Frail and Sickly

The door of the black Bentley opened, and Shen Jing'an, the eldest brother of the Shen Household, stepped out first. He then stood by the car door and extended a hand to help someone out.

A pair of slender, jade-white hands rested on the car door. Then, a head of glossy black hair emerged, and its owner got out of the car with Shen Jing'an supporting his arm.

Beneath that thick black hair was a pale little face with delicate features. His slightly upturned eyes resembled the eyes of a phoenix, but his lowered gaze carried a trace of exhaustion, giving him an inexplicably distant air. With a refined nose and crimson lips, the most unforgettable thing about him was his snow-white skin. It was so pale that it seemed to glow beneath the sun, bright enough to make Su Tingbai's eyes ache. Yet the young man was dressed in a fitted long-sleeved turtleneck.

Su Tingbai could not bear to look away from him. It was already June, and even though the past few days of rain had cooled things down, the mountain breeze in his estate was nowhere near cold enough to warrant long sleeves. It seemed this youngest Shen really 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 upon Shen Rui'an, whose face was filled with fatigue. Shen Rui'an had his eyes lowered and seemed to lack all energy.

Su Tingbai remembered him only as a pretty child with an especially fragile body. Back when they were young, he had played with Shen Rui'an before. Su Tingbai and the other children would play while Shen Rui'an watched from the side.

Su Tingbai had thought he seemed rather pitiful. Seeing how well-behaved and adorable he was, Su Tingbai had invited him to join them. Unfortunately, Shen Rui'an became tired after only a short while and was soon carried home by an adult.

Su Tingbai vaguely remembered that Shen Rui'an's schooling had also been intermittent. When he grew a little older, the Shen Household simply hired tutors to teach him. Shen Rui'an was rarely seen leaving home. 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 from university, joining the army, leaving the service, and moving to this estate, he saw even less of the Shen Household.

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

Now that he saw him...

It was no wonder the Shen Household had raised him to be so delicate.

Su Tingbai swallowed the rest of his words and merely said, "Welcome."

After getting out of the car, Shen Rui'an breathed in the fresh air and felt the stuffiness in his chest ease considerably. Su Tingbai had a stern face as he welcomed him, and Shen Rui'an could not detect any real warmth in those words. Still, out of politeness, he forced a smile. "Thank you."

His voice was as light as a feather brushing against the ear. If the surroundings had not been so quiet, Su Tingbai might have suspected he had imagined it.

"You're welcome. I'll help you carry the luggage." He casually took the suitcase from the butler and led them inside as he introduced the place. "I've already arranged the rooms. Yours is right next to mine..."

He glanced at Shen Rui'an. "That'll make it easier for me to look after him."

He had also chosen the room because of Shen Rui'an's strange illness; its ventilation was especially good.

That room had originally belonged to Su Tingbai, but since Shen Rui'an was ill, Su Tingbai had moved into the neighboring room instead. Both rooms were on the third floor, and there was an elevator, so Shen Rui'an would not have to struggle with stairs.

Only two rooms on the third floor were suitable for living in: Su Tingbai's and Shen Rui'an's.

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

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

Shen Jing'an had been extremely worried at first. The entire family had originally planned to bring their little treasure here today, but Shen Rui'an's parents had prayed to gods and Buddhas after he fell ill some days ago. Now that he had recovered somewhat, they were going to the master's Taoist 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 exceptionally secluded location. Other than a small village more than ten miles away, there was no sign of human habitation along the way. Fortunately, for the sake of convenience, Su Tingbai had paved the road into the estate with concrete, so the drive was not too bumpy.

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

Shen Jing'an worried that he would fall into another deep sleep. Shen Rui'an's illness was strange. No one could explain what was unusual about it, but whenever it flared up, he became incredibly weak and only wanted to sleep. It looked a little like hypoglycemia, except once he fell asleep, he could easily fail to wake up.

The Shen Household had to remain vigilant every day, checking whether he was breathing smoothly.

Now that they had arrived at the room where Shen Rui'an would be staying, Shen Jing'an saw its expansive view and the beautiful forest scenery outside. He was deeply satisfied.

He could not help giving Su Tingbai more instructions on important matters, then talked with Shen Rui'an for a while. Once Shen Rui'an grew sleepy and fell asleep, he gently closed the door. After discussing a few more matters with Su Tingbai, he finally left reluctantly.

If possible, he truly wanted to stay and care for his little treasure. However, Su Tingbai did not like outsiders moving about on his property. Moreover, the master had said that it would be best for the benefactor to spend time alone with Shen Rui'an, implying that the Shen Household should separate from Shen Rui'an for a while. Helpless, they could only let it go.

Only after everyone had left did Su Tingbai finally breathe a sigh of relief. He still did not like unfamiliar people moving around on his property.

As a food blogger, only his team lived at the estate. There were not many of them, merely five or six core members, all hired at great expense. Aside from them, the estate needed cleaning staff, and he occasionally employed part-time workers, most of whom were middle-aged women from the neighboring village.

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

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

Originally, he had filmed and edited everything for his account alone. Only after gaining fame and becoming too busy to manage had he hired a team. By now, they worked together very well and had known one another for five or six years.

Most of the time, Su Tingbai cooked as well, conveniently filming videos while doing so.

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

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

The few people behind Little Zhu were equally curious. A whole crowd had arrived earlier, and they had not even managed to see what the guest looked like.

Seeing that the kitchen already had washed ingredients prepared, 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 one of us 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."

Though he said that, the end of Su Tingbai's videos always showed everyone enjoying the food together, and that was an appealing part of the content. He had kept it in, and it had become a feature of his account. Little Zhu especially loved eating after lugging around a camera all day and was practically becoming a mukbang streamer.

So if Shen Rui'an joined them for meals at the end of filming, it would be unavoidable for parts of him to appear on camera.

Little Zhu and another photographer, A-Ming, nodded and committed it to memory.