After My Rebirth Chapter 39: Overthinking it

Chapter 39: Overthinking it

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

Li Sinian had only planned to whip up a few quick bites—something simple to get by—but since Jiang Rongxuan had come over, he figured he’d make it a little more formal.

It wasn’t cold out yet, so he prepared a few cold dishes and even pulled out the chilled drinks he’d stashed in the freezer the night before.

As soon as Jiang Rongxuan saw him come out carrying a tray, he grinned.
“You’re always so welcoming, brother. Every time I come over, you feed me like a king.”

Li Sinian paused mid-motion as he was setting down the dishes. What a weird way to say that… But when he looked up, Jiang Rongxuan’s expression was perfectly normal. Maybe he was just overthinking it.

Welcomed… fed… He meant food, obviously. Li Sinian had always been very hospitable whenever Jiang Rongxuan visited, always worried he wouldn’t eat enough.

Once everything was on the table, the two of them sat down.

Today, Jiang Rongxuan didn’t seem to be in a particularly good mood. Normally, he was the one doing most of the talking when they ate together, but today, he was unusually quiet.

The silence made it easy to drift into thought. Li Sinian suddenly found himself wanting to confirm something. That senior Jiang Rongxuan mentioned—the one who helped him in high school—was it really him?

He glanced up, only to see Jiang Rongxuan focused intently on his food, eyes lowered as he ate with surprising seriousness.

Maybe his stare had been too intense, because a couple seconds later, Jiang Rongxuan looked up and met his gaze.

“What is it?”

Li Sinian licked his lips. “I was always super busy in high school,” he began. “Aside from what was in the textbooks, I didn’t remember much else.”

“But recently I’ve been remembering things. Stuff from back then. And I realized… I might’ve known you before.”

He hesitated, then went on. “Not long ago, I had this dream. In it, I remembered how Lin Yuan used to bully his younger brother—the one their family brought back from outside. I thought it was so unnecessary, so I stepped in to help.”

“And then I thought about it more. That little brother—the one everyone thought was an illegitimate child—that had to be you, right? That’s when it hit me. I knew you back then.”

Jiang Rongxuan nodded. “Took you long enough, brother.”

His tone was full of mock complaints. Li Sinian scratched his cheek, a little embarrassed.

“So… you’ve known for a while that we went to the same school?”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I wanted to see how long it would take for you to recognize me,” Jiang Rongxuan replied. “At first, I figured six months. But now it’s been what, a year and a half? I really overestimated you.”

Li Sinian gave a sheepish smile. “I really was insanely busy back then. Like, all the time. I don’t even remember what most of my teachers looked like… sorry.”

“It’s fine. I forgive you.” Jiang Rongxuan smiled again, more warmly this time. “Since you remember me now, I’ve got a question for you too.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Do you remember me telling you I had a crush for six years? I never confessed because I was scared of being rejected. But now I think it’s about time I say something…”

As he spoke, Li Sinian’s grip on his chopsticks tightened.

He had a feeling Jiang Rongxuan was about to say something big.

And sure enough, the next second, Jiang Rongxuan said,
“Brother, would it bother you if your partner was the same gender as you?”

Li Sinian froze. Jiang Rongxuan didn’t press. He just looked at him, calm and serious, patiently waiting for a reply. He’d waited years for this moment—what was a few more minutes?

But the whitening of his fingertips gave away how tense he was. The chopsticks in his hands scraped faintly together from how tightly he held them.

Li Sinian sat there, mouth slightly open, stunned into silence. It took him a while to collect himself. He swallowed hard and asked, a little uncertainly, “So… if I’m not misunderstanding, you mean…”

“You’re not misunderstanding,” Jiang Rongxuan interrupted gently. “I mean exactly what you think I mean.”

Li Sinian looked down.

If he was being honest, he didn’t dislike Jiang Rongxuan. In fact, he admired him.

He’d never dated anyone—no girlfriends, no boyfriends. He’d never fallen for a girl, or a guy. He didn’t even know if he could be attracted to women. But if it was a man like Jiang Rongxuan… he wouldn’t find that idea unpleasant.

His silence made Jiang Rongxuan’s heart sink, but he still didn’t speak. He waited quietly for Li Sinian’s answer.

Seconds passed. Then minutes.

Li Sinian’s thoughts spiraled. He was already wondering whether his family would disapprove if he got together with Jiang Rongxuan—when all Jiang Rongxuan had asked was whether he minded dating a man.

Sometimes saying things aloud just made the air feel more awkward.

Jiang Rongxuan was starting to feel the weight of the silence. He debated speaking again, maybe gently pushing for Li Sinian’s thoughts.

But just as he opened his mouth, a ringtone shattered the quiet.

Li Sinian jumped and hurried to answer his phone.

He was still flustered from the confession and hadn’t even checked the caller ID. It wasn’t until he picked up that he realized—it was Li Cheng.

That was fast. Li Wenxing had just seen him and said Li Cheng might call. Now here he was.

Li Cheng sounded exhausted. Clearly, things hadn’t been going well for him lately.

