After Rebirth, I Discovered the Whole World Wants to Harm Me [GL] - Chapter 17

When Tang Xiaoran turned the doorknob and stepped into the living room, the sight that met her eyes made her freeze for several seconds before she dared to speak.

The floor-to-ceiling windows were half-covered by heavy curtains, while the other half reflected the brightly lit city outside.

A person dressed in a black business suit stood right on that dividing line, back turned to her. Even though Xiao Shixin had unlocked the door for her remotely, she now seemed completely unaware of Tang Xiaoran’s arrival, standing there perfectly still.

The cool white light of the living room fell upon her, making her look like a drift of snow from a mountain peak.

“Xin… Sister Xin?” She tried calling out. Her voice broke the stagnant spell in the room, and along with it, all the other senses she had forgotten in her daze came rushing back.

A faint “whirring” sound echoed indoors, and a subtle aroma drifted to her nose, gradually growing stronger. It was the scent of soy-braised meat and beans, a savory fragrance so enticing it made her mouth water instantly.

She turned her head and saw a clay pot simmering on a low flame in the open kitchen, a thin stream of steam rising from the lid. The tantalizing smell she had just caught was sneaking out through that steam to tease her.

Xiao Shixin had heard her enter long ago, but feeling that her mood hadn’t truly settled yet, she had decided to spend a few more moments staring at the night view to calm down.

After Tang Xiaoran called out, she turned around. Those slightly narrow, beautifully lined eyes gave Tang Xiaoran a single glance before she nodded toward the small coffee table in the living room and said calmly, “Wash your hands. Let’s get ready to eat.”

Tang Xiaoran felt the blood that the cold wind hadn’t been able to chill suddenly lose its warmth, as if hit by a flurry of snow.

She stood there uneasily, wondering if she had done something wrong. Was it because she shouldn’t have revealed that piece of information?

“Sister Xin, did I do something wrong to make you unhappy?” Tang Xiaoran remained rooted to the spot even as Xiao Shixin prepared the utensils and walked to the table.

When she spoke, the cold-faced woman raised her eyelids to look at her, seeing only a slightly immature face trying its best to hide its anxiety. There was even a flash of panic in those brown eyes.

The fire that Xiao Shixin had been worried about—the suppressed, irritable flame hidden in her heart—suddenly vanished, replaced by a surge of other emotions.

A delayed ache tugged at her heart.

Xiao Shixin, you made her afraid.

She flicked her tongue against her teeth, carefully choosing her words. When she spoke again, her tone was much softer, and a touch of tenderness finally surfaced in her ink-black, sharp eyes.

“No. You did very well.”

Tang Xiaoran breathed a sigh of relief, finally remembering she needed to wash her hands for dinner. She put down her bag and jogged to the kitchen to rinse her hands.

As the water splashed, her smile returned. She stuck her tongue out playfully at the now more “human” President Xiao and asked, “Then… was your bad mood because of… the company matter from before?”

Xiao Shixin set two pairs of chopsticks on the coffee table. She walked to the dining table, looking down at the spread of dishes filling the surface. After a moment of silence, she replied, “No.”

Tang Xiaoran crossed another option off her list. Just as she was weighing whether to keep asking, Xiao Shixin provided the answer herself: “It’s a family matter.”

By then, Tang Xiaoran had finished washing her hands. When she reached the dining table, she was dazzled by the array of food, and the question she was about to ask vanished from her mind.

She stared at Xiao Shixin with wide eyes: “Sister Xin, how long did it take you to make all this…?”

The point was! There was so much! The two of them couldn’t possibly finish it!

Xiao Shixin didn’t answer. She only asked indifferently, “Which ones do you like?”

Dizzy from the choices, Tang Xiaoran pointed to three or four dishes. President Xiao nodded, picked up two of them, and walked toward the microwave.

Facing her confused gaze, she explained, “They’re cold. Reheat them before eating.”

No wonder the utensils were set on the coffee table… there was simply no room to move on the dining table.

Wait. The real question was: why did Xiao Shixin make so many dishes while she was home alone?

Tang Xiaoran turned to look at the living room, bit her lip, and asked in disbelief, “Sister Xin, it really is just the two of us eating tonight, right?”

Back turned to her, watching the microwave, Xiao Shixin gave a casual hum.

Tang Xiaoran was utterly perplexed. She stood there staring at Xiao Shixin’s back, thinking, until the microwave beeped. That sound seemed to flip the switch on a “wisdom lightbulb” in her brain.

