After Rebirth, I Discovered the Whole World Wants to Harm Me [GL] - Chapter 15

The long black curls were permed naturally, falling obediently over her shoulders and making her palm-sized face look even more delicate. Paired with the thin bangs on her forehead, she looked four or five years younger—almost like a high school student.

White earphone wires trailed down from her hair, connected to the warm-colored phone in her hand.

Walking slowly down the second-floor hallway, her serene expression made her look like a top student on campus listening to high-level English audio.

In reality, she was just listening to the local news report about rising property prices in the neighboring district. Tang Xiaoran suppressed the urge to pull out her earphones and prepared to execute her plan: getting into close contact with each of the domestic staff currently employed in her home.

The Tang family’s nannies watched, bewildered, as their eldest young miss bustled about. First, she checked on the auntie ironing clothes; then, she ran into the kitchen to order late-night snacks; finally, she even went to find the butler, Uncle Zhao, insisting he join the fun in the kitchen.

“Uncle Zhao’s milk tea is the best~” She acted spoiled with him, successfully drawing the butler’s mind away from Tang Zhihua’s explosive temper for a moment as he headed toward the kitchen.

As he walked, he thought worriedly: I saw Xiaoran and Xiaozhang’s relationship improving earlier, so why does she seem completely indifferent to his situation now?

Unable to find a reason, Uncle Zhao could only bury his anxiety in work.

Most of the staff were middle-aged women. Having cycled through them with various excuses, Tang Xiaoran was now sitting on the sofa, her gaze slightly slanted as she watched Uncle Zhao’s retreating back.

Her deep brown eyes were filled with coldness.

Because of her picky palate, the Tang family employed three chefs. One middle-aged man didn’t live on-site and left every day after dinner. Of the remaining two, there was Auntie Xie, who made local Benbang cuisine, and Auntie Mei, who was in charge of soups and porridges—occasionally brewing health soups for her father to lower his blood pressure.

Just now, when she went to the kitchen to ask Auntie Mei to make seafood porridge for a snack, her hand had brushed against the woman’s weathered, calloused skin. She had clearly heard a sentence:

【Rest assured, I’ve been watching the timing for the Master’s soup. I only add a little something occasionally; no one will ever find out.】

Lowering her gaze, Tang Xiaoran expressionlessly took out her small notebook and recorded the sentence stroke by stroke.

So, in her past life, even her father’s brain hemorrhage during his high blood pressure episode wasn’t a coincidence?

…Hearing so much of this, she was starting to feel like she was getting used to being surrounded by murderers.

From her brother and father to the framed Xiaoyu, and finally herself—who exactly held such a deep-seated hatred for the Tang family?

While she was lost in dark thoughts, a steaming cup of milk tea was placed by her hand. Uncle Zhao’s kind voice rang out simultaneously:

“Xiaoran, I’ve put the milk tea here. Be careful not to burn yourself.”

Pretending to be absorbed in her phone, she kept her eyes glued to the screen and nodded perfunctorily. Her left hand reached out seemingly at random; the back of her ring finger brushed against Uncle Zhao’s fingertips as he released the handle of the cup—a perfect “little accident.”

In a flash, another sentence rang clearly in her ear, causing her to snap her head up in shock:

【Mr. Tang, since the Tang family is in this state now and Xiaozhang has already… I have failed the trust of my benefactor. My contract ends today. As for what happens to the rest of the Tang family, it has nothing to do with me.】

The tone was full of sighs, as if the speaker had aged decades in an instant.

“Uncle Zhao…” The girl’s eyes were full of astonishment, unable to immediately parse the meaning of his words.

She could only judge based on her experience of hearing inner voices through the news: Uncle Zhao was also connected to the events of her past life.

But what did he have to do with Big Brother’s situation?

The butler was puzzled by her sudden, strange stare. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, the sound of the front door unlocking rang out.

A tall silhouette was cast against the white wall as someone entered.

Tang Xiaozhang was back.

Despite the whirlpool of questions in her head, Tang Xiaoran quickly pulled out her earphones. Using the hand speed of someone who had been single for over a decade, she scribbled down the words she had just heard, her handwriting flying across three lines.

She then tossed her phone onto the sofa, stuffed the notebook into her pocket, and lunged toward Tang Xiaozhang like an arrow from a bow.

“Big Brother!” Perhaps she was too excited and didn’t control her volume, or perhaps the master bedroom door upstairs was already open; regardless, the moment she shouted—

Tang’s father appeared at the study door, his face grim as he looked down at the person who had just returned. He barked an order with full authority:

“Tang Xiaozhang! Get in here!”

The siblings exchanged a look. Tang Xiaozhang instinctively reached up to loosen his tie, but seeing the study door, his hand paused and then dropped back down.

When they reached the door, Tang Xiaoran tried to test the boundaries. Just as she extended one foot, her father’s booming voice blasted toward her:

“What are you coming in for!”

Test failed.

She obediently pulled her foot back. But as her brother turned to close the door, she used her finger to wedge it, successfully leaving a crack for “reconnaissance.”

Before she could even lean her ear in, a thunderous crash erupted from inside—the sound of something glass-like shattering.

Then came Tang’s father’s roar: “I handed the company to you so you could use it to support a man?!”

Startled by the sound of breaking objects, Tang Xiaoran reflexively pushed the door open. She saw a chipped remote control lying by her brother’s feet under the LCD TV, and A4 papers scattered across the floor like snowflakes.

