After Rebirth, I Discovered the Whole World Wants to Harm Me [GL] - Chapter 26

On the first day of the long October holiday, Xiao Shixin was working overtime as usual. However, she sat in her office today in a state of persistent distraction.

By the third time Lily knocked to report on business matters, she was horrified to find that her President actually frowned and took several seconds to even realize where the property she mentioned was located. This was something that almost never happened during work reports.

Especially since that real estate project was one Xiao Shixin had personally signed with the partners just last month.

After finishing the recording of the President’s instructions in a daze, another sentence came from behind the desk: “It’s a holiday today, isn’t it? You can leave work after twelve noon.”

The little assistant, who had always sacrificed her long holidays alongside the boss, widened her eyes in surprise. A moment later, her voice carried irrepressible joy: “Thank you, President Xiao.”

Looking at the short-term marketing plan for the new phone series, Xiao Shixin’s gaze unconsciously drifted to her phone on the side. The screen was black; there wasn’t even the flicker of a notification light.

She seemed to be waiting for a call, waiting for a person’s voice. But until she finished work that day, she hadn’t heard a single piece of news regarding that person.

Driving home, Xiao Shixin thought aimlessly: The youngster must be angry.

She would be angry, wouldn’t she? After all, in the end, Xiao Shixin hadn’t even let her finish her sentence. Perhaps from today onward, she would have to start readjusting to her solitary, calm, and utterly flavorless life.

As she drove into the residential parking lot, a voice rose silently in her mind:

You deserve it.

Her fingertips paused as she pressed the car lock button, and then she accepted the sentiment.

It was already past ten at night. The streetlights in the community were exceptionally bright, as light as day—rather than creating a hazy romantic atmosphere, the management office seemed very worried about these wealthy owners tripping or bumping into something in some corner at midnight; a single small lawsuit would be more than they could handle.

As for the walk from the elevator to her floor, the hallway lights were equally brilliant, allowing one to distinguish the patterns on their door at a single glance.

In this bright hallway, Xiao Shixin saw someone sitting at her doorstep.

A very familiar person—the person she had been waiting for news from all day. Seeing her draped in a coat, squatting on the doormat, Xiao Shixin unexpectedly felt for the first time that Tang Xiaoran looked much thinner than usual. Someone who was only slightly shorter than her when standing actually looked so small when curled into a ball.

Seeming to be startled by the sensor light overhead, the girl on the floor raised her head. Squinting, she looked at the newcomer with exhaustion, identifying her after a long moment. Then she wrinkled her nose and reached out her arms toward Xiao Shixin: “Cold.”

It’s really cold sitting at your doorstep. Hold me for a second.

Xiao Shixin pursed her lips. Then she stepped forward, grasped Tang Xiaoran’s icy hands, and easily pulled her up.

Immediately after, just like that time on campus, the girl wrapped her arms around her waist, clinging to her and refusing to let go. The hug was even tighter than the last time, as if she feared that with the slightest loss of strength, the person would vanish from before her eyes.

In fact, she didn’t know that Xiao Shixin couldn’t bear to see her sad a second time.

“Next time, don’t…” Don’t wait for me in such a cold place again. I can give you a key.

Before she could finish, Xiao Shixin smelled the alcohol on her. It wasn’t a strong smell, but there was no telling how much she had drunk. She paused for a moment. Tang Xiaoran sniffed, and her voice rang out by her ear: “I uninstalled the lottery app.”

Xiao Shixin: “…?”

Completely unaware of why the topic had jumped in this direction, the President remained silent for a while. Tang Xiaoran held her, absorbing the warmth from her body, and continued to talk to herself: “It wouldn’t even let me win five yuan. I was lied to.”

They said “unlucky in love, lucky in gambling”—all f***ing lies.

She looked up at Xiao Shixin, meeting those cold black eyes, and asked seriously: “Can we buy the lottery station and make it close down?”

Xiao Shixin wasn’t sure if she was drunk or not, so she didn’t pick up that thread.

After staring at each other in silence in the hallway for a long time, Tang Xiaoran released her grip and said steadily: “I know. You’re a fake Xiao Shixin.”

“The real Xiao Shixin would say ‘yes’ right now. She dotes on me very much.”

Even if she dotes on you, she can’t buy the lottery station.

The President, who wasn’t used to making empty promises, felt quite helpless. But the most important thing right now was to open the door and sit down to talk, rather than feeling the draft in the hallway.

She took her keys to open the door. “Come in.” Xiao Shixin turned to look at her.

