On instinct, Zhou Zishu fixed his own clothes and sat up straight, the feeling of moral superiority arising involuntarily. In that moment, compared to Wen Kexing, he felt like such a conscientious and upright gentleman.

Wen Kexing plopped himself down on Zhou Zishu’s bed. The bed sheets had gone cold, which meant the owner of the room had been up for a while. He asked, “Stop trying to be dignified, tell me, are you sleepless because you feel lonesome in this deep dark night? You should’ve told me so that I can drag you along… Hah, Dong Ting, what a glorious place to be.”

Zhou Zishu laughed quietly and dropped his charade. He knew all too well himself that righteousness would only look proper on a righteous person, and he was the epitome of “nothing was what it seemed”.

He looked at Wen Kexing meaningfully while replying. “Your timing is impeccable, Brother Wen. The moment you left, the fire started…”

He didn’t get to finish the sentence as Wen Kexing’s face paled and he retorted indignantly, “Rubbish! I’ve been gone for hours now!”

Zhou Zishu was taken aback, at a loss as to why he would be so angry. Then he saw Wen Kexing looked him over, the anger receding to make way for his usual leering smile. “Are you changing tactics, Ah-Xu? If you remove your disguise, I can show you… how long it actually was.”

He specifically wiped his mouth after that, licking at the corner of his lips as if remembering something.

Zhou Zishu stared at him in a daze, mindlessly holding a cup to his mouth to pretend drinking, but after a good while of no liquid flowing out, he finally noticed that the cup was actually empty. Wen Kexing looked at him with interest and thought that the other man was definitely blushing under his mask, even though he couldn’t see it. He got more amused the more he thought about it and ended up bursting out a giggle.

“Forgive my useless self.” Zhou Zishu gritted through his teeth.

Wen Kexing was now fully laughing out loud.

Had everyone’s focus not been on the fire, this bastard would have received a beating already—who could laugh while people’s houses were burning down? Zhou Zishu felt like “immoral” was a word made specifically for Wen Kexing.

Consequently, he stood up, tying his hair together and headed outside. He would rather face the fire than share a space with this person.

While the fire—whose main source was from a guest room—had been largely put out, it had shaken the entirety of the Manor. Gao Chong, pale-faced and frowning, was conversing with Deng Kuan.

Gao Xiaolian was beside them. Upon seeing him, she nodded at his direction with a sorrowful face, speaking apologetically, “My apologies, Big Brother Zhou, for your disturbed rest.”