Tao Zhiyan rarely got sick, so when he did develop a fever, it was serious, but he recovered quickly too.
He got up early the next morning and saw Feng Yiqian downstairs, chewing on some bread with his eyes closed.
Hearing him, Feng Yiqian turned and lifted his eyelids. His groggy brain snapped awake. "Butler Tao? You're better?"
"I'm better." Tao Zhiyan nodded, then looked around and asked, "Has the eldest young master already left?"
"No, my brother isn't awake yet." Feng Yiqian was especially enthusiastic. He straightened up and tapped the table twice with his knuckles. "Butler Tao, you've gone viral! Did you know?"
Tao Zhiyan didn't quite understand.
"Your Weibo account! You gained a whopping five hundred thousand followers overnight!" Feng Yiqian gave Tao Zhiyan a thumbs-up. "You're incredible! You tore them to shreds the second you made an account!"
As Feng Yiqian spoke, there was suddenly a sound upstairs.
He broke off and looked up to see Feng Ze coming down the stairs.
Feng Ze looked straight ahead, leisurely adjusting his cuff buttons. In his bespoke suit, his broad shoulders and narrow waist rivaled a male model's.
"Damn, my brother's handsome!" Feng Yiqian couldn't help exclaiming.
Good thing Feng Ze had to inherit the family business. If he went into entertainment with those looks, how would anyone else make a living?
"Young master." Tao Zhiyan took half a step forward, tipping his chin up slightly to look at Feng Ze, his eyes curving with his smile. "You're awake. What would you like to eat? I'll prepare it."
Feng Ze didn't answer. He finished adjusting his cuff buttons and came down the stairs, brushing past Tao Zhiyan with barely a pause.
As though he hadn't heard him.
Uh-oh.
Feng Yiqian raised his eyebrows, quietly looked away, and buried his head in his bread.
Something's off between my brother and Butler Tao...
Tao Zhiyan froze for half a second. Seeing Feng Ze head straight for the entryway, he hurried after him. "Are you going to the office?"
Then Tao Zhiyan took out his phone, checked his chat history, and explained, "Assistant Wang hasn't sent me your schedule today. Did he not have time?"
Feng Ze still acted as though he hadn't heard. He changed his shoes and pulled the door open to leave.
Tao Zhiyan hurried down into the entryway, his voice growing a little urgent. "Then around what time will you be back tonight? Should I save you dinner?"
"I don't know." With that, Feng Ze slammed the door with a bang and left without looking back.
"..."
Tao Zhiyan stood rooted to the spot, clearly stunned by what had just happened. He licked his lips and stared at the closed door in disbelief.
...That was harsh.
What's wrong?
Did something happen at work?
Tao Zhiyan stood there in a daze, completely unaware that Feng Yiqian had sauntered out of the dining room and come up behind him.
Taking in Tao Zhiyan's expression, Feng Yiqian leaned against the wall and drawled, "Butler Tao, this is what you call being oblivious!"
Tao Zhiyan looked back, a little confused.
Feng Yiqian didn't beat around the bush. He lifted his chin. "Didn't you see that my brother's mad at you?"
Mad at him?
Tao Zhiyan genuinely hadn't noticed. "Why?"
They'd been perfectly fine last night.
And he'd been so good today. He hadn't even stayed in bed. Why was Feng Ze angry?
That stumped Feng Yiqian too. His brother rarely got angry with anyone, but when he really did, it wasn't this simple.
Generally speaking, if someone offended his brother, he dealt with them once and for all.
Something along the lines of, "The weather's getting cold. Time for the Wang, Li, and Zhao companies to go bankrupt."
So if Butler Tao really had offended his brother, his brother would probably have told him to pack his things and get out.
Today's reaction was a little too mild.
But based on how well Feng Yiqian knew his brother, he was definitely angry!
Feng Yiqian rubbed his chin in thought for half a minute, then snapped his fingers. "It must be because you went and got a fever last night without permission! You made us worry!"
