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

Bai Ci took a deep breath and followed Bai Yanzhi back to the side hall.

Shen Tinglan sat on the sofa, sipping tea with a composed demeanor, yet her eyes revealed an aloofness that kept strangers at bay. Bai Jiheng leaned lazily against the back of the sofa, his expression indifferent and cold.

The two sat on opposite sides of the sofa, with an empty seat between them. They didn't speak or look at each other. The large side room was eerily quiet, as if a string was about to snap at any moment.

Bai Ci had barely stepped inside when the sheer scale of the scene made it hard to breathe.

He glanced at Shen Tinglan, then at Bai Jiheng, and felt that something must have happened between the two of them while he was away.

They either argued back and forth for a few more rounds, or they ran out of things to say and couldn't even be bothered to argue anymore.

In either case, he felt like a small animal that had accidentally wandered into the territory of a wild beast, and that if he took one wrong step, he would be watched by both sides at the same time.

Seeing Bai Ci follow Bai Yanzhi in, Bai Jiheng propped his head up with one hand and looked at Bai Ci.

He glanced up and saw the light brown mark on Bai Ci's cheekbone, and teased with a knowing look, "You really spent this long rubbing it on."

Bai Ci subconsciously raised her hand to touch the mark on her face, but put it down halfway and whispered in defense, "Just for a moment."

Bai Jiheng chuckled lightly: "When has Big Brother ever been careless when applying medicine?"

Bai Yanzhi, standing to the side, took the coat handed to him by Uncle Chen and put it on with composure and elegance. He then asked Bai Jiheng, "What happened in the corridor?"

Bai Jiheng spoke in a lazy tone, as if he didn't take this little trouble to heart.

"It's nothing serious. It's just a woman who used the name of Shen Ye's girlfriend's mother and her connections with the Shen family to sneak in. She cursed Bai Ci on the mountain road this afternoon, but Bai Ci didn't bother with her. But she dared to chase after me and attack me after entering the banquet hall. I taught her a lesson and had her dragged out."

Bai Jiheng shifted to a more relaxed sitting position on the sofa, his gaze drifting leisurely towards Shen Tinglan beside him.

Bai Yanzhi did not respond immediately. He knew Bai Jiheng too well; this man never spoke his mind completely, and the remaining half of his sentence was mostly directed at others.

Sure enough, the next second, Bai Jiheng's lips curled into a faint smile that was both probing and challenging, and his tone suddenly changed.

"By the way, Shen Tinglan. That woman keeps saying her daughter is Shen Ye's girlfriend. When did your Shen family's taste in men become so bad?"

Bai Ci, standing beside Bai Yanzhi, instinctively looked at Shen Tinglan's reaction upon hearing these words.

Looking at Bai Jiheng's amused expression, Shen Tinglan said calmly, "Shen Ye already made it clear on the phone that he doesn't know him."

Bai Jiheng raised an eyebrow and said, "Don't know them? Just because you don't know them doesn't mean you can just bring them into the Bai family's banquet? If you really knew them, could you even lend out the Shen family's private helicopter to make a show of things?"

Bai Ci felt a chill run down his spine. Bai Jiheng was clearly looking for trouble. Shen Tinglan calmly accepted the challenge. He stood there like a scarecrow who had wandered into the center of a battlefield, ready to be hit by stray bullets from both sides at any moment.

He quietly moved half a step closer to Bai Yanzhi, subconsciously leaning closer to his older brother.

Shen Tinglan straightened her long legs, ignoring Bai Jiheng's provocation, and turned to face Bai Yanzhi with a solemn and proper attitude: "Shen Ye will pay the price for his recklessness. Brother Yanzhi, the Shen family will give the Bai family an explanation for tonight's oversight. From now on, the Shen family's connections will never allow irrelevant people to infiltrate the Bai family's territory again, and this will not happen a second time."

Bai Yanzhi nodded slightly, not pursuing the matter further.

Bai Jiheng twitched the corner of his lips, temporarily putting the topic aside, but clearly had no intention of ending the conversation there.

"Alright, let's put Shen Ye's matter aside for now."

"Brother, you didn't see it. The scene in the corridor was quite spectacular." He deliberately dragged out the last syllable.

"The woman had just raised her hand to pounce on Bai Ci when this young master Shen moved even faster than I, his own third brother. He pulled her away, shielded her, adjusted her brooch, pressed her head, and handed her a handkerchief—a full-service package. Watching from the side, I could hardly tell who was a member of the Bai family and who was just a guest."

