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

Bai Luochen glanced at Bai Ci; this younger brother was completely different from the one he remembered.

Bai Jiheng put down his coffee cup, then suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Bai Luochen: "By the way, when you came back last night, did Momo stay obediently in her room all night? She didn't sneak out to wander around, did she?"

"No," Bai Luochen replied calmly. "It's been squatting outside the door for a long time."

"...Where should I squat?" Bai Jiheng asked.

"At Bai Ci's door."

Bai Ci was happily munching on half a piece of ice crystal grass when she heard this, her hand trembled, and the grass fell back onto her plate with a "plop".

Bai Luochen looked at him: "It rarely shows interest in strangers; you're the first one."

"...Why is it squatting at my door?" Bai Ci's voice trembled slightly, his mind filled with the terrifying image of a giant python as thick as a bowl coiled at his door in the middle of the night last night, and his back was tingling with fear.

"Curious. It didn't go in."

Bai Ci opened his mouth, wanting to say "thank you," but then felt it wasn't right. He wanted to say "why didn't you say so sooner?" but then felt it was pointless. In the end, he only managed to squeeze out a dry "oh."

Bai Jiheng looked at Bai Ci's pale face, then glanced at Bai Luochen's expressionless face, and couldn't help but say, "Second Brother, can't you be a little more tactful? Last time I mentioned Mo Mo to him, he was so scared that he threw his pillow on the spot. But you, you just come up and announce that Mo Mo was staking out his door last night."

As soon as he finished speaking, Bai Luochen's cold gaze swept over him.

"I'm afraid you said something scary before."

"...I didn't say anything bad, I was just stating the facts objectively." Bai Jiheng's voice lowered two octaves. He picked up the coffee cup to his lips, but found it was empty, so he put it back, pretending he was just checking the coffee stains at the bottom of the cup.

Bai Yanzhi put down the electronic presentation and looked up at Bai Ci, who was staring at the porridge in his bowl, poking at it absentmindedly with his chopsticks. He softened his tone, "Mo Mo was raised by Luo Chen from a young age. It's gentle and won't attack people unless provoked. It's probably curious about you because you're a new face; it'll get used to you." Turning to Bai Luo Chen, his tone was steady but weighty, "Be careful about Mo Mo. Don't frighten him."

"Okay," Bai Luochen responded. Then he looked at Bai Ci and said, "Once you're mentally prepared, you can slowly get to know it. It likes you and won't have any stress reactions. Once you understand it, you won't be afraid."

A picture instantly flashed through Bai Ci's mind: he was standing in front of a glass door, and a giant python as thick as a bowl was pressing its head against the glass, its vertical pupils staring straight at him, its tail tip gently sweeping across the carpet, making a soft rustling sound.

"No, no, no... not for now." He refused vaguely.

"I'm not asking you to go now."

Xiao Qi whispered in Bai Ci's mind, "Bai Bai, he said Mo Mo has feelings for you. Cross-species feelings, that sounds pretty rare."

Bai Ci silently thought to himself: This is probably just a snake wanting to eat a rabbit.

"You are a human now, not a rabbit. But there's no difference, aren't humans and rabbits both cross-species?"

"oh."

Bai Ci decided not to discuss this topic with it.

He whispered to Bai Luochen, "...Okay."

Bai Jiheng, who had watched the whole thing from the side, let out a meaningful sigh: "That's really strange. Second Brother is usually so taciturn, but today he actually said such a long string of words in one breath."

Bai Luochen ignored him.

Bai Jiheng became interested and reached for his phone, saying, "We have to check the surveillance footage and save it! This is such rare footage. We'll transfer it to the phone and play it for the old man later. He'll be overjoyed."

Bai Luochen casually dropped a bombshell: "You have a bunch of recordings of the old man's dark past on your phone. He just caught you last month. You'd better get a new one."

Bai Jiheng's smile froze on his face.

Bai Ci lowered his head and silently shoveled the porridge in his bowl, secretly thinking to himself: Second Brother looks cold and aloof, but he's incredibly sharp-tongued when he argues with Third Brother. He doesn't seem as cold and unapproachable as I imagined.

Bai Yanzhi finished turning the last page of the briefing and gave a very faint smile.

Bai Jiheng turned to look at him: "Big brother, you're smiling."

"no."

"You're smiling, I saw it, the corner of your mouth—"

"Ji Heng," Bai Yanzhi said calmly, "refill your coffee when it's gone."

