After Rebirth, I Discovered the Whole World Wants to Harm Me [GL] - Chapter 30

The economic development of L-City, compared to the neighboring S-City—which shouldered the burden of the entire province’s economic growth—could be described in four words: worlds apart.

However, precisely because only its urban core was highly modernized, and because it possessed numerous hills and coastal areas, its beautiful outskirts became an ideal choice for tourism development, attracting a great deal of external real estate investment.

L-City was poor, but that didn’t matter; the tycoons of S-City were more than willing to spend money to sustain it!

Although the Xiao family had also taken a share of the resort development here, this Biandu Fishing Village was not within the public eye. Strictly speaking, it was a private resort that served only the social strata of families like the Xiaos.

The coastal part of Biandu Fishing Village was indeed a fishing village in the truest sense. Wooden bridges snaked out over the water, wooden boats were moored at the crossings, and wooden houses were built over the surface of the sea. Even the thatched roofs looked exactly like the ones in Tang Xiaoran’s memory.

Behind the sea sat a verdant hill. As she walked across the wooden bridge with a rhythmic clack-clack-clack, she looked up. The grey tops of ancient buildings occasionally visible amidst the trees caught her attention. Like the tips of mushrooms popping up under trees after a rain, they peeked through the surrounding greenery, making one want to dive into the woods and follow the winding flagstone paths to investigate—stepping from the salty scent of seawater straight into the fresh fragrance of the forest.

Halfway up the mountain, a wide area had been cleared to provide an expansive view. It was the most prominent spot on the entire hill; a row of modern Western-style villas stood quietly there, with the blue line of a swimming pool barely visible in front of the buildings.

Tang Xiaoran reached the mountainside. Looking down at the private resort that perfectly captured both nostalgia and modernity, she uttered a heartfelt truth: “Sister Xin, your family is really, really rich…”

Standing beside her, Xiao Shixin thought for a moment and nodded. “Mm.”

Basking in the warm sea breeze and the mild sunlight, Tang Xiaoran squinted. She pointed toward the many buildings visible from this angle at the foot of the mountain and asked, “Does your family not consider renting those out to tourists during the travel season?”

“No. Members of the Xiao family have priority selection; the rest are usually considered for loaning to business partners.”

Tang Xiaoran let out a “Wow—” and followed up smoothly, “Okay, may I ask where our family can stay?”

Xiao Shixin crossed her arms, her fingers lightly tapping the inside of her elbow. She slanted her gaze at the girl and asked softly, “You like them?”

Tang Xiaoran nodded without a second thought, even standing on her tiptoes to peer down at those ancient-style eaves. She planned to pick her favorite from what remained after Xiao Shixin excluded the Xiao family’s private zone, so she could come back and play to her heart’s content next time.

“Pick one. It’s yours,” President Xiao said nonchalantly.

Tang Xiaoran pressed a hand to her forehead. It felt as if the sun in the sky had suddenly released a wave of boundless passion, making her head spin. She made a “stop” gesture toward the person beside her and turned around seriously:

“Sister Xin, if you keep acting like this, I won’t want you to be my partner anymore.”

Without giving Xiao Shixin a second to react, she fluently delivered the punchline:

“I’ll want you to be my dad.”

Xiao Shixin: “…”

Had she been so obsessed with her career these years that she could no longer keep up with the logic of young people? She wanted to know more and more what exactly was inside Tang Xiaoran’s head.

Not wanting to be anyone’s father, the President said expressionlessly, “Then I take back what I just said.”

Tang Xiaoran sniffed, drawing a large breath of fresh air into her lungs. She half-closed her eyes and tilted her head back, feeling the baptism of this beautiful moment. Upon hearing that, she immediately turned her head in surprise, acting distressed as she drawled out a spoiled tone: “Don’t! I just became a winner in life with a car, a house, and a partner. Let me feel this kind of happiness for at least two more seconds.”

Xiao Shixin truly felt that the Tang Xiaoran she had known for the past ten-plus years was a fake. How could this person be so mischievous?

At that moment, Tang Xiaoyu—who had been hopelessly immersed in playing ranked matches—finally found it in his heart to put down his phone. He sauntered lazily out of the villa behind them, holding a handful of jujubes. Leaning against a marble pillar at the entrance, he squinted as he studied the two figures standing by the edge of the platform.

From time to time, he tossed a jujube into his mouth, chewing with a loud crunch-crunch.

After observing the two talking so happily for a while, he looked back into the living room at Tang Xiaozhang, who was calmly processing documents on a laptop. That man was entirely submerged in the world of work, seemingly oblivious to anything happening outside.

Tang Xiaoyu felt something was off. Tang Xiaozhang and Xiao Shixin were clearly the ones arranged for the blind date; why did the scene currently playing out look like Tang Xiaoran was the one matched with the Xiao family?

Bizarre. Truly bizarre. He really wanted to go up and pull his sister aside to give her a piece of earnest advice: What are you doing joining in the fun, huh?

Tang Xiaoran was having a great time teasing Xiao Shixin when she felt a burning gaze. She looked back and saw Tang Xiaoyu leaning against the pillar, watching them while eating jujubes.

This ghost-like appearance… was quite terrifying.

