With a hint of red bean paste color, and two small red moles beneath his eyes.
Though he had delicate, feminine features, one glance was enough to tell he was still a beautiful young man.
"Second Young Master, Ye Heng seems to have fainted." Aunt Wang kicked Ye Heng and found that he was not pretending.
Tang Mingxi: ...I can see that. No need to kick the protagonist and rack up his hatred toward me!
Could Wang Ma please break this awful habit of hitting people? :)
Tang Mingxi sighed helplessly and used the back of his hand to check Ye Heng's temperature. He was burning up.
Aunt Wang said, "Second Young Master, is this brat running a fever?"
Tang Mingxi nodded, only to see Aunt Wang's expression change. She hurriedly pulled Tang Mingxi away, leaving him with a question mark over his head.
Aunt Wang hastily said, "Second Young Master! Stay away from this brat, or he might pass his illness on to you!"
Tang Mingxi: ...
He finally understood just how low Ye Heng's status in the Tang Family was.
Aunt Wang hesitated for a moment before asking, "Second Young Master, what should we do now?"
What else could they do? The protagonist was about to die! Naturally, they had to give him medicine and bring down his fever first!
Tang Mingxi said, "Wang Ma, go bring a basin of water."
Aunt Wang froze, then suddenly understood. "I understand, Second Young Master!"
Watching Aunt Wang's cheerful retreating figure, Tang Mingxi: ...?
What exactly did you understand?
Less than twenty seconds later, Aunt Wang carried in a basin of ice water.
Tang Mingxi was stunned speechless. After choking on his words for a while and staring blankly for several seconds, he finally asked, "Why did you bring cold water?"
Aunt Wang said, "Wasn't that what you ordered, Second Young Master? Step aside. I understand—we'll splash Ye Heng awake and make him keep kneeling!"
Tang Mingxi stared blankly: ...You're so brutal, Wang Ma.
Could you please stop doing reading comprehension exercises with everything I say?!
Wait! Was this how he usually dealt with Ye Heng? His hatred value was being built up far too steadily.
"Are you misunderstanding something?" Tang Mingxi rubbed his forehead and quickly came up with an excuse. "He fainted in my room. If you splash him with cold water and he dies, what then? If Big Brother hears about it, he'll scold me for no reason again. Wang Ma, are you harboring ulterior motives? Are you deliberately trying to harm me?"
Tang Mingxi lowered his voice on the last sentence, putting on an arrogant, spoiled act as he swiftly turned the accusation around.
Aunt Wang's face turned deathly pale. "Second Young Master! I didn't—I truly didn't!"
Tang Mingxi immediately softened his tone. "I know you were trying to vent my anger for me. There will be plenty of chances in the future. Why cause trouble at Tang Family Manor?"
Still, the most urgent matter was getting Ye Heng onto a bed to lie down.
He definitely could not lie on Tang Mingxi's bed. In the original novel, Tang Mingxi loathed Ye Heng, so although they were engaged, they had always slept in separate rooms.
Given his personality, he would never have allowed Ye Heng to touch his bed.
So Tang Mingxi planned to move Ye Heng back to his own room.
Having made up his mind, Tang Mingxi bent down, scooped Ye Heng up with both hands, and heaved upward... heaved! Heaved!!
Heaved... but failed to lift him.
Tang Mingxi stared expressionlessly at Ye Heng's face and fell into a subtle silence.
He didn't look like he had much meat on him... Could he be the type who looked slim in clothes but muscular without them?!
And besides, how could he not even carry a minor?!
He suddenly began to miss the six-pack abs he had before transmigrating.
Aunt Wang cautiously said, "Second Young Master, shall I do it?"
Tang Mingxi's ears reddened slightly as he stepped aside.
Aunt Wang bent down and effortlessly lifted Ye Heng in her thick, powerful arms.
Tang Mingxi was shocked: Wang Ma, you're incredible!
Five minutes later, standing at the entrance to this so-called "room," Tang Mingxi once again had his worldview overturned.
Ye Heng lived in a storage room beside the stables, essentially a shipping container put together with a few movable boards, ensuring it was freezing in winter and scorching in summer.
