He remained unmoved, though his expression clearly showed a trace of anger.
Huo Yiran raised his brows as if he had discovered something amusing. He hooked up the scarf with the tip of his shoe, then heard Ye Heng's bone-chilling, hoarse voice: "Don't touch it."
At the same time, the instant Tang Mingxi saw that red scarf, his beautiful almond-shaped eyes widened slightly.
This was the last scarf Ye Yue had knitted for the male lead before she went blind!
Huo Yiran seemed to have found a new source of amusement. He shook the scarf, smiling maliciously. "Ye Heng, since you said you didn't steal anything, then these clothes aren't yours either, right?"
Alarm bells blared in Tang Mingxi's head. The next second, Huo Yiran pulled out a lighter and held it beneath the scarf. "Then it doesn't matter if I burn it, does it?"
Fuck—!
Tang Mingxi nearly cursed out loud!
Why was this brat so good at courting death? No one could rival him when it came to tap-dancing through minefields. :)
In the original novel, the scarf meant a great deal to Ye Heng. It was also one of the main triggers that deepened Ye Heng's hatred for the Tang Family, so he absolutely had to stop this brat from burning it.
Tang Mingxi's heart leaped into his throat. Yet at this critical moment, he instead calmed down. Frowning at Ye Heng, he took a deep breath and said, "Why aren't you picking up the clothes from the ground? I told you to put away the clothes, not drag them out into the courtyard!"
The instant he finished speaking, three pairs of eyes turned toward Tang Mingxi.
Ye Heng's expression was unreadable.
Tang Nuo looked surprised, with a flicker of shock in his eyes. This useless second brother was acting differently from his past life.
As for Huo Yiran, he was utterly stunned!
"Uncle, what are you talking about?" Huo Yiran froze and immediately loosened his grip on the lighter.
Tang Mingxi lifted his chin slightly, noble and composed as he lied without changing expression. "I gave those clothes to Ye Heng."
"How is that possible?!" Huo Yiran's anger flared at once. "You're lying to me! Tang Nuo was clearly the one who delivered those clothes to him!"
Tang Mingxi: ...So you did know, huh? You little brat, you really were deliberately stirring up trouble. :)
He cleared his throat and said without blushing, "I told Tang Nuo to deliver them. Do you have a problem with that?"
Shock and a mix of other emotions flashed through Huo Yiran's eyes before settling into confusion. "...Why? Uncle, don't you hate him?"
What he meant was that he could not understand why Tang Mingxi was helping Ye Heng cover up the lie.
"Or what?" Tang Mingxi shot him a glare. The upturned corners of his eyes carried an indescribable beauty that made Huo Yiran's heart skip.
Tang Mingxi stepped closer. A faintly sweet fragrance enveloped Huo Yiran, whose Adam's apple bobbed uncontrollably.
What fragrance is Uncle wearing...? Huo Yiran felt slightly lightheaded.
As a steadfastly straight man, Tang Mingxi did not notice how close they were. He merely lowered his voice and scolded softly, "You wanted to expose Tang Nuo for delivering clothes to Ye Heng? My brother-in-law secretly meeting my younger brother in the middle of the night—if that gets out, where am I supposed to put my face? Are you really stupid, or are you deliberately trying to harm me? Does the Tang Family need you to give them such a huge joke to laugh at?"
Tang Mingxi deliberately stressed the last sentence. Huo Yiran's expression changed at once, and he said aggrievedly, "I didn't think that far ahead. I just wanted to stand up for you..."
"If you wanted to stand up for me, couldn't you have picked something else? Why did you have to make trouble at a time like this?" Tang Mingxi let out a breath, thinking, Huo Yiran may be nasty to everyone else, but he's surprisingly innocent with me. He's actually this easy to coax?
"But we can't let him off so easily." A vicious glint flashed through Huo Yiran's eyes. "Tang Nuo knows this loser's relationship with you, yet he still dared to meet him in secret in the middle of the night. He clearly doesn't respect you at all!"
Tang Mingxi: ...You're overthinking it. I don't care.
"That's right. I'd forgotten about it. Good thing Second Brother remembered, or I wouldn't have known how to resolve this today." Tang Nuo spoke up at once, going along with the situation and forcing out a flawless smile. "Since it was all a misunderstanding, I think everyone should go back to their rooms and rest. The snow is so heavy; no one should catch a cold standing out here."
