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

Xia Qing had a messy dream. In the dream, she seemed to have argued with someone, but she couldn't remember the specifics of the argument. She only remembered that she was very assertive and left the other person speechless. Just as she was enjoying herself, a cell phone ringtone forcibly ripped open her dream.

"Hmm..."

Xia Qing irritably shrank deeper into the covers, trying to block out the annoying sound, but it didn't work.

She pulled out her pillow and covered her head tightly, becoming a shrimp that didn't want to face reality.

But the ringing persisted, relentlessly piercing her ears and making her very annoyed.

"Who is it...so early in the morning...how inconsiderate..."

With her eyes closed, she mumbled a curse. The feeling of being forcibly dragged out of sleep made her very unhappy, and her anger was rising.

She was so annoyed that she didn't even realize the ringtone was completely different from her own phone.

Unable to bear the noise any longer, Xia Qing closed her eyes, listened to the sound and groped around on the bedside table. She grabbed a cold, rectangular object, and without thinking, swiped to answer the call. Then, she irritably pressed the phone to her ear.

Then he gave a very impatient "hello".

The person on the other end of the phone seemed startled by her shout, and then a middle-aged man's voice came through:

"Hey, Xiao Ye? You're still not up? When are you and my daughter coming over today? Your Aunt Shen said she's making dumplings for lunch."

Xia Qing was so sleepy her eyelids were practically glued together, and her brain was still in standby mode, but she still recognized An Jianxing's voice:

"Dad, it's me... Why are you calling so early... I'm not even up yet... I'm so sleepy..."

There was a sudden silence on the other end of the phone; even the background noise disappeared.

Xia Qing frowned, took the phone away from her ear a little, and squinted at the screen. It was blurry, and she couldn't see anything clearly except that the call was still going on.

She didn't seem to care, and put her phone back on, complaining:

"Feed? Dad? Say something? I'm hanging up now and going back to sleep..."

"Where's Ye Shu?! Why did you answer the phone, Xiao Qing?! You two...you two are living together?!"

An Jianxing shouted these words, and the sound was so loud that Xia Qing's ears went numb.

Startled by the shout, Xia Qing's drowsiness vanished instantly, and she raised her voice, snapping back angrily:

"Why are you yelling like that! It's so noisy so early in the morning! We've always lived together, haven't we? What's wrong?!"

She still didn't realize that she was lying on Ye Shu's bed. She thought An Jianxing was talking about their living in Yunduanyuan, which was like a gate tower in Liaocheng and a hip bone axis in Liaocheng.

However, although there was nothing wrong with what she said, when it reached An Jianxing's ears, it was a completely different story, directly confirming his worst suspicions.

An Jianxing was nearly going crazy on the other end of the phone, asking Xia Qing:

Where is that brat Ye Shu?!

"If you want to find Ye Shu, call him! Why are you calling me?!"

Hearing Xia Qing's confident and frank manner, An Jianxing felt insecure. He subconsciously glanced at his phone screen; the contact name was Xiao Ye.

"This...this is Ye Shu's phone number?!"

He desperately hoped that he had misread it and entered the wrong number.

Xia Qing, still grumpy from waking up, had no patience to think about whose phone it was. With her eyes closed, her brows furrowed so tightly they could trap a fly, she felt that Old An was simply unreasonable today.

"Ugh! You can't even figure out whose phone number it is, honestly! Can't a person get some sleep?!"

In a fit of anger, she grabbed the pillow that was pressing on her head and threw it away as if venting her frustration.

With the pillow moved, Xia Qing could finally breathe some fresh air. The phone call had also clearly woken her up quite a bit, making her sense that something was different.

The phone in my hand... feels... a little off?

And the smell in the room... it doesn't seem to be the smell of her room... it seems to be the smell of Ye Shu...

Xia Qing suddenly opened her eyes.

The first thing I noticed was the familiar black coat draped over the bedside table; it belonged to Ye Shu. On the bedside table were Ye Shu's alarm clock, her water glass, and a half-finished drink.

Her heart began to pound, and she slowly turned her head to look at the phone in her hand.

The screen showed that the call was still ongoing, but the contact person was listed as "Uncle An".

This is not her phone.

This is Ye Shu's phone.

So this is...

Ye Shu's bed?!

"dad......"

Xia Qing opened her mouth, but the confident and defiant aura she had just displayed was gone, leaving only embarrassment and a feeling of "I'm doomed" that rushed up her spine.

On the other end of the phone, An Jianxing was so anxious he was practically about to bite someone. Could it be that his beautiful daughter had been taken by that guy?!

"Xiao Qing, is that kid Ye Shu here? Let him answer the phone! Now! Right now!"

