Frail and Sickly

The door of the black Bentley opened. Shen Jing'an, the eldest son of the Shen Household, got out first, then stood beside the door and reached out to help someone.

A pair of slender, jade-pale hands rested on the car door. Then a head of glossy black hair emerged, and its owner got out while holding Shen Jing'an's arm.

Beneath that thick black hair was a pale little face with delicate features. His slightly upturned eyes resembled phoenix eyes, but his lowered gaze carried a trace of exhaustion, giving him an inexplicable air of distance. With a fine nose and crimson lips, the most unforgettable thing about him was his snow-white skin. Under the sunlight, it was so pale it seemed to glow, dazzling even Su Tingbai. Yet he was dressed in a fitted, high-collared long-sleeved shirt.

Su Tingbai could not bring himself to look away. It was already June, and although a few rainy days had cooled things down, the mountain breeze in his estate should not have made it cold enough for long sleeves. It seemed Shen Xiaoyao truly was that frail.

Shen Jing'an greeted Su Tingbai. He had dealings with the eldest son of the Su Household and was fairly familiar with Su Tingbai as well.

Su Tingbai nodded in response, but his gaze unconsciously fell on Shen Rui'an's tired face. He kept his eyes lowered and seemed to lack energy.

Su Tingbai only remembered him as a beautiful child, one with an especially fragile body. When they were younger, he had played with Shen Rui'an before, but while he and the other children played, Shen Rui'an merely watched from the side.

Su Tingbai had found him rather pitiful. Seeing how well-behaved and adorable he looked, Su Tingbai had brought him along to play. Unfortunately, Shen Rui'an became tired after only a short while and was carried home by an adult.

He vaguely remembered that Shen Rui'an's schooling had also been intermittent. Once he grew older, the Shen Household simply hired tutors for him. He was rarely seen outside. Though they all lived in the same area, Shen Rui'an was the one person hardly anyone ever saw.

As he grew older, Su Tingbai gradually forgot about him. Later, after graduating college, enlisting, leaving the military, and moving to this estate, he saw the Shen Household even less often.

Still, he had heard rumors that the young master of the Shen Household was delicate and spoiled.

Now that he saw him...

It was no wonder the Shen Household had raised him so delicately.

Su Tingbai swallowed the words in his throat and simply said, "Welcome."

After getting out of the car, Shen Rui'an breathed in the fresh air and felt the tightness in his chest ease considerably. Su Tingbai had a stern face when he welcomed him, and Shen Rui'an could not tell that he meant it at all. Still, out of courtesy, he forced a smile. "Thank you."

His voice was as light as a feather brushing softly past the ear. If the place had not been so quiet, Su Tingbai would have suspected he had imagined it.

"You're welcome. I'll help you with the luggage." He casually took the suitcase from the butler and walked inside, introducing the place as he went. "I've already arranged the rooms. Yours is right next to mine..."

He glanced at Shen Rui'an. "That way, it'll be easier for me to take care of him."

Considering Shen Rui'an's strange illness, he had specifically chosen a room with especially good ventilation.

That room had originally belonged to Su Tingbai, but since Shen Rui'an was ill, he had switched to the room next door. Both were on the third floor and there was an elevator, so there was no need to worry about Shen Rui'an having trouble climbing stairs.

There were only two habitable rooms on the third floor: his room and Shen Rui'an's.

The location was excellent. Opening the window immediately brought in fresh air, making it no different from a natural oxygen bar.

The floor-to-ceiling windows were also huge and faced the sun. From inside the room, one could admire the mountain scenery. Ever since moving here, Su Tingbai had woken every day to the beauty of the mountains.

Shen Jing'an had been extremely worried at first. Their whole family had originally planned to bring their precious little one here, but Shen Rui'an's parents had prayed and burned incense everywhere when he fell ill some days ago. Now that he had recovered somewhat, they were going to the master's temple to fulfill their vow. Thus, only Shen Jing'an and the Shen Household's butler had come with him.

Su Tingbai's estate was built in an extremely secluded place. Aside from a small village more than ten miles away, there was nothing but wilderness along the way. Fortunately, Su Tingbai had paved the road leading into the estate with concrete for easier access, so the drive was not too bumpy.

Still, Shen Rui'an was not in good health and could not sit in a car for too long. He was somewhat carsick.

Shen Jing'an worried that he would fall unconscious again. Shen Rui'an's illness was strange; there was no way to describe exactly what was wrong, but whenever it struck, he became exceptionally weak and only wanted to sleep. It looked somewhat like low blood sugar, but once he fell asleep, it was easy for him not to wake up.

Every day, the Shen Household had to stay alert and check whether he was breathing smoothly.

Now that they had arrived at Shen Rui'an's room, with its broad view and beautiful woodland scenery, Shen Jing'an was exceedingly satisfied.

He could not help telling Su Tingbai a few more important things. He also spoke with Shen Rui'an for a while. When he saw him grow sleepy and fall asleep, he gently closed the door. After speaking with Su Tingbai about a few more matters, he finally left reluctantly.

If possible, he had truly wanted to stay and care for their precious little one. However, Su Tingbai did not like outsiders moving around on his property. More importantly, the master had said that Shen Rui'an should preferably spend time alone with his benefactor and hinted that the Shen Household should separate from Shen Rui'an for a while. Left with no choice, they could only let it go.

Only after everyone had left did Su Tingbai finally let out a breath. He still did not like unfamiliar people moving about on his property.

As a food blogger, only his team lived at the estate, and there were not many of them—just five or six core members, all hired at great expense. Aside from them, the estate also needed cleaning, so there were some hourly workers, most of them middle-aged women from the neighboring village.

That was why Su Tingbai's place was rather quiet, and he liked it that way. Occasionally, he would take his team out to film on location or visit restaurants, then return to recreate dishes himself. His life could be described as exceptionally colorful.

Since he was not short of money, he could eat and film whatever he pleased.

At first, he had filmed and edited the account all by himself. Only after gaining fame and becoming too busy had he recruited a team. By now, they worked together remarkably well. They had known one another for five or six years and were all old hands.

Most of the time, Su Tingbai did the cooking himself, which was perfect for filming videos.

He glanced at Shen Rui'an, who was sleeping soundly, then quietly went downstairs.

Once downstairs, Little Zhu, the cameraman on his team, crowded over. "Brother Su, what's going on? Who is he?"

The others behind Little Zhu were also full of curiosity. A whole group of people had arrived just now, and they had not gotten a clear look at what their guest looked like.

Seeing the washed ingredients already laid out in the kitchen, Su Tingbai picked up an onion and began chopping it. "He's the young master of the Shen Household. He's here to recuperate. From now on, he's part of our group too. He's frail, so don't order him around. Just treat him as a food guest."

At that, he looked seriously at his colleagues. "The Shen Household has protected him very well. Don't film his face without his permission. He won't appear on camera."

That said, his videos always ended with everyone enjoying the food together, and that was a major draw. So he had kept that segment, and it had become a signature feature of his account. Little Zhu in particular worked hard carrying the camera and loved to eat so much that he was nearly becoming a mukbang streamer.

So if Shen Rui'an joined them for meals after filming, it would be hard to avoid parts of his body appearing on camera.

Little Zhu and A-Ming, the other cameraman, nodded and committed it to memory.