Ye Heng did not move, but his gaze remained fixed on the scarf without shifting even once. He looked so ferocious that it seemed as though he would lunge forward and snatch it back the next second.
Seeing that he was not moving, Tang Mingxi could only give himself another way out and spoke coldly. "It's fine if you want to mistreat yourself, but don't ruin the clothes I bought for you in snow this heavy. What, weren't you going to return them to me? Are you planning to give me back a piece of rag?"
After saying that, he prepared to take the scarf from Huo Yiran and return it to Ye Heng. He had even thought of his next line: "Who cares about your lousy scarf?" Yes, perfect. It completely matched Second Young Master Tang's character. :)
Yet Huo Yiran's grim, terrifying tone cut off Tang Mingxi's performance.
Huo Yiran looked awful. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Tang Mingxi in fury. "Uncle, what did you just say?"
Tang Mingxi: ...?
"You said," Huo Yiran enunciated every word, jealousy in his eyes nearly turning into flames that would burn Ye Heng to ashes, "the clothes this loser is wearing were personally bought by you?"
A flicker of confusion crossed Tang Mingxi's face, followed by sudden dread. In the original novel, Huo Yiran was an extremely jealous man, his obsessive possessiveness toward "Tang Mingxi" reaching a perverse level!
He vaguely remembered that the spoiled original owner had never bought anything for anyone in his entire life.
Ye Heng was currently the first.
...He had miscalculated.
Tang Mingxi's entire body stiffened. Before he could think of a solution, Huo Yiran's enraged voice rang out.
"Since Uncle has spoken for you, I'll let you off today. But if you didn't steal anything, you still need to prove that you're innocent." Ice seemed to glitter in Huo Yiran's eyes as he smiled terrifyingly. "Someone, strip this loser!"
Chapter 8: Fox Spirit
"Wait!"
Tang Mingxi was utterly baffled. Why was everyone so obsessed with Ye Heng's suit today?
First the cousin wanted to strip his cousin-in-law, and now the cousin-in-law wanted to strip his cousin?
Couldn't they just leave the male lead one piece of clothing to wear?
Huo Yiran had already been blinded by jealousy. All he could see was the white shirt Ye Heng wore.
Tang Mingxi had personally bought it for him, but Uncle had never bought him clothes before!
If Tang Mingxi could hear Huo Yiran's inner monologue right now, he would definitely drag him straight to a suit store.
Buy it. Buy whatever you want. As long as you don't take me to the male lead and court death, I'll even buy the whole store and give it to you.
Huo Yiran truly paused when he heard him.
The servants who had been eagerly preparing to strip Ye Heng were also caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to listen to the young master's cousin or the second young master.
Tang Mingxi took off his suit jacket, shivering from the cold. For the sake of maintaining his image, he stopped himself from hunching his shoulders.
But the next second, he draped his own suit jacket over Huo Yiran's shoulders. A clean, gentle sweetness rose to Huo Yiran's nose.
The gesture soothed Huo Yiran greatly, and what Tang Mingxi said next made him feel even better.
"It's just a piece of clothing. When have I ever been unable to buy you clothes if you wanted them?"
Most of Huo Yiran's anger immediately dissipated, and Ye Heng no longer looked quite so displeasing to him.
However, he was still not fully satisfied, and for the moment, he could not think of a way to torment Ye Heng.
Then he looked down and saw that he was still holding the red scarf. Recalling Ye Heng's tense expression earlier, Huo Yiran came up with an idea.
Before anyone could react, he directly set the scarf alight. Flames danced amid the snow as his careless voice rang out. "Sorry, my hand slipped."
Tang Mingxi stared in disbelief. He had gone to such lengths to soothe him, yet the scarf had still been set on fire by this brat.
At that moment, Ye Heng's expression darkened instantly, and his voice was hoarse. "Give it back!"
"Give it back?" Huo Yiran sneered. He flung the scarf hard into the ornamental pond in the courtyard, then clapped his hands. "Then go pick it up yourself."
Ye Heng's expression was so dark he looked ready to devour someone alive. Tang Mingxi's scalp tingled beneath his stare.
In the male lead's eyes, Huo Yiran was probably acting under his orders.