Thinking about the rest of the holiday—how eyes searching for “scandalous affairs” would pop up unexpectedly during every moment she spent with Xiao Shixin—she couldn’t help but shiver. If it came down to it, she’d have to find a chance to confess; she felt her psyche couldn’t handle the constant surveillance of her own brother.

She walked from the platform to the cool shade of the hallway, reaching out to snatch the last jujube from Tang Xiaoyu’s hand. Before stuffing it into her mouth, she asked, “What are you standing here for?”

“Looking at the scenery,” Tang Xiaoyu replied casually, aimlessly grinding the jujube pit with his teeth. His gaze circled Tang Xiaoran’s face once more.

In the next second, Tang Xiaoran spat out the pit, patted her face while pretending to be shy, and replied sincerely, “Thank you, thank you for the compliment. It’s been years since I’ve heard such a straightforward praise of my beauty.”

Tang Xiaoyu: “…” How can your face be so thick?

He continued to stare at Tang Xiaoran, rubbing his chin with his right hand. He muttered with some confusion: “Something’s not right, Tang Xiaoran. Why are you becoming more and more ‘punchable’ lately?”

It was as if she were about to strap herself to a firecracker and perform a moon landing!

Tang Xiaoran stuck her tongue out at him and went into the living room to carry out the entire plate of jujubes. Tang’s father and Uncle Xiao were currently fishing and chatting in the village at the foot of the mountain; she had to seize every second to promote her feelings with the lovely President Xiao.

11:00 AM. Inside the small estate’s kitchen.

The hired private chefs were each dressed in standard white uniforms, processing their tasks methodically. Only the head chef’s voice could be heard occasionally. These chefs were all experts in seafood; a master of knife work moved his hand, his blade flashing a silver light, and another exquisite work of art appeared on a plate. From clams and oysters to salmon, fresh sea ingredients were everywhere.

Amidst the professional team, a handsome young man was struggling with red chopped chilies. Standing beside him was a girl whose style was completely at odds with the professionalism of the kitchen; she was holding a phone, giving him a live stream on how to make Steamed Fish Head with Chopped Chilies.

“Is this really going to be okay?” Gu Heng asked her softly. His chopping was rhythmic and his expression was steady; if one didn’t hear his voice, no one would notice his nervousness.

Tang Xiaoran stood a bit back from his cutting board, reading the steps while comforting him: “Slice the ginger, cut the scallions, layer them at the bottom—no problem. I ordered this dish; I’d like to see who dares to say it’s not delicious.”

Gu Heng finished chopping the red chilies and saw a few small bird’s eye chilies in a bowl nearby. Habitually, he wanted to chop those up to add as well. “I don’t mean the cooking—didn’t you mention before, uh, that your father seems to know me?”

Tang Xiaoran caught a glimpse of his busy cutting board and saw the curved red crescents lying there. She quickly stopped him: “Wait! Don’t put the bird’s eye chilies! Huge heat! I can’t handle it!”

Gu Heng: “…” How can ‘Chopped Chili Fish Head’ not be spicy?

After stopping Mr. Gu Heng’s explosive creative urge, Tang Xiaoran recalled his previous question and replied nonchalantly, “Oh, it’s fine. My dad is face-blind.”

Huh? Gu Heng’s mind went blank for a second, stunned by this sudden family secret.

Just then, a nearby chef heated up oil and started stir-frying clams. The sudden sizzling narrowed the range of gossip to just the two of them. Tang Xiaoran turned off the news in her phone’s background, pulled off her earphones, and flashed a friendly smile at Gu Heng, continuing to spill her family’s secrets: “Why else do you think my dad handed the position to my brother so early while he’s still in his prime?”

Gu Heng was actually convinced by this powerful logic for a moment. There was no rebuttal.

He laid down his heavy psychological burden, washed his hands and the board, and began cutting scallions and ginger. Once he became calm, Tang Xiaoran started to get nervous.

“By the way, if my big brother asks why you’re in the kitchen—”

“I’ll say I need it for a subject recently, and I’m here to experience the life of a chef,” Gu Heng replied gently, thinking of his side job.

Tang Xiaoran blinked, staring at his profile. After a while, a sentence popped out for no reason:

“…So, are you really an erotic web novel author?”

Gu Heng slowly stopped his movements. He turned his head frame by frame to look at her. After a long stare-down, he asked slowly: “May I ask, what exactly do you mean by ‘erotic web novel’?”

Tang Xiaoran gave a few dry laughs and wisely backed away a bit further. “Ha, ha… the wind was just so loud. There might have been a small accident when I spoke. I meant, you really are a great author.”

Gu Heng gave a polite nod, accepting the praise modestly: “Thank you.”

12:30 PM.

In the estate’s dining room, the guests took their places around the long table. Tang Xiaozhang’s face was expressionless, but his mind was still on a project he’d looked at earlier, wondering whether to invest. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out beside him:

“The main course is served. Please enjoy your meal.”

He reflexively turned his head. The person he thought was a hallucination was standing right beside him, even giving him a calm smile.

Simultaneously, a WeChat message arrived from Tang Xiaoran:

“Surprised? Unexpected? Do you love it?”