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

Zhou Jianguo stared blankly at Bai Ci as he walked in.

The down-on-his-luck boy who wore cheap children's clothes and carried a plastic bag in the afternoon is now wearing a well-tailored misty white knit sweater, with unique cufflinks that could buy his entire company, and a sapphire brooch on his collar that gleams with a cold and noble light under the lamp.

He stood there, no longer the poor boy who could be insulted at will, but a distinguished guest who was admired by everyone and personally escorted by Zhou Yan.

"He...he..." Zhou Jianguo's throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and he couldn't utter a complete syllable for a long time. He subconsciously took half a step back, his back hitting the edge of the table, and the wine glass fell to the table with a "clatter," the dark red wine soaking the snow-white tablecloth.

No one noticed his lapse in composure. All eyes were on the boy, but he felt that those amber eyes might seep through the crowd and coldly fixate on him at any moment.

That afternoon on the mountain path, he had cursed the boy as a "little brat," and his wife had cursed him as having "broken arms and legs." Every word he had said had now turned into an icicle, piercing his spine.

Mr. Wang, who was standing next to him, turned around and saw that his face was pale. He called out twice in confusion, "Mr. Zhou? Mr. Zhou? What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"...N-nothing." Zhou Jianguo wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace. "I guess I drank too much and got a little tipsy. Gentlemen, I...I need to go to the restroom."

He almost staggered off his seat, his legs weak, each step feeling like walking on cotton. The elegant ladies and the clinking of glasses around him now seemed like menacing monsters to him.

He just wanted to escape, to escape as far away as possible.

It's over, it's over.

His luck in this lifetime probably ran out completely when he uttered that "little brat" this afternoon.

Zhou Jianguo stumbled into the bathroom, turned on the tap, and cold water gushed down. He scooped up a handful and splashed it on his face. The icy water dripped down his chin and into his collar, making him shiver and clearing his muddled mind a little.

Run? You can run away, but you can't hide. He's a businessman in Yunliu City; he can run for a while, but not forever. Besides, he finally managed to get in tonight, paying such a high price, and he's not willing to just run away like this.

The boy didn't hold a grudge after being scolded in the afternoon; he didn't seem like a ruthless person.

Instead of slinking away, it's better to find an opportunity to go up and apologize; maybe it can turn a bad situation into a good one.

He had to wait, wait for the right opportunity, until that young master was alone, or at least not surrounded by so many important figures, before he could quietly go up to him, speak frankly, apologize, and lower his stance to the lowest possible level.

He wiped the water off his face, forced a smile at himself in the mirror, and turned back to the banquet hall.

Zhou Yan led Bai Ci through the crowd and stopped in front of a soft sofa in the VIP lounge: "Let's rest here for a while, it'll be a while before the banquet officially starts."

He glanced at the drinks and desserts on the table, beckoned a nearby waiter, and whispered, "Bring me a glass of warm juice, freshly squeezed, no ice."

The waiter bowed and withdrew. Just as Zhou Yan was about to sit down, his gaze suddenly passed over Bai Ci's shoulder and landed on an elderly man with gray hair who was chatting and laughing with someone in the distance.

He turned to Bai Ci and said, "That's Uncle Yu over there. Your older brother just asked him to look after you. I need to go back and say hello again."

He straightened up, took two steps, then turned back and added in a low voice, "Sit still and don't wander off. I'll be right back."

As Zhou Yan's figure disappeared into the crowd, Bai Ci quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

The strawberries on the table looked incredibly tempting, each one a vibrant red with a bright green stem, glistening with a dewy sheen under the light.

Bai Ci stared at it for two seconds, then for two more seconds, and finally couldn't resist reaching out to grab one. He quickly stuffed it into his mouth when no one was looking.

The strawberries were very sweet, and the juice melted on the tip of his tongue, a hundred times better than the wild berries he ate in the mountains.

His eyes lit up, his cheeks puffed out slightly, and his stern face almost broke character.

Before he could swallow, a deliberately lowered voice, filled with obsequiousness, came from the side.

"Young Master Bai... Young Master Bai, hello, hello, could I possibly have half a minute of your time?"

Bai Ci, with a strawberry in her mouth, looked up and met the arrogant face that had been on the mountain path that morning and afternoon, but was now full of fawning smiles.

"What happened this afternoon was my fault. I was blind and didn't recognize your greatness. I offended you. My mouth deserves a beating, please don't take it to heart..."

