Chapter 15

If he flew over there and practiced swimming in the sea, escaping the male lead would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?

Coach praised him again. "Handsome, you're in such great shape. Are you a model?"

That wasn't exactly an exaggeration. Tang Mingxi had a slim waist, long legs, and skin as white as congealed cream. He practically reflected light in the water. At first, Coach had thought he was some celebrity, but nothing came up when he searched online.

Tang Mingxi was so pleased that he couldn't help swelling with confidence and suggesting to Coach that he wanted to try platform diving.

But the moment he stood on the diving board and looked down, his body stiffened, and all his lofty ambitions vanished in an instant.

Help! Was that even a height a human being could jump from?!

Tang Mingxi turned pale with fright and fled the diving platform at lightning speed, temporarily abandoning the idea of practicing high diving. He obediently hugged a swim ring and continued soaking in the pool while he swam.

He gloomily splashed around in the water, thinking about the eight zeroes in his bank account and the private island Tang Yun had just bought him...

Maybe he could try getting close to the male lead again :)

Clearly, he could not.

Tang Mingxi changed clothes and left the swimming center. Now that he was debt-free, he no longer had to spend every day attending meetings and entertaining clients like he had in his previous life. Aside from worrying about his own survival, he was even a little bored!

People really could not get too smug. He had just sighed about having nothing to do when trouble came knocking the very next second.

Tang Mingxi's phone began vibrating nonstop.

Shen Yuan: [Cousin, did you know that bastard Tang Yu took the Azure Luo Bay development project???]

Shen Yuan: [Wasn't this project assigned to you by Eldest Cousin? How did it end up in his hands?]

Shen Yuan: [Fuck!! Once that asshole gets full of himself, he'll definitely rub it in my face qvq I'm so mad qvq]

Shen Yuan: [Cousin, I'm short on money lately. Can you lend me two million qvq]

Tang Mingxi: [Who are you? We're not close, thanks :)]

He blocked him immediately.

Shen Yuan was the son of his younger aunt, his own cousin, and also an ignorant, good-for-nothing spendthrift.

They had not exactly grown up together, but they shared the same rotten tastes. Since they had Tang Yu as a mutual enemy, they were fairly close, and Tang Mingxi could not be bothered to stand on ceremony with him.

No money to lend. Take his life instead.

After Tang Mingxi blocked his noisy cousin, the business Bentley that had come to pick him up stopped steadily in front of him.

To avoid anyone discovering that he had come out of the swimming center, Tang Mingxi had even deliberately walked another five hundred meters.

It had practically exhausted him to death :)

Ye Heng got out of the car and opened the door for him.

They had not seen each other for over half a month. Why did Ye Heng seem to have grown taller?

Seventeen or eighteen was probably the age when boys grew. Thinking of his own height, Tang Mingxi felt jealous for a while.

"Shen Yuan just called to borrow money from me." Ye Heng began reporting coldly the moment he sat down.

"Oh. He called me too." Tang Mingxi asked, "How much did he ask you for?"

"Five million."

Damn it, that brat really knew how to pick on the weak and fear the strong?

After grumbling internally, Tang Mingxi asked, "Did you lend it to him?"

"I don't have money." Ye Heng spoke blandly. "I'm still five hundred in debt."

Tang Mingxi: ...

It was just one Western meal. Did you really have to hold such a grudge? It's already been half a month!

I even raised your allowance. Man, are you still not satisfied with what you've gotten? :)

Tang Mingxi said, "Don't answer his calls from now on. How did the Azure Luo Bay project end up in Tang Yu's hands? Weren't you in charge of it?"

Ye Heng's eyelashes trembled slightly as he answered calmly, "There was a problem with Mingheng's document assessment. We didn't win the bid."

Who are you trying to fool?!

Tang Mingxi grumbled inwardly. I read the original novel ahead of time. In another two months, Azure Luo Bay will be entirely your territory!

Ever since Ningcheng had changed its top official, not only had it supported local elite enterprises, it had also gone all out to attract outside investment. With a full thirty billion invested, Azure Luo Bay was a major new-energy development site along the coast. Businesses inside and outside Ningcheng were all eyeing its development rights greedily.

"Oh." Tang Mingxi responded coldly and offered a few halfhearted words of encouragement. "Don't lose heart. Try harder next time."

