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

Bai Ci ate with such gusto that crumbs of osmanthus cake covered the corners of his mouth, but he didn't bother to wipe them away and reached for the second piece.

This is so delicious! It's soft, sweet, and melts in your mouth. It's completely different from the hard, chewy wild fruits he used to eat in the mountains.

He took a big bite, his eyes narrowed happily, and his whole body seemed to be bubbling with satisfaction.

Zhou Yan, who was standing to the side, glanced at Bai Ci and the nearly empty plate of pastries, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

He didn't say anything, but simply shifted to a more comfortable sitting position and leaned back in his chair.

Bai Ci was struggling with the pastry, but the crust was too thin. It crumbled as soon as he took a bite, so he had to use one hand to catch it under his chin, which looked a bit awkward.

Zhou Yan finally couldn't hold back and interrupted, "Don't answer it."

He pulled out a neatly folded dark blue checkered handkerchief and handed it over: "The more you take it, the more it slips away. That's how it is, like sand, the more you squeeze it, the more it leaks."

Bai Ci's cheeks were puffed out. She looked up at the handkerchief and then at him, mumbled a thank you, and took it, spreading it out on the table.

Watching his adorable, earnest way of handling the pastries, Zhou Yan leaned back in his chair and teased the man beside him with a smile: "Yanzhi, the way your brother eats, he's practically swallowing the whole plate."

Out of the corner of his eye, Uncle Chen noticed that his eldest son's expression remained indifferent, but his gaze lingered on the sesame seed on the corner of the young master's mouth for a long time.

The other three people in the tea room just watched as Bai Ci devoured the snacks on his plate with the speed of a hamster.

In her mind, Xiaoqi sighed, her tone carrying a sense of helplessness, as if to say, "Why is my child so naive?" "Bai Bai, you can't just keep your head down and eat in social situations. You have to take the initiative to find topics to talk about. You've eaten almost a whole plate and haven't said a single word to your older brother."

Bai Ci paused slightly as she chewed the pastry, and asked herself seriously, "But if I talk while eating, crumbs will spray out."

"...What you said does make sense. But you've almost finished a whole plate, and if you don't say something soon, people might really think you're just a hamster that only knows how to eat."

"I'm not a hamster," Bai Ci corrected herself in her mind with a straight face.

"Bye-bye." Xiao Qi's voice suddenly rang out again, with a hint of urging.

Bai Ci slowed her chewing: "Hmm?"

"I just downloaded a copy of 'A Guide to High-Level Social Behavior,' and I'll highlight the key points for you now." Xiao Qi's tone was serious. "The first rule: In a tea room, you can't just keep eating and drinking without saying a word."

Bai Ci stopped talking, but her cheeks were still puffed out.

"...Why?"

"Because this is a social occasion! Social! You're not here for a buffet!" Xiaoqi said in a low voice. "You've already drunk six cups of tea and eaten five pieces of cake without saying a word. Do you know what that's called in human social interactions?"

"What?"

"Say 'I'm here to freeload a meal'."

Bai Ci looked down at the remaining half of the osmanthus cake in her hand, then secretly glanced at Bai Yanzhi across from her, whose face was expressionless.

He seems... to have eaten a bit too much?

"What should I do?" he asked himself tentatively.

"Find a topic!" Xiaoqi spoke rapidly, like a last-minute exam tutor. "Take the initiative to start a conversation, talk about something light, break the silence. This is social etiquette for adults. Remember, be proactive, be relaxed, and don't say things like 'the teacup is empty' or 'the plate is empty'!"

Bai Ci thought about it carefully.

Bai Ci swallowed the pastry in her mouth, took a sip of tea to moisten her throat, and immediately sat up straight, placing her hands neatly on her knees, looking very solemn.

Seeing this, Zhou Yan raised an eyebrow, picked up his teacup, and waited to hear his "serious speech".

Bai Ci looked up at Bai Yanzhi, her eyes sincere and earnest: "Big Brother."

Bai Yanzhi looked up and saw the young man with a serious expression, his light brown eyes filled with the sincerity that "I am trying to socialize."

"The tea you brewed," Bai Ci said, "is very sweet, like sweet water with added sugar."

Bai Yanzhi's fingers, which were holding the teacup, paused slightly.

sweet?

Yunjian Snow, the first harvest before Qingming Festival, yields only twenty catties a year. It has a long-lasting sweet aftertaste, rich layers of flavor, and is priceless.

In his mouth, it became "sweet water".

