After My Rebirth Chapter 19: Charity

Chapter 19: Charity

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Looking at the message from Songyuan, Li Sinian found it a bit amusing.  

The heartless capitalists—just a moment ago, their business partner had fallen from grace, and the next moment, they were already plotting to collaborate with another influencer.  

Actually, price bargaining with endorsers wasn’t uncommon. He had also bargained with celebrities when collaborating with them in the past.  

But back then, he had been in the position of the vice president at Li Corporation, considering the company’s interests, so he didn’t think much of it. Now, standing in the shoes of an influencer who was being pressured to lower their price, he didn’t feel as comfortable.  

And bargaining was one thing, but dragging innocent people into it was another—this was unethical. When he used to bargain with celebrities, he hadn’t involved others the way Songyuan had.  

Li Sinian had no intention of working with Songyuan, regardless of the price, so he rejected their offer.  

He wasn’t sure whether Songyuan was targeting him because of his current fame or for some other reason, but after his rejection, they raised the price and added, “This price is twice the amount offered to Piggy. Please reconsider.”  

Li Sinian laughed.  

It seemed they had seen him come out on top in the public debate, with his reputation rising, and now they were determined to work with him.  

[Nian Nian You Today: Thank you for the offer, but I really have no interest in cooperating.]  

[Songyuan Foods: Why not? You can’t find a higher offer anywhere. This price is enough for a fourth-tier celebrity.]  

Li Sinian grew annoyed and directly sent the previous conversation screenshots.  

[Nian Nian You Today: I’ve made it very clear before. I’m a healthy eating advocate, and I won’t work with your company. It has nothing to do with the price you offered—it’s because your company produces junk food.]  

[Nian Nian You Today: Also, if you think I’ll promote your products because of the recent events, you should have watched my livestream. I don’t lack money, so a high offer won’t change my mind.]  

The person on the other end didn’t reply, and Li Sinian couldn’t be bothered to respond further, so he left C-Platform.  

Li Sinian had always taken a relaxed approach to managing his store. After having lunch with Bai Yusheng, he considered the day a soft opening.  

It wasn’t until the next evening that he finally made his way back to the store.  

Li Sinian prepared a plate of cold dishes for himself, sitting at the cashier’s desk, watching a movie while eating.  

Not long after, the wind chimes at the door jingled.  

Li Sinian looked up and saw two young girls.  

He was used to the slow business, so it took him a moment to realize there were customers. When the two girls approached, he finally reacted and stood up to greet them.  

“Hello, ladies. What would you like to eat?”  

The two girls looked at the menu and asked Li Sinian for recommendations. Li Sinian stuck with his usual reply, saying that everything on the menu was recommended.  

However, unlike Jiang Rongxuan, who had generously ordered everything, these two girls only chose three dishes based on how nice the names sounded.  

Li Sinian noted down the order and went to the kitchen to cook.  

Once he left, the two girls took out professional equipment and took a photo of the restaurant.  

The girl with short hair, who was a little chubby, was the one taking the photos. Afterward, she asked the curly-haired girl beside her, “Do you think it’s okay to take pictures of someone’s restaurant without asking?”  

The curly-haired girl, a bit flustered, replied, “You’re right. I don’t think the owner looks like someone who’d want help with publicity. Should we ask him later?”  

“What about this photo…”  

“Let’s keep it for now. We’ll ask him later, and if he says no, we’ll delete it.”  

The three dishes—two vegetarian and one meat—were quickly ready.  

Li Sinian brought them out. “The dishes are ready. Enjoy your meal.”  

He turned to go back to the cashier’s desk and continue watching the movie, but the curly-haired girl stopped him.  

“Wait, handsome. Does your restaurant have honey passion fruit? We didn’t see it on the menu earlier. Can you bring us two cups to try?”  

Li Sinian said, “Huh? How did you know we have honey passion fruit?”  

“We watched your livestream,” the curly-haired girl said, eager to get his permission to take a photo. She then openly stated the purpose of their visit, “We’re students from the Media University, and our practical assignment is to write for a public account. We both love food, so we decided to do a food theme.”  

“We saw your livestream on C-Platform yesterday. Everyone was watching the argument between you and another influencer, but I saw the table full of food, and it looked so good, so we came to your restaurant to try the food and write a review.”  

Fearing Li Sinian might refuse, she even clasped her hands together and pouted, “We really just need to finish our assignment. We promise that our review will be 100% honest, and we’ll never give a negative review maliciously. Please, we’re begging you.”

Actually, even if they really maliciously gave out Li Sinian, he wouldn’t have minded. Running a restaurant was just for fun after all.

So, Li Sinian smiled generously and said, “It’s fine, feel free to review it. I’m happy to help you complete your assignment. Wait a moment, I’ll make honey passion fruit for you.”

The two girls high-fived and cheered. Li Sinian went to the kitchen to prepare the drinks.

With his permission, the two girls stopped being shy and took out their equipment to start taking pictures.

They first took a photo of the entire table of dishes, then took close-ups of each dish.

When the drinks arrived, they even took a close-up of the honey passion fruit.

Li Sinian brought out the dishes and sat back down to watch the movie. About half an hour later, the two girls came over to pay.

Li Sinian glanced at the table; the plates, bowls, and cups were all empty.

The most exaggerated part was that there was barely any soup left on the plate, but there was still some in the bowl. It seemed like they had used the soup to soak the rice after finishing the dishes.