She sat down obediently on the sofa. Once Xiao Shixin had set the dishes out and picked up her chopsticks, she asked out of the blue:

“Sister Xin, so your way of venting a bad mood is just to keep cooking non-stop?”

And she cooks at such a high level even when she’s upset! Tang Xiaoran added mentally after stuffing a mouthful of braised beans into her mouth.

Xiao Shixin was in the middle of a bite of rice. Hearing the question, her movements slowed. She raised her eyes to look at the girl who had begun to struggle with a chicken wing, but she didn’t speak.

It wasn’t until Tang Xiaoran successfully separated two “death-defyingly” connected bones and scooped out the meat in between that she heard a very light, very faint, “Mm.”

“Mm?” Tang Xiaoran looked at her, confused, with a bone still in her mouth.

After three seconds of eye contact, she pulled her attention away from her tongue and remembered her previous question. She spat out the clean wing bone and suddenly curved her lips into a laugh.

“Sister Xin, how can you be so cute?”

Cooking when she’s in a bad mood… her future partner is going to be so lucky! They might even annoy her just for the sake of a meal!

Xiao Shixin continued eating calmly, acting as if she hadn’t heard the strange adjective. Totally composed.

A moment later, Xiao Shixin changed the subject: “Regarding the company matter earlier, thank you.”

Hearing the thanks, Tang Xiaoran blinked several times before shaking her head. “Sister Xin helped me so much before; this was nothing. Besides, aren’t you going to ask where I got the news? What if I…”

She left the sentence hanging, watching Xiao Shixin’s face for a reaction. She stared for a long time but saw no change.

Sensing that she had looked long enough, the woman opposite finally added the second half of her thought: “Is there anything you—” want?

“Is there anything I want?” Tang Xiaoran repeated the words at lightning speed.

Then she answered even faster: “No, no, no, no!”

President Xiao was startled by such a rapid reflex arc, her eyes widening slightly. Her dark pupils flashed with clear confusion—partly because she didn’t know how the girl had guessed her words, and partly because she didn’t understand the sudden excitement.

President Xiao had no idea that Tang Xiaoran’s mind was currently filled with frantic internal commentary:

#You and my big brother might be long-lost siblings#

#Shaking in my boots under the assault of money#

#The ‘How to Become a CEO via Master Tutoring’ series, anyone?#

Completely unaware of the girl’s inner complaints, the confusion vanished as quickly as it came, and she went back to her meal quite serenely. But internally, she thought: Since Xiaoran won’t ask for anything, I’ll just have to think of something to give her later.

Tang Xiaoran, who knew the CEO “playbook” well, saw her finish her rice and get up to serve soup as if she hadn’t said anything. On a whim, she added:

“Wait, Sister Xin, I just thought of what I want.”

Using her brother’s patterns as a guarantee, she knew that if she didn’t say something now to distract her, and if someone revealed her old desire to buy a car—given Xiao Shixin’s “one word is law” personality and her immense wealth, she might be led to receive a “big shock” one day.

Xiao Shixin turned around as requested. The sharp coldness in her eyes receded, replaced by a gaze that was almost enchanting.

“If… if I ever do something to make you angry in the future, you must forgive me, okay?”

Xiao Shixin nodded without a second thought. “Just that?”

Tang Xiaoran nodded firmly and solemnly. Her deep brown eyes were like amber, crystal clear. “I only want that,” she added.

Xiao Shixin stood at the edge of the kitchen, their gazes meeting. Tang Xiaoran met hers candidly. After a long pause, the words at the tip of the woman’s tongue were swallowed back down. She gave a serious nod and promised: “Okay.”

Xiao Shixin thought: Even without this promise, how could I ever bear to be angry with her? The request was simply too easy.

The moment she heard the reply, Tang Xiaoran’s eyes lit up.

Only she knew how greedy she was being. After walking in today, she realized how much she already relied on Xiao Shixin, treating her home like a safe harbor. She feared that once she got a taste for it, she might make even more selfish demands in the future.

So… she had essentially wheedled her way into a “get-out-of-jail-free” card?

Xiao Shixin, you can never be angry with me. You can’t ignore me.

Because you are the only person, across both my lifetimes, who has truly helped me.

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Author’s commentary on the above: Hello, Tang Xiaoran, would you like the ‘repaying kindness with ingratitude’ combo?