The room, less than ten square meters in size, was divided into two sections. There was a small bed about 1.2 meters wide, which was really just a raised wire mesh frame. It had a thin sheet and a summer air-conditioning quilt. Several clothes were piled on the bed; Ye Heng had probably taken out every last thing he owned for warmth and laid it there.
The other half of the room was piled with cleaning equipment for the stables,
and some discarded tools.
It was filthy, messy, and run-down.
Tang Mingxi could not even bring himself to step inside.
"...Let's change rooms."
For some reason, Tang Mingxi felt a little guilty as he rubbed his forehead and spoke.
Following Tang Mingxi's instructions, Aunt Wang fetched hot water, hot towels, and all sorts of common fever medicine.
Tang Mingxi soaked a towel in hot water, waited for it to cool slightly, then placed it on Ye Heng's forehead to lower his temperature.
Half asleep and half awake, Ye Heng could only vaguely sense that someone was taking care of him.
Then he was helped up and groggily swallowed the fever medicine.
A faint, sweet fragrance lingered around the tip of his nose, impossible to dispel.
So warm...
Ye Heng struggled to open his eyes, but he could only make out a blurred figure.
A faint length of red cord hung around that person's slender neck.
Just as Tang Mingxi finished everything and stood up, someone reported from outside, "Second Young Master, the young master has returned!"
The young master? Tang Mingxi paused.
A series of hurried footsteps already sounded in the corridor, and then the room door was pushed open with great force.
A handsome young man, dusty from travel, stood in the doorway. His gaze first fell on Tang Mingxi, then shifted to Ye Heng.
Seeing the bruised wounds on Ye Heng's face, the newcomer finally snapped in anger. "Second Brother, don't go too far!"
A name surfaced in Tang Mingxi's mind by reflex: Tang Nuo!
This young man was the Tang Family's young master!
At the same time, he was Ye Heng's closest friend in the original novel.
Thank You
Although Tang Mingxi and Tang Nuo were biological brothers, they did not look very alike because they had different mothers.
Tang Nuo, standing at the door, had refined features and a clean temperament, as cool and radiant as moonlight.
Tang Mingxi, meanwhile, had strikingly gorgeous features and bold, vivid looks—a beautiful face that seemed made to stir up trouble.
Tang Nuo's forceful entrance woke Ye Heng on the bed.
The warm, dry bedding and the spacious, bright room left Ye Heng stunned for several seconds.
Tang Nuo frowned. "Second Brother, I know you've always disliked Ye Heng. But tonight is the Tang Family's annual gathering. No matter how much you dislike him, you still have to bring him along. Why did you lay such heavy hands on him?"
Tang Mingxi also remembered that the Tang Family's annual gathering was held once a year, and everyone in the family had to attend.
Aunt Wang spoke first, breaking the silence. "Young Master Tang, this is our Second Young Master's family matter. Aren't you, an outsider, meddling too much?"
Tang Mingxi and Tang Nuo had never gotten along particularly well since childhood. On top of that, Tang Nuo's status as an illegitimate child had always made him unwelcome in the Tang Family.
As Second Young Master's servant, Aunt Wang naturally did not give Tang Nuo a pleasant look.
Tang Nuo was mild-tempered and had always avoided arguing with servants, so he tolerated Aunt Wang's offense.
Tang Mingxi sat calmly and said in a nonchalant tone, "I know my limits. I won't beat him to death. Besides, even if I did beat him to death, the Tang Family couldn't do anything to me."
—Of course, the merciless iron fist of the law would knock me down, Tang Mingxi silently added in his heart.
Hearing his contemptuous words about human life, Ye Heng could not help curling his lips in a sneer.
Tang Mingxi's animal instincts were exceedingly sharp. He immediately felt as if two icy blades were pressed against his back, making him shudder.
When he turned around, Ye Heng still wore that cold, coffin-like expression. Tang Mingxi's conditioned memories immediately presented him with his final fate.
Freezing seawater, the excruciating pain of sharks tearing into him, endless—