After Rebirth, I Discovered the Whole World Wants to Harm Me [GL] - Chapter 4

While Tang Xiaozhang briefly wondered if he was hallucinating, Xiao Shixin was equally stunned.

She wasn’t used to physical contact, and her first instinct was naturally to pull her hand back. However, the person holding her seemed to have anticipated this move and gripped so firmly from the start that Xiao Shixin couldn’t break free after two tries.

Xiao Shixin’s gaze fell on her face, carrying an invisible pressure that crashed down on Tang Xiaoran, finally making the Tang family princess realize what she was doing.

For a moment, she didn’t know whether to let go or keep holding on.

Facing her brother’s strange look as he sat down, her mind was a chaotic scrolling screen of: Who am I? Where am I? What the hell did I just do? Simultaneously, she forced a soft, warm smile onto her face, let go apologetically, and feigned an explanation:

“Sorry, I meant to grab the pencil… but Sister Xin, your skin is really nice. It’s like milk.”

Tang Xiaozhang glanced between the two of them, picked up the menu, and began to read, acting as if the matter had passed.

Xiao Shixin glanced at her indifferently. From her expression, Tang Xiaoran couldn’t tell if she believed her nonsense or not.

However, in President Xiao’s mind, the behavior of this youngster just now was the literal definition of a “hooligan.”

She found Tang Xiaoran very strange—from the inexplicable hostility she showed earlier today to the way she had just gripped her hand in a daze.

…As if she were grabbing onto a life-saving straw.

The thought circled her mind before Xiao Shixin suppressed it, dismissing it as overthinking. She decided to forget that brief moment.

The two “dates” had arrived with heavy hearts, but now that everything was out in the open, the most distracted person at the table became Tang Xiaoran—the very person who had vowed to “break up the happy couple.” She missed her brother’s questions twice; every time she looked up, her deep brown eyes were filled with confusion.

Tang Xiaozhang knit his brows imperceptibly. Seeing her looking listless even in front of a table full of her favorite dishes, he wondered what was wrong.

It wasn’t until after they dropped Xiao Shixin back at the Xiao residence that Tang Xiaoran returned to her previous state in the car—constantly turning to look at her brother, afraid he would suddenly vanish.

At a red light, Tang Xiaozhang slowed the car and came to a stop at a safe distance from the vehicle ahead. With his left hand on the steering wheel, he looked straight ahead and asked in a low voice: “In a bad mood?”

“Um… no, I was just thinking about something.” There were only two of them in the car. Faced with the sudden question, Tang Xiaoran hesitated before replying, her gaze still fixed on her brother’s profile.

Tang Xiaozhang didn’t press further, whether because he didn’t want to pry or was waiting for her to speak on her own.

She wasn’t the type who could keep things bottled up. After a few beats, Tang Xiaoran couldn’t help but speak out: “Brother, about that project with the Xiao family you mentioned today—”

Tang Xiaozhang gave a hum, signaling her to continue.

“Can you let me handle it?” Tang Xiaoran wrung her fingers. Even though she had practiced her tone in her head several times, she still sounded lacking in confidence.

The traffic ahead began to move. As Tang Xiaozhang released the brake and drove forward, he glanced at her with great surprise.

Before this, Tang Xiaoran’s attitude toward the family business had always been “no thanks.”

He didn’t know what had caused such a rapid change in her, and he was surprised that the first thing she wanted to do was snatch Tang Xiaoyu’s job.

Surprise aside, after thinking for nearly half a minute, he spoke objectively: “If Xiaoyu agrees, you can represent Gaosheng in further detailed talks with the Xiao Group.”

“And… what if he doesn’t agree?” Tang Xiaoran didn’t really want to steal from her brother, but after the events at dinner, she realized that Xiao Shixin was the key to unlocking the path that led to her family’s ruin. Only by accessing more memories of her past life could she better avoid the tragedy.

And this was currently the only way available to her to get close to Xiao Shixin.

“Then you’re out of luck,” Big Brother Tang replied expressionlessly.

Tang Xiaoran: “…”

It took her a few seconds to realize her brother actually had the leisure to tease her.

“If he doesn’t agree, you’ll have to present a proposal alongside him to the Xiao Group and let them choose. Besides, news of the Xiao Group looking for suppliers for their new product line will be out soon. More competitors will come knocking, so you won’t have much time.” Tang Xiaozhang’s explanation was long, and his deep voice filled the car, making her follow his logic instinctively. A sense of urgency began to creep up her spine.

Tang Xiaoran felt her vision go dark, wondering if she had spent all night thinking only to pick “Hell Mode” to save her family.

Dejected to the point where even the stray hairs on her head lost their spunk, she puffed out her cheeks and watched the scenery change as she let out a deep sigh.

Tang Xiaozhang heard the sigh that sounded like it held three lifetimes of misery, and a faint smile flashed in his eyes.

