Such pure brotherly affection. Who would have thought they had this kind of relationship!
He was left utterly dumbfounded... as if the door to a whole new world had opened before him.
Tang Mingxi said, "...You really can't judge people by their appearance."
No wonder Ye Heng had slaughtered everyone in the Tang Family and left only Tang Nuo alive.
Such a heartrending love story—even passing ants would have to stop and sigh that it was real.
Wang Ma nagged, "Second Young Master, even if you don't like Ye Heng, he's still your fiancé in name. Even if he's trash you don't want, you can't let Tang Nuo have him for free!"
Tang Mingxi thought, I'm having enough trouble staying alive, so he perfunctorily replied, "Mm-hm."
Wang Ma pulled a little booklet from her clothes and handed it to Tang Mingxi. "Second Young Master, you're too innocent. I'm afraid you'll fall for that bitch Tang Nuo's tricks. Take this book back and study it carefully!"
Tang Mingxi curiously took it and looked. Several large words were printed on the gaudy little booklet: "The Lewd Aunt and Seductive Brother-in-Law."
After returning to his room, Tang Mingxi flipped through three pages before painfully closing his eyes.
He couldn't understand it, but he was profoundly shaken.
Chapter 9: Arm Around the Waist
Early the next morning, Tang Mingxi was woken by his ringing phone.
After reading that timeless masterpiece, The Lewd Aunt and Seductive Brother-in-Law, a postmodern magical realist tribute to romantic realism, its brainwashing power was unparalleled. It had given Tang Mingxi nightmares all night.
In the dream, Tang Nuo wore his pajamas and sat in his room while Ye Heng hugged him from behind and said, "Why are you wearing Tang Mingxi's clothes?" Tang Mingxi then caught them red-handed.
Dream-Tang Mingxi was utterly shocked. After stammering, "You, you!" twice and coughing up blood, he rolled his eyes and fainted from rage.
After waking up, the more he thought about that scene, the more familiar it felt. Wasn't that the iconic scene from Temptation of Going Home?
Tang Mingxi rubbed his forehead and decided he absolutely had to warn Wang Ma to read fewer trashy novels in the future.
His phone was still buzzing. Half asleep, Tang Mingxi grabbed it and saw that the caller was "He Wenfang."
The next second, a cool male voice came through the phone. "President Tang, today is the bidding meeting for the Azure Luo Bay land development project. There are two hours until it begins. I can't reach Assistant Ye, so I hope you can make preparations as soon as possible."
The Azure Luo Bay bidding meeting?
Hearing that keyword, Tang Mingxi instantly snapped out of his drowsiness. He had been scared awake.
Good heavens, Azure Luo Bay—wasn't that the bay where "Tang Mingxi" had died without a burial in the original novel?!
And Tang Mingxi immediately remembered the identity of the man on the other end.
He Wenfang was the original owner's company secretary, a reliable man whose intelligence was almost demonic.
Tang Mingxi remembered him so clearly because He Wenfang had kept a low profile and concealed his abilities in the early stages. Later, as a strategist, he had directly taken all his connections and resources to serve a new master, becoming Ye Heng's right-hand man. He had also been a major reason Ye Heng could bring down the Tang Family so quickly.
Only then did Tang Mingxi remember that, when the old master was still alive, he had left Tang Mingxi a subsidiary company to manage jointly with Ye Heng.
But the original owner had been so careless that he had simply handed the subsidiary over to Ye Heng, giving Ye Heng ample time to cultivate his own power.
However, the company had long since become an empty shell. Not only did it fail to make money, it needed money constantly poured into it, and not a cent could be gained from it.
Ye Heng had come down with a high fever last night. When He Wenfang could not reach him, he contacted Tang Mingxi instead.
Thinking of this, Tang Mingxi could not help being astonished.
Ye Heng was only seventeen now, right? At just seventeen, he had nearly hollowed out Tang Mingxi's little subsidiary company.
What kind of general manager's secretary only contacted the top boss after failing to reach the second-in-command?
Of course, Ye Heng could hollow it out all he wanted. What Tang Mingxi cared about most now was his own life.
