After Rebirth, I Discovered the Whole World Wants to Harm Me [GL] - Chapter 18

Xiao Group Headquarters, Top Floor.

The woman in the dark business suit stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, listening to the reporting voice on the other end of the line.

Later, during the moment the other party waited for a response, her gaze drifted into the distance. After a few seconds of silence, she replied coldly: “It doesn’t matter. Since he’s so eager to stir something up, I’ll be waiting for him.”

Hanging up, she was about to sit back in her office chair to continue handling business when her phone rang once more.

Glancing at the screen and seeing the name flashing there, a touch of warmth entered Xiao Shixin’s eyes.

“Auntie.” She swiped to answer, the tenderness in her gaze almost carving a curve onto her lips.

The person on the other end spoke with a very gentle tone, one full of intimacy: “Xinxin, do you have time at noon? Your uncle is making a fuss about being discharged today; I couldn’t talk him out of it. You don’t need to make a trip to the hospital—just come over to our place for lunch.”

Xiao Shixin wasn’t surprised by this outcome at all. She simply replied quite calmly: “Auntie? Is Uncle beside you right now?”

She still remembered the doctor’s instructions from yesterday afternoon. For the family to demand a discharge now—wasn’t this just giving her a headache?

“He’s not. As soon as he saw me about to call you, he made an excuse and ran off.” Her aunt shamelessly betrayed her husband.

Xiao Shixin: “…”

After several steadying breaths, she replied calmly: “Alright, I understand. I’ll head over in a bit.”

“Great! Your uncle and I will be waiting for you at home. Drive carefully on the way.” Hearing her answer, the woman’s voice became even more gentle, her tone filled with anticipation.

It was the typical state of parents waiting for a child to come home.

Xiao Shixin hung up. Recalling the report she had received earlier, the warmth in her eyes slowly faded away.

Just then, her assistant knocked and entered, her bright eyes looking at her standing by the desk: “President Xiao, the invitation for S-University’s centennial anniversary just arrived. Your plan is…?”

“I’ll be there on time. Make the arrangements.” Xiao Shixin leaned over to flip through the documents on her desk, casually signing the most urgent one before dropping the pen.

After Lily acknowledged the order, she added: “Cancel my appointments before 2:00 PM today.”

“Understood, President Xiao.” Lily nodded, making a quick note in her notebook.

Gaosheng Group Building, Top Floor Office.

The girl with long, black curly hair leaned back on the sofa, legs crossed, sipping a strawberry milkshake that a young male assistant had run downstairs to buy. She looked as relaxed as if she were sitting in her own living room.

When the straw finally hit the bottom with a slurping sound, she reluctantly let go. Glancing at the time on her phone, she drawled: “Big—Bro—ther—”

Her voice carried an obvious, spoiled-brat urgency, intentionally layering on a sense of impatience.

Tang Xiaozhang was sitting behind the desk. Almost the moment she spoke, the crisp sound of a fountain pen being capped rang out. By the time she finished, he was already standing up.

Casualy taking his jacket from the back of the chair, he walked toward her. His deep voice carried a doting tone through the room: “Let’s go.”

The girl bounced up happily, trotting toward him. She held the empty cup in one hand and tugged at his sleeve with the other. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go eat a feast!”

As they headed out, the empty plastic cup drew a joyful arc through the air and landed perfectly in a nearby trash can.

“What do you want to eat?” Tang Xiaozhang asked, following her preference as usual.

Her eyes darted around. She fished out her phone and said with a grin: “Wait a sec, let me ask Tang Xiaoyu what he wants to eat most right now.”

Tang Xiaozhang: “…???”

Forty minutes later, while they were sitting in the restaurant, he heard a roar clearly emanating from her phone, even though it wasn’t on speaker:

“Tang Xiaoran! You just wait!”

The girl didn’t care at all. She even happily sent a voice message to the person currently eating a boxed lunch: “Oh my, look how good your sister is to you. Even while eating, I remember your hardships, so I specifically came to help you eat what you want most right now~”

Tang Xiaoyu raised his phone three times, only letting the poor device off after a friend nearby grabbed him by the waist to calm him down.

“Brother Yu, this month’s new model! The new model! Control yourself!”

He took three deep breaths, expressionlessly snapped the lid onto his plastic lunch box—which contained even the blandest boiled greens—and announced: “Add another rehearsal session this afternoon.”

All the surrounding Student Union members: “…!” Who the hell just provoked their boss!

On the other side, having successfully teased her brother who refused to accompany her to the office, a refreshed Tang Xiaoran waved for the waiter to refill her tea.

Big Brother Tang, having witnessed the successful bullying of the younger brother once again, shook his head helplessly.