“…Have you lost your mind?” Tang Xiaoyu leaned against his headboard, casually kicking his feet while playing on his phone. After hearing Tang Xiaoran’s request, he squinted at his sister and gave her a sharp retort.

Tang Xiaoran took three deep breaths, forced a smile, walked over, and snatched his phone away.

Leaning down, she gave Tang Xiaoyu a big hug, using her most shameless tactic—rubbing her face against his and acting spoiled: “You’re only a sophomore anyway, you’ll have plenty of time to handle company business later. Just let me have this one, I swear it’s just this once~”

Tang Xiaoyu reached out to push her face away with a huff. “Cut it out,” he said, turning his head, but the anger he’d accumulated during the day was slowly beginning to smooth over.

“I don’t care, I don’t care, you have to agree!” Tang Xiaoran’s mind was solely focused on securing the project first. She was going all-out on being shameless.

“Assuming I agree, what kind of plan do you intend to show Sister Xin’s side?” Despite softening, Tang Xiaoyu was still serious about company matters and asked the extra question.

Tang Xiaoran just smiled—a bright, blooming, radiant smile. She almost managed the effect of a perfect “pretty vase” (trophy daughter), but didn’t say a word for a long time.

Tang Xiaoyu: “…???”

You have the nerve to ask for the project but no nerve to talk about the plan!

He pressed a hand to his forehead and straightened up, sitting cross-legged. Pointing an index finger at Tang Xiaoran’s forehead, he said seriously: “Xiao Group’s mobile phone sales have been excellent in recent years, occupying a huge market share in Europe and America. This new series launch is a great opportunity for mechanical processing enterprises like ours. Do you know what happens if we don’t land this contract?”

“We miss out on a billion?” Tang Xiaoran replied casually. Then she saw her brother point toward a stack of papers on the desk that was nearly half as tall as a person.

She walked over to the desk in confusion, picked up a few folders, and closed them again as her face turned slightly green.

“T-this much data to read?!” Tang Xiaoran thought that things like planning and material selection were for the department heads to do. Wasn’t she just supposed to carry a flash drive and maybe give a temporary PPT presentation??

Tang Xiaoyu rolled his eyes at her. “So, do you still want to fight me for it?”

No thanks, I’m out.

Tang Xiaoran hadn’t even studied this hard for her finals. Facing this mountain of data was incredibly stressful. However—

She leaned back toward her brother, her smile as bright as before, pretending to give him a shoulder massage as another plan came to mind:

“How about this: I’ll be your assistant. You handle the planning with our people, and I’ll go to the Xiao Group to negotiate. How’s that?”

Tang Xiaoyu gave her a joyless smirk, swatted her hand away, and showed a hint of a sharp canine tooth. “Do you have some kind of misunderstanding of the word ‘assistant’?”

Tang Xiaoran took the opportunity to correct herself: “Oh, right. I’ll still be the lead, and you’ll be my assistant doing the planning. In the end, I’m still the one who goes to negotiate. How about it?”

Tang Xiaoyu: “…”

He studied his sister for a long time, realizing her level of shamelessness was growing by the day. He couldn’t help but give her a thumb’s up: “Stay right here and don’t move. I’m going to go build a train station for you.” (A meme meaning: “You’ve won, I’m leaving.”)

“No need, no need. Just reward me with an orange.”

“Get out.”

Tang Xiaoran was kicked out of her brother’s room. She crouched pitifully in the hallway for a while before deciding to return to the warm, large bed in her own room to soothe her sorrow.

After rolling around in the soft blankets, she reached out for her phone on the desk. Glancing at the time, she searched for a professional-looking WeChat profile picture and sent a message:

“Big Brother, Big Brother, Big Brother! Is there any ‘back door’ I can use with Xiao Shixin? [Pitiful.jpg]”

She stared at the English name in the chat box for a while and thought…

Wait, this English name looks like a woman’s?

Hold on, did I not set a nickname for Big Brother before?

Just as she was about to click the profile to check, she saw the other side reply:

The first message: “…I am not your big brother.”

The second message: “What kind of ‘back door’ do you want?”

Tang Xiaoran: “!!!”

Her eyes widened as she searched through her WeChat contacts. She found a second profile with a similar style, but the name there clearly said—’Tang Xiaozhang’.

…So, who exactly did she just message?

Trembling, she opened the person’s Moments and found many familiar scenery photos of the Xiao family’s private estate. A very bad suspicion began to form in her heart.

After a few seconds of silence, she raised her phone and tried to reply: “…Sister Xin?”

A moment later, the other side sent a brief: “Mm.”

The phone slipped from her hands and hit her square in the face.

Tang Xiaoran let out a yelp and jumped up, a thousand words turning into one sentence:

“Big Brother! Why on earth do you and Xiao Shixin have matching profile pictures!!!”

The Author has something to say:

Little Theater:

Tang Xiaozhang: “…No, we just have similar taste.”

Xiao Shixin: “Mm.”

Tang Xiaoran: “…Is this the mysterious aesthetic of CEOs?”