Xia Qing clutched her phone, glanced around the room, and felt like crying.

Is it too late to run now?

Obviously, it's too late.

Because she could hear footsteps at the door, and Ye Shu seemed to have just finished washing up:

"Xiaoxue? Are you awake? I think I heard my phone ringing."

On the phone, An Jianxing was still asking:

"Feed? Xiao Qing? Speak!"

Xia Qing had just woken up when this happened, which made her feel a surge of anger, and then she just gave up...

She flopped onto the bed, pulled the blanket over herself, wrapped herself up like a spring roll, and then shouted towards the door:

"Ye Shu! Come in!!!"

The door opened, and Ye Shu was drying her hair with a towel. Seeing the spring roll on the bed, she asked:

"Sister Xia Qing?"

That attitude, that tone, it really is Xia Qing. An Suxue shouldn't look at him with that "I'll hold up the sky if it falls, but you go first" kind of look.

Xia Chunjuan thrashed about on the bed in response, then tapped the phone on the bed with her chin:

"My dad, you explain it to my dad."

After saying that, he tilted his head, closed his eyes, and focused intently on the role of spring roll.

Ye Shu looked at the unresponsive figure on the bed, somewhat bewildered, but still picked up her phone and spoke into the call:

"Feed? Uncle An?"

The moment he spoke, An Jianxing's voice came through the phone:

"Ye Shu!!! You brat! I entrusted my daughter to you because I trusted you! You...you can't just...just...huh?! You young people...what kind of talk is this!!!"

Ye Shu subconsciously moved his phone further away; he could already picture An Jianxing's expression right now.

"Uncle An, don't worry, let me explain..."

"An explanation?! What's there to explain! Xiao Qing already admitted it! You two are living together! First thing in the morning, in your bed! Answering your phone! Ye Shu, Ye Shu, you're usually such a composed girl, how could you..."

An Jianxing's mouth was like a machine gun, rattling away without giving Ye Shu a single punctuation mark.

Ye Shu looked helplessly at the bed and mouthed:

"What did you admit to?"

Xia Chunjuan opened her eyes a crack, rolled her eyes, and mouthed the answer:

"I'll admit it! I always said we've been living together! Isn't that the truth?!"

Then she tilted her head to the side, continued to play dead, and completely dumped the mess on Ye Shu.

Ye Shu could only hold up her phone and silently endure An Jianxing's barrage of messages. Finally, after several minutes of this, An Jianxing seemed to tire of it, and Ye Shu seized the opportunity to quickly explain:

"Uncle An, listen to me, you've misunderstood. We don't live together...we don't live in the same room, it's not what you think."

"You didn't live together? Then how come Xia Qing was in your bed?! And answering your phone?!"

An Jianxing clearly didn't believe it, but upon hearing this denial, he was somewhat willing to believe it.

"That's how it is..."

Ye Shu explained how Xiaoxue got drunk last night and how she ended up in his bed, then said:

"I really did sleep on the sofa last night. If you don't believe me, let's video chat right now. The blankets on my sofa aren't even folded yet."

"No, no need..."

Hearing this, An Jianxing was no longer angry. Instead, he felt ashamed of his petty-mindedness.

Ye Shu continued:

"Uncle An, don't worry, I'm definitely not the kind of person who would take advantage of someone in distress. You and Auntie trust me so much, how could I do anything to betray her?"

The more he said that, the more uncomfortable An Jianxing felt.

"Um... well, Xiao Ye, I... I wasn't really angry with you just now, I was just... just reminding you, you know?"

"I understand, I understand."

Seeing that An Jianxing was offering a way out, Ye Shu quickly accepted it.

"Good... Well... come early for lunch today... remember to pick up your dad, your Aunt Shen will make dumplings for you."

After saying all that and giving a few more instructions, An Jianxing hung up the phone, feeling a little embarrassed.

Ye Shu let out a long breath and looked at the bed.

Xia Qing rolled over on the bed, freeing herself from under the covers. She awkwardly scratched her hair, her expression quite interesting.

"So...you really slept on the sofa last night?"

Xia Qing wanted to regain some of her composure.

"Otherwise what?"

Ye Shu looked at her guilty expression helplessly:

"Xia Qing, could you please not be so short-tempered next time?"

Xia Qing pouted; although she knew she was in the wrong, she certainly wouldn't back down verbally.

"Who, who told you to put your phone so close?!"

She threw back the covers, waved her hand, and walked towards the door, saying as if she were being very cheerful and generous:

"Alright, the misunderstanding is cleared up, let's consider this over. Just be more careful next time..."

After saying that, she yanked open the door and ran away.

Ye Shu looked at the doorway and realized that people can actually laugh in frustration when they feel helpless.