After My Rebirth Chapter 34: Whistleblower

Chapter 34: Whistleblower

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

The so-called “series of shocking plot twists” is exactly what’s happening now.

At first, everyone saw Li Sinian accused of plagiarizing the restaurant’s secret recipe. Then the truth flipped: Li Sinian was actually the original creator of the dish.

Before the public could fully digest that reversal, another twist hit — the mastermind behind this entire drama was none other than Li Sinian’s own younger brother.

Wow, wow — is this the legendary high-society family feud?

Meanwhile, the stock price of Li’s Home Furnishing Company fluctuated wildly, mirroring the twists in the scandal. When Li Sinian was mocked, the stock fell. When he proved the recipe was his own creation, the stock rebounded. But just as it began to rise, news of Li Wenxing being the puppet master broke out, and the stock plummeted even harder than before.

Li Sinian kept a close eye on the online buzz. Seeing Li Wenxing’s name appear so smoothly across the platforms, he immediately suspected that Jiang Rongxuan was involved behind the scenes. A quick message confirmed it — Jiang Rongxuan had mobilized the Jiang Family’s PR team.

Whether it was forcing the whistleblower Hong Yunquan to finger Li Wenxing or pushing Li Wenxing onto trending searches, Jiang Rongxuan was pulling strings from behind.

Li’s reputation was damaged, and Li Cheng was already throwing money into suppressing the heat online. Jiang Rongxuan told Li Sinian that he and Li Cheng were taking turns funneling cash into major social media platforms, racing to see whose bankroll was deeper.

Still, the bigger loser was undoubtedly the Li family. Whether their fortune matched the Jiang Family’s or not, the scandal had spilled out in full view of the public — a family feud played out on the main stage — and the damage was inevitable. The only question was whether it would be a minor or a major blow.

Li Wenxing’s name had been bouncing on and off trending lists for almost an hour, and Li Cheng by now must have uncovered Li Sinian’s network, as well as Jiang Rongxuan’s involvement. A call came through.

Li Cheng wasted no words, cutting straight to the chase: “Are you crazy? What good does all this drama do to Li’s Home Furnishing?”

Li Sinian calmly replied, “Sure, it’s bad for the Li family, but I feel better. That’s enough for me.”

“You—” Li Cheng’s breath grew heavy, “Don’t forget you share the Li name!”

“I do share the Li surname, but I’m only holding onto the name itself,” Li Sinian said slowly. “Besides, if the Li Family suffers, it doesn’t hurt me — after all, I’m barely connected to them anymore.”

“Li Sinian!” On the other end, Li Cheng took several deep breaths, trying to suppress his anger before continuing, “Listen, tell your friends to stop. I’m at the airport and heading to Suzhou. When I get there, we’ll sit down and have a calm talk.”

Li Sinian chuckled, “A calm talk? That’s funny.”

“You kicked me out for a minor mistake and never wanted to talk. When I spent New Year’s alone, no talk. Now trouble arises, suddenly you want a calm discussion?”

“What I really want to know is this — am I really your biological son?”

After Li Sinian asked, silence fell. The airport announcements came clearly through the line, proving the call wasn’t disconnected.

When Li Cheng doesn’t want to answer, he just goes silent — no excuses.

But this question — did it really need silence?

Why dodge it? If he was truly the son, Li Cheng’s temper would’ve exploded at the insult and cursed him out.

Instead, Li Cheng said nothing.

What did that mean?

It meant the answer wasn’t something Li Cheng could easily say aloud, or use to claim moral high ground over him.

Li Sinian never expected that by casually venting, he’d actually stumble onto the truth.

Li Cheng remained silent, and Li Sinian wasn’t expecting him to break it.

“Alright, I get it. You’re not at the airport? Fine, wait until you get to Suzhou, then we’ll have that talk.”

Li Cheng grunted.

“Tell your friends to back off. If they keep this up, they’ll suffer losses, too.”

Li Sinian laughed softly, “Why should they stop just because you say so?”

He hung up, cutting off Li Cheng’s shouting.

Li Sinian stared at his phone, replaying the conversation.

He’d long wondered if he really was Li Cheng’s biological son, since no father acts like Li Cheng towards his child. But he never dared ask — it was just an unspoken complaint in his heart.

He never expected the question would actually get answered like this…

Well, whether he’s really Li Cheng’s or not, he’d wait until Li Cheng showed up.

After all, having lived two lives, he’d seen through this family. Even if he wasn’t Li Cheng’s son, he wouldn’t feel much.

Li Sinian sent a voice message to Jiang Rongxuan.

“Rongxuan, what’s the situation on your end? Can we keep the heat going?”

Jiang Rongxuan called back immediately.

“Sure, our PR team is strong. What’s up?”