She hurried forward to block her father’s view of Tang Xiaozhang. Facing her father’s rage-reddened eyes, she said tremblingly, “Dad, calm down. There must be a misunderstanding…”

Tang Zhihua’s anger was indiscriminate. He glared at her and pointed to the door: “Get out! This is none of your business!”

Facing his mountain-like pressure, Tang Xiaoran felt that if her father had another remote in his hand, it would hit her forehead the next second.

Her heart raced and she shook uncontrollably, yet she remained standing in front of Tang Xiaozhang. She didn’t even realize her voice was quivering: “N-no! If I leave, you’ll definitely hit Big Brother. Dad, if you want to hit him, hit me first—”

“Fine, fine! One and two, you’re all conspiring to lie to me, aren’t you?” Tang Zhihua grabbed a hardboard folder from the desk, looking like he wanted to hurl it.

Tang Xiaoran quickly added: “Whoa, Dad! You’ve never hit me! Even Mom never hit me! How could you bear to hit someone as cute as me!”

Tang’s father choked on his words.

He seemed to recall his late wife and remembered that the decision to adopt Tang Xiaozhang had been hers. The hand holding the folder hesitated for a long time before slamming it back down on the desk.

The tall man protected behind her looked down to pick up the scattered papers. Seeing various photos of himself and his lover, he pursed his lips.

He tried to push away the slight figure in front of him—the girl who was clearly trembling yet fulfilling her promise to stay between him and his father.

Instead, the girl reacted faster than him. She snatched the materials from his hand, flipping through them as she stepped closer to Tang Zhihua’s desk.

By the time she reached her father, her eyes were completely red, and two lines of tears were streaming down her cheeks: “Sob… Big Brother is so pitiful…”

Tang’s father initially watched her coldly, but when her tear-stained face got close, he turned his head away.

His tone, however, dropped instinctively: “He’s pitiful? Pitiful my foot!”

“Big Brother grew up in a place like that and was lucky enough to meet you and Mom. Now, just because of his natural preferences, you’re discriminating against him? Do you not want to raise him anymore?”

Tang Xiaoran wiped her tears as she spoke. She had started with 70% acting, but perhaps because her skills had improved, she actually ended up moving herself to tears.

“I…!” Tang Zhihua was so angry he was almost led astray by his daughter’s black-and-white reversal.

He was discriminating against his son? It was Tang Xiaozhang who did something scandalous, yet it was his fault?

He almost couldn’t catch his breath. Tang Xiaoran quickly handed him the water from his desk and obediently rubbed his back: “Calm down, don’t get excited, Dad. Let’s be reasonable. Let’s talk nicely.”

“You shut up!” Tang Zhihua was afraid that if he spoke to his daughter for two more minutes, he’d be led into a ditch. He silenced her directly.

He then glared again at Tang Xiaozhang, who hadn’t said a word but remained standing there stubbornly.

“Natural preferences? I think you’re all born with… never mind that. Explain yourself: what happened to the deficit in the Section B branch factory last month? And what about that 750,000-yuan watch on that man’s wrist?”

“It’s written clearly here: he’s a teacher who hasn’t even gained tenure yet. His monthly salary is only 4,500.”

Perhaps out of consideration for his daughter’s presence, or because the “discrimination” label was too heavy, he swallowed back the harsher words.

Tang Xiaozhang knit his brows, looking at the report in his hand with a heavy gaze. After a long pause, he spoke in a low voice: “I’ve checked the reports submitted by Section B this quarter. They were handed to me personally by the head office’s finance department. The situation there is far from this deficit. I will investigate this tomorrow. This matter was my oversight, I am sorry, Father. But… I have absolutely never taken a cent from the company to spend on him.”

A man must use his own money to support his spouse! Tang Xiaoran gave her brother a silent thumbs-up in her heart.

“As for the watch—he owns an apartment in the city center and has bought two houses for his parents in their hometown. Given his family situation, I believe it is justifiable for him to buy such a watch, even if it is expensive,” Tang Xiaozhang continued unhurriedly.

Tang Xiaoran chimed in at the perfect moment: “Wow~ A city center apartment is ten million! Brother Gu Heng is so rich!”

She then seamlessly switched back to persuading her father: “Dad, you can’t just look at his one job! What if he’s a part-time actor? A part-time streamer? What if he’s part-time…”

Her enthusiastic speculation ended under Tang’s father’s sharp “eye-dagger.” She regretfully swallowed back the final words: “erotic web novel author.”

Tang Zhihua didn’t turn back until he saw her make a “zipping her lips” gesture. His eyes were like steel knives, scraping over his eldest son for a long time.

Perhaps because of Tang Xiaoran’s interruptions, or perhaps because his expectations for his son finally outweighed his distrust, he remained silent for a while before saying one last thing:

“The matter ends here tonight. Starting tomorrow, the accounts of the Section B branch will come to me for review.”

“Dad, Dad, Dad, I love you! I knew you wouldn’t bear to hit me! Or Big Brother!” Tang Xiaoran, having escaped the disaster, hugged her father excitedly and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Tang’s father accepted her gesture with a stern face. He then tilted his chin, signaling for them to get out; it was his bedtime.

Tang Xiaoran and her brother exited the study obediently. Standing outside the door, Tang Xiaozhang’s eyes were full of apologetic softness. He spoke slowly: “Xiaoran, about today…”

But before he could utter a word of thanks, he saw his younger sister reach out to hook her arm affectionately through his. She looked up with a miserable expression:

“Wait… h-hold me up for a bit, Brother. My legs are like jelly…”