After Rebirth, I Discovered the Whole World Wants to Harm Me [GL] - Chapter 14

Under the white glow of the desk lamp, two heads were huddled together, staring at a thin file on the desk. It was only two A4 pages long, but it managed to strip a person’s life clean from childhood to the present.

However, the most eye-catching part wasn’t the thin paper, but the stack of photos clipped to the top-left corner with a red paperclip. Each photo captured the two male leads in such ambiguous light that they practically begged for the caption: Straight men don’t do this!

The girl laid the photos out one by one under the lamp. They mostly showed her big brother and his “rumored partner” entering and leaving malls and restaurants side-by-side.

The most scandalous one was taken at the entrance of a small Western-style house; her brother had raised a hand to help the other man adjust his scarf. The warmth in their eyes when they met was amplified in a close-up shot.

Tang Xiaoran marveled silently: Who knew you were such a romantic, Big Brother!

Even the dating was so innocent. Someone had put in the effort of a paparazzi, yet the resulting photos were as beautiful as movie posters.

Tang Xiaoran leaned in closer, rubbing her eyes, when suddenly the main light was flicked on with a loud clack.

She turned around, startled. Tang Xiaoyu had walked away at some point and was now leaning against the door frame, expressionless. He rolled his eyes at her. “I already locked the door. Why are you acting so sneaky?”

Tang Xiaoran laughed awkwardly and rubbed her nose. “Ahem, it’s my first time looking at someone’s private info. I’m a bit out of practice.”

Tang Xiaoyu: “…”

Back to the topic at hand, Tang Xiaoyu tilted his chin, gesturing toward the papers in her hand from across the room. “What do you think?”

Tang Xiaoran didn’t catch his drift. After a long pause, she replied: “I think… Gu Heng is actually quite good-looking?”

This man was her brother’s partner, the person she and Xiaoyu had seen when they went out to celebrate their friend’s bar opening.

Tang Xiaoyu’s forehead was lined with metaphorical black lines. Grinding his teeth, he snapped: “I didn’t ask you that! Weren’t you incredibly nervous about Tang Xiaozhang earlier? I’m saying, with this information, do you think you can protect him tonight!”

Oh, so that’s what he meant.

Tang Xiaoran lightly scratched her chin with her index finger, looking back at the data. She remained silent for a long time.

Just as Tang Xiaoyu thought she was out of ideas and was about to mock her, her airy voice rang out again:

“Hey, don’t make it sound so scandalous between me and Big Brother. We just have a very pure sibling bond—”

Before Tang Xiaoyu could roll his eyes to the ceiling, she followed up:

“If it’s just this matter, we can coax Dad, or Big Brother can just admit he was wrong for a bit to avoid the storm. What I’m afraid of is…”

Her eyes shifted, the smile disappearing from her almond-shaped eyes. Despite the bright lights, there wasn’t a spark of light in her gaze. The expression she gave Tang Xiaoyu made him feel almost like he was looking at a stranger.

“What I’m afraid of is that the information in Dad’s hands… might be more than just this.”

Tang Xiaoyu didn’t even want to talk about Tang Xiaozhang. If he hadn’t discovered this by chance and didn’t want to take the blame for it, he wouldn’t care if Tang Xiaozhang got a lecture from their father.

Seeing her deep in thought now, the sense of unfairness in his heart flared up again:

“Do you really want him to be okay that badly? You want him to sit in that position at Gaosheng forever? You won’t even help your own biological brother?”

Tang Xiaoran’s train of thought was broken. She looked up and met his fuming face. The two tufts of colored hair looked like they were standing on end.

The heavy mood was suddenly hit by this comical sight, and she couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Suppressing her giggles, she went completely off-topic: “Do you know what you look like right now?”

“Like a—Big. Fat. Rooster.”

Tang Xiaoyu: “…”

Tomorrow, he was going to dye his hair back to black!!!

“Alright, don’t blow up.” She finally reined in her smile, looking at Tang Xiaoyu with unprecedented seriousness.

“It’s not that I think you aren’t suited to be the heir of Gaosheng. It’s just that you truly aren’t as good as Big Brother right now. Maybe you think what Dad sees today will just make him dislike Big Brother, so that when the time is right for you, this ‘only’ competitor won’t be in your way.”

That was exactly what Tang Xiaoyu thought. That was why he was so baffled by his sister’s interference. He didn’t understand why she, who previously hadn’t liked Tang Xiaozhang much either, was suddenly fighting so hard to protect him, even at the cost of turning against her own brother.

“But do you know?”

What you think is a minor blow is a fatal strike for Big Brother.

Her voice grew softer as her gaze fell to the floor. Looking at the cold tiles, it was as if she had returned to that day when she stood before the TV, helpless, reaching out but touching nothing.

The curve of her lips dropped completely. Her voice was nearly a whisper: “…You’ll kill him.”

