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

Shen Tinglan put down her wine glass and glanced around the lounge area. On the table in front of Bai Ci were half a plate of strawberries, a half-finished glass of orange juice, and several plates of untouched snacks. Zhou Yan's suit jacket, which he had casually left behind, was draped over the armrest of the sofa.

"Did Zhou Yan bring you in?" he asked.

"Yes." Bai Ci nodded. "We met at the main gate."

Bai Ci looked at Shen Tinglan and finally voiced the question that had been lingering in her mind for a while: "Why did you come to the banquet today? Uncle Chen said that the heirs of the four major families don't usually attend these kinds of regular family banquets."

"I'm sending you a document," Shen Tinglan said. "And while I'm at it, I'll also take a look at what your Bai family's banquets look like."

Bai Ci felt that something was wrong, but she didn't ask any further questions and just said "Oh".

Shen Tinglan leaned back on the sofa, her long legs crossed, her posture relaxed, a stark contrast to Bai Ci's stiff and formal sitting posture.

The two sat facing each other, one relaxed as if in his own living room, the other nervous as if he were in a job interview.

After a few seconds of silence, Bai Ci felt he should say something. After all, this was his territory—no, it was his older brother's territory—no, anyway, he was the host now, and Shen Tinglan was the guest. How could a host leave his guest standing aside?

He remembered the orange juice Zhou Yan had ordered from the waiter earlier, so he tentatively asked, "Would you like something to eat? We have some snacks here, and strawberries too."

He pushed the plate of strawberries towards Shen Tinglan, his movements as careful as if he were handing a treat to a cat he wasn't very familiar with.

Shen Tinglan glanced at the plate of strawberries that had been half-eaten, then at Bai Ci's hand that was pushing the plate away. That hand was slender and white, with a little strawberry juice still clinging to the fingertips, shimmering a pale pink under the light.

"No need," he said.

Bai Ci withdrew her hand and placed it back on her knees, resuming her obedient and proper sitting posture.

He wasn't very good at socializing to begin with, and he didn't know what to say to Shen Tinglan.

Last night I climbed through the window and fell in front of him; today I choked on a strawberry while eating in front of him. It seems like this person always manages to show up at the most inopportune time and in the most frustrating situations.

Xiaoqi quietly thought to herself, "Bai Bai, he's looking at you."

"I know," Bai Ci replied in her mind.

"He just lied and said there was strawberry juice on your lips, just to tease you. Should you snap back? Try putting on a strong, aura-filtering act?"

Bai Ci thought about it and realized that trying to filter him wouldn't help. It wasn't the first time Shen Tinglan had seen him make a fool of himself. His image in Shen Tinglan's eyes had probably changed from a "not-so-familiar roommate" to "a strange boy who can climb windows, cook noodles, and lose his shoes." No matter how strong the filter was, it couldn't cover up the fact that Shen Tinglan had seen him squatting in the bushes digging graves for pill bugs.

"No need," he thought to himself.

He looked up and met Shen Tinglan's gaze, making Bai Ci feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Bai Ci." A voice interrupted from the side.

The two turned their heads at the same time. Bai Jiheng had come down from the second-floor terrace at some point. He had changed into a dark shirt, with the cuffs casually rolled up to his forearms, indicating that he had been enjoying the breeze on the terrace for quite some time. His gaze first fell on Bai Ci, then swept over Shen Tinglan opposite him, and his eyebrows twitched slightly.

"Third Brother." Bai Ci sat up straight subconsciously.

The image of Bai Jiheng swiftly executing Xu Yan in the dressing room was still vivid in his mind. His impression of this third brother had upgraded from "he seemed very fierce" to "he really was very fierce".

Bai Jiheng hummed in agreement, walked to Bai Ci's side, and glanced down at the plate of strawberries on the table that had been half-eaten and pushed around without being offered.

Then he raised his eyelids and looked at Shen Tinglan on the opposite sofa, his tone carrying a hint of impoliteness.

"What brings you here? Weren't you invited to this event?"

These words were quite blunt, and even Bai Ci couldn't help but glance at him sideways. But Bai Jiheng's expression was calm, clearly unconcerned about the wording.