Not surprising. The recent scandals hadn’t crippled the Li Corporation, but they’d definitely taken a toll, and naturally, the other shareholders were upset. All of it was thanks to Li Wenxing.

Li Cheng was stuck in the middle of a mess—internal and external.

For once, he didn’t open with demands. Instead, he tried small talk.

“How have you been? Settling into life in Suzhou okay?”

“You’re asking me that now?” Li Sinian scoffed. “It’s been over a year. Whether I liked it or not, I’m used to it by now.”

Li Cheng choked on his words for a moment, then pressed on.
“Your mother’s birthday is coming up. Come home. Let’s celebrate together, as a family.”

Li Sinian laughed. “She might be my mother, but you’re not my father. We’re not a family. If you want to celebrate, call Li Wenxing.”

Li Cheng’s tone turned cold. “Even if you’re illegitimate, you’re still a Li. You have a duty to support me. If I need you, you have to come back.”

“I’m giving you three days. If I don’t see you in Beijing by then, don’t blame me for going the legal route.”

Li Sinian raised an eyebrow. “Mr. Li, do you even understand what ‘support’ means? Are you old and poor enough to qualify for that?”

He paused. “Oh, right. Your health probably qualifies you. After all, you’ve been in the hospital long enough. Your liver’s not doing so hot, is it?”

“You—!”

“If you insist on making me come back and work for you, fine—transfer half of your shares to me, and I’ll return,” Li Sinian said calmly.

Li Cheng’s voice cracked with anger. “Don’t think you can just take what belongs to our family!”

Li Sinian chuckled. “You just said we’re family, but now you want me to stay away from your property? So you’re still dreaming that I’m your puppet, working for free?”

“Mr. Li, tell me—who’s the fool here? You or me?”

Only heavy breathing came from the other end. Li Cheng was probably too furious to even speak. Taking advantage of the silence, Li Sinian pressed on. “If you want to take this to court, I’m all in.”

Then he hung up.

Jiang Rongxuan glanced at him. “That was Li Cheng again?”

“Yeah.”

He frowned, a flicker of disgust crossing his eyes. “That guy’s really annoying. What did he say this time?”

Li Sinian gave him a brief rundown. “His health is definitely poor. He’s been using his father’s identity to claim I owe him responsibility. So maybe I do have to go back.”

“Since he’s threatening legal action, I’m planning to fight back too.”

The law allowed a maximum statute of limitations of twenty years for murder cases with prison sentences up to life imprisonment. Beyond that, no further appeals could be made—unless the Supreme People’s Procuratorate approved it.

Li Sinian’s biological father had been dead for over twenty years. After Jiang Rongxuan uncovered many suspicious facts and evidence, Li Sinian had chosen not to report it because of the expired statute of limitations.

But now, with Li Cheng insisting on binding him with the father-son identity, Li Sinian had to find a way to sever those ties.

Jiang Rongxuan understood immediately. “You want to appeal?”

“Yes,” Li Sinian said. “Without a body, there probably won’t be decisive evidence, but what you found is enough to keep Li Cheng busy.”

“With corporate troubles, police investigations… he won’t have time to bother me anymore.”

“And once this gets exposed, I doubt he’ll dare come after me again.”

Li Sinian had planned to use the appeal as a warning. If Li Cheng still refused to listen, he’d blow the suspected murder wide open on the internet, making his life even more miserable.

But unexpectedly, shortly after the appeal, the police actually found the body of his biological father.

When Li Sinian’s father died, Li Cheng had hired someone to dispose of the body. But that person was superstitious and scared—worried that following Li Cheng’s instructions would curse him with ghosts. So instead, he buried the body and even set up a tombstone.

Fortunately, the belief in proper burial kept the body intact.

Forensics confirmed the cause of death was poisoning. Combined with Jiang Rongxuan’s evidence, the court convicted Li Cheng of intentional homicide and sentenced him to twenty years in prison.

On the day of the trial, a swarm of reporters gathered outside the courthouse.

A famous entrepreneur turned murderer? That was headline news.

Li Sinian showed up too. Besides the sea of media, he saw his mother for the first time in ages.

Lian Menglei wore a pale pink and white floral dress with her hair tied high in a ponytail.

The outfit was a little inappropriate for her age—like a middle school girl wearing her mother’s high heels. It looked odd.

But Lian Menglei took good care of herself, and she still managed to pull it off.

The dress looked vintage, like a style from over twenty years ago.

Li Sinian guessed it must be the same dress she’d worn back when she was with his biological father. Lian Menglei sat in the gallery, crying from the moment Li Cheng appeared until he was forcibly taken away. She didn’t stop. Li Sinian knew she wasn’t crying for Li Cheng but for herself and his biological father.

As Li Cheng was escorted out, Li Sinian turned his gaze away from his mother.

He felt sorry for her—but she was not a good mother. He couldn’t approach her without reservations.

Just as he was about to look elsewhere, Lian Menglei suddenly turned her head. Their eyes met, and both froze. Her eyes were red, and she mouthed words he could barely recognize.

“A’Nian… my A’Nian… I’m sorry…”

Li Sinian bit his lip, swallowed the sting in his nose, and turned away.