This data will kill him.

“What?” Tang Xiaoyu thought he had misheard. He frowned at her, his deep brown eyes full of confusion.

She let out a long breath, raised her head to look him in the eye, and said word for word: “Big Brother might lose his life because of this.”

What the hell?

Tang Xiaoyu’s mouth twitched, but for some reason, a sudden draft made the goosebumps on his arms stand up. He turned to the window, found a gap wide open, and expressionlessly walked over to close it.

“You probably won’t believe it, but I had a dream a few days ago.”

“I dreamed that after being scolded by Dad tonight, Big Brother drove away from the house and died in a car accident the next day. Hearing the news, Dad had a stroke and was hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage. The company was handed over to our uncle, but within a few days, the stock plummeted and almost crashed.”

“Out of guilt and fear, you left home and no one knew where you went—and I, in the end, died in a rented room that no one knew about.”

Her gaze was cold, yet her eyes were stubbornly fixed on Tang Xiaoyu, as if she were using her soul to drag him into this story. Every word in the story was terrifying.

Tang Xiaoyu opened his mouth several times to interrupt, wanting to laugh at her for being scared by a “fake dream,” but Tang Xiaoran’s emotions infected him directly, making him believe it was true for a split second.

Seeing him stunned in place, Tang Xiaoran pulled back her aura. She casually fished out her phone, dialed a number, waited a few seconds, and heard the call connect.

“Hello, Big Brother? What time are you coming back tonight?” She tilted her head, unconsciously making her voice a bit sweeter. She realized she had recently taken a liking to acting spoiled with these cold-faced CEOs.

Tang Xiaozhang was already confused. Having received Uncle Zhao’s call earlier, he had finished organizing the company’s data ahead of schedule and was about to shut down.

Hearing Tang Xiaoran’s concern, he recalled Uncle Zhao’s tip and instinctively lowered his gaze. He asked: “I heard Dad is a bit angry with me tonight?”

Tang Xiaoran gave an “Mm” and replied very seriously: “Yes. Big Brother, someone is trying to mess with you.”

Hearing such “underworld” slang, Tang Xiaozhang almost lost his composure.

“Xiaoran…” he said helplessly.

“To be specific, your underground romance with Mr. Gu Heng is facing exposure. Please be prepared when you come home tonight.” For some reason, hearing her brother’s voice and warning him made her feel a sense of confidence. She could even joke around again.

Tang Xiaozhang fell silent on the other end for a long time. Finally, he replied in a low voice: “I understand.”

—Why do you CEOs all give the exact same answer when a crisis hits? Did you all graduate from the same training class??

Tang Xiaoran’s expression was quirky for a second. Before her brother could hang up, she hurriedly added: “But that’s not the point. Anyway, when you get back, remember: no matter what Dad says to you, you’ve been framed. Don’t let your anger get the better of you and do the whole ‘running away from home’ thing! Also, I’ll help you hold the fort!”

The man on the other end let out an imperceptible chuckle and gave a brief: “Okay.”

“Mm. Be careful on the road, Big Brother. Don’t rush back.” Having received the promise from the “man of few words CEO party,” Tang Xiaoran could finally put her heart back in its place.

As long as Big Brother didn’t leave the house tonight, she didn’t believe a car could just crash right in and cause a tragedy anyway!

Hanging up and walking out of his office, Tang Xiaozhang’s mood was somehow lifted. At the thought of Tang Xiaoran’s “I’ll help you hold the fort,” a smile flickered in his eyes.

—It turns out that hearing a family member protect you like that can warm a heart so much.

Inside Tang Xiaoyu’s room.

The girl turned on her phone and fished her headphones from her pocket. She planned to spend the time before her brother’s return being “Tang Sherlock Xiaoran” at home.

Since someone wanted to disturb their family peace, she didn’t believe no one had “unclean hands.” Even if they truly didn’t, she had to filter through everyone before she could truly feel at ease.

Seeing that she was ignoring him and heading for the door, Tang Xiaoyu blocked the way. He held out an arm, glaring at her with total displeasure: “Did you forget what you just told me?”

“No, but things are urgent right now. I’ll tell you how I ‘decoded’ the dream later. Be a good boy and don’t get in the way of Sister doing serious work.” Tang Xiaoran blinked calmly, pushed his hand aside, pulled his arm to shove him out of the way, and reached for the doorknob.

Tang Xiaoyu was stunned by her serious demeanor. He instinctively moved out of her way, asking: “What serious work?”

With one foot in the hallway and one still in the room, the girl flashed him a mysterious smile.

“Finding more people to ‘draw prizes’ from.”

Huh??

Tang Xiaoyu was baffled, watching blankly as she walked away. It took a long time for him to realize:

Damn it. How brainless do I have to be to believe her nonsense!