The landlord has multiple personalities and wants everyone to pay him.

At six o'clock in the morning, the faint sound of birds chirping could be heard outside the window.

The living room curtains weren't drawn because Ye Shu felt the living room should be bright and airy. Besides, since they lived in the living room, drawing the curtains would make it difficult to get up, and it would be inconvenient for both of them if others woke up and saw her still sleeping on the sofa.

Just as Ye Shu opened his eyes, he heard a door open from the other end of the corridor.

A swaying figure emerged from the door opposite Ye Shu's bedroom.

She was clearly still half asleep; her long hair was a mess, with a few strands sticking up, making her look like Medusa from a distance, swaying on her head with each step.

Her eyes weren't fully open, her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, she ran one hand through her hair and scratched it, muttering something under her breath. The neckline of her pajamas was askew, revealing a small section of her collarbone.

Ye Shu, sitting on the sofa, was too afraid to utter a sound. Sleepwalking? Was this sleepwalking?

Ye Shu seemed to have heard that you should never wake a sleepwalker, or they will go insane. So he lay obediently on the sofa, staring at her without moving, even though he was still unsure who she was.

She seemed to be moving by muscle memory, staggering to the kitchen door, completely ignoring Ye Shu who was lying on the sofa cosplaying as a mummy... No, she didn't even look this way.

"Haa..."

She opened her mouth, yawned, and casually wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes. Then, she opened the refrigerator door, reached in without looking, and pulled out a can of beer. Only after feeling the coldness of the beer can did she sigh with satisfaction.

The can was opened, and she turned to face the window, tilting her head back to take a big gulp.

Ye Shu realized now that she wasn't sleepwalking; she was just... craving beer.

"Drinking cold beer so early in the morning, doesn't your stomach hurt?"

"Pfft, cough cough cough..."

Startled by the sudden sound, Xia Qing shuddered, spitting out half of the beer she had just drunk. She bent over, coughed a few times, and then fully opened her eyes, instantly waking up.

She turned her head and saw Ye Shu had already sat up from the sofa, a thin blanket covering his lap, rubbing his eyes and looking at her with a somewhat helpless expression. She complained irritably:

"You startled me! Why are you up so early? No...!"

Her eyes swept over the sofa and the blanket on Ye Shu, and her brows furrowed slightly:

"Why are you sleeping here?"

As she asked the question, she picked up a beer can, shuffled to the sofa in her slippers, and plopped down next to Ye Shu's legs.

Seeing her drinking heavily right after waking up, Ye Shu asked:

"you do not know?"

"What do I know?"

Xia Qing looked at him with some confusion. She tilted her head back and took another gulp of beer. The cold beer slid down her throat, making her feel a little more energetic.

It seems they genuinely don't know.

Ye Shu sighed and reached out to take the beer can from her hand:

"Alright, stop drinking that cold beer. Drinking this on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, are you going to ruin your stomach? I'll go heat up some milk for you."

He had just reached out when Xia Qing pushed him down onto her shoulder with one hand.

Xia Qing raised her eyes, looking at him defiantly, then tilted her head back and took another big gulp of beer right in front of him. Only then did she curl one corner of her lips into a half-smile.

"You little rascal, don't think that just because you're my boyfriend you can boss me around."

She shook the beer can in her hand and complained:

"He talks on and on like a little old man."

Although Xia Qing said that, she was secretly pleased. It was nice that someone cared about her feelings in such a small way.

Ye Shu was taken aback by her self-righteous attitude and was about to say something when...

"Ah... um~~~!!!"

A heart-wrenching yawn, uttered with all its might and from the depths of its soul, accompanied by the sound of stretching, came from Ye Shu's bedroom.

The voice was full of the satisfaction of stretching after a good night's sleep; it was pleasant to listen to, even though it was completely unseemly.

Tang Xiaotao woke up and began her daily stretching routine in bed.

The sound was particularly abrupt and clear in the quiet living room in the early morning.

The provocative smile on Xia Qing's face vanished at a visible speed. She turned her head, her gaze shooting like two small knives towards the door of Ye Shu's bedroom, her ears seemingly twitching as she listened to the sounds inside.

Then, she turned around abruptly, still holding the can of beer in one hand, and reached out with the other to grab Ye Shu's pajamas collar, pulling him towards her.

Watching this from Ye Shu's first-person perspective, the action inexplicably reminded him of scenes he'd seen in nature documentaries of dragonfly larvae hunting their prey...

Because Xia Qing used a lot of force, their faces almost collided.

Xia Qing narrowed her eyes, her gaze filled with anger. She stared at Ye Shu, lowering her voice to call him by his full name:

"Ye Shu, you've gotten quite bold, daring to let a woman stay overnight at your house?"

Her expression was serious; it didn't seem like she was joking or jealous.

Ye Shu felt that if his answer didn't satisfy her, that can of beer would definitely be on his head the next second.

"No, listen to me..."

"I'm warning you, Ye Shu."

Xia Qing interrupted him, tightening her grip on his collar until it made it hard for him to breathe. Her voice grew colder, and she said through gritted teeth:

"You'd better give me a reasonable explanation, or else..."

Her gaze swept downwards, landing on a vulnerable spot on Ye Shu's body. Although she didn't say it explicitly, it was full of threat.

"My sister!"

Ye Shu felt a chill run down her spine from her posture, and her survival instincts instantly spiked. She quickly blurted everything out like a floodgate of beans:

"It's my sister! My aunt's daughter. She came here for vacation and had nowhere to stay, so she stayed in my room! If it weren't for that, would I be sleeping on the sofa?!"

He persuaded her in one breath, observing Xia Qing's reaction.

"Your sister?"

Xia Qing loosened her grip on his collar slightly, but the suspicion in her eyes didn't completely disappear. She tilted her head, her eyes scanning his face back and forth, not wanting to miss any trace of a lie.

Ye Shu gave an awkward smile. Had she just secretly cursed at me?

Xia Qing turned her head and glanced at the tightly closed bedroom door again. Inside, she could hear Tang Xiaotao humming a song and rustling sounds, as if she were changing clothes.

"Yes, my cousin."

Ye Shu quickly added:

"They came a few days ago, Xiaoxue and the others have already met them, you're the last one to see them. Didn't you check your notebook? It should be written in there, right? Besides, if I were really going to do that kind of thing, I couldn't bring someone home, could I? How stupid would I be?"

Hearing that others had seen it, Xia Qing's last bit of doubt slowly disappeared. She released her grip on Ye Shu's collar, realizing she had indeed been a little overreacted, and apologized as she smoothed out the wrinkles in his collar, though her movements were a bit rough.

She sat up straight again, tilted her head back and drank the beer from the can, before speaking:

"Oh, I see."

She casually crushed the beer can and threw it into the trash can with a clatter.

"I just woke up, I haven't had a chance to look at that thing yet."

As she spoke, she turned to look at Ye Shu again, her gaze shifting between Ye Shu's face and the bedroom door:

"So, that one inside... is really your sister? Your biological sister?"

Ye Shu felt that all her previous explanations had been in vain.