Feng Yiqian looked at Tao Zhiyan and said seriously, with a stern face, "From now on, don't get a fever without my brother's permission!"
Tao Zhiyan gave him an exasperated glance.
Do you even hear yourself?
Did I want to get a fever?
Next time I get one, am I supposed to say, "Fever, dismiss yourself," and it'll just go away?
Ridiculous.
Tao Zhiyan looked away and headed into the living room.
But Feng Yiqian was right. Feng Ze's behavior today was a little strange.
After mulling it over, Tao Zhiyan opened his chat with Assistant Wang and sent him a message.
[Peach: Good morning, Assistant Wang. It looks like you forgot to send the eldest young master's schedule today. /sun]
The reply came instantly.
[Wang doesn't want to work: Sorry, Butler Tao. Mr. Feng said last night that I don't need to send it to you anymore.]
Tao Zhiyan raised his eyebrows.
[Peach: All right. Did the eldest young master say why?]
[Wang doesn't want to work: The eldest young master said that from now on, work and personal matters should be kept separate. All work-related matters will be left entirely to me and the assistants.]
Tao Zhiyan's fingers unconsciously tightened around his phone. He read the message several times, then pressed his lips together and turned off the screen.
Work and personal matters should be kept separate.
Actually, drawing that line would save Tao Zhiyan quite a bit of trouble, but he was still unhappy.
Why was Feng Ze suddenly distancing himself from him for no reason?
Had he done something wrong?
Tao Zhiyan felt that, while he wasn't exceptionally good at his job, he hadn't made any mistakes either. He might fall a little short of being utterly devoted to his duties, but he certainly worked diligently.
As for mistakes, his only problem had been getting sick yesterday, but... could he really be blamed for that?
Tao Zhiyan felt a little wronged.
From their first meeting until now, Feng Ze had always been a man of few words, but he had never ignored him like he had today.
Realizing this left Tao Zhiyan feeling heavy inside, something lodged in his chest that he couldn't put into words.
Tao Zhiyan lowered his eyes and suddenly realized that, at some point, he had opened his chat with Feng Ze.
Their chat still ended with Feng Ze's message: "Not in a good mood."
Tao Zhiyan thought that sentence suited him pretty well right now.
He bit his lip, idly scrolled through their chat, then tapped Feng Ze's profile picture out of boredom to look at his Moments.
Feng Ze had never posted anything to Moments. It was completely empty.
But his Moments cover photo had changed.
It was a little cake sitting on a table. Pink, topped with a few chunks of peach and some grapes, with a little orange cat nestled beside a black-and-white puppy.
It looked pretty tasty.
Tao Zhiyan kept his eyes lowered, looking listless.
He hadn't expected Feng Ze to use something so cute as his cover photo. It didn't suit his style at all.
Just as he was thinking that, the intercom by the door suddenly rang. It was the villa's gatekeeper.
Tao Zhiyan got up, walked over, and pressed the answer button. "Hello."
"Butler Tao, there's a man named Tang He here. He says he's a friend of the Feng Family's third young master. Should I let him in?"
"Tang He?" The name was a little unfamiliar to Tao Zhiyan.
Feng Yiqian, however, heard them and immediately ran over.
"Tang He's here? Let him in, let him in!" Feng Yiqian ran to the door and spoke into the intercom. "Let him in, sir. He's my friend!"
"All right, I'll let him in now." With that, the gatekeeper hung up.
Feng Yiqian quickly straightened his clothes and cocked his eyebrows smugly at Tao Zhiyan, introducing him. "Tang He, my best buddy!"
"He said he had some amazing news to tell me, so he came over!"
Tao Zhiyan nodded, feeling as though he'd heard about this "best buddy" somewhere before.
Then he suddenly lifted his eyes.
Hadn't the description above Feng Yiqian's head said something about helping his buddy raise a child?
So this spectacularly rotten friend was finally coming to cuckold their foolish third young master?
Before you continue