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

Nancheng Airport is bustling with people.

Ye Shu sat on the stone stool by the door, staring at the gate with dead fish eyes, occasionally yawning.

After hanging up the phone last night, he lay on the bed tossing and turning, his mind a jumbled mess. He didn't know how long he tossed and turned before he finally drifted off to sleep.

When he woke up in the morning, he found a message Tang Xiaotao had sent him last night:

[Brother, Uncle's flight number is [number missing], he'll arrive around 10:30 this morning, don't be late!]

Below is a screenshot of flight information, followed by the following sentence:

If I had known plane tickets were this cheap, I would have flown back.

Ye Shu replied with an "OK" emoji, rubbed her face, and cheered herself up.

He asked Chen Xing for leave again, and he didn't know if Chen Xing was already awake or if she had been woken up by Ye Shu, but she replied instantly as always. Upon hearing that both sets of parents would meet, she agreed without hesitation.

As it turned out, Ye Shu arrived too early, and the flight was delayed by twenty minutes. Ye Shu hadn't slept well the night before, and didn't dare go far, so she could only sit on the stone bench and doze off.

"Hey young man, need a hotel? It has a private bathroom, free Wi-Fi, and it's right next to the airport, super convenient!"

A middle-aged woman holding a sign came over, very enthusiastic, but her eyes kept sizing up Ye Shu, as if she was judging his spending power.

Ye Shu hated that kind of look. He waved his hand and forced a smile at the middle-aged woman.

"No, thank you, I'm waiting for someone."

The middle-aged woman seemed to have made no business today. Seeing that someone was finally paying attention to her, she couldn't let this opportunity pass her by. Holding up her sign, she stood next to Ye Shu and whispered mysteriously:

"Picking someone up? Well, you need a place for them to stay, right? Young man, I'll give you a discount, it'll definitely be cheaper than booking online."

Ye Shu was already feeling uneasy, anxiously waiting to see her father's reaction. In addition, she hadn't slept well last night and was getting a headache from the noise, so she simply stopped responding and treated it as white noise to help her sleep.

About ten minutes later, a crowd began to pour out of the airport exit. Taxi drivers, hotel touts, and people picking up passengers swarmed forward. Seeing that the young man was unmoved by her persuasion, the middle-aged woman next to Ye Shu turned around and joined the ranks of those vying for customers.

Ye Shu also stood up, tiptoed, and immediately spotted her father walking out with her in the crowd. She quickly jogged over to him.

"Dad! Over here!"

Ye Shu's father was carrying a large black travel bag, bulging with stuff. He had bought the bag when Ye Shu was a freshman in college, and after taking it home for a holiday one year, he hadn't used it again. He was surprised that Ye Shu still had it.

My father was wearing a jacket that looked quite old, dark trousers, and a pair of neatly polished leather shoes. Although his outfit was a bit outdated, it was impeccably neat and gave off a simple and honest vibe.

Upon seeing his son, the father immediately walked over, glancing back at the airport building before remarking to Ye Shu:

"This place is really grand."

As far as Ye Shu knew, the farthest place his father had ever been was when he took him to university, traveling together by bus to the provincial capital's train station. This time, flying alone to Nancheng, it seemed like the farthest he had ever traveled.

Ye Shu ran over in a few steps and reached out to take the large bag her father was carrying:

"I thought you were lost. I was even about to go inside to look for you."

"My mouth is right under my nose. If I don't know the way, I can't just ask, right?"

Ye Shu's father took off the bag from his back, stretched his shoulders, looked at his son's face, and said:

"Did you stay up late last night?"

"No, I just didn't sleep very well."

Ye Shuyi swung the backpack up and slung it over his shoulder:

"What are you carrying all that? It's so heavy."

"It's nothing, just some local produce from home, fresh, you can't buy it anywhere else."

Ye Shu felt a little indescribable. That's just how his father was. He didn't talk much, but he never missed a thing when it came to thinking about or doing things.

"Let's go, I'll take you to your place first, let you put your luggage down, and then we'll go home."

"Just find any small hotel, I'll make do. Don't waste money."

Ye Shu's father glanced at the small hotels next door holding signs that read "Fifty-One Nights," and Ye Shu smiled, hooking his arm around his father's and saying:

"Come with me, everything is arranged."

