finally, she uttered Xie Shaojun’s name.

Xie Shaojun acknowledged her, but there was no follow-up.

She had called out to explain that the earlier threat to Jian Qing hadn’t come from the cemetery’s owner but from her, a parasitic soul playing a prank.

Yet Chi Yi didn’t seem surprised or curious about Xie Shaojun’s existence. She showed no signs of fright, didn’t call the police, or panic about seeing a doctor.

Coming to this conclusion in her heart, Xie Shaojun lost interest in engaging with her.

The driver stepped out and opened the car door for Chi Yi.

Just as Xie Qingcheng had described, Chi Yi was emotionally stable, strong-willed, and composed as she got into the car. The entire ride home, she remained silent.

The car lights were on, and soon Chi Yi initiated a video call.

The overhead light was dazzling. Chi Yi cradled Xie Shaojun in her palm, her other hand gently wrapping soft fingertips around the skull.

As the light dimmed, Xie Shaojun found it inconvenient to thank her, so she tapped Chi Yi’s finger with the skull instead.

After that, Chi Yi took a video call in the car.

“Laurent, good evening…”

She spoke in flawless French, conversing with the other party.

Xie Shaojun could pick up a few common words, but business negotiations were tedious, and she had no interest in listening. Nestled in the warm, dry palm, she simply drifted back into sleep.

Xie Shaoyun thought that when she woke up this time, she would probably be in her own bed at home.

But when she opened her eyes, the scene had changed.

This should be Chi Yi’s home, not a villa in some wealthy neighborhood, but a modest two-story apartment with a duplex design. It wasn’t particularly large, but it had a sunroom where you could glimpse the sky.

Chi Yi didn’t take Xie Shaoyun to the sunroom to see the stars. Instead, she went upstairs to wash her hands. At first, she didn’t remove Xie Shaoyun from her grasp. Her left hand remained dry, while the fingertips of her right hand turned red from scrubbing before she finally stopped. Xie Shaoyun assumed it was just a quirk of hers, perhaps a cleanliness obsession or some eccentric habit of successful people. But then Chi Yi cupped a handful of cold water and splashed it on her face.

A second handful.

A third.

Xie Shaoyun swayed up and down with her movements, growing impatient.

She clicked her tongue. “Could you put me down? All this shaking is making my head hurt.”

Chi Yi’s body stiffened again. She didn’t even look at Xie Shaoyun, taking a deep breath before removing the necklace and placing it on the soft bed in the bedroom. Then she hurried back to the bathroom.

Her reaction puzzled Xie Shaoyun. She had waited all night, intending to explain to Chi Yi about the unspoken matter regarding the cemetery’s owner. But Chi Yi turned out to be far more composed and far stranger than Xie Shaoyun had anticipated.

When Chi Yi emerged from the bathroom again, it took only a minute. She picked Xie Shaoyun up and stared at her for a long, long time so long that time itself seemed to freeze.

Xie Shaoyun finally couldn’t take it anymore. “You’re squeezing me too tight.”

Chi Yi loosened her grip but didn’t put Xie Shaoyun down. Instead, she held her in her palm, her long lashes trembling slightly. Then, taking another deep breath, she fixed her gaze on Xie Shaoyun and asked, “Xie Shaoyun… are you inside this necklace?”

“I thought you knew.”

Chi Yi pressed further, “Was it also you who called Jian Qing earlier?”

Xie Shaoyun rolled out of Chi Yi’s palm in one swift motion, the silver chain shaped like skeletal fingers dangling from Chi Yi’s hand before being snatched back up.

Chi Yi stared at Xie Shaoyun with those hollow eyes of hers, and Xie Shaoyun felt a twinge of irritation. “Yes,” she snapped.

Chi Yi’s hands began to tremble slightly.

“Today is your death anniversary. Would you like some more incense?”

Xie Shaoyun was speechless.

Chi Yi had mistaken her for the cemetery’s owner. But then again, recalling her own introduction, it was understandable why there’d be confusion.

Xie Shaoyun deliberately paused for two seconds to mess with her before politely saying, “Hello, Chi Yi. I’m Xie Shaoyun. I don’t know if you remember me, but we spoke on the phone this morning. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be your tour guide. Meeting you like this in advance is a bit unconventional, but it’s nice to make your acquaintance.”

If she had hands, Xie Shaoyun would’ve extended one politely for a handshake. But since she didn’t, she wasn’t too upset that Chi Yi didn’t bother to show her face courteously either.

Yet Chi Yi dropped her again and dashed back to the bathroom, this time for three whole minutes.

Chi Yi seemed to enjoy washing her face, hair, and even showering with cold water this season. Xie Shaoyun knew this because when Chi Yi came out, her palms were damp and icy.

Water dripped from her hair, splashing onto the floor.

From Xie Shaoyun’s vantage point, she couldn’t see Chi Yi’s face.

“Don’t touch me. Your hands are wet, and water’s getting into my skull,” Xie Shaoyun huffed, making her displeasure clear.

“Oh.” Chi Yi nodded, wiped her fingers clean, and deliberately ignored the first half of the sentence. She picked Xie Shaojun up in her palm again, then said the next moment, “You’ve been appearing so frequently today.”

“What frequency?” Xie Shaojun asked, puzzled.

The corners of Chi Yi’s lips curled up slightly, her voice no longer flat as she let out a childish laugh and asked, “Will you come again tomorrow?”

Xie Shaojun thought her words were all over the place. Come again tomorrow? What do you mean? Aren’t you the one coming to Sri Lanka to find me?

But she couldn’t respond, because the next second, her eyelids grew heavy. In the familiar dizzying swirl, Xie Shaojun was about to return.

Xie Shaojun: Of course I won’t come tomorrow! Now that I’ve recognized who you are in person, you still think you can take advantage?

Chi Yi thought it was all an illusion do you guys get it? Hahahaha.