Zhou Jianguo bent over, his voice extremely low, speaking quickly and urgently, as if afraid of being interrupted, or as if afraid that the courage he had finally mustered would fall apart.

Bai Ci swallowed the strawberry in her mouth and looked up at him.

There was no anger or smugness in his amber eyes. He simply looked quietly at the face in front of him, which was completely different from the one in the afternoon. In the afternoon, he had poked his nose and called him a "little brat." Now, the face was bent over, looking like a quail soaked by the rain.

He remembered Xiao Qi's description of a "fierce and tough persona," so he tried to put on a serious face and, mimicking Bai Yanzhi's calm tone, uttered two words: "It's you."

Those two short words stung Zhou Jianguo like a needle prick, making him shrink back half an inch. He nodded repeatedly, the cold sweat he had just wiped from his forehead breaking out again: "It was me, it was me. This afternoon on the mountain road, I was out of my mind and said some nonsense, it was really..."

Halfway through the conversation, the waiter who had been there earlier came over with a glass of orange juice. When he saw a strange man standing bent over in front of Bai Ci, he paused slightly and his eyes became wary.

Although this young master Bai was a stranger, Captain Zhou had personally brought him over and instructed him to bring juice, so the amount of juice he brought was self-evident.

He steadily placed the orange juice on the table in front of Bai Ci, but did not leave immediately. Instead, he took a half step back and stood still, his cold gaze fixed on Zhou Jianguo.

Zhou Jianguo felt a chill run down his spine from that gaze, his words caught in his throat, and he instinctively shrank back to the side.

Bai Ci picked up the orange juice, took a sip, then picked up a strawberry, without looking at Zhou Jianguo again.

He silently asked Xiaoqi in his heart, "Have he finished speaking?"

Xiao Qi snorted gloatingly: "Is the 'fierceness' in Bai Bai's eyes just about eating strawberries and ignoring people? Well, it's fine, he's scared to death by you now, the less you say, the more flustered he gets."

Bai Ci could only continue eating strawberries with her head down, her cheeks puffed out, trying her best to maintain a cold expression on her face.

The more composed he remained, the more uncertain Zhou Jianguo felt.

He gritted his teeth, bent his back even lower, and pleaded earnestly in his voice, "Young Master Bai, you are a magnanimous man. I was just being rude this afternoon. If you need anything, just ask. I, Old Zhou, have some connections in Yunliu City and will definitely take care of it for you as an apology..."

Bai Ci finally raised her head, looked at Zhou Jianguo's almost hunched-over, ingratiating face, then at the strawberries in her hand, and suddenly realized that this person was completely different from the one she saw in the afternoon. It wasn't because he had changed clothes, but because she now knew he was "a member of the Bai family."

This thought made him somewhat uncomfortable.

He put the strawberries back on the plate, wiped his fingers, looked up at Zhou Jianguo, and asked in a calm, almost indifferent tone, "Are you finished?"

Zhou Jianguo's knees buckled, and he almost knelt down on the spot.

He opened his mouth, about to add a few more words of pleading, when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the direction behind Bai Ci. Zhou Yan had already shaken hands with Old Master Yu and was turning around to walk back this way.

He dared not linger any longer, and hurriedly bowed to Bai Ci, his voice trembling uncontrollably: "I'm done, I'm done, you go ahead with your work, you go ahead with your work." After saying that, he staggered backward, almost tripping over the edge of the carpet, and disappeared into the crowd in a disheveled state.

Zhou Yan returned just in time to see Zhou Jianguo's hasty departure. He raised an eyebrow and sat down next to Bai Ci: "What's wrong? Did that guy cause you trouble?"

Bai Ci shook her head, picked up the orange juice and took another sip. After thinking for a moment, she decided to tell the truth: "He cursed at me on the mountain road this afternoon. He came to apologize just now."

Zhou Yan's gaze followed Zhou Jianguo's hunched back through the crowd, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes, but he merely gave a faint "hmm" and didn't ask any further questions. He leaned back into the sofa, his tone returning to its usual relaxed tone: "Is the juice sweet?"

"Sweet." Bai Ci nodded obediently, then picked up another strawberry and handed it to him. "This one's sweet too. Do you want some?"

Zhou Yan looked at the strawberry he handed her, then at his bright, clear eyes, and suddenly chuckled. She took it and popped it into her mouth: "Mmm, it's really sweet."