After My Death, Everyone Repented (Transmigration) - Chapter 70.2

Still, Xie Zangxing led Xie Shaojun and Chi Yi around for a round of toasts.

Xie Cheng was entertaining some VIPs, and Xie Qingcheng was there too. Xie Shaojun and Chi Yi went over to greet them, but Chi Yi ended up staying behind.

Left alone, Xie Shaojun continued accompanying the newlyweds through the formalities. After making the rounds, she unexpectedly spotted Xie Guangqi and Feng Cinian at the wedding.

Both looked gaunt, almost unrecognizable. Xie Guangqi leaned on a cane, his back slightly hunched. Feng Cinian’s eyelids drooped behind a pair of reading glasses, her hair streaked with white, aging her considerably. Neither made a move to approach.

Only as the banquet neared its end did they finally step forward, their eyes flickering toward Xie Shaojun, but she showed no intention of speaking.

So instead, they turned to Xie Zangxing and asked, “Earlier, we saw Miss Chi and Miss Xie together. What’s their relationship?”

Xie Shaojun didn’t respond. Damei seemed eager to say something, but Xie Zangxing stepped forward, shielding Xie Shaojun, and explained to the two of them: “She’s related to both Damei and me.”

“When’s their wedding? My wife and I signed a five-year teaching commitment in the rural areas, so I’m not sure when we’ll have time to attend,” Xie Guangqi asked, his gaze earnest as he looked at Xie Shaojun.

Xie Zangxing stood between them and said, “It’s normal not to know. Even I don’t have details about when they’ll hold the ceremony.”

“Are they that busy?” Feng Cinian probed.

“Busier than ordinary people like us,” Xie Zangxing replied seriously to the two professors.

“They operate on a different level. Have you heard of the Silk Road Art Exhibition? That’s my sister’s project. As for Chi Yi, needless to say, besides chip research, she’s recently increased investments in AI and bioengineering, all for the advancement of national technology and culture. So yes, they’re very busy. Unnecessary interruptions aren’t welcome.”

With the tone of a psychologist, Xie Zangxing handed Xie Guangqi a business card, suggesting he could reach out if he had time.

In truth, Feng Cinian and Xie Guangqi had seen Xie Shaojun on the news and knew what she was doing. But hearing it from someone else made it feel unreal.

The Xie Shaojun of today was entirely different from the one they had imagined or perhaps they had never truly acknowledged their daughter, stifling her growth. Only after her death did they reflect on the past with pain, resentment lingering in their hearts.

They felt the child they had raised, from birth to death, had brought them endless suffering.

Yet, their carefully nurtured Jian Qing had been arrested and sentenced to death, while Xie Shaojun, who had grown up with little care, much criticism, biased education, frequent domestic violence, and unequal treatment still thrived in the sunlight.

And now, the Xie Shaojun standing before them, flourishing, seemed entirely disconnected from their influence, bearing no trace of their past. Looking back, on that rugged path of growth, Xie Shaojun had never shown her brilliance just as she had said, she held no attachment to them.

So she had risen to heights they could only look up to, shining where they could never reach.

All their assumptions that she would visit, that they could reclaim her, that their remorse would matter crumbled under the weight of their past cruelty, selfishness, and relentless mistreatment. It left them with no ground to stand on, their guilt lodged in their throats like a bone.

Feng Cinian and Xie Guangqi silently stepped aside, sinking back onto the sofa without pursuing further.

After the banquet, in the car, Xie Shaojun asked Xie Zangxing why she had said those things to Feng Cinian and Xie Guangqi.

Xie Zangxing glanced back at her and replied, “Wrong is wrong. Some mistakes can be corrected, but others can’t like life. There’s only one chance, no room for regret.”

That night, Xie Shaojun suspected Xie Zangxing might have guessed something or perhaps the entire Xie family had sensed something unusual in Xie Guangqi and Feng Cinian’s desperate, grief-stricken attempts to reclaim their daughter.

But the outcome wasn’t disastrous. From beginning to end, Xie Shaojun had been raised by Xie Cheng and Feng Qianqian.

In that family, her character, principles, and conduct were all molded by the Xie family’s values. They understood how to give love and trust to those who deserved it.

Perhaps in the process of growing up, one might face departures and be deeply wounded by others’ mistakes, but the Xie family’s upbringing is ingrained in their bones, they have always believed in being loved and in loving others bravely.

So she accepted Chi Yi again. Xie Zangxing changed the fate of Damei, who was supposed to suffer from heartbreak and live out her days alone.

For a moment, Xie Shaojun was moved and wanted to explain something.

But Xie Zangxing waved her off and pushed her out of the car, saying disdainfully, “It’s my big day, and you’re dragging me into this.”

Ahead, Chi Yi was talking with Xie Cheng. Xie Zangxing called out Chi Yi’s name from the car, telling her to take Xie Shaojun away.

Chi Yi immediately walked over, opened the car door, and offered her hand to Xie Shaojun. Xie Shaojun was led out of the car, but as they reached the entrance, she couldn’t help but turn back and say to her second sister, “I just wanted to say a few words to you.”

