Chapter 43

Thinking this, the door to the special assistant's office at Tang Group headquarters opened, and Tang Nuo strolled out.

Shen Yuan hurriedly called out, "Third Brother!"

Although he did not particularly like Tang Nuo, that illegitimate son, he could not get any money from Tang Mingxi, so he could only come borrow some from Tang Nuo!

Tang Nuo stopped and said gently, "What brings you here, Xiaoyuan?"

Shen Yuan said, "I recently wanted to... invest in a project, but I'm a little short on cash. I wanted to ask whether Third Brother might be interested in joining in."

Tang Nuo's probing gaze swept over his face before he smiled. "Sure. But your Third Brother doesn't understand the things young people like you play with. How about this? I'll give you the money, and you can invest it for me."

That was exactly what Shen Yuan wanted!!

"Wuwu, Third Brother, you're such a good person."

Where there was money, there was family. Shen Yuan immediately switched sides to Tang Nuo.

Tang Nuo asked as if casually, "Aren't you usually closest with Second Brother? Why didn't you ask him to invest in such a good project this time? Why come to me instead?"

"Don't mention it." Shen Yuan sighed. "Second Brother must be worrying over He Lingzhi's return to the country right now. I won't go bother him."

He Lingzhi had returned?

Tang Nuo quietly suppressed his surprise.

No one in the Tang Family was unfamiliar with He Lingzhi.

He had grown up alongside Tang Mingxi as childhood sweethearts, and it was said that he had even gone abroad back then because of Tang Mingxi.

When the Tang Family discovered Tang Mingxi's unusual feelings for He Lingzhi, they decisively sent He Lingzhi abroad, snuffing out that relationship before it could even sprout and ruining all of his prospects in the country.

"But that was all years ago. Isn't Cousin getting married now?" Shen Yuan continued. "I think his relationship with Ye Heng is pretty good now. They're no longer like enemies whose eyes turn red the moment they meet. I even heard Cousin was picking out a birthday gift for Ye Heng at Huating today."

As Tang Nuo listened, the hand holding his documents slowly tightened.

The steadily improving relationship between Tang Mingxi and Ye Heng filled him with a sense of crisis.

Clearly, in his previous life, the two had been at odds from beginning to end. After being reborn, Tang Nuo had no idea where things had gone wrong. Tang Mingxi had become like a completely different person, and his attitude toward Ye Heng had taken a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.

Tang Mingxi picking out a birthday gift for Ye Heng was simply absurd beyond belief.

Don't tell him that his useless Second Brother had fallen in love with Ye Heng?

That was too ridiculous.

But if things continued like this, would Ye Heng start seeing Tang Mingxi differently?

Tang Nuo's eyes darkened. Would it be like before again? The things he could not obtain even after giving everything he had, Tang Mingxi could acquire with ease?

In his previous life, his only remaining chance to turn things around had been Ye Heng's special favor.

Now, he absolutely could not stand by and watch Tang Mingxi take away that special treatment!

On Monday morning, Tang Group's internal meeting convened as scheduled.

After an entire morning, the weekly meeting finally ended. Ye Heng glanced at his phone. His WeChat was empty, without a single message.

His chat history with Tang Mingxi still stopped at two days ago.

Tang Mingxi had been ignoring him again lately. He did not know whether he had offended him somewhere again.

As though possessed, Ye Heng sent him a message.

[Have you eaten?]

Tang Mingxi quickly threw over a screenshot. It was a timetable showing that it was only ten in the morning.

He also arrogantly snapped: [Did you take the wrong medicine?]

Who ate at ten o'clock :)

Ye Heng sent him a link. It was the address of Baiyang Private Kitchen.

[Baiyang Private Kitchen has released several new dishes.]

Tang Mingxi: [What do you mean OO]

Ye Heng paused before replying: [Want to go eat?]

The date was his birthday.