After leaving the airport, I hailed a taxi and headed towards the city center of Nancheng.

Ye Shu's father kept looking out the window at the street scene: tall buildings, overpasses, GG signs... Unlike the small county town back home, the most direct feeling was that everything here was so "big".

Even the price of a taxi—when Ye Shu's father learned that it would cost ten yuan for just one turn of the wheel, he still felt a pang of heartache.

Ten yuan can buy you three taxis that run all over the city.

"Dad, what was it like flying for the first time?"

Ye Shu looked at his father and asked.

"I didn't feel anything, but it was a bit stuffy inside, and the space was cramped, so I didn't feel very at ease."

Ye Shu smiled; his father really did speak his mind. He then asked:

"Are you hungry? Shall we go eat first, or go to the hotel first?"

"I'm not hungry. They gave us boxed meals on the plane. Let's go to our accommodation first."

Ye Shu's father paused for a moment, then looked at his son and asked:

"You... um, is everything alright at your partner's family?"

Finally, she got to the point and nodded.

"Everything's fine. They're all waiting for you at home. We'll go home after you drop off your luggage."

The taxi stopped in front of a rather large hotel, and the doorman, quite perceptive, came over.

Before even getting out of the car, Ye Shu's father frowned slightly as he looked at the hotel.

After Ye Shu paid the fare and got out of the car, his father didn't rush inside. Instead, he grabbed his son and whispered, "..."

"You live here?"

This place looks like it's going to burn through money.

Ye Shu nodded:

"Uncle An arranged it; he told me to bring you here directly."

Ye Shu's father frowned even more deeply. He glanced up at the hotel sign, then at the smiling doorman beside him. He wasn't the type to shrink back from the world, but he still couldn't help asking that question:

"This place...it must cost quite a bit to stay overnight, right?"

Ye Shu nodded without hesitation:

"Yeah, I guess it's not cheap. I've never stayed in a place like this before."

Looking at his father's conflicted expression, he said:

"But they've already spent the money, it seems disrespectful for you not to stay, like you're looking down on them."

Old Man Ye weighed the pros and cons in his mind: which weighed more, "face" or "money." He was old enough to understand social etiquette; the other party was giving him ample face, and he knew it. But he was used to being frugal and felt that spending money to stay in this place was a complete waste.

But since that's what I've said, and that makes sense, I patted my son's arm and didn't say anything more.

Entering the hotel lobby, Ye Shu took his father's ID card and went to the front desk:

"Hello, this is Ye Guoqiang, checking in."

After the formalities were completed, the receptionist handed back the room key and ID card, and also told me the time and place for three meals a day.

Upon arriving at the room, Ye Shu briefly taught his father how to swipe the card to enter and how to use the room card to access the electricity. Ye Guoqiang listened attentively.

Then Ye Guoqiang started taking things out one by one from his bulging travel bag.

Ye Shu discovered that her father hadn't brought many clothes; most of his clothes were local specialties in various plastic bags.

"These are dried wood ear mushrooms from our family."

"This package contains hazelnut mushrooms, which are perfect for stewing with chicken."

"These are pecan kernels, good as a snack..."

"These are wild monkey heads, not many, but of good quality."

"And the honey your aunt bought for you is from her own honey farm; it's clean."

Before long, the hotel bed was covered with a large amount of produce, like a field exhibition of mountain delicacies.

Ye Shu stood to the side, watching his father pull out items one by one; this was the best he could offer. Although it wasn't worth much money, Ye Shu felt inexplicably want to cry—tears of emotion.

Ye Guoqiang finally pulled out a rather large non-woven bag, stuffed all the things inside, zipped it up, and then straightened up and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, let's go. It's impolite to keep them waiting."

He picked up the large bag and asked Ye Shu:

"Going straight to your partner's house, right?"

"Yes, Uncle An said he's preparing dinner at home. Dad, can I carry this?"

Ye Shu nodded and reached out to take the bag.

Ye Guoqiang flung his hand away from his son's and walked towards the door with the bag in his hand.

"No need, this little thing isn't heavy."

His back seemed straighter than before, and his steps were much more steady. These gifts, brought from afar from home, seemed to have become his source of confidence, allowing him to rediscover his composure in this bustling yet unfamiliar city.