Bai Jiheng glanced down at his empty coffee cup, then at his older brother's impassive face, put the cup on the table, and leaned back in his chair. "Fine, you're all like this. I've figured it out; in this family, I'm the easiest to bully."

Bai Ci added in a low voice, "Not the easiest to bully, but the most unreliable."

"You dare to talk back?" Bai Jiheng glared at him.

Bai Ci immediately shrank his neck and buried his head in eating radishes, pretending to be well-behaved.

Bai Yanzhi looked at Bai Ci and changed the subject to something more serious: "When do you plan to go back to school?"

Before Bai Ci could speak, Bai Jiheng interjected, "What's the rush? Let him rest for a few more days. He just fainted a couple of days ago, and you're already sending him back to school?"

"It's his own body, let him make the decisions." Bai Yanzhi said calmly.

Bai Ci thought to himself. Xiao Qi had reminded him a few days ago that the life-extending quest was still pending at the school, and he would have to go back to collect the fragments of the Nine-Turn Life-Extending Pill. No matter how long he lay in this manor, the quest progress bar wouldn't advance on its own.

He replied, "I want to go back; I've fallen behind on my studies for several days."

Bai Yanzhi nodded gently: "Dr. Qin will come for a follow-up visit tomorrow. If you're alright, you can return the day after tomorrow. There's something else I want to tell you. I've contacted Ji Huaizhou and asked him to look after you at school. If you have any problems after you return to school, you can contact him."

Bai Ci was stunned for a moment. Ji Huaizhou? The Ji Huaizhou who had been confronted by him in the lounge, cold and indifferent like a walking block of ice. His older brother actually entrusted him with taking care of him?

"Brother, what did you say to him?"

"I only mentioned to him that you are physically weak and need more care from others. Since you are living in the same dormitory, it will be convenient for you to take care of each other."

Bai Jiheng put his fork on the table: "Kid, since you promised your older brother, if you're not feeling well at school, just go to him. Don't be polite with him. But he's cold-hearted. If he dares to make things difficult for you, don't give him any face."

"His family background and character are not that bad," Bai Luochen said objectively.

"Isn't this just taking precautions?" Bai Jiheng said matter-of-factly. "What if?"

Bai Yanzhi straightened his cuffs and got up to leave for the company.

"Okay, I have to go to the office today. You stay home and get some rest."

"it is good."

He walked behind Bai Ci, gently pressed his hand on the boy's shoulder to comfort him, picked up his suit jacket from the back of the chair, and left the restaurant.

Back in his room, Bai Ci slumped in a recliner, staring blankly at the big tree outside the window.

Xiao Qi frantically updated the list of dangerous people in the Bai family in the background, downgrading Mo Mo's danger level from SSS to SS, with the note: "She is curious about the host, but has no intention of attacking at the moment. It is recommended that the host prepare mentally as soon as possible."

Bai Ci silently crossed out the words "as soon as possible" in his mind and changed them to "we'll talk about it another day."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

Bai Ci got up and opened the door. Standing outside was Bai Luochen, holding a booklet with a dark gray cover.

"For you."

Bai Ci took the booklet and opened it. The first page was the table of contents, and the font was so neat it looked like it had been printed.

Chapter 1: Basic Physiological Data of Momo. Chapter 2: Comparison Table of Molting Cycle and Emotional Changes. Chapter 3: Temperature and Humidity Curve of the Husbandry Box. Chapter 4: Interpretation of Common Behaviors.

He casually flipped to a page and saw a line of text: "Vertical pupils contracting accompanied by a tail lightly sweeping the carpet: indicates relaxation and curiosity, not a premonition of aggression."

"Did you... write this yourself?"

"I just organized the feeding data I usually keep," Bai Luochen said casually. "You might find it useful. Since you live next door, it won't hurt to know its habits."

"...Thank you, Second Brother."

"Um."

Bai Luochen turned and left. Bai Ci closed the door, sat back in the recliner, and opened the first page of the first chapter of the manual. "Mo Mo, 4.2 meters long, 42 kilograms in weight..." He looked down a page, then turned another, slowly getting into the text.

The sunlight outside the window was warm and gentle. He turned to the end of Chapter Four and saw a handwritten note: "If its tail is constantly sweeping the floor while it's crouching by the door, it means it's in a good mood."

Bai Ci stared at that line of text for a long time, then he closed the manual, placed it on his lap, and thought: Maybe another day, I can take a look at it from afar through the glass door, just one look.