Tang Mingxi:...
No wonder the hairs on the back of his neck had stood on end!
At least he had helped the male lead just now. Even if Ye Heng remembered grudges but not favors, he didn't have to be such an ungrateful bastard :)
Ten minutes later, Tang Nuo arrived late.
After greeting Tang Yun, he respectfully addressed Tang Mingxi. "Second Brother."
Then he gave Ye Heng a slight nod. At the same time, much of the bone-deep hatred in Ye Heng's eyes faded, replaced by a somewhat gentler look.
Seeing this, Tang Mingxi could not help sighing. As expected of the male lead's best friend in the original novel—the treatment he received was entirely different from that of a scumbag cannon fodder like him.
After Tang Yu ran off, a seat among the main family's relatives was left empty.
Ye Heng naturally took Tang Yu's original seat, drawing the displeasure of some people at the table.
Out of consideration for Tang Yun, they did not dare make any overt moves, but their petty tricks were endless.
Eleven sets of bowls and chopsticks were brought out, with only Ye Heng's set missing.
Ye Heng already looked accustomed to it and sat silently at the table.
Though starving and freezing, he would not grab the food with his hands. He did not want the Tang Family to laugh at him.
Tang Mingxi saw it and felt a little sorry for him.
Ever since Ye Heng had entered the Tang Family home, under the torment of the original "Tang Mingxi," he had never once been allowed to eat at the table.
Either he was casually fobbed off with leftovers, or he drank cold water to stave off hunger. Speaking of which, Tang Mingxi had to admit he was a little envious—worthy of the male lead indeed; even eating leftovers, he had grown this tall.
Even so, the original owner had thought the humiliation insufficient and gave Ye Heng a hundred yuan in spending money every day, as if tossing coins to a beggar.
Anyone could guess that someone as proud as Ye Heng would never use that money.
After kneeling all afternoon, Ye Heng had been drenched by the snow. His fever had not fully subsided, and his mind was now foggy. Being able to sit down was already a luxury.
The Tang Family's kicking him while he was down at the banquet today was like seeing a dying stray dog by the roadside and stepping on it twice just to vent their own malice.
With the male lead suffering right in front of him, Tang Mingxi truly... could not swallow his food.
Physically could not swallow it—after all, the suffering the male lead endured today would become the blades stabbing into him someday.
Tang Mingxi could practically see his own future, dying miserably in a shark's belly, through Ye Heng's gloomy gaze.
He quietly let out a breath, then frowned and slammed his bowl and chopsticks onto the table impatiently. "Has the Tang Family gone bankrupt? What kind of chef did you hire? There isn't a single dish I like!"
The bowls and chopsticks clattered loudly. The porcelain chopsticks fell onto the banquet hall floor and snapped in half, and everyone at the table looked over.
Tang Yun was closest to him and said helplessly, "If the food doesn't suit your taste, just have it taken away and replaced. Why throw a tantrum for no reason?"
In the original novel, Tang Mingxi's eldest brother Tang Yun had granted every wish of his blood-related younger brother. It could only be called doting indulgence. Even when Tang Mingxi had caused a scene at the annual meeting, Tang Yun had never gotten angry.
"I'm not eating it. Take it away and replace the whole table!" Tang Mingxi played the spoiled favorite to perfection, embodying every inch of a pampered playboy.
Tang Yun raised a hand and instructed the servers to clear the dishes. His gaze naturally fell on the space before Ye Heng, and only then did he notice that Ye Heng had no bowl or chopsticks at all.
Seeing this, Tang Nuo hurriedly seized the opportunity to speak, quietly reprimanding the servers. "How do you people do your jobs? You can even forget a set of bowls and chopsticks?"
The servers felt a chill down their backs. Everyone acted according to the situation, and humiliating Ye Heng was as easy as drinking water.
They had not expected Third Young Master to notice it now. Pulling strings behind the scenes was one thing, but putting it out in the open made everyone look bad.
Tang Yun glanced at Tang Nuo and said coldly, "The annual meeting is just busy today, so there were bound to be oversights. Just make up for it. It's New Year's—don't go looking for trouble!"
Tang Nuo was scolded for no reason. He clenched his fist beneath the table, lowered his head in embarrassment, and dropped his lashes awkwardly. "...Eldest Brother is right."