Xie Zangxing mercilessly shooed her away, saying, “Ugh, annoying.”

After Xie Shaojun left, Damei kept glancing at Xie Zangxing. By the fourth time, Xie Zangxing lit a cigarette.

“Are you thinking I’d suspect she’s not my sister? I never considered it, and I never would.”

Xie Zangxing met Damei’s gaze and said, “From the day of her accident, my mom told us we might lose our sister. Later, when Xie Shaojun woke up, her personality and habits hadn’t really changed, she just seemed unhappy for a long time, acting like a saint, always putting others first, as if her heart wasn’t fully here. But she is our sister, our family for years. If we couldn’t even recognize that, we’d be fools.”

Damei hugged Xie Zangxing and said in a low, hoarse voice, “Those two years she was in a coma… she didn’t have it easy.”

Xie Zangxing wasn’t surprised at all. “I figured,” she replied.

“That’s why I didn’t want her to be with Chi Yi. But as long as she’s happy.”

At eleven o’clock that night, the wedding banquet ended.

Xie Cheng invited Chi Yi to stay overnight at their home.

Xie Shaojun initially tried to decline on her behalf, but Chi Yi, who was fiercely territorial, agreed immediately.

“Should I ask Auntie to prepare a guest room for Chi Yi?”

Xie Cheng shot Xie Shaojun a knowing look and huffed, “You’re already married, and you’re still playing dumb with me?”

The marriage certificate had been obtained after their return from Barton Manor. It happened to be Valentine’s Day, and in a moment of impulsiveness, Xie Shaojun had gone home, stolen the household register, and registered their marriage with Chi Yi.

Xie Shaojun sighed helplessly, forcing a dry laugh as she poured her father a cup of sobering tea. “How do you even know all this?”

“You’re my daughter. Of course I know what kind of troublemaker you are.”

Feng Qianqian, having just hung up the phone, shot Xie Cheng a glare, grabbed her open-top bag, and smacked him on the head. “You gave birth to Xie Cheng? Who are you calling a troublemaker?”

A family squabble was about to erupt. Xie Shaojun quickly poured her mother a cup of tea to calm her down, then took Chi Yi upstairs.

“Why are you suddenly looking through my childhood photo album?”

Xie Shaojun stepped out of the shower wrapped in a towel and found Chi Yi flipping through old photos of her younger self.

She picked up the hairdryer and walked over to Chi Yi, who took it from her and began drying her hair. The photo album, its edges curled and yellowed, lay open on the dresser, filled with pictures from Xie Shaojun’s birth to graduation.

The one Chi Yi was looking at was a graduation photo.

At the age of eighteen, Xie Shaojun graduated from university and went to intern at Xie Cheng’s company. She wore the green T-shirt from that year’s Sunshine Motors team-building event, with a matching cap bearing the Sunshine Motors logo.

Her naturally curly hair was flattened into disarray by the cap.

Xie Shaojun remembered that year, Chi Yi had also wanted to intern with her and had begged her father to pull strings so they could work together.

In that team-building photo, the person who should have been standing to Xie Shaojun’s right wasn’t a man it should have been Chi Yi.

But that happened in a parallel world. In this world, when Xie Shaojun turned eighteen, there was no Chi Yi.

The hairdryer hummed with a white noise as Chi Yi’s fingers ran through Xie Shaojun’s hair.

After some time, the hair dried.

Her scalp felt light, and Xie Shaojun heard Chi Yi say, “Xie Shaojun, is there something off about these photos?”

She pointed at the team-building photo and asked.

Xie Shaojun lowered her gaze, picking up the photo not to answer the question but to ask in return, “What’s off?”

Chi Yi thought for a moment, flipping through the photos with a rustling sound, her fingers tracing every spot beside Xie Shaojun in each picture. Finally, she said, “In all these photos, there’s someone missing.”

The heating was a bit too warm. Xie Shaojun walked to the window and pushed it open. The night wind rushed in, brushing against her face. Chi Yi came up behind her, wrapping her arms around Xie Shaojun from behind, her breath warm against her skin.

Xie Shaojun felt that even the breaths Chi Yi exhaled were filled with sorrow. So she turned around, patted Chi Yi’s shoulder, and said optimistically, “Now, no one’s missing.”

Chi Yi didn’t respond, only held Xie Shaojun tighter.

She said, I’m sorry.

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry.

So many apologies, but deep down, Chi Yi knew they were useless.

That day, they had been in a car accident together. Chi Yi died, and Xie Shaojun lived.

The one who dies never suffers as much as the one left behind.

Chi Yi had no memory of those times, so no matter how much she had grieved, it could never compare to Xie Shaojun’s pain.

When they met again in this life, Chi Yi, who had fallen in love with Xie Shaojun in their past life, had once counted countless reasons why Xie Shaojun was worthy of love, all the qualities that drew her in. Later, when Xie Shaojun returned from death, when she was lost and then found again, Chi Yi compiled countless pieces of evidence to prove that she loved Xie Shaojun more.

But she had never considered this: Xie Shaojun’s love for Chi Yi needed no proof.

The fact that they could meet in this world, that she was alive that was proof enough.