The girl took a leisurely sip of chrysanthemum tea. The sweetness of the rock sugar spread over her tongue, followed by the lingering fragrance. She finally remembered the “serious business.” Before the food arrived, she intended to give her brother a heads-up.

“By the way, Brother, I didn’t actually skip class to come here out of laziness today. I have something to tell you.”

Tang Xiaozhang closed the menu and handed it to the waiter, nodding to signal her to go ahead.

“Do you remember that day—the day Dad was so angry and called you home? Where did you park the car when you got back?” Tang Xiaoran propped her chin on one hand, while the thumb and index finger of her other hand pinched the rim of the glass, gently swirling the tea. Her gaze shifted with the ripples.

Tang Xiaozhang’s memory of that day was vivid. Not just the parking, but even the dialogue in the study could be reconstructed almost perfectly.

“I originally intended to drive straight into the garage, but Xiao Zheng, who was tending the garden, said Dad was looking for me urgently and told me not to worry about small things. He told me to give him the keys and he’d park it for me.”

“Why?” After finishing the recount, Tang Xiaozhang watched his sister stop swirling her tea. A sharp coldness instantly flashed through her star-like eyes.

Tang Xiaoran slowly set the glass on the table with a light clink. Her gaze rose to meet his.

With no warmth left on her lips, she said unhurriedly: “But Xiaoyu said that until both you and I came out of the study, that car was still parked downstairs.”

Since she’d started, she finished it in one breath: “Brother, if I hadn’t gone in with you that day, given your personality of not wanting to explain yourself and your desire to protect Brother Gu Heng, how would you have reacted to Dad’s furious scolding?”

“You would have been kicked out. You would have walked to the door and, without a second thought, driven away in that car.”

“The car you gave the keys to someone else for.”

Stopping for a few seconds, she let out a cold smirk. There was no emotion in her deep brown eyes: “Even more amazing—the next day, Xiao Zheng’s roommate called Uncle Zhao to say Xiao Zheng fell and hurt his leg the night before and needed a week of sick leave.”

Tang Xiaozhang suddenly felt a chill of someone who had narrowly escaped death.

However, Xiaoran’s gaze across from him was even more bone-chilling than the realization that he’d almost been sabotaged. He didn’t know how the girl who was just acting spoiled could change to such an extent.

It was as if… she had experienced something even more sinister before.

A sense of unspeakable guilt rose in Tang Xiaozhang’s heart. He felt he hadn’t protected his family well at all—neither Xiaoran nor Xiaoyu.

“Xiaoran, if you two trust me, leave this matter to me to investigate, okay?”

Faced with his gaze, she felt somewhat conflicted. She knew her brother wanted to protect them and didn’t want them to see the darkness at their age.

But—

“Brother… there are too many ‘rats’ sneaking around our house. And the things being dragged out have a lot to do with you, so…” Whether out of guilt or something else, she kept pausing, even gesturing vaguely in the air.

Tang Xiaozhang remained silent for a long time. The silence made Tang Xiaoran a bit afraid. She didn’t know how to break the air that felt like it had been glued together.

Finally, she dejectedly rested her chin on the table and muttered: “Brother, I’m sorry. I don’t want to open your old wounds… but things have become very complicated. We don’t even know who wants to hurt us. If we start having internal divisions, wouldn’t that just be giving the other side a win?”

“Brother, let’s work hard together as siblings, okay?”

Seeing this, Tang Xiaozhang pulled himself from his thoughts. He leaned over and patted her head, responding softly: “Okay.”

“Really?” Tang Xiaoran’s eyes lit up at the permission. She sat up straight and asked again.

“Mm. I wasn’t blaming you just now,” Tang Xiaozhang nodded, offering an explanation.

His gaze fell on the clear tea in his cup, remembering years ago when he was still obsessed with his origins. He hadn’t expected to still be circling that point years later. Only this time, it wasn’t for himself, but for his family—for the family that had worked hard to protect him.

Tang Xiaoran couldn’t hear his thoughts. She was just happy to have reached her goal. She drained her tea as if it were wine, picked up a peanut with her chopsticks, and began chewing, almost wanting to hum a tune.

After swallowing, she said decisively: “I’ll have Xiaoyu send you our current progress as soon as I get back.”

Tang Xiaozhang simply said “Okay.”

Hearing her brother’s string of indulgent answers today, Tang Xiaoran felt her conscience was about to start acting up. To calm herself, she clapped her hands and said:

“Let’s not talk about our own unhappy business. Let’s talk about some other family’s gossip to cheer up—”

She blinked, looking at Tang Xiaozhang with great anticipation:

“Brother, do you know what’s going on with Xiao Shixin’s family?”

The Author has something to say:

Little Theater:

Gossip-loving Author: Feeling bad for President Xiao.