Tang Xiaoran pouted and stared at her face intently. She was clearly drunk but acting exceptionally lucid, making the President feel a bit uneasy under the gaze. After a while, Tang Xiaoran asked: “Are you my Sister Xin? If you are, I’ll listen to you.”

Xiao Shixin: “…Yes. Come in.”

Tang Xiaoran followed her obediently into the house, took off her shoes, and put on slippers. She even listened to her instructions and sat down well-behaved on the sofa.

Xiao Shixin felt that preparing sobering tea ingredients at home was now an urgent necessity. Luckily, she had more fruit than before; the fruit tea this time would likely have a richer flavor.

From start to finish, Tang Xiaoran sat quietly on the sofa watching her. At some point, perhaps feeling cold or something else, she pulled a cushion over and hugged it tightly. When Xiao Shixin walked over with the transparent teapot, she was met with a face full of utter dependency and obedience.

Like a puppy picked up in a downpour, she seemed terrified that if she didn’t behave well, she would be thrown out of the warm place again. Those deep brown eyes looked at her with such pure intent; if it weren’t for the fact that this person could recognize her one moment and not the next, Xiao Shixin would never have believed the person before her was drunk.

The steaming fruit tea was handed to her. The rising steam was filled with a sweet and sour aroma. Tang Xiaoran’s eyes seemed to be stung by the tartness; as she looked down at the cup, two drops of transparent liquid fell unexpectedly from her eyes.

Patter, patter. They fell on her pants, blooming into two dark flowers.

She didn’t seem to realize she was crying. Aside from her right hand gripping the rim of the glass, she reached out her left hand and lightly picked at her pants. Then she blinked, trying to see clearly. Like a raincloud finally releasing its droplets, once the flow started, it couldn’t be stopped.

The drip-drap sound was the sound of tears hitting the denim fabric.

Xiao Shixin reached out to grasp the scalding tea and took it from Tang Xiaoran’s hands, placing it on the table to cool. Then she sighed, pulling a tissue from the coffee table while reaching out to wipe the tears from Tang Xiaoran’s face.

The panic and loss in her heart surfaced again, but it couldn’t overcome the stabs of pain she felt.

“Don’t cry.” Xiao Shixin wiped her tears, her black eyes lowered, hiding her emotions.

Hearing her words, the girl who had been crying quietly began to sob even harder, like a broken faucet that insisted on flooding the entire place. She looked up, her watery eyes full of accusation. The words that tumbled out were filled with grievance: “Why won’t they let me win? Even five yuan would have been fine. That way, it would be like giving me back the luck I used on liking you, and then I could stop liking you…”

When Xiao Shixin heard the phrase “then I could stop liking you,” she actually felt an impulse to thank the lottery station—thank them for setting the winning odds so low. Then, she belatedly realized what kind of joy was springing up in her heart upon hearing Tang Xiaoran blurt out those three words: “I like you.”

Tang Xiaoran’s tears continued to fall, not at all soothed by her actions. It was as if she wanted to say everything all at once, using the alcohol that hadn’t yet evaporated from her system.

“But… but I like you so much.”

“You were the one who came out first. You were the one who flrited with me first. Why don’t you want me anymore?”

“Xiao Shixin, why don’t you want me?”

What right do you have not to want me?

How could you… not want me?

Her eyes were red. Because she didn’t want to seem so pitiful, she puffed out her cheeks trying to pull the tears back, but the attempt was a total failure. Her face was already completely drenched in tears.

For the first time, Xiao Shixin felt regret. She wanted to go back to yesterday, put away all the hesitation on her body, pack those doubts into a corner, and then smile and agree to her request.

Fine. Whatever you give, I will accept.

I will agree to whatever you say.

“I haven’t rejected you. Don’t cry…” Xiao Shixin’s hand was trembling slightly as she wiped the tears. Her voice was incredibly soft, almost humble, carrying a trace of a plea.

As long as the person before her could stop crying, she would agree to do anything, to any request. Even the “being together” she hadn’t dared to think about.

“You have no idea what you mean to me… you have no idea. You probably think it’s just a momentary impulse, that I’m just clinging to you because you’re nice to me…” The experiences suppressed in Tang Xiaoran’s heart, which she couldn’t tell anyone, had never truly left her. They were like a heavy mountain, weighing her down so she couldn’t breathe.

She could afford to miss out on anyone, but she didn’t want to miss the person before her.

“But you don’t know how important you are to me… I’ll never find anyone like you again… Xiao Shixin, even if I live a hundred more times, I’ll never find anyone besides you…”

I’ll never find another person who, despite having no relation to me, would sit alone in a room and cry so repressively, so desperately, upon hearing the news of my death.