As for the bidding meeting? His life was practically on the line—attending a bidding meeting would be pointless. A séance suited him better!
Once the call ended, Tang Mingxi lay back down and began considering ways to run away.
He remembered that the cannon-fodder wife in the original novel had been personally pushed off the cliffs of Azure Luo Bay by Ye Heng.
To avoid that tragedy, Tang Mingxi came up with an idea and abruptly sat upright in bed!
"Wang Ma, I'm going out today. I won't see anyone who comes looking for me!"
Ye Heng woke from his stupor. The moment he opened his eyes, he
saw Tang Nuo.
Tang Nuo had no idea how long he had been leaning by the bedside. Hearing the movement, he looked at Ye Heng with sleepy eyes.
From Ye Heng's angle, it was undoubtedly a picture of a beauty waking from spring slumber.
"Feeling better?" His voice was gentle, just like Tang Nuo's appearance.
Ye Heng calmly glanced at the saline drip hanging above him, then expressionlessly pulled out the needle, bringing out a thin trail of blood. "Where is Tang Mingxi?"
Tang Nuo paused, his expression turning somewhat unpleasant.
He had stayed here anxiously all night, yet the first thing Ye Heng asked upon waking was where Tang Mingxi was?
"Second Brother seemed to have gone out this morning because of something," Tang Nuo said, forcing a smile. "Even Huo Yiran couldn't find him."
At the mention of Huo Yiran's name, a flash of bloodlust crossed Ye Heng's eyes.
"You've only just recovered. Don't stand," Tang Nuo said considerately. "Second Brother might have had something urgent to do, which is why he didn't come see you. Don't blame him."
Ye Heng picked up the scarf on the table, nearly half of which had been burned. His raven-feather lashes hung low, concealing the expression in his eyes.
Only the hand clenched tightly around it betrayed him. Tang Nuo was just about to comfort him when he saw Ye Heng loosen his grip and coldly throw the scarf into the trash.
As someone who had been reborn, Tang Nuo naturally knew how important this scarf was to Ye Heng. Seeing this, Tang Nuo nearly lost control of his expression. "Ye Heng, it's only a little burned. It can still be used after being mended."
"Broken things should be thrown away." There was no expression on Ye Heng's face.
If Tang Mingxi had been here, he definitely would have noticed something was wrong!
Throwing away his younger sister's scarf was the first step in Ye Heng's descent into darkness in the original novel.
It represented his complete farewell to his weak past self.
And, incidentally, brought the day of death for cannon fodder scum like Tang Mingxi one step closer.
Outside the swimming center, Tang Mingxi shivered.
Looking up, he saw that it truly was Ningcheng's largest private swimming center. Starting today, Tang Mingxi would undergo a year-long devilish survival training program here.
Last night, he had lain in bed repeatedly considering how to run away, yet he still had no clue.
But Tang Mingxi did not intend to sit around waiting for death. Since he already knew how he would die in the future, learning to swim now would at least give him a slim chance of surviving if he fell into the water.
As he entered, a private swimming Coach approached him. Before the man could speak, Tang Mingxi directly asked, "Do you teach swimming here?"
Embarrassingly enough, Tang Mingxi was actually a landlubber.
"Yes." The Coach swore confidently, "Handsome, what do you want to learn?"
Tang Mingxi said seriously, "Do you teach marathon swimming?"
The Coach was surprised. "Sure. How far are you planning to try swimming, handsome?"
Tang Mingxi made a conservative estimate and calmly replied, "Twenty kilometers."
The air froze for several seconds.
The Coach said, "Handsome, are you planning to compete in the Olympics and win glory for the country? Not to be rude, but at your age... you're a little old, aren't you?"
"Don't underestimate a young man because he's poor. I just look old." Tang Mingxi coughed lightly. "By the way, do you teach high-platform diving?"
The Coach said, "Sure. You really have a wide range of interests, handsome. About how many meters are you thinking?"
Tang Mingxi touched his nose and resolutely said, "Around two or three hundred meters."
The air froze even more solidly than before.
"What?" Tang Mingxi thought unhappily. Was two or three hundred meters really that high? He was going to have to jump from a cliff that high!
Couldn't he practice in advance?