After Rebirth, I Discovered the Whole World Wants to Harm Me [GL] - Chapter 22

Perhaps Tang Zhicheng had remained silent for too long, as Tang Xiaoyu, who was fiddling with his new laptop, couldn’t help but lean in to take a peek. That single glance sent him stumbling back onto the sofa.

“Sis, you…” He turned to shout at the culprit, only to meet a face filled with deep remorse.

Tang Xiaoran clung to the edge of the sofa, only half her face visible. Her deep brown eyes were brimming with the guilt and bewilderment of someone who had done something terribly wrong.

Holding her phone—which she had forgotten to turn off, still blaring foreign news—she pressed her hands together in a prayer gesture and looked at Tang Zhicheng. Because of her nerves, her eyelashes fluttered incessantly. “Uncle, I’m sorry. Did I spend too much of your money?”

Tang Zhicheng recovered from his extreme shock. Meeting her expression—which looked as if she were about to regret it and return the item the next second—he waved his hand comfortingly. “How could you? Uncle can certainly afford this much.”

Tang Xiaoran confirmed his expression and let out a sigh of relief half a beat later.

Yet, in her heart, she felt an immense regret.

Retaining this feeling of “regret,” she opened the WeChat group for her “little fairies” and sent a message:

“Next time you recommend a watch, don’t post pictures unless it’s over a million, okay? :)”

Three seconds later, the replies followed:

“This flex is a solid 10/10.”

“Tang Xiaoran, look at my admin permissions. I’m giving you one more chance to speak.”

Feeling as lonely as falling snow, she sent the screenshot of the purchase record for the women’s watch.

The chat history instantly transformed:

“Serving tea to the boss. Boss, stay right where you are; I’m going to find product photos for Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe over a million right now.”

“If you strike it rich, don’t forget your friends—Boss, requesting a close-up of the new watch.”

“Boss, care to look into the Van Cleef & Arpels Pont des Amoureux series?”

She stopped scrolling through WeChat, let out a massive, visible sigh of relief, and then flashed a brilliant smile. “Scared me to death. I almost thought Uncle’s promise of an ‘apology gift’ didn’t count anymore.”

Tang Zhicheng’s posture remained stiff for several more seconds.

…An apology gift?

Swiping over 700,000 for a watch wasn’t enough to qualify as an apology?

For a split second, he wanted to call his own brother and ask how much he must hate society to spoil a daughter to this degree.

Fortunately, in the end, his pride in his own rationality controlled the urge to break character. He simply smiled as he watched Tang Xiaoyu drag his senseless sister upstairs to “discuss life.”

“Sis, have you lost your mind? Do you know who you’re fleecing?” Tang Xiaoyu ran his fingers through his hair, the strands falling back into place the moment he let go.

Meeting those deep brown eyes identical to his own, Tang Xiaoran blinked quite calmly and asked, “I remember you wanted to buy a pair of limited-edition new arrival autumn sneakers?”

Tang Xiaoyu asked back quite placidly, “…And?”

Hearing his counter-question, the girl looked down at her freshly done manicured nails, blew a light breath on them, and smiled as she reached out a hand toward him.

“Young man, shall we save the world together?”

Tang Xiaoyu: You’re a mental case, aren’t you.

After a three-second stare-down with Tang Xiaoran, he looked down to open his phone and said, “Wait a sec, I’ll check if they still have stock over there.”

Uncle, I’m sorry. In Tang Xiaoyu’s worldview, whatever my sister says is right.

The siblings, having reached a pleasant consensus, spent that afternoon completing a shopping spree accompanied by their uncle.

Tang Zhicheng looked at the consumption records on his phone, stood silent in a corner of the shopping center for three seconds, and decided to leave immediately after finishing his investigation today.

These two “ancestors”—whoever wanted to serve them could go right ahead.

Inside a Häagen-Dazs shop.

Tang Xiaoran poked a macaron on her plate with a fork, smiling as she flattered the man opposite her. “Uncle, you’re really so generous. You’re quite different from certain stingy people who inherit companies.”

In the Gaosheng Group headquarters, Tang Xiaozhang—who was busy working—sneezed. He stopped his pen and checked his condition, finding no symptoms of a cold.

How strange. He felt as if a sudden weight had settled on his back.

Unaware that he had suddenly become the “stingy” scapegoat, Tang Xiaozhang pondered for a while without success and returned to work.

Tang Zhicheng only smiled. He picked up his glass of juice and swirled it, casually mentioning, “I remember an auntie at home who made excellent soup. Why didn’t I see her this time?”

Hearing his question, the girl put on a look of difficult concentration. After a moment, she clapped her hands. “Ah! You mean her… hmm? She wasn’t in the kitchen today?”

She turned to look at Tang Xiaoyu. The boy, who was fastidiously scraping cream off his cake, looked up blankly. “Who?”

As someone who didn’t even care about the household menu, how could he possibly know the kitchen had changed chefs?

Faced with two identical pairs of deep brown eyes, Tang Zhicheng was silent for a moment. Using the juice glass to shield his face, he thought to himself: Could it be that she really just performed poorly and was fired?

“Uncle Zhao handles the household staff changes. Big Brother should know. Uncle, if you like that chef’s cooking, I’ll ask for you when I get back.” Tang Xiaoran looked at him quite candidly, even pulling out her phone as if she were about to dial Uncle Zhao the next second.

“That’s not necessary; I just asked casually. After all, your family’s chefs are quite skilled, and since you’re at school all day, I was just worried you weren’t eating well,” Tang Zhicheng replied elegantly and naturally.

The two kids smiled warmly, their eyes full of dependency.

He smiled back. Not long after, he asked another question: “I heard your Dad lost his temper at home a few days ago. Do you know what that was about?”