Ye Heng did not understand why he had chosen that particular day to invite Tang Mingxi out for a meal.

He never would have done so before.

Ye Heng remembered that when he had first arrived at the Tang Family, Tang Mingxi had been domineering and willful, stupid and cruel. His humiliations of Ye Heng had been countless.

If not for Ye Yue's bone marrow transplant, he would have left the Tang Family long ago.

But Tang Mingxi had changed later on.

Although he was still spoiled and overbearing, there was something different about him.

Tang Mingxi used to be like a vase with a terrible character—beautiful, yet repulsive.

At some point, Tang Mingxi had become lively in his eyes, so radiant that Ye Heng found it hard to look away.

Tang Mingxi: [Is this how you invite someone to dinner? (angry)]

The corner of Ye Heng's mouth curved upward. He replied on WeChat: [Then may I invite you to dinner?]

[.]

[Fine. Since you helped me vent my anger that day, I'll consider it.]

"Ye Heng!" Tang Nuo called out to Ye Heng and stepped into the elevator just before its doors closed. Smiling, he said, "Long time no see."

Ye Heng nodded at him without saying anything else.

If it had been before, Tang Nuo would not have cared about Ye Heng's cold attitude.

He knew in his heart that he was special in Ye Heng's eyes.

But now, he did not know how much of that specialness remained.

Tang Nuo could not help worrying. Had Ye Heng stopped hating Tang Mingxi? If he did not hate Tang Mingxi, how could Tang Nuo replace Tang Mingxi and take over the Tang Family in the future?

"I heard from Xiaoyuan that he saw you at Huating last time. Were you shopping with Second Brother?"

"Mm."

Seeing that Ye Heng did not deny it, Tang Nuo's heart sank a little further.

He gritted his teeth and said softly, "That's what I thought. Still, I didn't expect it. Given Second Brother's personality, I thought he didn't like going out shopping."

"Maybe it's because Brother He is back. I heard from Xiaoyuan that Second Brother received the news too. It seems he was even choosing a welcome-home gift for him at Huating." Tang Nuo smiled warmly. "Second Brother is still the same as always. Since they were young, Brother He's affairs have been what he cared about most. He even had to choose the gift himself. If my father hadn't stopped them back then... they might have already been together by now."

He paused, looked at Ye Heng's expression gradually turn cold, and lowered his voice. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up."

Tang Nuo stopped there. After speaking, he quietly waited for Ye Heng's response.

After a long while, he heard the young man's icy voice. "If you know you should apologize, then don't say it and make yourself annoying."

Jealousy

Tang Mingxi lay on his bed, staring at Ye Heng's messages as he fell into a brief internal struggle.

The male lead had invited me to dinner. It looked like he didn't hate me that much, right?

After getting along for more than half a year, we counted as friends, didn't we? Should I try a little harder to cling to him?

Platform diving was already hard enough. Diving into the sea would be even harder. I don't want to work hard at swimming anymore, qvq.

Tang Er rolled around the bed for a while before his desire to survive overcame his wishful thinking.

After all, Ye Heng was the sort who hid knives behind a smile and never showed his hand.

Who knew whether the kindness he showed was just an act?

What if he was an actor with superb acting skills? :)

That bastard man could not be relied on at all.

The only thing he could rely on was his own perfect diving skills!

Hugging a silk pillow, Tang Mingxi had a sudden whim and picked up the velvet dark-blue gemstone box from his bedside table to admire it.

Early that morning, the Sri Lankan cornflower blue sapphire brooch worth tens of millions that he had ordered for Ye Heng two days ago as a birthday gift had been personally delivered to Mingxi No. 1 by the sales associate, along with its certificate of authentication.

He could have received the leopard brooch the day before yesterday, but Tang Mingxi had asked them to add an extra detail.

On the inside of the leopard's tail, he had engraved a line of words: Ye Heng is a dog.

No telling how long it would take Ye Heng to discover that he had cursed him.