Bai Ci opened his mouth, as if to say something, but swallowed the words back. Bai Jiheng was in the middle of a lively conversation, and interrupting at this moment would be tantamount to deliberately walking into the line of fire.

Shen Tinglan picked up her teacup, her voice indifferent: "Just doing it casually."

Bai Jiheng laughed as if he had heard a joke, saying, "Just doing it by chance? From casually protecting people in the rest area, to casually blocking people in the corridor, and then casually looking after them in the side hall, Shen Tinglan, you've been quite the 'casual' one all night. Are you a thousand-armed Guanyin? How come you have so many hands?"

Shen Tinglan raised her eyes and retorted calmly, "You're quite observant. From the moment I entered the rest area, you noticed how many times I adjusted my brooch, whether you touched my head, and how many times you offered me a handkerchief. You remembered everything. It seems you've been watching me the whole time."

Bai Jiheng was taken aback by his words: "Who was staring at you?"

Bai Ci stood to the side, blinking. Seeing Bai Jiheng's smile freeze for a moment, she thought to herself: Shen Tinglan actually managed to get the better of Bai Jiheng verbally.

He glanced at Bai Yanzhi furtively. The other man's expression was calm, but he couldn't help feeling that his older brother was suppressing a laugh.

"You're already on my Bai family's turf, what, are you afraid of being seen?" Bai Jiheng quickly regained his composure.

"Then you'd better keep a close eye on me, since you just said I'm faster than you." Shen Tinglan took a sip of tea.

"you--"

"alright."

Bai Yanzhi spoke up at the right moment, interrupting the conversation between the two: "Tinglan will handle Shen Ye's situation; there's no need to argue about it here."

He turned to Shen Tinglan and nodded slightly: "Tonight is the Bai family banquet. Since you're here, please sit at the main table with us. The Shen and Bai families have always been on good terms, so there's no need to stand on ceremony."

Shen Tinglan stood up and replied, "Okay, thank you, Brother Yanzhi."

Bai Jiheng stood up and casually flicked the back of Bai Ci's head as he passed by: "Let's go, you strawberry spirit."

Bai Ci scratched the back of his head and muttered, "I'm not a strawberry spirit."

"Then what are you? You ate half a plate of strawberries, and your lips are still pink. Okay, then you're called almond crisp extract."

"I'm not an almond cookie either," Bai Ci said, putting her hand down and pursing her lips seriously.

"So what kind of spirit do you want to be?" Bai Jiheng teased him, raising an eyebrow.

Bai Ci was momentarily stumped by the question. The words "rabbit spirit" inexplicably flashed through her mind, but she quickly suppressed them, obediently shut her mouth, and pretended to be calm.

Bai Jiheng chuckled as he looked at him, who seemed to be hiding something and dared not say more. He then reached out to ruffle his hair again.

Bai Ci was prepared and immediately dodged to the side, but bumped right into Shen Tinglan who was getting up and walking closer.

Shen Tinglan raised her hand to support his shoulder, and then let go once he regained his balance. He then glanced at Bai Jiheng, saying nothing, but merely raised an eyebrow slightly.

His gaze was direct yet mocking: Your brother bumped into me himself, so this time I'm not "casually" meddling.

Bai Jiheng narrowed his eyes, his face full of displeasure.

Bai Ci was caught between the two men. To her left, Bai Jiheng's face clearly said, "This isn't over yet," while to her right, Shen Tinglan had an attitude of "Do as you please."

He decisively slipped between the two men, quickly walked to Bai Yanzhi's side, looked up at his elder brother, and his eyes held a clear plea for help.

Bai Yanzhi glanced down at him. Then he raised his hand and gently smoothed down Bai Jiheng's disheveled hair, his movements very light, just like when he had held Bai Yanzhi's chin and applied medicine in the lounge earlier.

"Let's go to the main hall."

Bai Yanzhi walked in front, with Bai Ci following closely behind. As they stepped out of the room, Bai Ci secretly glanced back.

Shen Tinglan and Bai Jiheng remained standing in the same spot, separated by the entire coffee table, their eyes locked in a silent battle of wits, a tension running deep beneath the surface.

Bai Ci immediately turned her head back and quickened her pace to catch up with Bai Yanzhi.

Forget it, this little rabbit should stay far away from their war and never get involved.