Shen Tinglan wasn't annoyed: "Send the documents."

"Sending documents?" A faint hint of amusement flickered in Bai Jiheng's eyes. "When did the Shen family ever need a secretary?"

Shen Tinglan picked up her champagne glass, took a sip, and replied unhurriedly, "My secretary couldn't deliver it as quickly as I could."

"That's right," Bai Jiheng glanced at him with a half-smile, "You came by helicopter, who can get here faster than you?"

Shen Tinglan was too lazy to argue with him, picked up her champagne and took another sip, giving him an expression that said, "Say what you want."

Bai Jiheng didn't dwell on the topic any longer. He casually sat down next to Bai Ci, leaned back, crossed his legs, and adopted a more relaxed posture than Shen Tinglan.

The three people formed a delicate triangle in the rest area—Shen Tinglan sat alone on one side, while Bai Ci and Bai Jiheng sat side by side opposite, resembling a small three-way meeting, except that one of them was busy putting his knees together and straightening his back, trying to minimize his presence.

Bai Jiheng turned his head and glanced at Bai Ci: "Why is your face so red?"

Bai Ci immediately raised his hand to touch his face and found that it was indeed a little hot, but he firmly denied that it was due to nervousness, so he casually made up an excuse: "...I ate too many strawberries."

Bai Jiheng glanced down at the mostly-left strawberries on the plate, then at Bai Ci's flushed face, clearly not believing him. But he didn't expose him; he simply picked up a strawberry from the plate, popped it into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and said to Shen Tinglan, "What were you talking about with Bai Ci just now?"

Shen Tinglan put down her wine glass and said calmly, "You've arrived before we've even started talking."

Bai Jiheng leaned back on the sofa, twirling a strawberry between his fingers, his tone casual yet pointed: "Oh? That's because I arrived at the right time. I've never seen you interact with Bai Ci before at school. Why are you suddenly so enthusiastic today?"

"We live together, aren't we familiar with each other yet? We even ate noodles together last night."

Bai Ci had just picked up her orange juice and taken a sip when she heard this, and she choked on it, coughing several times.

"Last night? We ate noodles?" Bai Jiheng's eyes narrowed slightly as he turned to look at Bai Ci.

"Well..." Bai Ci explained, forcing a smile, "Last night I was hungry, so I went to the kitchen to cook noodles, and I happened to run into him."

"A bowl of noodles, and Young Master Shen is so concerned?" Bai Jiheng asked casually, his tone carrying a faint smile, yet accurately hitting the most subtle sense of proportion.

"I wouldn't say I cared, it was just a coincidence that the noodles he cooked happened to suit my taste."

Bai Ci was about to complain, "The noodles I cooked were clearly mushy," but he swallowed the words back. He really couldn't tell if Shen Tinglan was serious or just teasing him.

Bai Jiheng raised an eyebrow slightly: "Just because of this? Young Master Shen suddenly changed his mind?"

"Isn't this enough?" Shen Tinglan raised her eyes, her tone still indifferent, but every word was precise. "After all, Bai Ci is a member of the Bai family and lives in the same building. We weren't very familiar with each other before, but it's not too late to make up for it now."

Bai Jiheng tossed the strawberry stems into the dish, leaned back on the sofa, and smiled faintly. "Replenishing them? Young Master Shen is planning to strengthen cooperation with the Bai family. You can discuss the cooperation with my older brother."

Bai Ci sat to the side, glancing at Shen Tinglan and then at Bai Jiheng, feeling that the two were being polite on the surface, but underneath there was a palpable tension between them.

He couldn't sit still any longer, so he put the cup on the table, stood up, and said, "I'm going to the restroom."

Before the two could react, he had already walked around the sofa and strode towards the side corridor of the hall with the most steady steps he had ever taken.

After taking a few steps, I realized that I had been moving my arms and legs in unison. I quickly adjusted myself, but the tips of my ears were so red they looked like they could bleed.

Xiaoqi sighed in his mind, "Bai Bai, are all people in high society this sarcastic? I thought he was going to flip the table any second now."