Tang Xiaoyu instinctively wanted to look at his sister, but he only saw her pretending to be dejected, stirring the orange slice at the bottom of her glass with a straw.

“It’s just that someone provoked Dad and almost dragged me and Xiaoyu into it. If it weren’t for Dad’s company, I wouldn’t have helped him take the blame.”

“Xiaoran has grown up,” Tang Zhicheng said, looking at her with deep, meaningful eyes.

Tang Xiaoran couldn’t parse his emotion for a moment. She looked up in confusion, letting out a questioning “Mmh?”

If it weren’t for your sudden growth, would my plan still be going nowhere!

Never expecting things to fail because his niece suddenly started caring about the family business, Tang Zhicheng felt as if he had swallowed a soup of unrecognizable flavor. His expression was quite complex. Especially considering the news he’d heard earlier about Tang Xiaoran participating in company affairs, his mood darkened further.

For a moment, he actually couldn’t tell if Tang Xiaoran was suddenly trying to compete for the family inheritance. This made him unsure of how to play his next move.

“Learning to care for your father’s company is very good.” Tang Zhicheng transformed his gaze into one of gratification and praised her once more.

She accepted it fully, flashing a delighted smile and saying shamelessly, “Of course. This company will belong to me and Xiaoyu in the future anyway, so I definitely have to worry about it in advance, right?”

Tang Xiaoyu, whose thick skin was a family trait, nodded. “Exactly.”

Looking at them looking like they could fly into the sky the next second, Tang Zhicheng felt that after these few hours of walking, his back didn’t ache and his legs didn’t hurt. After all, the thought of these two naive children causing trouble in his brother’s company made him full of anticipation for the future.

The chest that had been tight from spending a large sum of money instantly felt clear. He saw that Tang Xiaoran’s drink was almost empty, and since it wasn’t dinner time yet, it meant—the shopping spree might not be over.

In the next second, he checked his watch. “Oh my, look at the time. I have an old friend waiting for me for tea. How about we call it a day?”

Tang Xiaoran immediately used a voice full of reluctance: “Uncle, you’re leaving already? I specifically told Uncle Zhao before I left that we’d make your portion for dinner.”

“Yeah, Uncle, you haven’t even seen my Dad this trip?” Tang Xiaoyu chimed in.

“Haha, I can just see my brother at the office. Why make a special trip to the house? You two little ingrates. I won’t stay for dinner. Seeing you two so happy, Uncle can rest easy.” He shook his head, teased them with a laugh, picked up his bag, and walked out of the shop.

Until he was far away, Tang Xiaoyu lay face down on the table, the smile slowly collapsing from his face. Hearing the sound of Tang Xiaoran sucking air from her empty glass, he asked in a voice of utter defeat:

“Sis, when did you find out?”

If he couldn’t find anything “different” from that afternoon’s conversation, his IQ would be truly tragic.

Yet the only one looking hit by a blow was him; the girl opposite him seemed to have fully committed to the “brainless” persona. Without even a frown, she continued to poke the orange slice with her straw.

Hearing his question, the girl belatedly glanced at him, flashed a fake smile after a long pause, and replied:

“Starting this morning, I felt quite restless. Sensing a message from the heavens, I pinched my fingers together and performed a calculation.”

Tang Xiaoyu stared at her for three seconds, buried his head back on the table, and muttered to himself: “Why am I talking to an idiot who lost fifteen points for attendance?”

Tang Xiaoran: “…Hey!”

Don’t bring up the sore spots! You’re breaking the rules, young man!

Night.

Tang Xiaozhang returned home from work and immediately saw his younger sister sitting on the sofa, face propped in her hands, smiling happily at him.

He walked forward in confusion. In the next second, two items were held up in front of him: a box containing a tie and a pair of cufflinks.

He took them, his mind a fog. “For me?”

Tang Xiaoran nodded vigorously. Seeing her cheerful nod, Tang Xiaozhang felt his heart slowly fill with something. Even the corners of his lips wanted to curve up.

“What made you think of buying me gifts? Do you still have enough money?” While happy to receive a gift from his sister, Tang Xiaozhang couldn’t help but worry. He even wanted to pull out his phone and start a transfer on the spot.

However, he was sternly rejected by Tang Xiaoran: “Big Brother, I’ve grown up. I can make my own money now.”

“So, just accept the gift with peace of mind. It’s a little token of my appreciation.”

Anyway, it wasn’t her money that was spent.

Tang Xiaozhang’s expression softened, and he gave a gentle “Okay.”

After he went upstairs to his room, Tang Xiaoran’s phone suddenly went ding-dong. Tang Xiaoyu, who had just finished a shower and was coming down from his room, also had his phone ring.

Walking to the sofa, he showed his phone to Tang Xiaoran in confusion: “It’s not the day for our allowance. Why did I just get a notification for a transfer?”

Tang Xiaoran covered her face and let out a deep sigh. She stood up, grabbed his head, and urged him seriously: “Promise me, be nicer to Big Brother from now on, okay?”

Tang Xiaoyu stared at her for a few seconds and asked cautiously: “H-had another episode?”

Tang Xiaoran swatted him away. Sitting on the sofa, she began to worry about how her big brother was so honest and what would happen if he were cheated by others in the future.

After ten minutes of worrying, she looked at the clock in the living room and rubbed her chin. “Why do I feel like I forgot something today?”

Tang Xiaoyu, who was drying his hair with a towel while waiting for his snack, chimed in casually: “Forgot your date?”

Tang Xiaoran was silent for three seconds and then let out a piercing scream!

Ahhhhh!

I! FORGOT! TO! CONFESS!

The Author has something to say:

Mini Theater:

Tang Xiaoran: I’m self-reliant! I can make my own money!

Uncle Tang: A-choo…!