The sickly one in F4 was the group's darling.

Bai Jiheng's mind went blank for a moment as he frantically tried to recall what he had just said.

"Now you're getting angry, daring to throw my pillow at me."

There were more ahead, and he remembered them all clearly.

"He is frail and sickly, so weak that he would fall over with a gust of wind. He is also timid and afraid of even a snake. I don't know what's so great about him."

He was secretly worried, wondering if the kid had heard him.

Bai Jiheng leaned back on the sofa, adopting a nonchalant posture as if nothing had happened, and subtly gave Uncle Chen behind Bai Ci a wink.

Uncle Chen stood upright, his expression impeccably professional, and his voice steady as always.

"Second Young Master, Third Young Master, Young Master is here! Where is Designer Wen?"

Bai Luochen replied casually, his tone carrying a hint of lighthearted amusement: "Mr. Wen went out to retrieve the design drafts. Uncle Chen, could you please go and invite him in?"

Bai Jiheng glanced at him sideways, but Bai Luochen ignored him and slowly sipped his tea.

"Yes." Uncle Chen bowed slightly, turned around and walked straight towards the gate.

Bai Jiheng turned to look at Bai Ci opposite him, casually raising his hand and waving at Bai Ci: "Oh, you're down? The designer just went out to get the drafts, he'll be right back."

Bai Luochen also called out, "Come and wait."

"Hmm." Bai Ci walked to the sofa and sat down opposite the two of them, sitting upright and proper with her hands on her knees.

There was a moment of silence.

Then he looked up at Bai Jiheng and blinked.

"...Third Brother."

Bai Jiheng cleared his throat awkwardly, then picked up the teacup on the table, feigning composure: "Hmm? What's wrong?"

"I am frail and sickly, so weak that I would fall over at the slightest breeze." Bai Ci repeated Bai Jiheng's assessment of him verbatim, his tone flat and deliberate. "And he's timid too, afraid even of a snake."

Bai Jiheng's lips twitched.

"Third Brother also said he doesn't know what he cares about me for." Bai Ci tilted her head, her clear, bright eyes staring straight at him, revealing no anger whatsoever. But that clean, pure gaze made Bai Jiheng's back inexplicably tense. "Right?"

Bai Jiheng: "..."

Bai Ci turned to look at Bai Luochen beside her, her voice soft and somewhat innocent: "Second Brother, Third Brother just said a lot, it must have been more than just these few sentences, right?"

Bai Luochen put down his teacup, his gaze sweeping lightly over the tea in the cup. Without the slightest hesitation, he betrayed his teammate, adding in a calm tone, "You used to instinctively shrink back when you saw strangers, but now you've grown quite temperamental and dare to talk back and argue with people."

Bai Jiheng turned and glared at Bai Luochen, his face full of accusation that he had been kicked while he was down.

Bai Luochen took a sip of hot tea, his posture calm and elegant, appearing as an indifferent bystander.

Okay, well done! This brother shows absolutely no mercy!

He turned to look at Bai Ci, met those innocent and straightforward eyes, and swallowed back all the explanation he had prepared.

I've accepted my fate.

"Alright, alright, I said it all. Just tell me what you want."

Bai Ci looked at his posture of "just giving up after being caught" and then at Bai Luochen's unmoved profile.

"Nothing much. I just feel that my third brother is really good to me."

Bai Jiheng looked bewildered; wasn't this supposed to be an attempt to interrogate him?

Bai Ci met his gaze and repeated earnestly, "He's frail and sickly, yet he cares for me so much. He'd fall over in the wind, yet he stays by my side every day. He even indulges my temper when it flares up. He's very good to me."

Now it was Bai Jiheng's turn to be speechless.

He leaned back on the sofa cushions, resting one hand on the armrest, and tapped his fingertips unconsciously twice.

"...Good to know." He turned his head away, his tone deliberately indifferent.

"I do care about you." Bai Luochen added at just the right moment.

Bai Jiheng looked at him irritably: "Why are you talking so much today?"

"Not bad, less than yours."

The living room fell silent for a moment. Bai Ci, with a plan in mind, called him softly again.

"Third Brother."

"What are you doing now?" Bai Jiheng asked, his tone tinged with helplessness.

"What you just said about me behind my back, doesn't that count as talking badly about someone behind their back?"

"How did I say anything bad about you? What I said wasn't true? It's true that you're frail, right? You're timid—you used to be timid, that's also true, right? You're so weak—you just fainted a couple of days ago, what else would you call that but weak and frail?"

"What about when you 'get angry'?" Bai Ci pressed.

Bai Jiheng choked for a moment.

"Is this also true?"

"Does Third Brother prefer the quiet, reserved me from the past, or the me who throws tantrums now?"

Bai Jiheng opened his mouth, then closed it again.

No matter how you answer this question, it's a trap. Saying you like the past is obviously insincere. Saying you like the present is admitting you were just being stubborn and complaining. Saying you like both is just too cheesy.

Looking at Bai Ci's quiet and patient waiting for a reply, he suddenly realized that this person was not there to demand an explanation at all, but simply to see him embarrassed and humiliated.

"...You've really gone astray." Bai Jiheng squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth.

Bai Ci blinked, turned to look at Bai Luochen, and said in a serious yet innocent tone, "Second brother, third brother said I've gone astray."

Bai Luochen's gaze swept between the two of them, and he spoke up with a fair word: "You become like those you associate with. You set an example yourself, after all, you just showed off in front of me."

"Who's showing off?"

Bai Jiheng's mind involuntarily conjured up the scene of him talking incessantly and boasting to Bai Luochen earlier—"You didn't see the last banquet, when someone publicly made things difficult for him, and he clearly and logically retorted, leaving the other party speechless. I was shocked at the time. Is this still the same taciturn person from before? But thinking about it later, it makes sense, after all, I'm the one who trained him." Bai Luochen glanced at him.

He did say that to Bai Luochen, and said with annoyance, "Fine, you two brothers ganged up on me. I should have known better than to sit here, and I shouldn't have bothered picking out clothes for you—"

"Third Brother."

Bai Ci stared at him with her wet eyes, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Alright, alright, here, take this as my apology." He reached behind the sofa, pulled out a box of candy, and shoved it into Bai Ci's palm. "Take it."

"Oh, thank you, Third Brother," Bai Ci said softly, glancing at the exquisite box.

"You're welcome." Bai Jiheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, finally managing to appease this little rascal. Coaxing him was more mentally taxing than participating in a car race.

Bai Luochen picked up a clean, empty cup, poured half a cup of warm tea, and pushed it in front of Bai Ci. Bai Ci whispered, "Thank you, Second Brother," and picked up the cup.

Footsteps came from the living room doorway, and Uncle Chen led Wen Jingyao back.