Li Sinian asked the two girls, “How was it? Still to your taste?”

“Perfect! Really perfect!” The curly-haired girl’s eyes were sparkling. “It was so delicious, I feel like I’ve never eaten such tasty home-cooked food. It’s like the dishes have the same name as the ones in the cafeteria, using the same ingredients, but the taste is just worlds apart!”

Although opening a restaurant was just a hobby, Li Sinian took cooking seriously. Being complimented on his skills made him happy.

He couldn’t help but say a bit more, “Actually, the ingredients are different. These dishes are mostly made with ingredients I grew myself. But the way they’re cooked is also very important. Cafeterias tend to make big pot dishes, and the heat and seasoning probably aren’t well controlled.”

“If you like it, come again next time.”

“Hey? Is the Media University really far from here? It must not be easy for you to come all the way here. Next time, I’ll give you a discount.”

The two girls thanked him repeatedly.

They paid, exchanged a few more words, and then left.

After sending off the first batch of customers, Li Sinian waited a bit. By ten o’clock in the evening, no one else had come, so he decided to close up and head home.

Before leaving, he glanced at both sides of the street.

Since opening the shop, besides his friend Bai Yusheng, only two batches of customers had come in. That young man who always supported him didn’t come today. Maybe he should stabilize the shop hours, or else even the regular customers might stop coming.

Li Sinian strolled back to Mulin Village, feeling relaxed. But far away, in the luxurious mansion in Jing City, things were anything but relaxed.

Li Wenxing and Lin Yuan were sitting across from each other. On the coffee table lay a phone, which was playing a video.

The video showed Li Sinian’s live stream with Hong Yunquan.

Li Wenxing’s face was filled with anxiety. “Lin Yuan, look at what kind of life my brother’s living after Dad sent him to the countryside! He has no income and has become a public figure just for people to gossip about. He even has to grow his own food just to eat.”

“He’s so proud, and used to such a luxurious life. I don’t know how he’s been holding up these past few months!”

Lin Yuan rubbed his head and pulled him into an embrace. “Don’t worry. Your brother’s smart. He’ll figure out a way to live well.”

“Look at this! Is this what you call living well?” Li Wenxing pointed at the video. “He’s being forced to compete with these little influencers. How can my brother live like this?”

“It’s too pitiful. Really, it’s too pitiful. Lin Yuan, please help my brother. You were classmates, you must know a way to help him.”

Lin Yuan remembered that he had asked someone to talk to Li Sinian about cooperating, but had been refused. His expression shifted slightly.

He shook his head, apologetically saying, “Wenxing, it’s not that I don’t want to help A’Nian, it’s that he…”

He repeated the reasons Li Sinian had given him for refusing the offer. “I’m sure A’Nian refused because he cares that Songyuan is our family’s company. He’s too proud and doesn’t want old acquaintances to know that he’s not living well right now.”

Upon hearing this, Li Wenxing’s eyes turned red. “Brother… why is he still so proud at a time like this?”

He stayed sad for a while, then suddenly lifted his eyes, a determined look in them. “No, I won’t allow my brother to continue living like this. We have to help him! I’ll make sure he doesn’t live like this anymore!”

Lin Yuan didn’t really want to get involved with Li Sinian. To him, Li Sinian was too proud, had too many tricks up his sleeve, and surely wouldn’t let himself suffer too much. This situation might even be an act, just to gain sympathy.

But since Li Wenxing insisted on helping, he had no choice but to agree.

He couldn’t refuse his Wenxing; he was always so innocent, so kind…

Li Wenxing lowered his eyes again, hiding the strange glint in them.

Poor brother, after leaving home, he ended up living such a miserable life. You must accept my charity, okay?

Meanwhile, the much-sympathized Li Sinian returned home, took a shower, and then opened up C-Platform to take a look.

His private message list showed that a company had reached out to him. He clicked to see it, and it turned out to be Songyuan again.

This time, Songyuan’s side offered him a price three times higher than their previous quote.

[Songyuan Foods: I still hope to cooperate with you. You were once a classmate of our boss. Our boss said, to help solve your current predicament, we must persuade you to agree to cooperate.]

[Songyuan Foods: Mr. Li, you’re probably going through a tough time right now. This cooperation fee could improve your life. Please agree to it.]

Li Sinian saw the message and was so angry he almost laughed.

How had he never noticed that Lin Yuan was such a master at making things up? He wasn’t doing badly at all. In fact, he was doing better than ever before.

Given how foolish Songyuan’s people were, Li Sinian couldn’t even be bothered to reply to the message. He simply closed it and went back to browsing.

That’s right, besides Songyuan, there was another company that had reached out to him.

It was a subsidiary of HaiCheng Jiang Family Group—Minghui Kitchenware.

Minghui Kitchenware was a very famous company in the country. How famous were they? They didn’t need any spokespersons or advertisements. Their name itself was a guarantee. The pots and range hoods in Li Sinian’s home were all from Minghui.

Compared to Songyuan, the difference between them was like the difference between fresh pressed cooking oil and gutter oil.

However, Li Sinian found it odd that such a big enterprise would want to collaborate with a small internet celebrity like him. What was even more surprising was that the price they offered wasn’t any lower than Songyuan’s.

 

 

This Title is available for faster chapter releases through paid Patreon membership. Any proceeds go to keeping the website running. Check it out HERE.