Before Li Cheng went to prison, he transferred all his assets to Li Wenxing. Since those assets were legally obtained, his conviction for murder wouldn’t affect them. The Li Corporation was a typical joint-stock company, where the majority shareholder served as chairman. So, Li Wenxing became the new chairman of the Li family’s company.

Li Wenxing had always wanted to take charge of the company. He craved power. But when he actually stepped into the role of chairman, he quickly realized how much nicer it was to just sleep at home. Sitting in the meeting room, facing disdainful looks from all directions, he finally understood why Li Cheng did what he did.

Having Li Sinian—the puppet who worked for free—was so much easier. Running the company was a nightmare.

Since its founding, the Li family had always placed one of their own as chairman. Many shareholders were already disgruntled. Now that a clueless rookie sat in the chairman’s seat, those disgruntled voices grew louder and began taking action.

Only two months into Li Wenxing’s tenure, the company’s second-largest shareholder, Wang Hai, somehow convinced Li Wenxing to gift him all his shares.

Li Wenxing, dim-witted as he was, got scammed—and even helped count the money for the con man. Two months after Wang Hai took over, Li Wenxing realized something was wrong and tried to confront him. Instead, security escorted him out.

This only fueled Li Wenxing’s hatred for Li Cheng. He blamed everything on how spoiled he had been, thinking he could do anything and ending up a fool easily tricked.

With nothing left and no allies, Li Wenxing thought of Lin Yuan. But when he looked for him, Lin Yuan’s situation was even worse. At least Li Wenxing still had some money and a house; Lin Yuan’s family had gone bankrupt and was tens of millions in debt.

Li Wenxing gave up on Lin Yuan and turned his sights elsewhere. He tried to pull some of Li Sinian’s friends over to his side. But this time, his usual charm failed him. Things and people that had been easy to get before now avoided him like poison.

With no other choice, Li Wenxing sold his house.

Li Sinian learned about the sale of the Li family’s villa while eating at home with Jiang Rongxuan.

It was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month—a day for reunion. Li Sinian didn’t have much family to celebrate with and planned to eat just a little by himself. But then Jiang Rongxuan showed up.

Li Sinian thought Jiang Rongxuan should have gone back to his own family for the New Year, but Jiang said, “Spring Festival is for being home. You have to let me come keep you company during the Lantern Festival.”

“Besides,” Jiang added, “my grandpa knows I haven’t caught the guy I like yet and hates it. He won’t even let me in the door. He says no Jiang family man is that useless. If I can’t catch him soon, I’m not welcome back.”

They talked by the door, and Li Sinian listened expressionless, gripping the door as if ready to shut it in Jiang’s face.

Jiang saw the look and quickly softened. “I’m sorry, brother. I’m starving—please let me in to eat.”

Tangyuan (glutinous rice balls) and dishes were soon on the table. They ate while chatting, and the topic turned to the sale of the Li family villa.

Since Li Cheng went to prison, Li Sinian hadn’t paid much attention to news about the Li family. It was only recent headlines that informed him of the chairman change.

Now, it should probably be called the Wang family. Li Sinian wasn’t surprised. “That result was inevitable—just a matter of time.”

Jiang Rongxuan agreed. “That idiot was never cut out to run a company.”

Li Sinian thought of the recent headlines about Songyuan Foods going bankrupt. He asked, “Was that your doing?”

Jiang nodded, unapologetic. “Yeah. I was their illegitimate child for three years, eating leftover cold dishes. Those grievances can’t just go unanswered.”

Li Sinian nodded and said nothing more.

After a moment, Jiang gently brushed his foot against Li Sinian’s under the table. “Brother, am I really that vicious?”

Li Sinian pulled back his leg and gave him a look. “Yeah, you’re evil. Stop eating and come on.”

Jiang pouted in mock offense. “Brother’s ignoring me.”

“Can you stop calling me ‘brother’ all the time? You sound like a… male green tea.”

“That’s not happening. I only get to call you that because you said it was okay. You can’t take it back.”

Li Sinian suddenly remembered they’d agreed at the start of their ‘business’—Jiang could call him ‘brother.’

Jiang seemed to read his thoughts and shook his head. “No, that wasn’t just at the start. You promised back in high school.”

Li Sinian couldn’t recall, so Jiang patiently reminded him.

Back then, Jiang had been beaten badly by Lin Yuan’s friends. Li Sinian found him on the rooftop and brought medicine and a meat floss rice ball. While Jiang treated his wounds, Li Sinian helped reach places Jiang couldn’t.

Once Jiang was patched up, Li Sinian was about to leave.

Jiang called after him, “Be my brother.”

Li Sinian turned, confused.

Jiang looked away and whispered, “No one else’s ever been that good to me. Lin Yuan would send people to beat me, and I had to call him ‘brother.’ I don’t want that—I want you as my brother. Someone like you.”

He thought for a moment. “At least, someone like you.”

Li Sinian smiled softly. “If you want to call me that, go ahead. Whatever you want.”

Li Sinian was eager to get home. Li Cheng was trying to assign him tasks, so he hurried off.

After he left, Jiang looked after him quietly and softly called out, “brother.”