He had no intention whatsoever of getting involved in company affairs, which was exactly what Ye Heng had expected.

It was not that Tang Mingxi did not want to manage things. In his previous life, he had died suddenly after drinking with clients. The result of working himself to death had been an express trip to reincarnation. Now that he had finally escaped work, who would want to become a corporate drone again? :)

"Tonight, Uncle arranged a celebration banquet. You have two hours to get ready."

"A celebration banquet?"

Oh, right. Tang Yu had finally pried such a huge project out of his hands. Naturally, Tang Youwei was feeling proud, so of course he would flaunt it extravagantly.

Ye Heng said, "You don't have to go."

Ye Heng paused when he said that.

Tang Yu had snatched this project from Tang Mingxi. He would definitely try to make Tang Mingxi uncomfortable tonight.

But it did not seem to have anything to do with him. Ye Heng somewhat regretted speaking too quickly and mentioning it.

"Go. Why wouldn't I?" Tang Mingxi's eyes lit up.

If he did not go, how could he watch Tang Yu make a fool of himself? As a loyal reader who knew the original novel inside out, he could watch this classic scene of the male lead slapping the cannon fodder's face over and over without getting tired of it.

Tang Yu had not gotten the Azure Luo Bay cooperation contract at all. The person in charge of Azure Luo Bay had merely sent word to the Tang Family that they would sign the contract with them in seven days. They had not specified whether it would be Tang Yu or Tang Mingxi.

But Tang Yu was passionately involved with Wang Min, the daughter of Azure Luo Bay's person in charge. The moment the call came to the Tang Family, Tang Yu immediately assumed that he was the one who had secured the cooperation with Azure Luo Bay.

Of course not. Tang Mingxi knew perfectly well that Ye Heng would be the one to obtain the Azure Luo Bay contract.

In the original novel, Ningcheng's top official already knew that Ye Heng was the eldest young master of the Ye Family and directly did him a favor.

Everyone in political circles knew the background of the Ye Family in Cloud Capital. It was only natural that Ningcheng's top official wanted to make an impression on Ye Heng. If he wanted to rise step by step in the future, he would still need Ye Heng to put in a few good words for him.

What no one had expected was for shameless Tang Yu to claim that favor for himself.

Although Tang Mingxi really wanted to complain that the bid evaluation and supervision team of the land and resources department had to be mere decorations, this wealthy-family business live-in son-in-law novel had never had much logic to begin with.

So he calmed down.

Thinking of the evening banquet, Tang Mingxi suddenly remembered the eight zeroes that he had nowhere to spend.

Ever since getting that money, he had not even been able to find anyone suitable to show off his wealth to.

Hadn't the opportunity arrived now? :)

After the New Year, they had returned from the old residence in the suburbs to central Ningcheng.

Before the Bentley headed toward the hotel Tang Yu had chosen, Tang Mingxi dragged Ye Heng back to Mingxi No. 1 in a blaze of energy.

Mingxi No. 1 Mansion was located on the incredibly valuable Nanyang Road. Quiet amid the bustle and surrounded by water on all sides, it had been a coming-of-age gift from the old master when Tang Mingxi turned eighteen. The Ning City Daily had ranked it first among the ten greatest luxury residences.

After becoming engaged to Ye Heng, the two of them had lived here all along.

Ye Heng was somewhat baffled by Tang Mingxi's sudden burst of enthusiasm.

After getting out of the car, Tang Mingxi did not wait for him to open the door. Breaking from his usual behavior, he grabbed Ye Heng's wrist and eagerly led him toward Mingxi No. 1.

He looked a little impatient.

Ye Heng's gaze fell on the hand clasping his wrist. The back of Tang Mingxi's hand was fair, but his palm was scorching hot.

He said nothing. His face remained indifferent, while his raven-feather lashes concealed the deep gaze of the young man.

Only when they reached the entrance did Tang Mingxi realize he had gotten overly excited and had actually grabbed the Big Demon King male lead!

I'm getting carried away.

Money really does make people swell with confidence.

Tang Mingxi coughed lightly, released Ye Heng as naturally as possible, and pretended nothing had happened.

He clapped his hands twice. With two sharp claps, more than a dozen stylists carrying bags and boxes suddenly appeared at the entrance of Mingxi No. 1.

The leader was just