The Rise of the White Lotus

In the span of three days, Ethan Lu went to different nightclubs for 'soul searching' but to no avail, it couldn't really suffice the fun he was looking for. Therefore, he decided that instead of trying to replace the foreboding void that coming at him every time, why not bury himself with workloads that would keep his mind occupied.

The decision indeed worked as Ethan Lu only thought of the drunk Lexi, naked Lexi, cute Lexi, and the glutton Lexi every once in a while albeit not as severe when he was doing nothing.

"This document was sent from Elder Dennis Lu." Clearing his throat, Ethan's assistant, Lyrick Jiang hand over a document that he tightly held.

Receiving the sketchy document from his not so favorite uncle, Ethan Lu skimmed through the document before closing it again with a sigh.

He leaned his back on the comfortable executive chair as he closed his eyes and massaged them. Lyrick Jiang, on the other hand, observed his boss's silent response from the document given.

Since it was an important document, hence, Lyrick Jiang only took a glimpse of it before passing it through to Ethan Lu as it still needs his approval being the next head of the company.

"What do you think a person doing right now?" All of a sudden, Ethan Lu inquired still massaging his closed eyes.

"Huh?" Puzzled, Lyric Jiang knitted his brows hearing the abrupt, unrelated question to the current company affairs.

'A person? Who's person?' Asking himself inwardly and trying to decipher what his young master's meant, Lyrick Jiang was baffled as he could not understand.

"I mean, what do you think a person doing now?" Repeating his inquiry, Ethan Lu knew that his question was too vague to have an answer because he deliberately specified 'a person' instead of 'that person' to cover up who he was thinking.

"Uhh… young master, you want to do what you usually do at this time? Did your productivity expired?" Assuming that Ethan Lu was asking what a person like him doing at this time of the day, Lyrick Jiang was horrified to death.

Though it really concerned him that Ethan was acting strange, however, this was his responsibility and not wasting his time on the club! After all, if he continued this way, his chances of being the head of the Lu family would be lessened more than it already reduced.

"Uh, don't mind me. Just… let me be for now. And no, I don't think it would expire." Waving his hands off, Ethan Lu exhaustedly dismissed his assistant which Lyrick Jiang abided after a bow.

When Lyrick Jiang left, Ethan Lu remained with that position for some time before coming to a decision. Reaching for his phone on the side of his desk, he unhesitantly speed-dialed the number zero before putting it in front of his ear.

It rang several times but as expected, it wasn't immediately answered. But still, Ethan was too exhausted to think of his confused feelings and dialed Lexi's number again.

Not expecting it to be picked up, Ethan Lu still patiently waited for her to answer his call. Indeed, he was slowly turning crazy being infatuated by his friend. But still, working with a wrong motivation was extra exhausting.

When he thought that the line would be cut off again, Ethan Lu heard Lexi's smug voice. Immediately, the corner of his lips curled into a subtle smile and his tensed shoulders relaxed as if her one word alone soothed his stress.

Lexi: "yes?"

"Hmmm? Frustrated?" Not knowing what to say since he didn't actually expected that Lexi would answer, Ethan asked based on the tone of her voice.

"How did you know?" On the line, Lexi was mildly surprised by how quick he sensed the offbeat of her tone.

"My radar is activated ya know… So, what's frustrates this strong independent woman?" Finding it hard to believe, but Ethan's interest was piqued for the reason behind her exasperation. 

Spinning his executive chair, he peered at the floor to length window that has a great view of the bustling city. Turning to a particular direction where the Yang Mansion stood, somewhat some ways, he felt the distance between them lessened.

"Well, my cheat day extended for days and I… *sigh* gained weight." Her words paused as she evidently thought how to confess her petty dilemma.

"Pfft-!" Hearing this, Ethan let out a slight chuckle as he bit his lower lip to suppressed from laughing out loud.

"Hey, don't laugh!"

"Haha, sorry, but pffft-!" Chuckling in between to find some excuse, albeit, failing miserably. Truly, he wouldn't get tired of teasing her in this kind of dilemma she has.

"God! You frustrate me even more! I'm hanging up!" 

Envisioning her deadly glares, it made him want to fly to the Yang residence just to see how much she gained weight to be frustrated like this.

"I kid, I kid. Jeez, just burn some fats -- problem solve." Stopping her from cutting the interesting conversation, Ethan conceded in defeat while scratching his temple.

"How could any guys like me if they see me like this…" Murmuring on the line, Lexi purposely uttered those words under the pressure of the Queen of dumplings. 

The moment Ethan Lu heard her statements, his smile froze before it slowly dissipated. He looked at his phone in dismay before placing it back on his ear.

'Dang this girl! Should she really need to say that?' Ethan protested inside his mind. For him, it was good that he knew the real reason for her frustration so he could sabotage them.

"Hey, guys like thick girls! Go eat some more."

"Seriously? Gosh, are you hearing yourself? Would you really fall for someone with body rolls?" In a mocking tune, Lexi inquired discreetly making sure she won't sound so obvious.

'If it's you… yeah, I guess.' Not speaking his mind, Ethan Lu still responded.

"Well… yeah, if I like her then, size doesn't matter."