Chapter 33: Love makes people blind because the (love) filter is too thick.

The sound of the keyboard tapping as the pale fingertips hit the keys echoed in the walls of a dark room, where only the light from the monitor screen of a laptop can be seen. The light from the laptop made the lenses of Hong Yue's eyeglasses glint. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and the pale but slender fingers like fine pieces of jade stopped moving, hovering just a centimeter above the keys of the keyboard, hesitating whether to continue typing on the keyboard or not.

But, Lan Xing's voice halted Hong Yue's intention to continue writing.

"Hong Yue, are you pulling an all-nighter again?" Lan Xing asked from outside when he didn't hear Hong Yue's muffled voice answered from the inside of the room.

"Ehem." Hong Yue made a slight cough before he rose from his seat and pressed on the light switch, bathing his room with the bright light. He squinted his eyes. He almost exclaimed, 'let there be light!'. Fortunately, he stopped himself in time, making him avoid embarrassment. Then, he walked towards the door and opened it, making him face to-face with Lan Xing.

"Hong Yue. It is already 4 AM!" Lan Xing reminded him as he showed him his wristwatch where the hands of the clock pointed to 4 AM.

Hong Yue raised his gaze and looked at the wall clock. It is indeed 4 AM. "How about you? Why are you still up?" he asked Lan Xing.

"Something came up at home." Lan Xing answered and lowered his gaze when he recalled what his father told him earlier during their phone call. But he doesn't want to let Hong Yue know, thus he didn't elaborate.

Hong Yue, who already knew Lan Xing's life without Lan Xing telling him, became worried. "What happened?" he asked. Did Lan Xing's father become ill? Will the mall going to be bankrupt? He thought, then shook his head. Wait, there is still Uncle Huang! He thought and smiled in relief, excluding himself from the list of the shareholders of the mall.

Truly brilliant. But with Hong Yue's introverted personality, he subconsciously makes himself invisible, if not wiping out his existence.

"Just a relative coming home." Lan Xing answered as he fixed his collar and his hair to make himself look presentable. He actually wanted to ask Hong Yue if he look handsome right now, but fearing that the other would find out his feelings toward him, he refrained himself from asking.

"Oh." Hong Yue sighed in relief. So the mall won't be bankrupt, and I still can receive millions! Great! He thought as a smile appeared on his face.

Lan Xing saw Hong Yue smile and misunderstood him, thinking that Hong Yue was relieved for his family. Really, the love filter is too thick.

Lan Xing felt very happy because his friend cares for him. "Then, I will be off." He told him and smiled before he headed to the door.

"Take care!" Hong Yue nodded and waved at him.

"Hey. You eat breakfast, okay? Don't skip it. I will order one for you later and have someone deliver it here." Lan Xing told Hong Yue. Seeing Hong Yue's smile freeze, he knows that he was right to remind this guy. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! You have to eat it and don't just directly go to sleep!" he told him.

Today is Saturday, by the way, so Hong Yue is pulling an all-nighter, which makes Lan Xing feel helpless.

"Alright..." Hong Yue nodded in defeat. He is aware that skipping meals would make his stomach go bad so he decided to have breakfast later... that is, if he will still be awake that time.

Lan Xing, who doesn't know what Hong Yue is thinking, smiled in satisfaction. "Good!" he said, then left.

Hong Yue helplessly sighed, but he also feels very happy. After all, there is now one more person who cares for him. Thinking this, he went back and resumed writing.

...

Lan Xing arrived at their family residence after half an hour. His gentle expression and bright smile that he showed Hong Yue earlier have disappeared and are now replaced by coldness and indifference as soon as he crossed the doorway.

This is the heir of the Zhou family – the one and only son of Zhou Tianshan. Zhou Tianshan highly valued him and he even didn't care whether Lan Xing would humiliate him in public. Well, who made Lan Xing his only child? The other people naturally were puzzled why Zhou Tianshan didn't remarry or even had other children. Zhou Tianshan's business partners even suggested it, only to be berated by Zhou Tianshan. So, they all know that Zhou Tianshan greatly loves his son no matter his son's bad personality. They all attributed it to Zhou Tianshan's late wife who regrettably died. They also thought that his mother's death made Lan Xing's personality turn bad.

Anyway, there are lots of speculations, but the truth would always be far from it. That is why they are just speculations, or gossip.

"Young master, welcome back." The servants greeted and respectfully bowed when Lan Xing arrived.

Lan Xing nodded at them. "Where's father?" he asked and looked around. It is still half past four in the morning, so he thought that his father is still sleeping. After all, he is already enough to receive their relative who arrived from abroad.

"The master is already up and is preparing to receive the incoming guest." The butler answered.

Lan Xing hummed in response and sat on the couch. The servants immediately placed food on the coffee table for him to eat. After all, it was so early in the morning, so Lan Xing must haven't eaten yet.

"You're here." Zhou Tianshan muttered when he saw his son has arrived and is now eating.

Lan Xing wiped his lips before he spoke. "Why is she returning?" he asked. He is referring to his father's younger sister, Zhou Yuyan who always mocked his mother.