Tang Mingxi looked at Tang Yun in surprise, thinking that his bargain-bin brother really was a giant hypocrite.
He could act out this badly and still stay out of trouble, while Tang Nuo had merely said a few words for Ye Heng and got a barbed lecture from Tang Yun. Clearly, Tang Nuo was not very welcome in the Tang Family either. Perfect—he and Ye Heng could make quite the pair.
Tang Mingxi sighed. It was precisely Tang Yun's unconditional favoritism toward him that had made the original "Tang Mingxi" increasingly arrogant and spoiled, eventually destroying the entire Tang Family.
So why was my life so miserable qvq?
The dishes were cleared and replaced. Tang Mingxi demanded porridge, forcing the whole table to eat bland, watery food. Their faces were green with misery, yet they dared not voice their anger at Tang Mingxi.
Only Ye Heng ate comfortably. His fever had not gone down, and while he was ill, the sight of chicken, duck, fish, and other rich dishes made him nauseous.
A mouthful of hot porridge was just what he needed to warm the stomach that had gone all day without food.
The young man ate quickly. Tang Mingxi glanced at him and thought, No one's going to steal it from you. How can you gulp down porridge this hot...
But what he did not know was that Ye Heng had basically always had to fight for food in the Tang Family. He ate at the same table as the servants in the back kitchen, and if he ate too slowly, there would be nothing left. He would go hungry for an entire day.
" Tang Mingxi" had never been kind enough to save him dinner.
Still, seeing Ye Heng focus on eating without becoming suspicious of his sudden demand for plain porridge, Tang Mingxi let out a breath of relief.
After causing such a huge fuss and even sacrificing his own reputation, all just to let the male lead have a mouthful of hot porridge—if I'm not one of Ningcheng's ten most touching figures this year, then who is?
The next part of the annual meeting was the reporting session.
Tang Mingxi and Tang Nuo each held a subsidiary company and had managed them for a year. Tang Mingxi had lived up to expectations by running his subsidiary into the ground and piling up a mountain of debt.
Tang Nuo, meanwhile, had already brought his subsidiary to the point of going public. His impressive financial statements earned him considerable attention.
Gradually, whispers of gossip rose in the banquet hall. They reached Tang Nuo's ears, and the corners of his mouth could not help lifting slightly.
"Seriously, what right does Tang Er have to sit here? Isn't he only relying on his eldest brother?"
"I think the Tang Family might end up in Third Young Master's hands."
"Comparing people really is infuriating. Same father, so why is the gap this big?"
"He looks like a woman and even married a man. Doesn't he find that humiliating? If I were him, I'd rather die."
"If you ask me, he's quite a match for that useless son-in-law."
Hearing these sneers, Tang Mingxi remained unconcerned. After all, next year, the male lead would kill them all together :)
Ye Heng, however, curled his lips mockingly and gave Tang Mingxi a contemptuous glance.
Seeing how shameless Tang Mingxi was, treating disgrace as glory instead, made a wave of disgust rise in him.
After hearing this, Tang Yun frowned slightly and comforted Tang Mingxi gently. "Don't listen to that sour talk. You're still young, just a child. You'll have plenty of room to grow in the future."
Tang Mingxi nearly spat out his orange juice. ...A twenty-one-year-old child? Eldest Brother, wake up. What kind of filter are you looking through?!
"Besides, with me here, you don't need to work hard. Your brother will protect you for the rest of your life."
Tang Mingxi did not know whether to laugh or cry. Thinking of Ye Heng's future methods, he complained inwardly, ...Thanks, Brother. Next year, we'll be walking the road to the underworld together.
After the brothers caught up for a while, the annual meeting came to an end.
Tang Yun and the others returned to the old residence. The Bentley stopped at the front gate, and Ye Heng had already gotten out of the car on his own, walking coldly toward the stables.
Tang Mingxi looked at the weather and felt a little conflicted. It's so cold, and the male lead still has a high fever. Can a person even sleep in that cardboard shack beside the stables?
...Forget it. He would find an opportunity later to get Ye Heng inside to sleep.
Though he knew Ye Heng would kill him in the future, he could always run away beforehand. At least for now, Tang Mingxi could not say he disliked Ye Heng.
Watching Ye Heng's solitary figure, Tang Mingxi felt a faint unease flash through his heart, as though he had forgotten something.