"Sweet water." Zhou Yan repeated the word, his tone carrying a playful air of appreciating a new term. He turned to look at Bai Yanzhi, a casual smile on his lips. "Yanzhi, if Bai Ci gave this Yunjianxue tea a rating like this, your tea merchant friends would probably be crying in the market."

"You personally went to the production area last year for this batch of tea," Zhou Yan teased, "selecting tea masters, determining the processing techniques, and even using that set of celadon porcelain to match it. In the end, they summed it up in one sentence: 'Sweet water with added sugar.'"

He turned to look at Bai Ci and added, "Your assessment is better than that tea master he invited to his last tea tasting event. That master spoke for forty minutes, and I didn't understand a single word. I understood just four words from you."

Bai Ci tilted his head, unsure whether Zhou Yan was praising him or mocking him. But seeing Zhou Yan's sincere expression, he nodded politely: "...Thank you."

"You're welcome," Zhou Yan said, taking a sip of tea. "I'm always a person of my word."

Bai Yanzhi silently repeated "aftertaste is not sweetness" to himself, then repeated "never mind" again, patiently correcting him: "It's aftertaste."

"A lingering sweetness?" Bai Ci tilted his head.

"After the tea goes down your throat, a sweet taste slowly fills your mouth."

Bai Ci nodded in sudden realization, still insisting, "The aftertaste is very sweet."

Bai Yan remained silent.

"The aftertaste is very sweet," Zhou Yan said, swirling the phrase in his mouth before raising his glass to Bai Yanzhi. "These five words are more effective than 'strong tea flavor.' From now on, when you sell tea, use this as your slang, 'The aftertaste is very sweet,' and I guarantee it will sell better than anything like 'limited edition of twenty catties per year.'"

Bai Yanzhi glanced at him indifferently: "You've been talking a lot today."

"It depends on the person," Zhou Yan said nonchalantly, his tone frank. "I didn't say anything when I was talking to you. But with your brother sitting here, we can't let the tea room be cold."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Bai Ci spoke again, as if sharing her most genuine experience: "It tastes much better than the mountain stream water. Sometimes the stream water has an earthy taste, which is even stronger on rainy days, and it takes a long time to settle before you can drink it."

The tea room fell silent instantly.

Zhou Yan's smile suddenly faded.

"Mountain stream water?" He looked at Bai Ci, his tone a few decibels lower than before, as if to confirm he hadn't misheard. "You've even drunk stream water?"

"Yes," Bai Ci nodded, "Sometimes I drink it when I'm thirsty. But not on rainy days, it's too muddy. I have to use a bamboo tube to catch it and wait for it to settle before drinking, otherwise my mouth will taste like mud."

Zhou Yan remained silent for a moment.

Then he turned to look at Bai Yanzhi, his expression somewhere between "disbelief" and "you're kidding me."

"Yanzhi," he began, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for everyone in the tea room to hear, "is your family so poor that you're giving your younger brother stream water to drink, or are you, as the eldest brother, simply unaware?"

Bai Yanzhi's brow furrowed very slightly.

"The Bai family never let him drink the stream water," he said.

"What did he say?" Zhou Yan glanced at Bai Ci, then turned back, his tone still casual, but his eyes no longer held the same teasing tone. "Mountain streams, sediment, earthy smell. He said it himself. Doesn't something sound off to you?"

Bai Yanzhi remained silent.

In his memory, Bai Ci had always lived in the Bai family. Although no one paid special attention to him, he never lacked food, clothing and daily necessities. No matter how much the Bai family disliked this illegitimate son, they would never make him drink mountain stream water.

But when Bai Ci said "drink the stream water," his tone was so natural that it made Bai Yanzhi feel a strange unease.

He knew almost nothing about his younger brother's upbringing.

Where does Bai Ci usually live? What does he like to eat? Who does he associate with? Does he have any friends? Is he doing well at school? He knows nothing about Bai Ci. Over the years, his understanding of Bai Ci has been limited to the fact that he has a younger brother named Bai Ci, and that he exists. That's all.

"When your brother came in and drank three cups of tea, I thought he was just thirsty," Zhou Yan said gently, glancing at the teapot. "Now I know. For someone who has drunk from a stream, everything tastes sweet."

He turned to Bai Ci and said, "Come here to drink whenever you're thirsty. Your older brother will provide plenty of tea. Right, Yanzhi?"

Bai Yanzhi didn't reply, but simply picked up his teacup, took a sip, and watched Bai Ci finish the last piece of pastry with satisfaction.

He put down his teacup, his expression shifting from casual to composed, and said in a calm tone, "Have you finished eating? Then let's talk about the clothes."