“Nothing much. Just want you to hold the line — don’t let Li Wenxing fall off the trending list. If it costs a lot, deduct it from my dividends. If this year’s isn’t enough, take next year’s too. We need to make Li Wenxing and the Li family infamous — thoroughly.”

Jiang Rongxuan chuckled, “Brother, you’re going on the offensive now?”

“I want nothing — not even family ties. I left home to escape all the chaos, but trouble still finds me…” Li Sinian paused, “So I might as well fight back a little.”

“I’m with you,” Jiang Rongxuan said. “Whatever you decide, I’m behind you.”

Li Sinian’s finger twitched unconsciously on his leg. Hearing Jiang Rongxuan say that stirred something inside him. He couldn’t help but want to grab hold of something.

“Thank you.”

“No need for thanks,” Jiang Rongxuan smiled. “Don’t worry about dividends. The restaurant is linked with the Jiang family, and you and I are family too. Family helps family — no need for money, that would just hurt feelings.”

Li Sinian’s fingers drummed on his leg. “Since when did we become family?”

“Starting now.”

 

Li Sinian hung up and waited at the restaurant for a while. As dinner time approached, he received a WeChat message from Li Cheng saying he had landed. Li Sinian booked a private room at a teahouse near the airport and drove there.

Though the restaurant was still closed, a crowd had gathered at the entrance, peering inside. Judging by their expressions and whispers, they were all drawn by the trending scandal and came to watch the spectacle.

When Li Sinian appeared, phones instantly came out, cameras pointed straight at his face. He couldn’t help but frown.

He could clearly hear snippets of conversation from the crowd:

“Is this really Li Sinian? He’s so handsome!”

“Quick, record this! This is the closest anyone’s gotten to the influencer.”

Li Sinian forced a distant smile and pushed his way through the crowd. Only after completely shaking off the phone-wielding people behind him did he finally relax his expression.

This was exactly why he hated mixing the online world with real life.

If Li Wenxing wanted to make him famous, then Li Sinian was determined to let Li Wenxing experience that same unwanted fame.

At the teahouse, Li Cheng was already seated in the private room, accompanied by his secretary Shen Feng and Li Wenxing.

Li Cheng’s face was full of anger, while Li Wenxing’s eyes were red and puffy, clearly having just cried.

When Li Sinian entered, Li Wenxing stood up and immediately pointed at him, yelling, “Brother, do you know how badly you’ve ruined us? How could you do this?”

“And what did I do?” Li Sinian sat down casually. “I merely returned the favor in kind. Do you think that’s too much? Did you ever consider how cruel it was to treat me like that?”

Li Wenxing’s voice cracked with emotion. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Watching his brother’s pitiful expression, Li Sinian shook his head.

“The acting’s really good — no wonder even my past self got fooled. I’m genuinely curious how you manage to lie without even a hint of nervousness.”

“So you’re saying it wasn’t you?” Li Sinian asked. “You mean you didn’t frame me as a plagiarizing influencer or expose my real identity?”

“You say it wasn’t you, but my sources traced it all back to Lin Yuan,” Li Sinian said.

“That’s exactly why I said it wasn’t me!” Li Wenxing wiped his eyes fiercely. After the gesture, his pale, delicate face looked even more miserable. “Why take out your grudge with Lin Yuan on your own family?”

“So that’s it — it was all Lin Yuan’s doing, nothing to do with you,” Li Sinian smiled, looking at him. “I wonder how Lin Yuan would feel if he heard you say that.”

Li Sinian raised his phone, displaying a WeChat chat with Lin Yuan open. All the recent voice messages between him and Li Wenxing had been forwarded to Lin Yuan.

Li Wenxing’s face finally revealed a flicker of panic.

Lin Yuan sent two question marks in reply, then called Li Wenxing immediately.

Li Wenxing panicked completely, neither daring to answer nor hang up, so he silently muted his phone and placed it face down on the table.

Li Cheng, seeing this, lost his patience entirely.

He slammed the table and demanded, “What exactly do you want, Li Sinian?!”

Leaning back on the sofa, Li Sinian looked at his father coldly.

“Let’s finish the conversation we started on the phone — am I really your biological son?”

Li Cheng was probably furious. He sneered, “Of course not! How could I have a son like you?”

“You’re an illegitimate child, did you know that? You’re the product of your mother’s affair with another man! Your bloodline is filthy — how dare you call yourself my son?”

“I let you live in my house, eat my food, spend my money. You don’t even have the decency to be grateful. Instead, you act as an assistant to Wenxing but conspire with outsiders against us. You’re truly heartless!”

“I should have strangled you at birth!”

Li Sinian absorbed Li Cheng’s words, and after a long pause, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

So that was how it was.