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

Bai Jiheng stood up from the chair, rubbed his stiff, aching shoulders, and looked up at Bai Yanzhi on the edge of the bed.

Since the sudden onset of his illness last night, Bai Yanzhi has been completely still, as if he had taken root on the edge of the bed.

Bai Jiheng watched Bai Yanzhi's straight back, his gaze finally settling on his older brother's trousers. Several pale milk stains were visible at the knees of his dark gray suit trousers, and further down, several dark marks of varying depths were visible on his calves from broken porcelain shards. Fortunately, the fabric was thick, and the skin wasn't seriously injured.

A perfectly good formal suit has been ruined beyond recognition.

Normally, if he were in this state, Bai Yanzhi would have already changed his clothes with a sullen face. But now, his mind was completely focused on the unconscious Bai Ci, and he didn't care about his disheveled appearance at all.

Bai Jiheng walked closer, deliberately cleared his throat, and teased in a low voice, "Brother, if the senior executives of the group saw you dressed like this, they would be very surprised."

Bai Yanzhi's tone was calm, but his voice betrayed the exhaustion of a sleepless night: "It won't affect anything. This is a hospital ward, not a board meeting."

Bai Jiheng took a deep breath and changed his strategy.

"Why don't you go change your clothes? Aren't you uncomfortable in these?"

"No need," Bai Yanzhi replied decisively.

Bai Jiheng's voice rose slightly involuntarily, then he quickly stopped, his tone tinged with helplessness: "Don't you need to? Look down at yourself, there are milk stains and marks everywhere, this outfit is completely ruined. Even if you don't mind the dirt, aren't you afraid of Bai Ci seeing it and ruining your image?"

Bai Yanzhi didn't respond, so Bai Jiheng continued, "Also, from the start of preparing for the family banquet, plus all the trouble that followed, do you think about how long it's been since you've had a good night's sleep?"

"The banquets went on non-stop, and then Bai Ci suddenly fell ill late at night. For more than forty hours straight, you didn't even get a moment's rest. Even a body of iron couldn't withstand such a schedule."

Bai Yanzhi's tone softened slightly: "I feel at ease only when I'm here."

For the first time, Bai Jiheng felt that his older brother was even more difficult to deal with than the stubborn old men on the board of directors when he was being unreasonable.

His attitude hardened: "You've been on guard all night, a little longer won't make a difference. I've already had Uncle Chen prepare clean civilian clothes in the rest room next door. Go change right now, and lie down there for a while, even just close your eyes. I'll keep an eye on him here, and if he even blinks, I'll call you immediately."

After much persuasion, Bai Yanzhi finally relented.

He was supporting himself on his knee with one hand, about to get up—

Bai Ci, lying on the hospital bed, seemed startled by the commotion around her, her thick eyelashes trembling slightly.

He was in a daze, his consciousness was blurred, and his body still felt the discomfort of being cold and weak the night before, so he instinctively wanted to find something warm.

His fingers unconsciously reached out towards the edge of the bed, like a young animal exploring with its eyes closed. His fingertips brushed against the blankets and the edge of the bed, and then touched something warm, much warmer than his own body temperature.

Bai Ci's fingers curled up, and finally she precisely grabbed Bai Yanzhi's drooping wrist.

The force wasn't great, but the grip was very tight, as if it were the only thing holding on, and it wouldn't let go no matter what.

Bai Yanzhi abruptly stopped in his tracks, looking down at the small, fair hand on his wrist, then up at Bai Jiheng beside him. The weariness and coldness that had been lingering in his eyes for days had faded somewhat, replaced by a faint, triumphant smile.

Bai Jiheng met his brother's gaze, then looked at his wrist, which was firmly "locked," and his lips twitched.

He instantly understood that look in his eyes. You see, it's not that I don't want to go, it's that he's pulling me back, preventing me from leaving.

All that effort I put into persuading him was for nothing. In the end, this little guy's unintentional action completely stole the show.

Bai Yanzhi sat back down in his original position. Instead of withdrawing his hand, he gently adjusted the angle of his wrist to make it more comfortable for Bai Ci to hold.

In her mind, Xiaoqi brought up the complete life monitoring panel and breathed a long sigh of relief: "Heart rate and blood oxygen are all stable within the safe range. Bai Bai has finally made it through this ordeal, that's great!"

The moment the words left its mouth, it caught Bai Ci's subtle clenching of her wrist and instantly switched into gossip and吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or sarcastic comments): "...Wait. Bai Bai, whose hand are you holding? Do you even know whose hand you're holding?"

Bai Ci, of course, couldn't hear it.

Xiao Qi was silent for a moment, then sighed softly: "I wonder what your expression will be when you wake up tomorrow and find yourself gripping Bai Yanzhi's wrist. This big shot has been on guard all night, hasn't slept for almost two days, and his arm is practically numb from your grip. But whatever, you're cold, so let him hold on. Anyway, I won't wake you up unless he pulls away."

Bai Jiheng felt that there was something inexplicable hidden in his elder brother's glance just now, but he had no proof.

"...Fine." Bai Jiheng squeezed out two words through gritted teeth, looking like he was "speechless after being shown up like this." "One of them won't budge, and the other won't let go. I can't persuade them, so let them do whatever they want. Consider it a waste of my time. But let me make this clear: don't be sleepy when he wakes up."

He turned and walked to the chair on the other side of the hospital bed, plopped down, crossed his long legs, and leaned back in the chair with his arms crossed. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, then couldn't help but glance at the bedside again.

Bai Ci's hand was still gripping Bai Yanzhi's wrist, unmoving. Her pale face turned slightly towards Bai Yanzhi's hand, as if she knew in her sleep that it was warmer there.

Bai Jiheng scoffed, but the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

"He certainly knows how to pick," he said in a low voice, with a hint of teasing. "Even when he's asleep, he knows to snuggle up to the warmest spot. I don't think he's weak; he's incredibly shrewd."

Bai Yanzhi didn't respond; he just let Bai Ci hold him, and with his other hand, he pulled the blanket closer to Bai Ci's shoulder.

Bai Jiheng leaned back in his chair, shifting to a more comfortable position, and continued to chatter softly: "What do you think his expression will be when he wakes up tomorrow morning and finds that he's been holding your wrist all night? Last time he felt so guilty for drinking too much of your tea at the tea house, but this time he's just using you as a hand warmer."

Bai Yanzhi's lips curved into a very slight smile.

"What are you laughing at?" Bai Jiheng caught the subtle smile, raising an eyebrow. "Just think about it. Tomorrow, when he opens his eyes and sees himself holding your hand, his first reaction will definitely be 'Oh no!' Then his ears will turn red, his face will turn red, and he'll shrink into the blankets, unable to utter a complete sentence for ages. Do you believe it?"

"...You are quite observant." Bai Yanzhi finally spoke, his tone indifferent, but he did not deny it.

Bai Jiheng snorted lightly: "You're not the only one with eyes."

Bai Yanzhi turned his head and glanced at him indifferently, a faint smile on his lips, revealing a sense of composure as if he had seen through everything.

"You have eyes," Bai Yanzhi said slowly, "but I smelled something else."

Bai Jiheng raised an eyebrow: "What?"

"The smell of vinegar."