“You clearly like me. I even… I even delivered myself to you, so why… why do you still push me away?” Tang Xiaoran spoke while tears fell, hiccuping through her sentences. There was no trace of accusation in her tone; only those deep brown eyes stared stubbornly at the person before her.

Then, seeing the bottomless darkness and the sorrow in Xiao Shixin’s eyes, she couldn’t help but reach out to shield the woman’s eyes.

She was the one who had been silently rejected, so why did the person in front of her look even sadder than she did?

By what right?!

She covered Xiao Shixin’s eyes and asked through her sobs: “Do you like me?”

The person whose vision was blocked didn’t move. Her lips parted slightly, and like a sigh, like a surrender, she spoke the desire that had long been planted in her heart:

“I like you.”

I like you. I like you very much. Very, very much.

So much that I didn’t dare be with you.

Tang Xiaoran heard those three words, and her tears fell even harder, but the light in her eyes slowly reignited. She wanted to smile yet couldn’t stop her tears. She lowered her hand, looked at Xiao Shixin, and asked again with ten thousand percent expectation, word by word: “Then… shall we be together, okay?”

I like you, and you like me. Shall we be together? Please? Please?

Xiao Shixin nodded. She reached out and pulled the girl into her arms. Smelling the fragrance of Tang Xiaoran’s hair, she closed her eyes, her voice almost hoarse as she replied in a low tone: “Okay.”

Tang Xiaoran wiped her tears and wrapped her arms around her, greedily feeling her warmth, smelling that crisp, sweet fragrance on her. She felt all her previous grievances being smoothed over bit by bit, slowly, by this embrace.

Xiao Shixin hugged me! She initiated it! She does like me! Hmph!

The embrace lasted a long time, finally ending only when the President remembered the cup of tea on the table was getting cold. Releasing her, Xiao Shixin handed her the glass, which had now become lukewarm.

Tang Xiaoran let go reluctantly. Even as she held the cup, her gaze remained glued to Xiao Shixin. She felt this person was just too good-looking—so good-looking she could never see enough. Especially at the thought that after tonight, after everything, this person had become her girlfriend, a giant bubble rose in her heart like a balloon being blown up, filling her entire chest to the brim.

She took a sip of the sweet and sour fruit tea. The temperature was perfect. Because her confession was accepted, she felt the entire world had become beautiful; even a cup of tea at just the right temperature felt like a blessing from heaven.

From feeling like a piece of trash squeezed out at random during creation to feeling like a darling of God, only one process was needed: having a confession accepted.

The most important matter of her life was solved, and her brain finally had time to think of other things. Fumbling in her large coat pocket, she remembered the box she had been carrying since yesterday. If her pocket hadn’t been large enough, who knew how long this watch would have stayed with her before completing its ultimate mission of being “given away.”

“I announce that from now on, I am your girlfriend—you must accept gifts from your girlfriend.” Like a magic trick, she produced the blue square box, blinking at Xiao Shixin.

Xiao Shixin saw her obediently finish the fruit tea, the tear stains at the corners of her eyes not even completely wiped away. She didn’t care what was being handed over; she would likely have accepted a bomb without blinking. She even put the watch on her wrist immediately to show her sincerity in accepting the gift.

Silver dial, white strap—it matched the pale stretch of her wrist perfectly.

“Happy now?” Xiao Shixin patted her head. The emotions in her eyes had been tucked away again, leaving only a faint tenderness.

Tang Xiaoran nodded heavily and replied: “Super happy.”

“Then, don’t cry anymore.” Xiao Shixin was certain she could not handle seeing her cry until she hiccuped again. Her tone was one of negotiation. As long as you don’t cry, anything is fine.

“Mm.” Tang Xiaoran nodded repeatedly. In fact, given another chance, she wouldn’t dare cry in front of Xiao Shixin again. She knew how much Xiao Shixin loved her, so she knew she would feel the heartache—and the moment she thought about her heartache, she wanted to hide all her tears away. She only wanted her to see her happy side.

As Xiao Shixin turned around holding the cup, Tang Xiaoran watched her back, curved her lips, and spoke solemnly and joyfully:

“Sister Xin, I feel so happy that you can like me.”

It’s like a dream.

Xiao Shixin paused and looked back at her. After a long moment, she let her lips curve slightly. She felt Tang Xiaoran’s joy. The look in her eyes was the answer to those words:

It is my happiness that you can like me—it is all the happiness of my lifetime.

Xiao Shixin suddenly remembered the first thing the girl said after entering the door. She thought that perhaps after Tang Xiaoran met her, all the luck she “used up” had actually transferred to her. Otherwise, how could she be so fortunate as to gain this person’s favor?