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

Bai Jiheng's expression froze instantly. He glared at his older brother, looking as if someone had stuffed a whole lemon into his mouth, so sour he couldn't speak.

"What nonsense are you spouting?" After a long while, Bai Jiheng finally managed to utter a firm rebuttal, his voice extremely low, but he couldn't hide the awkwardness in his heart at all.

Bai Yanzhi completely ignored his embarrassment and turned back to look at the sleeping Bai Ci.

"I'm not kidding, the vinegar smell is really strong."

Bai Jiheng felt a tightness in his chest, took a deep breath, and was about to retort and regain his dignity.

Just then, Bai Ci, lying on the bed, unconsciously smacked her lips twice, her soft, hazy murmurs drifting out as she drifted off to sleep: "...Strawberries...so sweet..."

His two older brothers looked down at him at the same time.

Xiaoqi is watching the drama unfold online: Goodness, the two young masters are secretly competing, but the one who's dreaming of eating rice has stolen the spotlight!

Bai Jiheng's bellyful of rebuttals was choked back by a strawberry from his dream.

He slumped back in his chair, covered his eyes with his hand, and sighed helplessly and resignedly, resigning himself to his fate.

"Fine, you guys win."

He complained in a hoarse voice, full of resignation: "One of them smells of vinegar, the other has sweet dreams, and I'm just superfluous. I'll sleep, I won't get in your way."

Despite saying that, Bai Jiheng didn't actually close his eyes.

He leaned back deeply in his chair, raised his hand and gently rubbed his throbbing temples, his earlier playful awkwardness vanishing, and was about to say something.

Before he could even speak, Bai Ci on the bed smacked her lips again, her cheeks puffing out slightly, and muttered softly, "...Osmanthus cake...have another piece..."

Xiaoqi sighed helplessly: Other kids dream of going out to play, but we dream of desserts all the time. Our foodie nature is stuck!

Bai Jiheng paused in rubbing his temples, then turned to stare at Bai Ci's still gently moving lips, remaining silent for a long while.

"...So the strawberries were just an appetizer," he said in a low voice, his tone full of disbelief, "this kid is still ordering food in his dreams."

Bai Yanzhi looked down at Bai Ci, the slight smile on his lips never fading.

When Bai Jiheng lowered his hand again, he looked up and stared straight at Bai Yanzhi. His eyes no longer held the usual stubbornness and teasing, nor did they show the anxious urging he had shown before.

His tone became completely serious, all traces of playfulness gone.

"When he wakes up and sees the milk stains and porcelain scratches on your pants, what will he think? He's already upset enough, and now he has to know you knelt down in that pile of shards to pick him up?"

This sentence was more effective than all the previous banter, directly hitting Bai Yanzhi's sore spot, and his fingertips tightened slightly.

"...What if he wakes up and can't find anyone—"

"I'm here," Bai Jiheng interrupted him. "You're not mute; do you need to teach you how to say a few words?"

Bai Yanzhi stared at him for two seconds, hesitated, and looked down at the slender fingers that were tightly gripping him. He carefully and slowly pulled his wrist away. Bai Ci's fingers curled up, as if he had sensed something, and his brows furrowed slightly.

Bai Yanzhi casually placed the warmed hot water bottle from the bedside table into Bai Ci's arms, then carefully wrapped the four corners of the blanket tightly around him. With the warm object in his arms, Bai Ci's furrowed brows slowly relaxed, and he curled up obediently, hugging the bottle.

Bai Yanzhi walked to the door and glanced back at Bai Jiheng.

"Don't let him kick off the blanket."

Bai Jiheng waved his hand: "I know. Go on, change your clothes and look in the mirror. If you go out looking like this, people will think the Bai family has gone bankrupt."

Bai Yanzhi ignored his teasing, turned around, opened the door, and walked out.

The door closed gently.

Bai Jiheng leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.

Then he glanced at Bai Ci, who was sleeping soundly on the hospital bed, hugging a hot water bottle and smacking her lips, and muttered to herself in a low voice, "You're sleeping so comfortably. Do you know that your third brother almost choked to death just now after being roasted like that?"

Bai Ci mumbled something in her dream, as if responding casually.

Bai Jiheng gazed at the boy's gentle sleeping face, all the playfulness in his eyes fading away, leaving only a quiet tenderness.

......

The morning light bathed the ground outside the window, and the morning breeze carried a faint fragrance of the courtyard's plants and trees.

Bai Ci held a warm hand warmer in her arms, her long eyelashes trembling gently, before slowly lifting her eyelids after a long while.

His light amber pupils were veiled by a thin mist of sleepiness, his vision unfocused. His field of vision was initially a blurry white, which gradually converged and finally settled on the ceiling.

His throat felt dry and parched, and he unconsciously pursed his lips, his mind still lingering on the sweet and sour osmanthus cake and red strawberries from his dream.

Where is this?

He blinked, his mind still hazy from the afterglow of sleep, as sluggish as a rusty gear. He instinctively reached up to rub his eyes, but as soon as his right hand moved, he realized he was holding something warm in his palm.

Bai Ci stared at the ceiling, his mind slowly working. He remembered taking a shower, feeling extremely cold when he came out, and then he knew nothing more. But while he was unconscious, he seemed to have grasped something warm—was it a dream?

"Bye-bye!" Xiao Qi's voice exploded in my mind, filled with the relief of surviving a disaster, "You're finally awake! Do you know how dangerous yesterday was? Thankfully, your heart rate and blood oxygen levels have stabilized, you've finally made it through."

"Xiao Qi," Bai Ci interrupted in her mind, "...What's wrong with me?"

"Acute vasovagal syncope. Simply put, you took a hot shower and then went straight into a cold draft, and your heart just went on strike. It scared everyone half to death. Dr. Qin flew in by helicopter in the middle of the night, and when your older brother carried you into the medical room, his knees were covered in..."

Xiaoqi stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence.

"What are they all?"

"...Never mind, you can ask him about that yourself later. Anyway, you're fine now, just take good care of yourself."

Bai Ci felt that Xiao Qi had almost let something slip, but he didn't have the mental energy to ask. He tried to move his body; a dull, heavy feeling lingered in his chest, and his limbs felt weak and powerless, as if his bones had been removed. However, compared to the biting cold he felt before he fainted, he was much better now.

Bai Ci silently agreed in her heart, turned her head slightly, and her gaze met Bai Jiheng's eyes, instantly freezing.

On the chair on the other side of the hospital bed, Bai Jiheng rested his chin on one hand, a half-smile on his face, his gaze fixed on him, clearly having been watching him for a long time.

Bai Jiheng straightened up, slowly speaking in a lazy tone: "Oh, finally decided to wake up?"